Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 335
335 instance, that a healthy organism reacts agreeably to the conditions of this life and finds joy and happiness in them. A defective or diseased organism reacts painfully to those conditions of this life which affect it. For instance, the light of the sun, refreshing to healthy eyes and a great source of delight on account of the facilities it provides for human intercourse and the performance of daily tasks and occupations, and the beauties that it reveals, becomes a source of intense pain and discomfort to one with sore eyes, so much so that if they are not quickly shielded from the bright rays of the sun they may suffer permanent injury and even loss of sight. The same applies in respect of the other senses: hearing, smell, taste, touch, sense of heat and cold, and the muscular sense. Similar is the case with the spiritual senses. The reactions of the soul in the life hereafter will be governed by the condition in which it enters upon that life. A diseased soul will react painfully, very painfully, to the conditions of the life after death. It may suffer indescribable tortures, according to the degree to which its faculties have become diseased during its life on earth. A healthy soul will react joyfully to all the conditions of the life to come. “We call to witness the soul and its perfect proportioning. He revealed to it what is wrong for it and what is right for it. The one indeed will surely prosper who purifies