ON THE THRESHOLD OF PARADISE

discoveries do not take place. To man, fresh experience is the greatest source of happiness, and in Paradise, the doors of unlimited truth will continue to open every single day. The pure bliss of Paradise will, therefore, not be fleeting in nature but truly eternal. The making of Paradise is just as possible as the making of the earth and the development of different civilizations on earth. In the ancient Stone Age, there lay hidden a developed agricultural period, which emerged in due course. Similarly, in the agricultural period, the far more developed industrial period was hidden, and it also emerged at the proper time. We can, by the same token, say that there lies hidden in this industrial period a far more developed and refined spiritual period, which will appear in time for all to see. The emergence of this spiritual, or heavenly period is in practical terms as much of a possibility as that of previous periods of history. In the industrial period, the earth has once again been beautified. Its construction has been meticulously planned. Developments in science and technology have made the earth, a far better place to live in. Similarly, with the dawn of the final period, the spiritual age, the earth will be further improved and it will then become an ideal world. There are a number of verses in the Quran giving clear indications of this. For instance, verse three of the 84th chapter speaks of the earth expanding, while another verse says; “Praise be to God who has fulfilled His promise to us and made us the inheritors of this land, letting us settle in the Garden wherever we want.” (39: 74) Verse 21 of the 57th chapter describes Paradise as being “as vast as heaven and earth, which has been made ready for those who believe in God and His messengers.” Today our world is potentially a Paradise. Tomorrow this potential will become a reality and the earth will become a place of eternal happiness and joy. Events have shown that the present state of the earth is not an ideal one, even though on the earth there exists nature’s life-support system in its perfect form. On the earth, this system may be at its best, but there is one thing in all this which is far from ideal. Here, good and evil exists alongside each other. The misuse of freedom by flawed individuals is the source of all kinds of evil. But when the final phase of civilization approaches, all the evil will be separated from the good. They will be deprived of all the resources of the earth, and the earth will be entrusted solely to the good people. This is the truth which has been mentioned in the following verse; “And indeed We have written in Psalms (Az-Zabur) that