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| gencnurCom | The Tenth Word Resurrection and the Hereafter NOTE [The reasons for my writing these
treatises in the form of metaphors, comparisons and
stories are to facilitate comprehension and to show how
rational, appropriate, well-founded and coherent are the
truths of Islam. The meaning of the stories is contained
in the truths that conclude them; each story is like an
allusion pointing to its concluding truth. Therefore,
they are not mere fictitious tales, but veritable
truths.] In the Name of God, the
Compassionate, the Merciful. Look, then, to the signs of
God’s mercy -how He restores life to the earth after
its death- verily He it is Who quickens the dead, for He
is powerful over all things.1 Brother, if you wish for a discussion
of resurrection and the hereafter in simple and common
language, in a straightforward style, then listen to the
following comparison, together with my own soul. “What are you doing? You will be
punished, and I will be dragged into misfortune along
with you. All this property belongs to the state. The
people ____________________ 1. Qur'an, 30:50. The Words / Tenth Word - p.60 of this land, including even the
children, are all soldiers or government servants. It is
because they are at present civilians that they are not
interfering with you. But the laws here are strict. The
king has installed telephones everywhere and his agents
are everywhere. Go quickly, and try to settle the
matter.” But the empty-headed man said in his
obstinacy: “No, it is not state property; it belongs
instead to some endowment, and has no clear or obvious
owner. Everyone can make use of it as he sees fit. I see
no reason to deny myself the use of these fine things. I
will not believe they belong to anyone unless I see him
with my own eyes.” He continued to speak in this way,
with much philosophical sophistry, and an earnest
discussion took place between them. First the empty-headed man said:
“Who is the king here? I can’t see him,” and then
his friend replied: “Every village must have its
headman; every needle must have its manufacturer and
craftsman. And, as you know, every letter must be written
by someone. How, then, can it be that so extremely
well-ordered a kingdom should have no ruler? And how can
so much wealth have no owner, when every hour a train2
arrives filled with precious and artful gifts, as if
coming from the realm of the unseen? And all the
announcements and proclamations, all the seals and
stamps, found on all those goods, all the coins and the
flags waving in every corner of the kingdom - can they be
without an owner? It seems you have studied foreign
languages a little, and are unable to read this Islamic
script. In addition, you refuse to ask those who are able
to read it. Come now, let me read to you the king’s
supreme decree.” The empty-headed man then retorted:
“Well, let us suppose there is a king; what harm can he
suffer from the minute use I am making of all his wealth?
Will his treasury decrease on account of it? In any
event, I can see nothing here resembling prison or
punishment.” His friend replied: “This land that
you see is a manoeuvering ground. It is, in addition, an
exhibition of his wonderful royal arts. Then again it may
be regarded as a temporary hospice, one devoid of
foundations. Do you not see that every day one caravan
arrives as another departs and vanishes? It is being
constantly emptied and filled. Soon the whole land will
be changed; its inhabitants will depart for another and
more lasting realm. There everyone will be either
rewarded or punished in accordance with his services.” That treacherous empty-headed one
retorted rebelliously: “I don’t believe it. Is it at
all possible that a whole land should perish, and be
transferred to another realm?” ____________________ 2. Indicates the cycle of a year.
Indeed, every spring is a carload of provisions coming
from the realm of the unseen. The Words / Tenth Word - p.61 His faithful friend then replied:
“Since you are so obstinate and rebellious, come, let
me demonstrate to you, with twelve out of the innumerable
proofs available, that there is a Supreme Tribunal, a
realm of reward and generosity and a realm of punishment
and incarceration, and that just as this world is
partially emptied every day, so too a day shall come when
it will be totally emptied and destroyed. • First Aspect: Is it at all
possible that in any kingdom, and particularly so
splendid a kingdom as this, there should be no reward for
those who serve obediently and no punishment for those
who rebel? Reward and punishment are virtually
non-existent here; there must therefore be a Supreme
Tribunal somewhere else. • Second Aspect: Look at the
organization and administration of this kingdom! See how
everyone, including the poorest and the weakest, is
provided with perfect and ornate sustenance. The best
care is taken of the sick. Royal and delicious foods,
dishes, jewel encrusted decorations, embroidered
garments, splendid feasts - all are to be found here. See
how everyone pays due attention to his duties, with the
exception of empty-headed people such as yourself. No one
transgresses his bounds by as much as an inch. The
greatest of all men is engaged in modest and obedient
service, with an attitude of fear and awe. The ruler of
this kingdom must possess, then, great generosity and
all-embracing compassion, as well as, at the same time,
great dignity, exalted awesomeness and honour. Now
generosity requires liberality; compassion cannot
dispense with beneficence; and awesomeness and honour
make it imperative that the discourteous be chastised.
But not even a thousandth part of what that generosity
and awesomeness require is to be seen in this realm. The
oppressor retains his power, and the oppressed, his
humiliation, as they both depart and migrate from this
realm. Their affairs are, then, left to the same Supreme
Tribunal of which we speak. • Third Aspect: See with
what lofty wisdom and ordering affairs are managed, and
with what true justice and balance transactions are
effected! Now a wise polity requires that those who seek
refuge under the protecting wing of the state should
receive favour, and justice demands that the rights of
subjects be preserved, so that the splendour of the state
should not suffer. But here in this land, not a
thousandth part of the requirements of such wisdom and
justice is fulfilled; for example, empty-headed people
such as yourself usually leave this realm unpunished. So
again we say, matters are postponed for the consideration
of a Supreme Tribunal. • Fourth Aspect: Look at
these innumerable and peerless jewels that are displayed
here, these unparalleled dishes laid out like a banquet!
They demonstrate that the ruler of these lands is
possessed of infinite generosity and an inexhaustible
treasury. Now such generosity and such a treasury The Words / Tenth Word - p.62 deserve and require a bounteous
display that should be eternal and include all possible
objects of desire. They further require that all who come
as guests to partake of that display should be there
eternally and not suffer the pain of death and
separation. For just as the cessation of pain is
pleasurable, so too is the cessation of pleasure painful!
Look at these displays and the announcements concerning
them! And listen to these heralds proclaiming the fine
and delicate arts of a miracle-working monarch, and
demonstrating his perfections! They are declaring his
peerless and invisible beauty, and speaking of the subtle
manifestations of his hidden beauteousness; he must be
possessed, then, of a great and astounding invisible
beauty and perfection. This flawless hidden perfection
requires one who will appreciate and admire it, who will
gaze on it exclaiming, Ma’shallah!, thus
displaying it and making it known. As for concealed and peerless beauty,
it too requires to see and be seen, or rather to behold
itself in two ways. The first consists of contemplating
itself in different mirrors, and the second of
contemplating itself by means of the contemplation of
enraptured spectators and astounded admirers. Hidden
beauty wishes, then, to see and be seen, to contemplate
itself eternally and be contemplated without cease. It
desires also permanent existence for those who gaze upon
it in awe and rapture. For eternal beauty can never be
content with a transient admirer; moreover, an admirer
destined to perish without hope of return will find his
love turning to enmity whenever he imagines his death,
and his admiration and respect will yield to contempt. It
is in man’s nature to hate the unknown and the
unaccustomed. Now everyone leaves the hospice of this
realm very quickly and vanishes, having seen only a light
or a shadow of the perfection and beauty for no more than
a moment, without in any way being satiated. Hence, it is
necessary that he should go towards an eternal realm
where he will contemplate the Divine beauty and
perfection. • Fifth Aspect: See,
it is evident from all these matters that that peerless
Being is possessed of most great mercy. For he causes aid
to be swiftly extended to every victim of misfortune,
answers every question and petition; and mercifully
fulfils even the lowliest need of his lowliest subject.
If, for example, the foot of some herdsman’s sheep
should hurt, he either provides some medicine or sends a
veterinarian. Come now, let us go; there is a great
meeting on that island. All the nobles of the land are
assembled there. See, a most noble commander, bearing
exalted decorations, is pronouncing a discourse, and
requesting certain things from that compassionate
monarch. All those present say: “Yes, we too desire the
same,” and affirm and assent to his words. Now listen
to the words of that commander favoured by his monarch: “O monarch that nurtures us with
his bounty! Show us the source and origin of these
examples and shadows you have shown us! Draw us nigh to The Words / Tenth Word - p.63 your seat of rule; do not let us
perish in these deserts! Take us into your presence and
have mercy on us! Feed us there on the delicious bounty
you have caused us to taste here! Do not torment us with
desperation and banishment! Do not leave your yearning,
thankful and obedient subjects to their own devices; do
not cause them to be annihilated!” Do you not hear him
thus supplicating? Is it at all possible that so merciful
and powerful a monarch should not totally fulfil the
finest and highest aim of his most beloved and noble
commander? Moreover, the purpose of that
commander is the purpose of all men, and its fulfilment
is required by the pleasure, the compassion and the
justice of the king, and it is a matter of ease for him,
not difficulty, causing him less difficulty than the
transient places of enjoyment contained in the hospice of
the world. Having spent so much effort on these places of
witnessing that will last only five or six days, and on
the foundation of this kingdom, in order to demonstrate
instances of his power, he will, without doubt, display
at his seat of rule true treasures, perfections and
skills in such a manner, and open before us such
spectacles, that our intellects will be astonished. Those sent to this field of trial
will not, then, be left to their own devices; palaces of
bliss or dungeons await them. • Sixth Aspect: Come
now, look! All these imposing railways, planes, machines,
warehouses, exhibitions show that behind the veil an
imposing monarch exists and governs.3 ____________________ 3. When a vast army in the present
age receives the order, "take up your weapons and
fix your bayonets," in accordance with the rules of
war while on manoeuver, it comes to resemble a forest of
upright oaks. Similarly, when the soldiers of a garrison
are commanded on festive days to don their parade
uniforms and pin on their medals, it will resemble from
one end to the other a colourful and ornate garden, where
all the flowers have blossomed. Conversely, when on the
parade-ground of the world, the various and infinite
species of the soldiery of the Pre-Eternal Monarch -
angels, jinn, men, animals and even unfeeling plants -
receive the order of Be! And it is in the struggle for
life's preservation and the command, "take up your
weapons and equipment, and prepare to defend
yourselves," when they fix the minute bayonets that
are the spiked trees and plants found throughout the
world, - then they resemble a magnificent army advancing
with bayonets fixed. The Words / Tenth Word - p.64 Such a monarch requires subjects
worthy of himself. But now you see all his subjects
gathered in a hospice for wayfarers, a hospice that is
filled and emptied each day. It can also be said that his
subjects are now gathered in a testing-ground for the
sake of manoeuvres, and this ground also changes each
hour. Again, we may say that all his subjects stay in an
exhibition-hall for a few minutes to behold specimens of
the monarch’s beneficence, valuable products of his
miraculous art. But the exhibition itself changes each
moment. Now this situation and circumstance conclusively
shows that beyond the hospice, the testing-ground, the
exhibition, there are permanent palaces, lasting abodes,
and gardens and treasuries full of the pure and elevated
originals of the samples and shapes we see in this world.
It is for the sake of these that we exert ourselves here.
Here we labour, and there we receive our reward. A form
and degree of felicity suited to everyone’s capacity
awaits us there. • Seventh Aspect:
Come, let us walk a little, and see what is to be found
among these civilized people. See, in every place, at
every corner, photographers are sitting and taking
pictures. Look, everywhere there are scribes sitting and
writing things down. Everything is being recorded. They
are registering the least significant of deeds, the most
commonplace of events. Now look up at the tall mountain;
there you see a supreme photographer installed, devoted
to the service of the king;4 he is taking
pictures of all that happens in the area. The king must,
then, have issued this order; “Record all the
transactions made and deeds performed in the kingdom.”
In other words, that exalted personage is having all
events registered and photographically recorded. The
precise record he is keeping must without doubt be for
the sake of one day calling his subjects to account. Now is it at all possible that an
All-Wise and All-Preserving Being, who does not neglect
the most banal doings of the lowest of his subjects,
should not record the most significant deeds of the
greatest among his subjects, should not call them to
account, should not reward and punish them? After all, it
is those foremost among his subjects that perform deeds
offensive to his glory, contrary to his pride and
unacceptable to his compassion, and those deeds remain
unpunished in this world. It must be, therefore, that
their judgement is postponed to a Supreme Court. ____________________ 4. Some of the truths indicated in
this parable have been set forth in the Seventh Truth.
However, let us point out here that the figure of the
"supreme photographer devoted to the service of the
king" is an indication of the Preserved Tablet. The
reality and existence of the Preserved Tablet has been
proved in the Twenty-Sixth Word as follows: a little
portfolio suggests the existence of a great ledger; a
little document points to the existence of a great
register; and little drops point to the existence of a
great water tank. So too the retentive faculties of men,
the fruits of trees, the seeds and kernels of fruit,
being each like a little portfolio, a Preserved Tablet in
miniature or a drop proceeding from the pen that
inscribes the great Preserved Tablet - they point to,
indicate and prove the existence of a Supreme Retentive
Faculty, a great register, an exalted Preserved Tablet.
Indeed, they demonstrate this visibly to the perceptive
intellect.
The Words / Tenth Word - p.65 • Eighth Aspect:
Come, let me read to you the decrees issued by that
monarch. See, he repeatedly makes the following promises
and dire threats: “I will take you from your present
abode and bring you to the seat of my rule. There I shall
bestow happiness on the obedient and imprison the
disobedient. Destroying that temporary abode, I shall
found a different realm containing eternal palaces and
dungeons.” He can easily fulfil the promises
that he makes, of such importance for his subjects. It
is, moreover, incompatible with his pride and his power
that he should break his promise. So look, o confused
one! You assent to the claims of your mendacious
imagination, your distraught intellect, your deceptive
soul, but deny the words of a being who cannot be
compelled in any fashion to break his promise, whose high
stature does not admit any such faithlessness, and to
whose truthfulness all visible deeds bear witness.
Certainly you deserve a great punishment. You resemble a
traveller who closes his eyes to the light of the sun and
looks instead upon his own imagination. His fancy wishes
to illuminate his awesomely dark path with the light of
his brain, although it is no more than a glow-worm. Once
that monarch makes a promise, he will by all means fulfil
it. Its fulfilment is most easy for him, and moreover
most necessary for us and all things, as well as for him
too and his kingdom. There is therefore, a Supreme Court,
and a lofty felicity. • Ninth Aspect: Come
now! Look at the heads of these offices and groups.5
Each has a private telephone to speak personally with the
king. Sometimes too they go directly to his presence. See
what they say and unanimously report, that the monarch
has prepared a most magnificent and awesome place for
reward and punishment. His promises are emphatic and his
threats are most stern. His pride and dignity are such
that he would in no way stoop to the abjectness inherent
in the breaking of a promise. The bearers of this report,
who are so numerous as to be universally accepted,
further report with the strong unanimity of consensus
that “the seat and headquarters of the lofty monarchy,
some of whose traces are visible here, is in another
realm far distant from here. The buildings existing in
this testing-ground are but temporary, and will later be
exchanged for eternal palaces. These places will change.
For this magnificent and unfading monarchy, the splendour
of which is apparent from its works, can in no way be
founded or based on so transient, impermanent, unstable,
insignificant, changing, ____________________ 5. The meanings indicated in this
Aspect can be found in the Eighth Truth. For example, by
heads of offices we mean the Prophets and the Saints. As
for the telephone, it is a link and relation with God
that goes forth from the heart and is the mirror of
revelation and the receptacle of inspiration. The heart
is like the earpiece of that telephone. The Words / Tenth Word - p.66 defective and imperfect matters. It
is based rather on matters worthy of it, eternal, stable,
permanent and glorious.” • Tenth Aspect: Come,
today is the vernal equinox.6 Certain changes will take
place, and wondrous things will occur. On this fine
spring day, let us go for a walk on the green plain
adorned with beautiful flowers. See, other people are
also coming toward it. There must be some magic at work,
for buildings that were mere ruins have suddenly sprung
up again here, and this once empty plain has become like
a populous city. See, every hour it shows a different
scene, just like a cinema screen, and takes on a
different shape. But notice, too, that among these
complex, swiftly changing and multifarious scenes perfect
order exists, so that all things are put in their proper
places. The imaginary scenes presented to us on the
cinema screen cannot be as well-ordered as this, and
millions of skilled magicians would be incapable of this
artistry. This monarch whom we cannot see must, then,
have performed even greater miracles. O foolish one! You ask: “How can
this vast kingdom be destroyed and re-established
somewhere else?” You see that every hour numerous
changes and revolutions occur, just like that transfer
from one realm to another that your mind will not accept.
From this gathering in and scattering forth it can be
deduced that a certain purpose is concealed within these
visible and swift joinings and separations, these
compoundings and dissolvings. Ten years of effort would
not be devoted to a joining together destined to last no
longer than an hour. So these circumstances we witness
cannot be ends in themselves; they are a kind of parable
of something beyond themselves, an imitation of it. That
exalted being brings them about in miraculous fashion, so
that they take shape and then merge, and the result is
preserved and recorded, in just the same way that every
aspect of a manoeuvre on the battleground is written down
and recorded. This implies that proceedings at some great
concourse and meeting will be based on what happens here.
Further, the results of all that occurs here will be
permanently displayed at some supreme exposition. All the
transient and fluctuating phenomena we see here will
yield the fruit of eternal and immutable form. ____________________ 6. You will find what this Aspect
alludes to in the Ninth Truth. The vernal equinox is
equivalent to the beginning of spring. As for the green
plain covered with flowers, this is the face of the earth
in springtime. The changing scenes and spectacles are an
allusion to the different groups of vernal beings, the
classes of summer creation, and the sustenance for men
and animals, that the All-Powerful and Glorious Maker,
the All-Wise and Beauteous Creator, from the beginning of
spring to the end of summer, brings forth in orderly
succession, renews with the utmost compassion, and
dispatches uninterruptedly. The Words / Tenth Word - p.67 • Eleventh Aspect:
Come, o obstinate friend! Let us embark on a plane or a
train travelling east or west, that is, to the past or
the future. Let us see what miraculous works that being
has accomplished in other places. Look, there are marvels
on every hand like the dwellings, open spaces and
exhibitions we see. But they all differ with respect to
art and to form. Note well, however, what order
betokening manifest wisdom, what indications ďf evident
compassion, what signs of lofty justice, and what fruits
of comprehensive mercy, are to be seen in these transient
dwellings, these impermanent open spaces, these fleeting
exhibitions. Anyone not totally devoid of insight will
understand a certainty that no wisdom can be imagined
more perfect than his, no providence more beauteous than
his, no compassion more comprehensive than his, and no
justice more glorious than his. If, for the sake of argument, as you
imagine, no permanent abodes, lofty places, fixed
stations, lasting residences, or resident and contented
population existed in the sphere of his kingdom; and if
the truths of his wisdom, compassion, mercy and justice
had no realm in which to manifest themselves fully (for
this impermanent kingdom is no place for their full
manifestation) - then we would be obliged to deny the
wisdom we see, to deny the compassion we observe, to deny
the mercy that is in front of our eyes, and to deny the
justice the signs of which are evident. This would be as
idiotic as denying the sun, the light of which we clearly
see at There is, then, a realm apart from
the present one. In it, there is a supreme tribunal, a
lofty place of justice, an exalted place of reward, where
all this compassion, wisdom, mercy and justice will be
made fully manifest. • Twelfth Aspect:
Come, let us return now. We will speak with the chiefs
and officers of these various groups, and looking at
their equipment will inquire whether that equipment has
been given them only for the sake of subsisting for a
brief period in that realm, or whether it has been given
for the sake of obtaining a long life of bliss in another
realm. Let us see. We cannot look at everyone and his
equipment. But by way of example, let us look at the
identity card and register of this officer. On his card,
his rank, salary, duty, supplies and instructions are
recorded. See, this rank has not been awarded him for
just a few days; it may be given for a prolonged The Words / Tenth Word - p.68 period. It says on his card: “You
will receive so much salary on such-and-such a day from
the treasury.” But the date in question will not arrive
for a long time to come, after this realm has been
vacated. Similarly, the duty mentioned on his card has
not been given for this temporary realm, but rather for
the sake of earning a permanent felicity in the proximity
of the king. Then, too, the supplies awarded him cannot
be merely for the sake of subsisting in this hospice of a
few days’ duration; they can only be for the sake of a
long and happy life. The instructions make it quite clear
that he is destined for a different place, that he is
working for another realm. Now look at these registers. They
contain instructions for the use and disposition of
weapons and equipment. If there were no realm other than
this, one exalted and eternal, that register with its
categorical instructions and that identity card with its
clear information, would both be quite meaningless.
