Way of The Seekers — Page 30
30 THE case. Our actions, whether we have any return for them in view or not; our life, every breath of it, depend on Him. Such a Being to Whom we owe our very being, is not to be dismissed as the other party in business. Business relations are volun- tary; we are free to enter into them or not. The second objection is quite valid; provided it is under- stood that an action not motivated by the hope of divine reward is not moral. The real point is that those who cannot be reconciled to the use of words like thawab do not understand the real content and meaning of this word. If thawab meant cash in some sense, the difficulty in using it in a moral discourse would be understandable. But Thawab does not mean cash; it does not mean pounds and shillings. It means the end, the ultimate end, for which life exists. Thawab has almost the same sense as the term summum bonum. Summum bonum for man is to become a perfect profile of God which indeed is the purpose of his creation. Morally and spiritually, we should become as holy and as perfect imitations of God as possible. Pure spirituality should be within our grasp. The rewards described in physical language and metaphors are to be interpreted like all metaphors. They are not the end we aim at, but adjuncts to the end. Adjuncts are adjuncts, not the end. A friend entertains a friend. The extra attention, the little things he provides and presents to the friend, are not the real purpose. The real purpose is the meet- ing of hearts and the meeting itself. So, here, thawab does not mean the eating and drinking which is done on the occasion, but getting close to the end which is to be as like God attri- butively as possible, to be as much of an abd as one can be. Says the Holy Quran: I have not created the Jinn and men but that they may worship Me. (51:57) When actions are thus motivated, only then can they acquire the status of true morals. Without their motivation our