For some days now, a seeker of the truth from the district of Gujrat has been here to visit His Holiness, the Promised Messiah (as). The seeker submitted: “I have always felt an inclination to religion within myself and in view of this, I have been performing what I consider to be good deeds. However, when I cast a glance upon the world around me and those that seek it, I feel an immense degree of pain and I struggle at an internal level as well. I was once walking along the Jhelum River when I witnessed a wondrous vision of prem (love); I felt such a joy and delight. Wherever I turned my sight, I felt nothing but pleasure and tranquillity. Whether it was in eating and drinking, walking and moving about; in short, every single movement and in every action, I felt an overarching sense of love. After a few hours had elapsed, this vision ended, but a remnant of it remained for about two months after; that is to say, I began to undergo an experience of lesser pleasure. At this time, I am in an inexplicable state of anxiety. I have tried tirelessly to experience the same once more, but to no avail. It was in search of this that I came to Babu Abnash Chandar Formdar in Lahore, who is an active member of the Brahmo Samaj, but unfortunately, he could not give me more than a few minutes of his time, and even that meeting was out of his office. Then I visited Pandit Shiv Narayana Satyananda Agnihotri and I felt that the people here were somewhat perceptive of spirituality. For some two months, I worked in their high school situated in Moga as a Third Master and continued to strive for my own self-reformation. I went there for no other reason than to make a life for myself. During this period I did begin to witness somewhat of an experience; however, this was by no means sufficient to satisfy me and grant me the comfort that I sought. I could not find the tranquillity and love that I desired and for which I was in search. Although I had wanted to remain there patiently, I fell ill and had to return. In my own city, I once heard Sheikh Maula Bakhsh Sahib read out the exposition that you had written for the Conference of Great Religions. I was going along, absorbed in my own thoughts, when I heard him reading out your paper. Extraordinarily, my soul felt that these words were full of light and the person whose words these are must also be a man who possesses inner light. I read your paper many times and developed a desire to visit Qadian. However, in view of the recent incident of Lekhram’s murder, whenever I would ask any Muslim in Lahore the way to Qadian, they would refuse to tell me. Perhaps those Muslims thought that I was planning to murder Mirza Sahib. In any case, my heart was in a state of anxiety. Now that desire of mine has been fulfilled and I would like to bring about a reformation in my life. It is for this reason that I have submitted myself in the presence of His Holiness.”
In response to the aforementioned, His Holiness, our Noble Leader, on whom be peace and blessings, said: “In truth, one should not settle for the outer shell and husk, nor can one be satisfied in doing so, for man naturally desires to move forward. The religion of Islam seeks to uplift man to attain the essence and spirit that he longs for by his inherent nature. The very name Islam grants pleasure to the soul. There is no other religion whose name fills the soul with such a degree of satisfaction. For example, what spirituality can we derive from the name Arya. The religion of Islam has been established to grant tranquillity, peace and satisfaction—all things for which the human soul hungers and thirsts—so that the one who hears this name can understand that an individual who believes in this religion with heartfelt sincerity and acts upon its teachings, is a person who possesses spiritual insight of the Divine. However, if an individual expects that everything should happen all at once and that they can attain to the highest levels of divine insight instantly, then this will never happen. Everything in the world takes place in stages. One may observe that there is no form of knowledge or science which human beings do not attain slowly and gradually. It is imperative that one grows in stages. Do reflect! A farmer must wait after they plant a seed into the earth. First, he must bury his valuable grain into the earth, even though it is vulnerable to being plucked out by various animals, rotting in the earth, or being ruined in some other way. However, experience gives the farmer comfort that despite these possibilities, a time will come when the seeds that he entrusted to the land will sprout and the crop will bloom and flourish, and this dirt-covered seed will turn into provision.
