Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 72
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 7 72 the poison nor the antidote has its effect. If someone is hungry and wants to fill his stomach with one grain or eat a few grams of food, can such a one satisfy his hunger in this way? Never. Similarly, how can anyone who is thirsty quench his thirst with one solitary drop of water? Instead, in order to be satiated, he should eat enough food, and to quench his thirst, he should drink enough water. Only in this way can he attain satisfaction. In the same way, while praying, one should not act tim- idly and nervously, and one should not give up too quickly; one should not pull back until the prayer shows its full effect. People who get tired and perturbed make a mistake because this is a sign of those who remain deprived. In my view, prayer is an excellent thing, and I say this based on my own experience and not something imaginary. The difficulty that no strategy can resolve, Allah the Exalted makes it easy through prayer. I honestly say that prayer is a most powerfully effective instrument. One is cured of an illness by it. The hardships and difficulties of the world are removed by it. It saves one from the enemies’ plans. What cannot be achieved by prayer? Above all, it purifies a person, and it is indeed prayer that bestows a living faith in God Almighty. It grants salvation from sin, and standing firm upon virtues comes through its means. 1 Most fortunate is the person who has faith in prayer because he witnesses the most wondrous of the wonderful powers of God Almighty and—beholding God Almighty—comes to believe that He is the All-Powerful Beneficent God. Allah the Exalted has taught a prayer at the very beginning of the Quran, through which it becomes known that it [prayer] is a most magnificent and essential asset. Without it, man can- not be anything. Allah the Exalted says: 1. From al-Badr: ‘Man is always engulfed in a flood. And prayer is the only thing that can save him from it’ ( Al-Badr, vol. 4, no. 2, p. 2, dated 10 January 1905).