Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 204
204 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad forbearance of God and His covering up their shortcomings; in fact, he begins to grow stronger in an atheistic vein. It is then that the indignation of God no longer permits for such an audacious person to go unseized and so they are disgraced. Maulvi Abdullah Ghaznavi was given a revelation in relation to Muhammad Hu- sain that he possessed a certain weakness. Muhammad Husain asked him to dis- close it, but he responded by saying that the forbearing nature of Allah Almighty prevented him from doing so. Then, Maulvi Abdullah Ghaznavi also saw a dream in which Muhammad Husain's clothes were torn; this dream has now come true. In short, my only intent was to elaborate that the mercy (rahimiyyat) of God has a distinctive quality which covers up the shortcomings of people, but before one's weaknesses may be hidden, there needs to be some action. If there is a deficiency or shortfall in one's actions, Allah the Exalted disguises them by virtue of His mercy. The difference between graciousness (rahmaniyyat) and mercy (rahimiyyat) is that the former has no relation to actions and deeds, whereas in the latter case, actions and deeds have a role to play; though human weakness exists as well. The mercy of God desires to cover man's shortcomings. Furthermore, the Master of the Day of Judgement is a being who fulfils the objective at hand. Remember well that these 'Mother Attributes' are a spiritual illustration, which depict God. As soon as one ponders over them, God immediately comes before us and the soul fervently falls into prostration before Him with pleasure. Hence, this chapter begins from (All praise belongs to Allah), and continues from here in indirect speech. After the mention of these four attributes, however, immediately thereafter the style of speech changes since these attributes, in a manner of speaking, bring God before us. It was only proper and in accordance with the demands of eloquence that the style of address hereafter changes from indirect speech to direct speech. Therefore, the completion of this initial portion of the chapter naturally turns our faces towards the addressee and upon this we say: إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do we implore for help. One ought to bear in mind that the words without anything between them. However, the phrase appear together (Thee alone do we worship) takes precedence even in the context of time, because it was merely on 1 al-Fatihah, 1:5