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The Sixth Chapter, on the Reward and Punishment after Death.

One must know that the rectification of that defect (nuqsan) which is inherent in the Nafs-i Kull will be achieved at the manifestation of the Qa'im-i Qiyamat, and one "Who ariseth at the Resurrection Day" - peace be upon his mention (‘ala dhikri- hi's-salam! - (He is the one) whose advent is the purpose of the creation of the world. By his the rectification of the defect will be achieved, and he is the implied purpose (mani) of this world. All that exists is like a word, or the sound of it, and he is the meaning (maghz), from all eternity. All that exists is straw and bark (compared with him). All the great Prophets came into this world to warn the humanity of his impending advent. [60] They uttered their warnings, frightening the people with his power (to punish them); as God says (lxxviii, 1-3): "Of what do they ask each other? Of the mighty information whereon they do dispute". When he comes, the auspicious constellations will all shine in the sky under his control, while the skies and all that they contain will become impotent (to cause evil), obeying his as humble slaves. He will eradicate violence, lies, atheism and fraud from the world by his authority, which he will receive from God, as Mustafa says, - peace be upon his! "Even if there remains (of the destined duration of time) only a single day, God will prolong it until there comes a man, a descendant of mine, who will fill the earth with equity and justice even as it has been filled with oppression and injustice". [61].

When he will put right the affairs of the material world, and when religion is purified by his power, atheism and disobedience to God will vacate this world as God says (lxxxii, 19): "The day when no soul shall control aught for another. And the command then will belong to God", i.e., that except for the order of the Qa'im, - the greatest greetings be to him! - no one will act at that time, while today everybody amongst the enemies of religion picks up an alleged prophet who gathers a band of people around himself presenting them as a community of his followers, issuing to them orders and prohibitions, while they acknowledge his authority. God says (ix, 31): "They take their priests and ascetics as their lords instead of God". This means: the Christians and monks take their priests and headmen as gods, i.e., they have turned away their faces from (the obedience to) the commandment of the Prophet with regard to his Asas, which was issued by the command of God. They, by theri caprice, obey the enemies of religion.

Thereafter the Qa'im, - peace be upon him! - will depart from this [62] world, and go to the higher world (‘alam-i ulwi), where the Nafs-i Kull through him will attain the position of the ‘Aql-i Kull, while every soul, those of the mu;mins and the sinners, will receive from the Qa'im the reward or punishment which they deserve. Those who were obedient to the Imam (of their time) and followed him, recognizing the Qa'im (who has to come) on the destined day, and believed in the truth (of the prophecy concerning) his advent, will all become associated with the Nafs-i Kull, returning in company with it to the Word (Kalima) of God. Blessings and eternal strength, peace and eternal happiness will immediately descend upon them, because peace, bliss and might belong to it ( the Nafs-i Kull of the Word?), while knowledge and mercy will be contained in their substance, never separating from it. Those mu'mins who thus return to the Word (Kalima) of God, will receive untold and unimaginable good, peace, bounty and ease. Whatever any one wishes aill instantly become available to him, without need for the use of any intermediary (means to obtain it), as God says (xliii, 71): "Therein is what souls desire and eyes shall be delighted, and ye therein shall dwell". [63] It may be said that thought cannot visualize what the fortunate souls will receive, as God says (xxxii, 17): "No souls know what is reserved for them of cheerfulness for eye, as a reward for that which they have done". And Mustafa, - peace be upon him! - said, describing Paradise: "There is therein that which the eye has never seen, nor the ear heard, nor thought passed in the mind of man".

