THE WORD OF GOD

be useless. Had God desired that people should accept reality in this way, He could have compelled them to accept it in the present world itself. Before God, that acceptance carries weight which is made without the reality being visible. Acceptance after seeing the reality has no value. The people who truly believe in Our messages are those who fall to the ground in prostration when they are reminded of them, and glorify their Lord with praise and are not arrogant. They forsake their beds, calling upon their Lord in fear and in hope, and spend out of what We have provided them with. No soul knows what joy is kept hidden in store for them as a reward for their labours. (32: 15-17) For an individual to avail of guidance, his willingness to accept the Truth is the most important factor. Only those who, by temperament, are ready to accept the Truth whenever it presents itself before them— whether it be revealed through a person of lesser importance, whether such acceptance be a tacit admission of one’s own error, or whether such acceptance leads to upsetting the existing system of one’s life— are capable of availing of guidance. Only those who have such a capacity will find the Truth. Those who want to accept the Truth, but at the same time want their ‘greatness’ to remain intact, will never find it. A man who sacrifices his greatness for the sake of Truth actually finds the greatest thing, namely, the greatness of God. God enters his life in such a way that he sleeps thinking about Him and wakes up with memories of God. His hopes and fears are all linked with God. He surrenders all his possessions to God to the point of not keeping back anything for himself. Such people will forever relish the bounties of the eternal Gardens of Paradise. o