Page:The Faith as Unfolded by Many Prophets.djvu/143

 — that unless the ground is tilled, it will not bring forth. The husbandman knows not that the harvest will surely spring from the seed; but he knows that without seed there can be no harvest.

Havilah said, If Aza saw my child sporting on the brink of a precipice, would he not stretch forth his arm to save him? If he beheld a serpent coiling around the boy's limbs, would he not seize the reptile and fling it away?

Aza smiled as he answered, I have owned that I have not learned to stretch forth or to stay my hand as my faith bids; therefore I should perhaps strive to guard thy child as if I had indeed power over his fate; but if I obeyed my faith, I should only sit still and watch.

But it may be the will of God, said Eber, not only that the child should be saved, but that he should be saved by thy hand. It is thine therefore to stretch forth thy hand and try. If thou fail, it is the will of God; if thou succeed, the child is saved, and thou art thankful. Thus is it also with the perils of the spirit. Though it has long been known to God whether this child shall die in the faith of Christ or of Mohammed, the issue is not known