Now take a moment to reflect that material, physical nourishment, which a person can live without for a few days, requires six months to produce, even though a worldly life, which is sustained on physical sustenance, is not everlasting and will come to an end. How then can one attain spiritual provision, which is the nourishment for one’s spiritual life, a life that will never end and remain for all eternity, within a few days? Indeed Allah Almighty has the power to do whatever He pleases in an instant, and it is my belief that nothing is impossible for Him. However, the God which Islam has presented is not like the God (Parmeshwar) of the Aryas, who has neither created a single soul (jiv), nor matter, and who does not have the power to grant true peace and eternal salvation to the seekers and truthful ones who tread on His path. Nay! The God which Islam has presented is One who is unparalleled and matchless in His strengths and powers. However, in view of the law that He has established, everything happens in a systematic and gradual manner. Therefore, if one does not remain patient and think positively, success is difficult. I recall that once a person came to visit me and said that in previous times, saints would elevate people to the highest spiritual stations by a single incantation. I told the person that they were mistaken; this is not how the law of God Almighty operates. For example, if one was to lay flooring in a house, one will have to first repair any sections that may be damaged, and wherever there is filth and rubbish, one will have to clean it with phenyl and the like. In short, only after numerous repair works and preparations have been made will the space be ready for flooring. Similarly, before a person’s heart becomes worthy enough to be the dwelling place of God Almighty, it remains the seat of Satan and is ruled by the kingdom of Satan. In order to usher in the heavenly kingdom, the kingdom of Satan must be uprooted.
Most unfortunate is the one who sets out in search of the truth but does not keep a positive frame of mind. Just observe the many lengths that a potter must go to in order to craft a clay vessel. Observe the countless steps that a washerman must go to when he begins to clean spoiled and dirty clothes. At times, a launderer will put clothes over the heat, he will rub them with soap, and then he will employ various techniques in order to remove the dirt and grime. Finally, after all this, the clothes become clean and brilliant white, and all the dirt on the clothes is washed off completely. So, even insignificant things such as these require a great deal of patience. How foolish then is the person who wants to see their life reformed and their heart purified of its filth and impurities by having an incantation blown on them that would purify their heart?
Bear in mind that patience is a condition for reformation. Secondly, one’s morals and inner self cannot be purified until one remains in the company of someone who is able to purify the souls of others. Firstly, the door that is opened on this path can only be opened to a person when they cleanse themselves of impurity. Those impurities which bear an affinity with a person’s disposition remain hidden within, but when one is blessed with the antidote of saintly company, this inner impurity begins to gradually disappear. This is because a person cannot have a relationship with a pure soul—which in the Holy Quran and according to Islamic terminology, is referred to as the Holy Spirit—until they themselves bear an affinity in nature with such people. I cannot say how long it takes for such a relationship to be developed. Indeed, one ought to act as the saying goes:
خاک شو پیش ازانکہ خاک شوی
Turn into dust before you return to dust.
Reduce yourself to dust in this way and tread this path with the utmost patience and perseverance. Ultimately, Allah the Exalted will not let the sincere effort of such a one go in vain, and will grant them the light that they seek. I am left astonished and fail to understand how human beings can be so audacious when they know that God exists.
So, the person that I have mentioned said to me that the saints of the past would turn people into saints and divines of the highest order with spells. I told the individual that this was not true and that the way of God does not function in this way. I told him to engage in spiritual discipline and only then will Allah Almighty open to him the avenues which lead to Him. The man who had come to me did not lend any attention to my words and left. After some time, the same person came to me again and I found him to be in an even worse state than before. In short, the unfortunate thing about man is that he seeks a law which brings instant results, and when he observes that nothing can be attained instantaneously—because the law of Allah Almighty functions gradually and in stages—he becomes anxious. Ultimately, such people become atheists. This is the first step to atheism. I have seen people who either make extravagant claims and entertain overly bold aspirations about what they will become, but then ultimately settle for the most ignoble of lives. On one occasion, someone visited me and asked me for something. The man was a yogi. He told me that he went to a certain place; he visited so-and-so. But ultimately, it was evident from his state of affairs and manner of speech that he thought a life of begging was perfectly acceptable. The honest truth is that one ought to remain patient. Sa’di wonderfully states:
گر نباشد بہ دوست راہ بُردن
شرطِ عشق ست درطلب مُردن
Even if no path remains to lead one to the beloved;
love demands that one dies in this pursuit.
Allah the Exalted observes a person until the very end. A person who is insincere and treacherous in the estimation of God, cannot advance towards Him.
