The Heavenly Decree — Page 32
32 A sm a n i Fai s lah irrevocably to fail, i. e. , it may be the irrevocable Divine will that they should never be delivered of their misfortunes. Many a time it has so happened that the prayers of great saints and even Prophets as have not been heard in favour of certain people because they had been irrevocably decreed to fail. Therefore, holding up one or two people suffering from calamities and misfortunes as the standard for a test would be misleading. If they turn to one whose prayers usually find acceptance, but remain unsuccessful due to their irrevocable destiny, then the power of acceptance of prayer of such a godly person shall remain undisclosed to them. Rather, by leading their imagination towards distrust, they may altogether loose faith in that godly person and thus ruin their hereafter along with their worldly life. This form of trial has caused some people to stumble even in the times of Prophets as and have led them to apostasy. It is a delicate question of deep knowledge that the station of those near to God is recognized through the acceptance of the majority of their prayers, which means that most of their prayers—but not all—find acceptance. Therefore, unless there is a large number of people seeking prayers, the power of their acceptance cannot be assessed. The full worth and grandeur of [the acceptance of] the majority [of prayers] only becomes manifest when a perfect believer, whose prayers find acceptance, is compared