The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 325
324 ΑΙΝΑ-Ε-ΚΑMĀLĀT-E-ISLAM-DAFI UL-WASĀWIS sense of honour and dignity not to have chastised Abraham and Jacob and Moses and David and Solomon and many other Prophets know- ing them to be disobedient arch-rebels, for they had married many wives? Rather, He loved them more than the other people. Did your God not find anyone else on whom to bestow the gift of revelation? Did only those who had many wives catch His fancy?¹ It may also be borne in mind that the Prophets and all eminent righteous persons, by contracting polygamous marriages, and yet sur- passing all in spiritual powers and advancing in Divine favours, have proven to the world that the way to befriend God does not lie in liv- ing in this world like eunuchs and impotent persons. Rather, strong in faith is he who carries the largest burden of wives and children and, notwithstanding so many responsibilities, leads a life detached from this world. Developing the bond of being the Beloved and the lover between God Almighty and His servant demands the existence a third ele- ment. What is it? The faithful spirit arising within the believer, which grants him new sensory perceptions. It is through this very spirit that the believer hears the word of God Almighty, and it is through this very means that he attains genuine and everlasting purity, and it is through this very means that the extraordinary capabilities of a new life are produced within him. I now ask, who from among the yogis or monks or sannyasis [Hindu ascetics] is gifted with this holy spirit? Does any Christian pastor possess this pure spirit or, as you may call it, this Holy Ghost? I have exhausted myself in addressing challenges to clergymen all over the world; no one has responded to them, but some pastors pub- lished in the Nür Afshān that they would present a sealed envelope in the presence of a gathering for me to reveal its contents through my 1. There are indications in the Gospels which show that Jesus, too, was thinking of marrying; but he was taken away while he was still young, or else, he would have walked in the footsteps of his forbearer, David. -Author