e hope that the Friends of God, like an attractive force, will draw these
bounties from the source itself, and that they will arise with such
illumination and signs that they will be evident proofs of the Sun of
Reality.

60: THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SPIRIT (1)

Having shown that the spirit of man exists,(152) we must prove its
immortality.

The immortality of the spirit is mentioned in the Holy Books; it is the
fundamental basis of the divine religions. Now punishments and rewards are
said to be of two kinds: first, the rewards and punishments of this life;
second, those of the other world. But the paradise and hell of existence
are found in all the worlds of God, whether in this world or in the
spiritual heavenly worlds. Gaining these rewards is the gaining of eternal
life. That is why Christ said, "Act in such a way that you may find
eternal life, and that you may be born of water and the spirit, so that
you may enter into the Kingdom."(153)

The rewards of this life are the virtues and perfections which adorn the
reality of man. For example, he was dark and becomes luminous; he was
ignorant and becomes wise; he was neglectful and becomes vigilant; he was
asleep and becomes awakened; he was dead and becomes living; he was blind
and becomes a seer; he was deaf and becomes a hearer; he was earthly and
becomes heavenly; he was material and becomes spiritual. Through these
rewards he gains spiritual birth and becomes a new creature. He becomes
the manifestation of the verse in the Gospel where it is said of the
disciples that they "were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"(154)--that is to say, they were
delivered from the animal characteristics and qualities which are the
characteristics of human nature, and they became qualified with the divine
characteristics, which are the bounty of God. This is the meaning of the
second birth. For such people there is no greater torture than being
veiled from God, and no more severe punishment than sensual vices, dark
qualities, lowness of nature, engrossment in carnal desires. When they are
delivered through the light of faith from the darkness of these vices, and
become illuminated with the radiance of the sun of reality, and ennobled
with all the virtues, they esteem this the greatest reward, and they know
it to be the true paradise. In the same way they consider that the
spiritual punishment--that is to say, the torture a