151. The Desire to Bestow – 1
A question: When we say that His desire is to do good to His creations, and when the creatures receive His benefit, this means that His desire is satisfied, meaning that He receives pleasure from bestowing. But we have a rule that the Creator only gives and does not receive. Thus, two interpretations go hand in hand.
Indeed, one should ask oneself the same question. How does a person, whose quality is to receive, become able to turn the vessels of reception into vessels of bestowal? After all, even when he gives, we must say that he enjoys it, or he would not bestow, since we cannot conceive doing something without reward, as anyone with some sense cannot do anything unless it yields him benefit.
Rather, “Were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not overcome it.” This is a miracle above reason and is given only as a gift from the Creator. And as for the Creator, we cannot understand that there is a reality of bestowal without reception, as this is above our intellect, since our root is reception.