Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 94
94 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad punishment. The Urdu word gunah (sin) was derived from the Arabic janah meaning ‘inclination’ or ‘moving away from the centre. ’ Hence, when a person shuns God, turns away from His light and distances themselves from that divine radiance, which descends upon the hearts from God alone, they fall into dark - ness, which brings about the divine chastisement that such a person experiences. Moreover, the nature of punishment with which one is afflicted accords with the sort of aversion that one exhibits towards God. However, if an individual once again desires to return to that central point and brings themselves to that sta - tion on which divine light descends, they are able to find that lost light. In the world, we observe that light can only enter our room if we open the shutters. Similarly, in the spiritual world, ‘returning’ to the central point is the only way to attain pleasure and this saves one from the pain and agony that arose when one moved away from this centre. This phenomenon is called repentance (tawbah). This very darkness which results in the manner that I have described is called misguidance and hell. The pleasure that is derived from returning to the original source is what represents paradise. Forsaking sin and returning to virtue—which draws the pleasure of Allah Almighty—serves as an atonement for sin, and drives it away and suppresses its effects as well. This is why Allah the Exalted has stated: 1 ِتِ ٰا ـ ِ ْي َ ْلْس ِْبَْنَ ا ْه ْ ِّذ ِٰتِ ُيُـ ْن َ ْس َ ْح ْلْ َ ا َن ِ ا In other words, good works drive away evil works. Since evil carries the poison of death and virtue possesses the antidote of life, the method of dispelling the poison of evil is nothing other than virtue. We could also say, in other words, that punishment is the absence of pleasure, and salvation is synonymous with pleasure and bliss. Just as illness describes a condition where the body shifts away from its normative state, health is a state when one’s condition is at its normative state. One begins to feel pain if one’s hand, foot, or any other limb shifts from its origi - nal state, rendering the part unusable; and if this state continues for some time, not only does the limb itself become permanently damaged, in fact, this even begins to have an adverse effect on other parts of the body as well. This is precisely the state in spirituality too, in that when a person turns away from God Almighty Who is the centre, the actual source and essence of one’s life, and abandons the religion of human nature, it is at such time that chastisement begins. If a person’s heart has not died completely and if they still possess the element of perception, 1 Hud , 11:115 p. 367 ِ ٍة َ ْد ِ ْ َف َ ْْل َ ٰل َ ِع ُ َع ِ ُل َ ْط َ َّت َِْتِْي ْل ُ ٍة َ ْد َ ُق ُْوْ َم ْْل ِ ُهلل َُُر َّن ُ َر ٰ ِه ْ َّن َ ْْل َ ِه ِ َت َْحْ َّت ْ ُن ِ َم ِْْي َر ْ َج َ َّت ٍ ِت ٰ ْن َ ْج ْ ُم ُ ِه َ ْل َ َن َ ِِٰت ْح ِ ُل ٰ ْلَص ْو ُِلُ َم َ ِع َُْوْ َو ْن َٰاَم َ ُن ْ ُي ِ ِّذ َ ْل ِ َر ِ ْش َ ْب َوَ