Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 67
29 December 1904 67 into a well and consumes poison will surely die. Such a person cannot be worthy of mercy in the eyes of the world or the eyes of Allah the Exalted. Therefore, it is necessary—indeed essen- tial—particularly for our Jam a ‘at (which Allah the Exalted has chosen as a model and wants to be an example for future gen- erations), to avoid bad company and bad habits to whatever extent possible. 1 And apply yourselves to virtue. In order to achieve this goal, planning should be undertaken to the degree merited, and no detail should be overlooked. Remember, planning is a concealed [form of ] worship— do not consider it insignificant. It verily opens the door to the path of attaining salvation from sins. Those who fail to plan and deliberate to safeguard themselves from sins become—so to speak—content with evils, and in this way God Almighty separates Himself from them. 2 I verily affirm that when man remains engaged in delib- erations even in spite of being caught in the clutches of nafs-e-amm a rah [the self that incites to evil], then his nafs-e-amm a rah becomes [ nafs-e- ] laww a mah [the self-reprov- ing self ] in the sight of God Almighty. He achieves such a lofty transformation worthy of honour in that he was once [nafs-e-] amm a rah which was worthy of curse, but through planning and deliberation, that very nafs-e-amm a rah worthy of curse 1. From al-Badr: ‘He should avoid those kinds of meetings, associations, com- panions, and friends that have a bad effect on his spirituality’ ( Al-Badr, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 10, dated 1 January 1905). 2. From al-Badr: ‘Staying engaged in the search for measures to achieve taqw a and virtue is also an act of worship, and when a person remains engaged in this effort, Allah’s habit is to open up some way for him. It should be under- stood, however, that the person who does not plan or strive to avoid evil and carry out good deeds, has become content with evil, and it becomes impos- sible for such a person to abandon evil’ ( Al-Badr, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 10, dated 1 January 1905).