Further, that respected officer, that noble commander,
that honoured chief, would fall to a degree lower than
that of all men; he would be more wretched, luckless,
abased, afflicted, indigent and weak than everyone. Apply
the same principle to everything. Whatever you look upon
bears witness that after this transient world another and
eternal world exists. O friend! This temporary world is
like a field. It is a place of instruction, a market.
Without doubt a supreme tribunal and ultimate happiness
will succeed it. If you deny this, you will be obliged
also to deny the identity cards of all the officers,
their equipment and their orders; in fact, you will have
to deny too all the order existing in the country, the
existence of a government in it and all the measures that
the government takes. Then you will no longer deserve the
name of man or the appellation of conscious. You will be
more of a fool than the sophists. Beware, do not imagine that the
proofs of the transfer of creation from one realm to
another are restricted to these twelve. There are
indications and proofs beyond counting and enumeration,
all showing that this impermanent, changing kingdom will
be transformed into a permanent and immutable realm.
There are also innumerable signs and evidences that men
will be taken from this temporary hospice and sent to the
eternal seat of rule of all creation. I will show one proof in particular
that is stronger than all the twelve aspects taken
together. Come now, look, in the midst of the
great assembly visible in the distance the same noble
commander whom we previously saw on the island, adorned
with numerous decorations, is making an announcement. Let
us go and listen. See, that luminous and most noble
commander is conveying a supreme edict, beautifully
inscribed. He says: “Prepare yourselves; you will go to
another and permanent realm, a realm The Words / Tenth Word - p.69 such that this one will appear as a
dungeon by comparison. You will go to the seat of rule of
our king, and there receive his compassion and his
bounty, if you heed this edict well and obey it. But if
you rebel and disobey it, you will be cast into awesome
dungeons.” Such is the message that he conveys. If you
look at the decree, you will see that it bears such a
miraculous seal that it cannot in any way be imitated.
Everyone apart from idiots such as yourself knows of a
certainty that the decree is from the king. Moreover, the
noble commander bears such bright decorations that
everyone except those blind like yourself understands
full well that he is the veracious conveyer of the
king’s orders. Is it at all possible that the
teaching of transfer from one realm to another,
challengingly conveyed by that noble commander in the
supreme edict he has received, should at all be open to
objection? No, it is not possible, unless we deny all
that we have seen. Now, o friend, it is your turn to
speak. Say what you have to say. “What should I say? What can be
said to contradict all of this? Who can speak against the
sun at Our comparison indicating the truth
of resurrection and the hereafter is now complete. Now
with God’s grace, we will pass on to the most exalted
truth. We shall set forth twelve interrelated Truths,
corresponding to the twelve Aspects discussed above, as
well as an Introduction. The Words / Tenth Word -
Introduction - p.70 Introduction [By means of a few indications, we
refer here to several matters explained elsewhere, that
is, in the Twenty-Second, Nineteenth and Twenty-Sixth
Words.] • First Indication The foolish man in the previous story
and his trustworthy companion correspond to three other
pairs: • The instinctual soul and the
heart; • The students of philosophy and
the pupils of the All-Wise Qur’an; • The people of unbelief and the
community of Islam. The worst error and misguidance of
the students of philosophy, the people of unbelief and
the instinctual soul, lies in not recognizing God. Just
as in the preceding story the trustworthy man said,
“there can be no letter without a scribe, no law
without a legislator,” we too say the following: A book, particularly one in each word
of which a minute pen has inscribed another whole book,
and in each letter of which a fine pen has traced a poem,
cannot be without a writer; this would be entirely
impossible. So too this cosmos cannot be without its
inscriber; this is impossible to the utmost degree. For
the cosmos is precisely such a book that each of its
pages includes many other books, each of its words
contains a book, and each of its letters contains a poem.
The face of the earth is but a single page in the book of
the cosmos. See how many books it contains. Every fruit
is a letter, and every seed is a dot. In that dot is
contained the index of the whole tree in its vastness. A
book such as this can have been inscribed only by the
mighty pen of a Possessor of Glory Who enjoys the
attributes of splendour and beauty, and Who is the holder
of infinite wisdom and power. Faith, then, follows
inevitably on the observation of the world, unless one is
drunk on misguidance. Similarly, a house cannot arise
without a builder, particularly a house adorned with
miraculous works of art, wondrous designs, and amazing
ornaments. As much art has been put into one of its
stones as into a whole palace. No intelligence will
accept that it could arise without a builder; definitely
it needs a master architect. Moreover, within the
building, veritable The Words / Tenth Word -
Introduction - p.71 rooms take shape and change each hour
with the utmost order and ease, just as if clothes were
being changed, or as if scenes were passing across a
cinema screen. We can say even that numerous little rooms
are constantly being created in each of those scenes. In like manner, the cosmos also
requires an infinitely wise, all-knowing and all-powerful
maker. For the magnificent cosmos is a palace that has
the sun and the moon as its lamps and the stars as its
candles; time is like a rope or ribbon hung within it, on
to which the Glorious Creator each year threads a new
world. And within the world that He thus threads on the
string of time He places three hundred and sixty fresh
and orderly forms. He changes them with the utmost
orderliness and wisdom. He has made the face of the earth
a bounteous spread that He adorns each spring with three
hundred thousand species of creation, that He fills with
innumerable kinds of generous gifts. This He does in such
a fashion that they all stand apart from each other,
quite separate and distinct, despite their being at the
same time so close and intermingled. Is it possible to
overlook the existence of the Maker of such a palace? Again, to deny the existence of the
sun, on a cloudless day at noon, when its traces are to
be observed and its reflection is to be seen in every
bubble on the surface of the ocean, in every shining
object on dry land, and in every particle of snow - to
make such a denial would be to rave like the deranged.
For if one denied and refused to accept the existence of
the single, unique sun, he would be compelled to accept
the existence of a whole series of minor suns, each real
and existent in its own right, as numerous as the drops
and bubbles of the ocean, as countless as the particles
of snow. It would be necessary to believe that each
minute particle contains a huge sun, even though the
particle is large enough only to contain itself. It would
be an even greater sign of lunacy and misguidance to
refuse one’s assent to the attributes of perfection of
the Glorious Creator, even while beholding the
well-ordered cosmos that is constantly changing in wise
and regular fashion, that is being ceaselessly renewed in
disciplined manner. This, too, would be like the ravings
of a lunatic, since it would then become necessary to
believe and accept that absolute divinity is present in
all things, even a particle. For every particle of air is
somehow able to enter and work its effects upon every
flower, fruit and leaf, and unless the particle be
entrusted with this task by a Creator, it must know of
itself the structure and form of all the objects it
penetrates and affects. In other words, it must possess
all-encompassing power and knowledge. Every particle of soil is potentially
capable of giving rise to all the different seeds that
exist. If it is not acting under command, it must contain
within itself equipment and instruments corresponding to
all the various trees and plants in the world. Or, to put
it differently, one must attribute to the particle The Words / Tenth Word -
Introduction - p.72 such artistry and power that it is
aware of the structure of each of them, knows the forms
that each of them is caused to assume, and is capable of
fashioning those forms. The same is true with respect to
the particle and other realms of creation. From this you can understand that in
all things there are numerous and manifest proofs of
God’s Unity. To create all things from one thing, and
to make all things into one thing, is a task possible
only for the Creator of all things. Pay heed to the
sublime declaration: “There is naught but proclaims His
Glory with praise.” For if one does not accept God, the
One and Unique, one must accept gods as numerous as
created beings. • Second Indication In our story, we made mention of a
Most Noble Commander and said that whoever is not blind
and sees his decorations and medals will understand that
he acts in accordance with the commands of a monarch and
is his favoured servant. Now that Most Noble Commander is
the Most Noble Messenger of God, may peace and blessings
be upon him. The sacred Creator of so ornamented a cosmos
must of necessity have a Noble Messenger, just as the sun
must of necessity have light. For the sun cannot exist
without giving light, and Divinity cannot be without
showing itself through the sending of prophets. Is it at
all possible that a beauty of utter perfection should not
desire to manifest itself by means of one who will
demonstrate and display it? Is it at all possible that a
perfection of beauteous artistry should not desire to
make itself known by means of a herald that will draw
men’s gazes upon it? Is it at all possible that the
universal monarchy of all-embracing dominicality should
not desire to announce its unity and eternal
besoughtedness throughout the different levels of
multiplicity and particularity by means of an envoy
possessing two aspects? By the two aspects, we mean that
he is both the envoy of the realm of multiplicity to the Is it at all possible that a
possessor of infinite inherent beauty should not wish
both to behold himself and to display to others, in
numerous mirrors, the charms of his beauty and the
allurements of his fairness? God’s Messenger is His
beloved, making himself beloved of Him by means of his
worship and holding up a mirror to Him, and he is also
the bearer of His message, making Him beloved of men and
demonstrating to them the beauty of His Names. Is it at all possible that the owner
of treasuries full of wondrous miracles, rare and
valuable items, should not wish and desire to display
them to men’s The Words / Tenth Word -
Introduction - p.73 gaze by means of an expert jeweller,
and eloquent describer, thereby revealing his hidden
perfections? Is it at all possible that the One
Who manifests the perfection of all His Names in the
cosmos by means of artful adornment for men to look upon,
so that the cosmos comes to resemble a palace decorated
with all kinds of wondrous and subtle art, should not
also designate a teacher and a guide to the wonders of
his creation? Is it at all possible that the Lord
of the cosmos should not solve, by means of a messenger,
the complex talisman of the aim and purpose of all the
changes that take place in the cosmos, and the riddle
contained in the three difficult questions posed by all
beings: “What is our origin? What is our destination?
What is our purpose?” Is it at all possible that the
Glorious Maker Who makes Himself known to sentient beings
by means of His fair creation, and Who makes himself
loved by means of His precious bounties, should not also
communicate to sentient beings, by means of a messenger,
what His pleasure desires of them in exchange? Is it at all possible that God should
create mankind in a form predisposing it to suffer the
consciousness of multiplicity but also containing the
ability to engage in universal worship, without at the
same time wishing to turn it away from multiplicity to
unity, by means of a teacher and guide? There are numerous other functions of
prophethood, each of which is a decisive proof that
Divinity necessarily implies messengership. Did anyone ever appear in the world
more worthy and more in possession of the abovementioned
qualities and functions than Muhammad, the Arabian
Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him? Has time
ever shown us one more fitting and suited to the rank of
messengerhood and the task of conveying God’s message?
No, by no means! He is the master of all messengers, the
foremost of all prophets, the leader of all pure ones,
the closest to God of all those who have drawn nigh unto
Him, the most perfect of all creatures, the monarch of
all guides to righteousness. Quite apart from the countless
indications of his prophethood deriving from more than a
thousand miracles, such as the splitting of the moon and
the flowing of water from his fingers, that all scholars
unanimously confirm, the supreme miracle of the Glorious
Qur’an -an ocean of truth and a book miraculous in
forty different respects- is itself enough to demonstrate
his prophethood as clearly as the sun. Since we discuss
the forty different aspects of the Qur’an’s
miraculousness in other treatises, particularly the
Twenty-Fifth Word, we curtail our discussion of the
matter here. The Words / Tenth Word - First
Truth - p.74 • Third Indication Let it not be thought that petty man
is too insignificant for this vast world to be brought to
an end and another realm to be unfolded simply for the
sake of his being brought to account. For apparently
petty man bears great importance as the master of all
creatures, by virtue of the comprehensiveness of his
disposition, as the herald of God’s monarchy, and the
manifester of universal worship. Also let nobody ask:
“How can one earn eternal torment in the course of a
very brief life?” For unbelief seeks to drag creation,
something as valuable and exalted as a letter written by
God, down to the depths of meaninglessness and
purposelessness. It is an insult to all being, since it
denies and rejects the manifestations and impresses of
God’s Sacred Names that are visible in all being, and
it seeks to negate all the infinite proofs that
demonstrate the veracity and truthfulness of God
Almighty. Hence, unbelief is a crime of infinite
proportions, deserving of infinite punishment. • Fourth Indication In the story, we saw by means of
twelve aspects that a king who had one realm resembling a
transient hospice must of a necessity have another realm,
one eternal and permanent, manifesting his splendour and
the sublimity of his power. In the same way, it is not at
all possible that the Eternal Creator of the transient
world should not create also an eternal realm. It is not
possible that the Everlasting Maker of this fine but
unstable cosmos, should not create another cosmos,
permanent and lasting. It is not possible that the Wise,
Powerful and Merciful Creator of this world, which is
like an exhibition, or a testing-ground, or a field,
should not create also a hereafter in which the purposes
of this world shall be made manifest. Entry is to be had
to this truth by means of twelve gates, and the twelve
gates are to be unlocked by means of twelve other truths.
We will begin with the shortest and simplest of them. FIRST TRUTH The Gate of Dominicality and
Sovereignty, Is it at all possible that the glory
of God’s dominicality and His Divine sovereignty should
create a cosmos such as this, in order to display His
perfections, with such lofty aims and elevated purposes,
without establishing a reward for those believers who
through faith and worship respond to these aims and
purposes? Or that He should not punish those misguided
ones who treat His purposes with rejection and scorn? The Words / Tenth Word - Second
Truth - p.75 SECOND TRUTH The Gate of Generosity and Mercy, Is it at all possible that the Lord
of this world, Who in His works demonstrates infinite
generosity, infinite mercy, infinite splendour and
infinite glory, should not give reward in a manner
befitting His generosity and mercy, and not punish in a
manner befitting His splendour and glory? If one looks at
the disposition of affairs in this world, one sees that
all animate beings -from the weakest to the most
powerful- are given some fitting form of sustenance.7
Indeed, the weakest and most powerless are given the best
form of sustenance. This largesse and bounty is
distributed with such lofty generosity that a hand of
infinite generosity is manifestly at work. For example, in the spring, all the
trees are garbed in clothes as fine as silk, just like
the houris in Paradise; they are encrusted with flowers
and fruits, as if with jewels, and caused to offer us
numerous varieties of the choicest fruits, on branches
delicately outstretched like the hands of a servant.
