Guidance for Perceiving Minds — Page 38
h a d rat Mirza ghulam AHmAD as 38 palm tree burned. While there was a time when its beauty used to please the beholders, and looking at its clouds cleared the minds. Today, it is like a tree in whose shade bats have roosted in, or a spring where not a drop of its pure water remains. All power and blessing that once resided within this religion began to depart, leaving behind only stories from the verses and the superficiality of the clear Book. It resembles a house whose owner has passed away, its mourners dispersed, its walls crumbled, and its structure shaken. So, what are the methods of healing, O physicians? Do you find these leaders repelling this affliction? Do you expect these kings to cleanse the garden of religion from these thorns? Or do you think that these diseases can be cured within the Islamic coun- tries through their known efforts? Surely not! It is a more difficult matter than expecting fresh dates from Zaqq u m. How can it be while they are in the grip of sombre silence? How can they raise their heads while burdened with thousands of worries? I tell you honestly that the truth is that these afflictions cannot be averted by the kings and leaders. Can a blind person guide another blind, O people of cunningness? Moreover, these kings, even if they are Muslims or sincere ones who offer solace, their souls do not resemble those of the perfect and purified. They have not been bestowed with the light and attraction possessed by the sanctified ones. Surely light never descends from heaven except upon a heart that has been scorched by the fires of [divine] devotion; it is then endowed with true love, cleansed by the spring of pleasure, and adorned with the kohl of insight, honesty, and serenity. And then it is clothed with the robes of [spiritual] elevation and choice and granted the station