rejection of their value, and their refusal to recognize their Maker, are in fact acting insultingly and with hostility toward them. So, of course, the heavens and earth will not weep over them, but in fact curse them and rejoice at their death.

As for the implied meaning, that the heavens and earth weep at the death of the people of belief, this is because the latter know the duties and functions of the heavens and earth, assent to their true realities, and understand, through belief, the meanings they express. They say, “How beautifully they have been made, how finely they are carrying out their duties.” They respect them and assign them their true worth. They love them and the names they mirror for the sake of God Almighty. It is for this reason that the heavens and earth grieve over the death of the people of belief as if weeping.

#### An Important Question

An Important Question

You say, “Love is not voluntary. And, as a consequence of innate need, I love delicious foods and fruits. I love my father, mother, and children, my wife, and my friends and companions. I love the prophets and the saints. And I love my life and my youth, the spring, beautiful things and the world. How may I not love these things? So how should I rather give all this love to God Almighty’s essence, attributes and names? What does this mean?

The Answer: Listen to four points.

##### First Point

FIRST POINT

For sure, love is not voluntary, but, exercising choice, love’s face may turn from one object of love to another. For example, when a beloved displays some ugliness or shows that he is a veil or mirror to another beloved who is truly worthy of love, then love’s face may be turned from the metaphorical to the true beloved.

##### Second Point

SECOND POINT

We do not tell you not to love the things you enumerated, but rather to love them for God Almighty’s sake and in the name of His love. For example, to love delicious foods and luscious fruits as being the bounty of God Almighty, the All-Merciful and Compassionate, is to love His names of All-Merciful and Bestower of Bounties, and, moreover, takes on the meaning of thanks. Such love is to seek gain contentedly within the sphere of the licit, which shows that it is not only for the sake of the instinctual soul but is in the name of the All-Merciful One. It is to eat thoughtfully and with gratitude.