طلب گار باید صبور و حمول
کہ نشنیدہ ام کیمیا گر ملُول
A seeker must remain patient and enduring;
Never have I seen an alchemist tire in his quest.
Even though alchemists know that nothing has been achieved so far, they persistently endure in their magical experiments. What I mean to say is that first and foremost, it is patience that is required; and with this, if a person possesses a good nature, Allah the Exalted will not let them go to waste. The fundamental purpose of life is to love God Almighty. However, in my view, love is the next stage, or rather, it is the end result. The most important thing to begin with is that one possesses certainty of belief in the existence of Allah Almighty. It is only after this that a person’s soul develops an attraction by itself and is naturally drawn towards God. The more one grows in cognisance and insight of the Divine the more they will increase in pleasure and joy. Without divine insight, no pleasure can be attained. The real source of pleasure and delight is, in fact, insight of matters divine.
It is deeper insight alone which gives birth to love. The union of insight and love begets pleasure. One ought to remember that the mere observance of beauty is not sufficient to arouse a sense of love, until one develops a deeper understanding and insight. Know for certain that love is impossible without insight. How can one love someone without first gaining a deeper understanding of their being? To think otherwise is to entertain an imaginary belief. There are many people who consider a weak human to be God. What pleasure can such people derive from the true God? The Christians deify the Messiah (as) and go on chanting that ‘God is love, God is love.’ However, the love of such people cannot be true love. This will always remain to be a self-proclaimed and imaginary love, so long as they are deprived of true insight in respect of God Almighty.
The Means to Attain the Love of God
Therefore, first and foremost, it is incumbent for one to correct their belief. The Hindus present their own concepts and the Christians put forth their own ideas. The Chinese present a completely different view of God, while Muslims believe in the God they have presented before the world in light of the Quran. Until that true God is recognised, no relationship and love can be fostered with Him. Mere claims are of no substance.1
Therefore, when a person has rectified their belief, the second step is to remain in holy company so that one may increase in one’s level of divine insight, and to seek understanding through prayer. The more one advances in divine insight and understanding, the more one will grow in love. It must not be forgotten that one cannot grow in love without deeper understanding. You can observe that people are not as fond of tin and iron as they are of copper, and they are not as fond of copper as they are of silver, while they love gold even more so, and then they hold diamonds and other gems dearer still. What is the reason for this? The reason is that people have a deeper understanding of the value of these metals and stones, which cause people to love one more than the other. So, the fact of the matter is that greater knowledge is what increases a person in love, and also gives them a greater sense of value and worth. Therefore, before an individual can hope to derive pleasure and joy from something, they must develop a deeper understanding of it. However, the most important factor on which all these things are based is patience and positive thinking. Until an individual develops an astonishing degree of patience, nothing can be achieved. When a person, purely to seek the truth, strives and struggles on the path of Allah Almighty with relentless patience, it is then that Allah the Exalted, by His grace and mercy, and in accordance with His promise, opens the way that leads to the divine threshold.
وَالَّذِيْنَ جَاهَدُوْا فِيْنَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا2
In other words, as for those who strive and struggle in Our path, We ultimately guide them in Our ways; doors are opened to them. It is true that those who seek, find. Someone has beautifully stated:
اے خواجہ درد نیست وگرنہ طبیب ہست
Honourable sir! The pain simply does not exist,
for the physician is at hand.
It is my view that those who come to visit me and engage in a brief exchange, and then leave hastily without sitting with me, as if mock God. This is not how one finds God, nor has Allah the Exalted established such a law. Hence, the first condition in the search for God is a sincere desire. Secondly, one must remain engaged in this quest with patience. It is a matter of principle that the older a man becomes, the more experience they accumulate. Then, in order to develop divine insight, is it not crucial for one to remain in the company of a holy person for a good amount of time? I have seen many people who in the prime of their youth abandon the world completely, and then they wail and lament. Ultimately, I have found that such people became engrossed in the world of materialism and turned into worms of the earth. You may observe how certain trees are accustomed to false fruiting. For example, a kind of temporary fruit grows on the mulberry tree, which eventually falls off completely. It is after this process that the real fruit grows. Similarly, the search for God is an inclination that grows temporarily at an inner level. If a person does not demonstrate patience and remain firmly persistent with a positive mindset, the temporary passion which surges forth from within, not only dissipates with time, but is in fact, forever expunged from the heart completely and turns a person into a worm of the earth. However, if one remains sincere and determined, after this temporary fervour and thirst to seek God, one develops a true and genuine yearning and desire which grows with every passing day. So great does this longing become that even if one is faced with a mountain of hardships and afflictions, one does not care in the least, and one continues to advance on this path. Therefore, an individual, who remains determined after this initial passion and desire, and who realises that they must remain faithful to their last breath, is most fortunate indeed. An individual, who after a few attempts fails to remain determined and then gives up completely in their quest, is left with nothing in their hands except for their own constant tendency to claim that they have come across many loquacious individuals who are nothing more than profiteers, and not a single one of them was true and godly.
