, for it is a month's march from one side thereof to the
other. Its water is sweeter than honey, whiter than milk.

7. That Paradise and Hell actually exist; that the chosen remain for
ever in the former; they neither die, nor grow aged. They experience no
kind of change. The Houris and the females are exempted {161} from the
infirmities of their sex. They will no longer bear children. The elect
will find there the meat and the drink they require, without taking
upon themselves any trouble. The ground of Paradise is of musk; the
bricks of its edifices are of gold and of silver.

The unbelievers and the demons will remain for ever in hell, tormented
by serpents as thick as the neck of a camel, by scorpions as large as
mules, by fire and by scalding water. Their bodies will burn, till they
become reduced to a coal, when God will revive them so that they may
endure fresh torments. This will last for ever."

The following additional remarks are based on the Sharh-i-'Aqaid-i-Jami.
They fall under four heads.

(1). The sounding of the trumpets. (Nafkhatain-i-Sur). This will not take
place until wickedness spreads over all the earth. The Prophet said: "The
resurrection will not come to pass, till some of the sects among my
followers mix up with the Mushriks (those who associate others with God)
and till others commence to worship monuments." Again, "The last hour will
not be till no one is found who calls on God." Then "There shall be a blast
on the trumpet, and all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth
shall expire, save those whom God shall vouchsafe to live. There shall be
another blast on it, and lo! arising they shall gaze around them." (Sura
xxxix. 68). Abu Huraira, a Companion, relates that the Prophet speaking of
the trumpet stated as follows: "After the creation of the heavens and the
earth God created the trumpet and gave it to Israfil who, with his mouth
placed to it, is ever looking up and waiting for the order to blow it. He
will blow three times.[157] The first time, the blast of consternation, to
terrify; the second, the blast of examination, to slay; the third, the
blast of resurrection, to quicken the dead." Most persons believe that
everything, save God and His attributes, will perish. The Karamians and
some other sects deny this.

{162}

The resurrection of the body is clearly proved by the Quran. Thus, "They
say, 'Who will bring us back?