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SpiritualRoadmapbyGhazali, page : 128
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accept them as authorities. Listen then to the words of the prophets, for they
have had experience, they have had direct vision of the truth in respect of all that
is dealt with in revelation. Walk in their way and you too will come to know
something of that by direct vision‟.
Moreover I say: `Even if you have not experienced it, yet your mind judges it
an absolute obligation to believe in it and follow it. Let us suppose that a man of
full age and sound mind, who has never experienced illness, now falls ill; and let
us suppose that he has a father who is a good man and a competent physician,
of whose reputation in medicine he has been hearing as long as he can
remember. His father compounds a drug for him, saying, `This will make you
better from your illness and cure your symptoms‟ What judgment does his
intellect make here, even if the drug is bitter and disagreeable to the taste? Does
he take it? Or does he disbelieve and say, `I do not understand the connection of
this drug with the achieving of a cure; I have had no experience of it‟. You would
certainly think him a fool if he did that! Similarly people of vision think you a fool
when you hesitate and remain undecided‟.
You may say: `How am I to know the good will of the Prophet, peace be upon
him and his knowledge of this medical art‟? I reply: `How do you know the good
will of your father, seeing this is not something perceived by the senses? The fact
is that you have come to know it necessarily and indubitably by comparing his
attitude at different times and observing his actions in various circumstances‟.
If one considers the sayings of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and
what is related in Prophetic Sayings about his concern for showing people the
true way and about his graciousness in leading men by various acts of sympathy
and kindness to improve their character and conduct and to better their mutual
relations leading them to the indispensable basis of all betterment, religious and
secular alike, if one considers this, one comes to the obvious knowledge that his
good will towards his people is greater than that of a father towards his child.
Again, if one considers the marvelous acts manifested in his case and the
wonderful mysteries declared by his mouth in the Koran and in the Prophetic
Sayings, and his predictions of events in the distant future, together with the
fulfillment of these predictions, then one will know necessarily that he attained to
the sphere which is beyond reason, where an eye opened in him by which the
mysteries were laid bare which only the elect apprehend, the mysteries which are
not apprehended by the intellect.
This is the method of reaching obvious knowledge that the Prophet, peace
accept them as authorities. Listen then to the words of the prophets, for they
have had experience, they have had direct vision of the truth in respect of all that
is dealt with in revelation. Walk in their way and you too will come to know
something of that by direct vision‟.
Moreover I say: `Even if you have not experienced it, yet your mind judges it
an absolute obligation to believe in it and follow it. Let us suppose that a man of
full age and sound mind, who has never experienced illness, now falls ill; and let
us suppose that he has a father who is a good man and a competent physician,
of whose reputation in medicine he has been hearing as long as he can
remember. His father compounds a drug for him, saying, `This will make you
better from your illness and cure your symptoms‟ What judgment does his
intellect make here, even if the drug is bitter and disagreeable to the taste? Does
he take it? Or does he disbelieve and say, `I do not understand the connection of
this drug with the achieving of a cure; I have had no experience of it‟. You would
certainly think him a fool if he did that! Similarly people of vision think you a fool
when you hesitate and remain undecided‟.
You may say: `How am I to know the good will of the Prophet, peace be upon
him and his knowledge of this medical art‟? I reply: `How do you know the good
will of your father, seeing this is not something perceived by the senses? The fact
is that you have come to know it necessarily and indubitably by comparing his
attitude at different times and observing his actions in various circumstances‟.
If one considers the sayings of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and
what is related in Prophetic Sayings about his concern for showing people the
true way and about his graciousness in leading men by various acts of sympathy
and kindness to improve their character and conduct and to better their mutual
relations leading them to the indispensable basis of all betterment, religious and
secular alike, if one considers this, one comes to the obvious knowledge that his
good will towards his people is greater than that of a father towards his child.
Again, if one considers the marvelous acts manifested in his case and the
wonderful mysteries declared by his mouth in the Koran and in the Prophetic
Sayings, and his predictions of events in the distant future, together with the
fulfillment of these predictions, then one will know necessarily that he attained to
the sphere which is beyond reason, where an eye opened in him by which the
mysteries were laid bare which only the elect apprehend, the mysteries which are
not apprehended by the intellect.
This is the method of reaching obvious knowledge that the Prophet, peace