Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 242
242 All their thoughts, designs, and actions, their prayers, their worship, their sacrifices, in short, their life and their death, are solely for God (6:163). They arrive at a stage where, as the Prophet has said, God becomes their hands with which they work, and their feet with which they walk, and their eyes with which they see, and their ears with which they hear. The same concept has been expressed in the Quran. It says that those who put their faith in Allah as the only source of true beneficence, and then remain steadfast, enter into communion with God and become the recipients of revelation (41:31 ⎯ 32). These are the friends of God, with regard to whom it is said: “Behold, the friends of Allah shall certainly have no fear, nor shall they grieve ⎯ those who believed and kept to righteousness ⎯ for them are glad tidings in the present life and also in the Hereafter” (10:63 ⎯ 65). They enter upon the enjoyment of God’s perfect favours in this very life. The Quran says that for him who fears his Lord and stands in awe of His Majesty and Glory there shall be two Gardens, one in this world, and one in the life to come (55:47). The culmination is reached when the Divine call comes: “O soul at peace, return to thy Lord; thou well pleased with Him; and He well pleased with thee. So enter thou among My chosen servants, and enter thou My Garden” (89:28 ⎯ 31).