Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 351
1 May 1908 351 Different Levels of Shunning Evil and Pursuing Good Look, Allah the Exalted says: 1 ْدَق َحَلْفَا ْنَم ىّٰكَزَت ْدَق َحَلْفَا ْنَم ىّٰكَزَت Only he finds success who is able to develop comprehensive piety and taqwa [fear of God] and purity in himself and does not ever experience any bouts of commission of sins and diso- bedience. When a person has excelled both in casting away evil and pursuit of virtue, only then can he achieve success. Faith is not such an easy matter. It is not possible to achieve true faith until a man brings about a death upon his self. Look, there are only two hallmarks of faith. The first stage is that man should abandon sin and should be able to achieve a state [of mind] in which he considers commission of a sin to be akin to throwing himself into a fire or putting his finger into the mouth of black snake or drinking from the cup of some lethal poison. You should also keep in mind that mere abstinence from evil is not virtue. Virtue lies in pursuit of good along with abstinence from evil. When a person has progressed to this level in his abstinence from sin, he should then perform righteous deeds earnestly in the footsteps of the Holy Prophet s as as is the intent of God Almighty. No constraint should develop in his mind. And he should become capable of doing good with an open heart. Look, some people are inherently such that they do not have the power and ability to commit certain kinds of sins. Can a per- son, who is impotent boast that he does not commit adultery? Or can one who barely affords a loaf of bread worth a few cents, boast that he does not drink wine? Or can a person who is old, 1. Verily, he truly prospers who purifies himself ( S u rah al-A‘l a , 87:15). [Publisher]