The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 471
The Purpose of Creation 471 for the sake of man and He subjects man to diverse types of warnings and admonitions. If man still does not take heed, he is consumed in the fire of rejection and of despair. It is not permissible that anyone should say to. Him: Why do You bother about what would harm me or benefit me? Why do You admonish us and send revealed. Books and punish us? If we worship You, it would be for our own good and if we do not worship You, we shall suffer loss. Why should You worry? Should anyone say that, and indeed if the whole world and all mankind were to supplicate Him that He should spare them His admonitions and commandments and revealed Books, and that they do not desire paradise, but would be content with this world and should be left forever to it, that they do not desire the great bounties of the hereafter, that He should not interfere with their actions and should abstain from planning rewards and punishments for them and should not concern Himself with their benefit or their loss, their supplication would not be granted even if they continued to submit it throughout their lives with crying and weeping. It is not enough that a person is free and worships God for his own benefit and that Permeshwar has no concern with it, but the Glory and Greatness of. God demand that man should carry out the worship of. God and should follow the ways of goodness. His. Godhead naturally demands that the signs of servitude should be manifested before Him and His perfection demands that man should humble himself in His presence. That is the reason why in the end His chastisement overtakes the disobedient, the vicious and those who persist in wrong-doing. His Blessed Being has eternally possessed the power to award reward and impose punishment; otherwise, He would not occupy Himself