Guidance for Perceiving Minds — Page 33
33 your bonds with them and resort to the path of transgression and conflict. Instead, beseech Allah the Most Majestic for their reformation so that they may desist. Do not anticipate that they will rectify what the hands of the Antichrist has ruined or rebuild the nation after its collapse and evident imbalance. Remember, every field has its heroes. Is there hope of reviving people from the dead? Or seeking guidance from the misguided? Or rain from clear skies? Or for camels to pass through the eye of a needle? So, how can you expect these from them? By Allah, we do not anticipate their reform until the approach of death awakens them. Yet, the duty of reminding has been entrusted to us. We regard them as a fleeting bird that cannot be captured, or as life irretrievably lost, or as bats whose presence brings ruin to the land, or as a town parched by drought, or as a shade offering no refuge to the people, or like poison that rup- tures livers. The shock of their stumbling was profound, and I see no one capable of lifting them from their current state. They resemble firewood rather than fruit-bearing trees, fit only for the flames. They have lost their sense of intuition and the principles of governance. They sought to learn the strategies of their Christian neighbours, yet they failed to grasp the subtleties of intrigue and the art of defence. Their situation is akin to a rooster aspiring to match the eagle in flight, but in his attempt, he leaves his place and falls short of the eagle’s prowess, ultimately becoming exhausted and vulnerable prey for a hawk in the field. This is the state of the Muslims kings in comparison to the People of the Cross. They turned away from what they had been taught of piety, failing to achieve the perfection in strategy exhibited by their enemies. Consequently, they found themselves neither here nor there.