Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 33
33 twenty and thirty, and very few reach the destination of eighty years. When this is the state of affairs, how unfortunate is the person who does not value the time that they have been given and wastes it away. ” Supplication and Tears in the Formal Prayer The Promised Messiah as said: “The formal Prayer is a very important criterion to judge whether one lives a pious life. An individual who constantly weeps in their Prayer, remains safe. For example, a child weeps and wails in the lap of its mother and as a result feels her love and affection. In the same manner, an individual who weeps before God with humility and emotion puts themselves in the benevolent lap of divine providence. Remember, one who has not experienced the pleasure in Prayer has not felt the pleasure of faith. Hollow movements are no Prayer. Certain people take a few pecks just as a chicken pecks its beak and then, after finishing the Prayer, begin to make long supplications. The opportunity that such people are given to make their submissions before Allah Almighty, they quickly bring to a close as though it were a mere ritual or vain custom. When they leave the presence of God, it is then that they begin to supplicate. Make your supplica- tions in the formal Prayer and consider it to be a way or means by which to put forth your entreaties. In Arabic, the word fatihah means ‘to gain victory. ’ It makes a believer a believer and turns a disbeliever into a disbeliever, i. e. it creates a distinction between both, and opens the heart and expands the breast. Therefore, one ought to recite Surah Fatihah abundantly; and it is imperative that one reflects deeply over this prayer. An individual must become a complete beggar and wholly dependant; and just as a beggar—at times with his facial expression and at other times with his voice— solicits the mercy of others with extreme humility, in the same manner, one ought to present their own state in the presence of Allah Almighty with emotion, tears and humility. In short, until one passionately weeps in their Prayer and does not consider the Prayer to be a means of offering one’s supplications, how can one experience pleasure in Prayer?” To Supplicate in One’s Own Language The Promised Messiah as said: “It is not necessary for a person to make their sup- plications in the Arabic language. As the fundamental purpose in the Prayer is p. 29