Fifth Question: Why does the All-Just and All-Compassionate, the All-Powerful and All-Wise not give particular punishments for particular wrongs, but inflicts a mighty element? How is this in keeping with the beauty of His mercy and His all-encompassing power?

The Answer: The All-Powerful One of Glory assigns numerous duties to each element and by means of each duty causes them to produce numerous different results. If one result of one of an element’s duties is ugly, evil, or calamitous, the other good results render this result good too. If the element, which is angry at man, is prevented from the duty to avert the single ugly result, then instances of good to the number of the good results will be abandoned. Hence, since not to perform a necessary good is evil, instances of evil will be perpetrated to the number of the instances of good. A single evil being averted would be extremely ugly, opposed to wisdom, contrary to reality, and a fault. And power, wisdom and reality are free of fault. Since some errors constitute rebellion comprehensive enough to bring the earth and elements to anger, and are insulting aggression against the rights of numerous creatures, for sure, in order to demonstrate the extraordinary ugliness of such a crime, it is perfect wisdom and justice that a mighty element be commanded to reprimand them among its other general duties, and for the oppressed, it is perfect mercy.

Sixth Question: The neglectful and heedless put it about that the earthquake resulted from a fault in the rock strata inside the earth, and they look upon it as quite simply a chance event, natural, and without purpose. They do not see the non-material causes and results that they may come to their senses. Does matter, on which they base their views, have some reality?

The Answer: It has no reality other than misguidance for the following reason. Take the fly out of all the species on the earth, which each year is clothed in and changes more than fifty million finely embroidered well-proportioned shirts: the intention, will, purpose, and wisdom manifested on the wing of a single fly, which is only one organ out of hundreds of one individual fly out of the countless numbers of all the flies on the face of the earth, and the fact that it is not neglected or left to its own devices, all show that no aspect of the significant acts and states of the huge globe of the earth, whether particular or universal, can be outside the divine will, choice, and purpose, for it is the cradle, mother, place of recourse, and protector of innumerable conscious beings. However, as is required by His wisdom, the Possessor of Absolute Power makes apparent causes a veil to His disposals. When He wills an earthquake, and sometimes He does, He commands the movement of the strata and ignites them. Even if it results from this movement or a fault in the strata, it is still at the divine com-