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Section 2. I should now set out what I have designated in this chapter of what is required. I say: I reflected and asked myself — how can the world's whole weight rest on the human being, when we see his body to be small and insignificant?
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I pursued this and found: although his body is small, his soul is vaster than heaven and earth — for his knowledge encompasses what is in them both.
Indeed, it extends to knowledge of what is above them — what sustains their very existence — namely, the Creator (exalted and sanctified).
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'Your works are wondrous, and my soul knows it well' (Ps. 139:14).
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I reflected on the shortness of his life and his not living forever. I found that the Creator gave him this brief life in this world — which is the realm of stewardship — and promised him that when he departs, he shall have everlasting life.
I also reflected: how, alongside this distinction of the human being, his bodily constitution is weak — composed of blood, phlegm, and the two biles.
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I dismissed this thought and said: to stipulate otherwise would be to stipulate the creation of a star or an angel — for the known human body is this creature composed of these mixtures.
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I also reflected on the illnesses that befall him and asked: could they not have been warded off or kept from him? I found them beneficial — they restrain him from his errors, humble him before his Lord, and bring his states into balance.
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I also reflected on the affliction of heat and cold upon him and his feeling the venom of stinging and harmful creatures — and I understood that his sensing these things is beneficial to him.
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For if he were not to feel pain, he would not distinguish his Lord's punishment — for if his Lord said 'I will cause you pain,' he would not know what pain is. So he is made to feel these pains so they can serve him as a model.
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I reflected on these drives placed within him and the desires, many of which are harmful to him — and I found that the Wise One placed them in him only for him to set each one in its proper place by the reason with which He endowed him.
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The appetite for food is for the body's upkeep; the desire for conjugal union is for producing offspring. One takes each of them as defined and permitted for him.
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I reflected on how severe punishment and eternal hellfire were prepared for him — and I saw that this is the counterpart of everlasting bliss and eternal reward.
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I reflected on how, before that, command was given regarding him in this world to be put to death in four types of death — and I found this to be for his benefit.
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For reason holds: just as a person sees that cutting off a limb that has been corrupted by poison or disease is right in order to save the rest of the body, so the rational species sees that killing one who has gone corrupt and corrupted the land is right to save the rest of the species.