When one is bereft of his sound innate nature and conscience...

When one is bereft of his sound innate nature and conscience, he not only loses the power to distinguish between the good and the bad, but abominable things really attract him and good ones repel him. The soul and the innate nature seem to have undergone mutation. If one loses his untainted nature he must have already lost his conscience, for conscience is the sentinel that watches over nature.

Conscience continues to act as the faithful guard of nature until all its power of resistance is exhausted. Before we round off this discussion we must add this point from the Imam’s speech: Corruption of the nature and conscience of people does not occur involuntarily, although once it occurs the consequences are beyond man’s will power.

However, God the Exalted has given man control over his conscience and innate nature and the two will only be corrupted through the abuse of his choice and volition. Whatever the case may be with regard to Imam Husayn’s (as) brief statement that described the condition of the nation, the question we should ask is what truly befell the Muslims? There is a relationship between the descending of God’s mercy on man and the flow or decline of goodness from his soul.

God’s mercy flows unceasingly and is never cut off from man and creation even for a moment. However, this descending mercy has particular places of landing such as unimpaired souls and hearts, for they are receptacles of God’s mercy. When souls and hearts become diseased and their goodness dwindles, their share of divine mercy and blessing decreases or is even stopped completely.

God’s mercy is not niggardly, however, it is the souls and hearts that turn their backs on it when goodness in them recedes. God Most High says: “Indeed God does not change a people’s lot unless they change what is in their so uls” [^1] ‘And nothing remains of it except for drops like the drops of water (subaba) that remain in a jar.’ Subabat al-ina ’ means the drops of water which usually remain after the water in a container is poured out. These drops cannot quench the thirst of man or animal.

Similarly, when goodness in man’s innate nature dries up except for drops like the drops remaining in a jar-nothing good can be expected from such a person. Man’s innate nature is in fact the spring from which all goodness flows, so when this goodness dries its decay leads to the depravity of man and society.