Principle Sixty-Six: One of the Qur’an’s maxims is that words and deeds serve as evidence for the morals and qualities from which they spring.

This is a profound rule, for most people limit their gaze to the very phrase that conveys a statement or an act, without pondering the root and principle that called that statement or act into being. The perceptive, intelligent person, however, considers both matters and realizes that the one necessarily points to the other, or that the latter entails the former. We have already touched upon a similar meaning, but because of its great importance we present it here in another form.

Thus, His words describing the servants of the All-Merciful: “They walk upon the earth gently, and when the ignorant address them, they say, ‘Peace’” ⦗al-Furqan 63⦘ arise from their dignity, serenity, humility, broad forbearance, perfected character, and their resolve to keep themselves above answering the ignorant in kind. Likewise, His saying: “Solomon’s hosts of jinn, humans, and birds were assembled before him, and they were kept in ranks” ⦗al-Naml 17⦘ points to his superb governance, consummate statecraft, and sound organization.

And His words, Exalted is He: “When they hear idle talk, they turn away from it and say, ‘For us are our deeds and for you are your deeds. Peace be upon you; we seek not the ignorant’” ⦗al-Qasas 55⦘ indicate noble character, a soul purified of ignoble traits, breadth of mind, and great capacity for patience and endurance. In the same vein are the reports about the people of the Age of Ignorance who used to slay their children for fear of poverty or out of