Malfuzat - Volume IV — Page 66
66 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 13 November 1901 The Essence and Effects of Faith His Holiness as began by speaking about heaven and hell, and said: “Faith is a mag - nificent treasure, and faith means to believe in a state when knowledge has yet to reach its full completion, and one is still battling with doubts and suspicions. Therefore, an individual who attests with their heart and tongue in such a state is a believer. It is such people who are named righteous and truthful in the presence of God, the Lord of Oneness. In return for this action, as a divine conferral, Allah the Exalted grants such a person levels of divine insight that are complete, and real paradise begins with this very faith. As such, where the Holy Quran speaks of paradise, it has first mentioned faith, followed by good deeds. It states that the reward for faith and good deeds is: 1 ُ َر ٰ ِه ْ َّن َ ا اْلْ َا ِه ِ َت َْحْ َّت ْ ُن ِ َم ِْْي َر ْ َج َ َّت ٍ ِت ٰ ْن َ ْج Gardens beneath which flow streams. Meaning, the reward for faith is paradise, and since rivers are required to keep that paradise verdant and green, therefore, those rivers spring forth from good deeds. The actual truth is that it is a person’s good deeds which will take on an apparently manifest form in the next world as flowing rivers. We observe even in our own world that the more one progresses in doing good deeds and abstains from disobeying God Almighty, and the more one holds back from transgressing and overstepping the limits set by Allah, the more one increas - es in faith. Every new virtue that is performed reinforces a person’s faith and gives greater strength to the heart; one begins to feel pleasure in their understanding of God. Ultimately, this reaches the point where the heart of a believer becomes so imbued with love for God and passion for the Lord—all as a gift and grace from God—that their entire being, on account of their love for Him and the comfort that they feel in Him as a result, becomes replete like a brimming goblet. Divine light surrounds the heart of such a person completely, and this does away with all forms of darkness, strain and spiritual constriction. In such a state, even the hardships and misfortunes which such a person is faced with for the sake of God Almighty, cannot turn away or straiten their heart even for a moment. In fact, 1 al-Baqarah , 2:26 p. 339 ِ ٍة َ ْد ِ ْ َف َ ْْل َ ٰل َ ِع ُ َع ِ ُل َ ْط َ َّت َِْتِْي ْل ُ ٍة َ ْد َ ُق ُْوْ َم ْْل ِ ُهلل َُُر َّن