Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 17
CHAPTER I پس بہر دستے نباید داد دست اے بسا ابلیس آدم روئے ہت 17 Oh how many an Iblis has the face of Adam! So give not your hand [in allegiance] to everyone. Moreover, it should also be borne in mind that the dreams and rev- elations experienced by the people of this rank are steeped in much darkness and very rarely contain the brilliance of truth. They are not accompanied by any sign of God's love and acceptance, and any news of the unseen they may contain is such that it is also shared by tens of millions of others. Anyone who wishes can verify for himself that such dreams and revelations are experienced by all kinds of people, including sinners, liars, infidels, atheists, and indeed, even prostitutes. Therefore, anyone who exults over, and is enamoured by, such dreams and revela- tions is not wise. And gravely deceived is the one who deludes himself into believing that he is someone special merely by experiencing in himself a sample of dreams and revelations of this quality. Indeed, it should be remembered that such a person is only like someone who, on a dark night, sees the smoke of a fire from a distance, but he cannot see the glow of this fire nor can he alleviate his frigidity and dejection by its heat. This is the very reason why such people derive no share of God's special blessings and bounties, nor does any acceptance develop in them. They have no connection with God at all, nor are the impuri- ties of their human self consumed by the flames of divine light. Since they do not develop a real friendship with God, their lack of nearness to Him allows Satan to remain their constant companion and they are dominated by ḥadīthun-nafs [the inspirations of the self]. Even as the sun remains mostly hidden on an overcast day-only a corner of it becomes visible occasionally-so are such people mostly enveloped in darkness, and their dreams and revelations have a great deal of satanic influence.