A Gift for Baghdad — Page 105
Reply to the Announcement & Letter 105 Had it been necessary to be separated from their stations in order to execute their tasks, then it would not be possible for some souls to die at the same moment. It would be mandatory that a person in the East should not die at the time Allah had decreed for him, before the Angel of Death had finished taking the soul of a man in the West who was destined to die at the same moment as the other man, and before travelling to the East. This is noth- ing except a clear lie. Their only command, when they intend a thing by the permission of Allah, is to say to it ‘Be!’, and it is. They do not have to descend with great hardship to their selves, nor to expend time, walk away, or leave their station, like the dwellers of the earth. We believe that the assembly of the bodies [i. e. the Resurrection] is true; that Heaven is true; that Hell is true; that everything that is mentioned in the Quran is true; that everything that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has taught us is true; and that he is the Best of the Prophets and the Seal of the Messengers. He who imputes to us even one iota that differs with the Shariah and the Furq a n has lied against us and has slanderously produced a manifest calumny. Hearken! We are innocent of every matter that contradicts a statement of our Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and we believe in all matters which our Master and our Prophet has men- tioned, even if we do not know their true nature or have not been taught further information about them through clear revelation. We are innocent from every reality which the Shariah does not support, and we cling to the Rope of Allah with all our heart, all our might, and all our understanding. We have submitted our- selves to You, our Lord—make us among the doers of good. Our Lord, pour forth upon us steadfastness for what we have suffered