Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 219
17 March 1908 219 the money; now, do whatever you wish, I won’t return it. If you want it back, then file a case in court. ’ How could the deputy sue him in his present condition of being elderly, and even if he had done so, he would have only embarrassed himself ? So he kept quiet. In short, all this is absurd. The fascination of alchemy was universal in earlier times and Hindus were caught in it for a long time, but sadly some educated people are still fond of it. Islam declares it totally unlawful and it is affirmed by Holy Quran that a muttaqi [God-fearing person] does indeed receive blessed sustenance. The sustenance which proves beneficial is indeed blessed, albeit there are many kinds of wealth that are earned through illegiti- mate means and are lost in unlawful pursuits and vain customs. In contrast, the money earned with integrity and hard work finds its use at the proper occasion as is clear from the story of two brothers in which God Almighty—for the reason اَمُهْوُبَا اًحِلاَص اَمُهْوُبَا اًحِلاَص [the father of both of them being righteous]—appointed two Prophets to build a wall to safeguard the wealth that was earned with integrity and righteousness. God Almighty has declared: 1 َو يِف ِءٓاَمَّسلا ْمُكُقْزِر َو اَم َنْوُدَعْوُت۰۰ ِّبَرَوَف ِءٓاَمَّسلا َو ِضْرَاْلا ٗهَّنِا ٌّقَحَل َلْثِّم ۤاَم ْمُكَّنَا َنْوُقِطْنَت۰۰ َو يِف ِءٓاَمَّسلا ْمُكُقْزِر َو اَم َنْوُدَعْوُت۰۰ ِّبَرَوَف ِءٓاَمَّسلا َو ِضْرَاْلا ٗهَّنِا ٌّقَحَل َلْثِّم ۤاَم ْمُكَّنَا َنْوُقِطْنَت۰۰ Meaning that God Almighty provides every man his daily bread from Himself. David says that ‘I was a child and I am now grown old, but I have not yet seen the progeny of the righteous begging for crumbs’ [alludes to Psalms 37:25]. Similarly, it is mentioned in 1. And in heaven is your sustenance, and also that which you are promised. And by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is certainly the truth, even as it is true that you speak ( S u rah adh-Dh a riy a t, 51:23–24). [Publisher]