The Clarification of Wills in the Forms of Acts of Worship - Volume 1 - Habib Eid Al-Saleh

And similar to that is what is mentioned in the Book of Ecclesiastes (Sifr al-Jami'ah)¹: "I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it, that they should fear before Him. That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past."

And similar to it is the saying of the Lord Christ (al-Sayyid al-Masih) in the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord!' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness/iniquity.'"

And similar to it is his saying: "Do not judge according to appearance (al-Zahir [the exoteric]), but judge with righteous judgment." (John 7:24).

And he, peace be upon him, said: "My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me." (John 7:16).

Footnotes

¹(Book of Ecclesiastes 3:14-15). The Book of Ecclesiastes is from the Old Testament... The writer of the book says in (1:1): "The words of the Preacher (al-Jami'ah), the son of David, the king." The Church Fathers and the teachers of the Jews have agreed that King Solomon is the writer of the book. But why did he call himself al-Jami'ah [the Assembler/Preacher]? ...Perhaps it means that he gathers in this book wise sayings (12:9-10). So he is a gatherer of sayings, and the feminine ta' [the letter at the end of Jami'ah] is an indication of exaggeration/intensification, like our saying al-Rawiyah [the prolific narrator] regarding someone with many narrations... meaning what Solomon wrote is the essence of his wisdom and his scholarly experiences which he gathered during his life.