The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 411
410 Α'ΙΝΑ-Ε-ΚΑMĀLĀT-E-ISLAM-DAFI UL-WASĀWIS splendour submits his greeting of peace to him? The man pos- sessing excellence is the one who finds such a prince in the garb of a beggar yet recognizes him. It is, however, not in my power to bestow such discern- ment upon anyone. There is only One who bestows; He gives understanding of faith to him whom He holds dear. Those who are guided aright are guided aright by precisely these kinds of realizations, but these very realizations make those who have a crookedness in their hearts to become even more crooked. I believe I have now written a great deal on the question of Signs, and God Almighty knows that it is perfectly true and correct that up till now God has caused approximately 3,000 or more such phenomena to occur which are beyond human capa- bility, and such phenomena will not cease to occur in the future. It is disrespectful to indulge in petty talk of time limits in con- nection with these Signs; Almighty God is Self-Sufficient and Independent. When the disbelievers of Makkah would ask the Holy Prophet, peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, when the Signs would appear, Almighty God never replied that they would appear on such and such a date because this ques- tion was highly disrespectful and impertinent. Man spends years waiting regarding petty and worthless affairs of this world. He prepares for years for an examination, he starts construction of those buildings that will take years to complete, he sows such plants in gardens to eat the fruits of which it is necessary to wait for years—so why does he show such haste in matters pertaining to God Almighty? The only reason for this is that religion is considered to be a plaything. Man demands a Sign from God Almighty but does not make up his mind as to what strenuous efforts he will undertake in His way after seeing a Sign: how much of worldliness he will relinquish, and how far will he walk in the footsteps of the one