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- If even in that case there is a wise purpose for Him, then what do you imagine (1) about His creating the deed and thereafter imposing the penalty?
- So how (2) could it be otherwise, when some of that very torment is generated by the deed itself—the servant’s own act unfolding in the normal course of nature (3)?
- Think of the man who eats poison: the act of eating itself necessitates death, and every bit of that takes place by the decree of the Lord of all creation (4).
- Your unbelief, then, O man, is like a poison you have swallowed, and the punishment of the Fire is like (5) the choking gulp that follows.
(1) The ʿUqud copy reads: zann (assumption).
(2) Copies T and B read: wa-kayfa (and how).
(3) The ʿUqud copy reads: ʿabd (servant).
(4) The Durra al-Bahiyya copy reads: li-rabb al-mashiʾa (to the Lord of the decree); copies T and W read: al-mashiʾa (the decree); copies B, J and H read: al-maniya (death).
(5) Copy W reads: baʿd (after).
٧٢- إذا كان في هذا له حكمةٌ فما ... يُظن (١) بخلق الفعل ثم العقوبة
٧٣- فكيف (٢) ومِنْ هذا عذاب مُولَّدٌ ... عن الفعلِ فِعل العبد عند (٣) الطبيعة
٧٤- كآكِلِ سمٍّ أوجب الموتَ أكلُه ... وكلٌّ بتقديرٍ لرب البرية (٤)
٧٥- فَكُفْرُك يا هذا كسمٍّ أكلْتَهُ ... وتعذيبُ نارٍ مثل (٥) جرعةِ غصةِ
(١) في عقود: ظن.
(٢) في ط وب: وكيف.
(٣) في عقود: عبد.
(٤) في الدرة البهية: لرب المشيئة، وفي ط وو: المشيئة، وفي ب وج وهـ: المنية.
(٥) في و: بعد.