Lecture Ludhiana — Page 48
48 33 ‘Celebrate the praises of Allah as you celebrate the praises of your fathers or even with greater devotion. ’ Here two fine points need to be noted: Remembering God has been compared to remembering one’s forefathers. The underlying idea is that the love for one’s forefathers is personal and natural. When a mother slaps a child, he still cries: “Mamma! Mamma!” In other words Allah instructs human beings to cultivate with Him the relationship of natural love. Having reached this stage, one spontane- ously submits to His injunctions. This is the station of true knowledge which man should try to attain: he should truly understand God and develop such love for Him as is natural and personal. Elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an Allah says: 34 This verse mentions three stages which man should strive to attain. The first is justice, which means doing good to others for the sake of reward. Obviously this kind of good signifies not the exalted but the lowest kind of virtue. The next higher virtue is benevolence or doing good without the hope of reward. Of course, it would be wrong to be kind to one who is given to doing evil; offering the right 33 2:201 [Translator] 34 ‘Verily, Allah enjoins justice, and the doing of good to others; and giving like kindred. ’ (16:91) [Translator]