For this reason...

For this reason, they asked their prophet to petition God for the return of the attribute of death to them.”[^3] Unpleasant Things and Understanding the Sweetness of Doing Good One of the utilities of the undesirable [things and happenings] is that it makes a person perceive and enjoy the good and pleasant things. Had it not been for illness, man would have never found out the blessing of good health and felt its pleasure.

Had there been no hunger, being full would not have been understandable and satisfying. Without darkness, light could not have been appreciated. Of course, this does not mean that without considering individual capacities and potentials, God would originate painful happenings and creatures that bring about evil so as to teach the value of good and goodness. This rather means that one of the benefits of what is called ‘evil’ is to identify and perceive the pleasantness of good.

In view of the fact that God creates the creatures while considering their inherent potentials, and the reply to the objection on why the [Arabic] letter alīf is a straight line while the letter dāl is a curve is that these traits are part of the corollaries of their nature.

Each of them is demanded by this type of existential designation and realization and nothing else; all these differences are based upon the principle of cosmic justice of God – “giving every right to its owner”: [^4] أَعْطىٰ كُلَّ ذي حَقٍّ حَقَّهُ.

Undesirables and the Blossoming of Talents A study of human history and great personalities clearly shows that undesirable events have a crucial role in the blossoming and coming to fruition of talents, and the secret behind this is that as necessitated by his instinctive desire to prevail over the undesirable things.

In order to emerge victorious in this confrontation, one would have to strive hard to make use of all his natural talents and capabilities, and this state of affairs leads to his personal growth and maturity. Resistance against undesirable things strengthens and fortifies man’s will-power and resolve, and causes the gem of his personality and manliness to appear.[^5] One must endure all difficulties and afflictions in order to discover what is due to him.