God Almighty has begun the Holy Qur’an with a prayer and has ended it with a prayer as well. This signifies that man is so weak that without the grace of God, one cannot be cleansed, and without His help and assistance, one cannot excel in virtue. [1] In one hadith it is said that all are dead except for the one who is revived by God, and all are lost except for the one who is guided by God, and all are blind except the one who is granted sight by God.
In short, the truth is that the shackle of worldly love remains as a chain wrapped around one’s neck until one is bestowed the grace of God. Only those shed it who are blessed by God, but it should be kept in mind that even the grace of God needs supplication for its initiation.
Do not imagine that supplication is only the babbling of some words. On the contrary, supplication is a kind of death after which life is gained, as is expressed in a Punjabi couplet:
[2] جو مَنگن جائے سو مَر رہے جو مَرے سو مَنگن جا
One who begs has to die first,
And one has to die first to be able to beg.
Supplication has a magnetic effect. It attracts grace and blessing. What kind of supplication is it when one continually repeats [3] ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ with the tongue while he is preoccupied with the mundane thoughts of how he is going to make such and such transaction, or such and such task remains unfinished, or something should have happened that way, or he would do this if the situation changes that way? This is just squandering away one’s life. Until one gives precedence to the Word of God and acts in compliance with it, his prayers are merely a waste of time.
ENDNOTES
1. From Badr: Don’t claim purity for yourself, for no one is pure until God purifies him (Badr, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 10, dated 9 January 1908).
2. From Badr: جو مَنگے سو مر رہے مرے سو مَنگن جا (Badr, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 10, dated 9 January 1908).
3. ‘Guide us in the right path.’ – The Holy Qur’an, 1:6.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), Malfuzat – Volume X (Tilford, Surrey: Islam International Publications Ltd., 2022), 75-76.
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