The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 462
AT-TABLIGH―TO THE NOBLE AND PIOUS OF THE ARABS 461 with a broken heart and flowing tears. Hearken to my word! May Allah grant you the best reward. I am the man whom Allah nourished with mercy from Himself. He bestowed upon me His perfect bounty. He never allowed me to face scarcity of anything. He blessed me with His converse and revelation, granted me true knowledge from His Holiness, guided me towards the paths of His pleasure and piety, and revealed His sublime hidden veri- ties to me. Many a time He strengthened me with discourses that were clear, without anything doubtful or hidden. At times, He enlightened me with the light of visions as clear as broad daylight. Among the greatest of His bounties is that He raised me as the Imām and Khalifah [Vicegerent] for this day and age. He has sent me as the Mujaddid [Reformer] at the head of this century so that I might lead the people from darkness to light and take them away from the paths of evil and disorder to the ways of taqwa [righteousness]. He has granted me what cures souls, dispels prevailing doubts, and removes the gloom from creation. He [Allah] has surely found this age impris- oned in hardships, strangled in adversities, and afflicted with annihilat- ing innovations, vices, and darknesses. He willed to redeem its people from these calamities and various kinds of afflictions. Verily, Allah saw that the evil of Christian priests and philosophers had spread from cities to wilderness, had turned from mere intentions to wicked works, and had reached from the surface of the earth to the lofty mountains. He saw that they had greatly exceeded the bounds and had escalated their pattern of offence to the extreme. The Glorious Lord saw that they had subjected a great deal of people to trial through their devilish obscure points, intricate philosophy, peculiar illusions, the magic of their knowledge, the spell of their arts, and their great deception. He found them plundering the religion and faith of the people, enchanting the hearts of people and their and their ears, treading on beaten as well as unexplored paths to misguide creation, eyes