Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 320
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 7 320 his hosts]. Imagine the extent to which the grief of Noah, peace be on him, must have reached to kindle such wrath of God. Know for a certainty that this is a wondrous group of peo- ple indeed. The sorrows and anxieties of the people are for those within the circle of their own homes, whether it is grief for the wife and children or their own honour and wealth, so God Almighty does not care about them. However, the circle of sorrows of this group of people is vast because, on the one hand, they suffer anguish due to compassion for God’s creation. On the other, they grieve for the grandeur and majesty of Allah the Exalted, and this condition cannot come into being artifi- cially or by contrivance. Their nature is innately made that way. This group of people is as if ablaze with such concerns. This being the case, Allah does not permit them to die of such grief. He sees that their suffering is for Him alone. If they are asked why they grieve so much, they cannot reveal it because their relationships are personal. They are inherently restless for the glory of God Almighty to become manifest, and there is nothing of their ego involved in it. The relations of perfect souls with Allah the Exalted are such that they cannot be set apart even if there is no Heaven or Hell. In short, man cannot fathom the varieties of anguish and distress they suffer for [establishing] the grandeur and majesty of Allah the Exalted. It is when this anguish exceeds all bounds that a heavenly Sign is manifested. It is true that God needs no one. If the whole world praises and renders thanks and appre- ciation to God and no one disobeys Him, there would be no increase in the splendour of His Rub u biyyat [Providence] and Divinity, nor can it suffer a decrease if everyone indulged in sin and iniquity. The fact, however, is that when a person devotes himself entirely to Him, He finally has to manifest His Hidden Being. This is the mystery disclosed by this hadith: