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CONFLUENCE OF OPPOSITES:
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but the same is written in the book of God's decrees "
(Sura xxxv). It is pointed out in the Sura Y. S.:-- “ Verily, it is we who will quicken the dead and write dowa
the works which they have sent on before them, and the traces which they shall bave left behind them and everything have we set down in the clear book of our
decrees." The actions of men are determined according to what is written in the Book of Decrees; and the same holds true with respect to every other creature, for "all things have been created after fixed decrees” (Sara liv.
49). To the same effect are the following: * No one can die excepi by God's permission according to the
book that fixeth the term of life (Sara, iii, 139). “The Lord bath created and balauced all thinge aud hath
fixed their destinies and guideth them.” (Sura, xxxvii. 2). " By no means can aught befall us but what god has destined
for us (Sura, ix. 51)." Such is the nature of the Perspicuous Book. But the question which remains to be answered is: how are the decrees contained in the Book of Fate enforced in the world of men ? There may be a book, or even a whole library, in the cosmic archives, but unless there is a force which connects every individual soul with the actions it is destined to perform, it is inconceivable how the decrees of fate can be worth anything more than the cash-value of the tablet on which they are inscribed. If our Muslim friends will take the trouble to work out the problem of the connection between the decrees
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