Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 214
214 for development and progress. Again it says, 'Let the creation of the perfect and blameless soul of man which is endowed with the faculty of distinguishing between right and wrong, bear witness. ' 123 There can be no doubt that man is born with a pure and sinless nature, and however deep he might plunge into sin, his nature retains some of its original purity, so that if at any time he turns towards virtue, he can discard all his vices, which are all acquired, and can attain to the perfection of virtue, which is inherent in him. By proclaiming this truth Islam has completely altered man’s point of view towards good and evil, and has furnished him with fresh hope and courage. Relig- ions other than Islam are either silent on this point, or represent man as entering this life under so many bur- dens and handicaps that they are enough to drown him without the additional weight of his own misdeeds. Islam says that man is born pure. This helps him to keep up his courage and to try to preserve his nature unsullied. If he believes that he is born sinful, he would not mind so much if he were to become a little more sinful than he already is. But to be born with a pure nature is not enough. Before a man attains to the fullness of reason he has to walk along a path beset with dangers of which he is not aware, and the temptations and base desires that he encounters sometimes sully the purity of his nature. If there were no method by which such stains could be 123 Al-Shams, 91:8-9.