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Chapter 9. As for the ninth answer — who deserves this punishment — I say: the disbelievers, the polytheists, and those who committed capital sins without repenting.
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The disbelievers and polytheists are those specified by the verse: וְיָצְאוּ וְרָאוּ בְּפִגְרֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים הַפֹּשְׁעִים בִּי כִּי תוֹלַעְתָּם לֹא תָמוּת וְגוֹ ["They will go forth and look at the corpses of the people who rebelled against Me, for their worm will not die..."].
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As for capital sinners — these are the sins for which karet or death by the court is prescribed. Death cuts one off from this world and removes one from the company of the righteous in the World to Come as well, since one did not repent.
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If he was not cut off but was given full life as a stay of execution and still did not repent — his punishment is more severe and his exclusion from the righteous more certain, since he was given respite and did not repent.
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If nothing of what we described applies, then what remains is minor sins — and those are forgiven.
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If someone asks: by what means are they forgiven without repentance? — I say: have we not established that these people have only minor sins? This itself shows that they were guarded from grave ones — and such guarding only comes from performing their opposites. So they did not disbelieve but believed,
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they did not polytheize but declared unity; they did not go astray but were guided; they did not kill, steal, or commit adultery — they practiced truth, justice, and equity.
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One whose path is such has the majority of his deeds as good deeds; those few sins relative to these [good deeds] are paid for in this world, and he emerges pure — as I explained in the Fifth Maamar.
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As for the tenth question — whether they encounter one another — I say, upon reflection, I have found:
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The righteous and the wicked only see each other by looking — as it says of the righteous: וְיָצְאוּ וְרָאוּ בְּפִגְרֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים וְגוֹ ["They will go forth and look at the corpses of the people..."],
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and whenever they discern the punishment of the wicked, they say: "Glory to the One who delivered us from this punishment!" — and they rejoice and are glad at their own state.
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And regarding the wicked it says: פָּחֲדוּ בְצִיּוֹן חַטָּאִים אָחֲזָה רְעָדָה חֲנֵפִים מִי יָגוּר לָנוּ אֵשׁ אוֹכֵלָה מִי יָגוּר לָנוּ מוֹקְדֵי עוֹלָם ["The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: 'Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with the everlasting flames?'"],
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They marvel at the righteous — how they can neighbor that scorching fire without being harmed in the slightest — and they grieve over having missed that reward.
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Scripture compares them to people invited to a banquet alongside people brought for punishment — who see the guests and grieve,
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as it says: הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יֹאכְלוּ וְאַתֶּם תִּרְעָבוּ הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יִשְׁתּוּ וְאַתֶּם תִּצְמָאוּ הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יִשְׂמְחוּ וְאַתֶּם תֵּבֹשׁוּ הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יָרֹנּוּ מִטּוּב לֵב וְאַתֶּם תִּצְעֲקוּ מִכְּאֵב לֵב וּמִשֵּׁבֶר רוּחַ תְּיֵלִילוּ ["Behold, My servants will eat but you will be hungry; behold, My servants will drink but you will be thirsty; behold, My servants will rejoice but you will be put to shame; behold, My servants will shout for joy but you will cry out from heartbreak and wail in anguish of spirit"].
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As for the righteous among themselves: if one's station is close to another's, they meet together; if it is far, they do not.
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I believe that even among the punished, any two whose stations are adjacent will not meet — since their pain and preoccupation with their own condition keeps them apart.