visit Us. While We were conversing with him, he
referred to the above-quoted tradition. He said:
"Inasmuch as fasting causeth the heat of the body
to increase, it hath therefore been likened unto the
light of the sun; and as the prayer of the night-season
refresheth man, it hath been compared unto
the radiance of the moon." Thereupon We realized
that that poor man had not been favoured with a
single drop of the ocean of true understanding, and
had strayed far from the burning Bush of divine
wisdom. We then politely observed to him saying:
"The interpretation your honour hath given to this
tradition is the one current amongst the people.
Could it not be interpreted differently?" He asked
Us: "What could it be?" We made reply: "&Muhammad,
the Seal of the Prophets, and the most
distinguished of God's chosen Ones, hath likened
the Dispensation of the Qur'án unto heaven, by
reason of its loftiness, its paramount influence, its
majesty, and the fact that it comprehendeth all religions.
And as the sun and moon constitute the
brightest and most prominent luminaries in the
heavens, similarly in the heaven of the religion of
God two shining orbs have been ordained--fasting
and prayer. `Islam is heaven; fasting is its sun,
prayer, its moon.'"