Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 284
B AR Ā H Ī N-E-A H M ADIY YA — PART F IV E 284 done even by such a person who still has the impurity of miserliness in him. But when, for the sake of God Almighty, a man gives away his cherished possessions, on which depends his subsistence and which he has acquired with much toil, hardship, and sweat, then the impurity of miserliness leaves him, and at the same time his faith becomes more solid and firm. The two stages referred to above, which are antecedent to this stage, are not characterized by this pure quality, for they still have a concealed uncleanliness. The reason behind this is that turning away from the frivolous only amounts to discarding evil, and that too, of the kind that is not neces- sary for living and sustenance, and it does not put great hardship on the self to discard them. But to give away one’s own hard-earned pos- sessions for the sole purpose of winning the pleasure of God is an act of acquiring goodness, and it leads to the removal of the worst of the impurities of the self—the impurity of miserliness. Hence, this is the third stage of the spiritual being and it is nobler and superior to the first two. And corresponding to this is the third stage of the physical being, that of the مضغة [ mu d ghah —piece of flesh], which is superior than the first two stages of the sperm and the عَلَقَة [ ‘alaqah —clot]. It is also characterized by its purity, for both the sperm and the عَلَقَة [ ‘alaqah —clot] have a subtle impurity in them, whereas the مضغة [ mu d ghah —piece of flesh] is free from it. And just as the مضغة [ mu d ghah —piece of flesh] is more developed and purified in the رحم [ ri h m —womb] and has a stronger connection with the latter than the sperm and the عَلَقَة [ ‘alaqah —clot], in addition to being more solid and hard, the same is true of the third stage of the spiritual being, referring to which God says: 1 َو َنْيِذَّلا ْمُه ِةوٰكَّزلِل َنْوُلِعٰف Meaning that the believers are those who, in order to free themselves of 1. S u rah al-Mu’min u n, 23:5 [Publisher]