The Heavenly Decree — Page 33
33 with his opponent. Otherwise, it is possible that even the many [i. e. , accepted prayers] may seem few in the eyes of a foul-natured critic. Therefore, the number of accepted prayers is a relative matter whose correct, certain and final evaluation that shuts the mouth of a sceptic is demonstrated only through comparison. For instance, if a thousand sufferers were allocated to each of two such men as claim to be the perfect believers whose prayers are answered, and if the prayers of one of them have the effect that fifty or twenty-five out of a thousand are such that they continue to suffer, while all the rest are cured, while out of the other group only twenty-five or fifty are spared and all the rest land into the abyss of failure, a clear distinction shall be established between the accepted one and the rejected one. The Naturalists of this age appear to suffer from doubts and misgivings that there is no such thing as acceptance of prayer, since nature has from the outset divided things between the possible and the impossible. Such apprehensions are totally baseless. The truth is that just as the All-Wise has imbued medicines with efficacy, in spite of the regulations of the laws of nature, so has He invested prayers with their effects that are always proven by actual experiences. The Holy Being and the Cause of all causes, Who has for ages set the acceptance of prayer as His wont, has also established the rule that sufferers who are destined to