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Ghazzali's Alchemy of Happiness. 



are opposed to your words." In this state of mind there 

 is no use in making the declaration, " I love G-od." The 

 prophet of God says however, that it is not an idle act to 

 utter the phrase " There is no God but God " for the sake 

 of preserving a man from the divine vengeance, so long as 

 the man is one who does not prefer worldly works to the 

 works of the future world. . . . 



Let those, then, who wish to be saved from the torments 

 of the grave, be earnest in cutting off the ties of the world; 

 and let them acquire a habit of being satisfied with just 

 that which is of actual necessity. Be satisfied for example 

 with that amount of food and drink which is necessary to 

 give strength for devotional exercises; be satisfied with 

 the amount of clothing necessary to protect the body 

 from cold and heat ; and so in everything else. If a man 

 cannot purify his heart from attachment to the world let 

 him at least be assiduous in devotion and in calling upon 

 God, and show a preference for cultivating an intimacy 

 with the love of God. Let him look with fear and dread 

 upon trust in the world, and weaken and relax the demands 

 of sense by strict obedience to the law. If notwithstand- 

 ing he should prefer to yield to the animal soul and to trust 

 in this world, let him prepare himself to experience the 

 torment of the grave and the terrors of the future world. 

 And may the grace and mercy of God which embrace all 

 men, and his pardon and forgiveness which extend to rich 

 and poor, to great and small, reach and save him ! 



The material torments of the grave, seeker after the 

 divine mysteries, are those which are addressed to the 

 body and through the body to the spirit. Spiritual tor- 

 ments are those which reach the spirit only. The language 

 of God, " It is the fire of God, the lighted fire which shall 

 reach the hearts of the reprobates," refers to spiritual tor- 

 ments which affect the heart. The spiritual hell then is 

 of three kinds. The first is the fire of separation from the 



