Recompense: the fruit of a life

"The greatest reward for a man is to see his life well-spent and useful. The reward of the lamp is its own illumination. It does not require any other compensation. Good deeds are their own rewards." he said.

Likewise apprehend thou the nature of hell-fire and be of them that truly believe. For every act performed there shall be a recompense according to the estimate of God, and unto this the very ordinances and prohibitions prescribed by the Almighty amply bear witness. For surely if deeds were not rewarded and yielded no fruit, then the Cause of God - exalted is He - would prove futile. Immeasurably high is He exalted above such blasphemies! However, unto them that are rid of all attachments a deed is, verily, its own reward.

Again, another spirit may be perfect, wise, knowing, possessed of praiseworthy virtues and human perfections. These virtues are in themselves the reward of this spirit.

For rewards and punishments are said to be of two kinds, one being existential rewards and punishments and the other, ultimate rewards and punishments. Existential paradise and hell are to be found in all the worlds of God, whether in this world or in the heavenly realms of the spirit, and to gain these rewards is to attain life eternal.

… The ultimate rewards are the gifts and perfections that man attains in the spiritual realms after his ascension from this world, while the existential rewards are those true and luminous perfections which are attained while still abiding in this world and which are the cause of everlasting life.

The reward of no soul hath been lost, nor shall it be lost. If anyone draweth a single breath for the sake of God, its effects shall assuredly appear in creation. Verily thy Lord is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.

Now that you have arisen to perform this righteous deed and carried that deceased one's casket with the utmost respect, causing others to marvel, rest assured that the recompense for these good deeds will be bestowed from the Kingdom of the Lord of Signs.

This is why I sent a message to Mirza 'Ali-Asghar Aminu's-Sultan that one night, regarding his consideration toward the captives of God - Jinab-i-Mulla 'Ali-Akbar, Jinab-i-Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, Jinab-i-Amin, Aqa Siyyid Asadu'llah - those who were imprisoned in Tehran, when it was mentioned in the Most Holy Court, He said: "If someone is going, take him this message, or write to him, that this consideration he showed toward these prisoners will not be forgotten in the divine Kingdom, therefore let him be assured that he will see its recompense."

In the end, Tahir made him Minister of Finance and said, "Had you not been truthful at first, I would have killed you then and there. But since you were honest and steadfast in your purpose, you deserve to be Minister of Finance."

Service to the Cause of God consists of detachment and sanctification, abstraction and unity, and the manifestation of merciful attributes among humanity. The fruit and effect of this service is ancient glory for humanity in all divine worlds.

Even at the point of dust, which is the lowest and basest of stations, observe how even in the world of dust and mineral the traces of certain souls are extant and evident. Draw thy lesson from this and take warning.

How long shall we remain captive in this snare for the sake of a grain, and stay imprisoned and sorrowful in this cage hoping for a mere morsel?

The fruits of the deeds of man, i.e., the harvest of the reward of man's conduct, is gathered in the heavenly realm.

One kind results from bad morals and misconduct such as falsehood, dishonesty, treachery, cruelty and the like. Surely, misdeeds bring forth evil consequences.

Say: O people, the world and all that is therein shall pass away, and you shall return to the holy presence before God, the True King, the Manifest One, and shall be questioned concerning what you did in your vain life, and shall be recompensed for what your hands have wrought.

This is the Day of requital and recompense, and the Just, the All-Wise is seated upon the throne of His command.

Soon shall the heedless behold the recompense of their deeds, and you shall witness your reward with God, the Most High, the Great.

As for the spirits of the infidels, by My life, at the time of death they recognize what has passed them by, and they lament and implore. Likewise after their spirits depart from their bodies. It is very clear and evident that after death all will become aware of their deeds and actions. By the Sun of the horizon of might! The people of truth will at that time experience such joy as cannot be described. Similarly, the people of error will be seized by such fear, anxiety and terror as cannot be imagined.

