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n s w e r : God forbid, the
sovereignty is His. He holds sway
over His possessions as He
wishes. Moreover, a skilful
craftsman makes you a model in
return for a wage and dresses you
in a bejewelled garment that he
has most artistically fashioned.
Then in order to display his art
and skill, he shortens it and
lengthens it, measures it and
trims it, and he makes you sit
down and stand up. Are you able
to say to him: "You have
made the garment which made me
beautiful ugly. You have caused
me trouble, making me sit down
and stand up." Of course,
you cannot say that. If you did
say it, you would be crazy. In
just the same way, the
All-Glorious Maker has clothed
you in a most artistically
wrought being bejewelled with
faculties like the eye, the ear,
and the tongue. In order to
display the embroideries of
various of His Names, He makes
you ill, He afflicts you with
tribulations, He makes you
hungry, He fills you, He makes
you thirsty; He makes you revolve
in states like these. In order to
strengthen the essence of life
and display the manifestation of
His Names, He makes you journey
in numerous such conditions. If
you say: "Why do you inflict
these calamities on me?", as
is indicated in the comparison, a
hundred instances of wisdom will
silence you. In any event, calm,
repose, idleness, monotony, and
arrest from action are forms of
non-existence, and harm. Action
and change are existence and
good. Life find its perfection
through action, it progresses by
means of tribulations. Life
manifests various actions through
the manifestation of the Divine
Names, it is purified, finds
strength, it unfolds and expands,
it becomes a mobile pen to write
its own appointed course; it
performs its duty, and acquires
the right to receive reward in
the Hereafter.
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