The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 461
460 Ā'ĪNA-E-KAMĀLĀT-E-ISLĀM―DĀFI‘UL-WASĀWIS to him as many blessings from us as fill the horizons of the sky. Blessed are the people who have committed themselves to obey Muhammad⁹as. Blessed is the heart that is inclined towards him, merges with him, and is lost in his love. O inhabitants of the land upon which the feet of Muṣṭafā [the Chosen One] had trod! May Allah have mercy upon you and be pleased with you and gratify you. O servants of God! Surely, I hold you in great regard and my soul suffers an exceptional thirst to meet you. I passionately desire to see your land and witness the favours upon your masses, so that I might behold the land trodden under the feet of the Best of Creation, and apply its dust as kohl for my eyes; and that I may visit its sacred places and meet its pious people, its savants, and scholars; and that I may soothe my eyes with the glimpse of its sages and magnificent sights. So I humbly pray to Allah the Exalted to grant me the honour to see your land and the pleasure of meeting you through His great bounty. O my brethren! I love you and your land and the dirt of your paths and even the pebbles of your streets, and I prefer you to whatsoever is in this world. O valiant ones of the Arabs! Surely Allah has chosen you with pure blessings, innumerable favours, and magnificent bounties. You live around the House of Allah, owing to which the Mother of Towns [i. e. Makkah] is blessed. In your land is the tomb of the blessed Prophet who spread Tauḥid [the Oneness of God] to the corners of the world and manifested and illuminated the grandeur of Allah. Among you were the people who served Allah and His Messenger with the entirety of heart, soul and intellect. They sacrificed their possessions and lives for the propagation of the religion of Allah and His Sacred Book. It is only you who are exclusively identified with these characteristics. Those who failed to show you respect have indeed committed injustice and transgressed. O my brethren! Verily I am writing this letter to you