Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 284
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 10 284 hypocrites. The world would not have been the same if there were no mutashabihat. It is the way of a hypocrite that he fails to see the river flowing and fails to draw any benefit from it. Instead, he is drawn towards the dried sticks and straws, and [consequently] becomes an apostate. They would have had an occasion to criticize if I had pre- sented something outside the things common to previous Prophets, and had presented something new on my own accord. It is mentioned in the Holy Quran that: 1 ْوَل اَّنُك ُعَمْسَن ْوَا ُلِقْعَن اَم اَّنُك ْۤيِف ِبٰحْصَا ِرْيِعَّسلا ْوَل اَّنُك ُعَمْسَن ْوَا ُلِقْعَن اَم اَّنُك ْۤيِف ِبٰحْصَا ِرْيِعَّسلا How can he be guided who has never stayed in my company and heard my discourses, nor does he have the ability to eval- uate them by comparing them with the standards of other Prophets 2 ? In this era, God has amassed such a rich treasure of mighty Signs, and has furnished such means that even a 100,000 Prophets could prove their prophethood if they wished to do so. In earlier times, there were neither such pressing needs nor such means and resources. If powerful Signs and manifest miracles are shown right with the advent of a Prophet, faith would no longer remain faith—it would merely be an acknowl- edgement of a manifest reality. There would remain no basis for reward and higher ranks. If clear successes and victories are achieved right at the outset, the corrupt, the wicked, and the 1. If we had but listened or possessed sense, we should not have been among the inmates of the blazing Fire ( S u rah al-Mulk, 67:11). [Publisher] 2. From Badr: Therefore, the end does not seem good ( Badr, vol. 7, no. 16, p. 4, dated 23 April 1908).