Hence, the words اِیَّاکَ نَعۡبُدُ (Thee alone do we worship), proclaim that: ‘O Lord of all the worlds! We have not abandoned the gift you have bestowed upon us already as a thing ruined and wasted.’ In the prayer: اِہۡدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الۡمُسۡتَقِیۡمَ we have been taught that man should seek true insight from God Almighty. For if His grace and bounty do not come to our aid, we as humble human beings, are plunged in such gloom and darkness that we cannot even make recourse to prayer. Hence, until one derives benefit from the grace of God, which reaches them through the bounty of graciousness (rahmaniyyat), and prays, no fruitful result can be attained. I found, some time ago, that even in British law, in order to secure an agricultural loan, one is required to furnish proof of some assets. In the same manner, one ought to keep in view the law of nature and ask: have we made good use of that which has already been bestowed upon us? If having been blessed with reason, good sense, eyes and ears, we have not gone astray, and have not pursued ways of foolishness and ignorance, then you shall receive further divine grace through prayer, otherwise there are warning signs of destitution and misfortune.
(Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, Malfuzat, Vol. 1, pp. 127-128)
