The Resurrection

The eighth principle: The eternal, artistic Creator of this transient world possesses another, eternal world toward which He directs His servants and encourages them to seek it.

The ninth principle: In a most extraordinary world, an All-Merciful Creator will grant such favors to His faithful servants as no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and no heart has ever imagined. Truly, we believe this, accept it, and affirm it with full conviction.

The Seventh Truth

The Gate of Preservation and HafīziyyahThe divine attribute by which Allah preserves, protects, safeguards, and watches over all things.: The Manifestation of the Names al-HafīzAllah, the Preserver, who safeguards, protects, and preserves all things. and ar-RaqībAllah, the Ever-Watchful, Who continually watches over and observes all things.

Is it at all possible that the Preserver—Who preserves and watches over everything in the heavens and on the earth, in the sea and on land, whether moist or dry, small or great, insignificant or valuable, with perfect order and balance—would not preserve the deeds and actions of the human being, who was created in the best form, occupies an exalted position as the foremost representative of all creation, and bears a most important responsibility as a servant? Is it at all possible that He would not hold the human being to account through His just reckoning, weigh those deeds on His scales of justice, and reward or punish each servant according to those deeds, even though they relate to the universal purpose of His rubūbiyyaAllah’s lordship over all creation and His provision for all their needs.? No, this is in no way possible.

Indeed, the Ruler of this universe preserves everything in harmonious order and balance. This order and balance are signs of His knowledge and wisdom, and of His will and power. For every creature is created and formed with perfect proportion. Just as a creature undergoes many ordered changes during the course of its life, so too the entire sequence of these changes is carried out in order.

For we see that Hafīz-i Dhul-Jalāll Allah, who preserves and safeguards all things, and whose majesty and exaltedness are boundless. preserves the various forms of every creature in the memories of observers, which serve as examples of Lawh-i MahfūzThe Preserved Tablet, the immaterial record in which everything that has occurred and everything that will occur has been inscribed in detail.^[1], even after that creature’s life has ended with the fulfillment of its duties and it has departed from ālam-i shahāda. He archives most of their life history in their seeds and kernels, thereby granting them a form of permanence. This form of permanence is granted in both material and immaterial repositories. For example, the memory of a human being, the fruit of a tree, the kernel of a fruit, and the seed of a flower all point to the all-encompassing law of Allah by which He preserves and safeguards everything.

Do you not see that within the limited seeds of flowering and fruit-bearing plants, the records of their deeds, the laws of their development, and the examples of their forms are stored and preserved? In a second spring, the register of their recorded deeds is unfolded once again, which amounts to presenting a form of accounting appropriate to them. With perfect order and wisdom, another beautiful world of spring is brought into existence. Thus, the immense scope of His hafīziyyahThe divine attribute by which Allah preserves, protects, safeguards, and watches over all things. is shown.

Is it then possible that the deeds of human beings—which relate to the universal purpose of His rubūbiyyaAllah’s lordship over all creation and His provision for all their needs. and bear many fruits in ālam-i ghaybThe unseen realm; that which is hidden, unknown, and beyond human perception., ālam-i arwāhThe spiritual realm of souls and spiritual beings., and the Hereafter—would not be preserved and recorded, while even transient, simple, short-lived, and insignificant creatures are preserved and protected in such a way? No, that is absolutely inconceivable.