Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 22
22 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad A righteous person wars with their inner self that incites to evil in order to veil and conceal their good deeds. However, God Almighty always manifests their hidden deeds. A wicked person, after committing an evil deed, desires to remain hidden. Similarly, a righteous person observes the Prayer in hiding and fears lest someone sees him. A truly righteous person desires to remain hidden. There are many stages of righteousness, but in any case, righteousness requires a forced effort and a righteous person (muttaqi) constantly remains in a state of war with himself, while a virtuous person (salih) is no longer engaged in such a battle. In this relation, I have stated above the example of ostentation, which must be fought against by a righteous person throughout the day. The Battle Between Ostentation and Forbearance Often a battle ensues between ostentation and forbearance. At times, in contra- diction to the Book of Allah, man shows anger. Upon hearing abuse, his inner self becomes incensed. Righteousness demands that one ought to suppress their anger, as stated in the Quran: وَإِذَا مَرُّوا بِاللَّغْوِ مَرُّوا كِرَامًا And when they pass by anything vain, they pass on with dignity. Many a time, an individual is also required to fight against impatience. This means that a person is confronted with such a multitude of difficulties whilst treading the path of righteousness that it is difficult to attain one's objective, and thus, such a one becomes impatient. For example, if someone wanted to dig a well fifty cubits deep, but they stopped digging after a mere two or three cubits, this is mere pessimism. Now, the condition of righteousness is that one should fulfil the commandments that have been enjoined by Allah the Exalted to the end and not become impatient. Two Blessed Parties that Tread the Path of God There are two blessed parties that tread the path of God. Firstly, those who adhere firmly to the fundamental principles of religion without any real insight (din-ul- aja'iz), or in other words, those who follow the shariah and thus attain salvation. Then, there are those who advance even further still. Whatever the odds, they do 1 al-Furqan, 25:73