4) In the Return the Higher Knowledge (the purpose of creation) will be Achieved:

4) In the Return the Higher Knowledge (the purpose of creation) will be Achieved:

There is no doubt that the purpose of the creation of humans and jinn is to attain knowledge. The question is: where will this knowledge be achieved at a higher and more complete level? Moreover, if the Return plays a role in answering this question, then where will it take place?

The Almighty says: {And He is God; there is no deity except Him. To Him is [due all] praise in the First and the Hereafter. And the judgement is His, and to Him you will be returned} Quran Chapter “The Stories” 28:70. Sayed Ahmad Al-Hasan had answered a question about this verse and also gave answers to the above questions. He said:

In other words, true praise is for God Almighty, and it is to praise Him more completely and perfectly based on knowledge of a higher rank: {And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me} Quran Chapter “The Winnowing Winds” 51:56, meaning “to know Me”. This Higher Knowledge, which represents the goal of creation, is achieved in the First-which is the first heaven (the heaven of the Return). What comes before the First is the heaven of al-Tharr and its beginning-meaning the beginning of the First-is the appearance of Imam Al-Mahdi pbuh. The appearance of Imam Al-Mahdi pbuh is when the First stage and the preliminaries of preparing for the World of the Return will begin.

{And the judgement is His . . . }, meaning the authority of God is through the judgement of Imam Al-Mahdi pbuh and the Mahdis pbut, and then, in the Return, through the prophets, messengers, Imams, and successors.

{To Him you will return}, meaning you will return to God Almighty in the Return. In other words, it will be a return for the purpose of repaying the good-doers for the good they have done, and the evil-doers for the evil they have done (those who were completely pure in their faith and those completely pure in their disbelief), as was narrated by Ahl al-Bayt pbut. Let every evil-doer measure with his own scale, and let every good-doer measure with his own scale, and God will avenge the prophets, messengers, and Imams of the evil-doers that were absolutely pure in disbelief (Al-Hilli 1950, 24).

{And we will surely let them taste the nearer punishment short of the greater punishment that perhaps they will repent} Quran Chapter “The Prostration” 32:21 in the Return. As for the Hereafter, the praise in it is more complete, perfect, and great, because it is a full unveiling of the truths, each according to his degree {“You certainly were caused to forget this, and We have removed from you your cover, so your sight, this Day, is sharp"} Quran Surah “Qaf” 50:22.

{And We will have removed whatever is within their breasts of ill will, [while] flowing beneath them are rivers. And they will say, "Praise to God, who has guided us to this; and we would never have been guided if God had not guided us. Certainly the messengers of our Lord had come with the truth." And they will be told, "This is Paradise, which you have been made to inherit for what you used to do"} Quran Chapter “The Heights” 7:43. In other words the “I” is lifted from their hearts, and each person receives, according to the capacity [he earned], from the Mercy of God, and they are given the measure that they created with their good deeds” (Al-Hasan 2010a, vol. 4, Q171).