Blessings of Khilafat — Page 168
168 First Rank At the first stage of spirituality, man is like an inanimate substance. This is the lowest of the stages. Such people are devoid of any sense for distinguishing between right and wrong. However one tries to make them understand, all such efforts prove useless, for such people are inherently unable to progress. They do not even see dreams or receive revelation. The following verse is indicative of such people: 20 That is, these people are so corrupt that they have become like stones, and are now devoid of every seed of prosperity. Even a small seed when planted in the ground and watered, turns into a big tree; but a stone however one tries, can bring him no benefit. Therefore, the lowest of the spiritual stages of man is the one where man is devoid of consequences for his actions and loses all sense of accountability. Islam wants to inculcate such sense and knowledge in man so that he may become conscious of what he is doing at all times, but those people who belong to this stage are not 20 Then your hearts became hardened after that, till they were like stones or harder still; for of stones indeed there are some out of which gush forth streams, and of them there are some out of which flows water when they cleave asunder. And indeed, of them there are some that humble themselves for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unmindful of what you do. ( S u rah al-Baqarah , 2:75)