To beg is human and to bestow is divine. A person who does not understand and accept this fact is false … The beneficence of graciousness (rahmaniyyat) and mercy (rahimiyyat) are not two independent phenomena. Therefore, an individual who abandons one and seeks the other cannot benefit from either. The demands of graciousness are to develop within us the strength to benefit from the grace of God’s mercy. One who does not do this is ungrateful for divine favour. The words ُاِیَّاکَ نَعۡبُدُ mean that we worship Allah alone, whilst always giving due consideration to the apparent ways and means that He has made available to us. If language, which is the product of our nerves and muscles, had not existed, we would not be able to speak. We were granted a language, which for the purpose of prayer, has the ability to articulate the very sentiments of our heart. If we never make use of our tongues to pray, this is our own misfortune. There are many illnesses, which if contracted by the tongue, can deprive it of its ability to function all at once, to the extent that a person becomes a mute. What a beautiful manifestation of divine mercy it is that we have been bestowed a tongue. Similarly, if the form of our ears became corrupted, we would not be able to hear a thing. So too is the case of the heart. If the state of fear and humility, and the faculties of contemplation and reflection with which man has been vested become corrupted, all these faculties, more or less, become useless. Just observe those who are mad and see how their faculties become futile. Is it not then incumbent upon us to value these God-given favours that we have been granted? If we abandon the faculties that Allah Almighty has blessed us with on account of His immense grace, so that they should rot, then we are invariably ungrateful for the favours of God. Hence, remember that if you leave your faculties and strength to hang idle and offer prayer, then such supplications will be of no benefit. For when we have failed to make use of the gift that has already been bestowed to us, how can we be expected to make good and beneficial use of another?
(Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, Malfuzat, Vol. 1, pp. 126-127)
