Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 298
Malf uza t - English translation of Urdu Volume 8 298 in this spiritual life until he abandons vice and adopts virtues. Virtues are like food. Just as a person cannot survive without food, similarly, he is nothing until he adopts the practice of vir- tuous deeds. It is mentioned in one place in the Holy Quran that there are two conditions. One condition is that: 1 َنْوُبَرْشَي ْنِم ٍسْاَك َناَك اَهُجاَزِم اًرْوُفاَك َنْوُبَرْشَي ْنِم ٍسْاَك َناَك اَهُجاَزِم اًرْوُفاَك Meaning that, they drink a beverage that contains camphor. This means that the heart becomes cold to the love of the world. Camphor is a cold substance and suppresses toxins. It is beneficial for cholera and epidemic diseases. Thus, the first stage of taqw a is that which is described met- aphorically as: َنْوُبَرْشَي ْنِم ٍسْاَك َناَك اَهُجاَزِم اًرْوُفاَك َنْوُبَرْشَي ْنِم ٍسْاَك َناَك اَهُجاَزِم اًرْوُفاَك The hearts of such people who drink the sherbet of camphor wax cold to every kind of treachery and cruelty—the heart growing cold to every kind of wickedness and evil faculty. And this effect is produced within them innately and naturally, not through artificial imposition. They become disgusted with all kinds of evils. It is true that this is not an ordinary phenomenon. It is not easy to let go of evils. The greater part of the Gospel is filled with this commandment not to do evil, whereas this is the first stage of the completion of faith. One should not be content with just this. Nevertheless, if a person acts upon it and abandons evils, Allah will help him with the second part. A person can verbally profess that I abstain from evil, but when confronted with various kinds of evil deeds, the body trembles. 1. S u rah ad-Dahr, 76:6 [Publisher]