17 Preface إِنّا بَلَوناهُم كَما بَلَونا أَصحابَ الجَنَّةِ إِذ أَقسَموا لَيَصرِمُنَّها مُصبِحينَYusuf AliVerily We have tried them as We tried the People of the Garden,1 when they resolved to gather the fruits of the (garden) in the morning.“Why do the wicked flourish?” is a question asked in all ages. The answer is not simple. It must refer to (1) the choice left to man’s will, (2) his moral responsibility, (3) the need of his tuning his will to God’s Will, (4) the longsuffering quality of God, which allows the widest possible chance for the operation of (5) His Mercy, and (6) in the last resort, to the nature of spiritual Punishment, which is not a merely abrupt or arbitrary act, but a long, gradual process, in which there is room for repentance at every stage. All these points are illustrated in the remarkable Parable of the People of the Garden, which also illustrates the greed, selfishness, and heedlessness of man, as well as his tendency to throw the blame on others if he can but think of a scapegoat. All these foibles are shown, but the Mercy of God is boundless, and even after the worst sins and punishments, there may be hope of an even better orchard than the one lost, if only the repentance is true, and there is complete surrender to God’s Will. But if, in spite of all this, there is no surrender of the will, then, indeed, the punishment in the Hereafter is something incomparably greater than the little calamities in the Parable.