Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 228
BarĀhĪn-e-a H madiyya — Part Four 228 love of God, or of any virtuous acts. In other words, he is as good as dead, though yet alive, and is utterly deprived of God’s ra hi miyyat. In the same way, these people do not truly believe in the Day of Recompense, by virtue of which God Almighty is called ن ی وم الد ی مٰلك [ M a liku-Yaumid-D i n ]. They deny the attainment of perfect good fortune and the utmost misfortune, which are determined by the above-mentioned ways, following which man achieves his greatest bliss or [not following which] he suffers the greatest misfortune they consider final salvation as imaginary or delusory and, in fact, they do not even believe in eternal salvation. They allege that man can never have peace, neither here nor there. Moreover, in their false notion, this world is a place of absolute recompense just like the Hereafter; one who is given great wealth in this world is so rewarded for the good deeds he had done in a preceding life and is entitled to spend this wealth in seeking satisfaction of the desires of his nafs-e-amm a rah [the self that incites to evil] in this very world. It is obvious that the granting of wealth by God Almighty, in this very world, to someone who would truly consider it to be a reward for his deeds in a previous life, which he is entitled to spend as he pleases on eating, drinking, and in pursuing every kind of pleasure, is so inap- propriate that it is blasphemy to attribute it to God Almighty. For, it would imply that the Parmeshwar of the Hindus deliberately incites people to immorality and vice and, before their souls are cleansed, opens the wide doors of self-indulgence and rewards them for the good deeds done by them in their previous lives with means of enjoyment in their later life so that in total obedience to their nafs-e-amm a rah, they may once more go down to the nether regions. It is obvious that anyone labouring under the impression that all of the wealth, property, prestige, and authority that he enjoys repre- sent the rewards of his earlier deeds, would incline towards following his evil-inciting self to the extreme. However, if he were to realize that this world is D a rul-Ibtil a’ [the Abode of Trial] and not D a rul-Jaz a [the Abode of Recompense], and that whatever he has been granted is by