Similarly, we are given wholesome and sweet honey to eat,
from the hand of the bee with its sting; we are clothed
in the finest and softest of clothes by means of an
insect that has no hands; and within a small seed a great
treasure of mercy is preserved for us. It is self-evident
that all of this is the effect of a most beauteous
generosity, a most delicate sense of mercy. ____________________ 7. All licit nourishment is obtained
not through the exercise of strength, but through the
existence of need. The decisive proof of this is that
powerless infants enjoy the finest of livelihoods, while
strong wild beasts suffer from all kinds of deficiency,
and that fish, for all their lack of intelligence, wax
fat, while the cunning fox and monkey remain thin in
their quest for livelihood. There is, therefore, an
inverse relationship between sustenance on the one hand
and strength and will power on the other. The more one
relies on strength and will power the more difficult it
will be to sustain one's livelihood. The Words / Tenth Word - Second
Truth - p.76 Since the master of this world has,
then, such infinite generosity, mercy, splendour and
glory, it follows that His infinite glory and splendour
require the chastisement of the discourteous; that His
infinite generosity requires infinite bounty, and His
infinite mercy requires a bestowal of favour worthy of
itself. Now in this transitory world and brief life, only
a millionth part of all this, like one drop from the
ocean, establishes and manifests itself. There must
therefore be a realm of blessedness appropriate to that
generosity and worthy of that mercy. One would otherwise
have to deny the existence of the mercy that is visible
to us, and this would be like denying the existence of
the sun that fills every day with its light. For
irrevocable death would transform compassion into
disaster, love into affliction, blessing into vengeance,
intellect into a tool of misery, and pleasure into pain,
so that the very essence of God’s mercy would vanish. There must in addition be a realm of
punishment appropriate to God’s glory and dignity. For
generally the oppressor leaves this world while still in
possession of his might, and the oppressed while still
subjected to humiliation. These matters are therefore
deferred for the attention of a supreme tribunal; it is
not that they are neglected. It sometimes happens too
that punishment is enacted in this world. The torments
suffered by disobedient and rebellious peoples in
previous centuries show that man is not left to his own
devices, and that he is always subject to the blows that
God’s splendour and majesty may choose to inflict on
him. Is it at all possible that man should
have the most important duty in all of creation and be
endowed with the most important capacities; that man’s
Sustainer should make Himself known to him with all His
well-ordered works, and man should then fail to recognize
Him in return by way of worship - or that God should make
Himself beloved of men through the numerous adorned
fruits of His mercy, and man should then fail to make
himself beloved of God through worship - or that God
should demonstrate His love and mercy to man through His
variegated bounties and man should then fail to respect
Him with thanks and with praise - is it at all possible
that man should remain unpunished, left to his own
devices, or that that powerful Possessor of splendour and
glory should not make ready for him a realm of requital? Is it at all possible, on the other
hand, that He should not prepare a realm of reward and
eternal bliss for those believers who respond to the
Merciful and Compassionate One’s making Himself known
by recognizing Him in faith; to His making Himself
beloved by loving Him in worship; and to His mercy by
offering thanks and veneration? The Words / Tenth Word - Third
Truth - p.77 THIRD TRUTH The Gate of Wisdom and Justice, Is it at all possible9
that the Lord of Glory, Who demonstrates His dominical
sovereignty in the wisdom and order, the justice and
equilibrium that pervade all things, from the atom to the
sun, should not bestow favour on those believers who seek
refuge beneath the protective wing of His dominicality,
who believe in His Wisdom and Justice, and whose acts are
for the purpose of worshipping Him? Again, is it possible that He should
not chastise those rude and discourteous men who
disbelieve in His wisdom and justice, and rebel against
Him in insolence? Now not even a thousandth part of that
wisdom and justice is exercised with respect to man, in
this transient world; it is rather deferred. Most of the
people of misguidance leave this world unpunished, and
most of the people of guidance leave it unrewarded. All
things are, then, postponed for a supreme tribunal, an
ultimate bliss. Yes, it is apparent that the Being
Who controls this world does so in accordance with an
infinite wisdom. Do you require a proof? It is the
preservation of interest and benefit in all things. Do
you not see that numerous wise benefits are intended in
all the limbs, bones and veins of man, even in the cells
of his brain and in every particle of his body? Do you
not see that from certain limbs wise benefits are to be
had as numerous as the fruits of a tree? All of this
shows that matters are done in accordance with infinite
wisdom. The existence of the utmost regularity in the
making of all things is a proof of the same truth. The compression of the exact
programme of development of a beautiful flower into a
minute seed, the inscription on a small seed by the pen
of destiny of the scroll of deeds of a tree, its
life-history and list of equipment, show that a pen of
utmost wisdom is at work. The existence of a high degree of
fine artistry in all things proves that there exists also
the impress of an infinitely Wise Maker. Further, the ____________________ 9. The sentence "is it at all
possible?" is indeed repeated many times, because it
expresses a most significant mystery. Misguidance and
lack of belief generally spring from the habit of
imagining things to be impossible, far removed from the
realm of reason, and therefore denying them. Now in this
discussion of resurrection it has been decisively
demonstrated that true impossiblity, absurdity and
irrationality pertain to the path of misbelief and the
road of misguidance, whereas true possibility, facility
and rationality are characteristics of the path of faith
and highway of Islam. The Words / Tenth Word - Fourth
Truth - p.78 inclusion within the minute body of
man of an index of all being, of the keys to all the
treasuries of mercy, and of the mirrors of all the Divine
Names, demonstrates the existence of wisdom within that
infinitely fine artistry. Now is it at all possible that
the wisdom that thus permeates the workings of
dominicality should not wish eternally to favour those
who seek refuge beneath the wing of dominicality and who
offer obedience in faith? Do you wish for a proof that all
things are done with justice and balance? The fact that
all things are endowed with being, given shape and put in
their appropriate place in accordance with precise
equilibrium and in appropriate measure, shows that all
matters are done in accordance with infinite justice and
balance. Similarly, the fact that all things
are given their rights in accordance with their
disposition, that they receive all the necessities of
their being and all the requirements of life in the most
fitting form - this too is the sign left by a hand of
infinite justice. Again, the fact that answer is always
given to every petition and request made by the tongue of
disposition, and of natural need or necessity,
demonstrates the existence of infinite justice and
wisdom. Now is it at all possible that the
justice and wisdom that hasten to relieve the pettiest
need of the smallest of creation should fail to provide
immortality, the greatest need of man, the greatest of
creatures? That it should fail to respond to his greatest
plea and cry for assistance? Or that it should not
preserve the dignity of God’s dominicality by
preserving the rights of His servants? Man, whose life is
so brief, cannot experience the true essence of justice
in this transient world; it is for this reason that
matters are postponed for a supreme tribunal. For true
justice requires that man, this apparently petty
creature, should be rewarded and punished, not in
accordance with his pettiness, but in accordance with the
magnitude of his crime, the importance of his nature and
the greatness of his function. Since this passing and
transient world is far from manifesting such wisdom and
justice for man, who is created for eternity, of
necessity there will be an eternal Hell and everlasting
Paradise of that Just and Awesome Possessor of Beauty,
that Wise and Beauteous Possessor of Awe. FOURTH TRUTH The Gate of Generosity and Beauty, the Manifestation of the Names of
Generous and Beautiful Is it at all possible that infinite
generosity and liberality, inexhaustible riches, unending
treasures, peerless and eternal beauty, flawless and
everlasting perfection, should not require the existence
of grateful supplicants, The Words / Tenth Word - Fourth
Truth - p.79 yearning spectators and astounded
onlookers, all destined to stay an eternity in an abode
of bliss, a place of repose? Yes, adorning the face of
the world with all these objects of beauty, creating the
moon and the sun as its lamps, filling the surface of the
earth with the finest varieties of sustenance and thus
making it a banquet of bounty, making fruit-trees into so
many dishes, and renewing them several times each season
- all this shows the existence of infinite generosity and
liberality. Such unending liberality and generosity, such
inexhaustible treasures of mercy, require the existence
of an abode of repose, a place of bliss, that shall be
everlasting and contain all desirable objects within it.
They also require that those who enjoy such bliss should
remain in that abode of repose eternally, without
suffering the pain of cessation and separation. For just
as the cessation of pain is a form of pleasure, so too
the cessation of pleasure is a form of pain, one that
such infinite generosity is unwilling to countenance. It
requires, then, the existence both of an eternal paradise
and of supplicants to abide in it eternally. Infinite generosity and liberality
desire to bestow infinite bounty and infinite kindness.
The bestowal of infinite bounty and infinite kindness
require in turn infinite gratitude. This necessitates the
perpetual existence of those who receive all the kindness
so that they can demonstrate their thanks and gratitude
for that perpetual bestowal and constant bounty. A petty
enjoyment, made bitter by cessation, and lasting for only
a brief time, is not compatible with the requirements of
generosity and liberality. Look too at the different regions of
the world, each like an exhibition where God’s crafts
are displayed. Pay attention to the dominical
proclamations in the hands of all the plants and animals
on the face of the earth10 and listen to the
prophets and the saints, the heralds of the beauties of
dominicality. They unanimously display the flawless
perfections of the Glorious Maker by demonstrating His
miraculous arts, and thus invite the gazes of men. The Maker of this world has, then,
most important, astounding and secret perfections. It is
these He wishes to display by means of His miraculous
arts. For secret, flawless perfection wishes to be
manifested to those who will appreciate, admire and
wonderingly gaze at it. Eternal perfection requires
eternal manifestation. Such eternal manifestation in turn
requires the perpetual existence of those who are to
appreciate and admire it. The value of perfection will
always sink in the view of its admirer if he is devoid of
perpetual existence.11 Again, the beauteous,
artistic, brilliant and adorned creatures 10. The existence of a brightly
designed and brilliantly adorned flower, a most artfully
conceived and bejewelled fruit on a twig as thin as a
wire, affixed to a dry, bonelike tree - this is without
doubt a proclamation to all animate beings of the fine
arts produced by a most skilled, wise and miraculous maker. This holds true not
only of the vegetable kingdom, but also of the animal
realm. The Words / Tenth Word - Fourth
Truth - p.80 that cover the face of the globe,
bear witness to the fairness of a peerless, transcendent
beauty, and indicate the subtle charms of an
unparalleled, hidden pulchritude, just as sunlight bears
witness to the sun.12 Each manifestation of
that sacred, transcendent beauty, indicates the existence
of countless hidden treasures in each of God’s Names.
Now so exalted, peerless and hidden a beauty, just as it
desires to view its own fairness in a mirror and to
behold the degrees and measures of its beauty in an
animate reflection, desires also to become manifest, in
order to look on its own beauty through the eyes of
others. That is, it wishes to look at its own beauty in
two ways; firstly, by beholding itself in mirrors of
variegated colour; secondly, through the gaze of yearning
witnesses to itself, of bewildered admirers of its
beauty. In short, beauty and fairness desire
to see and be seen. Both of these require the existence
of yearning witnesses and bewildered admirers. And since
beauty and fairness are eternal and everlasting, their
witnesses and admirers must have perpetual life. An
eternal beauty can never be satisfied with transient
admirers. An admirer condemned to irreversible separation
will find his love turning to enmity once he conceives of
separation. His admiration will yield to ridicule, his
respect to contempt. For just as obstinate man is an
enemy to what is unknown to him, so too he is opposed to
all that lies beyond his reach, and love that is not
infinite will respond to a beauty that deserves unending
admiration with implicit enmity, hatred and rejection.
From this we understand the profound reason for the
unbeliever’s enmity to God. So endless generosity and liberality,
peerless fairness and beauty, flawless perfection - all
these require the existence of eternally grateful and
longing supplicants and admirers. But we see in this
hospice of the world that everyone quickly leaves and
vanishes, having had only a taste of that generosity,
enough to whet his appetite but not to satiate him, and
having seen only a dim light coming from the perfection,
or rather a faint shadow of its light, without in any way
being fully satisfied. It follows, then, that men are
going toward a place of eternal joy where all will be
bestowed on them in full measure. In short, just as this world, with
all its creatures, decisively demonstrates the existence
of the Glorious Maker, so too do His sacred attributes
and Names indicate, show and logically require, the
existence of the hereafter. ____________________ 12. Although all beings that act as
mirrors for God's beauty constantly vanish and disappear,
those that succeed them display and manifest in their
forms and features the same beauty and fairness. This
shows that the beauty in question does not belong to
them; the visible instances of beauty are rather the
signs and indications of a transcendent and sacred
beauty. The Words / Tenth Word - Fifth
Truth - p.81 FIFTH TRUTH The gate of Compassion and
Muhammadan Worship, Is it at all possible that a Lord
possessing infinite compassion and mercy, Who most
compassionately fulfils the smallest need of His lowliest
creatures in the most unexpected fashion, Who heeds the
muffled plea for help of His most obscure creature, and
Who responds to all the petitions He hears, whether vocal
or mute - is it at all possible that such a Lord should
not pay heed to the greatest petition of the foremost
among His servants, the most beloved among his creatures,
that He should not hear and grant his most exalted
prayer? The kindness and ease manifested in the feeding
and nurturing of weak and young animals show that the
Monarch of the cosmos exercises his dominicality with
infinite mercy. Is it at all possible that a
compassion merciful to this degree in the exercise of
dominicality should not accept the prayer of the most
virtuous and beautiful of all creation?13 This
truth is explained in the Nineteenth Word, but let us
repeat our statement of the matter here: O friend listening to these words
together with my own soul! We said in the comparison that
a meeting took place on a certain island, and a most
noble commander delivered a speech there. In order to
find out the truth indicated in the comparison, come, let
us depart from this age, and in our mind and imagination
travel to the Arabian Peninsula in the blessed age of the
Prophet, in order to visit and watch him while he is
performing his duties and engaging in worship. See, just
as he is the means for the attainment of eternal bliss,
by means of his messengerhood and guidance, so too he is
the cause for the existence of that bliss and the means
for the creation of Paradise, by means of his worship and
prayer. Now see! That being is praying for
eternal bliss in such supreme supplication, with such
sublime worship, that it is as if this island, or even
the whole world, were praying and supplicating together
with him. For the worship he performs contains within
itself not only the worship of the community tha ____________________ 13. He whose kingdom has lasted one
thousand three hundred and fifty years, who has generally
had more than three hundred and fifty million subjects,
to whom his subjects daily renew their pledge of
allegiance and to whose perfections they continually bear
witness, whose commands are obeyed in perfect submission,
whose spiritual hue has colored half of the globe and a
fifth of mankind, who is the beloved of men's hearts and
the educator of their spirits - such a being is without
doubt the greatest servant of the Lord Who holds sway
over the universe. Also, since most of the realms of
beings applauded that being's function and duty through
each bearing the fruit of his miracles, he is for sure
the most beloved creature of the Fashioner of the cosmos.
Similarly, the desire for perpetuity existing in all men
by virtue of their very nature, a desire that lifts men
from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high, is
the greatest of all desires and petitions, fit to be
presented to the Provider of all Needs only by the
greatest among His servants. The Words / Tenth Word - Fifth
Truth - p.82 follows him, but also that of all the
other prophets, in its essential form, by virtue of the
correspondence existing between him and them. Moreover,
he performs his supreme prayer and offers his
supplications in such a vast congregation that it is as
if all luminous and perfect men, from the time of Adam
down to the present, were following him in prayer and
saying “amen” to his supplications!14 He
is praying for so universal a need -immortality- that not
merely the people of this earth, but also the inhabitants
of the heavens and the entirety of creation are
participating in his supplications and silently
proclaiming, “yes, o Lord! Grant his prayer; we too
desire it.” He petitions for everlasting bliss with
such touching sadness, in so yearning, so longing, and so
pleading a fashion, that he causes the whole of the
cosmos to weep and thus to share in his prayer. See, he desires and prays for bliss,
for such a purpose and goal that he elevates man and all
creatures from captivity in the abysmal state of utter
annihilation, from worthlessness, uselessness, and
purposelessness to the apex of preciousness, eternity,
exalted function, and the rank of being a script penned
by God. See, he makes his petition with such
elevated plea for succour, makes his supplication with so
sweet a request for mercy, that it is as if he caused all
beings, the heavens and God’s throne itself to listen,
and to echo his prayer ecstatically with cries of
“amen, o Lord, amen!”15 ____________________ 14. From the time that the Prophet -
peace and blessings be upon him - first made his
supplication down to the present, all the invocations
upon him of peace and blessings made by his community are
a kind of eternal amen to his prayer, a form of universal
participation in it. Every invocation of peace and
blessings upon him by every member of the Muslim
community in the course of his prayer, as well as the
prayer for him uttered after the second call to prayer
according to the Shafi'i school - this too is a powerful
and universal amen to his supplication for eternal bliss.
So the eternity and everlasting bliss desired by all men
with all of their strength, in accordance with their
primordial disposition, is requested in the name of
humanity by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
and the luminous segment of humanity says
"amen" after him. Is it at all possible that
such a prayer should not be accepted? The Words / Tenth Word - Fifth
Truth - p.83 See, he requests bliss and eternity
from a Being, One so All-Hearing, Generous and Powerful,
so All-Seeing, Merciful and Knowledgeable that He sees,
hears, accepts and takes pity upon the most secret wish,
the slightest desire of the most obscure of his
creatures, this, in observable form. He answers all pleas
even if they are silently proffered. He bestows all
things and answers all pleas in so wise, percipient and
merciful a fashion that no doubt remains that all that
nurturing and regulating can derive only from One
All-Hearing and All-Seeing, One Generous and Merciful. Let us listen to what the Pride of
All Being is requesting, that source of honour for all of
mankind, that one unique in all of creation, who bears on
his back the burden of all men, who standing on this
earth lifts up his hands towards God’s throne and
offers up a prayer which in its reality contains the
essence of the worship of all of mankind. See, he is
asking for eternal bliss for himself and for his
community. He is asking for eternity and Paradise. He is
making his plea together with all the Divine Sacred Names
that display their beauty in the mirrors of all created
being. You can see, indeed, that he is seeking
intercession from those Names. If there were not countless reasons
and causes for the existence of the hereafter, a single
prayer of that exalted being would be enough for the
creation of Paradise, a task as easy for the power of the
Merciful Creator as the creation of spring.16 Indeed, how could the creation of
spring be difficult for the Possessor of Absolute Power
Who each spring makes the face of the world into a plain
of resurrection, and brings forth there a hundred
thousand examples of resurrection? In just the same way
that the messengerhood of the Prophet was the reason for
the foundation of this realm of trial -the saying “were
it not for thee, were it not for thee, I would not have
created the spheres”17 being an indication
of this- so too the worship he performed was the cause
for the foundation of the abode of bliss. Is it at all possible that the
flawless perfection of artistry, the peerless beauty of
dominicality expressed in the order of the world and the
comprehensive mercy that reduce all to bewilderment,
should not answer his prayer, and thus tolerate an
extreme form of ugliness, cruelty and disorder? Is it
possible that it would listen to the most petty and
insignificant desires and grant them, but dismiss
significant and important desires as worthless, and fail
to ____________________ 16. To display wondrous samples of
art, and examples of resurrection on the face of the
earth that, compared with the hereafter is like a narrow
page, to inscribe and include on that single page, in
perfect order, all the different species of creation,
that resemble three hundred thousand separate books, is
certainly more difficult than building and creating the
delicate and symmetrical structure of Paradise in the
broad realm of eternity. Indeed, it may be said that to
whatever degree Paradise is more elevated than the
spring, to that degree the creation of the gardens of
spring is more difficult and wondrous than the creation
of Paradise.
The Words / Tenth Word - Sixth
Truth - p.84 fulfil them? No, a thousand times no!
Such beauty can never accept such ugliness and itself
become ugly.18 So just as the Prophet opened the
gates of this world with his messengerhood, he opens the
gates of the hereafter with his worship. May the blessings of the
Compassionate One be upon him, to the extent of all that
this world and paradise contain. O God, grant blessings
and peace to Your servant and Messenger, that Beloved One
who is the Master of both Realms, the Pride of all the
Worlds, the source of life in both spheres, the means for
the attainment of happiness here and in the hereafter, he
who flies on two wings, who is the messenger to both men
and jinn - to him, and to his Family, and all of his
Companions, as well as his brethren from among the
prophets and messengers. Amen.
The Gate of Splendour and
Eternity, Is it at all possible that the
splendour of dominicality that subdues and commands all
beings, from suns and trees down to particles, just like
obedient soldiers, should concentrate its entire
attention on the wretched and transient beings that pass
a temporary life in the hospice of this world, and not
create an eternal and everlasting sphere of splendour, an
unending manifestation of dominicality? The display of
Divine splendour in the changing of the seasons, the
sublime motions of the planets in the heavens as if they
were aeroplanes, the subjugation of all things and the
creation of the earth as man’s cradle and the sun as
his lamp, vast transformations such as the reviving and
adornment of the dead and dry globe - all of this shows
that behind the veil a sublime dominicality exists, that
a splendid monarchy is at work. Now such a dominical kingdom requires
subjects worthy of itself, as well as an appropriate mode
of manifestation. But look at this hospice of the world,
and you will see that the most significant class of its
subjects, endowed with the most comprehensive of
functions, are gathered together only temporarily and
that, in the most wretched of states. The hospice fills
and empties each day. All of the subjects stay only
temporarily in this abode of trial for the sake ____________________ 18. It is unanimously agreed the
total reversal of truths is impossible. It is quite
impossible that something should become the very opposite
and reverse of itself, and impossible to the thousandth
degree that something should retain its own nature, and
yet at the same time become identical with its opposite.
Thus infinite beauty cannot become ugliness, while yet
remaining beauty, and, in our example, it is not possible
that the beauty of Dominicality, a beauty perceptible and
manifest in its existence, should retain its quiddity as
the beauty of Dominicality, but become the very essence
of ugliness. This would be the strangest of all
impossible and false notions in the world
The Words / Tenth Word - Sixth
Truth - p.85 of being tested in service. The abode
itself changes each hour. Again, all of the monarch’s
subjects stay only for a few brief minutes in order to
behold the samples of the precious bounty of the Glorious
Maker, to look on His miraculous works of art in the
exhibition of the world with the eye of a buyer. Then
they disappear. The exhibition itself changes every
minute. Whoever leaves it, never returns, and whoever
comes to it, will ultimately depart. Now this state and circumstance
definitively shows that behind and beyond this hospice,
this testing-ground, this exhibition, there are permanent
palaces and eternal abodes that fully manifest and
support God’s everlasting sovereignty; there are
gardens and treasurehouses full of the pure and exalted
originals of the forms and copies we see in this world.
