Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 223
223 Malfuzat – Volume IV passes every exam becomes an absolute master of every skill, in the same way the Arabs were masters and leaders in vices and evil deeds. They were alcoholics and adulterers, they would usurp the wealth of orphans, they were gamblers. In short, they were greater than all others in every evil; in fact, they prided themselves on their wrongdoings. They would say: 1 َا ْي َْحْ َّن ََو ُ ِت ُْوْ َم َ َّن َا ْي ْ َّن ُ ْلْد ا َا ْن ُ َّت َا ْي َ ُح َا ْل ِ ا َ ي ِ ْه ْ َن ِ ا Meaning, this is the extent of our lives; it is here that we die and it is here that we live. They did not believe in the Day of Resurrection; the Day of Reckoning was nothing to them. To them, what was heaven and what was hell? All of the evils and vices that the Noble Quran prohibits in its injunctions were present in them collectively. This is an illustration of their state of affairs, which makes it evidently clear on reflection the sort of people they were. In one instance, Allah the Exalted states: 2 ُلُْوَْنَ ُـ ْك ْ ا َ ُي ََُعُْوَْنَ َو َت َتََمَ َـ ُي Meaning, they eat and enjoy themselves, or in other words, they are shackled and enslaved by their desire to consume and by their carnal pleasures. It ought to be remembered that when a person becomes ensnared and indulged in their inner passions and carnal desires, since they do not bring their natural desires to con - form with a moral state, their being enslaved and seized by desires itself becomes a hell for them. The difficulties with which they are faced in fulfilling those desires becomes a horrific chastisement for them as well. This is why Allah the Exalted has stated that whatever state they are in, it is as if they are in hell. The Holy Quran is not a Compilation of Stories One should never ever forget that the Noble Quran, which is the Seal of the Books, in actuality, is not a compilation of stories. Those who have declared on the basis of their misconception, or to hide the truth, that the Holy Quran is a book of stories, do not possess a nature that recognises the truth. On the contra - ry, this Holy Book has even transformed the stories of the past into philosophy, and so it has done a great favour on all the scriptures and on all the Prophets. Otherwise, these stories would be the target of mockery. It is also a bounty of 1 al-Mu’minun , 23:38 2 Muhammad , 47:13 p. 489 p. 484