54 Preface ۞ اللَّهُ الَّذي خَلَقَكُم مِن ضَعفٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعدِ ضَعفٍ قُوَّةً ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعدِ قُوَّةٍ ضَعفًا وَشَيبَةً ۚ يَخلُقُ ما يَشاءُ ۖ وَهُوَ العَليمُ القَديرُYusuf AliIt is God Who created you in a state of (helpless) weakness, then gave (you) strength after weakness, then, after strength, gave (you weakness and a hoary head:1 He creates as He wills, and it is He Who has all knowledge and power.What was said before about the people who make God’s teaching “of none effect” does not mean that Evil will defeat God. On the contrary, we are asked to contemplate the mysteries of God’s wisdom with another Parable. In our physical life we see how strength is evolved out of weakness and weakness out of strength. The helpless babe becomes a lusty man in the pride of manhood, and then sinks to a feeble old age: and yet there is wisdom in all these stages in the Universal Plan. So God carries out His Plan in the spiritual world “as He wills”, i.e., according to His Will and Plan, and none can gainsay it. And His Plan is wise and can never be frustrated.