Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 374
374 HAQIQATUL-WAḤI—THE PHILOSOPHY OF DIVINE REVELATION opposed to the Shariah? No Prophet tried to test God. However, God is watching you and me. He has the power, on His own, to kill the liar vis-e-vis the truthful. As for Signs from God Almighty, they are pour- ing down like rain. If you are a genuine seeker of truth, come to Qadian with me!' He replied that he could not go because his wife was ill or perhaps she was away or something to that effect which I do not recall. I responded, 'Now just wait for God's verdict. ' Later, he died the same year and there was no need left for being locked up in any room. This indeed is an occasion to fear [God], as to what the fate of 'Abbas 'Ali was! After such [spiritual] progress, he fell into the pit of decadence in an instant. His events demonstrate that even if there is a revelation about pleasure in respect of a certain person, that pleasure is quite often valid only for a particular time; i. e. as long as he does what pleases God¹* as, in the Holy Quran, God Almighty repeatedly expresses His anger in respect of the disbelievers, but as soon as any one of them becomes a believer, the erstwhile anger changes into pleasure. Similarly, divine pleasure at times changes into wrath. That is why it is on record in hadith that sometimes a person performs deeds like those of the denizens of Paradise, so much so that there is a distance of just one hand's breadth left between him and Paradise. But in reality, he is destined to be cast into Hell. So ultimately he becomes guilty of such a deed or belief that he is thrown into Hell because of it. Similarly, someone is destined for Paradise, but behaves like those who deserve Hell, so much so that there is a distance of just one hand's breadth left between him and Hell. But ultimately destiny prevails and he begins to perform good deeds. He dies in this condition, and he is admitted into Paradise. The proof of the truth of this prophecy, which no opponent can 1. This is why God has taught us this prayer in Șalāt [prescribed Prayer] (He has made it mandatory that, without it, the prescribed Prayer is not com- plete. ): ['Not of those who incurred Your wrath']; that is, we should be careful lest, after being [the blessed ones], we once again become a [those who have incurred divine displeasure]. We should, therefore, always fear God, who is in need of no one. (Author)