and the pleasure of a taste that follows you is bitterness and a solution and spaciousness in its folds is narrow. if there were no reward punishment or reward we would have to waste our lives tire our bodies exhaust our energy exhaust our capacity and exhaust ourselves with the mind that began with blessings before we deserved them. he bestowed upon us the mind by which we knew him and gave us the senses knowledge understanding and the subtleties of crafts. he directed the heavens to flow with their benefits for us and he managed us with the management that if we owned our creation we would not have been guided to it nor would we have looked at ourselves as he looked at us. he preferred us over most of the creatures and made us the repository of his speech and the abode of his religion. he created paradise for us without us deserving it. then he was not pleased for his servants to enter it except through their deeds so that it would be obligatory for them. god almighty said {a reward for what they used to do} . he guided us to its path and showed us the face of its shadow. he made the ultimate in his kindness to us and his favor upon us a right of our rights before him and a debt binding upon him. and he thanked us for the obedience that he gave us the strength to perform and rewarded us with his grace for his favor this is a generosity that minds cannot comprehend and hearts cannot comprehend. and whoever knows his lord and the extent of his pleasure and displeasure the fleeting pleasures and the perishable wreckage will be insignificant to him so how is it when he has brought from his threat what makes bodies shudder upon hearing it and souls melt for it and he has brought upon us from his punishment what no hope has come to so where is the way of thinking about
ولذة طعم معقب لك علقما وصابا وفسح في تضاعيفه ضيق ولو لم يكن جزاء ولا عقاب ولا ثواب لوجب علينا إفناء الأعمار، وإتعاب الأبدان، وإجهاد الطاقة، واستنفاد الوسع، واستفراغ بالعقل الذي ابتدأنا بالنعم قبل استئهالها، وامتن علينا بالعقل الذي به عرفناه، ووهبنا الحواس والعلم والمعرفة ودقائق الصناعات، وصرف لنا السموات جارية بمنافعها، ودبرنا التدبير الذي لو ملكنا خلقنا لم نهتد إليه، ولا نظرنا لأنفسنا نظره لنا، وفضلنا على أكثر المخلوقات، وجعلنا مستودع كلامه ومستقر دينه، وخلق لنا الجنة دون أن نستحقها، ثم لم يرض لعباده ان يدخلوها إلا بأعمالهم لتكون واجبة لهم، قال الله تعالى {جزاء بما كانوا يعملون} ورشدنا إلى سبيلها، وبصرنا وجه ظلها ، وجعل غاية إحسانه إلينا وامتنانه علينا حقا من حقوقنا قبله، ودينا لازما له، وشكرنا على ما أعطانا من الطاعة التي رزقنا قواها، وأثابنا بفضله على تفضله هذا كرم لا تهتدي إليه العقول، ولا يمكن أن تكيفه الألباب. ومن عرف ربه ومقدار رضاه وسخطه هانت عنده اللذات الذاهبة والحطام الفاني، فكيف وقد أتى من وعيده ما تقشعر لسماعه الأجساد، وتذوب له النفوس، وأورد علينا من عذابه ما لم ينته إليه أمل؛ فأين المذهب عن