Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 839
CHAPTER TWO 839 they may not be held accountable before God for a mistake they made unwittingly. Allah forgives every man of opinion who opines with sin- cere intentions and fulfils the requirement of investigation without any dishonesty, according to his ability. The exceptions are those to whom the Imam al-Hakam [the Just Judge] has come with clear arguments for guidance and has distinguished guidance from falsehood and has exposed what was concealed. Yet people ignored his statement and did not opt for the paths of truth; rather, they tried to prevent those who followed it. They opposed him and died like mortal enemies in a state of enmity and mischief. They were happy over this and forgot the one who had come from God. Will they deny that of which Allah has warned? They will not be able to traverse beyond their appointed time when the decree comes. Every soul will then witness the acts it had performed out of selfish motives. He who presents himself before Allah with a righteous heart, God will save him from the flames of Hell. As far as the sinful evader, he will taste Hell, in which he will nei- ther die nor live. Indeed, I await this day and night and my eyes keep searching in every direction for the decrees. For a certainty, the chas- tisement of Allah has knocked upon your door and has broken your canine teeth, yet you fail to see that you have come close to the lion of death in the jungles. Hence—O heedless ones—build for yourselves a fortress to protect you against this kind of death. Save yourselves from this suicide. Indeed, your life depends upon belief and the Religion, and not upon the bread and sweet water of springs. When faith is lost, no life remains. One who loses faith is like the dead. You see that disbelief has mortally damaged Islam and people only pay lip service to it. By Allah, the lion [of Islam] has been injured by the dogs [of disbelief] and forced to retreat instead of advancing forth to attack the prey, and has seated itself in the boat among those who are destined to die. This is why you are surrounded on all sides by pain and hardship, and calamities have visited you to accompany you forever, as if they found your homes inviting. Indeed, with each passing day, these calamities continue to crush you to pieces. You find