everything’ [al-Aʿraf 7:156], so that, when He has mercy upon one taken to account, creation knows this divine mercy had already been announced by the Real in this world, the dwelling of responsibility, and the knowers do not deny it.
God brought the world out of nonexistence, which is evil, only for the good He intended for it, nothing other than existence. It therefore exists originally for felicity, and to felicity its affair ultimately returns in ruling. The dwelling in which it associated is a dwelling of mixture, hence a dwelling of ambiguity: this world.
It has a face toward the Real through being existent, and a face toward other than the Real through what is within it becoming nonexistent and moving from it to the other dwelling. Ambiguity is the equal attribution to it of lawfulness and prohibition. God made it like this only to establish an excuse for the servants when He wishes to have mercy upon them with universal mercy. How subtle is God toward His creation! The craftsman cares for his craft.
The knowing believer does not deny that the associator worshipped God, for he heard him say, ‘We worship them only to bring us near to God.’ The associator did not deny God, exalted is He, but acknowledged Him, and acknowledged His greatness and supreme grandeur above the one he took as a means of nearness to Him.
When you know why those taken to account were taken to account, and that being taken to account in the next life is like the prescribed penalties in this world, not affecting faith in God’s existence or in His unique greatness surpassing every greatness for everyone, it is of God’s mercy that