As to the child who was blind and deaf in the womb, until he reaches this world, he does not realize his own imperfections. So with those who refuse the Truth here--they will realize how imperfect they are only when they attain the next world where the use of belief is employed. It is known that when we pass from this world to the other, that every good thing or delight or every bad thing will be the result of actions here.

All these things shall pass away and the horizon of Reality will be cleared and purified from these black clouds. If a person commit a transgression, he has been unjust unto himself and soon he will find that he is in manifest regret and remorse...

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Soon you shall see the criminals weeping and lamenting and crying out in grief, saying "Alas for what we neglected!" And they shall say "Would that we were dust, or decayed bones, or scattered particles!"

This one becomes the eternal culture and melody of the everlasting world, while that one's end is regret in this world without name or fame. That one is eternal light, and this one everlasting remorse.

Soon will God show them their deeds as sources of regret unto themselves, scattered dust upon the earth, like a mirage in the desert which the thirsty one supposeth to be water, until, when he cometh unto it, he findeth it to be nothing, and they shall find their deeds in hell as fire upon fire intensified.

This is the recompense for having been wretched regarding Our true verses contrary to the truth.

They who have disbelieved, these shall eat of the tree of Zaqqum, while they who have believed shall rejoice in Paradise, these shall delight in the fruits of divine knowledge. And unto each is appointed in the Book a portion according to their deeds - a just decree from God, the Mighty, the Loving.

And if in this Day one should forsake all deeds but attain unto recognition of the Truth, there remaineth for him hope of salvation; but should he, God forbid, be veiled from the Truth while occupied with all manner of deeds, there is no escape for him and he shall be reckoned by God among the people of hell, negation and fire.

Verily, he who hath attained unto this Day is reckoned among the denizens of Paradise in the sight of God, the Lord of all worlds.

Blessed is he who hath inhaled the fragrance of the All-Merciful and hath beheld His noble countenance. Blessed art thou for having turned towards the Most Sublime Horizon and believed in God, the Mighty, the Great.

Whoso hath attained unto the remembrance of God in His days, he is of those who have attained unto all good and for whom there is a goodly end.

As to those who believe in thee in the Book, We shall assuredly remember them as a grace from Us, that they may be mindful. Those who hasten to the mercy of their Lord - these are the sincere ones. And those who place their trust in Him in any matter - these are they that trust. Glory be unto them, before and after, though they know it not.

Verily God will reward them with the best of what they have wrought in this earthly life, and verily there is no God but He, the Strong, the Mighty.

And as to those who fear God and follow His commandments, God shall preserve them from the shame of this world, and in the world to come they shall be the inheritors of the gardens of eternity wherein whatsoever their souls desire hath been prepared for them, and verily theirs shall be a magnificent reward.

And whoso is adorned with that which We have commanded him, God will raise him up on the Day of Resurrection in the most beauteous form, and God is verily witness unto this.

For those who have believed in God and His verses - their men, their women, and their offspring - He hath created after their death, in Paradise, bodies of living crimson ruby by thy Lord's leave. When their spirits depart, they attach to these bodies by thy Lord's permission, and in their stations with God are they sustained. Therein shall they have whatsoever their souls desire, and God increaseth His bounty unto whomsoever He willeth among His servants. There is no God but He, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Therein are maidens for them like hidden pearls, and youths like treasured rubies of might.

And in the next world too, there are countless paradises prepared for the believers and sincere ones, and the spirits of holy souls enjoy all heavenly blessings and divine favors, while the spirits of the deniers and people of error and the adversaries are caught in hell and torment, abased and humiliated.

Our Lord said: By the Justice and judgment of God those who commit evil suffer and are punished for it and eternal punishment is merited by these evil-doers.

Evil man will be in a state of torture out of which they must progress. The good man progress out of it in the flesh because of the torture they suffered while in the life here.

God judges not as we judge; He looks at the intentions of the heart. Also His punishment is always to cure, to redeem, to educate, so that we may become radiant sons of God."

