A Key to Wisdom - Are the Heavens and the Earths, Seven and Seven, Fourteen?
Are the Heavens and the Earths, Seven and Seven, Fourteen?
Tags: Seven, Fourteen, Heavens, World of Command, Eight, Sixteen, Forty-Eight, Eighteen Thousand, Universe
Thinking people are not unaware of the ancient beliefs and views which are generally found regarding the existence and situation of the seven heavens and the seven earths, therefore, to go into their details will be an unnecessary prolixity. What I would like to say about this subject is that the darkness of ignorance and inexperience which enveloped the thought and action of ancient and backward man, has now almost vanished due to the illumination of the practical sciences of spiritual and material elevation and evolution. Today's man, due to his great success in making amazing inventions and discoveries, is not harassed by any permanent despondency. He continues to control many of those practical powers, the concept of adopting and using which used to be considered a disbelief in and association with God merely on the basis of his limitation. He was totally unaware of his progressive and world-conquering capacities, which were granted to him by God.
Thus, in view of these changed conditions is it not possible for us to think and express views in a reformative way? Of course, it is possible. Not only is it possible, but we are also commanded and duty-bound to do this important work with great responsibility. If this is the case, let us in the light of the spiritual and material knowledge of the atomic age, investigate the subject under discussion. Because after granting him the great bounty of intellect and wisdom, the most important duty devolved upon man with emphasis, is to think about the realities of the universe and conditions of the world and to deduce correct results and thereby to ascertain or correct beliefs and views.
One of the ancient views which has been affected as a result of the great revolution of technological discoveries and the work of spiritual forces in their background, is about the existence and situation of the seven heavens and the seven earths. What we are about to discuss regarding this, will be in the light of the Holy Qur'an. Thus in verse (65:12) God says: "Allah is He Who created seven heavens (which were seven earths before) and (the present seven) earths like them also (will create seven heavens after the perfect evolution). The command continues to descend among them so that you may know that Allah has power over everything (action), and Allah has encompassed everything with knowledge."
This verse is like an endless treasure of the gems of knowledge and wisdom, in which the oneness of God is mentioned first, then the creation of the seven heavens, then using the example of the creation of seven heavens, it is indicated that the seven earths are also like them in every respect, in the endless circulation of the circle of circles. That is, according to the universal principle of alternate ascent and descent or perfection and decadence of the parts of the universe, not only is the reality of heaven and earth the same, but also of all the other planets and existents. The purpose of mentioning the creation of the heaven and earth and their likeness after mentioning oneness is so that the knowledge of oneness should be sought from the realities of the universe in which the knowledge of oneness is hidden. We can thus satisfactorily study the realities of the universe through the knowledge of the planet earth and the recognition of our own self, because the former is the example of the world of creation, the latter is that of the world of command. Then in the mention of the command, the contextual link means that, as in the first phase of the knowledge of oneness it is essential to understand the creative state of the "world of creation", in its second phase, it is necessary to understand the ibdā`ī (instantaneous) state of the "world of command". The world of creation can be defined on the basis of the principle of "contraposition" of the experienced realities. This means that the world of command and the world of creation are contrary to one another. Thus the world of command can be contrasted completely with the world of creation: the world of creation is the dense body of the universe, the world of command is its subtle body; in the world of creation is found the dense soul, in the world of command, the subtle soul; in the world of creation the creatures come into being by causes and after a specific time; in the world of command, the commanded things (ma'mūrāt) come into being without cause and duration of time; the world of creation is physical, the world of command is spiritual. However, it should be borne in mind that by the spiritual world is meant the world in which both body and soul exist, but where the spiritual power is at its climax, just as the physical world does not mean that there is only body and nothing else in it, rather it means that there is soul in it to some extent, but it does not have sway over the body.
Further, the examples of the subtle world or the world of command and its creatures can be taken from things such as luminous, celestial, atomic and lightning bodies or particles and the wonderful functions of their powers, etc. These things despite being bodies appear to be closer to the soul due to their subtle characteristics. In such a case it is obvious that the most noble life, i.e. human life cannot be confined to the worn-out shirt (or body) of the four elements. It is thus clear that these things come to this world as the elements of the world of command. Now creatures of such elements have also been created, or are going to descend from heaven, because the elements are the prelude to the creatures of their own kind.
