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Eighth truth: The gate of Promise and Threat, the manifestation of the Names
the Beautiful and the Majestic. Would the Maker of this world, Who has Absolute
Knowledge and Absolute Power, not fulfill the oft‑repeated promise and threat affirmed
by all Prophets, truth seekers, and saints? Not doing so would display impotence
or ignorance. His Power can realize His promise and threat as easily as He brings
back in spring the innumerable beings of the spring before, some identical (the
roots of trees and grass) and some similar (leaves and fruits). Our need for everything,
and the requirement of His being Sovereign and Lord, means that He will fulfill
His promise. Not doing so would contradict His Power’s dignity and authority as
well as His Knowledge’s comprehensiveness.
If you deny such facts, in reality you are following your own lying fancy, capricious
intellect, and deceiving soul. You call Him a liar, though He never breaks His promise,
for His Glory and Dignity make this impossible for Him. Moreover, His truthfulness
is attested to by everything you see. Despite your insignificance, your error is
infinite and thus deserving of a great and eternal punishment.[1]·Those
who deny resemble travelers who close their eyes to sunlight and turn to the light
of their own fantasies, although it is no stronger than a glowworm’s, to light the
awful road ahead. The Almighty does what He promises. His truthful words are these
beings we see, and His truthful, eloquent signs are the processes of nature. And
so He will establish a Supreme Tribunal and bestow everlasting happiness.
[1] According to certain Traditions,
the teeth of some of people in Hell will be as large as mountains, an indication
of the size of their error. |