123 Preface لَيسَ بِأَمانِيِّكُم وَلا أَمانِيِّ أَهلِ الكِتابِ ۗ مَن يَعمَل سوءًا يُجزَ بِهِ وَلا يَجِد لَهُ مِن دونِ اللَّهِ وَلِيًّا وَلا نَصيرًاYusuf AliNot your desires, nor those1 of the People of the Book (can prevail): whoever works evil, will be requited accordingly. Nor will he find, besides God, any protector or helper.Personal responsibility is again and again insisted on as the keynote of Islam. In this are implied faith and right conduct. Faith is not an external thing; it begins with an act of will, but if true and sincere, it affects the whole being, and leads to right conduct. In this it is distinguished from the kind of faith which promises salvation because someone else in whom you are asked to believe has borne away the sins of men, or the kind of faith which says that because you are born of a certain race (“Children of Abraham”) or a certain caste, you are privileged, and your conduct will be judged by a different standard from that of other men. Whatever you are, if you do evil, you must suffer the consequences, unless God’s Mercy comes to your help.