This kind of creatures can be recognized by their old or new names, such as, angels, spiritual entities, people of Paradise, people of heaven, men of developed planets, atomic creatures, atomic men, riders of Flying Saucers, etc. In addition, in almost every religion there is a term which is related to the descent or appearance of an heavenly or invisible entity in the spiritual cycle, whose ultimate purpose is also the same, that people may be convinced of the coming of the spiritual cycle. If someone were to ask here: if such creatures were to actually descend from heaven or appear from the invisible veil, what would happen to the people of the world and what would they think about them?, my answer is that the effects of this great event depend on personal belief, ideology, knowledge and above all the experience of the person concerned. Knowledge and experience are necessary for every difficult work, but here they are extremely important, because a large group of spiritual creatures is such that they appear to the people according to their belief, ideology, knowledge and experience and accordingly affect them. For instance, if someone's knowledge is confined only to devils and jinns, etc., they will affect him in this guise. For such a person it is necessary to know that, as in this world there are thorns of evil and mischief known by the name of "Iblīs", etc., it is also possible for there to be flowers of good and well-being, known by the name of angels. He should also understand that if man uses his insight, he can protect himself from the thorns of evil and refresh his soul with the flowers of goodness. Further, it is not the purpose of these thorns to prick the hands and feet of man without any reason, in fact, they are there to protect the rose-bush, its branches, buds and flowers, so that the animals, etc., may not destroy them unnecessarily. The third point is that the flowers and thorns both grow on the same bush, and so it is the same bush on which there are pleasant, fragrant and colorful flowers as well as painful pricking thorns. This means that the cause of good and evil is the same.
If the blessings and effects of the world of command continue to descend between the heaven and the earth, then it is necessary to explain further their spatial existence. In the Holy Qur'ān there are many scales of the realities of the universe, one of which is the "numerical scale", by which it is possible to know the numbers of the major parts of the universe, i.e. the ranks of planets, etc. Thus the Qur'ān says: "Eight pairs" (6:144). This part of the verse is apparently in connection with the mention of the eight pairs of lawful animals, but its meaning does not cease here, for it is applicable to the universe as well. That is, there are the eight pairs of the ranks of the world: Throne, Dais (kursī), seven heavens and seven earths, all together sixteen, which make eight pairs. The Qur'ān also says: "And certainly We have given you the seven repeated (verses) and the Great Qur'ān." (15:87). This verse, in addition to other meanings, also shows that there are sixteen ranks of this world, which are: The Pen and Tablet (Throne and Dais) which are the Great Qur'ān and the seven heavens and the seven earths, which are the repeated verses. It is also known almost to all that there are seven Hells and eight Paradise and Rizwān (Warden of Paradise), which are sixteen ranks, making eight pairs in the sense that the sun is the lowest place of the universe, namely, the central Hell, and together with it, the adjacent six spheres or regions (of space) are the seven earths of the universe as well as the seven Hells, and the outer seven regions are the seven heavens of the universe and the seven Paradises as well, and the rank above them is the Dais and the eight Paradise as well, and the rank above that is the Supreme Throne as well as Rizwān. Thus it is evident that not only the spatial existence of the heaven and the earth, but also the external places of the Throne, Dais, Paradise and Hell are established in front of the eye with insight.
Here it is possible for a question to arise: On what grounds can the above-mentioned ranks of the space of the universe, planets and fixed stars be determined? The answer to this question is that the universe, in its totality, is an extremely enormous spherical body, in the centre of which is the sun which is as Hell and also the fiery workshop of the products of the universe. On the circumferential surface of the universe are the centres of the work of the Universal Intellect (Throne) and the Universal Soul (Dais). Thus from the sun to the circumferential surface the density of natural action decreases and the subtlety of intellectual and spiritual action increases more and more. Thus, on this ground, the fourteen physical and two spiritual, altogether sixteen spheres or regions of the universe are accepted, the boundaries of which are hypothetical, just as the earth is divided into the hypothetical lines of latitude and longitude. The sun and the six regions of the space around it are therefore the seven cosmic earths and the seven regions around them are the seven cosmic heavens and around them is the light of the Universal Soul in an encased form, known by the name of Dais, and around that is the light of the Universal Intellect in an encased form, which is called the Throne. Thus you should know that the ranks of the external existence of the cosmic earths, the cosmic heavens, the universal Dais and the Supreme Throne are determined on this ground.
There are therefore sixteen ranks or regions of fixed stars and planets with respect to creation, construction, ascent and descent and in every rank there can be numerous fixed stars and planets. Starting with the centre of the universe (the sun), those seven planets which pass through different stages with respect to their creation and material and spiritual prosperity and the progress of their inhabitants, are seven planetary earths and beyond them all those stars of the seven ranks from which the spiritual and material blessings descend on these earths, are seven astral heavens. Around them the stars of one rank which belong to the pearl of the Universal Soul, are the astral Dais, and their unity is in the Universal Dais. Beyond them those most noble stars which belong to the Pearl of Intellect, are the astral Throne, and their unity is in the Supreme Throne.
Now, read about the world of command and its ranks! It has already been said that the world of creation is the dense body of the universe and the world of command, its subtle body, and hence the world of command, namely, the subtle body of the universe also, has exactly the same ranks as the world of creation. But the greatest difference between them is that all the ranks of the world of command are alive, because the world of command is alive and is like the soul of the world of creation. Just as the human soul is in the body and the body in one respect is in the grip of the soul, in the same way the world of command and the world of creation are within one another. In any case, first the world of command on the whole is in sixteen ranks and then all its stars are in sixteen ranks. This means that the subtle world is the living picture of the universe, in which there are all the things of the external world. In both the worlds therefore, there are two kinds of heavens and earths and other things. However, regarding their ranks, it must be remembered that, in one respect all of them are one in the supreme Throne i.e. the Universal Intellect, because it is the place of oneness of the existents and creatures. Since the purpose, end, luminous form, ultimate characteristic and value of everything are in the Supreme Throne, it as such, does not await the product of the universe.
