Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 474
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 7 474 middle course], ِ ت ٰ ر ْ ی َ خ ْ ل ِا َب ۢ ٌ ق ِ َب َا س ِ ت ٰ ر ْ ی َ خ ْ ل ِا َب ۢ ٌ ق ِ َب َا س [ s a biqum bil-khair a t— who excel others in deeds of goodness]. The z a limulli-nafsi are those who are trapped in the clutches of nafs-e-amm a rah [the self that incites to evil] and are at the beginner stage. They try their level best to get out of this state. The muqta s idun are those who are called moderate in con- duct. To a certain extent, they are freed from nafs-e-amm a rah but it still attacks them at times and along with this attack they are penitent as well. Salvation is not yet achieved in a complete manner. However, the s a biqum bil-khair a t are those who do noth- ing but virtuous deeds and surpass all others. Their activi- ties and inactivities come to be inherently of such a nature that only virtuous deeds emanate from them. It is as if com- plete death has come over their nafs-e-amm a rah [self that incites to evil] and they are in the state of mu t ma’innah [peace]. They perform good deeds as if it were just an ordi- nary affair. Hence, sometimes in their view even that act is a sin which others consider a virtue to the same extent. The reason for this is that their spiritual cognition and insight is highly advanced. This is the very reason why the Sufis say, َ ن ْ ی ِ ََب ر َ ق ُ م ْ ل ُ ا ت َا َّیِّئ َ س ِ ر َا ر ْ َب َ اَلْ ُ ا ت َا ْن َ س َ ح َ ن ْ ی ِ ََب ر َ ق ُ م ْ ل ُ ا ت َا َّیِّئ َ س ِ ر َا ر ْ َب َ اَلْ ُ ا ت َا ْن َ س َ ح [‘The virtues of the righteous are sins for the intimate friends of God’]. For example, consider the case of financial donations. One man is poor and is a daily wage earner of two annas [1 a nna equals 1/16 of a rupee] while another man has assets of 200,000 rupees and a daily income that runs into the thousands. That two- a nna labourer still manages to give a two paisa [1 paisa equals 1/4 of an a nna] donation from that income while the one who is a millionaire and has an income of thousands gives two rupees. So, although he has given more than the labourer, the fact is that this labourer will surely get the reward, but this rich millionaire will not receive a reward, but rather a punishment