If we strive here in this world, it is for the sake of
what awaits us there. We work here, and are rewarded
there. Bliss awaits everyone there, in accordance with
his capacity, as long as he does not squander his share.
Yes, it is impossible that such eternal kingship should
concentrate exclusively on these wretched transient
beings. Consider this truth through the
telescope of the following comparison. You are travelling
along a road. You see a caravanserai ahead of you on the
road, built by a great personage for people coming to
visit him. Millions are spent on the decoration of the
caravanserai so that guests should enjoy their one
night’s stay there, and for their instruction. But the
guests see very little of those decorations, look at them
for a very short time; briefly tasting the joys of what
is offered them, they go on their way without being
satiated. But each guest takes a photograph of the
objects in the caravanserai by means of his special
camera. Also, the servants of that great personage record
with great care the conduct of all the guests and
preserve the record. You see, too, that he destroys every
day most of the valuable decorations, and replaces them
with fresh decorations for the newly arriving guests.
After seeing all this, will any doubt remain that the
personage who has constructed this caravanserai on the
road has permanent and exalted dwellings, inexhaustible
and precious treasures, an uninterrupted flow of great
generosity? By means of the generosity displayed in the
caravanserai, he intends merely to whet the appetite of
his guests for those things he keeps in his immediate
presence; to awaken their desire for the gifts he has
prepared for them. So too, if you look upon the state of
the hospice of this world without falling into
drunkenness, you will understand the following nine
principles: • First Principle:
You will understand that this world does not exist for
its own sake, any more than does the caravanserai. It is
impossible that it should assume this shape by itself.
Rather, it is a well-constructed hospice, wisely designed
to receive the caravan of beings that constantly arrive
to alight before departing again.
The Words / Tenth Word - Sixth
Truth - p.86 • Second Principle:
You will understand, too, that those living within this
hospice are guests. They are invited by their Generous
Sustainer to the Abode of Peace. • Third Principle:
You will understand, further, that the adornments of this
world are not simply for the sake of enjoyment or
admiration. For if they yield pleasure for a time, they
cause pain for a longer time with their cessation. They
give you a taste and whet your appetite, but never
satiate you. For either the life of the pleasure is
short, or your life is short, too brief for you to become
satiated. These adornments of high value and brief
duration must, then, be for the sake of instruction in
wisdom,19 for arousing gratitude, and for
encouraging men to seek out the perpetual originals of
which they are copies. They are, then, for other exalted
goals beyond themselves. • Fourth Principle:
You will understand also that the adornments of this
world20 are like samples and forms of the
blessings stored up in Paradise by the mercy of the
Compassionate One for the people of faith. • Fifth Principle:
You will understand, too, that all of these transient
objects have not been created for the sake of
annihilation, in order to appear briefly and then vanish.
The purpose for their creation is rather briefly to be ____________________ 19. Now the life-span of everything
is short, although its value is high and the subtleties
of its artistry are most exalted and beautiful. This
implies that everything is only a sample, a form of
something else, that it has the function of drawing the
gaze of the customer to the authentic and original
object. This being the case, it may be said that the
variegated adornments of this world are the samples of
the bounties of Paradise, prepared by the Compassionate
and Merciful One for His beloved servants. The Words / Tenth Word - Sixth
Truth - p.87 assembled in existence and acquire
the desired form, so that these may be noted, their
images preserved, their meanings known, and their results
recorded. This is so that, for example, everlasting
spectacles might be wrought for the people of eternity,
and that they might serve other purposes in the realm of
eternity. You will understand that things have been
created for eternity, not for annihilation; and as for
apparent annihilation, it has the sense of a completion
of duty and a release from service, for every transient
thing advances to annihilation with one aspect, but
remains eternally with numerous other aspects. Look, for example, at the flower, a
word of God’s power; for a short time it smiles and
looks at us, and then hides behind the veil of
annihilation. It departs just like a word leaving your
mouth. But it does so entrusting thousands of its fellows
to men’s ears. It leaves behind meanings in men’s
minds as numerous as those minds. The flower, too,
expressing its meaning and thus fulfilling its function,
goes and departs. But it goes leaving its apparent form
in the memory of everything that sees it, its inner
essence in every seed. It is as if each memory and seed
were a camera to record the adornment of the flower, or a
means for its perpetuation. If such be the case with an
object at the simplest level of life, it can be readily
understood how closely tied to eternity is man, the
highest form of life and the possessor of an eternal
soul. Again, from the fact that the laws -each resembling
a spirit- according to which large flowering and fruit
bearing plants are formed and the representations of
their forms are preserved and perpetuated in most regular
fashion in tiny seeds throughout tempestuous changes -
from this fact it can be easily understood how closely
tied and related to
The Words / Tenth Word - Seventh
Truth - p.88 eternity is the spirit of man, which
possesses an extremely exalted and comprehensive nature,
and which although clothed in a body, is a conscious and
luminous law issuing from the divine command. • Sixth Principle:
You will also understand that man has not been left to
graze at will, with a halter loosely tied around his
neck; on the contrary, the forms of all his deeds are
recorded and registered, and the results of all his acts
are preserved for the day when he shall be called to
account. • Seventh Principle:
You will understand, further, that the destruction
visited upon the beautiful creatures of summer and spring
in the autumn is not for the sake of annihilation.
Instead, it is a form of dismissal after the completion
of service.21 It is also a form of emptying in
order to clear a space for the new creation that is to
come in the following spring, of preparing the ground and
making ready for the beings that are to come and assume
their functions. Finally, it is a form of Divine warning
to conscious beings to awake from the neglect that causes
them to forget their duties, from the drunken torpor that
causes them to forget their obligation of offering
thanks. • Eighth Principle:
You will understand this, too, that the eternal Maker of
this transient world has another, everlasting world; it
is to this that He urges and impels His servants. • Ninth Principle:
You will understand, also, that so Compassionate a Being
will bestow upon His choice servants in that world such
gifts as no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, nor
has their image crossed the heart of any man.22
In this we believe.
The Gate of Protection and
Preservation, Is it at all possible that God’s
attribute of Preserver, which protects all things with
the utmost order and balance, -things in the heavens and
on the earth, on dry land and in the ocean, dry and wet,
large and small, commonplace and exalted- and as it were,
sifts their results by way of accounting ____________________ 21. Yes, it is fitting that the
fruits, flowers and leaves on the tips and branches of a
tree, proceeding from the treasuries of sustenance
provided by divine mercy, should depart when they become
old and their duties are at an end. Otherwise the gate
will remain closed to those that come after them, and a
barrier will be erected against the expansion of God's
mercy and the services to be performed by their brethren
(i.e., other members of the species). Moreover, with the
passing of youth, they will become wretched and
distraught. Spring is like a fruit-bearing tree that in
turn is an indication of the plain of resurrection.
Similarly, the world of humanity in every age is like a
tree inviting contemplation, and the world as a whole is
like an amazing tree the fruits of which are dispatched
to the market of the hereafter. The Words / Tenth Word - Seventh
Truth - p.89 - is it at all possible that this
attribute should permit the deeds and acts of man, man
who has been given the lofty disposition of humanity, the
rank of God’s supreme vicegerency, and the duty of
bearing the Supreme Trust, not to be recorded, not to be
passed through the sieve of accounting, not to be weighed
in the balance of justice, not to be punished or rewarded
fittingly, even though his acts and deeds closely pertain
to God’s universal dominicality? No, it is not in any
way possible! Yes, the Being that administers this
cosmos preserves all things in order and balance. Order
and balance are the manifestation of knowledge and
wisdom, of will and power. For we see that the substance
of every created object is fashioned in well-ordered and
symmetrical fashion. Not only is each of the forms it
changes throughout its life well-ordered, but the
totality of these forms is also marked by the same
orderliness. We see, too, that the Glorious Preserver
preserves many forms of all things the life of which
comes to an end when they have performed their function
and which depart from the manifest world, in the memories
of men, that are like a kind of preserved tablet,23
or in a form of archetypal mirror. He also writes and
inscribes a brief history of their life in a seed, that
is like the result and outcome of the whole. Thus He
causes all things to be preserved in mirrors pertaining
to both the outer and inner worlds. The memory of man,
the fruit of the tree, the kernel of the fruit, the seed
of the flower - all of these demonstrate the universality
and comprehensiveness of the law of preservation. Do you not see that all the flowers
and fruits of the vast spring, the records of their deeds
in appropriate form, the laws of their formation, and the
images of their forms, are all inscribed into the finite
space of a minute seed and are there preserved? The
following spring, their record of deeds is set forth, in
a form of accounting appropriate to them, and another
vast world of spring is brought forth, with the utmost
order and wisdom. This demonstrates with what powerful
comprehensiveness God’s attribute of Preserver
exercises itself. Considering that the results of such
transient, commonplace, impermanent and insignificant
things are preserved, is it at all possible that men’s
deeds, that yield important fruit in the world of the
unseen, the world of the hereafter, and the world of
spirits, from the point of view of universal
dominicality, is it at all possible that they should not
be guarded and preserved, should not be recorded as a
matter of importance? No, by no means! Yes, from this manifestation of
God’s attribute of Preserver it can be deduced that the
Master of all creation devotes great care to the
orderliness of all things that come to pass in His realm.
He pays great attention to the function of sovereignty,
and lavishes extreme care on the dominicality of
kingship. Thus He records, or causes to be recorded, the
pettiest of happen ____________________ 23. See, the footnote to the Seventh
Aspect above.
The Words / Tenth Word - Seventh
Truth - p.90 ings, the smallest of services, and
preserves in numerous things the form of everything that
happens in His realm. This attribute of Preserver
indicates that an important register of deeds will be
subjected to a precise examination and weighing: the
records of men’s deeds will stand revealed. Now is it at all possible that man
should be ennobled with the vicegerency of God and His
Trust, that, as a witness to the universality of
dominicality, he should proclaim God’s unity in the
realm of multiplicity, and thus act as a controller and
witness by having some share in the glorification of God
and worship of most beings - is it at all possible that
he should do all of this and then go to his grave and
sleep peacefully without ever being awakened? Without
ever being asked concerning his deeds, small and great?
That he should not go to the plain of resurrection and be
tried at the Supreme Tribunal? No, by no means! Or is it possible for man to flee and
hide himself in annihilation, for him to enter the earth
and conceal himself from that Powerful and Glorious One
to Whose Power over all contingencies in the future,24
the occurrences of past time -each a miracle of His
power- bear witness, and Who visibly creates winter and
spring, that, taken together, resemble resurrection?
Since ____________________ 24. The entirety of the past,
extending from the present back to the beginning of
creation, consists of occurrences. Every day, year and
century that came into being is like a line, a page, a
book, written by the pen of destiny; the hand of God's
power has inscribed His miraculous signs there with the
utmost wisdom and order. The Words / Tenth Word -Eighth
Truth - p.91 man is not called to account and
judged in fitting fashion while in this world, it follows
that he must proceed to a Supreme Tribunal and a final
felicity. EIGHTH TRUTH The Gate of Promise and Threat, Is it at all possible that the Maker
of this world, the Possessor of Absolute Knowledge and
Absolute Power, should not fulfil the oft-repeated
promise and threat that has been proclaimed unanimously
by all the prophets and been witnessed in unison by all
the veracious and the saints, and thus display weakness
and ignorance? God forbid! All that is implied by His
promise and threat is not at all difficult for His power
to fulfil; it is extremely simple and easy. It is as easy
for Him as bringing back next spring the countless beings
of last spring, in part identically,25 in part
in simile.26 It is our need, the need of
everything, His own need and the need of His dominical
sovereignty, that He should fulfil His promise. For Him
to break His promise would be contrary to the dignity of
His power, and it would contradict the comprehensiveness
of His knowledge. For the breaking of a promise can arise
only from ignorance or impotence. O denier! Do you know how foolish a
crime you are committing with your unbelief and denial?
Paying heed to your own lying fancy, your delirious
intellect, your deceptive soul, you reject as a liar One
Who in no way can be compelled to the breaking of His
promise, Whose glory and stature can in no way admit the
breaking of His word, and Whose truthfulness and veracity
are attested by all visible matters and objects! Despite
your infinite pettiness, you are committing a crime of
infinitely great proportions. Without doubt you deserve
great and eternal punishment. According to certain
narrations, the fact that the teeth of some of the people
of Hell will be as big as a mountain27 will
serve as an indication of the magnitude of their crime. O
denier, you are like a traveller who closes his eyes to
the sunlight and looks instead at the fantasy in his own
mind. His imagination wishes to illumine the awesome path
in front of him with the light proceeding from his
mind’s lamp that in reality is no stronger than a
glow-worm. Whatever has been promised by God Almighty,
Whose veracious words are these beings we see and Whose
truthful, eloquent signs are the processes of nature, He
will of a surety fulfil. He will establish a Supreme
Tribunal, and bestow an ultimate bliss. ____________________ 25. Like trees and the roots of
grasses.
The Words / Tenth Word - Ninth
Truth - p.92 NINTH TRUTH The Gate of God’s bestowal of
life and death, Is it at all possible that the One
Who gives life to this vast dead and dry earth; Who in so
doing demonstrates His power by deploying more than three
hundred thousand different forms of creation, each of
them as remarkable as man; Who further demonstrates in
this deployment His all-embracing knowledge by the
infinite distinctions and differentiations He makes in
the complex intermingling of all of those forms; Who
directs the gaze of all His slaves to everlasting bliss
by promising them resurrection in all of His heavenly
decrees; Who demonstrates the splendour of His
dominicality by causing all of His creation to
collaborate with one another, to revolve within the
circle of His command and His will, to aid one another
and be submitted to Him; Who shows the importance He has
given to man by creating him as the most comprehensive,
the most precious and delicate, the most valued and
valuable fruit on the tree of creation by addressing him
without intermediary and subjugating all things to him; -
is it at all possible that so Compassionate and Powerful
a One, so Wise and All-Knowing a One, should not bring
about resurrection; should not gather His creatures
together or be unable to do so; should not restore man to
life, or be unable to do so; should not be able to
inaugurate His Supreme Court; should not be able to
create Heaven and Hell? Nay, indeed, by no means is any
of this possible. Indeed, the Almighty Disposer of this
world’s affairs creates in every century, every year
and every day, on the narrow and transient face of the
globe, numerous signs, examples and indications of the
Supreme Gathering and the Plain of Resurrection. Thus in the gathering that takes
place every spring we see that in the course of five or
six days more than three hundred thousand different kinds
of animal and plant are first gathered together and then
dispersed. The roots of all the trees and plants, as well
as some animals, are revived and restored exactly as they
were. The other animals are recreated in a form so
similar as to be almost identical. The seeds which
appear, in their outward form, to be so close to each
other, nonetheless, in the course of six days or six
weeks, become distinct and differentiated from each
other, and then with extreme speed, ease and facility,
are brought to life in the utmost order and equilibrium.
Is it at all possible that for the One Who does all of
this anything should be difficult; that He should be
unable to create the heavens and the earth in six days;
that He should be unable to resurrect men with a single
blast? No, by no means is it possible! The Words / Tenth Word - Ninth
Truth - p.93 Let us suppose there were to be some
gifted writer who could write out in a single hour the
confused and obliterated letters of three hundred
thousand books on a single sheet without any error,
omission or defect, complete and in the best form. If
someone were then to say to you that that writer could
write out again from memory a book written by him that
had fallen into the water and become obliterated, would
you then say that he is unable, and would you not believe
in his ability? Or think of some talented king who, in
order to demonstrate his power or for the sake of
providing a warning example, removes whole mountains with
a single command, turns his realm upside down, and
transforms the sea into dry land. Then you see that a
great rock rolls down into a valley, so that the path is
blocked for guests travelling to attend the king’s
reception and they are unable to pass. If someone should
say to you: “that exalted one will remove or dissolve
the stone, however great it may be, with a single
command; he will not leave his guests stranded,” would
you then say that he will not remove the stone, or be
unable to do so? Or if someone one day should gather
together a great army, and you are then informed that he
will summon its battalions together with a blast of the
trumpet after they had dispersed to rest, and the
battalions will form up in disciplined shape, would you
respond by saying, “I don’t believe it?” Were you
to say any of these things your behaviour would truly be
madness. If you have understood these three
parables, now look further and see how the Pre-Eternal
Designer turns over in front of our eyes the white page
of winter and opens the green pages of spring and summer.
Then He inscribes on the page of the earth’s surface,
with the pen of power and destiny, in the most beautiful
form, more than three hundred thousand species of
creation. Not one encroaches upon another. He writes them
all together, but none blocks the path of another. In
their formation and shape, each is kept separate from the
other without any confusion. There is no error in the
writing. That Wise and Preserving One, Who preserves and
inserts the spirit of a great tree in the smallest seed,
no bigger than a dot - is it permissible even to ask how
He preserves the spirits of those who die? That Powerful
One Who causes the globe to revolve like a pebble in a
sling - is it permissible even to ask how He will remove
this globe from the path of His guests who are travelling
to meet Him in the Hereafter? Again, the One of Glorious Essence
Who from non-being recruits anew and inscribes into His
battalions, with the command of “Be, and behold it
is,” and with utmost discipline, the troops of all
living things, the very particles of all of their bodies,
and thus creates highly disciplined armies - is it
permissible even to ask how He can make bodies submit to
His discipline like a battalion, how He can gather
together their mutually acquainted fundamental particles,
and their component members? The Words / Tenth Word - Ninth
Truth - p.94 You can, moreover, behold with your
own eyes, the numerous designs made by God as signs,
similes and indications of resurrection, designs placed
by Him in every age and epoch of the world, in the
alternation of day and night, even in the appearance and
disappearance of clouds in the sky. If you imagine
yourself to have been living a thousand years ago, and
then compare with each other the two wings of time that
are the past and the future, then you will behold similes
of the gathering and indications of resurrection as
numerous as the centuries and days. If, then, after
witnessing so many similes and indications, you regard
corporeal resurrection as improbable and rationally
unacceptable, know your behaviour to be pure lunacy. See what the Supreme Decree says
concerning the truth we are discussing: Look upon the signs of God’s
mercy, and see how He restores life to the earth after
its death. Verily He it is Who shall bring to life the
dead, and He is powerful over all things.28 In short: There is nothing
that makes impossible the gathering of resurrection, and
much that necessitates it. The glorious and eternal
dominicality, the almighty and all embracing sovereignty
of the One Who gives life and death to this vast and
wondrous earth as if it were a mere animal; Who has made
of this earth a pleasing cradle, a fine ship, for man and
the animals; Who has made of the sun a lamp furnishing
light and heat to the hostelry of the world; Who has made
of the planets vehicles for the conveyance of His angels
- the dominicality and sovereignty of such a One cannot
rest upon and be restricted to the transitory,
impermanent, unstable, insignificant, changeable,
unlasting, deficient and imperfect affairs of this world.
