The Thirteenth Flash

The Third Question: From the preceding explanations, it would seem that, since sins spread and multiply through transgression, a single sin should be recorded as a thousand, while a good deed should either not be recorded at all or only once, since good deeds do not materially multiply and do not arise from the servant’s own power or from the inclination of the nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits.. Why, then, is one sin recorded as one, while one good deed is recorded as ten, and sometimes as a thousand?

The Answer: Allah shows the perfection of His mercy and the beauty of His grace in this way.

The Fourth Question: The successes gained by the people of misguidance, the strength they display, and their victories over those who follow the right path give the appearance that they rest upon some power and truth. Is it the case, then, that either those who follow the right path possess a weakness, or the others possess some truth?

The Answer: By no means! Neither do they possess any truth, nor do the believers possess any weakness. Yet, because of this situation, some short-sighted and unreasoning people among the common folk unfortunately fall into doubt and thereby weaken their convictions. They say: “If the believers possessed truth and reality in their entirety, they would not suffer so many defeats and humiliations. For truth is powerful. And according to the principle:

اَلْحَقُّ يَعْلُو وَلَا يُعْلٰىTruth prevails and cannot be overcome

strength belongs to truth. If the people of misguidance who triumph over the believers possessed no real power or point of support, they could not achieve so many victories and successes.”

The Answer: Just as it has been fully shown in the preceding Signs that the believers are not defeated because of any lack of strength or truthfulness, so too it has been shown that the people of misguidance do not gain victory because of strength, power, or any real support. The answer to this question, then, is found in the preceding Signs as a whole. Here we shall merely point to some of their stratagems, which they use as weapons.

I myself have repeatedly witnessed occasions when a small group of mischief-makers overcame a far larger group of upright people. I was astonished and searched for the reason behind this. After careful examination, I understood with certainty that such victories do not arise from strength or power, but rather from manipulation, baseness, and destruction. These mischief-makers exploit divisions among those who follow the right path, sow discord among them, seize upon their weak points, stir up low desires and personal grudges, awaken the harmful capacities embedded in human nature, flatter the pharaonic pride of the nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits. under the guise of honour and glory, and spread fear through merciless destruction. Through such satanic stratagems, they gain temporary victories over those who follow the right path.

Yet according to the mystery of:

وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَAnd the good end belongs to those who have taqwā. — The Qur’an 7:128

and according to the principle:

اَلْحَقُّ يَعْلُو وَلَا يُعْلٰىTruth prevails and cannot be overcome

these temporary victories are not only worthless to them in terms of benefit, but also become the means by which they earn Hell for themselves, while the believers obtain Paradise.