Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

Heres something for you to mull over:

He who made the world, what did He want of it?

The earth turns, day and night, sometimes more

sometimes less, sometimes even. Water

runs downhill, clouds scuttle across the sky

trees remain stuck in the mud, the beasts

move freely this way and that. And think of men:

how their works are boundless and uncountable.

Ewe, goat, cow, ass, elephant and lion

all suffer for this one beast alone;

seed, fruit, leaves of every plant

are either medicine for us, or food

(if it tastes good its food - the bitter

is perhaps some herbal remedy). Deer and game,

the browsing stag, all creatures that graze

are busy creating your steaks and kebabs

out of useless thorns and desert weeds -

the cows you feed on brambles and hay

you exploit for butter, cheese, yoghurt and milk.

Good, bad, right, wrong: the result of our actions.

The lion in his mountain, the bird in his sky

are not safe from our hands. Fire drudges

for us between the ovens stones, water

slaves for us in the mill, the wind

obeys us at sea, a good worker who keeps his place.

And what is all this to you? Look:

every human being is suffering because of some

other human being. This one says

I own the Roman Empire! Another one

China is mine! One raises a golden throne

over his treasures, another crouches starving in a corner.

X lies in a bed lid with silk and fine linen

Y wishes he had a tattered reed mat.

One stinks, armpits unwashed, never prays

another pure of heart, godfearing, pious.

How did one become bad, the other good?

Well? Whose fault is this mess?

And He Who made the world like this -

what can he fish out of such a kettle?

Good and bad, I repeat, more and less - wheres

the justice in such a set-up? If man

is good then obviously scorpions are bad.

No, really, tell me. This is no

rhetorical question. I really want to know.

I fear your opinions about Gods Justice

are not really sincere. Youre simply

trying to avoid being accused of heresy.

Ill tell you: to really understand Gods Justice

is the job of sages and prophets. Go

your lustful way - this is no business

for one infected with carnal passion.

Speech and action are attributes of man

- far removed is He from such human qualities.

Know God - perfectly - or all your panegyric

is nothing but satire. Do not speculate

about God as King of you and me - even though

the world and everything in it are fit to be

nothing but His slaves. What?

This tasteless and fleeting realm, how

could it be considered his domain?

The Kingdom of God (so you confess) knows

neither increase or decrease; but if the world

is His Kingdom - and the world is subject

at every moment to annihilation - then

His kingdom knows decrease! A contradiction!

In fact you do not know Him nd your words

bear witness to your ignorance. For me

what you profess is not religion but a cause

of wretched disbelief.

Now:

knowledge of Gods agents is the very foundation

of the Islamic Religion. The universe

is such an agent, without intelligence, knowledge or will.

And that Power which has dominion over the universe

is itself and agent - the beginning of all agents.

Agents everywhere: for example: the agent in plants

is sluggish, intractable. That by which the soil

makes raiment for your limbs, food for your stomach

that which produces wheat from dust -

that is not God, but thevegetative soul.

You object@God is pure of all this!

We will prove our point. According to your reasoning

the Lord of the Universe is without doubt inside

every grain of barley and every bean.

Surely you see how ugly, unjust and erroneous

such a belief must be!

Only when you know

the agents in all their reality is your soul

worthy of applause. You are an agent too.

Do your duty! and be rewarded with eternal bliss.

The duty of the tree is to bear leaves and fruit

and yours is glorifying God with prayer and invocation.

Follow the footsteps of that excellent guide

Muhammad the Chosen One of God.

Dont loll about in idleness. All this work

going on in the universe is all aimed at YOU -

the rest is dust. Follow the way of religion,

cure for the sickness of ignorance. You soul

in ignorance has grown thin as an old mule -

knowledge is its water, its pasture Divine Law.

Without knowledge your soul is lead - religion

is the alchemy to make it gold. Abstain

from dragonlike and sensual desires. Buy

true glory and eternal life, luminous

and beautiful as the light of Divine Law.

Intellect the gift of God has made religion

incumbent upon you, and he who refuses

to enter this path is an ass even if

(like you, to be sure) hes descended from Adam himself.

No - worse than and ass is man

satisfied with bestiality. Wisdom shows the way:

follow the track of faith, the blessed staff,

wearing the cloak of obedience, loveliest of mantles.

Devotion is the head of the body of blessings,

the seal of the epistle of good deeds -

but obedience without knowledge is not obedience,

only a puff of morning breeze. Know then:

obedience means two different things according

to whether we discuss the body or soul - for you

are two: body and soul. On the Day of Fire

man is saved by knowledge and action. Devote yourself

to these two, and prefer above all words the words

of the PROOF. Wisdom knows his sermons by heart.

Theyre the very head on the body of Wisdom

and his phrases are soothing balm for its eyes.