=Sufi Ideas.=—A large section of Moslems, especially those inclined to Sufiism, believe, however, that as the human soul is an emanation from God, the highest joy would consist in its fusion with the Universal Soul, whilst the greatest pain would be in a state of separation from the Divine Essence. =The Conception of Evolution.=—This idea, with the conception of progressive evolution, has been expressed in a poem of untranslatable beauty by the great poet of Islâmic mysticism which may be paraphrased thus: ‘Dying from the inorganic we developed into the vegetable kingdom. Dying from the vegetable we rose to the animal. And leaving the animal we became men. Then why should we fear that death will lower us? The next transition will make us angels. From angels we shall rise and become what no mind can conceive; we shall merge in Infinity as in the beginning. Have we not been told,[14] “All of us will return unto Him”?’[15] =The Islâmic Conception of the Great Account.=—Human conduct in the relations of life consists of a connected sequence of acts the effect of none of which is isolated. The faithful observance of the primary rules of ethics justly regarded as the Divine Laws, like their transgression, stretches far into futurity. Every son of man is thus responsible to his Lord for the use he makes of his life. He will be asked whether the powers he had been endowed with were applied to promote the good and the happiness of his fellow beings or to their detriment; and his reward or punishment, his happiness or misery, will depend on the result of the reckoning at the Great Account as to the manner in fact in which he had obeyed the behests of his Creator. =The Idea of Eternal Punishment Repellent to Islâm.=—The idea of eternal punishment is repellent to Islâm. The Lord of the Worlds, who is swift in meting out justice, is withal pitiful and compassionate. Mercy is His chief attribute; with mercy is joined a supreme love which surpasseth all other love of which the human mind has any conception. Justice is tempered with mercy; and whatever punishment man undergoes here or hereafter is only for purifying and fitting him to enter that state of perfection which will bring him ‘nigh unto God.’ =Moral Responsibility.=—‘Just balances will He set up for the day of Resurrection, neither shall any soul be wronged in aught; though were a work but the weight of a grain of mustard seed We would bring it forth to be weighed; and Our reckoning will suffice.’... ‘O our Lord! forgive us then our sin, and hide away from us our evil deeds, and cause us to die with the righteous.’...