Page:History of Zoroastrianism.djvu/386

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ORMAZD

source of all glory and light and happiness.[1] He is benevolent and beneficent.[2] He is foremost in goodness; He is foremost in goodness;[3] always wishing good, and never contemplating evil of any kind.[4] His goodness extends to the good and evil alike,[5] for his desire is all-beneficent.[6] This is manifest from the infinite care which he takes of his creatures,[7] as he is the preserver and protector of man through his perfect goodness.[8] Man should discipline his soul to trust in the goodness of Ormazd. Young and old, it is said, should think a hundred thousand times daily about the numerous blessings showered upon them by Ormazd, for ungratefulness on their part would lead their souls to the abode of woe.[9]

He is all-merciful. The Heavenly Father is the source of mercy and is all-merciful.[10] He is the lord of beneficence.[11] He is merciful to those who turn to him in joy and sorrow. When man looks to Ahriman and not to Ormazd for guidance, he incurs the divine displeasure. Yet even if man in this way may be out of Ormazd's approbation, he is still not out of his mercy. The deity knows the infirmities of human nature and the weaknesses of the human heart, and forgives man's inequity and transgression, if, penitent, the sinner approaches his Heavenly Father with heartfelt contrition,[12] firmly resolving to redeem his sinful past by good deeds present and future.

At the end of time, Ormazd will gather back all his creatures to himself.[13] Even the sinners will not be lost forever. Yet all this while the merciful Lord desires that man may not even now leave his blessed company, for it grieves him that man should suffer even temporarily through his own perverse conduct, and thus postpone the ultimate renovation.

  1. ↑ Sitāyish-i Depmihr in Pāzend Texts, p. 257.
  2. ↑ Duā-i Nām Sitāyishn, Namāz-i Dādār Ahuramazd; Ba Nām-i Yazad; Sipās-i Akenāreh; Nām-i Khāvar; Sitāyishn-i Ahuramazd in Pāzend Texts, p. 159, 206–209, 211, 212, 243.
  3. ↑ Dd. 37. 127; Dk., vol. 4, p. 194.
  4. ↑ Mkh. 8. 22.
  5. ↑ Mkh. 38. 4.
  6. ↑ Sg. 8. 53.
  7. ↑ Sg. 8. 57, 58.
  8. ↑ Dk., vol. 3, p. 140.
  9. ↑ Ba Nām-i Yazad in Pāzend Texts. p. 209, 210.
  10. ↑ Dk., vol. 6, p. 385.
  11. ↑ Mkh. 1. 1.
  12. ↑ Dk., vol. 1, p. 9; Duā-i Nām Sitāyishn; Namāz-i Dādār Ahuramazd; Ba Nām-i Yazad in Pāzend Texts, p. 159, 206–208.
  13. ↑ Dk., vol. 6, p. 416.
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