The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 391
390 Α'ΙΝΑ-Ε-ΚΑMĀLĀT-E-ISLAM-DAFI UL-WASĀWIS come to believe [in the Prophet], and only the common people lag, Signs begin to appear so that arguments of the [Prophet's] truth may be brought home to them, and that, there may be a justification for the punishment to which they may be sub- jected. The only people who benefit from these Signs, however, are those who have already declared their beliefs, and there are very few who come to believe afterwards; for, they become hard-hearted by their persistent denial and cannot change their publicized opinions, and at long last, they go to Hell in the state of this very disbelief and denial. It is my ardent heartfelt desire, and I pray, that you may come to understand the fact that the real meaning of faith requires the acceptance of the unseen. And that when a thing becomes completely manifest, or when a large part of it becomes man- ifest, acceptance of its existence does not constitute faith. For example, now that it is the time of day, if I were to say that I believe and declare my faith that it is now day and not night, what merit would there be in this faith of mine, and what supe- riority would I have over others by believing this? The first sign of a fortunate man is that he comes to understand this blessed concept of what it is that is called faith. For all the people who went on opposing the Prophets ever since the beginning of the world, their failure to understand the real significance of faith was this very veil that was blinding their intellects. They thought that it was improper to accept a Prophet unless his Prophethood and teachings were manifested to them like other obvious and palpable phenomena. These foolish people did not stop to think how accepting what was already openly manifest could possibly constitute faith-such a thing would be like addition and subtraction, mathematics, a science and not faith. This indeed was the veil due to which Abū Jahl and Abū Lahab, etc. , remained deprived of faith in the beginning. And then, when they became confirmed in their