The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 424
424. Essence of Islam-1 of truth. This fragrance is accompanied by a beauty of exposition, propriety of diction, colourfulness, smoothness and, as in the rose, its fragrance is accompanied by the beauty of its colour and clearness. These are its external qualities. . From the point of view of its internal qualities, the Surah. Fātiḥah comprises remedies for great spiritual illnesses, and makes provision for the perfection of intellectual power and the power of action. It reforms great disorders and sets forth great insights and fine points which have been hidden from the eyes of thinkers and philosophers. . The heart of a seeker is strengthened by its perusal and is healed of the ills of doubt and suspicion and error. Many high verities and fine realities which are needed for the perfection of the soul are furnished by its contents. Obviously, these excellences are such that they cannot be combined in the writing or speech of any human being. . This impossibility is not mere inference, but is obvious. . God Almighty has manifested the perfection of its external and internal qualities by setting out, in eloquent words, the fine points and high insights at the time of their need and in accordance with the requirements of truth. He has carried both sides, the external and the internal, to the highest grades of perfection. First, it sets out those necessary high insights the signs of which had disappeared from previous teachings, and no thinker or philosopher had set them forth. These have not been set out without need and in vain, but they have been set out at a time when they were absolutely necessary for the reform of the conditions of the age and without their being set out the age would have faced ruin and destruction. . They have not been set out imperfectly or incompletely, and are perfect in themselves. The wisdom of a wise per-