198 Preface وَإِن تَدعوهُم إِلَى الهُدىٰ لا يَسمَعوا ۖ وَتَراهُم يَنظُرونَ إِلَيكَ وَهُم لا يُبصِرونَYusuf AliIf thou callest them to guidance, they hear not. Thou wilt see them looking at thee, but they see not.1The beauty and righteousness of al Muṣṭafā’s life were acknowledged on all hands, until he received the mission to preach and to fight against evil. What happened then? Evil erected barricades for itself. It had eyes, but it refused to see. It had ears, but it refused to hear. It had intelligence, but it blocked up its channels of understanding. Even now, after fourteen centuries, a life of unexampled purity, probity, justice, and righteousness is seen in false lights by blind detractors!