. Also, windows will be opened for him onto heavenly scenes and, as stated in a Traditional Saying, the grave will be for him like a garden out of the gardens of Paradise. However, as pointed out above, if a man has sins still not pardoned—however virtuous he was—he may suffer some punishment in the intermediate world in order to be purified of all his sins so that he can deserve Paradise after the Resurrection. If, by contrast, a man was an unbeliever and led a wicked life, his unbelief and evil deeds will appear to him in the form of bad fellows and vermin of all kinds like scorpions and snakes. Also, scenes of Hell will be shown to him and the grave will be for him like a pit out of the pits of Hell.

Following death, the spirit is taken to the Presence of God. If it led a good, virtuous life in the world and accomplished refinement, the angels charged with taking it to the Presence of God wrap it in a piece of cloth made of satin and take it, through heavens and all inner dimensions of existence, to the Presence of God. While going through the heavens, angels welcome it in every mansion or station it passes by and ask: ‘Whose spirit is this? How beautiful a spirit it is!’ The angels conveying it introduce it with its most beautiful titles by which it was called while in the world and answer: ‘This is the spirit of that one who, for example, prayed, fasted, gave alms and bore all kinds of hardship for God’s sake.’ Finally, God Almighty welcomes it and then orders the angels: ‘Take this back to the grave where its body is buried, so that it should answer the questions of the interrogating angels.’

The spirit of an evil one is treated with disdain everywhere it passes and thrown back to the grave from the Presence of God Almighty.

Whatever evil happens to a man in the world is because of his sins. If a man is a sincere believer and cannot always hold himself back from sinful acts, God, out of mercy for him, allows some misfortunes to strike him so that he may be purified of sins. God may also subject him to great agonies of death either to forgive him those of his sins still not pardoned or to promote him to higher (spiritual) ranks, but takes his spirit very gently. If, despite all the misfortunes, which befell him in the world and the agonies of death he suffered, such a person has still some sins unforgiven, he suffers some sort of punishment in the grave and is freed from the punishment of Hell. In addition, since the grave is the first station on the journeying toward eternal life where everyone will meet the reward of what he did in the world, as a preliminary interrogation, everyone is questioned in the grave by two angels for their worldly deeds. And almost everyone, except the Prophets, is subjected to some suffering.

The way the spirit has relations with its body differs according to the worlds in which they are. While in this world the spirit is confined within the ‘prison’ of the body. If the evil commanding self and bodily desires dominates over the spirit, this will inevitably result in the deterioration of the spirit and the final doom of the person. If, by contrast, the spirit can discipline the evil-commanding self through belief, worship and good conduct, and free itself from servitude to bodily desires, it is refined, acquires purity and is furnished with laudable qualities. This will bring happiness to the spirit in both worlds.