Gems of the Promised Messiah & Imam Mahdi (as) – Why Even the Prayers of Perfect People Are Not Always Accepted

Some ignorant people state, ‘why are some prayers of the perfectly righteous people not accepted? The answer to this is that it lies in the hands of God Almighty to manifest their beauty, so that whenever this grand manifestation occurs, and their beauty comes into play for a specific purpose and reveals its brilliance, the particles of the universe are drawn towards it and the impossible comes to be. This is what, in other words, is called a miracle. But this spiritual zeal is not aroused at all times and on every occasion, for it is dependent on external stimuli. This is so because just as the Benevolent God is Independent in His Person and free from every want or need, so has He endowed His chosen ones with the same attribute of total independence. So, being totally independent, like God, their power is not roused unless someone appeals to them for mercy through perfect humility and sincerity. What is even more wonderful is that such people are endowed the attribute of mercy more than the rest of the world put together, yet its exercise is not in their own power. Even though they may desire for that power to be manifested again and again, it is not displayed except by the will of God. They particularly have very little regard for disbelievers, hypocrites, and the weak of faith, and consider them to be like a dead insect. Their independence and freedom from any want or need possesses a grandeur and dignity like a beloved of profound beauty whose face is kept concealed behind a veil.

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya – Part V (Farnham, Surrey: Islam International Publications, 2018), 303.