Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 251
24 July 1905 251 I have prayed a lot and do so assiduously, but I also worry that everyone is caught up in the sorrows of the world. When will they get the opportunity to worry about religion? Suffering is inevitable in this life, and in the limited time of a person’s life, at some point, one is subject to some accident and sorrow. Thus, if a person’s soul continues to worry like this about the sorry state of worldly affairs, when will that pristine time become available to him when all his sorrows and worries will be for the Faith? If the members of the Jam a ‘at who have declared in their Bai‘at [Pledge of Allegiance] to give religion priority over the world, are stuck in this quagmire day and night, tell me when they will pay attention to the fulfilment of this critical Pledge? The Promised Messiah as said: I can say under oath that I have never suffered from sorrow and anxiety for the world ever since I can remember. The Promised Messiah as said: When I was probably 15 years old, I questioned a Khatri [Indian caste predominantly involved in trade and commerce] who was sitting in the presence of my revered father and was recount- ing his bitter experiences and failures and was extremely vexed. I asked ‘Why do people suffer so much for the world and are trapped in its grief and sorrows?’ He said ‘You are still a child. You will come to know these things when you have a household. ’ The Promised Messiah as said: After quite some time when I was probably about 40 years old, I had a chance to speak to that very Khatri for some reason. So,