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the fear of God, and whose luminous faces shine with
the lights of salvation--these are alert to the present
need and they understand the requirements of modern
times, and certainly devote all their energies toward
encouraging the advancement of learning and civilization.
"Are they equal, those who know, and those who
do not know?... Or is the darkness equal with the
light?" (20)
The spiritually learned are lamps of guidance among
the nations, and stars of good fortune shining from the
horizons of humankind. They are fountains of life for
such as lie in the death of ignorance and unawareness,
and clear springs of perfections for those who thirst
and wander in the wasteland of their defects and errors.
They are the dawning places of the emblems of Divine
Unity and initiates in the mysteries of the glorious
Qur'án. They are skilled physicians for the ailing body
of the world, they are the sure antidote to the poison
that has corrupted human society. It is they who are
the strong citadel guarding humanity, and the impregnable
sanctuary for the sorely distressed, the anxious
and tormented, victims of ignorance. "Knowledge is a
light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever
He willeth."
For every thing, however, God has created a sign and
symbol, and established standards and tests by which
it may be known. The spiritually learned must be characterized
by both inward and outward perfections; they
20. Qur'án 39:12; 13:17.
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