Allah The Exalted — Page 59
All a h the Exalted 5 as special grace and is confined to human beings. Other things have not been bestowed the faculty of prayer and supplication and righteous action, but man has been be- stowed this faculty. Man is an articulate animal and can be the recipient of Divine grace through the exercise of his faculty of speech. Other things have not been be- stowed this faculty. It is obvious, therefore, that supplication is a quality of humanness, which is inherent in man's nature. Man derives grace from the Divine attribute of Ra hi miy- yat as he derives from the attributes of Rub u biyyat and Ra h m a niyyat ; the only difference is that Rub u biyyat and Ra h m a niyyat do not demand supplication as they are not confined to man and bestow their grace upon all living things, and indeed Rub u biyyat comprises within itself beneficence towards animals, vegetables, minerals and heavenly and earthly bodies. Nothing is outside the op- eration of its grace. As a contrast, Ra hi miyyat is a special robe of honour for man. If man does not derive benefit from this attribute, he reduces himself to the condition of animals, nay, even of minerals. The operation of Ra hi miyyat having been confined to man, and supplication being needed for bringing it into operation , it shows that there is a type of Divine grace which is conditioned upon supplication and cannot be achieved without supplication. This is the way of All a h and is a definite law the contravention of which is not permissible. That is why all Prophets [peace be on them] supplicated for their followers. The Torah reveals that on many occasions the children of Israel offended God Almighty and were about to be chastised, but the chas- tisement was averted by the prayers, supplications and