The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 267
266 Α'ΙΝΑ-Ε-ΚΑMĀLĀT-E-ISLAM-DAFI UL-WASĀWIS Nevertheless, Divine dialogue is a separate phenomenon, which is that akin to a verbal wahy [revelation]—the Word of God Almighty descends upon them, and they receive a response from God Almighty to their questions just as a friend responds to a friend. We can define this converse only as a particular manifestation of Allah, glorified be His eminence, which takes place through an angel of the higher order. Its object is to notify of the acceptance of prayer, or to give informa- tion regarding some new and hidden affair, or to supply knowledge of future events, or to inform regarding God's approval or disapproval of something, or to bestow certainty and cognition in some other types of affairs. In short, this wahy is a Divine voice emanating from Allah in the form of converse and discourse with a view to permeating the addressee with the certainty of knowledge and satisfaction. It is impossible to describe its nature better than by saying that it is a Divine voice pro- duced purely by the prompting of God and His inspiration and in which one's own ego, thought, or deliberation plays no part at all. It is a speech experienced as pleasant, blessed, and possessed of Godly glory and the awe of Divine force. Here, every seeker after truth would naturally ask what he should do in order to attain this high spiritual station of discourse with God. The answer is that this stage is a new existence in which one is granted new faculties, new abilities, and a new life. This new existence cannot be acquired without the annihilation of the previous existence. When the previous existence is wholly discarded through a true and real sac- rifice, which means the sacrifice of one's self, honour, wealth, and all other trappings of the ego, this second existence immediately takes its place. If it is asked, what are the signs of the annihilation of the earlier self, the answer is that previous characteristics and emotions are replaced by new characteristics and new emotions, and a tremendous change is experienced in one's nature. All states of existence relating to mor- als, faith, and worship, appear as transformed as if they are donning a