Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 237
26 December 1905 237 1 َكِٕىٰٓلوُا ىٰلَع ىًدُه ْنِّم ْمِهِّبَّر١ۗ َو َكِٕىٰٓلوُا ُمُه َنْوُحِلْفُمْلا. َكِٕىٰٓلوُا ىٰلَع ىًدُه ْنِّم ْمِهِّبَّر١ۗ َو َكِٕىٰٓلوُا ُمُه َنْوُحِلْفُمْلا. That is, these are the people who, having made excellent pro- gress, have attained guidance from their Lord, and it is these who have achieved salvation. Become an Exemplary Model of True Muslims Therefore, since this is the state [of things] and this is the pur- pose and aim of Islam coming into the world, and since one cannot realize the truth of salvation without it, how much should our Jam a ‘at ponder that unless and until they attain these things they should not become unconcerned and at ease? I know that our Jam a ‘at is like a tree—the real fruit that is sweet and delightful has not yet come. A tree first blossoms and its leaves sprout, then it gets its first fruit which falls away, then another fruit comes, some of which is eaten by animals and some of which falls due to strong winds. Finally, the fruits that survive and ripen to the end become worthy of being eaten, but they are few. In the same way, I see that this Jam a ‘at is still in a very early stage, and the leaves have not even sprouted, let alone that we consume the fruits today. Only the herbage has appeared thus far, which even a dog can trample. In such a situation, how great is the need for safeguarding? So protect this tree with perse- verance and your example because each of you is a branch of this tree, and that tree is the tree of Islam. That is why I wish to protect this tree. To protect Islam and manifest its truth, the foremost aspect is that you become exemplary true Muslims; the second aspect 1. S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:6 [Publisher]