واصف علی واصف

          Those who love Allah also love His acts. Those who honour the Creator, those who respect the Creator, also respect the acts of the Creator, and one of His acts is to bring His creation into being. Allah the Beneficent created man with great certitude. Man has been called “the best of all created beings”. When Allah looks with favour upon someone He makes out for him a course wherein all that is required of him is to love and serve mankind.

          Allah sent the man he loved and adored the most to be a mercy to all the worlds. Allah and His angles shower darood on him and the Holy Prophet (PBUH) himself loves Allah and he is mercy for all created things. The only way one can be near to Allah is by loving and serving His creatures. He who dislikes His creatures can never be close to Allah. Those who terrorize the creatures, those who nurse ambitions to subjugate the creatures, try to defy the Creator. He who is mercy personified is for Allah, in Allah’s eyes, “the best of men”.

          Your love for Allah’s creation is a sure sign that you are near to Him. The entire life of the Holy Prophet was one of love for Allah’s creation. He not only loved animals, birds and human beings but also every object, whether living or lifeless, created by Allah the Beneficent. The Holy Prophet’s heart was filled with the remembrance of Allah and his acts constituted service to the creation. When you love the artist you in fact love what he creates. How can it be possible that someone who loves Allah should fail to love Allah’s Creation. Indeed he who loves is the one who serves.

          The Creator reveals only His attributes and hides His Self. If you love the Self it is incumbent on you to respect the attributes. Those near to Allah always devote themselves to serve His creation, keep on revealing the path of truth to the creatures, go on resolving their problems and look after the needs of their outer and inner lives. Serve mankind and draw near o Allah. This secret was revealed to everyone near to Allah. Prayers are also a means of attaining Allah’s nearness. However, if prayers alone had sufficed to bring one near to Allah, the human beings would not have been burdened with other duties of life.

          In Quran the Beneficent all the ways revealed by Allah which lead mean towards Him and His proximity are the ways of love. The sole exception is that one can also get near to Him by prostrating oneself before Him. The rest are the ways of love.

          If children respect their parents it would enable them to get near to Allah. In other words, he who serves his parents is near to Allah. One who always speaks the truth, that is, who tells what is true to the people is near to Allah. He who does not oppress the people is Allah’s friend. He who does not lose his temper, who forgives others and does good to others is very dear o Allah.

          Allah likes him who does not walk with a swagger. He whose heart is steeped in love is near to Allah. To love Allah is to love the peoples. Those near to Allah never curse anyone, do not wrong anyone and prefer to be known as the oppressed rather than the oppressors. Those near to Allah proceed with utmost caution in this world, which is replete with admonishments. They are aware that in this world of human beings one has to treat others with kindness in order to travel in the road to the Truth.

          Charity in Allah’s name is given to men. To spend in Allah’s way is to spend in the service of mankind. To look after an orphan is to help a human being. To assist a poor man is o assist a human being. When you go to enquire after the well being of someone who is sick you do it for humanity’s sake. The parents are human beings. Obedience to Allah is tied to the obedience to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was a man like other human beings. Allah sent down wahi on him and the teachings of the wahi contained knowledge, which transformed a man into Mercy for the whole world. In other words, if a man draws closer to other men, he draws closer to Allah. If even a blind man is denied the attention he craves for an angel comes down from the heavens bearing the wahi that “O my friend, you haven’t particularly pleased Allah by being inattentive to the blind man”.

          Allah has sent us in the world, a place inhabited by human beings. If it was intended that we should remain with Him, He could have done exactly that. The fact that we have come down to this world has a special meaning which is that we should remain mindful of Allah even in the midst of the enchanting hustle and bustle of the world, that we should seek Allah’s nearness.

          The sole outcome of your search for Allah would be to draw you near to some other man. The way to Allah is discovered in solitude and you cover the whole distance by living among other men.

