The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 67
66 Ā'ĪNA-E-KAMĀLĀT-E-ISLĀM―DĀFI‘UL-WASĀWIS those practices are simply based on ignorance and barbaric gestures that are so far removed from true cognition as a cloud is from the earth on a bright sunny day. These people cannot carry out any service at all to the Faith. It is apparent that a life of laziness, wasting of time, lack of self-discipline, indolence, lethargy, and boastfulness has made a power- ful impact upon them and they squander away their entire life and find themselves utterly weak and helpless to change any of their habits which runs contrary to the Holy Shariah—indeed, against humanity itself. Some people who go about in the garb of mendicants have aban- doned the pure paths of Islam under the influence of their evil inclina- tions and are involved in extremely filthy and shameful practices to the degree that I doubt whether or not Satan-notwithstanding his great notoriety is their equal. In reality, however, [the burden of] all this sin rests upon the shoul- ders of the ulema, who waste their time in futile disputes and pay no heed to serving God's creation [i. e. people] with true sympathy. Are they any less than the Jews in their ostentation, materialism, hypoc- risy, lasciviousness, sedition and manipulative argumentation? No, cer- tainly not. Rather, they are somewhat worse than Jews in all these qual- ities, which they conceal from others with great cunning. They hate the truth and love falsehood. Moreover, they also want to push others into the same pit into which they themselves have fallen. On account of their inherent misfortune, they remain embroiled in the superficial aspects of the Faith and the petty minutiae of the Shariah and have no inclination to touch the sublime truths and deep spiritual insights of Islam, nor do they hold any aptitude for such [Divine] mysteries and finer points. Just as a spring erupts due to the rising up of the air trapped within its channels, moment by moment, similar is the case of the spring of their intrinsic state; for this filthy fountain of theirs is being exposed with great force these days due to the rising gas and fumes of bigotry which they had been concealing for ages. [My Lord have mercy! My Lord have mercy!] l új In short―O brethren!—in this age, such a toxic wind has spread