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一千零一夜-天方夜谭-1001 Nights(英文版)-第47部分
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n with truth;' replied Shimas; 'He made him loving to Himself and there was for him neither repentance nor punishment; but he abode thus till God put in him the soul; which is of the perfection of humanity; with the inclination to lusts which is inherent therein。 From this sprang the growth of falsehood and its confusion with the truth; wherewith man was created and with the love whereof he had been informed; and when man came to this pass; he swerved from the truth with disobedience; and whoso swerves from the truth falls into falsehood。' 'Then;' said the prince; 'falsehood invaded truth only by reason of disobedience and transgression?' 'Yes;' answered Shimas; 'and it is thus because God loves man; and of the abundance of His love to him; He created him having need of Himself; that is to say; of the very Truth: but oftentimes man falls away from this by reason of the inclination of the soul to lusts and turns unto frowardness; wherefore he falls into falsehood by the very act of disobeying his Lord and thus renders himself liable to punishment; and by the putting away from himself of falsehood with repentance and the returning to the love of the truth; he merits reward。' Quoth the prince; 'Tell me the origin of frowardness。 We see that all mankind trace their being to Adam; and how es it that he; being created of God with truth; drew disobedience on himself; then was his disobedience coupled with repentance; after the soul had been set in him; that his issue might be reward or punishment? Indeed; we see some men constant in frowardness; inclining to that which God loves not and transgressing in this the original exigence of their creation; which is the love of the Truth and drawing on themselves the wrath of their Lord; whilst others are constant in seeking to please their Creator and obeying Him and meriting mercy and repense。 Whence es this difference between them?' 'The origin of disobedience in mankind;' replied Shimas; 'is attributable to Iblis; who was the noblest of all that God (magnified be His name!) created of angels and men and Jinn; and the love 'of the Truth' was inherent in him; for he knew nought but this; but; for that he saw himself unique in this; there entered into him conceit and vainglory and arrogance and he revolted from loyalty and obedience to the mandment of his Creator; wherefore God made him inferior to all creatures and cast him out from love; making his abidingplace to be in disobedience。 So; when he knew that God (glorified be His name!) loved not disobedience and saw Adam and the case wherein he was of truth and love and obedience to his Creator; envy entered into him and he cast about to pervert Adam from the truth; that he might be a partaker with himself in falsehood; and by this; Adam incurred chastisement; through his inclining to disobedience; which his enemy made fair to him; and his subjection to his lusts; whenas he transgressed the injunction of his Lord; by reason of the appearance of falsehood。 When the Creator (magnified be His praises and hallowed be His names!) saw the weakness of man and the swiftness of his inclining to his enemy and leaving the truth; He appointed to him; of His mercy; repentance; that therewith he might arise from the morass of inclination to disobedience and taking the arms of repentance; overe therewith his enemy Iblis and his hosts and return to the truth; wherein he was created。 When Iblis saw that God had appointed him a protracted term; (168) he hastened to wage war upon man and to beset him with wiles; to the intent that he might oust him from his Lord's favour and make him a partaker with himself in the curse which he and his hosts had incurred; wherefore God (extolled be His praises!) appointed unto man the power of repentance and manded him to apply himself to the truth and persevere therein。 Moreover; he forbade him from disobedience and frowardness and revealed to him that he had an enemy on the earth warring against him and relaxing not from him night nor day。 Thus hath man a right to reward; if he adhere to the truth; in the love of which his essence was created; but he bees liable to punishment; if his soul master him and drag him into lusts。' 'But tell me;' rejoined the prince; 'by what power is the creature able to transgress against his Creator; seeing that His power is without bounds; even as thou hast set forth; and that nothing can overe Him nor depart from His will? Deemst thou not that He is able to turn His creatures from disobedience and pel them to adhere eternally to the truth?' 