Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 124
124 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad have a relationship with a pure soul—which in the Holy Quran and according to Islamic terminology, is referred to as the Holy Spirit—until they themselves bear an affinity in nature with such people. I cannot say how long it takes for such a relationship to be developed. Indeed, one ought to act as the saying goes: ازاہکن اخک وشی ش � ی �پ� اخک وش Turn into dust before you return to dust. Reduce yourself to dust in this way and tread this path with the utmost patience and perseverance. Ultimately, Allah the Exalted will not let the sincere effort of such a one go in vain, and will grant them the light that they seek. I am left aston- ished and fail to understand how human beings can be so audacious when they know that God exists. Spiritual Discipline So, the person that I have mentioned said to me that the saints of the past would turn people into saints and divines of the highest order with spells. I told the individual that this was not true and that the way of God does not function in this way. I told him to engage in spiritual discipline and only then will Allah Almighty open to him the avenues which lead to Him. The man who had come to me did not lend any attention to my words and left. After some time, the same person came to me again and I found him to be in an even worse state than before. In short, the unfortunate thing about man is that he seeks a law which brings instant results, and when he observes that nothing can be attained instantane- ously—because the law of Allah Almighty functions gradually and in stages—he becomes anxious. Ultimately, such people become atheists. This is the first step to atheism. I have seen people who either make extravagant claims and entertain overly bold aspirations about what they will become, but then ultimately settle for the most ignoble of lives. On one occasion, someone visited me and asked me for something. The man was a yogi. He told me that he went to a certain place; he visited so-and-so. But ultimately, it was evident from his state of affairs and manner of speech that he thought a life of begging was perfectly acceptable. The honest truth is that one ought to remain patient. Sa’di wonderfully states: p. 110