The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 340
340. Essence of Islām II is that when a person does evil its effect is manifested by. God Almighty on his heart and his countenance. The same is the meaning of the verse: 123 فلمَّا زَاغُوا أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ : that is to say, when they turned away from the truth God. Almighty turned their hearts away from being in accord with the truth and in the end, in consequence of their hostility, a change was brought about in them and they were so corrupted that the poison of their hostility overwhelmed their natural light. [Kitāb-ul-Bariyyah, Rūḥānī Khazā'in, vol. 13, pp. 47-48]. Man will have Nothing but what He Strives for. You have raised the objection that the Holy Qur'ān shows that man acts under compulsion and is given no choice. You seem to have overlooked the verses which clearly indicate man's choice and his acquisition of good or evil; for instance: وان ليس للا نُسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَى 124. This means that Man will have nothing but that which he strives for and striving is necessary for earning a reward. . Then is it said: وَلَوْ يُوا خِذا اللهُ النَّاسُ بِمَا كَسَبُوا مَا تَرَكَ عَلَى ظَهْرِهَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ 125 meaning that if God were to punish people for all that they do by their free choice no living creature would be left on the earth. Again it is said: 123 Al-Saff, 61:6 [Publisher] 124. Al-Najm, 53:40 [Publisher] 125 Fatir, 35:46 [Publisher]