The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 228
228. Essence of Islam-1 receive Divine grace, and on account of their earthly qualities, they should convey this grace which they have received from above to mankind. . It is quite correct to say that men of this type, on account of the perfection of their heavenly and earthly qualities, possess a special distinction among men. They are in a way a different kind of creation. The eagerness which they possess for the manifestation of God's glory and greatness, and the faithfulness with which their hearts are filled, and the upsurge of sympathy for human beings that they are bestowed, is such an extraordinary matter that it is difficult for others to imagine. It needs to be remembered, however, that all these persons are not equal in rank and that some are at a high level of the natural superiorities, and others are at a lower level and still others at a level which is even lower. . The pure conscience of a reasonable person can easily understand that the question of intercession is not something fake or artificial. On the contrary, there are builtin precedents thereof in the Divine scheme of things. . The law of nature, too, bears witness to it. The philosophy of intercession can be understood as following. The root word for intercession in Arabic (shuf'a) means a pair. So intercession (shafa'at) indicates that a necessary quality of an intercessor is that he should be related to both sides. On one side, his soul should have a strong relationship with God Almighty as if through perfect union he formed a pair and a connecting link with the. Divine, and on the other, he should also be closely attached to mankind as if he were part of their limbs. In short, for intercession to take place, both these elements are necessary.