of God; and again some of the commentators refer to Satan as the agent. In either case the meaning of the passage is that whether by God (but not as the consequence of a predetermined decree), or by Satan, the evil deeds of the transgressors have been made to appear good in their eyes. Similar uses of the expression will be found. ¹ In the latter passages the agent is admittedly God.

There is another passage in which, at first sight, the sense of the usual interpretation, or rather translation, appears to affirm clearly that God has decreed the unbelief of some. The passage is, 'Verily those against whom the word of thy Lord is decreed, shall not believe although there come unto them every (kind of) sign; till they see the grievous torment.' ² The explanation of the expression is to be found in the thirty-fourth verse of the same Sura. 'Thus is the word of thy Lord made good on the wicked; that they shall not believe.' ³ The original text in each of these passages has nothing to say about a decree (the Arabic word in both is ' haqqat '), and the idea conveyed is not that God has decreed the unbelief of some, but that God has said, and that His word has been verified in the instances referred to, that they who will not believe, shall not believe. God's guidance and all His signs shall only harden them the more and lead them into error.

3. We now turn to ask, what does the Qur'an teach concerning the object of this purpose of mercy? What does God propose to do for man by offering him direction and guidance?

The object of the divine purpose of mercy is stated generally in such passages as the following:—

'Now is the right way made distinct from error whoever, therefore, shall deny Taghut, and believe in God, he will have taken hold on a strong handle, which shall not be broken; God is He who heareth and seeth. God is the patron of believers: He shall lead them out of darkness into light. ..' ¹

'He it is who hath sent down clear tokens unto His servant, that He may lead you out of darkness into light; for God is compassionate (and) merciful unto you.' ²

The Creator, seeing man in the darkness of ignorance, knowing neither God nor how to worship Him, desires to bring man into the light of truth. To this end He purposes to instruct man concerning Himself and the way in which he may please Him. By this direction and instruction man is to be taught what he is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of him.

Without in any way entering here into the doctrine of God, as taught in the Qur'an, let us note that one of its main teachings is that God is merciful and forgiving. This means much more than that God possesses the attribute of mercy and that He is ever ready to forgive. It means that God desires that men seek forgiveness. And it is a part of the object of His purpose of mercy to inculcate and impress on man the fact that He desires to forgive — that He is not indifferent to man and his condition — but is ever on the outlook for the return of the prodigal. Yet, at the same time, Muhammad never lost