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which occurs in the fortieth Surah (verse 44), throws considerable light on the true tenets of the Qur'an, and is intelligible only on the hypothesis of transmigration. For the Arabic word najat (), employed in the text to denote the idea of salvation, would be meaningless except as signifying freedom from some kind of bondage or restraint, the true interpretation of which must be sought on the same lines as that of the famous Biblical text in John viii. 32-" And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." This is sufficient to show that the doctrine of the bondage of karmas is taught in secret both in the Bible and the Holy Qur'an.
THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
Of all the objections which have been raised against the theory of transmigration by all sorts of investigators in the field of metaphysical speculation, the one that need be noticed here is the one which is based on the assumption of a beginning of the world-process. Unable to meet the thesis on the purely scientific or philosophical ground, the objector does not hesitate to mix up his own idea of a first beginning of things with what he sets out to refute, and then suddenly turns round to demand the origin of the karmic force, prior to the first beginning of things. His objection, thus, is not an argument of sound reason, but only an example of the sleight of hand the intellect is capable of when bent on finding a pretext to reject a doctrine against which it has been prejudiced by fanatical faith, insufficient research or any other like cause. The theory of transmigration of souls, in its original purity, as taught by the Tirthamkaras has nothing in common with the
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