Second Comparison: For example, if, by abandoning his minor duty on a mighty royal ship, a common man causes harm to come to the results of the duties of all the others employed on the ship, and some of the duties come to nothing even, the ship’s owner will complain bitterly about him in the name of all the others. The one at fault may not then say: “I’m just an ordinary person. I don’t deserve such severity because of my unimportant omission.” For a single instance of non-existence results in innumerable such instances, whereas existence yields results in accordance with itself. For although the existence of a thing is dependent on the existence of all the conditions and causes, its non-existence, its removal, occurs with the removal of a single condition and results from the non-existence of a single particular. It is because of this that ‘destruction is very often much easier than construction’ is virtually a universally accepted principle. Since the bases of unbelief and misguidance and of rebellion and sin are denial and rejection, they are an abandoning and non-acceptance. However positive and possessing of existence they appear to be superficially, in reality they are extinction and non-existence. In which case they are a contagious crime. Just as they harm the consequences of other beings’ acts, so they draw a veil over the manifestation of the beauties of the divine names.

The Monarch of Beings, Whose right it is to make these innumerable complaints, therefore utters awesome complaints about rebellious man in the name of those beings. To do so is perfect wisdom. Rebellious man is certainly deserving of His severe and awesome threats; without doubt he deserves them. ∗ ∗ ∗