The Concentration of Spiritual Will in Sirat al-Mustaqim

Question

There is a book by Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Isma‘il Shahid ﵀ called “Sirat al-Mustaqim”; one of its passages has thrown my mind into confusion, and a kind of doubt has arisen in my heart as to whether what the Barelvis say is true or false. Now I am at a loss as to what to do. The passage of “Sirat al-Mustaqim” is as follows: [ar]وصرف همت به‌سوی شیخ و امثال آن از عظیمین، گو که جناب رسالت‌مآب ﷺ باشند، به‌چندان مرتبه بدتر از استغراق در صوت گاو و خر خود است، که خیال آن با تعظیم و اجلال به سویدای دل انسان می‌چسبد،…

Answer

Whatever discipline (fann) a book belongs to, it will contain, as a whole, the technical terms of that discipline. Understanding those terms in their lexical meaning, or in the technical meaning of some other discipline, will confuse the sense. For example, the word “mawdu‘” [lexically] means “a meaningful word”, as opposed to “muhmal” (a meaningless word).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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