15 Preface مَن كانَ يَظُنُّ أَن لَن يَنصُرَهُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنيا وَالآخِرَةِ فَليَمدُد بِسَبَبٍ إِلَى السَّماءِ ثُمَّ ليَقطَع فَليَنظُر هَل يُذهِبَنَّ كَيدُهُ ما يَغيظُAhmed AliHe who thinks that God will not help him in this world and the next should stretch a rope to the sky then cut it off and see if his mind is relieved (of doubts) by this stratagem.1 This has the same connotation as the Persian proverb asman az kuja az kuja: where is the heaven and where is the rope? used when falsehood is opposed to truth. It shows the futility of deciding in one’s mind that God will not help.