And if nothing befalls you but what does not suit your constitution, you are in torment.
(The Dwelling Place and the Constitution)
Dwelling places have been made beloved to their inhabitants. The people of the Fire who are its proper people have it as their dwelling place: from it they were created, and to it they returned.
The people of the Garden who are its proper people were created from it, and to it they returned.
The delight of a dwelling place is intrinsic to its inhabitants. They are, however, veiled by an incidental matter that has come upon them through their deeds, through excess and neglect.
Their state thus changes, and the illnesses abiding within them, which they have brought upon themselves, veil them from the delight of their dwelling place.
Indeed, had they not done what necessitates their experiencing pains and illnesses, and had they been raised from their graves with the constitution of their native dwelling, then, if given the choice between the Garden and the Fire, they would have chosen the Fire.
Thus fish choose water and flee from air, through which the inhabitants of dry land live. The inhabitants of dry land die through what gives life to the inhabitants of water, and the inhabitants of water die through what gives life to the inhabitants of dry land. Know this.
(The Return to Palaces)
As for you, remaining with the Real perpetually cannot be sound for you, for it must be said, ‘Return them to their palaces.’
He did not say, ‘Return them to their houses,’ or ‘to their spouses.’ He used the word ‘palaces’ only for the meaning understood from it.
When they are returned to their palaces and look out over their dominion, it is impossible for them to appear within it as servants.
They appear within it only as kings. Their households therefore magnify them,
Notlar
Translator’s note: Quṣūr, ‘palaces,’ can also mean ‘shortcoming’ or ‘inability,’ a possible resonance in the author's comment on the choice of word.