But for those souls who do not obey God, do not know the purpose of the creation of the world, do not recognize the Qa'im, - peace be upon him! - they belonged to the crowd which imagined they could go to God, ]64] without recognizing His laws (hudud). (They will perish) as God says (iv, 135): "Whoso disbelieves God, His angels, His Apostle and the Last Day, has committed a grave error". But the one who doe not believe in God is he who does not recognize as true (ba-haqiqat) the position (hadd) of the Prophet. He who does not believe in angels does not recognize the Asas, and does not believe in him. Those who do not believe in the Revealed Books are Kafirs who deny recognition to the Imams, the lords of ta'wil. Those who do not believe in the Apostles of God do not recognize the hujjats and da'is who are messengers (rasul). And the one who does not believe in the Last Day (Ruz-i Akhirat) is an unbeliever (kafir) who denies the advent of the Qa'im, - peace be upon him! He will therefore receive punishment, and if all the sufferings, torments and pains in the world be collected, they will form bu the smallest portion of that which is due ti him. That punishment will into the sou without any intermediary, or means to stop it (baz-daranda). [65] Every time the disobedient souls think that they may become accustomed to the torment and bear it easily, their torture will start afresh, as God says (iv, 59): "Verily, those who disbelieve Our signs, We will broil them with fire; whenever their skins are well done, then We will change them for other skins, that the y may taste the torture". The "signs of God" are the true Imams (Imaman-i haqq). The souls of the mu'mins will see the souls of the sinners whose torments from this will grow more intense. The sinners will (not?) see the Qa'im. - peace be upon him! He will take the restfulness (rahat) of the disobedient souls and add it to the share of the mu'mins, as God says (lxxxiii, 15-17): "No, from their Lord they will be veiled on that day. [66] And then verily,, they shall broil in Hell. Then it shall be said: this is what you once did call a lie". This means that God the All-High swears to those people who have turned away their faces from the true Imams and did not profess faith in the Qa'im of the Resurrection. On that they will be prevented from seeing their Creator, i.e., the Qa'im, - peace be upon him! Whosoever recognized him in this world, knew his mission and professed faith in him, will on that day receive a reward from the Qa'im, in proportion to his knowledge (ma'rifat). But those who have not recognized him - the noblest greetings be upon him! - when seeing him (the Qa'im) in the world, will think, observing his glory and might, that he is God. They will get etrnal punishment. Such will be the reward and punishment meted out by him (the Qa'im) to people, because both light and smoke come from fire, burning as well as comforting warmth. Warmth and light are the share of the mu'mins, and burning and smoke are [67] the share of sinners.

With regard to the knowledge of the condition (hal) of souls before the advent of the Qa'im, - peace be upon him! - both in the case of the mu'min and the idolater (mushrik), it will be like that of a tree in winter. One tree may remain fresh and full of juice (during the winter), while another becomes dry, deprived of its roots. In winter both look the same, but that living tree has an "eye" watching for the advent of the spring. When spring comes, green leaves come out of it and flowers of good smell and color; fruit, sweet of taste, well shaped and scented with muscus will appear on them. If that tree were a man, he would be very happy. But that tree whose roots have been cut, and which has become dry, will with the advent of spring-time become darker and drier with every day, and its branches will fall down. It will break and burn when rot sets in. If trees like that were a man, he would be very sorrowful, deploring the chance he has missed of attaining happiness with the advent and manifestation of the Sun [68] with its glory (sharaf). (On the contrary) the mu'min will be on that day in the higher world (‘alam-i ulwi) like that living tree which had an "eye" for the advent of the Qa'im, - peace be upon him! - attaining eternal bliss (rahat- i jawidi). And the disobedient soul, in the higher world (alam-i ulwi) will be like that dried tree which always fears lest it will be burnt tomorrow, when the Qa'im makes his appearance (zuhur).

For all these reasons human soul may find peace in knowing these Six Chapters which we offer in this book, and in following its advice in all sincerity (ba- rasti). This book deals with the man who recognizes the (importance of the) Word (Kalima) of God and attaining re-union with the ‘Aql through the acquisition of knowledge of the oneness of God (tawhid). By his knowledge of the position of the Nafs-i Kull, with its efforts as the attainment of the position of the ‘Aql, he will realize what was the purpose of the creation of the world. He will get rid of his doubts and suspicions, never attributing to God the All-High the part of the Nafs-i Kull. He will recognize the latter as the source of his own existence by learning the circumstances of his own coming into being. He will no longer be bewildered and in doubt as to the place whence he appeared in this world, and whither he will go. He will brought up in the knowledge of the (real) position of the Apostle of God, of the Wasis and Imams, and the (necessity of) obedience to them. Thus, by following the True Path (Tariq-i Haqq), he will earn his reward. By his knowledge of (the acts which bring) reward or punishment [69] he will develop an ardent desire (rugbat) to earn that reward, and will be afraid of punishment.

By knowing (the contents of) these Six Chapters he will thus become eligible to dwell in the higher world, attaining perfection, just as the circle becomes complete by its six parts, and as the material thing become a solid body by the possession of six sides. In the same way the human soul, by acquiring with the help of these Six Chapters a (correct) idea (surat) of the world wherein everything would be in its proper place, will become eternal, by the mercy of the Lord of the time, the Friend of God and Friend of "Aql, the Imam al-Mustansir bi'l-lah Ma'ad b. Abi Tamim, the Commander of the Faithful, - the prayers of God be upon his true slaves and sincere adherents!

This is the end of treatise, (completed) by the slave of the Lord of time, the one in charge of the East (jazira'i Mashriq), by the grace of his assistance.

The transcription of this book was finished on Monday the 28th of the month of Rabi'ul-akbar, 1295, the 21st April 1878.