16يَهدي بِهِ اللَّهُ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ رِضوانَهُ سُبُلَ السَّلامِ وَيُخرِجُهُم مِنَ الظُّلُماتِ إِلَى النّورِ بِإِذنِهِ وَيَهديهِم إِلىٰ صِراطٍ مُستَقيمٍMuhammad Asadthrough which God shows unto all that seek His goodly acceptance the paths leading to salvation1 and, by His grace, brings them out of the depths of darkness into the light and guides them onto a straight way.The word salam, here rendered as "salvation", has no proper equivalent in the English language. It denotes inner peace, soundness and security from evil of any kind, both physical and spiritual, and the achievement of what, in Christian terminology, is described as "salvation": with the difference, however, that the Christian concept of salvation presupposes the existence of an a-priori state of sinfulness, which is justified in Christianity by the doctrine of "original sin", but is not justified in Islam, which does not subscribe to this doctrine. Consequently, the term "salvation" - which I am using here for want of a better word - does not adequately convey the full meaning of salam. Its nearest equivalents in Western languages would be the German Heil or the French salut, both of which express the idea of spiritual peace and fulfilment without being necessarily (i.e., linguistically) connected with the Christian doctrine of salvation.