A Letter to a Dear One — Page 30
30 Letter to a Dear One ‘alaihi wa sallam) that he would do so. The man later acquired wealth. He was once riding a horse when he dropped his whip. A passer-by tried to pick up the man’s whip to hand it over to him. The man, however, told the passer-by not to do so for he had promised the Prophet of God ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) never to ask for anything, and that if he had let the passer-by pick up the whip, that would also be a kind of pleading. There are certain attributes of Allah that are completely appropriated to Divinity. For example, the fact that He always was and always shall be, or that He has neither a father nor a son. Such attributes are totally to distinguish the difference between Allah and man. For example, these two attributes are a result of the true Unity of God. Another attribute as a consequence of the perfect Unity of God is that neither slumber seizes Him, nor sleep. Although it is necessary for man not to let ‘weaknesses’ like sleep and rest come in the way of carrying out his obligations; however, human nature also necessitates such states. In keeping with man’s nature, Allah has arranged for these demands to be met. It is a Divine favor that man feels the need to sleep and rest. Man is finite and it is essential for each finite being to rest after exertion. Allah has declared that it is one of His favors that He has created daytime for mankind to go about its business and has created night in order for man to rest. Pure Life It is quite evident that man’s strength and capacities and his scope is limited, therefore, he can only manifest these attributes within the confines of his scope and the Divine attributes can only be present in him in a reflective manner. For example, Allah is Holy. Man should also try and adopt pure ways and keep his heart and mind, thoughts and actions chaste. Islam does not teach that man was born in sin and does not have the capacity to avoid sin. On the contrary Islam teaches that each new born has pure nature, is innocent and devoid of sin. That is to say that the human nature is based on purity and virtue and evil comes externally. If this is how it is, then each person has the capacity to stay chaste, and if he has had wicked influence, he can return to pure ways. Evil can be repelled at anytime. If man completely shuns bad ways and adopts the ways and means of to nearness to God, and remains steadfast