Guidance for Perceiving Minds — Page 25
25 number of their soldiers, state, and power. This is nothing but the effect of the wrath that descended upon them from heaven because they gave preference to their carnal desires over the Lord of Majesty, and because they placed insignificant worldly interests above Allah, and were very voracious in its mortal pleasures and entertainments. Furthermore, they were captives in the obnox- iousness of pride, arrogance, and hypocrisy. They are lazy in reli- gion and active in the paths of desires. How can greatness and noble qualities be given to a contemptible man? How can virtue and rank be granted to one of little value? They felt at ease with lust, forgot their subjects and their religion, and did not fulfil the right of responsibility and stewardship. They consider the public treasury to be the reserves and reve- nue that they inherited from their fathers, and they do not spend money on the objects for which it should be spent, as per the con- dition of piety. They think that they will never be questioned and will not be returned to Allah. The time of their state passes like confused dreams and shades of darkness. If you come to know of their actions, your skins would creep, and you would be puzzled. So, think: Are these people establishing faith and standing up for it like helpers? Do they guide the lost and treat the blind? Nay, rather, they have other objectives that they work for morning and evening. They have no part in the Shariah. Rather, they want to escape from its shackles and live in freedom. How can they ever possess the strong determination like the truthful caliphs, and a heart full of truth and justice like that of the righteous and pious people? Today, the thrones of the Caliphate are devoid of these quali- ties, and bodies have been cast upon them that are soulless; in fact,