A Moslem seeker after God : $b showing Islam at its best in the life and teaching of al-Ghazali, mystic and theologian of the eleventh century
Al-Ghazali · en
deeds will be cast in a vile form into the scale of darkness,
and the Balance will be light with them, through the justice of
God. And that he should believe that the Bridge (_as-Sirat_)
is a Verity; it is a bridge stretched over the back of Hell
(_Jahannam_), sharper than a sword and finer than a hair. The
feet of the unbelievers slip upon it, by the decree of God,
and fall with them into the Fire. But the feet of believers
stand firm upon it, by the grace of God, and so they pass into
the Abiding Abode. And that he should believe in the Tank
(_Hawdh_), to which the people shall go down, the Tank of
Mohammed from which the believers shall drink before entering
the Garden and after passing the Bridge. Whoever drinks of it a
single draught will never thirst again thereafter. Its breadth
is a journey of a month; its water is whiter than milk and
sweeter than honey; around it are ewers in numbers like the
stars of heaven; into it flow two canals from _Al-Kawthar_
(Koran 108). And that he should believe in the Reckoning
and in the distinctions between men in it, him with whom it
will go hard in the Reckoning and him to whom compassion
will be shown therein, and him who enters the Garden without
reckoning,—these are the honoured (_muqarrab_). God Most
High will ask whomsoever He will of the prophets, concerning
the carrying of His message, and whomsoever He will of the
unbelievers, concerning the rejection of the messengers; and
He will ask the innovators (_Mubtadiʾs_) concerning the Sunna;
and the Moslems concerning works. And that he should believe
that the attestors of God’s Unity (_muwahhids_) will be brought
forth from the Fire, after vengeance has been taken on them, so
that there will not remain in Hell an attestor of God’s Unity.
And that he should believe in the intercession (_shafaʾa_)
of the prophets, next of the learned (_ʿulama_), next of the
martyrs, next of the rest of the believers—each according to
his dignity and rank with God Most High. And he who remains of
the believers, and has no intercessor, shall be brought forth
of the grace of God, whose are Might and Majesty. So there
shall not abide eternally in the Fire a single believer, but
whoever has in his heart the weight of a single grain of faith
shall be brought forth therefrom. And that he should confess
the excellence of the Companions—May God be well pleased with
them—and their rank; and that the most excellent of mankind,
after the Prophet is Abu Bakr, next Umar, next Uthman, next
Ali—May God be well pleased with them; And that he should think
well of all the Companions and should praise them like as he
praises God, whose are Might and Majesty, and His Apostles. All
this is that which has been handed down in tradition from the
Prophet and in narratives from the followers. He who confesses