So, this is my advice. I am not aware of the state of those people who come to visit me and who express that they have come here for the sake of God and that they would like to seek God. I cannot know the intention of such people. But what I can say is that anyone who advances in search of Allah Almighty must first rectify their belief before anything else. Such an individual ought to determine for themselves which God they wish to seek. Does the person seek that True God who is the Creator and Master of the universe, and the possessor of all perfect attributes and free from every ill and defect? Or is the individual in question searching for a god who is the child of a woman, or perhaps other similar gods who are weak and powerless, and number 330 million? For if the actual beloved and objective to be sought is on the coast, what use is there to dive into the sea in search of it?
I will elaborate by providing an example. For instance, the Christians say that the Messiah son of Mary, who was born from the womb of a woman in the same manner that all human beings are born, and who ate and drank and defecated and urinated like other human beings, was God. Now, it is possible for an individual to love such a person, but the human intellect can never suggest that such a weak and powerless human being is God, nor can one accept that gods are born from the wombs of women. Now, as for the person whose very first step has landed on falsehood, how can it be expected that their next step will lead to the path of truth? Those rays which shine on the heart when one believes in a Living God, Who is the possessor of perfect attributes, can never be received by those who worship images of a mortal being that is weak and powerless!
As the saying goes:
اَلطَّالِبُ لَا مَذْھَبَ لَہٗ
A seeker has no opinion.
A seeker must forgo all of his prejudice and preconceived beliefs, and then set out in search of doctrines that are founded on truth. Positive progress can only be expected when this is the case. For this purpose, the first brick ought to be God, and only then will the final brick be God. Haste is detrimental indeed and often becomes the cause for an unfortunate person being deprived. For example, if you do not remain in my company and leave quickly, and then state that there was no use in staying here and nothing was gained, do tell me, what harm will this do to me? There are many in the world today who make such statements, but they themselves are deprived and unfortunate. If one was to put some Euclidean diagrams before a child, it is possible that the child may find some attractive. However, the child’s attraction to such illustrations is of no real benefit, because it is ignorant of the results that they produce, and has no idea of the benefits that may be derived from these drawings.
I have not only observed various critics of Islam, but have also collected the allegations that such people have levelled against Islam. I can truly say that wherever such ill-informed people have raised allegations, it is precisely there that a treasure of wisdom and invaluable insights and verities are buried away. Such people have nothing in their hands except for foolishness and shortsightedness. By raising objections, such people have demonstrated that they are benighted human beings who possess crooked dispositions. Otherwise, they would not speak ill of this treasure trove of insights and verities. Therefore, I advise you to continue seeking the true essence with calmness and forbearance.3
You are an individual who is in search of God. The best course of action for you is to first correct the doctrines that you hold. As a result of this, you will come to know who exactly that God is Whom you seek and quest. This will increase the level of your insight, and this insight, which wields a magnetic force to draw in love, will in turn foster a relationship of love between you and Allah Almighty. Without this, any claim of love is like the false fruit which vanishes after a few days.
You ought to remember always—and this is my belief—that the light of God cannot shine on anyone until that light descends upon them from heaven. It is true indeed that divine grace descends from heaven. Until and unless God Himself manifests His light upon a seeker, the pace at which he advances is no more than an insect, and so it should be. For such a person is entangled in countless forms of ignorance, darkness, and obstructions along the way. However, when divine light shines upon a person, their heart and mind is illuminated and becomes filled with light, whereafter they advance towards God at light speed.”
