A Gift for Baghdad — Page 51
Reply to the Announcement & Letter 51 whom blessings have been bestowed are the Prophets and Messengers. Allah has given us glad tidings of the bestowal of their guidance and their perfect perspicacity, which is unattain- able except after verbal communication with Allah the Exalted or witnessing His Signs. May Allah forgive you. How can it be alleged that the Auliy a ’ [Friends] of Allah are debarred from verbal communication with Him, His conversation, and are not among those addressed by Him? O my brother, you are aware that our peoples’ books are full of accounts of the conversations between Allah and His Auliy a ’, as well as communication between the True [God] and His close servants. He is the Generous One who causes His word to descend by His command upon whomsoever of His servants He pleases, and strengthens thereby whomsoever He pleases in faith and certainty. Have you not read in the book Fut uh al-Ghaib [Revelations of the Unseen], composed by my master Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani ra, how he mentions the true nature of verbal communication? He states: Verily, Allah speaks to His Auliy a ’ in the most eloquent and delightful manner, reveals unto them secrets, and informs them of future events. He bestows upon them the knowledge of Prophets, their light, their insight, and their miracles, but as a heritage and not as the owner. He makes them His representatives in the earth and the heavens and in the entire kingdom of God. Observe, therefore, their status and do not be surprised; for, surely, Allah is overflowing with munificence, which He bestows upon His servants as He pleases—and He is not miserly.