which the strong is preferred over the weak. Suppose, then, that this holds in this world; how will you account for the Hereafter?

It is related in a report:

“O My servant, I say to a thing, ‘Be,’ and it is. Obey Me, and I will enable you to say to a thing, ‘Be,’ and it will be. O My servant, I am the Living One who never dies. Obey Me, and I will make you live without ever dying.”

Another report states:

“The believer receives gifts from Allah: ‘From the Living One who never dies to the living one who never dies.’”

This is the ultimate goal, beyond which there is nothing to aspire to. How could it be otherwise, when through Allah he hears, sees, strikes, and walks? No strength can withstand his.

As for purity, blamelessness, sanctity, freedom from shortcomings and faults, and complete obedience devoted exclusively to Allah—unaccompanied by disobedience, inadvertence, or heedlessness, with all their deeds and words conforming to His command—someone has asked: “How can human beings possess these qualities?” In truth, these qualities are the grounds of superiority, as has been said:

“I prize nothing as highly as soundness.”

The answer has several aspects.

First: If we consider these qualities in the Hereafter, believers will possess them there in their most perfect and complete form. We have already explained that the discussion concerns their superiority not merely in this life, but when they attain perfection and completeness and settle in the abode of true life. This provides a conclusive answer to every argument of this kind. How, then, do they compare with people whose faces are like the moon and like the sun, who neither urinate, blow their noses, nor spit, and who have not the slightest fault or imperfection?

Second: This very fact is itself proof of the superiority of the human being, whereas the angels