Favours of the Gracious God — Page 72
72 ements were created owing to any virtuous act of man; rather, even the knowledge of human sin, which God Al - mighty possessed from the beginning, did not prevent the manifestation of these mercies. No one who is convinced of transmigration or is a believer in it—no matter how steeped he may be in his prejudice and ignorance—can ever claim that these are the fruits and consequence of man’s good deeds; the earth was created for the comfort of man, or that the Sun and the Moon were created to dispel his darkness, or that water and grain were created as a reward for some virtuous act of his, or as a result of his piety and righteousness air was created in order to breathe, for all these elements were present before man’s being and existence. Until the presence of these elements is not pre-assumed, even the thought of man’s existence is an impossible notion. How is it possible then that such elements, upon which man was dependent for his existence, life and survival, may have come into being after him? Moreover, the very being of man; the excellent manner in which it has evolved from the very beginning; these are all such matters that predate the creation of hu - mans and this is such a special mercy in which no human action, worship and endeavour has any role. The second type of divine mercy is such which be -