The Reality of Khilafah — Page 178
SIRRUL-KHILAFAH— 178 this status after Allah, the All-Knowing, has designated it for me. Nor do I find this contrary to Divine verities or the Traditions of the Best of Messengers s as. The truth is that you have stumbled and are not even remorseful. You have not turned to the Holy Quran, nor pondered deeply upon the Traditions. You have abandoned the paths of guidance and truth and are inclined towards bigotry and antagonism. Your selfish inclinations have so overwhelmed you that you do not even try to understand the meanings of the words and have instead adopted the stance of the biased. Alas! You are ever ready to insult others but do not see your own faults because of the deceit of Satan. Heedlessly, you chase after the world and its vanities. By Allah, mixing the world with faith is a desire that has never been fulfilled. It is harder and more prob- lematic than marrying two women and expecting them to live together in harmony. If only you would ponder over this! Know, that the raiment of righteousness is of no benefit with- out the truth that is only known to the Lord. Every dark fruit is not a date, nor is every reddish drink wine. Many a charlatan holds on to the Lord of mankind like a chameleon hangs on to a tree, but he has no share of its fruits and knows nothing of its sweetness. Thus has Allah made the hearts of the hypocrites; they pray but do not know what true prayer is; they give alms but do not know what charity is; they fast but do not know what real fasting is; they perform the Pilgrimage but do not know the significance of i h rām ; they profess the Shah a dah [There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah] but do not know what Tau h īd [Oneness of Allah] is; and they say, ‘To Allah we belong and to Him shall we return,’ but they do not know who the One True Master is. They are like cattle; nay, even lower than cattle. The true servants and faithful