Lecture Lahore — Page 21
2 1 He has also accepted the following prayer which He has taught us in the Holy Quran: 28 i. e. , show us the path of the righteous ones, whom You favoured with every bounty, i. e. , those who received every kind of blessing from You, who were honoured with Your converse, whose prayers were accepted, and who were accompanied by Your help and guidance; and save us from the path of those who incurred Your dis- pleasure and forsook Your path. This supplication, which we make in our Prayers five times a day, tells us that spiritual blindness does not only lead to hell in the Hereafter, but it also turns this life into hell. The truly obedient ones and the truly redeemed ones are those who recognize God and have perfect faith in Him, for they alone can forsake sin and immerse them- selves in Divine love. A heart which has no desire to receive Divine communion is dead; a religion which can- not lead its followers to this perfection and fails to grant them communion with God, does not possess the spirit of truth and does not come from God; a prophet who does not lead his people on the path where they crave for Divine communion and God-realization, is not from Him and only attributes falsehood to Him; for the ultimate purpose of religion, which can rid man of sin, is to attain certainty 28 Al-F a ti h ah, 1:6-7 [Publishers]