say about self-abnegation: "Today Islam needs such mujahids that they are prepared to sacrifice their lives not only in this world, but in the hereafter as well."

I did not grasp these words entirely at the time, and equated them with the mysterious utterances of Sufis in ecstasy, and did not repeat them to everyone.

Then, on reading the same thing among Bediuzzaman's fiery writings, I understood that this was the measure of lofty person's self-abnegation. Would our most munificent God, the Most Merciful of the Merciful, abandon the mujahids who are happy to practise such bitter self-abnegation for Islam? Would it befit Him to deprive such devoted servants of His favour and munificence, His grace and mercy?

Bediuzzaman was the most brilliant example of this manifestation. He remained single all his life, forgoing completely all the licit pleasures of this world. He found neither the time nor the opportunity to found a home and lead a happy family life. But Almighty God bestowed such blessings on him, transient pens are incapable of describing their magnificence.

Is the head of any family today as happy as Bediuzzaman? Is there any father who has millions of children? And what children! Is there any Ustad and Master who has raised so many students?

With divine permission, this sacred, spiritual bond will endure as long as the world exists and will pour into eternity, a flood of light. For this divine cause has crystallized from the Qur'an's ocean of light; it is born of the Qur'an and will exist together with it.

His Compassion and Kindness

• His Compassion and Kindness

Our great Master discovered truth even in his childhood. Retiring into caves to listen to the cries of his heart and to commune with his spirit, he attained knowledge of God and the joy of the sense of His presence through worship, contemplation, and reflection.

But at that awful time when the black waves of disbelief and atheism were threatening to engulf the Islamic world as well as our country, he sprang into the arena of jihad like a lion springing up from its lair or an erupting volcano. He sacrificed ease and comfort of every sort for this sacred cause. It is because of this that from that day forward all his words were like lava, all his ideas like molten rock. They scorch the hearts on which they fall, causing emotions and ideas to burst into flame.

Our great Master resembles Imam al-Ghazzali in that he returned to guiding others and the life of society after a period of complete retirement and isolation, undergoing similar significant stages.