He must, therefore, have another realm, one worthy of
Him, permanent, stable, immutable and glorious. Indeed,
He does have another kingdom, and it is for the sake of
this that He causes us to labour, and to this that He
summons us. All those of illumined spirit who have
penetrated from outer appearances to truth, and have been
ennobled with proximity to the Divine Presence, all the
spiritual poles endowed with luminous hearts, all the
possessors of lucent intelligence, all bear witness that
He will transfer us to that other kingdom. They inform us
unanimously that He has prepared for us there reward and
requittal, and relate that He is repeatedly giving us
firm promises and stern warnings. As for the breaking of a promise, it
is baseless and utter humiliation. It cannot in any way
be reconciled with the glory of His sanctity. Similarly,
failure to fulfil a threat arises either from forgiveness
or powerlessness. ____________________ 28. Qur'an, 30:50. The Words / Tenth Word - Tenth
Truth - p.95 Now unbelief is extreme crime, and
cannot be forgiven.29 The Absolutely
Omnipotent One is exempt of and exalted above all
powerlessness. Those who bring us their testimony and
report, despite all the differences in their methods,
temperaments and paths, are totally unanimous and agreed
on this basic matter. By their number, they have the
authority of unanimity. By their quality, they have the
authority of learned consensus. By their rank, each one
is a guiding star of mankind, the cherished eye of a
people, the object of a nation’s veneration. By their
importance, each one is an expert and an authority in the
matter. In any art or science, two experts are preferred
to thousands of non-experts, and two positive affirmers
are preferred to thousands of negators in the
transmission of a report. For example, the testimony of
two men affirming the sighting of the crescent moon at
the beginning of Ramadan totally nullifies the negation
of thousands of deniers. In short: In the whole world
there is no truer report, no firmer claim, no more
apparent truth than this. The world is without doubt a
field, and the resurrection a threshing-floor, a harvest.
Paradise and Hell are each storehouses for the grain. TENTH TRUTH The Gate of Wisdom, Grace, Mercy
and Justice; Is it at all possible that the
Glorious Possessor of all Dominion in this impermanent
hospice of the world, in this transient place of testing,
in this unstable showplace of the earth so manifest a
wisdom, so evident a grace, so overwhelming a justice, so
comprehensive a mercy, - is it at all possible that in
His realm, in the worlds of the outer and inner
dimensions of things, there should not exist permanent
abodes with eternal inhabitants, everlasting stations
with immortal residents, and that as a result all the
truths of wisdom, grace, mercy and justice that we now
see should decline into nothingness. ____________________ 29. Unbelief denounces creation for
alleged worthlessness and meaninglessness. It is an
insult to all of creation, a denial of the manifestation
of the Divine Names in the mirror of beings. It is
disrespect to all the Divine Names, and rejection of the
witness borne to the Divine Unity by all beings. It is a
denial of all creation. It corrupts man's potentialities
in such a way that they are incapable of reform and
unreceptive to good. Unbelief is also an act of utter
injustice, a transgression against all of creation and
the rights of God's Names. The preservation of those
rights, as well as the unredeemable nature of the
unbeliever's soul, make it necessary that unbelief should
be unpardonable. The words, "to assign partners to
God is verily a great transgression," (Qur'an,
31:13) express this meaning.
The Words / Tenth Word - Tenth
Truth - p.96 Again, is it at all possible that
that All-Wise Being should choose man, among all His
creation, to receive direct and universal address from
Him, should make him a comprehensive mirror to Himself,
should permit him to taste, weigh, and become acquainted
with, all the contents of His treasuries of mercy, should
make Himself known to him with all His Names, should love
him and make Himself beloved of him - that He should do
all this and then fail to despatch wretched man to that
eternal realm, to invite him to that abode of permanent
bliss and make him happy there? Is it at all reasonable that He
should impose on every being, even the seed, a task as
heavy as a tree, mount in it instances of His wisdom as
numerous as the flowers, and beneficial aspects as
numerous as the fruits, but assign to that task, to those
instances of His wisdom and those beneficial aspects, a
purpose pertaining only to this world, one as small as a
seed? That He should make that purpose nothing more than
the life of this world, something less valuable than a
grain of mustard-seed? That He should not make of beings
seeds for the world of meaning and tillage for the realm
of the hereafter, for them to yield there their true and
worthy results? That He should permit such significant
alternations to remain without purpose, to be empty and
vain? That He should not turn their faces towards the
world of meaning and the hereafter, so that they might
there reveal their true purposes and fitting results? Again, is it at all possible that by
thus causing things to controvert their own nature He
should present His own veracious Names, All-Wise,
Generous, Just, Merciful, as being characterized by their
opposites -God forbid!- that He should deny the true
essences of all those beings that indicate His wisdom and
generosity, His justice and mercy, that He should reject
the testimony of all creatures, that He should negate the
indications made by all things? Can intelligence at all accept that
God should impose on man and his senses duties as
numerous as the hair on his head, but give him no more
than an earthly reward, something no more valuable than a
hair? That He should act meaninglessly, in a fashion
contrary to His true justice and opposed to His true
wisdom? Again, is it at all possible that God
Who proves and shows Himself to be a possessor of
absolute wisdom, by attaching to every animate being, or
even to every member like the tongue, indeed to every
creature, instances of His wisdom and sources of benefit
as numerous as the results and the fruits He has attached
to a tree - is it at all possible that He should fail to
bestow of Himself the greatest of all instances of His
wisdom, the most significant of all sources of benefit,
the most necessary of all results, that which makes His
wisdom into wisdom, His blessings into blessings, His
mercy into mercy, the
The Words / Tenth Word - Tenth
Truth - p.97 source and aim of all of His wisdom,
bounty, mercy and beneficence - eternity, the meeting
with Him in the hereafter and everlasting bliss? Were He
to abandon these, He would plunge all of His doings unto
utter pointlessness and cause Himself to resemble a being
who constructed a palace, each stone of which contained
thousands of designs, in each corner of which thousands
of adornments were to be found, and in each part of which
thousands of precious household instruments and tools
were provided, but failed to build a roof over it, so
that everything rotted and was needlessly destroyed. No,
by no means can this be true! From absolute goodness
comes forth goodness, and from the Possessor of Absolute
Beauty comes forth beauty. So too nothing devoid of
purpose can emerge from the Possessor of Absolute Wisdom. Whoever in his imagination embarks on
the ship of history and sets sail for the past, will see
dead stages, places, gatherings and worlds, as numerous
as the years, and each like the stopping-place that is
the world, the field of trial, the gathering of creation,
that we now see. In form and quality they are different
from each other, but they resemble each other with
respect to their orderliness, their wondrousness and the
fashion in which they display the power and wisdom of the
Maker. In those impermanent stopping-places,
those transient fields, those fleeting gatherings, he
will also see the orderly workings of so manifest a
wisdom, the indications of so evident a beneficence, the
signs of so imperious a justice, the fruits of so
comprehensive a mercy, that he will know of a certainty
-unless totally devoid of perception- that a more perfect
wisdom that that which he beholds is inconceivable, that
a beneficence more beauteous than that the signs of which
he observes is impossible, that a justice more glorious
than that the indications of which he sees cannot exist,
and a mercy more comprehensive than that the fruits of
which he sees is unimaginable. If, to suppose the impossible, there
were no permanent abodes, lofty mansions, everlasting
stations and eternal abodes, with their eternal
residents, God’s joyous servants, in the realm of that
Eternal Monarch Who disposes all affairs and Who
constantly is changing the hospice and its inmates, then
it would be necessary to reject the true essences of
wisdom, justice, beneficence and compassion, those four
powerful and universal spiritual elements that are like
light, air, water and earth, and to deny their existence,
even though they are as apparent as that of the external
elements. For it is plain that this impermanent world and
its contents cannot be a complete manifestation of their
true essences. If there is no other place, somewhere
else, where they can be manifested fully, it then becomes
necessary, with a lunacy like that of the man who denies
the existence of the sun even though The Words / Tenth Word - Tenth
Truth - p.98 he sees its light filling the day, to
deny the wisdom that we can see in everything in front of
our eyes; to deny the beneficence that we can observe in
our own souls and in most other things; to deny the
justice the signs of which appear so strongly;30
and to deny the compassion we see everywhere in
operation. It follows in turn that we must regard as a
foolish prankster, a treacherous tyrant, the one from
whom proceed all the wise processes, the generous deeds
and the merciful gifts we perceive in the universe. God
forbid that this should be so; it is a totally impossible
reversal of the truth. Even the foolish sophists, who
denied the existence of everything and even that of their
own selves, would not readily contemplate such a
proposition. In short: Considering the
utter disparity between -on the one hand- this state of
affairs which we see together with the universal fusions
of life and the swift separations of death, the imposing
gatherings and the rapid dispersions, the magnificent
revolutions and the great manifestations, and -on the
other hand- the petty fruits we see briefly attained in
this transient world, the temporary and insignificant
purposes of beings that pertain to this world, we
conclude that the non-existence of the hereafter would
mean attaching to a little stone wise purposes as great
as a mountain, and to a great mountain, a purpose as
petty as a small stone. No intelligence or wisdom can
find this acceptable. In other words, this lack of
proportion between beings and these matters on the one
hand, and their purposes pertaining to this world on the
other, demonstrates with certainty that all beings have
their faces turned to the world of meaning. It is there
that they will yield their appropriate fruits, and their
eyes are fixed on the Sacred Names. Their ultimate aims
pertain to that world alone. While their substance is
hidden beneath the soil of this world, their flowers will
unfold in the World of Similitudes. Man sows and is sown
in this world, in accordance with his capacity; the
harvest is gathered in the hereafter. If you look at the
aspect of things that is turned towards the Divine Names
and the hereafter you will see that each seed, a miracle
of ____________________ 30. There are two varieties of
justice, one affirmative, the other negative. The
positive variety consists in giving the deserving his
right. This form of justice exists throughout the world
in the most obvious fashion, because, as proven in the
Third Truth, it observably bestows, in accordance with
special balances and particular criteria, all the objects
of desire requested by everything from its Glorious
Creator with the tongue of innate capacity, the language
of natural need, the speech of necessity, and all the
requirements of life and existence. This variety of
justice is, then, as certain as life and existence
itself. The Words / Tenth Word - Tenth
Truth - p.99 power, has an aim as vast as a tree.
Each flower, which is like a word of Divine wisdom, has
meanings as numerous as the flowers on a tree, and each
fruit, a wonder of God’s workmanship and a poem
dictated by His mercy, has wise purposes as numerous as
the fruits of a tree. As for the fruit serving us as
sustenance, it is merely one out of those many thousand
wise purposes; it fulfils its purpose, expresses its
meanings, and dies, being buried in our stomach.31
Since these transient beings yield eternal fruits in
another place, leave there permanent forms of themselves,
and express there everlasting meanings; since they engage
in ceaseless glorification of the Maker; and since man
becomes man by perceiving these aspects of things that
are oriented to the hereafter, thus finding his way to
eternity by means of the transient - since all of this is
true, there must be some other purpose for all these
beings that are cast around between life and death, that
are first gathered and then dispersed. There is no error in this comparison:
the above-mentioned state of affairs resembles
circumstances formed and arranged by way of imitation and
representation. Brief gatherings and dispersions are
arranged at great expense merely for the sake of taking
pictures that can thereafter be shown in the cinema. So
too, one of the reasons for our passage through
individual and social life in this life, for a brief
time, is to enable pictures to be taken and images
formed, to enable the result of our deeds to be
registered and recorded, for display on a day of
accounting, for being shown at a vast gathering, and to
yield the fruit of supreme happiness. The noble saying of
the Prophet (Peace and blessing be upon him) “This
world is the tillage for the hereafter,”32
indicates this meaning. Since the world exists, and within
this world wisdom, beneficence, compassion and justice
also exist, with their numerous evidences, of a certainty
the hereafter also exists, just as surely as does this
world. Since one aspect of everything in this world is
turned to that world and is proceeding toward it, to deny
that world would be denying this world with all it
contains. Just as the allotted hour and the grave await
man, so too do Paradise and Hell, anxiously watching for
his arrival. ____________________ 31. If it be asked, "why do your
parables consist chiefly of flowers, seeds and
fruits," our answer is that they are the most
wondrous, remarkable and delicate of the miracles of
God's power. Moreover, since naturalists, philosophers
and the people of misguidance have been unable to read
the subtle script written upon them by the pen of destiny
and power, they have choked on them, and fallen into the
swamp of nature. The Words / Tenth Word - Eleventh
Truth - p.100
The Gate of Humanity, and the
Manifestation of the Name of Truth Is it at all possible that God
Almighty, He Who is worshipped by right, should create
man within creation as the most significant of all of His
servants with respect to His absolute dominicality and
with respect to His universal dominicality in all of His
realms; that He should make him the most thoughtful
recipient of His glorious address, the most comprehensive
mirror to the manifestation of His Names; that He should
create him as the most beautiful miracle of His power in
the fairest of forms, in order to receive the
manifestation of the Greatest Name, as well as that
quality of the Greatest Name inherent in the other Names,
in order for him to assess and perceive the contents of
His treasuries of mercy; that He should make him an
investigator of secrets equipped more than any other
creature with balances and instruments; and He should
make him the most needy of all creatures with respect to
His infinite gifts, the one suffering most from
annihilation and the one most desirous of immortality;
that He should make him the most delicate, the poorest
and neediest of animals, most wretched and subject to
pain in his worldly life but most sublime in disposition,
in the highest of forms and characters - is it possible
that God Almighty should do all this with man and not
send him to the Eternal Realm for which he is suited and
fitted and for which he is longing? Is it possible that
He should thus negate the whole essence of humanity, act
in a manner totally contrary to His own veracity, and
perform an act of injustice that the eye of truth must
deem ugly? Again, is it at all possible that He
Who rules justly, Whose mercy is absolute, should bestow
on man such a disposition that he took up the Supreme
Trust, from which the heavens and mountains both shrank,
in order to measure and know, with his slight and petty
measures and crafts, the all encompassing attributes, the
universal workings, and the infinite manifestations of
the Creator; that He should create him as the most
delicate, vulnerable, weak and powerless of beings, while
yet entrusting him with the regulation of all the vegetal
and animal life upon earth, and causing him to intervene
in their modes of worship and glorification of God; that
He should cause him to be a representation in miniature
of His cosmic processes; that He should cause him to
proclaim His glorious dominicality to all beings, in word
and deed; that He should prefer him to the angels and
give him the rank of vicegerent - is it at all possible
that God should bestow all of this on man and not give
him eternal bliss, the purpose, result and fruit of all
of these duties? That He should cast him down to low
degree, as the most wretched, ill-fortuned, humiliated
and suffering of all His creatures; or that He should
make of intelligence, a gift from His own wisdom and a
most blessed and luminous tool for the attainment of
happiness, an inauspicious and sombre tool of torment
The Words / Tenth Word - Twelfth
Truth - p.101 for that wretch, thus acting in total
contradiction to His absolute wisdom and in opposition to
His absolute mercy? No, it is by no means possible! In short: Just as we saw by looking
at the identity papers of an officer in our comparison
that his rank, duty, wage, instructions and equipment
prove that he exists not for the sake of some temporary
battlefield, but rather that he is proceeding to some
permanent kingdom, for the sake of which he is exerting
himself - so too those to whom truth and certainty have
been unveiled are unanimously agreed that the subtleties
inscribed in the book of man’s heart, the senses
written down in the notebook of his intellect, the
equipment contained in his essential character, are all
turned towards Eternal Bliss; they have been given to man
and fashioned in accordance with this ultimate goal. For example, if one servant and
illustrator of the intellect called “the imaginative
power,” is told that “you can have a million years of
life and rule over the world, but in the end you shall
become nothing,” it will react with sorrow instead of
pleasure, unless deceived by vain fancy and the
interference of the soul. The greatest of transient
things cannot, then, satisfy the smallest faculty of man. It is, then, this disposition of man
-his desires extending to eternity, his thoughts that
embrace all of creation and his wishes that embrace the
different varieties of eternal bliss- that demonstrates
he has been created for eternity and will indeed proceed
to eternity. This world is like a hospice for him, a
waiting-room for the hereafter. TWELFTH TRUTH The Gate of Messengerhood and
Revelation, Is it at all possible that errant
doubts, no stronger than the wing of a fly, could close
the path to the hereafter and the gate to Paradise that
have been definitively opened by the Most Noble Messenger
(Peace and blessings be upon him), with all of his might,
relying upon the power of his thousand certified miracles
as well as the thousands of decisive verses of the
All-Wise Qur’an, a book miraculous in forty different
ways - that Messenger whose words are affirmed by all of
the other prophets, relying upon their own miracles,
whose claim is affirmed by all of the saints, relying
upon their visionary and charismatic experiences, and to
whose veracity all of the purified scholars bear witness,
relying upon their investigations of truth? The Words / Tenth Word - Twelfth
Truth - p.102 From the previous truths it has
become apparent that resurrection is so firmly rooted a
truth that not even a power capable of lifting up the
globe, breaking it and casting it aside, could shake it.
