Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 311
311 supporter of life. Death, as I have said, is merely the translation of the soul from one form of existence into another, and the Holy Quran tells us that this translation is essential for the complete development of the soul. Man has been so constituted that a complete realization of anything secures him against all errors concerning that thing. On the other hand, where a thing has been completely manifested, man ceases to deserve any reward in connection with it. For instance, nobody deserves a reward for believing in the existence of the sun at midday, or for acknowledging the existence of day and night. We reward a student who solves difficult problems, and we honour a man who discovers the hidden secrets of nature. Reward and praise are, there- fore, the desert of those who exert themselves in discov- ering new truths and hidden secrets. There is no merit in doing and thinking that which is perfectly obvious. If the whole field of spiritual progress had been thrown open to man in this very world and spiritual rewards and punishments had been completely manifested here, succeeding generations would, by observing the rewards won by the righteous and the punishment meted out to the rebellious, have developed a faith so certain in the existence of God and the truth of the Prophets, that it would not have been possible for them to win any rewards by passing through trials and vicissitudes. It was necessary, therefore, that faith and its fruits should be manifested only partially here, so that he who strives for God should be clearly distinguished from him who devotes himself wholly to the pleasures of the world,