The Seeker: Your Holiness, I am not a follower of any religion.
His Holiness (as): If someone determines for themselves that they will not believe in anything, I can say nothing—what can I possibly say? However, a sensible individual must compel themselves to follow a path of some sort.
What is religion? It is the path that a person adopts for themselves. Every individual must follow a ‘religion.’ Even a non-religious person who does not believe in God must follow some path, and that path is ‘religion.’ However, what calls for reflection is whether the path that an individual has chosen for themselves is one which leads to true perseverance, eternal bliss and joy, and never-ending tranquillity.
You see, the Arabic word for religion is madh-hab and this is a general term. The literal meaning of this word is ‘where one walks,’ i.e. a path, and this is not specific to faith and religion alone. In every field and science, in geology, natural science, medicine, astronomy, and in other disciplines as well, experts all hold a madh-hab, i.e. a school of thought. No one can escape this because this is necessary for all human beings. Just as the human soul requires a body, and meaning requires words and expression, in the same way, all people are bound by a ‘religion’ or set of beliefs to which they subscribe. My objective is not to debate in this instance whether people proclaim the name Allah, or God, or Parmeshwar. My purpose at present is only to shine a light upon what people understand of the respective beings whom they call upon. I say you can use whatever name you please, but my question is how do you describe that being? What attributes do you ascribe to that being? The issue of divine attributes is one of primary significance and requires contemplation.
The Seeker: My understanding is that the purpose of religion is to rectify and reform a person’s inherent nature.
His Holiness (as): Let us take the example of a king. For example, there is King Edward VII. Now, we could refer to some other person by this title, but we would do so artificially, and this would not make them so. My only desire is for people to recognise the True God and to forsake all other forms of pretence, and this is what it means to restore one’s human nature.
What is Islam? The very name that Allah Almighty has given the religion of Islam is ‘the nature made by Allah’ (fitratullah). It is Islam alone that is the religion of nature. However, when does this reality become apparent? It becomes apparent when an individual remains in holy company with patience and steadfastness. There are countless blessings in steadfastness. Just observe the honey bee and how it is able to produce an exquisite and beneficial substance like honey when it remains engaged in its work with persistence and effort. In the same manner, an individual who continues to search for God with determination ultimately finds Him. Not only does such an individual find God, it is my belief that they are able to see Him. Vast amounts of time and money must be spent for the acquisition of secular knowledge and this sheds light on the law that is applicable for the acquisition of spiritual knowledge. Our religion, which ought to be seen as the starting point for spiritual knowledge, is to first believe in the existence of God and then to develop an understanding of His attributes—such understanding which elevates one to a level of certainty. It is then that a person will develop insight into the being of Allah Almighty and His perfect attributes, and their soul will call out from within with absolute content that they have found God. When an individual develops such faith in the existence of Allah Almighty that they reach a level of certainty and feel that they have seen God, and when they attain an understanding of His attributes, such an individual develops a disgust for sin. Even though previously the dispositions of such people would lean towards sin, when the aforementioned becomes the case, they naturally shun sin with abhorrence, and this is what we call repentance.
The concept that after one develops perfect faith in Allah Almighty one begins to abhor sin is an idea that can be easily understood. For example, there is arsenic and other poisons, or certain poisonous animals. Why do humans fear these things? The only reason is because experience demonstrates that these poisons, in a certain degree, take a man to death. We observe many who have consumed poison and then died, and it is for this very reason that one’s disposition cannot be inclined in this direction, and in fact, one flees from such things. Now when this is the case, why do people commit a multitude of sins? Even if someone finds an insignificant sum of money lying on the ground, they will pick it up, despite being aware that a brief announcement would be sufficient to identify the person to whom the money belongs. I have seen that innocent children are killed over a mere twelve annas. A visit to the courts will show you the terrifying and bleak state of affairs that confronts us. People lie over petty matters, and an ocean of transgression and immorality surges forth. Why is this the case? For no other reason than the fact that there is a lack of faith in God. Man fears snakes and poisons because he considers them deadly and believes in the danger that is associated with them. If one possesses perfect faith in Allah Almighty, I cannot understand why one would not loathe sin.