For God Almighty Himself affirms this truth in accordance
with the meaning of all His Names and attributes; His
Noble Messenger confirms it with all of his miracles and
evidences; the All-Wise Qur’an establishes it with all
of its truths and verses; and the cosmos itself bears
witness to it with all the creational signs it contains
and all the wise processes that take place within it. Is
it at all possible that the Necessary Being should unite
with all of His creation (excepting only the unbelievers)
on this question of resurrection, and doubts feebler than
a whisker and satanic insinuations should shake and
uproot that exalted and firmly-rooted truth which
resembles a mountain? No, by no means! Beware, do not imagine that the
proofs of resurrection are restricted to the Twelve
Truths we have mentioned. The All-Wise Qur’an alone,
that instructed us in these Twelve Truths, indicates
thousands of other aspects of the matter as well, each
aspect being a sign that our Creator will transfer us
from this transient realm to an eternal one. Again, do not imagine that the Divine
Names which logically require the existence of
resurrection are only those we have discussed - Wise,
Generous, Merciful, Just, Preserver. On the contrary, all
the Divine Names manifest in the ordering of the cosmos
logically require the existence of resurrection, indeed
make it imperative. Do not imagine, either, that the
creational signs indicating resurrection are confined to
those we have mentioned above. On the contrary, in the
majority of beings, there exist different aspects and
qualities that are like curtains opening to the right and
the left: one aspect bears witness to the Maker, and the
other aspect indicates resurrection. For example, the
beauty of man’s being, fashioned as he is in the
fairest of forms, demonstrates the existence of the
Maker, while at the same time the fact that together with
his comprehensive abilities, lodged in that fairest of
forms, he soon declines and dies, demonstrates the
existence of resurrection. Sometimes, if one looks at the
same aspect in two different ways, one sees that it
demonstrates the existence both of the Maker and of
resurrection. For example, if one looks at the wise
ordering, the just balance, the gracious adornment and
the merciful favour inherent in most things, they are
seen to demonstrate that they proceed from the powerful
hand of a Wise, Generous, Just and Merciful Maker. So
too, if one looks at the brief and insignificant life of
the transient beings that are the manifestations of these
qualities, despite their power and infinitude, the
hereafter appears before one. In other words, all things
silently recite and cause others to recite “I believe
in God and the Last Day.” The Words / Tenth Word -
Conclusion - p.103 Conclusion The preceding Twelve Truths confirm,
supplement and support each other. Coming together in
union, they demonstrate the required result. Does it lie
in the capacity of any doubt to penetrate those twelve
firm walls, each like steel or diamonds, in order to
shake the belief in resurrection housed within their
closed citadel? ____________________ 33. Qur'an, 31:28. The Words / Tenth Word -
Conclusion - p.104 equal, and numerous, infinite things
appear equal to a single thing, through the mystery of
luminosity, transparency, order, obedience and balance,
then of a certainty little and much, small and great,
will be equal in the sign of the possessor of absolute
power, and He will be able to summon all men to
resurrection with a single blast on the trumpet, just as
if they were one man - this, by virtue of the mysteries
of the luminous manifestations of the infinite and
utterly perfect power of His essence, the transparency of
the inner dimension of things, the order decreed by
wisdom and destiny, the complete obedience of all things
to His creational commands, and the equilibrium existing
in contingent being, that consists of the equivalence of
the being and non-being of the contingent. Furthermore, the degrees of strength
and weakness that a thing possesses are determined by the
intervention in that thing of its opposite. For example,
degrees of heat are determined by the intervention of
cold; degrees of beauty, by the intervention of ugliness;
stages of light, by the intervention of darkness. But if
something exists of itself, and is not accidental, then
its opposite cannot interfere with it, for then a union
of opposites would logically have to occur, and that is
impossible. In something that exists of itself, there can
then be no gradation. Now the power of the Possessor of
Absolute Power pertains to His essence; it enjoys
absolute perfection and is not accidental like contingent
being. It is therefore impossible that its opposite,
impotence, should intervene in it. Hence it is as easy
for the Lord of Glory to create a spring as it is to
create a flower. But if creation were ascribed to
causality, then the creation of a single flower would be
as difficult as that of a whole spring. For God it is as
easy to resurrect and gather all men as it is to
resurrect and gather one man. All that we have expounded so far
with regard to resurrection, the comparisons indicating
it and its truths, is derived from the effulgence of the
All-Wise Qur’an. Its sole purpose has been bringing the
soul to surrender and the heart to acceptance. It is to
the Qur’an that the right to speak belongs. It is true
speech, and all speech is subordinate to it. Let us
listen, then, to the Qur’an: Say: “With God is the argument
that reaches home: if it had been His will, He could
indeed have guided you all.”35 Look upon the signs of God’s
mercy, and see how He restores life to the earth after
its death. Verily He it is Who shall bring to life the
dead, and He is powerful over all things.36 And he makes comparisons for Us,
and forgets his own [Origin and] ____________________ 35. Qur'an, 6:149. The Words / Tenth Word -
Conclusion - p.105 O mankind! Fear your Lord! For the
convulsion of the Hour [of Judgement] will be a thing
terrible! The Day ye shall see it, every
mother giving suck shall forget her suckling-babe, and
every pregnant female shall drop her load [unformed]:
thou shalt see mankind as in a drunken riot, yet not
drunk: but dreadful will be the Wrath of God.38 God! There is no god but He: of a
surety He will gather you together against the Day of
Judgement, about which there is no doubt. And whose word
can be truer than God’s?39 As for the righteous, they will be
in bliss; And the wicked - they will be in
the fire.40 When the Earth is shaken to her
[utmost] convulsion, And the Earth throws up her
burdens [from within], And man cries [distressed]:
“What is the matter with her!” - On that Day will she declare her
tidings: For that thy Lord will have given
her inspiration. On that Day will men proceed in
companies sorted out, to be shown the deeds that they
[had done]. Then shall anyone who has done an
atom’s weight of good, see it. And anyone who has done an
atom’s weight of evil, shall see it.41 The [Day] of Noise and Clamour: What is the [Day] of Noise and
Clamour? And what will explain to thee what
the [Day] of Noise and Clamour is? [It is] a Day whereon men will be
like moths scattered about, And the mountains will be like
carded wool. Then, he whose balance [of good
deeds] will be [found] heavy, Will be in a life of good pleasure
and satisfaction. But he whose balance [of good
deeds] will be [found] light,- Will have his home in a
[bottomless] Pit. And what will explain to thee what
this is? [It is] a Fire blazing fiercely!42 To God belongs the mystery of the
heavens and the earth. And the ____________________ 37. Qur'an, 36:78. The Words / Tenth Word -
Conclusion - p.106 decision of the Hour is as the
twinkling of an eye or even quicker: for God has power
over all things.43 Listening to these and other clear
verses of the Qur’an, let us say, “yes, we believe
and give our assent.” I believe in God, His angels, His
books, His messengers and in the Last Day. I believe that
both the good and evil of destiny are from God Almighty;
that resurrection after death is a reality; that Paradise
is a reality; that Hell-fire is a reality; that
intercession is a reality; that Munkar and Nakir are
reality; and that God will resurrect those who are in the
tombs. I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I
bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. O God, grant blessings to the most
delicate, the most noble, the most perfect, the most
beautiful fruit of the Tuba of Your mercy, him whom You
sent as a mercy to all the worlds, and as a means for our
attaining unto the most beauteous, the fairest, purest
and most exalted of the fruits of that Tuba, the branches
of which are outspread over the hereafter and paradise; o
God, protect us and our parents against the fire, and
cause us and our parents to enter Paradise with the
pious, for the sake of Thy chosen Prophet. Amen. O brother studying this treatise with
an open mind! Do not say, “why cannot I immediately
understand this ‘Tenth Word’ in all its details?”
and do not be saddened by your failure to understand it
completely. For even a master of philosophy such as Ibn
Sina said that “resurrection cannot be understood by
rational criteria.” His judgement was that we must
believe in resurrection, but reason cannot aid our
belief. Similarly, all the scholars of Islam unanimously
have held that resurrection rests entirely on traditional
proofs; it cannot be rationally examined. Naturally, so
profound, and at the same time, so exalted a path cannot
suddenly become a public highway for the exercise of the
reason. But we would offer a thousand thanks that the
Merciful Creator has bestowed upon us this much of the
path, by means of the effulgence of the All-Wise Qur’an
and His own mercy, in an age when belief by imitation is
past and meek acceptance has disappeared. For the amount
vouchsafed to each of us is enough for the salvation of
our faith. Being content with the amount that we have
been able to understand, we should reread the treatise
and seek to increase our comprehension. One of the reasons that it is
impossible to approach a rational understanding of
resurrection is that since the supreme gathering,
resurrection, is ____________________ 43. Qur'an, 16:77.
The Words / Tenth
Word - Conclusion - p.107 through the manifestation of the
Greatest Name, only through beholding and demonstrating
the great deeds evident in the maximum manifestation of
the Greatest Name of God as well as His other Names, is
it possible to prove it as certain; and unshakeably
believe that resurrection is as simple as the spring.
Thus do matters appear and thus they are demonstrated in
this ‘Tenth Word’ (Resurrection and the Hereafter),
by means of the effulgence of the Qur’an. Were it not
for this effulgence, and were our intelligence to be left
to its own petty devices, it would be powerless, and
condemned to believing in resurrection by way of
imitation.
The Words / Tenth Word - First
Part of the Addendum - p.108 The First Part of an Important
Supplement and Addendum to the Tenth Word In the Name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. So [give] glory to God, when you
reach eventide and when you rise in the morning; Yea, to
Him be praise, in the heavens and on earth; and in the
late afternoon and when the day begins to decline. It is He Who brings out the living
from the dead, and brings out the dead from the living,
and Who Gives life to the earth after it is dead: and
thus shall you be brought out [from the dead]. Among His Signs is this, that He
created you from dust; and then,- behold, you are men
scattered [far and wide]! And among His Signs is this, that
He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you
may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love
and mercy between your [hearts]: Verily in that are Signs
for those who reflect. And among His Signs is the
creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations
in your languages and your colours: verily in that are
Signs for those who know. And among His Signs is the sleep
that you take by night and by day, and the quest that you
[make for livelihood] out of His Bounty: verily in that
are Signs for those who hearken. And among His Signs, He shows you
the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope, and He
sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to
the earth after it is dead: verily in that are Signs for
those who are wise. And among His Signs is this, that
heaven and earth stand by His Command: then when He calls
you, by a single call, from the earth, behold, you
[straightway] come forth. To Him belongs every being that is
in the heavens and on earth: all are devoutly obedient to
Him. It is He Who begins [the process
of] creation; then repeats it; and for Him it is most
easy. To Him belongs the loftiest similitude [we can
think of] in the heavens and the earth: For He is Exalted
in Might, Full of Wisdom.44 ____________________ 44. Qur'an, 30:17-27. The Words / Tenth Word - First
Part of the Addendum - p.109 In this Ninth Ray will be expounded a
supreme point of these sublime heavenly verses, which
demonstrate one of the ‘poles’ of belief; these
mighty sacred proofs of the resurrection of the dead will
be explained. It is a subtle instance of dominical grace
that thirty years ago at the end of his work entitled Muhâkemat
(Reasonings), which was an introduction to Qur’anic
commentaries, the Old Said wrote: “Second Aim: Two
Qur’anic verses alluding to the resurrection of the
dead will be expounded and explained. In the Name of
God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” There he
stopped and could write no further. Now, praise and
thanks to my Compassionate Creator to the number of signs
and indications of the resurrection, that after thirty
years He has given me success. Yes, nine or ten years
ago, He bestowed the Tenth and Twenty-Ninth Words, two
brilliant and powerful proofs expounding the Divine
decree of: So look to the signs of God’s
mercy, how He raises to life the earth after its death;
He it is who will raise the dead to life, for He is
Powerful Over All Things45 which was the first of the two
verses. They silenced the deniers of resurrection. Now,
nine or ten years after those two impregnable bastions of
belief in the resurrection of the dead, He bestowed with
the present treatise a commentary on the second of the
above two sublime verses. This Ninth Ray, then, consists
of Nine Elevated Stations, indicated by the
above-mentioned verses, and an important Introduction. Introduction [This consists of two Points
comprising a concise explanation of one comprehensive
result of the numerous spiritual benefits of belief in
resurrection and of its vital consequences; a
demonstration of how essential it is for human life and
especially for the life of society; a summary of one
universal proof out of numerous proofs of the tenet of
belief in the resurrection; and a statement of how
indubitable and self-evident is that tenet of belief.] FIRST POINT We shall indicate, as a measure, only
four out of hundreds of proofs that belief in the
hereafter is fundamental to the life of society and to
man’s personal life, and is the basis of his happiness,
prosperity, and achievement. T h e F i r s t : It is
only with the thought of Paradise that children, who ____________________ 45. Qur'an, 30:50. The Words / Tenth Word - First
Part of the Addendum - p.110 form almost a half of mankind, can
endure all the deaths around them, which appear to them
to be grievous and frightening, and strengthen the morale
of their weak and delicate beings. Through Paradise they
find hope in their vulnerable spirits, prone to weeping,
and may live happily. For example, with the thought of
Paradise, one may say: “My little brother or friend has
died and become a bird in Paradise. He is flying around
Paradise and living more happily than us.” The frequent
deaths before their unhappy eyes of other children like
themselves or of grown-ups will otherwise destroy all
their resistance and morale, making their subtle
faculties like their spirits, hearts, and minds weep in
addition to their eyes; they will either decline utterly
or become crazy, wretched animals... S e c o n d P r o o f :
It is only through the life of the hereafter that the
elderly, who form half of mankind, can endure the
proximity of the grave, and be consoled at the thought
that their lives, to which they are firmly attached, will
soon be extinguished and their fine worlds come to an
end. It is only at the hope of eternal life that they can
respond to the grievous despair they feel in their
emotional child-like spirits at the thought of death.
Those worthy, anxious fathers and mothers, so deserving
of compassion and in need of tranquillity and peace of
mind, will otherwise feel a terrible spiritual turmoil
and distress in their hearts, and this world will become
a dark prison for them, and life even, grievous torment. T h i r d P r o o f :
It is only the thought of Hell-fire that checks the
turbulent emotions of youths, the most vigorous element
in the life of society, and their violent excesses,
restraining them from aggression, oppression, and
destruction, and ensuring that the life of society
continues tranquilly. If not for fear of Hell, in
accordance with the rule ‘might is right,’ in
pursuing their desires, those drunken youths would turn
the worlds of the wretched weak and powerless into Hell,
and elevated humanity into base animality. F o u r t h P r o o f :
The most comprehensive centre of man’s worldly life,
and its mainspring, and a paradise, refuge, and fortress
of worldly happiness, is the life of the family.
Everyone’s home is a small world for him. And the life
and happiness of his home and family are possible through
genuine, earnest, and loyal respect and true, tender, and
self-sacrificing compassion. This true respect and
genuine kindness may be achieved with the idea of the
members of the family having an everlasting companionship
and friendship and togetherness, and their parental,
filial, brotherly, and friendly relations continuing for
all eternity in a limitless life, and their believing
this. One says, for example: “My wife will be my
constant companion in an everlasting world and eternal
life. It does not matter if she is now old and ugly, for
she will have an immortal beauty.” He will tell himself
that he will be as kind and devoted as he can for the
sake of that permanent companionship, and treat his
elderly wife lovingly and kindly as though she was a The Words / Tenth Word - First
Part of the Addendum - p.111 beautiful houri. A companionship that
was to end in eternal separation after an hour or two of
brief, apparent friendship would otherwise afford only
superficial, temporary, feigned, animal-like feelings,
and false compassion and artificial respect. As with
animals, self-interest and other overpowering emotions
would prevail over the respect and compassion,
transforming that worldly paradise into Hell. Thus, one of the hundreds of results
of belief in resurrection is connected with the life of
society. If a comparison is made between the above four
proofs out of the hundreds of aspects and benefits of
this single consequence and the rest, it will be
understood that the realization of the truth of
resurrection, and its occurrence, are as certain as the
elevated reality of humanity and its universal need. It
is clearer even than the evidence for the existence of
food offered by the existence of need in man’s stomach,
and tells of its existence even more clearly. And it
proves that if the consequences of the truth of
resurrection were to quit humanity, whose nature is
extremely significant, lofty, and living, it would
descend to being a corrupt corpse fed on by microbes. The sociologists, politicians, and
moralists, who govern mankind and are concerned with its
social and moral questions should be aware of this! How
do they propose to fill this vacuum? With what can they
cure these deep wounds? SECOND POINT This explains in summary form a proof
-one of many- proceeding from the testimony to the truth
of resurrection of the other pillars of belief. It is as
follows: All the miracles indicating the
Messengership of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon
him) and the evidences for his prophethood, and all the
proofs of his veracity, together testify to the
occurrence of the resurrection, and prove it. For after
Divine unity, everything he claimed throughout his life
was centred on the resurrection of the dead. Also, all
his miracles and proofs affirming, and making affirmed,
all the previous prophets attest to the same truth. Also,
the testimony of the phrase “and in His Scriptures,”
which makes completely clear the testimony of the phrase
“and in His Prophets,” testifies to the same truth.
