SPIRIT OF ISLAM FEBRUARY 2018

42 Spirit of Islam Issue 62 February 2018 were associated with Him you believed in them.’ Judgement rests with God, the Most High, the Most Great. (40: 10-12) God has showered His mercy in the form of guidance. But, people in general have not accepted it. As a result in the Hereafter, the rejecters of guidance will be completely deprived of God’s grace. In the world, they ignored God’s grace. In the Hereafter, God’s grace will pass them by. At that time, those who deny the truth will say, ‘O God! You created us from the earth, that is, we were lifeless and you infused life into us. Afterwards, when our lifespan was over, we became lifeless for the second time. Now we have been raised again in the world of the Hereafter. In this way, you have twice given us life and twice given us death. Now, if you give us a third opportunity and send us back into the world, we will admit the Truth and live a life full of righteous deeds.’ But, this request of theirs will not be heard, because they proved that they could not recognise the Truth when it was hidden from their eyes. They were capable of recognising only so-called gods. They did not have the ability to recognise the real invisible God, and such people who are enamoured by outward appearances have no value in the eyes of God. It is He who shows you His signs, and sends down provision for you from heaven; but none pays heed except the repentant. Therefore call upon God, making faith pure for Him, averse as the deniers of the truth may be to it: Exalted and throned on high, He lets the Spirit descend at His behest upon whichever of His servants He will, so that he may warn of the Day of Meeting, the Day when they shall rise up [from their graves] and nothing about them will be hidden from God. ‘To whom shall the kingdom belong that Day?’ It shall belong to God, the One, the All Powerful. That Day every soul shall be requited for what it has earned. On that Day none shall be wronged. And God is swift in reckoning. (40: 13-17) There are countless signs in the universe which teach us lessons in symbolic language. One of these is the system of rains. This natural phenomenon is symbolic of God’s inspiration. Just as rains are useful for fertile land and useless for barren land, similarly the inspiration from God brings forth fruit in some but not in others. This ‘rain’ enters the souls of those who have kept their hearts open and makes their existence lush green. On the contrary, those whose hearts are full of the greatness of beings other than God are like barren lands.