Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 52
NU S R AT U L- H AQ Q — HE L P OF G OD 52 Thus, divine cognizance alone is not enough to cleanse and purify oneself. Rather, grief-stricken weeping and crying like children is also necessary. Do not lose hope and do not be discouraged by the thought: ‘Our souls are so defiled with sin; of what value are our supplications and what impact would they have?’ The human soul has, in fact, been created for the love of God and although the fire of sin may intensely excite him, even then he possesses such power of repentance that it can extinguish that fire. Just as you observe that however much water is heated, when it is poured over a fire it still extinguishes the fire. Ever since God Almighty created people, their hearts have always been cleansed and purified through this means alone. In other words, man cannot be purified from sin through any means besides the Living God Himself—through His own manifestations of word and deed— revealing His existence, His power, and His Godhood, and displaying His shining awe. Even by way of reason this very fact is clear and proven that man only values—and his heart is only awe-inspired by—such an object whose greatness and power he learns through the means of complete cognition. For instance, it is evident that man will never insert his hand into a hole wherein he is certain that a snake lies, nor will he ever eat a thing that he knows to be poison. How is it then, that he does not fear God Almighty in the same way and brazenly commits thousands of sins and transgressions, and remains fearless even after reaching old age? The reason for this is simply that he is totally unaware of the exist- ence and entity of the True Requiter who can punish sin. It is a pity that most people have not paid attention to this princi- ple out of their misfortune, and such absurd means of being delivered from sin have been hewn out of their imaginary whims, which only increase their audacity in committing even more sin. Take for exam- ple, the belief that asserts that having faith in the crucifixion of Hadrat ‘ I s a [ Jesus], may peace be upon him, and considering him to be God is obligatory for the forgiveness of all mankind’s sins. Can such a notion be expected to engender true hatred of sin? It is obvious that each and