Many a times, I used to hear Mowlânâ Aĥmad Bahâwalpûrî mention in his sermons:

“Humans are not the best of creation because Allah has made them…Allah has made everything and not just humans. Humans are only the best of creation if they follow the path of their Lord and don’t break any of His rules, Or else they are worse than dogs and donkeys.”
 
When I used to hear this, I used to become restless and it would seem as if Mowlânâ is insulting humans. Hence, once on an Eid day, I went to meet Mowlânâ and fearfully asked that why do you utter such harsh words?
 
Mowlânâ replied, “This is because Allah has mentioned that if humans disobey me, they will be thrown into Hellfire, whereas animals will not be sent to Hellfire. Allah forbid, if a human is sent to eternal Hellfire, tell me, is he better or an animal? Therefore endeavour to make a human, human, or else if a human stoops down from the level of humanity, he even leaves animals behind.”
 
After hearing this, my heart started trembling and I understood that in reality Mowlânâ’s words were true. Whether we accept this or not, THIS IS REALITY…
 
By Ahsan Saeed | Translated By Mufti Sufyan