Page 73 - The Pains of the False World

THE TRUE SPHERE OF LIFE:
THE HEREAFTER

they will have fruit of every kind and forgiveness from
their Lord. Is that like those who will be in the Fire time -
lessly, for ever, with boiling water to drink which lacera -
tes their bowels? (Surah Muhammad, 15)
Imam Ghazali has invited people to think rationally on
this matter by considering in his commentaries the sharp dif-
ferences, as regards to pains and blessings, between Paradise

and Hell:
Know that there is another home (And that is Paradise) in cont
-
rast to sorrow and sadness (i.e. flame), the abode of Hell you
-
know. Consider the blessings and joys it will impart. That is be
cause he who is far removed from one of these will definitely find
a decision in the other. Think long and hard about the terrors of
Hell and fix them in your heart. Also think long and hard about
the eternal blessings promised to the people of Paradise and fix a
hope in your heart. Drive earthly desires with the whip of fear
and bring them to the true path by means of hope. In this way
-
you will attain a great existence and be saved from a painful tor
ment. Consider the people of Paradise, on whose faces is the be
-
auty of the blessings of Paradise.
Souls are permanent, thereby finding what they desire. In Para
-
dise they neither fear nor are downcast. They are free of the fear
of death.

-
Then consider the chambers of Paradise and the height and vari
ety of the degrees of Paradise. That is because the Hereafter is the
g reatest in terms of degree and in terms of virtue. In the same
way that in this world people are different in terms of external
-
religious observances and esoteric pleasing moral values, so the

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