He further sees Islam and faith—the two obligations with which God has charged all His servants—how they spring from those sanctified attributes and how, by their very nature, they necessitate reward and punishment, both immediate and deferred.

He also realizes that no one can truly accept and abide by this covenant while denying His attributes, refusing to acknowledge His exaltedness above His creation, or rejecting that He spoke His Books and covenants; just as it cannot be accepted by one who denies the reality of His hearing, His seeing, His life, His will, or His power. Such people are the very ones who have repudiated His covenant and declined to receive it, and even if one of them professes to accept it, he does not embrace everything it contains. Success comes only from God.

Section

The body of the son of Adam was fashioned from the earth, while his soul was drawn from the celestial realm, and the two were joined together. When he starves his body, denies it sleep, and drives it into service, his soul becomes light and at ease; it longs for the place from which it was created and yearns for its upper world. But when he satiates, pampers, and lulls it, preoccupied with its comfort and ease, the body gravitates toward the soil from which it came, drawing the soul down with it until she becomes imprisoned. Were it not that the soul has grown accustomed to this prison, she would cry out from the pain of separation and severance from the world of her origin, just as the tormented cry out.

In brief, the lighter the body grows, the subtler and lighter the soul becomes, seeking her lofty realm; and the heavier the body grows—settling into desires and ease—the heavier the soul becomes, descending from her realm and turning earthly and low.

Thus you may see a man whose soul is in the highest company while his body is right before you; he may be asleep on