Allah The Exalted — Page 119
All a h the Exalted 1 1 and good behaviour. Thus, there is God's kingdom on earth, but heavenly law has bestowed this much freedom that offenders are not immediately seized with punish- ment. Yet, punishment is also continuously in force. Earthquakes happen, lightning strikes, volcanoes erupt and destroy thousands of lives, vessels sink, many lives are lost in railway accidents, storms are encountered, houses fall, snakes bite, wild beasts rend, epidemics spread and not one, but many doors of destruction are open which Divine law has appointed for the punishment of offenders. Then how can it be said that God's kingdom does not operate upon earth? The truth is that the kingdom is there. Every offender has handcuffs around his wrists and chains around his feet, but Divine Wisdom has softened its law to a degree that the handcuffs and the chains do not manifest themselves immediately. But if an offender persists in his wrongdo- ing they carry him to hell and push him into a torment in which he neither lives nor dies. In short, there are two systems of law, one is that which relates to the angels, which is that they have been created for obedience and their obedience is a characteristic of their bright nature. They cannot commit sin, but also they cannot make progress in goodness. The second system of law relates to mankind, which is that by their nature they can be guilty of sin, but they can also make progress in goodness. Both these natural laws are unchangeable and as an angel cannot become man, so man cannot become an angel. These systems of law are eternal and are not liable to change. The law that operates in heaven cannot operate on earth, nor can the law that operates on earth operate in respect of angels. If human defaults end in