Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 568
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 10 568 Reverence and Belief The Promised Messiah as said: It is a matter of principle that man reveres things more when they are shrouded in mystery. When they appear as reality before the eyes, he does not revere them as much. For instance, Hindus have great faith in all their gods and goddesses, but if they were to come face to face with them, they would no longer have the same reverence for them. It is only the Prophets who show their face and yet establish their grandeur in the hearts of people. If the Messiah, who is considered to be God by the [Christian] people these days, were to return and sit amongst them, he would not be able to maintain even as much respect for himself as they had for his previous ‘Divinity’—let alone creating more awe about his ‘Divinity’. The reason being that the image of his ‘Divinity’ that they have endorsed would be shattered when they discover him to be nothing like it. It is a norm that when a person develops some reverence for someone, he creates an imaginary picture of him in his mind at the same time, which remains intact so long as it stays out of sight. But when that person or object comes before him and he finds it at variance with his imaginary idol or image, he loses respect for him altogether or at least does not respect him as much. Thus, this is the very condition of the fabricated God of these people. The real reason for this is that the person does not corre- spond to the imaginary picture they entertain of him in their mind. They find him to be different from what they had under- stood him to be, so they lose faith in him and turn away from him. And, in reality, this happens primarily where exaggeration