Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 528
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 10 528 such a person is doomed to destruction whether it be today or tomorrow. 1 I wish to give you an essential piece of advice. I hope it finds its way into the hearts of people. Behold! Life is passing by. Abandon negligence and sup- plicate earnestly. Supplicate to God in seclusion, that God may preserve your faith and that He be pleased and content with you. Two Ways of Achieving Progress There are only two ways for man to make progress. The first is through observance of the dictates of the Shariah such as Salat , Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj [the Pilgrimage], etc. —abiding by the constraints of the Shariah, which he carries out on his own, in accord with the directive of God. But because these matters are in man’s own control, he sometimes become lazy or lax in them, and sometimes he manages to create some measure of ease or leniency in them. So, the other way is that which is brought down upon man directly by God and it is this which is the cause of man’s true progress. In the hardships of the Shariah, man manages to find some way to avoid or make it easy and comfortable for himself. Look, imagine if someone is handed a whip and asked to hit his own body with it—it is natural that the love for his own body would come over him. Who would want to put himself in pain? 1. From Badr: Hear this well! This world is indeed transitory. There is a wife and brother too. There are all the other relatives. There is wealth and riches. But it is all naught if one does not take God Almighty to be his shield ( Badr, vol. 7, no. 25, p. 7, dated 25 June 1908).