Admonitions

45. I admonish my community to shun arrogance because arrogance is most loathsome to God, the Lord of Glory. You may not perhaps fully realize what arrogance is. So learn it from me because I speak with the spirit of God. Everyone who looks down upon his brother because he considers himself to be more learned, wiser, or more accomplished than him is arrogant. He is arrogant because, instead of considering God to be the Fountainhead of all wisdom and knowledge, he considers himself something. Does God not have the power to derange him mentally and instead grant superior knowledge, wisdom and dexterity to his brother whom he considers inferior? Likewise he too is arrogant who, thinking of his wealth or high status, looks down upon his brother. He is arrogant because he has ignored the fact that this status and grandeur were bestowed upon him by God. He is blind and does not realize that God has power to afflict him with such misfortune as, all of a sudden he is cast to the lowest of the low; and again He has the power to bestow greater wealth and prosperity upon that brother of his whom he considers small. Yet again, that person is arrogant who is proud of his superior bodily health, or of his handsomeness, or good looks, or strength, or prowess, and scornfully makes fun of his brother and teases him and addresses him with derisive names; not satisfied with this he advertises his physical defects. It is so because he is unaware of the existence of a God Who possesses power to suddenly inflict him with such bodily defects as may leave him much worse than his brother.

(Nuzul-ul-Masih: Roohani Khaza'in Vol. 18, p. 402)

46. It is proper for you to have sympathy for others and to purify yourselves so that thereby you may share to a degree the qualities of the Holy Spirit. Remember that without the Holy Spirit true righteousness cannot be attained. Discard altogether the base animal desires in you and follow the path to the pleasure of Allah, be it the narrowest and most difficult of all. Do not be enamoured of worldly pleasures, because they lead you away from God. That suffering which pleases God is better than that pleasure which displeases Him. That defeat which pleases God is better than the victory which earns His displeasure. Abandon that love which draws you nigh to the wrath of Allah. If you come to Him with a pure heart, He will help you in every way and no enemy will be able to harm you.

(Al Wasiyyat: Roohani Khaza'in Vol. 20, p. 307)

47. The attire of righteousness is a term of the Holy Quran. This points to the fact that spiritual beauty and spiritual adornment can only be achieved through righteousness. And righteousness means that a person should, to the best of his ability, discharge his responsibilities regarding his faculties and covenant of faith with God as a sacred trust. Also he should pay full regard to what he owes to his fellow human beings and to all that is created by God as a trust imposed on him. He should tread the path of righteousness to the minutest detail according to the best of his ability.

(Braheen-e-Ahmadiyya, Pt. 5: Roohani Khaza'in Vol. 21, p. 210)