Two things are necessary for human beings: to refrain from evil and to hasten towards virtue. Now, there are two further aspects of virtue: to forsake evil and propagate goodness. A person cannot be complete by the mere eschewing of evil; this must be coupled with the propagation of virtue, which means to benefit others. This demonstrates the degree to which a person has reformed themselves. These ranks are attained when a person develops faith in the attributes of God Almighty and a knowledge of these attributes as well. Until this becomes the case, one cannot even save themselves from vice, let alone benefit others, which is a far greater quality. There are many people who are in awe of kings and even fear the Indian Penal Code to some extent. There are many people who do not break the law, yet they are fearless when it comes to disobeying the law of God, the Best of judges. Can there be any other reason except that people do not believe in Him? This is the sole reason.
In short, a person reaches the stage where they abstain from sins when they possess faith in God. The second stage ought to be for one to search for those ways that were followed by the chosen servants of God Almighty. In truth, there is only one path that was followed by all those righteous and chosen ones of God who have come to the world and benefited from the grace of God Almighty. That path can be found by first ascertaining the manner in which God Almighty dealt with them. The first stage of abstaining from sin is one which can be achieved through the manifestation of God’s attributes of majesty, in that God Almighty is the enemy of those who commit sin. The second stage is achieved through the manifestation of God’s beauty.
Ultimately, until a person is granted strength and power from Allah Almighty, which is referred to as the Holy Spirit in Islamic terminology, nothing can be done. This is a power that is received from God Almighty. As soon as this power descends, tranquillity fills the heart, and a love and fondness for virtue is fostered in one’s nature. With pleasure and joy, in the likeness of a child who happily eats a delicious treat, such an individual naturally hastens to perform the same good deed, which others must strain and burden themselves to do. In the same manner, when one develops a relationship with God Almighty and His Holy Spirit descends upon him, good deeds appear to one as though they were a refreshing and fragrant sherbet. The individual in question begins to see the beauty in good deeds and hastens towards them uncontrollably. Even the thought of sin causes his soul to tremble, as it were.
These matters are of such a nature that I cannot express them fully in words. For these are states of the heart and one can only understand them fully by experiencing them. It is then that fresh and vivid forms of light are granted to such a one.4
A person should not pride themselves and believe that they have reached the highest limit of their own development on the mere fact that sometimes they feel an inner emotion. This emotion is temporary. Many a time when someone reads a novel and reaches a painful point in the plot, they begin to weep helplessly, even though they know full well that this is an imaginary work of fiction. Therefore, if mere weeping and emotion was the root of true pleasure and joy, there would be no one greater in attaining spiritual pleasure than the people of Europe, because they publish thousands of novels and hundreds and thousands, nay, tens of millions read these stories and cry.
The fact of the matter is that a trait of human nature is that a person will laugh at something of humour and when they come across something that causes tears, they weep; and in the relevant situations, humans feel a sense of pleasure in this expression. However, this pleasure has no bearing on spirituality. When a person falls in love with some woman, even in this state of immorality, they will write poetic couplets about the absence of their beloved and weep. This is a faculty that humans possess and it can be exercised appropriately or inappropriately. Therefore, one should not sit content at the mere fact that they possess this faculty. Allah the Exalted has vested man with this inclination so that true seekers do not remain deprived and when this propensity is exercised at the appropriate time, it may serve as a prelude to further ranks of spirituality, and in this way, these human faculties may serve as a means of benefit.
Therefore, the tendency to weep on certain occasions, or to turn away completely from the material things of this world on certain occasions, are all temporary inclinations. One must not sit helplessly idle on this alone.
