Blessings of Prayer — Page 34
Barak a tud Du‘ a 34 it possible that one who is the creature of the world and is after worldly glory, * honour and prestige, should inherit the Prophetic knowledge, because God Almighty has promised that it shall be given only to the pure. A person who claims to inherit the know- converse, I all at once experience a trance-like state and become a wholly different entity. Although, at this stage, I remain in full possession of my senses and am fully conscious, yet I feel as if a most Powerful Being has taken my whole being in His grip and all the veins of my existence are in His hand, and whatever is mine is no longer mine but belongs to Him. At this point God Almighty brings before my mind those of my thoughts upon which He intends to focus the rays of His words. These thoughts then appear before my mind, one after the other, in a wonderful way; and it so happens that when a thought passes through my mind—for instance, whether a certain person will recover from his illness or not—a piece of Divine revelation at once falls upon it like a ray, and this often shakes up my whole body. Once this matter has been settled, another thought suddenly presents itself before me. No sooner does this happen, than another piece of Divine revelation falls upon my mind. It is much like an archer shooting whenever a quarry shows itself. At that moment I realize that while the chain of thoughts is generated by my own natural ability, the words that fall upon it descend from heaven. Although it is true that poets and other such people also receive inspiration after thought and reflection, it is a gross insolence to relate it to Divine revelation, because inspiration is a result of one’s own deep reflection and is experienced while one is fully conscious and is in full control of his faculties; while Divine revelation is received only when the whole being of the recipient is under the control of God Almighty, and his own senses or reflections have no part to play in the revelation. At that instant one feels that his tongue is not his own and some Mighty Power is controlling it. From what I have stated, one can understand clearly the difference between the natural phenomena and what descends from heaven. Finally, I pray that God Almighty may wash away this cursed naturalism from the hearts of Muslims, so that no stain of it may be left. The eye which can see the blessings of Islam will not open unless Contd…