Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 474
474 MALFUZAT - ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF URDU VOLUME 7 middle course[ سَابِقُ بِالْخَيْرَتِ ]sabiqum bil-khairāt—who excel others in deeds of goodness]. The zālimulli-nafsi are those who are trapped in the clutches of nafs-e-ammārah [the self that incites to evil] and are at the beginner stage. They try their level best to get out of this state. The muqtașidun are those who are called moderate in con- duct. To a certain extent, they are freed from nafs-e-ammārah but it still attacks them at times and along with this attack they are penitent as well. Salvation is not yet achieved in a complete manner. However, the sabiqum bil-khairāt are those who do noth- ing but virtuous deeds and surpass all others. Their activi- ties and inactivities come to be inherently of such a nature that only virtuous deeds emanate from them. It is as if com- plete death has come over their nafs-e-ammārah [self that incites to evil] and they are in the state of mutma'innah [peace]. They perform good deeds as if it were just an ordi- nary affair. Hence, sometimes in their view even that act is a sin which others consider a virtue to the same extent. The reason for this is that their spiritual cognition and insight is highly advanced. This is the very reason why the Sufis say, حَسَنَاتُ الْأَبْرَارِ سَيِّئَاتُ الْمُقَرَّبِيْنَ ]The virtues of the righteous are sins for the intimate friends of God']. For example, consider the case of financial donations. One man is poor and is a daily wage earner of two annas [1 ānna equals 1/16 of a rupee] while another man has assets of 200,000 rupees and a daily income that runs into the thousands. That two-ānna labourer still manages to give a two paisa [1 paisa equals 1/4 of an ānna] donation from that income while the one who is a millionaire and has an income of thousands gives two rupees. So, although he has given more than the labourer, the fact is that this labourer will surely get the reward, but this rich millionaire will not receive a reward, but rather a punishment