The elements on which true divine insight is based are that even when one is tried in the way of God again and again, and cast into an ocean of affliction and hardship, one does not worry in the least, but rather continues to advance. It is after this that divine insight is unveiled to such people, and this is true bliss and true pleasure. It is then that the heart melts; this emotion is not temporary, it is filled with pleasure and joy. The soul begins to flow towards God like a pure fountain of water. My purpose is to demonstrate that the sea is preceded by a mirage that appears as though it were the sea itself. Those who stop moving forward and give up in their quest out of disappointment, on the basis that the mirage before them is a mere illusion, are ultimately left frustrated and deprived. However, a person who does not lose hope and continues to advance, ultimately reaches their destination. God Almighty has created the human soul in a manner that it experiences various conditions, and one of these is emotion. Certain people are affected even when poetry is recited or by melodious voices. There are some who move past this state and refuse to be content with this alone, and ultimately, with patience, they reach their final objective. Bear in mind that one condition for a seeker of the truth is that they take the truth from wherever they find it. This is a light which guides them. At present, there is a struggle in the world. The Aryas pull people to themselves, while the Brahmos invite people to join them, and further still, the Dev Samaj call the people to join them over others. Then the Christians present Christianity above all others. In short, every religion pulls people to themselves and the chasm of their differences continues to grow larger and larger.
However, what I invite people to do and what I can say to seekers of the truth is to search for God. For example, the Aryas curse all the holy and righteous, and believe that even the most sincere of lovers and devotees can never attain salvation. According to their belief, God has not created even a single particle. Now do tell us, how can any true seeker of the truth grow in faith for this sort of a God (Parmeshwar), and how could the majesty and grandeur of such a God move one’s soul to melt with emotion and save it from being lured by sin, when a person thinks to themselves that this so-called God has not created even a single particle of their being? Further, when one subscribes to the belief that in addition to the Vedas, God has not blessed any other country with His revelation, this moves one to great despair. Therefore, my advice is that the goal and objective of anyone who sets out to find the truth should be to find God. When a person develops true faith in the One True God, a river of divine insight and verities will begin to flow forth.
Bear in mind that verities and divine insights relate to knowledge. The more extensive one’s insight becomes, the more verities continue to be unveiled. When one is engaged in investigations, one must do so with a perfectly clean, pure heart. The swiftness with which one is able to comprehend the essence one seeks depends on the degree to which one’s heart is free from prejudice and selfish motives. Even the most ignorant of people are able to distinguish between light and darkness. There is only one real, true path. In a few words, therefore, the summary of my entire discourse is that there can only be one straight line that runs between two points. These matters are worthy of contemplation. You ought to stay here patiently and with determination. It is not improbable, if by the grace of God, you discovered that path which tens and millions of the holy have experienced; even today those who can speak of their experience in this regard are present.”
His Holiness, the Promised Messiah (as) finished his address here. Our respectable seeker of truth remained in Qadian for some time, and benefited by staying in the company of His Holiness (as). I present here, a letter that he sent to me from Lahore, expressing the same:
My Honourable Respected Sheikh Sahib,
Greetings,
Please forgive my insolence. I had to leave Qadian suddenly due to certain circumstances. I shall now reflect over the manner in which I intend to spend my life for the sake of the hereafter. I feel a pain for having been separated from your community.
I am extremely grateful for the affection of His Holiness. I feel an immense sense of gratitude for the spiritual gift that I have been given and for all that was unveiled to me. However, it is most unfortunate that the world is full of the deepest darkness, and I stumble at every step. Without righteous company it is very difficult for me to maintain my spirituality.
I firmly believe, without a doubt, that His Holiness is an excellent example for seekers of spiritual grace, and it is imperative that one constantly remains in his company. The state of the world is that while people throw pearls into the mud, they gather cowries, and they will throw dust on the heads of those who endeavour to safeguard those pearls. Alas! The people have afforded cowries the value of pearls. I am deeply concerned. Alas! What shall I do? Where shall I go? I am in a terrible state. My respects to your entire community. Please pay my respects to His Holiness especially, and request him and the entire community to pray for me.
Yours Truly,
Wazir Singh
This letter was read out to His Holiness and the Promised Messiah, on whom be peace, instructed the Editor of Al-Hakam to write the following response: “Until a person remains in my company with patience and persistence, they cannot attain any real benefit. You should come here and stay with us for some time.”5
1 Al-Hakam, vol. 5, no. 11, dated 24 March 1901, pp. 9-11
2 al-Ankabut, 29:70
3 Al-Hakam, vol. 5, no. 12, dated 31 March 1901, pp. 8-9
4 Al-Hakam, vol. 5, no. 13, dated 10 April 1901, pp. 5-6
5 Al-Hakam, vol. 5, no. 14, dated 17 April 1901, pp. 11-12