Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 24
24 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 13 September 1901 The Reality of Complete Devotion to God His Holiness, the Sign of Allah on earth, the Promised Messiah, may Allah cause his blessings to endure, provided an exposition on 13 September 1901 after the Maghrib Prayer in response to a question posed by Syed Mir Ali Shah Sahib, a recipient of revelation from Sialkot. The man had been instructed in some vision to inquire from the Promised Messiah as about the meaning of complete devotion to God (tabattul). Due to this reason, he posed the question, and His Holiness as provided an elaboration. The Promised Messiah as said: “In my opinion, being instructed in a vision that I should be asked to explain the meaning of complete devotion to God (tabattul) signifies that the view that I hold in this regard be followed. This does not mean that a definition be provided in the manner of logicians or grammarians; rather, a meaning ought to be expounded in the practical sense. In my view, a person will be deemed to have devoted themselves completely to God when they give prec - edence in practical terms to the commandments and pleasure of Allah Almighty over the things that are related to this world and its abominations. No tradition, habit or tribal customs should strip them of this purpose, nor should one’s own inner-self rob them, neither one’s brother or wife, nor one’s son or father. In other words, no thing and no person should be able to draw a person under its influence in contestation to the commandments and pleasure of God Almighty, and one ought to become so engrossed in seeking the pleasure of God Almighty that one’s being is overcome by a state of complete annihilation in God, and that a death overtakes all of one’s desires and intentions so that nothing but God remains— nothing but God alone. The relations of this world often become a dangerous thief. In the case of Adam, peace be upon him, it was Eve who became an obstacle. Hence, in the case of complete devotion to God, it is necessary that a person is intoxicated completely and annihilated in God, but not so that they lose God, rather, in a way that they are lost in God. So in the practical sense, the deeper essence of absolute devotion to God becomes manifest when all obstructions are cleared, when all veils are removed, so that one reaches a stage of inherent love, and when a person becomes com - pletely annihilated in God, as has just been mentioned. Anything is possible in p. 299