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In view of the fact that every man falls short of the demands of the Law and thereby falls into sin, what happens about the "Justification" before God? The answer is that justification does not take place-- no one is just except God-- because, as explained, the purpose of the Law is not to justify the individual before God, but to make him holy in carrying it out. God's forgiveness goes to the man who strives with all his might and with all his heart to obey the demands of the Law: "Whosoever aspireth after Us, him will we surely lead on Our way." For the justice of God is surpassed by His mercy: "The tenderness of Thy mercy, O my Lord, surpasseth the fury of Thy wrath, and Thy loving-kindness exceedeth Thy hot displeasure, and Thy grace excelleth Thy justice... Wert Thou to regard Thy servants according to their deserts in Thy days, they would assuredly merit naught except Thy chastisement and torment. Thou art, however, the One Who is of great bounteousness, Whose grace is immense." (99:1) In the 'Qur'an', too, we are assured: "God will lighten your burden, for man was born weak." "If you avoid the great sins, which are forbidden to you, We will cover your smaller sins and lead you in honour into Paradise." "My mercy embraceth all things." (99:2) God's mercy, which is great enough "to forgive all sins and trespasses, and to fulfil the needs of the peoples of all religions, and to waft the fragrances of pardon over the entire creation, " gives the sinner assurance that despite his failures, his falling short of the Law's demands, he can partake of divine forgiveness and grace. The crucial thing is his endeavour "in the path of detachment" (Baha'u'llah) (100:1) Man's redemption thus comes about through steadfastness in the Covenant, aspirations towards a "godly way of life" lived in humility by good thoughts, words and deeds, and deliverance from attachment to the things of the world: deliverance (not flight from the world and asceticism) from the finite and a turning to the infinite, to God. The deeper spiritual foundations of the progress of the soul to its destination have been set out in great profundity by Baha'u'llah in two works written in the style and language of Islamic mysticism, 'The Seven Valleys' and 'The Four Valleys'. All men are called to travel this right path to redemption: "The Sun of Reality hath appeared to all the world. This luminous appearance is salvation and life; but only he who hath opened the eye of reality and who hath seen these lights will be saved" ('Abdul-Baha).
(100:2)
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