The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 244
244. Essence of Islām II intercession if he prays constantly for the suppression of his own weakness and for delivering others from the poison of sin and himself draws strength from God through his supplication and desires that those who are related to him through faith should also partake of that strength. A sinless person needs to supplicate God for strength inasmuch as human nature possesses no excellence of its own but receives excellence at every moment from God, and has no strength of its own but receives strength at every moment from God, and has no perfect light of its own but receives light from God. A perfect nature is bestowed an attraction so that it might draw to itself strength from above, but the treasure of strength is the Being of God. Angels draw strength for themselves from this treasure and so also perfect man draws the strength of sinlessness and grace from this Fountainhead of strength through the pipe of servitude. Thus from amongst men, he alone is perfectly innocent who draws Divine strength to himself through Istighfar and occupies himself throughout with humble supplication so that light should continue to descend upon him. . . . . Then what is Istighfär? It is an instrument through which strength is obtained. The whole secret of Divine Unity is that the quality of innocence should not be regarded as a permanent possession of man, but God should be taken as the Fountainhead for acquiring it. God Almighty metaphorically resembles the heart which has a store of pure blood and the Istighfar of a perfect man is like the veins and arteries which are connected with the heart and draw pure blood from it and convey it to the limbs that need it. [Review of Religions-Urdū, vol. I, pp. 187-190]