Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 309
APPE N DI X to B AR Ā H Ī N-E-A H M ADIY YA — PART F IV E 309 disbelievers should believe, that it was feared lest the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, should himself die on account of this grief. This is why Allah the Exalted said to him not to grieve so much for these people and not to subject his heart to anguish to such a degree because those people were unmindful about believing and their aims and objectives were different. In this verse, Allah the Almighty has pointed out that: ‘O Prophet (may peace be upon him)! You pray for the guidance of these people with such determination, complete concentration, pathos, and putting your soul in hardship, that there is nothing lacking for the efficacy of your payers. However, the prerequisite for the acceptance of a prayer is that the person for whom the prayer is made should not be overly biased, heedless, and evil-natured; in such cases, the prayer will not be accepted. So far as God Almighty has bestowed upon me the knowledge of prayer, it is that there are three conditions for the acceptance of prayer. [1] First, the supplicant should be righteous to the perfect degree, for only he is acceptable of God Almighty whose characteristic is right- eousness and who has grasped firmly the subtle paths of righteousness and who is a favourite of God on account of being trustworthy, pious, and true to his pledge; and who is replete and filled with the personal love of God. [2] The second condition is that his resolve and attention should be of such calibre as though, to revive one person, he himself perishes and—to pull one person out of a grave—he himself enters the grave. The secret to this is that His elect are dearer to God than a handsome child—who is also the only child—is dear to its mother. Thus, when God, the Benevolent and Merciful, observes that an elect and beloved of His has reached the brink of death with spiritual labours, humble supplications, and striving, in an effort to save the life of one individ- ual, He disapproves that he be destroyed in that state on account of His relation of love. Then, for his sake, He forgives the sin for which the other person had been seized. Therefore, if he is afflicted with a fatal disease or is overwhelmed and trapped in some calamity, then, by His