[2] In the management of the affairs of this world Allāh has connected the sequence with the cause of human acts as a result of which the power of action in man does not remain idle, in the same way He had made these actions dependent on His own will, so man should not rely on his own power of action and forget the Creator. This is the issue of the will between two wills in the controversy of “free will or compulsion.” Just as in the entire Universe nature’s universal and sovereign law is in force in the same way the production and distribution of food also is provided in a set manner under the dual force of Divine ordainment and human effort. And this is somewhere less and somewhere more depending on the proportion of human effort and the aim of Divine ordainment. Since He is the Creator of the means of livelihood, and the powers of seeking food have also been bestowed by Him, the paucity or plenty of livelihood has been attributed to Him because He has fixed different and separate measures for livelihood keeping in view the difference in efforts and actions and the good of the creatures. Somewhere there is poverty and somewhere affluence, somewhere distress and somewhere comfort, and some one is enjoying pleasure while some one else is suffering the hardships of want. Qur’ān says : ... amplifieth He their sustenance unto whomsoever He willeth and straiteneth; Verily He knoweth all things. (Qur’ān, 42:12) In sermon 23 Amīr al-mu’minīn has referred to this matter and said : The Divine command descends from the sky towards the earth with whatever is ordained for every one, whether less or more, just like rain drops. So just as there is a fixed process and manner for the benevolence of rain namely that vapours rise from the sea with the store of water, spread over in the sky in the shape of dark clouds and then ooze the water by drops till they form themselves in regular lines. They irrigate plains as well as high lands thoroughly and proceed onwards to collect in the low areas, so that the thirsty may drink it, animals may use it and dry lands may be watered from it. In the same way Allāh has provided all the means of livelihood but His bounty follows a particular mode in which there is never a jot of deviation. Thus, Allāh says : And there is not a thing but with Us are its treasures, and We do not send it down but in a known measure. (Qur’ān, 15:21) If man’s greed and avarice exceeds its bounds, then just as excess of rain ruins crops instead of growing and bringing the up, so the abundance of the articles of livelihood and necessaries of life would make man oblivious of Allāh and rouse him to revolt and unruliness. Consequently, Allāh says : And should Allāh amplify the sustenance unto his servants, they would certainly rebel in the earth, but He sendeth it down by measure as he willeth; Verily of His servants, He is All-aware, All-seeing. (Qur’ān, 42:27) If He lessens the food then just as stoppage of rain makes the land arid and kills the animals, in the same way, by closure of the means of livelihood, human society would be destroyed and so there would remain no means of living and livelihood. Allāh accordingly says : Or who is that who can provide you with sustenance should He with-hold His sustenance?. . . (Qur’ān, 67:21) Consequently Allāh, the Wise the Omniscient has put the organization for livelihood on moderate and proportionate lines, and in order to emphasize the importance of livelihood and sustenance and to keep them correlated with each other has introduced differences in the distribution of livelihood. Sometime, this difference and unequal distribution owes itself to the difference of human effort and sometimes it is the consequence of overall arrangement of the affairs of the Universe and Divine acts of wisdom and objectives. This is because, if by poverty and want He has tested the poor in endurance and patience, in affluence and wealth there is severe test of the rich by way of thanks-giving and gratifying the rights of others, namely whether the rich person gratifies the claims of the poor and the distressed, and whether he takes care of the destitute or not. Again, where there is wealth there would also be dangers of all sorts. Sometimes there would be danger to the wealth and property and sometimes fear of poverty and want. Consequently, there would be many persons who would be more satisfied and happy for lack of wealth. For them this destitution and want would be far better than the wealth which might snatch away their comfort and peace. Moreover sometimes this very wealth which one holds dearer than life becomes the cause of loss of one's life. Further, it has also been seen that so long as wealth was lacking character was above reproach, life was unblemished, but the moment property and wealth changed into plenty the conduct worsened, character became faulty and there appeared the vice of drink, crowd of beauties and gathering of singing and music. In such a case the absence of wealth was a blessing. However being ignorant of Allāh’s objectives man cries out and being affected by transitory distress begins complaining but does not realize from how many vices which could have accrued owing to wealth he has remained aloof. Therefore, if wealth produces conveniences poverty serves as a guard for the character.