Hallmarks of the Saints — Page 20
20 HALLMARKS OF THE SAINTS الله على الأرضين. يُشاع أمرهم كالبرق إذا تبوّج، والبحر إذا تموج. تخرج إليهم السُّعداء كظبي إذا خرج من توجها، وتقبلهم خيار الأمة من غير أَعْوَجِها. والذين ينكرونهم فسيعلمون عند الحشرجة، وإن التهبوا اليوم كالنار المنحضجة. إنهم يؤثرون الدنيا ويجعلونها لقلوبهم معبدها، ويتمايلون عليها كالديك إذا حَلَجَ ومشى إلى أُنثاه ليسفدها. قد رَهَدوا كالحبل إذا حُمْلِجَ، وليسوا كَغُصْنٍ رَأُودٍ بل كطعام إذا تَكَرَّجَ. ليس فيهم خيرٌ ويضائهون الحِنْبِجَ. إن الذين يؤمنون برسل الله مثلهم كمثل شجرة طيّبة، في حَنادِج حُرّة هم الذين يتخذون عَضُدًا لِمِلَّةٍ of lightning and as the surging of the sea. Good-natured people hasten towards them much like gazelles emerge from their hide- outs, and, except for the crooked, all good-natured people of the ummah accept them. Those who reject them will definitely come to realize [the enormity of their rejection] during the pangs of death, even though at present they flare up like a blazing fire. They prefer this world and make it a temple for their hearts. They strut towards it as a rooster rushes towards a hen with ruffled feathers in order to mate with her. They show great stupidity and are hardened like a well-twisted rope. They are unlike a fresh and tender branch but are rather like food that has gone mouldy; they are devoid of good and are like misers. Verily, the case of those who believe in the Prophets of Allah is akin to a pure tree on a fertile sand hill; it is they who are taken to be the helpers of this purified religion. They move like an