Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 62
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 7 62 Then, the third period of life comes, 1 when after knowledge comes ignorance, and the senses and other faculties begin to decline. This is the period of old age. Many people lose their senses completely, and their faculties become useless during this time. Many develop dementia. There are many families in which, after 60 or 70 years, a person’s senses become infirm. In short, even if this is not the case, due to the weakness of facul- ties and the loss of strength, the person becomes unconscious even while he is conscious, 2 and indolence and slowness begin to have their effect. The lifespan of man is divided into these three periods, and all three are fraught with dangers and diffi- culties. So, try and estimate how difficult it is to attain an aus- picious end. The period of childhood is beyond a person’s control. In it, there is nothing except sport and a pastime and trivial desires. The peak of all desires is only eating and drinking. One is simply ignorant of the world and its conditions. He is entirely unac- quainted and heedless about the affairs of the Hereafter. He is utterly unaware of magnificent matters. He does not know the purpose and objective of his coming into the world. So, this time passes away like this. After that comes the period of youth. There is no doubt that in this period, a person’s knowledge increases, and the circle of his desires widens, but the frenzy of youthfulness and the passions of nafs-e-amm a rah [the self that incites to evil] impair the intellect. And a man gets stuck in such difficulties and encounters such situations that even if he acquires faith, nafs-e-amm a rah and its passions exert 1. From al-Badr: ‘So, two periods [of life] are lost in this way. Then comes the third period, which is the time of old age’ ( Al-Badr, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 10, dated 1 January 1905). 2. From al-Badr: ‘And the qualities of childhood are found in them’ ( Al-Badr, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 10, dated 1 January 1905).