'Verily;' answered Shimas; 'God the Most High (honoured be His name!) is just and equitable and tenderly solicitous over the people of His love。 (169) He created His creatures with justice and equity and of the inspiration of His justice and the abundance of His mercy; He gave them dominion over themselves; that they should do whatever they would。 He shows them the way of righteousness and bestows on them the power and ability of doing what they will of good: and if they do the opposite thereof; they fall into destruction and disobedience。' (Q。) 'If the Creator; as thou sayest; hath granted men power and ability (170) and they by reason thereof avail to do what they will; why then doth He not e between them and that which they desire of error and turn them to the truth?' (A。) 'This is of the greatness of His mercy and the excellence of His wisdom; for; even as aforetime He showed wrath to Iblis and had no mercy on him; so He showed Adam mercy; by means (171) of repentance; and accepted of him; after He had been wroth with him。' (Q。) 'He is indeed the very Truth; for He it is who requiteth every one according to his works; and there is no Creator but God; to whom belongeth power over all things。 But tell me; hath He created that which He loveth and that which He loveth not or only that which He loveth?' (A。) 'He created all things; but favours only that which He loveth。' (Q。) 'What hast thou to say of two things; one whereof is pleasing to God and earns reward for him who practices it?' (A。) 'Expound to me these two things and make me to apprehend them; that I may speak concerning them。' (Q。) 'They are good and evil; the two things innate in the body and the soul。' (A。) 'O wise youth; I see that thou knowest good and evil to be of the works that the soul and the body do 'in conjunction'。 Good is named good; because in it is the favour of God; and evil evil; for that in it is His wrath。 Indeed; it behoveth thee to know God and to please Him by the practice of good; for that He hath manded us to this and forbidden us to do evil。' (Q。) 'I see these two things; that is; good and evil; to be wrought only by the five senses known in the body of man; to wit; the seat of taste; whence proceed speech; hearing; sight; smell and touch。 Tell me whether these five senses were created for good altogether or for evil。' (A。) 'Hear; O man; the exposition of that whereof thou askest and lay it up in thy memory and notify thy heart thereof; for it is a manifest proof。 Know that the Creator (blessed and exalted be He!) created man with truth and informed him with the love thereof and there proceedeth from it no created thing save by the Most High decree; whose impress is on every phenomenon。 It (172) is not apt but to the ordering of justice and equity and beneficence and created man for the love of itself and informed him with a soul; wherein the inclination to lusts was innate and assigned him ableness and appointed the five senses aforesaid to be to him a means of winning Paradise or Hell。' (Q。) 'How so?' (A。) 'In that He created the tongue for speech and the hands for doing and the feet for walking and the eyes for seeing and the ears for hearing and gave them power and incited them to exercise and motion; bidding each of them do that only which pleaseth Him。 Now what pleaseth Him in speech is truthfulness and abstaining from its opposite; which is falsehood; and what pleases Him in sight is turning it unto that which He liveth and leaving the contrary; which is turning it unto that which He abhorreth; such as looking unto lusts: and what pleaseth Him in hearing is hearkening to nought but that which is truth; such as admonition and that which is in the scriptures of God; and leaving the contrary; which is hearkening to that which incurreth the wrath of God; and what pleaseth Him in the hands is not hoarding up that which He entrusteth to them; but spending it on such wise as shall please Him and leaving the contrary; which is avarice or spending that which He hath mitted to them in disobedience; and what pleaseth Him in the feet is that they be instant in the pursuit of good; such as the quest of instruction; and leave its contrary; which is the walking in other than the way of God。 As for the other lusts that man practices; they proceed from the body by mandment of the soul。 The lusts that proceed from the body are of two kinds; that of reproduction and that of the belly。 As for the first; that which pleaseth God thereof is that it be not except in the way of law; and if it be in the way of sin; He is displeased with it。 As for the lust of the belly; eating and drinking; what pleaseth God thereof is that each take nought but that which God hath appointed him thereof; be it little or
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