Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 163
POSTSCRIPT―RESPONSE TO SOME CRITICS' OBJECTIONS 163 they become firmly grounded in the belief of the Unseen and do on their own what they possibly can, then God shall move them forward from the condition of belief to that of enlightenment, and shall cause their faith to acquire a new colour. It is a Sign of the truth of the Holy Quran that it does not want those who approach it to remain at the level of belief and practice which they attain through their own effort. Were it so, how would one know that God actually exists? Rather, He ordains a reward on human efforts from Himself—a reward that contains divine splendour and divine power. For instance, as I stated, what more can man do about his belief in God than to believe in the Unseen God, whose existence is corroborated by each particle of this universe? But man does not have the power on his own—through his own effort and his own exertion-to succeed in attaining knowledge of the radiant light of God, graduating from a state of belief to the state of enlightenment, and generating within himself the state of wit- nessing and beholding [God]. In the same way, regarding Prayer, what can human effort and exertion possibly do except be clean and pure as best as possible and then stand in Prayer after repelling the perils [to concentration] and trying not to allow the Prayer to stay in a derelict condition, and, with genuine fervour, offering all its components—namely, praise and glo- rification of God Almighty, repentance, seeking forgiveness, supplica- tion, and invoking blessings upon the Holy Prophet? But it is simply not within human power that an extraordinary personal love, per- sonal reverence, fervour, and eagerness imbued with total effacement and attentiveness, that is free from any distraction, should develop in his prescribed Prayer as if he is beholding God. And it is evident that unless and until this state develops in the prescribed Prayer, it is not free from deficiency. For this very reason, God Almighty said that the righteous are those who make their prescribed Prayer upright, for only that is made upright which has a propensity to fall. Hence, the verse