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Chapter 10. As for the final question — whether they have obligations of obedience to their Lord (mighty and exalted) — I say: yes, since
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it is impermissible for a sound mind to be free from command and prohibition — and had it been permissible to do so in the World to Come, He would have done so in this world too.
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But they are obligated to affirm His lordship, not curse Him, not attribute lowliness to Him, and the like — by way of pure rational obligation, this is inescapable.
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Scripture also speaks of another, revealed form of obedience: that He appoints for them a place in their land which they are obligated to go to at regular intervals — as the Sabbath or New Moon is for us now —
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and they will worship Him there in something He will specify for them, so as not to leave them without an act of worship — as it says: וְהָיָה מִדֵּי חֹדֶשׁ בְּחָדְשׁוֹ וּמִדֵּי שַׁבָּת בְּשַׁבַּתּוֹ יָבוֹא כָל בָּשָׂר לְהִשְׁתַּחֲווֹת לְפָנַי ["And it shall be that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh will come to bow down before Me"],
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And when they have fulfilled this, they go out and behold the punished — for it says וְיָצְאוּ וְרָאוּ ["they will go forth and look"] immediately after it says יָבוֹא כָל בָּשָׂר ["all flesh will come"].
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The traditions confirm that they will not be lacking in worship in the World to Come, as in this world — as it says: תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים אֵין לָהֶם מְנוּחָה לֹא בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה וְלֹא לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא ["Scholars have no rest, neither in this world nor in the World to Come"].
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As for the punished — they are not assigned an act of worship, because of their pain and because such an assignment would remove them from their state, namely the eternal punishment, as we established above.
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As for the last two questions — what their recompense is if they obey Him, and what their state is if they do not obey —
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I answered both at the end of the Seventh Maamar, saying that He guaranteed them the eternal reward only because He knows they will choose obedience to Him and nothing else,
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and that if they choose it, He increases them in graduated happiness as we explained. With these two plus the first explained earlier, only ten topics remain.
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I should append to this the following: the specification of what reward each commandment, law, and personal effort earns, and likewise the specification of what punishment the abandonment of each law, commandment, and effort incurs —
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has not been specified in this world, for reasons of wisdom. First: the source by which reward and punishment come about has not been observed by us — we only apprehended it by approximation and analogy. How then could we grasp its detailed branches, which are more obscure and subtle?
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Second: so that the discourse would not become lengthy, the speech extended, and the general public burdened.
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Third: so we would not favor some commandments over others were we told precisely what reward each one earns.
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Fourth: the greatest occupation of our hearts is with the near matter — namely the matter of the Redemption. That is why Scripture expanded on it and expounded it,
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yet we hope that the classification of reward for each commandment and the detailed enumeration of punishments for each transgression will be explained to us in the time of the Redemption —
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when this community will have been purified, the hearts cleared to seek wisdom, and the humors refined to receive understanding — since they will be close to, indeed already prepared for, the departure to the World to Come.
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And that is why I say Scripture declares that prophecy will be universal at that time: וְהָיָה אַחֲרֵי כֵן אֶשְׁפּוֹךְ אֶת רוּחִי עַל כָּל בָּשָׂר וְנִבְּאוּ בְּנֵיכֶם וּבְנוֹתֵיכֶם ["And afterward I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters will prophesy"],
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and they will prophesy concerning what is imminent at that time — and what is imminent at that time is nothing other than the reward and punishment of the World to Come.
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And once He informs them of this, He will give them signs and proofs of it — as it says: וְנָתַתִּי מוֹפְתִים בַּשָּׁמַיִם וּבָאָרֶץ דָּם וָאֵשׁ וְתִימְרוֹת עָשָׁן ["And I will give portents in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke"].
Then He followed it by noting that these things will occur before the Day of Resurrection — as
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it says: הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ יֵהָפֵךְ לְחֹשֶׁךְ וְהַיָּרֵחַ לְדָם לִפְנֵי בּוֹא יוֹם ה' הַגָּדוֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא ["The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome Day of the Lord comes"].
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One who reasons within himself will be among "the wise"; one who reforms people toward obedience to their Lord and teaches them what leads them to it will be among "those who lead the many to righteousness" —
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and this is the reason that impels every scholar to take care in enlightening people and guiding them.
Here ends the Ninth Maamar of the Book of Beliefs and Opinions.