The Fruits of Belief | The Fruits of Belief | 31
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Its second fruit and benefit, which looks to man's personal life

    This is a consequence of great importance which is explained in the Third Topic, and about which is a footnote in A Guide For Youth.

    Man's greatest and most constant anxiety is his entering the place of execution that is the graveyard, the same as his friends and relations have entered it. Wretched man, who is ready to sacrifice his very soul for a single friend, thinks of the thousands, millions, or thousands of millions of friends who have been eliminated and have parted for all eternity, and suffers torments worse than Hell. Just at that point belief in the hereafter comes, opens his eyes, and raises the veil. It tells him: "Look!" He looks with belief, and seeing that those friends have been saved from eternal death and decay and are awaiting him happily in a luminous world, he receives a pleasure of the spirit that intimates the pleasures of Paradise. Sufficing with the explanations and proofs of this consequence in the Risale-i Nur, we cut this short here.

    A third benefit pertaining to personal life

    Man's superiority over other living beings and his high rank are in respect of his elevated qualities, comprehensive abilities, universal worship, and his extensive spheres of existence. However, the virtues he acquires like zeal, love, brotherhood, and humanity are to the extent of the fleeting present, which is squeezed between the past and the future, which are both non-existent, and dead, and black.

    For example, he loves and serves his father, brother, wife, nation, and country, whom he formerly did not know and after parting from them, will never see again. He would very rarely be able to achieve complete loyalty and sincerity, and his virtues and perfections would diminish proportionately. Then, just as because of his intelligence, he is about to fall headlong from being the highest of the animals to the lowest and most wretched, belief in the hereafter comes to his assistance. It expands the present, as constricting as the grave, so that it encompasses the past and future and is as broad as the world, and shows the bounds of existence to stretch from pre-eternity to post-eternity. Thinking of his father being in the realm of bliss and world of spirits and the fraternity of his brothers continuing to eternity, and knowing that his wife will be a beautiful companion in Paradise also, he will love and respect them, be kindly and assist them. He will not exploit the important duties which are for

relationships in that broad sphere of life and existence for the worthless matters of this world, with its petty hatreds and interests. His good qualities and attainments will advance to the degree he is successful in being earnestly loyal and truly sincere, and his humanity will increase. Although he does not receive the pleasure from life that a sparrow receives, he becomes the most eminent and happy guest in the universe, superior to all the animals, and the best loved and most acceptable servant of the universe's Owner. This consequence has also been elucidated with proofs in the Risale-i Nur, so here we suffice with this.

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