Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 195
195 chosen servants. As such, Allah the Exalted states: 1 َ ْن ی ِ يُضِيْعُ اَجْرَ الْمُحْسِن اِنَّ اهللَ لَا Surely, Allah suffers not the reward of those who do good to be lost. The names of those who are pious and holy remain until the end of time. No one speaks the names of kings who belonged to olden times, not even the Caesar and Chosroes, but as for those who are among the righteous and chosen ones of God Almighty, they are praised and admired the world over. Observe the degree to which our Messenger of God, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, com- mands greatness in the world. There are 940 million Muslims in the world who speak his name, and who constantly invoke salutations and blessings on him. Does anyone send salutations on Caesar or Chosroes? Observe, how greatly is Jesus, peace be upon him, revered in the world today? So great is the extent that in their ignorance and lack of knowledge, they have turned him into God. The fact of the matter is that the class known as Messengers have passed on from this world bearing hardships. However, since they abandoned the luxury and comfort of this world and bore countless forms of pain and suffering for the sake of God, this elevated them to a station of greatness. This does not mean that the beloved of God are plagued by misfortune. There is a fine secret in the difficulties experi- enced by the Prophets. They are not faced with the most hardships and misfor- tunes so that they would perish, but so that they can grow and flourish more than everyone else. One may observe that the law which God has established for the gifted is that firstly, they are subjected to suffering. A farmer pierces the belly of the earth and refines the soil to such an extent that gusts of wind carry the soil here and there. A foolish man would surmise that the landowner has committed a mistake and ruined a patch of soil that was perfectly fine. However, a wise person knows well that until the soil is refined to such an extent, the land cannot dem- onstrate its inherent capacity of producing fruits and vegetation. Similarly, a seed is planted in the land, which is mixed with the dust and almost becomes a part of the soil itself. However, are seeds planted in the soil so that the farmer may view them as though they were worthless? Of course not. Those seeds are invaluable to the farmer. His only purpose in throwing these seeds into the ground is so that they will germinate and flourish, and so that each may turn into a thousand more. So this is the law that God has instituted for all the gifted. God casts His special 1 at-Tawbah, 9:120 p. 177