Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 325
325 only true and accurate description. Those unacquainted with the reality have either taken them as merely physi- cal or as purely spiritual conditions. As a matter of fact both these conditions are opposed to reason. The re- wards and punishments of the next life can neither be wholly physical, nor can purely spiritual perception of them serve the end in view, for a subtle and delicate object can manifest its properties only through a body less subtle and coarse than itself. Where and in What Form will the Punishments and Rewards of the Next World Manifest Them- selves It may be asked where and in what form will the pun- ishment of hell manifest itself. Islam furnishes an excellent answer to this question, while no other relig- ion gives an answer. Islam teaches us that hell is the name of the punishment which man will suffer through his seven senses. The Holy Quran says: 'Hell has seven gates through each of which shall one part of a condemned person pass. ' 159 But we find that the Holy Quran represents both the inmates of heaven and those of hell as complete beings and not as divided up into parts. Therefore the entry of one part of man through each of the gates of hell can mean only that man will feel its punishment through the avenues of his seven senses and thus he will, as it were, enter hell through seven gates and 159 Al- H ijr, 15:45.