Sura Ya. Sin. has close on five hundred merits. That is, good deeds to that number may be reckoned. And so, if you apply the others to this, you will understand what a subtle, fine, true, and unexaggerated truth it is.

Tenth Principle

TENTH PRINCIPLE: Like with most of the other sorts of creatures, there are among humankind certain individuals who are extraordinary by virtue of their acts and deeds. If they have advanced in good deeds, they have been the cause of pride of humankind. Otherwise, they have been the cause of humanity’s shame. Also, they are hidden. It is as though each becomes a collective identity, an imaginary goal. Other individuals try to emulate them, and it is possible. This means that since they are absolute and indefinite, it is possible for such perfect, extraordinary persons to be present everywhere. In regard to this indefiniteness, according to logic, their universality may be posited in the form of a possible proposition. That is, it is possible for all acts to produce the following result: for example, “Whoever performs two rak’ats of prayers at such and such a time has performed the equivalent of the Hajj.” [^8] It is thus the truth that at certain times two rak’ats of prayers may be the equivalent of the Hajj. Due to its universality, this meaning may apply to all prayers of two rak’ats. This means that what narrations of this sort refer to is not in fact continuous and universal; this is disallowed because there are conditions of acceptance. It is either temporary and absolute or possible and universal. That is to say, the universality in this sort of Hadith is in regard to possibility. For example, “Backbiting is like murder.” This means, there is a sort of backbiting that is more harmful than deadly poison, like a killer. And for example, “A good word is a deed so good it is like freeing a slave.” [^9] Here, in order to encourage and motivate, it points out the possibility of the unspecific perfect individual being present everywhere in absolute form as though it is actually the case, thus arousing eagerness for good and disgust for evil.

[^8]:See, Ṭabarānī, al-Mu‘jam al-Kabīr, vii, 740; Musnad al-Firdaws, iii, 116, 117.

[^9]:See, al-Munẓarī, al-Targhīb wa’l-Tarhīb, iii, 421; Kanz al-‘Ummāl, vi, 422.

Furthermore, the things of the eternal world cannot be measured with the scales of this world. The greatest thing here is not equal to the least thing there. The merits of actions look to that world; our worldly view is too narrow for them; we cannot fit them into our minds. For example, “Whoever reads this is given the reward of Moses and Aaron.” That is to say:

All praise be to God, Sustainer of the heavens and Sustainer of the earth ∗ Sustainer of all the worlds, His is the might in the heavens and the earth, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. ∗ All praise be to