A second class of men transgress the Law and depend on the Divine Mercy. God is both merciful and a chastiser. We find that there are many distressed and poor men in this world in spite of His Mercy and His mountains of Treasure, that not a single grain of wheat grows without laborious cultivation, and that no man can be healthy without food, water and medicine. As He has ordained means for health and wealth without which they cannot be had, such is the case in the moral sphere also. Denial and ignorance are poisons to the soul, and idleness its disease. The antidotes for the poisons are knowledge and wisdom alone. The remedies for the disease are prayers and worship alone. He who takes poison while depending on the Divine Mercy, kills himself. The disease of the heart consists in desires. He who does not restrain his desires risks his life if he knows them as sinful. But if he does not regard them as harmful he has no life to risk, since he is already dead. For such disregard is denial, and denial poisons faith. A third set would understand by self-discipline, as imposed by the Law, complete freedom from lust, anger and other evils. When they fail after practising self-discipline for a length of time, they regard the task as impossible. "Man, as he is constituted, cannot be pure, just as a black blanket cannot turn into a white one. Why should we undertake an impossible feat?" (So they think).--It is ignorance and vanity to suppose that the Law enjoins complete freedom from lust and other impulses inherent in human nature. The Prophet has said, "I am a man, and may be angry," and signs of anger were at times visible in him. God praises one who controls anger, not one who is devoid of anger. Again, the prophet had nine wives, and a man destitute of the sexual desire should be medically treated. The Prophet has countenanced the begetting of progeny and the perpetuation of the race. But he has instructed that the two (lust and anger) should be subdued so as to be under the control of the Law, as a horse under the control of the rider, or a dog under the control of the hunter. The animals should be trained, else they will set upon and overthrow the man. Lust and anger are like the dog and the horse, and it is impossible to catch the heavenly Game without them. But they should be under control, else they will destroy _us_. In short, the object of self-discipline is to break and subdue these impulses, and this is possible.