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Is it at all possible that the Being who makes all of the beings from atoms to the sun obey his orders like obedient soldiers and who shows His grand sultanate by controlling the whole universe should deal only with the ephemeral beings who live temporarily in this guest-house of the world and should not create an eternal and permanent land that will be a mirror for His grand sultanate? Definitely not!
We can explain this proof as follows:
A person who looks at this realm carefully will see that a magnificent sultanate and training is dominant over it.
The magnificent activities like the alternation of the seasons, the ultimately regular and grand movements of the stars and galaxies, astonishing obedience like making the world a cradle for the creatures in it, making the moon a candle and the sun a lamp for them, perfect activities like reviving and decorating the earth, which dies and dries in winter, in spring…
And other magnificent activities, which are too many to count, show that there is a great training behind the curtain; and it rules and dominates with a magnificent sultanate. Doubtlessly, such a sultanate wants creatures worthy of Him and beings that will reflect His grandeur.
However, you see that His most valuable guests and the most favored slaves, human beings, come together in a wretched state and temporarily in this world guest-house. The guest-house gets full and empty every day; it changes every hour.
All people stop for a few minutes in this exhibition of the world in order to watch the samples of the valuable works and the antique works of the art of that Being in the stalls of the markets of this world and then disappear. The exhibition of this world changes every minute; those who come to the world leave it and those who leave it do not return.
This state and situation shows it definitely that there are permanent palaces for that eternal sultanate, fixed houses and gardens and treasures full of the best originals of the samples that we see in the world behind this guest-house, this area and this exhibition. That is, the hard work and efforts here are for them. He makes us work here and gives the reward there. Everybody will have bliss there –if they do not lose the test –based on their ability and deeds.
It is impossible for that grand sultanate to dominate over the ephemeral and despicable people that are bound to die here and not to have another land.
Now, let us have a look at this truthwith the binoculars of this example:
You are on a road. You see there is an inn on the road. A notable personbuilt that innfor his guests. He spentmillions of gold coinsfor the one-night stay and enjoymentof the visitors to decorate the inn.
Those guests watch those decorations for a short time; they taste very few of those bounties and leave without being able to satisfy themselves. However, the guests take pictures of the decorations in the inn.
The servants of that notable person pay great attention to the deeds of the guests and record those deeds carefully.
You also see that the notable person destroys most of those valuable decorations every day and makes new decorations for the new guests; he spends millions of gold coins on the inn every day.
Will you doubt that the person who built that inn have permanent and high palaces, unending and valuable treasures and permanent generosity after you see that inn? The treats and bounties of that person in the inn aim to increase their desires and to make them incline toward the presents he has prepared for them.
As it is pointed in the example, if you look at the situation in this guest-house of the world carefully and without getting drunk, you will understand these nine principles:
First principle: You will understand that this world is not for itself just like that inn;it is impossible for the world to take that form.This worldis a guest-housebuilt by wisdom so that the convoys of creatures will stop at and then go on.
Second principle: You will also understand that the ones staying in that inn are guests.Their generous Lord invites them to Paradise, the Land of Peace.
Third principle: You will also understand that the decorations in this world are not just for enjoyment or wandering because it may give you pleasure for some time but it will give you pain when it leaves you. It will make you taste some food and whet your appetite but it will not fill you up. Either its life or your life is too short to fill you up. It means the decorations that are valuable but short-lived exist so that that you will draw a lesson and praise God; they are there to encourage you to obtain their originals in Paradise and they are there for some other lofty reasons.
Fourth principle: You will also understand that the decorations in this worldare the samples and copies of the bounties that God, who is All Merciful,and All Compassionate, prepared for believersin Paradise.
Fifth principle: You will also understand that those ephemeral creatures were not created so that they would disappearor that they would be destroyed after appearing for a while; they were created so that they would appear for some time, their copies would be produced, their pictures would be taken,their meanings would be known and their ends would be recorded.
For instance, one of the thousands of their results is this:the ephemeral views in this worldwill be permanent for the people of Paradise.
The people of Paradise will watch the recordings of this worldin Paradise and they will remember their memories in the world and rejoice.It is understood by this that things were created for permanence not for mortality; they may seem to die but they actually complete their duty and move to another place. A mortal thing dies in one aspect but it remains eternal in many aspects. A word that comes out of your mouth disappears but it entrusts thousands of its examples to ears, it makes as many meanings as the minds of people that listen to it permanent; and then it disappears.
Similarly, a flower, a word of God’s power, smiles and looks at us for a short time, and then hides behind the veil of annihilation. However, it hides by leaving a copy of its apparent picture in the memory of everything that sees it and its spiritual nature in each of its seed. It is as if each memory and seed were a camera to save the flower, or a house for its continuation and perpetuation. If such be the case with an object at the simplest level of life, is it not readily understood how closely man, the highest form of life and the possessor of an eternal soul, is tied to eternity?
Sixth principle: You will also understand thatman has not been left to graze where he wills,with a halter loosely tied around his neck; on the contrary, the copies of all his deedsare recorded and registered,and the results of all his actsare preserved for accounting.
Seventh principle: You will understand, further, that the destruction of the beautiful creatures of summer and spring in the autumn is not the death of the creatures. Instead, it is a form of dismissal after the completion of service;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.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, thatthe 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.
We believe in it.