Like this: All the miracles, truths, and proofs
proving foremost the veracity of the Qur’an of
Miraculous Exposition, testify to and prove the
realization and occurrence of resurrection. For almost a
third of the Qur’an is about resurrection, and at the
beginning of most of its short suras are powerful verses
about it. It expresses the same truth explicity and
implicitly with thousands of its verses, and proves and
demonstrates it. For example: The Words / Tenth Word - First
Part of the Addendum - p.112 When the sun is folded up.46
____________________ 46. Qur'an, 81:1. The Words / Tenth
Word - First Part of the Addendum - p.113 and centuries, but in undetailed,
veiled, and summary manner, confirming with a thousand
signatures what the Qur’an teaches. Included here since it is related to
this discussion is the testimony at the end of the Third
Ray of the other pillars of faith and particulaly “the
Prophets” and “Holy Scriptures” to “belief in the
Last Day.” It forms a convincing proof of resurrection,
and is in the form of a powerful yet succinct
supplication, which dispels all doubts. It says in the
supplication: “O My Compassionate Sustainer! “I have understood from the
instruction of Your Noble Messenger (PBUH) and the
teaching of the Qur’an, that foremost the Qur’an and
the Messenger, and all the sacred scriptures and
prophets, have unanimously testified and pointed out that
the manifestations of the Names related to Your beauty
and glory, examples of which are to be seen in this
world, will continue even more radiantly for all
eternity, and that Your bounties, samples of which are to
be observed in this transitory world, will continue in
the abode of bliss in more glittering fashion, and that
those who long for them in this world will accompany them
for all eternity. “Also, relying on hundreds of
evident miracles and decisive signs, foremost Your Most
Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the
All-Wise Qur’an, and the prophets with their luminous
spirits, and the saints, who are spiritual poles with
their light-filled hearts, and the purified scholars with
their enlightened intellects, relying on Your repeated
threats and promises in all the sacred scriptures, and
trusting in Your sacred attributes like power, mercy,
favour, wisdom, glory, and beauty, and on Your functions,
and the dignity of Your glory, and the sovereignty of
Your dominicality, and in consequence of their
illuminations and visions and beliefs at ‘the knowledge
of certainty,’ give the glad tidings to men and jinn of
eternal happiness and inform them of Hell for the people
of misguidance; they firmly believe this and testify to
it. “O All-Powerful and Wise One! O
Most Merciful and Compassionate! O Munificent One True to
His Promise! O All-Compelling One of Glory, One of
Dignity, Grandeur, and Wrath! “You are utterly exempt from and
exalted above giving the lie to so many loyal friends,
and so many promises, and attributes and functions, and
denying the certain demands of the sovereignty of Your
dominicality and the endless prayers and supplications of
Your innumerable acceptable servants, whom You love and
who attract Your love by assenting to You and obeying
You; and You are exempt from confirming the denial of
resurrection by the people of misguidance and unbelief,
who through their disbelief and rebellion and denial of
Your promises, offend the magnificence of Your grandeur
and affront Your dignity and glory and the The Words / Tenth Word - First
Part of the Addendum - p.114 honour of Your Godhead, and sadden
the compassion of Your dominicality. We declare Your
justice, beauty, and mercy to be exempt from such
infinite tyranny, such ugliness. We believe with all our
strength that the testimony of the prophets, purified
scholars, and saints, who are those truthful envoys of
Yours, those heralds of Your sovereignty, at the degrees
of ‘absolute certainty,’ ‘knowledge of
certainty,’ and ‘the vision of certainty,’ to the
treasuries of Your mercy in the hereafter and the stores
of Your bounties in the everlasting realm, and to the
wondrously beautiful manifestations of Your Beautiful
Names, which will be manifested totally in the abode of
bliss, are absolutely true and veracious, and what they
have indicated conforms absolutely with reality, and that
what they have given glad tidings of is true and will
occur. Believing that the supreme ray of Your Name of
Truth, which is the source, sun, and protector of all
realities, is this truth of the resurrection and Great
Gathering, they teach it to Your servants. “O God! For the sake of what they
teach and in veneration of it, grant us and all students
of the Risale-i Nur perfect belief and a happy death. And
allow us to receive their intercession. Amen!” Moreover, just as all the proofs
demonstrating the veracity of the revealed scriptures,
and all the miracles and evidences proving the
prophethood of God’s Beloved (PBUH) and of all the
prophets, indirectly prove the reality of the hereafter,
which is what they teach above all else; so most of the
evidences for the existence and unity of the Necessary
Existent testify indirectly to the existence and opening
up of an eternal realm of bliss, which will be the
supreme manifestation of dominicality and divinity. For
as is explained and proved in the following paragraphs,
both the existence of the Necessarily Existent One, and
most of His attributes, functions and Names, like
dominicality, Godhead, mercy, grace, wisdom, and justice,
necessitate the hereafter with the utmost certainty, and
demand an eternal realm and the resurrection of the dead
and Last Judgement for the granting of reward and
punishment. Since there is a pre-eternal and
post-eternal God, most certainly there is the hereafter,
the everlasting means of the sovereignty of His Godhead. And since there is in the universe
and in living beings a most majestic, wise, and
compassionate absolute dominicality, and it is apparent;
there is certain to be an eternal realm of happiness
which will save the majesty of that dominicality from
abasement, its wisdom from purposelessness, and its
compassion from cruelty; and that realm shall be entered. And since the unlimited bestowals,
bounties, favours, gifts, and instances of grace and
mercy which are to be seen, show to minds that are not
extinguished and hearts that are not dead that behind the
veil of the Unseen is
The Words / Tenth Word - First
Part of the Addendum - p.115 One All-Merciful and Compassionate;
surely there is an immortal life in an eternal realm
which will save the bestowal from mockery, the bounties
from deception, the favours from enmity, the mercy from
torment, the grace and gifts from treachery, and will
make the bounties bounty and the bestowal bestowal. And since in the springtime on the
narrow page of the earth, a pen of power writes a hundred
thousand books without error tirelessly before our eyes;
and since the Holder of the pen has promised a hundred
thousand times: “I am going to write a fine, immortal
book in a broad realm, easier than this book of the
spring, which is written in this narrow realm, confused
and intermingled, and I shall allow you to read it;” He
mentions the book in all his decrees; certainly, the main
part of the book has been written, and with the
resurrection and Last Judgement its footnotes shall be
added, and all the notebooks of people’s actions shall
be recorded in it. And since, with its multiplicity of
creatures, and its being the dwelling, source, factory,
exhibition, and gathering place of hundreds of thousands
of constantly changing species of living beings and
beings with spirits, and the heart, centre, summary, and
result of the universe, and the reason for its creation,
the earth has supreme importance, and is held equal to
the mighty heavens despite its smallness; in the heavenly
decrees, it is always said: Sustainer of the Heavens and
Earth... And since there is man, who rules
over the earth, which is thus, has disposal over most
creatures, and subjects most living beings gathering them
around himself; and so orders, displays, and gathers each
remarkable species together in one place like a list,
adorning them, that he attracts not only the attention
and admiration of men and jinn, but of the dwellers of
the heavens and the universe, and the appreciative gaze
of the universe’s Owner, thus gaining great importance
and high worth; and who shows through his sciences and
arts that he is the purpose of the universe’s creation,
and its most important result, and most precious fruit,
and the Divine vicegerent on earth; and who because with
respect to this world, he has ordered and displayed
excellently the miraculous arts of the world’s Maker,
is left in this world despite his rebellion and
disbelief, and whose punishment is postponed, and because
of this work of his, whose term is prolonged and is
allowed success... And since there is an extremely
powerful, wise, and compassionate Disposer, Who makes the
mighty globe into a treasury of every sort of metal and
mineral that man needs in a way entirely beyond his
strength and will -who despite being weak, impotent, and
wanting by nature and creation, has innumerable needs and
is subject to innumerable pains- and a store of every
sort of food, and a shop stocking goods of every kind
that pleases The Words / Tenth Word - First
Part of the Addendum - p.116 man, and looks to man in this way,
and nurtures him, and gives him what he wants... And since there is a Sustainer Who is
thus, Who both loves man, and causes man to love Him, and
Who is enduring, and has eternal worlds, and Who performs
every work with justice, and carries out everything with
wisdom; and since the splendour of that Pre-Eternal
Sovereign’s rule and His eternal rule cannot be
contained in this brief worldly life, and in man’s
fleeting span, and in the temporary and transient earth;
and since the excessive wrongdoing and rebellion that
occur among men, which are contrary to and opposed to the
universe’s order, justice, balance, and beauty, and
their denial, treachery, and disbelief towards their
Benefactor, Who nurtures them tenderly, are not punished
in this world, and the cruel oppressor passes his life in
ease, while the unhappy oppressed live in hardship; and
since the absolute justice whose traces are to be seen
throughout the universe is entirely opposed to the cruel
tyrant and despairing oppressed being equal in death, and
would in no way permit it... And since just as the universe’s
Owner has chosen the earth from the universe, and man
from the earth, and bestowed on him a high rank and
importance; so out of mankind He has chosen the prophets,
saints, and purified ones, true human beings who conform
to the aims of His dominicality and through their belief
and submission make Him love them; He has taken them as
friends and addressees, and bestowed miracles and success
on them and punished their enemies with heavenly blows.
And out of these worthy and lovable friends He has chosen
their leader and source of pride, Muhammad (Peace and
blessings be upon him), and for long centuries has
illuminated with his Light half the globe and a fifth of
humanity; as though the universe was created for him, all
its purposes become apparent through him and his religion
and the Qur’an. And although he deserved to live for an
infinite time in recompense for his infinitely valuable
service, for millions of years, he only lived a brief
sixty-three years of great hardship and striving. Is
there any possibility then that he should not be
resurrected together with all his peers and friends? That
they should not now be living in the spirit? That they
should have been annihilated eternally? God forbid, a
hundred thousand times! Yes, all the universe and the
reality of the world demand that he should be resurrected
and they beseech the universe’s Owner that he should be
living... And since in the Seventh Ray, The
Supreme Sign, each with the strength of a mountain, the
thirty-three powerful consensuses have proved that the
universe emerged from a single hand and is the property
of a single being; and have demonstrated self-evidently
His unity and oneness, the means of the Divine
perfections; and through unity and oneness all beings
become like soldiers under orders and subservient
officials; and with the coming of The Words / Tenth
Word - First Part of the Addendum - p.117 the hereafter, perfections are saved
from decline, absolute justice from mocking cruelty,
universal wisdom from foolish absurdity, all-embracing
mercy from jeering torment, and the dignity of power from
abased impotence, and they are exonerated from this... Certainly and without any doubt, as
necessitated by the truths in these six ‘sinces’ -six
out of hundreds of points of belief in God- the end of
the world shall come and the resurrection of the dead
occur. Abodes of reward and punishment shall be thrown
open so that the above-mentioned importance of the earth,
and its centrality, and man’s importance and value
shall be realized, and the above-mentioned justice,
wisdom, mercy, and sovereignty of the All-Wise Disposer,
Who is the Creator of the earth and of man, and their
Sustainer, shall be established; and the true and
yearning friends of that eternal Sustainer shall be saved
from eternal annihilation; and the most eminent and
worthy of those friends receive the recompense for his
sacred services, which have made all beings pleased and
indebted; and the perfections of the Eternal Sovereign
should be exempted and exonerated from all fault and
deficiency, and His power from impotence, and His wisdom
from foolishness, and His justice from tyranny. In Short: Since God exists, so
does the hereafter certainly exist. Moreover, just as with all the
evidences that prove them, the above three pillars of
belief testify to and indicate resurrection; so do the
two pillars “and in the angels, and in Divine
Determining, that both the good of it and the evil of it
are from God Almighty,” also necessitate resurrection
and testify in powerful fashion to the eternal realm. It
is like this: All the evidences proving the
existence of the angels and their duties of worship, and
innumerable observations of them and conversations with
them, prove indirectly the existence of the Spirit World,
and the World of the Unseen, and the eternal realm and
world of the hereafter, and the existence of an abode of
happiness and Paradise and Hell, which in the future
shall be populated with men and jinn. For with Divine
permission, the angels can see these worlds and enter
them. And all the high-ranking angels who meet with
humans, like Gabriel, tell unanimously of the existence
of these worlds and of their travelling round them. Just
as we are certain, due to the information of those coming
from there, that the continent of America exists,
although we have not seen it, so due to information about
the angels, which has the strength of a hundredfold
consensus, we should believe in the existence of the
world of eternity, the realm of the hereafter, and
Paradise and Hell with the same certainty. And thus we do
believe in it. Furthermore, all the evidences
proving the pillar of “belief in Divine Determining,”
included in the Treatise on Divine Determining, the
Twenty-Sixth Word, prove indirectly the resurrection of
the dead, the balancing of The Words / Tenth Word - First
Part of the Addendum - p.118 deeds on the supreme scales, and the
publishing of the pages of deeds. For the recording
before our eyes of the appointed courses of all things on
the tablets of order and balance, and the inscribing of
the life-stories of all living beings in their faculties
of memory, and the transcribing of the notebooks of deeds
of all beings with spirits, and especially men, on the
Preserved Tablet, such a comprehensive determining and
wise apportioning and precise recording and preserving
inscription could surely only be the result of a general
judgement in a supreme tribunal set up to mete out
permanent reward and punishment. That comprehensive and
precise recording and preservation would otherwise be
completely meaningless and purposeless, and contrary to
wisdom and reality. Also, if there was no resurrection,
all the certain meanings of the book of the universe,
written with the pen of Divine Determining, would be
nullified, which is completely impossible. It is as
impossible as denying the universe’s existence, indeed,
is a delirium. In Short: The five pillars of
belief demand with all their evidences the occurrence of
the resurrection and Last Judgement, and their existence,
and the existence and opening up of the realm of the
hereafter, and they testify to these and necessitate
them. Thus, it is because there are such
vast and unshakeable supports and proofs of the
resurrection, completely in conformity with its vastness,
that almost one third of the Qur’an of Miraculous
Exposition is formed by resurrection and the hereafter,
and it makes it the basis and foundation stone of all its
truths, and constructs everything on it. (The end of the Introduction)
The Words / Tenth Word - Second
Part of the Addendum - p.119 Second Part of the Addendum The first of nine stations comprising
the nine levels of proofs of resurrection miraculously
indicated in the following verse: Glory be to God in the evening and
at daybreak, and praise is His in the heavens and earth,
at nightfall and when the day begins to decline. It is He
Who brings forth the living from the dead, and brings
forth the dead from the living, and gives life to the
earth after its death; thus, too, will you be brought
forth.53 The manifest proof and brilliant
evidence of God’s decree concerning resurrection
contained in this verse will now be expounded and set
forth, God willing.54 In connection with the twenty-eighth
property of life it was explained that life looks upon
the six pillars of faith and proves them; it contains a
series of indications of their truth. Now the most important result,
substance and reason for the creation of the cosmos is
none other than life, and life, that exalted verity, can
in no way be restricted to this transient, brief,
defective and painful worldly life. Rather the purpose
and result of the tree of life, the splendour of which
can be deduced from its twenty-nine properties, the fruit
of that tree worthy of its splendour, is the eternal life
of the hereafter; it is life in the eternal realm where
even stones, trees and the soil will be endowed with
life. Otherwise, it will follow that the tree of life, so
plentifully decked out with significant instruments,
yields no fruit, benefit or truth for animate beings,
especially man; and man who in his substance and
faculties is twenty times superior to the sparrow and is
indeed the most important and elevated of all creation,
will fall to a degree twenty times lower than that of the
sparrow; with respect to the felicity of his life, he
will be the most unfortunate and humiliated of wretches. Similarly, intelligence, the most
precious of gifts for man, will wound his heart through
constant reflection of the pains of the past and the
fears of the ____________________ 53. Qur'an, 30:17-19. The Words / Tenth Word - Second
Part of the Addendum - p.120 Is it at all possible that an
All-Powerful Agent Who promptly supplies and provides,
with wisdom, solicitude and mercy, all the instruments
and tools needed for your life, in your body, your garden
and your homeland, Who hears and answers the private and
particular prayer made for sustenance by your stomach,
for the sake of its life and survival, Who shows His
acceptance of that prayer by means of numerous delicious
foods - is it at all possible that such a Being should
not be aware of you or hear you, that He should not
provide you with the means of life eternal, the greatest
purpose of the human species? Is it possible that He
should not accept the greatest, most significant, most
worthy and most universal prayer for eternity of the
human species by establishing eternal life and creating
paradise? Is it possible that He should not heed the
universal and insistent prayer of the human species, the
most important creature in the cosmos, the monarch of the
earth, a prayer that resounds throughout heaven and
earth, and not pay it the same attention, or grant it the
same gratification, as a little stomach? Is it possible
that He should thus cause His perfect wisdom and infinite
mercy to be denied? No, a hundred thousand times no! Again, is it at all possible that He
should hear the most secret voice of the most minute of
beings, remedy its pain and succour its plaint; that He
should nourish it with the utmost care and consideration
and cause creatures greater than itself to serve it - is
it at all possible that He should do all of this and not
hear the thunderous cry of life, the greatest, most
precious, most eternal and most delicate form of life?
That He should pay no heed to its powerful prayer and
supplications for eternity? It would be like equipping a
single soldier with the utmost care and totally ignoring
a vast and obedient army! Like seeing a speck and
overlooking the sun! Like hearing the buzz of a fly and
not hearing the roar of the thunder! No, a hundred
thousand times no! Again, can the intelligence at all
accept that an All-Powerful and All-Wise Being, Whose
mercy, love and solicitude are infinite, Who loves His
own artistry, Who causes Himself to be loved, and Who
greatly loves those that love Him - can it accept that
such a Being would annihilate through permanent death a
life that loves Him greatly, that is itself lovable and
that instinctively worships its Maker; and, the essence
and jewel of that life, the spirit? That He would offend
and insult His lover and beloved for all eternity, that
He would injure his feelings and deny Himself, and cause
others to deny, the mystery of His mercy and the light of
His love? No, a hundred thousand times no! An absolute
beauty that adorns creation with its The Words / Tenth Word - Second
Part of the Addendum - p.121 manifestation and the absolute mercy
that makes all creatures rejoice are without doubt exempt
and purified from such infinite ugliness, such utter
abomination and pitilessness. The result, then, is that considering
the existence of life, those men who understand the
purpose of life and who do not misuse their lives will
become manifestations of eternal life in the realm of
eternity and eternal Paradise. In this we believe. So,
too, the shining of brilliant objects found on the earth
through the reflection of sunlight, the brief glinting on
the surface of the ocean of little bubbles through
flashes of light, and the coming in their place of
further bubbles that like them hold up a mirror to a
whole series of imaginary suns - this demonstrates
tangibly that those flashes are the reflectory
manifestation of the one supreme sun. With their manifold
tongues, they make mention of that one sun and they point
toward it with their luminous fingers. So, too, the fashion in which,
through the supreme manifestation of the Name ‘Giver of
Life’ of the Living and Self-Subsistent Being, all the
animate beings on the face of the earth and in the depths
of the sea shine through God’s power, and then
disappear behind the veil of the unseen, saying, “O
Eternally Living One!”, in order to make room for those
that follow them - this represents a series of
testimonies to and indications of the life and necessary
existence of the Living and Self-Subsistent Being. Similarly, all the proofs that bear
witness to the Divine knowledge the traces of which are
visible in the ordering of all beings; all the evidences
that establish the existence of a power working its will
throughout creation; all the arguments that point to a
volition and purposefulness dominating the ordering and
administering of the cosmos; all the signs and miracles
that attest the messengerhood of the prophets, the means
of dominical speech and Divine revelation, and the
indications bearing witness to the seven attributes of
Divinity - all of them point to, testify to, and indicate
unanimously the life of the Living and Self-Subsistent
Being. For if the faculty of vision is present in a
thing, there must also be life. If there is hearing, this
too is a sign of life. If there is speech, this also
points to the existence of life. Similarly, attributes the existence
of which is proven and self-evident by virtue of their
traces throughout the cosmos, attributes such as Absolute
power, all-embracing will, and comprehensive knowledge,
bear witness with all of their proofs to the life and
necessary existence of the Living and Self-Subsistent
Being. They attest His everlasting life, one shadow of
which is enough to illumine the whole of the cosmos, and
one manifestation of which suffices to give life to the
hereafter, together with all of its particles. The Divine attribute of life is also
connected with the pillar of belief in the angels, and
proves it by way of indication. For the most important of
all The Words / Tenth Word - Second
Part of the Addendum - p.122 goals of the cosmos is life, and
animate beings constitute the most widespread form of
creation, with its specimens multiplied on account of
their value; they constantly animate the hospice of this
world with the coming and going of their caravans.
Further, the globe, which is filled with so many species
of animate beings, is being constantly emptied and
refilled as these various species are renewed and
multiplied, and animate beings are created in
multiplicity even in the vilest and most corrupt
substances, so that there is -as it were- a constant
resurrection of microbes. Finally, consciousness and
intellect, which are the distilled essence of life, and
the spirit, which is its subtle and stable substance, are
also created everywhere on the globe in the utmost
multiplicity, so that it is as if the globe were animated
and caused to rejoice by life, intellect, consciousness
and spirit. If we take into consideration all of the
foregoing, it is totally impossible that the heavenly
bodies, which are subtler, more luminous, greater and
more significant than the globe, should be dead, rigid,
lifeless, and dumb. There must, then, exist and be
provided with the property of life, conscious and animate
beings that animate the skies, the suns, and the stars,
bestow upon them their vitality, manifest the result of
the purpose for the creation of the heavens, and receive
address from the Glorious Creator. These creatures, of a
nature suited to the heavens, are none other than the
angels. Similarly, the innermost essence of
life symbolically proves the pillar of belief in the
prophets. For the cosmos was created for the sake of
life, and life is in turn one of the supreme
manifestations of the Living, Self-Subsistent and Eternal
One. It is one of His most perfect designs, one of His
most beauteous arts. Further, the eternal life of God
shows itself only through the sending of messengers and
the revelation of books. If there were no books or
prophets, then eternal life would remain unknown. When a
man speaks, he is recognized to be alive. Similarly, it
is the prophets and revealed books that make manifest the
words and decrees of the Being Who, from behind the world
of the unseen that is veiled by the cosmos, speaks,
talks, and emits His commands and prohibitions. Just as
the life existent in the cosmos bears decisive witness to
the necessary existence of the Living and Eternal One, so
too does it point to and indirectly confirm the pillars
of belief in the sending of messengers and the revelation
of scriptures, for these are the rays, the
manifestations, and the relations of that eternal life.
