Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 425
! ! 425 that the tree will bear mangoes , but the mangoes will be of inferior quality , sour , and few in quantity. E ven a donkey takes one whiff of such mangoes and tosses them aside. W h e n these mangoes are taken to market, they are left in the basket with other rotten fruit , and no one buys them. In contrast, the mangoes of superior quality are carefully wrapped in paper and labeled accordingly. Chiefs place order after order for such mangoes and the wealthiest people buy them. However, the rotten mangoes sit in the ir grimy and dirty baskets, and although t he shopkeeper calls out that he is willing to sell whole baskets of these mangoes at very low prices, still nobody buys them. Thus , there are those mango e s which let off the most beautiful fragrance , waft ing towards passersby and enfolding them from head to toe , affecting them as if an electric current. And, o n the other hand, you would not want your gaze to fall upon the [ rotten ] mangoes. T he same is true for other fruit. There is a time when melons are sold a t a high price [because of their sweetness ] and at other times , they are full of maggots. Therefore, Allah says, ‘You recite the Kalima again and again, but you shoul d understand what you say. ’ Haz rat Abu Bakr ra , Haz rat ‘ Umar ra , Haz rat ‘ U th man ra , and Haz rat ‘ Ali ra also recited the Kalima Tayyiba. If you say that you declare the same Kalima as that of [Hazrat] Abu Bakr ra and [Hazrat] ‘Umar ra , then you are mistaken, for their Kalima was Kalima Tayyiba. Tayyiba in Arabic means beautiful, fragrant, delightful, and sweet. Tayyiba has other meanings as well , but these four qualities are specifically defined with in Tayyiba. It is not necessary that whatever is beautiful must also be fragrant. There are many people who are good - looking , but their underarms release an odor. There are others whose scent is not distasteful , but one dislikes thei r looks. There are some who are not ill , but they are illiterate and ill - mannered. There are still others who are beautiful, let off a sweet fragrance, and are learned, but they are not sweet , or in other words, their conversation is not enjoyable. Therefore, Tayyiba is that which encompasses all four qualities, or one who is beautiful, fragrant, delightful , and sweet. Therefore , those who claim to have faith in the Kalima Tayyiba should reflect on whether they have all four of these qualities. The first meaning of Tayyiba is beautiful. C onsider