A Letter to a Dear One — Page 19
Muhammad Zafrulla Khan 19 May 19 The Wonder of Life What is the objective of life? The wonder of human life is that man imprints Allah’s attributes on himself. This should be done in a way that his being is completely influenced by the imprints of Allah’s attributes. As it were, in his being, he becomes a manifestation of Allah’s attributes. This state of perfection is called ‘ ub ū diyyat (service of God) that is to say, to be a servant of God. Allah says in the Holy Qur’ ā n: I wyH¬H¤M ∑ G ÃI ö R êI~ G Ô ú I îMZ G y R ãI¨M ö Z H ÍMºG¾G‹ £G› [I have created the Jinn and the men but that they may worship Me. (51:57)] That is to say, I have created all types of humans so that they become My servants, that is, manifestations of My attributes. The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) elucidated the same objective by saying that one should adorn oneself with Allah’s morals and attributes. This state and connection can also be described as that genuine nature with which man makes Allah his Beloved. The intensity of such a love would require producing the perfect Beloved’s attributes within oneself. When man develops these attributes to human excellence within himself he then naturally becomes Allah’s beloved. This is the eventual objective of life and is indeed the perfection of life. Divine Knowledge Requires Knowledge of Divine Attributes In order to achieve this objective it is essential to have knowledge of Allah’s attributes and to repeatedly reflect on them. Study their manifestations and their effects. To imprint Allah’s Omnipotence, Purity and Supreme Values onto one’s heart, man has to be so agitated and melted down with the Perfect Grandeur and the luster of its Beauty that he has no wish of his own and he devotes each particle of his being in the way of the Real Beloved. The knowledge of Allah’s attributes is extremely extensive. It requires deep understanding. The truth of the matter is that the real knowledge between man and God is a mystery and it is impossible to