And especially the messengership of Muhammad -Peace and
blessings be upon him- and the Qur’anic revelation,
since they are like the very spirit and intellect of
life, their veracity is as indisputable as the existence
of this life. Life is, then, the distilled essence
of the cosmos; consciousness and feeling are the
distilled essence of life; the intellect is the distilled
essence of consciousness; and the spirit, finally, is the
pure and unsullied substance, the The Words / Tenth Word - Second
Part of the Addendum - p.123 stable and autonomous essence, that
lies at the heart of life. So, too, the life of the
Prophet Muhammad -Peace and blessings be upon him- in
both its outer and its inner aspects is the distilled
quintessence of life and the spirit of the cosmos, and
the messengership of Muhammad -Peace and blessings be
upon him- is the pure and distilled essence of the
feeling, the consciousness and the intellect of the
cosmos. Rather, the life of the Prophet Muhammad -Peace
and blessings be upon him- in its outer and inner aspects
is, as the centuries have borne witness, the very essence
of the life of the cosmos, and the prophethood of
Muhammad -Peace and blessings be upon him- is the very
light and essence of the consciousness of the cosmos. The
Qur’anic revelation is also the spirit of the life of
the cosmos and the intellect of its consciousness. If the light of the messengership of
Muhammad -Peace and blessings be upon him- were to depart
from the cosmos and vanish, the cosmos would die. If the
Qur’an were to depart, the cosmos would lose its
sanity, and the globe would lose its sense and its head.
Its dizzy, uncomprehending head would collide with a
planet, and the end of the world would result. Life also looks to the pillar of
belief in Divine Determining, and proves it indirectly.
Because, since life is the light of the Manifest World,
and it dominates it, and is the result and aim of
existence, and since it is the most comprehensive mirror
of the Creator of the universe and the most perfect
sample and index of dominical activity, and -let there be
no mistake in the comparison- is like a sort of
programme, for sure, the mystery of life necessitates
that the creatures in the World of the Unseen, that is,
the past and the future, that is, that have been and will
come, are predisposed to conform to order, regularity,
being known and observed, specific individual existence,
and the creative commands, which are their lives in one
respect. The original seed of a tree and its
root, as well as the seeds contained in its fruit and
final outcome, all manifest a sort of life, no less than
the tree itself; indeed, they bear within themselves laws
of life more subtle than those of the tree. Similarly,
the seeds and roots left by last autumn, before the
present spring, as well as the seeds and roots that will
be left to subsequent springs after this spring has
departed - they all bear the manifestations of life, just
like this spring, and are subject to the laws of life. In
just the same way, all the branches and twigs of the
cosmic tree each have a past and a future. They have a
chain consisting of past and future stages and
circumstances. The multiple existences and stages of each
species and each member of each species, existing in
Divine knowledge, forms a chain of being in God’s
knowledge, and both its external existence, and its
existence in God’s knowledge, is a manifestation of
universal life that draws all the aspects of its life
from these meaningful and vital Tablets of Divine
Determining.
The Words / Tenth Word - Second
Part of the Addendum - p.124 The fact that the World of Spirits
-which is one form of the World of the Unseen- is full of
the essence of life, the matter of life and the spirits,
which are the substances and essence of life, demands and
requires of a certainty that past and future -which are
another form of the World of the Unseen and its second
segment- should also receive the manifestation of life. In addition, the perfect order, the
meaningful circumstances and vital fruits and stages
inherent in the existence of a thing within God’s
knowledge, also demonstrate the manifestation of a sort
of life. Such a manifestation of life, which is the light
emitted by the sun of eternal life, cannot be limited to
this manifest world, this present time, this external
existence. On the contrary, each world receives the
manifestation of that light in accordance with its
capacity, and the cosmos together with all its worlds is
alive and illumined through it. Otherwise, as the
misguided imagine, beneath a temporary and apparent life,
each world would be a vast and terrible corpse, a dark
ruin. One broad aspect of the pillar of
faith in Divine Determining and Decree is, then,
understood through the mystery of life and is established
by it. Just as the life and vitality of the Manifest
World and existent, visible objects becomes apparent from
their orderliness and the consequences of their
existence, so too past and future creatures -regarded as
belonging to the World of the Unseen- have an immaterial
existence and sort of life, and a spiritual presence in
God’s knowledge. The trace of this life and presence is
made manifest and known by means of the Tablet of Divine
Determining and Decree and through all the stages and
circumstances of their external lives and existences.
The Words / Tenth Word - Third
Part of the Addendum - p.125 Third Part of the Addendum A question related to the
resurrection of the dead: The frequently repeated verse, It
will be naught but a single cry,55 and the
verse, The command of the Hour will be like the glance
of the eye,56 show that the resurrection
of the dead and Great Gathering will occur
instantaneously, in a flash. But man’s narrow reason
requires some tangible example so that it can conceive of
this wondrous, extraordinary, and unparalleled event, and
accept it. T h e A n s w e r : At
the resurrection there will be the return of spirits to
their bodies, the revivification of the bodies, and the
remaking of the bodies. It consists of three matters. THE FIRST MATTER: An example
for the return of spirits to their bodies is the
mustering, at a loud bugle call, of the members of a
well-disciplined army after they have dispersed to rest.
Yes, the Sur of the Angel Israfil is no less powerful
than an army bugle. The spirits, too, who, while in
post-eternity, reply with “Yes, we accept” to the
question “Am I not your Sustainer?”,57
which comes from pre-eternity, are infinitely more
subjugated, disciplined, and obedient than the soldiers
of an army. The Thirtieth Word has demonstated with
decisive proofs that not only spirits, but all particles,
form a Divine army and are its soldiers under command. SECOND MATTER: An example for
the revivification of bodies is the springing to life in
an instant of the hundred thousand electric lights of a
large city on a festival night, switched on from one
centre. It would be possible to light up in the same way
a hundred million lamps scattered over the face of the
earth from one centre. Since through the training and
instruction in regularity and order it has received from
its Creator, a creature of Almighty God like electricity
-a servant and candleholder in His guest-house- possesses
this quality, surely the resurrection of the dead could
occur in the twinkling of an eye within the bounds of the
regular laws of Divine wisdom which thousands of luminous
servants represent, like electricity. ____________________ 55. Qur'an, 36:29,49,53; 38:15;
54:31.
The Words / Tenth Word - Third
Part of the Addendum - p.126 THIRD MATTER: An example for
the remaking of bodies instantaneously is the perfect
remaking within a few days of all the trees in the
spring, which are far more numerous than all humanity,
together with all their leaves, in exactly the same way
as those of the previous spring; and the bringing into
being, again like those of previous springs, all the
blossoms, fruits and leaves of the trees with the speed
of lightning; and the sudden awakening of the uncountable
numbers of seeds, grains, and roots, which are the source
of the spring, and their unfolding and being raised to
life; and reflecting the meaning of “resurrection after
death,” the sudden raising to life at a command of the
upright skeleton-like corpses of the trees; and the
reanimation of the innumerable members of all species of
small animals; and the revivification of all the sorts of
flying insects, particularly those which, continually
cleaning their faces, eyes, and wings, remind us of our
ablutions and cleanliness, and caress our faces -the
resurrection and remaking of all the members of this
tribe within a few days every spring before our very eyes
together with all the other species, despite being
greater in number than all mankind since the time of
Adam, provides not one example of the remaking of all
human bodies at the resurrection, but thousands. Yes, since this world is the realm of
wisdom and the hereafter the realm of power, numerous
Divine Names like All-Wise, Arranger, Disposer, and
Nurturer, and dominical wisdom, require that the creation
of things in this world is gradual and in the course of
time. In the hereafter, however, power and mercy will be
manifested more than wisdom, and there being no need for
matter, time, and waiting, things will be made
instantaneously. Alluding to the fact that things which
are made here in a day or in a year will be made in the
hereafter in an instant or a flash, the Qur’an of
Miraculous Exposition states: The command of the Hour will be
like the glance of the eye, or briefer.58 If you want to be as certain about
the occurrence of the resurrection of the dead as you are
about the arrival of next spring, study the Tenth and
Twenty-Ninth Words carefully, which are about this, and
you will see! If you do not then believe that it will
occur as you believe the coming of spring, come and stick
your finger in my eye! A FOURTH MATTER: The death of
the world and Doomsday. The sudden collision with this
globe, our guest-house, at a dominical command, of a
planet or comet, could wipe out this dwelling-place of
ours. Like the destruction in a minute of a palace the
building of which had taken ten years. ____________________ 58. Qur'an, 16:77.
The Words / Tenth Word - Fourth
Part of the Addendum - p.127 Fourth Part of the Addendum He said: “Who shall give life to
decaying bones?” Say: “He shall give them life who
first gave them life, and He is All-Knowing concerning
all creation.”59 As was illustrated in the third
comparison in the Ninth Truth of the Tenth Word, some
personage may one day summon together before your eyes a
great army. If someone were then to say, “that
personage is able to call together the troops in his
army, who had dispersed to take rest, and assemble them
again in battalions,” and you were to say, “I don’t
believe it,” you know well how lunatic would be your
denial. So too, an All-Powerful and All-Knowing Being Who
out of nothing recorded and put in place, with the
command of, “Be!”, and it is, all the
particles and subtle aspects of the bodies of all animals
and other animate beings, as if they were an army with
the utmost orderliness and wise equilibrium, and Who
creates each century, or rather each spring, the hundreds
of thousands of different species and groups of animate
beings that populate the face of the earth, each like an
army - such a Being can gather together, with one blow on
the trump of Israfil, all the fundamental particles and
original components that enjoy mutual acquaintance
through joint submission to the order of the body that
corresponds to a battalion. Were you to say, “how can
this be?” or consider it unlikely, it would be idiotic
lunacy. It sometimes happens in the Qur’an
that, in order to impress upon the heart the wondrous
deeds He will perform in the hereafter and to prepare the
mind for acceptance of them, God Almighty mentions the
wondrous deeds He performs in this world as a kind of
preparation. Alternatively, He may sometimes mention the
wondrous deeds He will perform in the future and the
hereafter in such a fashion that we are convinced of them
by analogy with the similar deeds we observe in this
world. One example is furnished by the verse, Has not man seen that We created
him from a drop of sperm? And then he becomes an open
disputer.60 ____________________ 59. Qur'an, 36:78. The Words / Tenth Word - Fourth
Part of the Addendum - p.128 and the remaining verses of the same
sura. The All-Wise Qur’an thus proves the question of
resurrection in seven or eight different forms. It first directs man’s attention to
his own origins. It says “you see how you advanced from
a drop of sperm to a drop of blood, from a drop of blood
to a formless lump of flesh, and from a formless lump of
flesh to human form. How, then, can you deny your second
creation? It is just the same as the first, or even
easier of accomplishment for God.” God Almighty also
refers to the great bounties He has bestowed on man with
phrases such as: He Who made fire for you from the
green tree61 and says to man: “Will the Being
Who thus bestowed bounty upon you leave you to your own
devices, in such fashion that you enter the grave to
sleep without rising again?” He also hints at the
following: “You see how dead trees come to life and
grow green again. Refusing to regard as a parallel the
reanimation of your bones, that resemble dry wood, you
dismiss the whole matter as improbable. Now is it at all
possible that the One Who creates the heavens and earth
should not be empowered over the life and death of man,
the fruit of heaven and earth? Do you imagine that He
would make fruitless and vain the tree of creation that
He has moulded with wisdom in all its parts, by
abandoning the supreme result of that tree?” The Qur’an says further: “The
Being That will restore you to life at resurrection is
such that the whole cosmos is like an obedient soldier of
His. It bows its head submissively whenever it hears the
command, “Be!”, and it is.62 To create a spring is easier for Him
than the creation of a flower. To create the whole of the
animal realm is as easy for His power as creating a fly.
None may belittlingly challenge His power by saying to
Him: Who will give life to the bones?63 Then, from the verse, Glory be to Him in Whose hand lies
the sovereignty of all things,64 we see that the index of all things
is in His hand, the key to all things is in His
possession; He rotates night and day, winter and summer,
with as much ease as if He were turning the pages of a
book. He is an All-Powerful, Glorious Being Who closes
the door on this world and opens it on the hereafter as
if they were two stations. This being the case, as the
result of the mentioned evidences, ____________________ 61. Qur'an, 36:80.
The Words / Tenth Word - Fourth
Part of the Addendum - p.129 To Him you shall return,65 that is, He will bring you back to
life from your graves, take you to the plain of
resurrection, and judge you in His majestic presence. Now these verses prepare the mind and
make ready the heart to accept the reality of
resurrection, for they have demonstrated parallels to
resurrection in worldly processes. Sometimes it also
happens that He mentions the deeds He will perform in the
hereafter in such a way as to draw attention to their
worldly parallels, so that no room should be left for
doubt and denial. Examples are the Suras introduced by
these verses: When the heavens are torn asunder.67 In these Suras, God Almighty mentions
resurrection and the vast revolutions and dominical deeds
that shall take place at that time, in such a fashion
that man thinks of their worldly parallels that he has
seen in autumn and spring, and then, with awe in his
heart, easily accepts what the intellect would otherwise
refuse. Even to indicate the general meaning of the three
suras just mentioned would take very long. Let us, then,
take simply one word as a specimen of the whole. With the
words, When the pages are spread out,68 God Almighty expresses the following:
“Upon resurrection, everyone’s deeds will be revealed
on a written page. This appears to be very strange, and
totally beyond the reach of reason. But as the Sura
indicates, just as the resurrection of the spring is a
parallel to other matters, so too the ‘spreading out of
pages’ has a very clear parallel. Every fruit-bearing
tree, every flowering plant has its deeds, actions and
functions. It performs a certain kind of worship,
depending on the fashion in which it glorifies God
through the manifestations of His Names. Now all of its
deeds and the record of its life are inscribed in all the
seeds that are to emerge next spring in another plot of
soil. With the tongue of shape and form, the seeds make
eloquent mention of the origins of those deeds, and
spread out the page of deeds together with branch, twig,
leaf, flower and fruit. He Who says: “When the pages
are spread out” is the same Being That performs,
before our eyes, these wise, preserving, nurturing and
subtle acts. Compare other matters with this by
analogy, and deduce the truth if you have the capacity.
Let us aid you with the following. The verse, When the
sun is folded up, refers to a brilliant similitude
and hints at its parallel: First: God Almighty has
cast aside the curtains of non-being, the ether ____________________ 65. Qur'an, 10:56.
The Words / Tenth Word - Fourth
Part of the Addendum - p.130 and the heavens to bring forth from
His treasury of mercy and show to the world a jewel-like
lamp illumining the world - the sun. After closing the
world, He will wrap that jewel again in His veils and
remove it. Second: The sun may be
depicted as an official entrusted with the task of
distributing the commodity of light over the globe, and
causing it and darkness to succeed each other. Every
evening the official is ordered to gather up the light.
It may sometimes happen also that his trade may be
slackened when he is hidden by the veil of a cloud. At
other times it may be that the moon will also form a
veil, and hinder his task. Now just as that official has
his goods and ledgers gathered up for inspection, so too
he will one day be relieved of his duties. Even if there
be no cause for his dismissal, there are two dark spots
on the sun -now small, but liable to grow- that one day
will grow to the point that the sun will take back, by
dominical command, the light it now wraps around the head
of the earth, and wrap it around its own head. It will
then be told: “Come, your task on earth is now
complete. Go to Hell, and burn there those who have
worshipped you and thus mocked with faithlessness an
obedient servant like you.” With its own dark and
scarred face, it will read out the decree, “When the
sun is rolled up.” The Words / Tenth Word - Fifth
Part of the Addendum - p.131 The hundred and twenty-four thousand
prophets69, who are according to explicit
prophetic tradition the choice part of humanity, have
unanimously and with one accord reported, partly on the
basis of direct vision and partly on the basis of
absolute certainty, that the hereafter exists and that
all beings will be taken to the hereaftre as the Creator
has firmly promised. Similarly, the one hundred and
twenty-four million saints who confirm the reports of the
prophets through unveiling and witnessing, give testimony
to the existence of the hereafter in the form of certain
knowledge, and also bear testimony to the existence of
the hereafter. All the Names of the All-Wise Maker of the
cosmos also necessitate the existence of an eternal realm
through the manifestations they display in this world. The existence of the hereafter is
furthermore necessitated by the infinite Eternal Power,
the unlimited and exact Everlasting Wisdom, that revives
every spring the countless dead trees scattered all over
the earth with the command of 'Be!', and it is,thus
making of them manifestations of "resurrection after
death," and that resurrects three hundred thousand
different species of the various groups of plant and
nations of animals, as hundreds of thousands of specimens
of the supreme resurrection. The existence of the hereafter is
also necessitated by an Eternal Mercy and Permanent Grace
that sustains in wondrous and solicitous fashion all
animate beings that stand in need of nurture, and that
display each spring, in the briefest of periods, infinite
different varieties of adornment and beauty. Finally,
there is the self-evident proof and indication given by
the intense, unshakeable, and permanent love of eternity,
yearning for immortality and hope of permanence that are
lodged in man, the most beloved creation of the Maker of
the cosmos, and whose concern with all the beings in the
cosmos is the greatest. ____________________ 69.Musnad, v.266; Tabrizi, Mishkat
al-Masabih, iii, 122; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzi, Zad
al-Ma'ad(tahqiq, al-Arnavut), i, 43-4.
The Words / Tenth Word - Fifth
Part of the Addendum - p.132 One of the most important lessons
taught us by the All-Wise Qur'an, is, then, belief in the
hereafter. This belief is so firm and contains within
itself so powerful a hope and a consolation that if a
person be assailed by old age hundred thousandfold, the
consolation derived from this belief will be fully
enough. Saying, "Praise be to God for the
perfection of belief," we old people should
rejoice in old age. ____________________ 70. It can be realized from this
comparison how easy it is to make a positive affirmation
and how difficult to make a denial and negation. If, for
example, someone should say, "there exists somewhere
on this earth a wondrous garden containing canned
milk," and someone else should say, "there is
not," the affirmer need only point to the place of
that garden or show some of its fruits in order to prove
his claim. The denier, by contrast, will have to inspect
and display the whole world in order to justify his
negation. So too the testimony of two veracious witnesses
will be enough to establish the existence of Paradise,
quite apart from the hundreds of thousands of traces,
fruits and indications demonstrated by those who assert
its existence. Those who deny it must examine, explore
and sift the infinite cosmos and infinite time before
they can prove their denial and demonstrate the
non-existence of Paradise. So, o aged brothers of mine,
understand how firm is belief in the hereafter. |
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