Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 166
166 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad company. One ought to forsake one’s prejudice entirely and turn away from the world. For example, wherever there is an outbreak of plague, until one leaves the affected area, they remain in danger. In the same manner, one who does not transform one’s state and does not move to a new land, as it were, and does not detach themselves to reflect on how one can attain a life of piety, and until one supplicates to God, one remains in a state of danger. There has been no Prophet in the history of the world who has not imparted teachings of prayer. It is prayer which forges a bond between man’s servitude (ubudiyyat) and divine providence (rububiyyat). It is difficult to tread this path, but one who does will find that prayer is a means by which all these difficulties become easy and painless. The subject of prayer is so subtle that it is a challenging task even to describe it. Until a person is experienced themselves in prayer and in its various states, one cannot expound its details. When an individual prays to God incessantly, they become a whole new person altogether; their spir- itual impurities are cleansed and they are blessed with a kind of pleasure and tranquillity; after they are freed from all forms of prejudice and ostentation, they patiently endure all the hardships which arise on the path of God. They endure for the sake of God all those hardships which others do not and can- not bear, and they do so only to attain the pleasure of God Almighty. It is then that God Almighty, who is the Gracious and Merciful Lord, and the Epitome of compassion, turns His sight towards such a person and removes all of their troubles and impurities, and grants them bliss. It is easy to proclaim with the tongue that one has attained salvation, or that one has developed a strong relationship with God Almighty. God Almighty watches closely to see the extent to which an individual has detached themselves from what they must forsake. It is true that he who seeks, finds; those who advance pure-heartedly, succeed and reach their final destination. When man is torn between religion and the world, ultimately he loses touch with religion completely and becomes wholly attached to the world. If man searches for religion with divine insight, one is easily able to determine which community is true. But no, often the goal and objective is to win the debate. When two people discuss an issue, both of them want nothing more than to defeat the other. In the present age, prejudice, obdu- racy and stubbornness are afflictions as widespread as ants. So, ultimately, p. 150