The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 220
PREFACE FOOTNOTE 219 encompassed within the matters of faith since day one as a means to achieve the salvation of man reach the point of that degree of guidance in opposition to the will of God? Indeed, when a man advances from the stage of faith to the stage of cognition, he is undoubtedly gifted with the ability to see these things as a matter of spiritual guidance. The evidence in their support is superior than in the case of mathematical sciences, for mathematical proof is based mostly on circular assumptions, but religious truth in its highest stage of knowledge is free from doubt or assumptions. We can prove such truth in the same way as we do any other fact in the world, in the most potent and obvious manner; nay, in a manner whose light is not to be found elsewhere. But unfortunate man does not pay any attention to those ways. He tries to arrive at the stage of Haqqul- Yaqin [true certainty] by paths which the eternal law of Almighty God has not appointed for this purpose. It is as if he wished to test the sweet or bitter taste of a thing by placing it on his eyes, or as if he wanted to make the ears see while closing his eyes. It should be realized, however, that in the matter of faith, Almighty God does not expect man to make an effort of which he is not capable. Rather, He has furnished fine arguments which, if considered thought- fully by a sane man, would produce strong conviction in him. For exam- ple, believing in Almighty God is an essential religious requirement of belief in the unseen; yet, see how the Noble Quran abounds in arguments and satisfying proofs for the existence of the Creator. In the same way, though we cannot deliver angels physically into the hands of a denier or cause them to be seen executing their duties, still for a seeker of truth it is enough if he is convinced of the need of angels by observation of the minutely fine planning of the universe. If, however, he is an atheist, we shall first prove for him the existence of God, and then, we shall say, that the Being whom we call God has to be such that not even a leaf can fall without His command or will. And then we shall give proof of the fine purposes which underlie the bestowal on man of the bounties of Almighty God through the agency of the Sun, the Moon, the stars,