Early Writings — Page 64
64 THE My answer is that this argument of Munshi Sahib is absolutely false and does not benefit him in any respect. On the contrary, instead of proving his claim to be true, it disproves his argument. The reason for this is that the Holy and Merciful being of God is undoubtedly Infinite and Boundless; the complete cause of the creation of souls is the very same Infinite Being Who is God Almighty. Now, in view of the argument presented by respected Munshi Sahib, if we suppose that the non-occurrence of an effect in the presence of its complete cause is an impossibility, this would necessitate that existent souls (which he says have been present since the very beginning) are also countless and infinite in their existence. For if the complete cause is limitless, the effect too should not be confined to any limits. Otherwise, we would have to accept that a perfect cause produced a deficient effect. However, I have already proven, with as many as fourteen arguments, that the souls in existence are not limitless, and Swami Dayanand Sahib has been compelled to concede this point as well, as he was unable to refute my arguments. How can an argument put forth in favour of the infinite nature of souls, once proven false, be valid in prov- ing that souls are eternal? In addition to this, our observation of Allah's actions also testifies against this notion. The reason for this is that our daily experience and observation of the law of nature has categorically established that the actions of God which are performed by Him at a given time and moment, and which continue to be manifested on different occasions—at times we witness sunshine and at times we find the sky to be overcast; there is night and day; at times we suffer distress and at times we are happy; there was a time when we were non-existent and now we exist and live on the earth,