The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 458
AT-TABLIGH― TO ELDERS OF INDIA, AFGHANISTAN, EGYPT & BEYOND 457 you the matter with you that you neither look towards Islam and its misfor- tunes-its unique and variegated present-day calamities—n -nor do sympathize, O heedless ones! This age has accumulated terror of every desert's wilderness, terrors of each fearful place, and has brought forth shocking disorders and awe-striking sciences. This age is notorious for its signs of indecency like that of a woman of loose morals with whom the young kiss and flirt. O ye people! I have come to you in a time when the sun is about to set and disappear, and the radiance of Islam is to be hidden and veiled. What is the matter with you that you do not perceive the age, nor do you embrace the light that has descended at its hour, even doubting the tidings of the Holy Prophet as? What is the matter with you that you have stagnated, that your she-camel has collapsed and dropped down its ears out of fatigue, and that your souls have wearied and crumbled helplessly? No sense or vigour remains in you, and your breathing has extinguished. Are you in a slumber or already dead? What is the matter with you that you neither listen nor reply? Do you love the present life, while forgetting the demise of your ancestors and fearing nothing? Alas for your weakness in faith, for decorating your bodies with bulges, and for your being completely devoid of sym- pathy for Islam, as well as the knowledge and conviction which you falsely claim to have! Do you not see the wind that sweeps away from the right path, and the trials that eliminate men of understanding? Do you not see the turn of the century for which you were anxiously awaiting? Do you not see the shades of darkness and the marching army of the depraved? Why, then, do you not wake up? Do you not see that Islam has become like a grief-stricken orphan and the courage of Muslims is now like a feeble she-camel; that true righteousness has become a lost virtue, and the knowledge of Quran has become like a person buried alive? You clearly see this yet you pretend to be ignorant. O ye people! Cultivate wisdom in your thoughts and pure honesty in your views, and do not turn away from the Gracious Lord, and do not reject the timely blessings of Allah nor turn away in aversion. If