Allah The Exalted — Page 89
All a h the Exalted 8 Can we imagine that the God Who has demonstrated as an instance of His generous M a likiyyat that He made the earth and heavens and the moon and sun, etc. when there was no trace of His creatures and their actions, is in- debted to His creatures and rewards them according to their right, but no more? Had His creatures any right that He should have made the earth and heavens for them and should have created thousands of illuminated bodies in the heavens and thousands of things upon the earth which are a source of comfort and ease? To describe that Abso- lute Donor as a mere dispenser of justice like a judge and to deny His status and dignity as Master is the height of ingratitude. [Chashma-e-Ma‘rifat, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, Vol. 23, pp, 26-28] It should be borne in mind that Master is the word which does not admit of any rights, and this expression can be applied in its fullness only to God for He alone is the Perfect Master. A person who accepts another as the Master of his life etc. confesses that he has no right to his life and property and that he owns nothing and every- thing belongs to the Master. In such a case, it is not permissible for him to demand from his Master that jus- tice should be done to him in such and such a matter because justice depends upon right and he has given up all his rights. In the same way, man who in juxtaposition to his True Master accepted his own status as that of ser- vant and confessed: 82 That is to say: Our belonging, life, body and progeny are all the property of God. 82 al-Baqarah, 2:157 [Publisher]