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1030
THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
"Not only mankind, but the genii and irrational animals also, shall be judged on this great day, when the unarmed cattle shall take vengeance on the borned till entire satisfaction shall be given to the injured."
This seems to contradict what Hughes thinks about the popular belief as to the fate of beasts, but we are not concerned with the opinions of either Sale or Hughes. The true sense of the text is simple enough, if we read it in the light of what has been established in the previous pages of this book. There is no reference to resurrection in the text, but even if there were, that would not make any material difference, since that expression merely signifies the liberation of the soul from bondage, not an universal rising of the dead on a particular day. The statement that animals also are a people like unto men, is an authority for the conclusion that their souls do not differ from those of men in respect of their essential nature, and the fact that their deeds are also recorded in the Book of Decrees clearly shows that they are not exempt from the operation of průrabdha, the force of karmic destiny. Lastly, there is the text-'then unto their Lord shall they return,' --to show that the animals* also are not debarred from the attainment of the great Ideal in Nirvana.
Thus, there is no doubt whatever that the true interpretation of the Qur'an not only does not conflict with the
* The return of the animals 'unto their Lord' clearly means the attainment of perfection by their souls, in the course of transmigration, not their resurrection in their present unevolved condition. The idea that the beasts shall appear'unto the Lord, kicking and butting and making a mess everywhere, and only to be destroyed by the order of their maker, is too absurd to be entertained for a moment.
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