As to the question regarding the soul of a murderer, and what his punishment would be, the answer given was that the murderer must expiate his crime: that is, if they put the murderer to death, his death is his atonement for his crime, and following the death, God in His justice will impose no second penalty upon him, for divine justice would not allow this.

The suffering soul will attain great benefit whereas the other will fall into manifest loss. This one will pluck the fruit of salvation from the tree of life whereas the other will obtain the bitter zaqun from the orchard of his hopes. This field will see divine blessings. That earth will cause the shrub of hopelessness to grow.

We give glad tidings unto him who hath borne tribulations of God's good-pleasure and His grace, and We make mention of him with such remembrance as doth perfume the horizons.

Soon all these pains and trials shall be compensated in the Kingdom of Holiness that transcends the comprehension of souls. Each arrow shall have the effect of a hundred thousand favors of the Luminous Beauty, and each bitter cup shall yield a hundred thousand seas of matchless sweetness. Soon shall ye behold the fruits of these tribulations in the Most Glorious Kingdom.

O blessed leaf! Although you endured tribulations in the path of the Abha Beauty that were beyond human endurance, you will witness the comfort, joy and bounty of these hardships in the Abha Kingdom, and you will find the doors of grace and favor of the King of Oneness opened wide.

All will pass away and vanish to nothingness but the son who hath been offered up by his father and the father who hath sacrificed his son shall both shine like the twin Pleiades in the firmament of everlasting glory and shall be seated on the starry throne of everlasting sovereignty.

Great is their blessedness! All happiness be theirs and all bounty, through the light of this favour that has illumined both earth and heaven with grace.

I beseech the Truth that, as recompense for that heart-burning, you may find an illumined countenance and accumulated treasure in the gathering of the Supreme Concourse, and that the grace and favor of the Blessed Beauty may cause that mirror-like breast to be expanded and enlightened with the contents and meanings of those tablets, so that you may be enabled to remain firm and steadfast in servitude to that Beloved of the horizons.

But praise be to God, you were assisted to a life whose end is joy and success, and eternal glory in the divine realm.

All kings will envy your station and covet your glory, for you have placed upon your head the crown of the Most Great Guidance whose brilliant jewels cast their rays across centuries and ages.

Then you will witness eternal sovereignty and the crown of everlasting dominion. All hopes and desires, whether in this world or the next, will be fulfilled and all aims will be achieved.

If in the previous Dispensation it was revealed "Whoso performeth a good deed shall receive a tenfold reward," praise be to God, in this mightiest Dispensation a hundredthousandfold reward is ordained and established.

And whosoever sendeth blessings upon Me once, God will send blessings upon him five hundred thousand times. Verily, He is the best of those who send blessings. And whosoever visiteth Me, I shall visit him on the Day of Resurrection before my Lord, for God hath granted Me from His presence a most great station among the worlds.

He prayeth for those who have attained unto the most great steadfastness in the Cause of God, the Lord of all beings, and He giveth them glad tidings of the most exalted Paradise and the All-Highest Station.

The world and all that is therein shall perish; then shall the sincere ones find that which hath been ordained for them in the Most Great Paradise from God, the Forgiving, the Generous.

I swear by My life! The true believer, after his ascension, shall find himself in a state of eternal peace and everlasting bliss.

Praised be to He Who hath given refuge to the sincere ones in His All-highest bounty! Praised be to He Who hath brought the believers in the Unity of God into the paradise of His dwelling place!

I beg God to bless thee so that thou mayest diffuse the fragrances of God in those countries and purify hearts from the filth of ignorance and to make thy revered wife and honored daughters signs of His love among the maid-servants of God, and to ordain for thee a reward befitting one who hath attained (the visit of) the Holy Threshold in this Cause.

These favors have We bestowed upon thee as a bounty on Our part and a mercy from Our presence, that thou mayest be of those who are grateful.

Offer a hundred thousand thanksgivings at every moment that you have become the recipient of such favors and the manifestation of such bounties.