man, since a knowledge of those attributes enables him to set before himself the high ideal of imitating Divine morals; and it is only thus that man can rise to the highest moral eminence. God is the Nourisher of everything in the creation, so His worshipper will do his utmost to serve the cause not only of humanity but also of all creatures. God is Loving and Affectionate to His creatures, so one who believes in Him will be moved by the impulse of love and affection towards His creation. God is Merciful and Forgiving, so His servant must be merciful and forgiving to the fellow-beings. A belief in a God possessing the perfect attributes made known by Divine revelation is the highest ideal which a man can place before himself; and without this ideal there is a void in man’s life, a lack of all earnestness and every noble aspiration.

In another way, Divine revelation brings man closer to God and makes His existence felt as a reality in his life, and that is through the example of the perfect man who holds communion with the Divine Being. That God is a Reality, a Truth — in fact, the greatest reality in this world — that man can feel His presence and realize Him in each hour of his every-day life, and have the closest relation with Him; that such a realization of the Divine Being works a change in the life of man, making him an irresistible spiritual force in the world, is not the solitary experience of one individual or of one nation, but the universal experience of all men in all nations, all countries and all ages. Abraham, Moses, Christ, Confucius, Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Muḥammad, each and every one of these luminaries brought about a moral, and in some cases also a material, revolution in the world, which the combined resources of whole nations were powerless to resist, and lifted up humanity from the depths of degradation to the greatest heights of moral, and even material, prosperity; which only shows what heights man’s soul may rise if only it works in true relationship with the Divine Being.

One example may be considered in greater detail — that of the Holy Prophet Muḥammad. A solitary man arose in the midst of a whole nation which was sunk deep in all kinds of vice and degradation. He had no power at his back, not even a man to second him, and without any preliminaries at all, he set his hand to the unimaginable and apparently impossible task of the reformation,