wondrous, prisons were transformed into rose gardens, from where eternal light-filled vistas opened up for him. The gallows were pulpits for offering guidance, from where he instructed humanity in patience and steadfastness in pursuing a lofty aim, and in courage and firmness. Prisons all became Schools of Joseph (Medrese-i Yusufiye), which he entered as a professor enters a university to teach. For the prisoners were his students, in need of his effulgent guidance. His greatest happiness was to each day save the belief of a handful of people and to transform criminals into angels.

Doubtless, with his elevated consciousness of belief and sincerity, leaving behind him in the dense world of matter the gilded effects of time and space, he rose in his spirit to the pure luminous climes of the non-physical worlds.

The lofty degree defined by the great figures of Sufism (May God be pleased with them) as 'annihilation in God' and 'permanence in God,' is to attain to this sacred honour.

Yes, all believers have their own particular states of veneration, spiritual advancement, withdrawal, and absorption in God. And every person may receive the outflowing of this divine pleasure proportionately to his belief and knowledge, piety and good works, effulgence and spirituality. But the great mujahids, called "those who do right" in the above verse, experience this sweet state of union perpetually. It is because of this that they do not forget their Maker. Like lions, they spend all their lives fighting. Every breath, they progress and advance to greater heights. Their whole beings are dissolved in the pleasure of the Lord of All the Worlds, with His attributes of beauty, perfection, and glory.

May Almighty God include us among that class of the great! Amen. ∗ ∗ ∗

Above we mentioned Ustad's tremendous belief, which filled his enemies with fear as much as it captivated those who loved him. Now we shall describe his exceptional personal qualities, morals, and perfections, which enveloped him like a halo of light.

As is known, everyone possesses different qualities. Ustad's personality was formed by the following qualities:

His Self-Abnegation and Unselfishness

• His Self-Abnegation and Unselfishness

Self-abnegation or unselfishness is the quality most necessary for a man with a cause, and especially a reformer, if he is to be successful. For people tend to scrutinize this most important point with the closest attention. Ustad's life is full of brilliant examples of his unselfishness.

I once heard the great scholar 'Allama Shaykh al-Islam Mustafa Sabri