Malfuzat – Volume II — Page 243
243 1 اَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى اِلٰۤى حَسَنًا يُمَتِّعْكُمْ مَّتَاعًا He will provide for you a goodly provision until an appointed term. The way of God is that if you seek forgiveness from God and turn to Him in repentance, you will attain to lofty grades. Every individual has a scope of their own, within the bounds of which they advance in grades of progress. Everyone does not have it within them to be a Prophet and Messenger, or from among the Truthful and the Martyrs. Hence, there is no doubt in the fact that the comparative greatness of ranks is a matter of truth. After this, Allah the Exalted states that a seeker who persistently remains engaged in these efforts shall progress in ranks and stations to the degree of their individual ability. This is precisely what is implied in: 2 ٗ وَ يُؤْتِ كُلَّ ذِيْ فَضْلٍ فَضْلَه And He will grant His grace to every one possessed of merit. However, if a person is greater in capacity than others, then God Almighty will grant him more as well and the individual in question will receive the superiority to which they are naturally entitled. The distinction that God bestows is inher- ently His property, for He is the true Possessor of distinction. What this means is that God Almighty will never keep a person deprived of the distinction that they deserve. There are some who say: ‘Sir! Are we out to become saints?’ Those who say such a thing are mean-natured disbelievers. Man ought to strive in line with the law of nature. Seeking Support from the Dead Is Forbidden Now, the gist of this entire discourse is that God has nowhere stated that one should seek assistance from the dead; in fact, He has always spoken of those who are living. God Almighty has blessed us immensely by entrusting Islam to the living, for if He had left the Faith to those who were dead, who knows how catastrophic this would have been? Are the shrines of those gone by few and far between? Simply observe the number of shrines in Multan. There is a renowned saying about this place: 1 Hud , 11:4 2 Hud , 11:4