          If it was sufficient for a human being merely to remember the Supreme Truth, the Holy Prophet, (PBUH) who was very near to Him would never have left the cave of Hira. The nearer a man is to Allah, the nearer he is, proportionately, to His creation. The prophets close to Allah have generally been observed living in close contact with human beings. To be near Allah is definitely to be near the people. Its opposite, however, need not be true. A nearness to people does not necessarily imply nearness to Allah. It is a must to know this secret.

          If a man serves or loves Allah’s creation only in order to gain some of his objectives his act would not bring him near Allah. If he serves the creation to please Allah only then would his act bring him nearer to Allah. If this is not the case he would get nowhere.

          Nowadays we observe that people are at odds with each other and give out that it is so because of religious differences. Hatred for others is the order of the day. We explain this by saying that we find it intolerable that some people should believe in a dogma which is different from the one believed by us, and words to that effect.

          By considering the matter dispassionately we can understand it. The very man we find intolerable has been created by Allah. By bringing to life in the universe those who don’t believe in Him, Allah has disclosed secrets of great import. Allah has not only created them who don’t believe in Him but He also provides for them and looks after their worldly needs. He nourishes them and watches over them. He could just as well not have created them, had He so wished. He could have annihilated them forever. He is the Creator, bringing into being all sorts of creatures. He has also specified a day when the deeds of mankind will be judged. Those who defy Allah shall one day see what their deeds amount to and feel sorry. They will repent and say: “if only we were nothing but dust”. But that particular day will come when it will come and not a moment earlier.

          Those who are near to Allah are aware that the unbeliever is to be invited towards the true religion only because it is Allah’s will and not because of some other reason. There is no need to turn your preaching into a matter of personal vanity. Invite him in Allah’s will, the right to live.

          It is extremely difficult to reach the goal of Allah’s nearness. To sacrifice one’s own will for the sake of Allah’s will is to draw near the Supreme Truth. To perceive Allah’s creation as His creation is to come near the Supreme Truth. We must understand that all this creation, all creativity constitute the very Truth. Nothing is untruth. There is nothing in Allah’s universe, which is false. Be it good or evil both are the various modes of His creativity. Evil does not enter Allah’s world, which happens to be wholly good, from some other dimension. It is a part of this world, a creation of the same Creator. Satan is not an equal and opposite force pitting itself against Allah. Satan is a rebellious force, made up of denial, belonging to Allah’s creation. He has been created by Allah who controls him completely. Satan seeks to be given more time for his rebellion and refractoriness. He waits his final punishment. He has no hope of Allah’s forgiveness. He is aware of his own wretchedness and extra-ordinary plight. He is indeed Allah’s rebel but not His match. Satan is a creation, Allah the Creator. How can they be equal?

          Those near to Allah know that every action of Allah is right, every deed of His is propitious. The near ones don’t complain or cavil. The stage which brings one near to the Supreme Truth has nothing to do with bickering and mischief. It is the stage of submission and acceptance, of love and selflessness, of conviction and faith, of intellect and awareness, of burning and passion, of certitude without doubt and eternal euphoria, of coming to see the cosmos as a manifestation of the Truth, of love for mankind, of the Creator developing an awareness of the creation and the creation developing an awareness of the Creator, of seeking out the manifestation of unity with the help of multiplicity and the manifestation of multiplicity with the help of unity, of a restless heart and a wonder-struck mind. The stage of the nearness to Allah is a journey of gnosis during which you first know the creation and then move on to the knowledge of the Creator. To serve the creation is to serve the Creator, to love the creation is to love the Creator and to dislike the creation is a sure sign of being deprived of Allah’s love. To him who succeeds in getting near to the Creator the secret of the creation is revealed in all its details. The secret of the creation is the greatest of all mysteries pertaining to the nearness to Allah. To whom this secret has been disclosed, springs of love for Allah well forth from his heart. The fact that the Holy Prophet has become a summation of blessings for the creation is the strongest proof that he is near to Allah. Our humble salutation to the Holy Prophet who is near the Truth and has been entitled “The Mercy for the worlds”.