The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 449
448 Α'ΙΝΑ-Ε-ΚΑMĀLĀT-E-ISLAM-DAFI UL-WASĀWIS remain heedless. The abode of Islam was destroyed yet they were heed- less to it, the milk of Islam dried up yet they remained in deep asleep, the splendour of the Shariah lost its glory yet they were gleeful. They take the fire of love and the warmth of remembrance and the spark of knowledge as nothing more than a source of mere sunbathing, of warming by flames, and they love to be praised for what they have not done. They pretend that they have become thin due to ascetic exercises, while in reality they are naked, deprived of the garment of piety. They boast about their Tahajjud Prayers [supererogatory Prayers offered in the latter part of the night] while they abandon the oblig- atory Prayers. They have gained nothing from the Word of the Compassionate Lord and from the recorded sayings, but rather they indulge in the poetry of the poets. Afflictions and calamities have befallen Islam, while they remain heedless. They sympathize not a whit, all the while steeped in their carnal desires. I see them as I see the one who despises the illumined Shariah and mocks the sayings of the Chief sas of all Creation. They prefer the couplets of poets over the verses of the Word of Allah and cheer and dance with joy. They listen to the Quran and do not cry and do not supplicate humbly. They are the people who deviated from the path of guidance and preferred darkness over light. They grope in a gloomy night like a blind she-camel without any protector or guardian. By Allah I find their souls to be corrupted and they have become like a barren land full of foul weeds. They crawl like animals and do not stand straight. Excess is their habit and compulsion is their conduct. The ultimate reach of their cognizance is to follow the footsteps of the misguided Brahmans. The poetry of the poets is the fuel of their meditation and the food for their hearts. They have abandoned their Lord and clung to the world. Allah put veils on their hearts, so they fail to understand. They have made the dead as their source of help and succour, and wasted away the blessings of the refuge from the Compassionate Lord. They behave sin- fully and do not refrain. They have abandoned the King (Allah) who dominates all the lands and have followed every mean and worthless