Finally, there is man, who with respect to his external and internal existence, is called the world of compilation (ta'līf), i.e. the mixture or compendium of the subtle and dense. That is, man, in fact, is the name of these two different personalities: the dense existence and the subtle existence. The dense existence you may call body and the subtle one, soul. Thus the world of man, namely, the microcosm or the world of compilation, also has sixteen ranks, the order of which is with respect to knowledge and recognition. The ranks are like the Throne, Dais, the seven heavens and seven earths of the world of humanity, as God says: "The Exalter of the ranks, the Lord of the Throne" (40:15). It is obvious that the chain of the above-mentioned ranks is upto the Throne. That is, the last rank of this chain is the Throne. In order to ascertain this reality, see another Qur'ānic testimony: "We exalt to ranks (in knowledge) whom We please; and over every possessor of knowledge is a possessor of knowledge." (12:76). This blessed verse has sixteen dissections:
| Dissection Number | Dissections in Arabic | Dissections |
| 1 | نر | nar |
| 2 | فع | fa`u |
| 3 | د | dāl |
| 4 | ر | rā' |
| 5 | جَٰت | jātin |
| 6 | من | man |
| 7 | نشا | nasha |
| 8 | ءُ | 'u |
| 9 | و | wa |
| 10 | فو | faw |
| 11 | ق | qa |
| 12 | كل | kulli |
| 13 | ذ | dh |
| 14 | ي | ī |
| 15 | علم | `ilmin |
| 16 | عليم | `alim |
Thus it is obvious that the world of humanity consists of sixteen external ranks and sixteen internal ranks, in each of which there is the same human survival in different names, such as angel, spiritual entity, Prophet, Walī (friend of God), etc. Thus men, according to the above-mentioned ranks, are in sixteen ranks externally and internally. Now in each of the world of command, the world of creation and the world of compilation there are sixteen ranks, the sum of which is forty-eight, by which is indicated the collective perfection of these three worlds, the proof of which can be found in these dissected letters of the Holy Qur'ān: Hā-mīm: Hā+mīm (8+40), totalling forty-eight, which is equal to the collective ranks of the three above-mentioned worlds. Now let us reduce forty-eight into numbers of unitary ranks, which are: 8+40 (i.e. 8+4)=12. 12 is reduced into 2+1=3. Here the total three is an indication that the three units of these forty-eight ranks are the three above-mentioned worlds. And the number twelve which was attained from the total of eight and four in the first stage of this rule, is proof of the fact that the united position of the three above-mentioned worlds is into twelve zodiac signs, twelve regions (jazā'ir) and twelve Hujjats. Also note carefully that the joined form of the letters ha and mim (حم) and its above-mentioned numbers (48,12,3) indicate that the blending of soul (rūh) (h) and body (jism) (m) is found in forty-eight ranks, twelve zodiac signs and three worlds. Another important indication of these letters is that "h-m" has contained in it the meaning of "hayy-qayyūm", the Everliving, the Everlasting, in the position of the first letter and the last letter, which is not much different from the above-mentioned indication of soul and body. That is the recognition of the Everliving (hayy) depends on the human soul and that of the Everlasting (qayyūm) on the human body.
From another aspect, the division of the above-mentioned three worlds is made into eighteen thousand and on the basis of this division there are eighteen thousand secondary worlds of the universe and the existents. The sixteen ranks of the existents have already been mentioned, but there are two other groups, which are not mentioned among the ranks, because they do not belong to the ranks, rather to equality (musāwāt). Thus the sixteen ranks and two groups of the equality of the existents together become eighteen. Now multiply eighteen by a thousand (which is the principle of the perfection of creation, i.e. the numerical formula of the Universal Intellect), and the product will be eighteen thousand. It is thus established that in the oneness of three worlds there are eighteen thousand secondary worlds.
The views of the two groups of human beings represent two thousand worlds of equality. That is, the doctrine of one is "huwa'l-kull", the Persian translation of which is "hamah ūst", which means that God is everything. Thus they believe that in the veil of everything is hidden the manifestation of His essence and attributes, as is evident from the Holy Qur'ān: "Therefore, wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah." (2:115). That is, the knowledge and the power of the Necessary Being manifest from the possible being, therefore, from everything such as, time, space, creature and existent, God's face (manifestation of beauty and majesty) will appear. They say when God is the light of the heavens and the earth and the universe is immersed in this immense light, then in reality the question of difference and distinction, rank and status among the existents cannot arise, except in a metaphorical and superficial sense. Further, they say that (another name) for the light of God, in which the universe and creatures are immersed, is guidance. Thus if the intellectual, spiritual and material guidance of God continues and penetrates the existents, then it is a fact and through it we can understand that the universe and existents move on the path of evolution in the light of God. This path goes around the circle of possibility and the name of this rotation is the ascent and descent or evolution, because this light of God which has all the meanings of guidance, is not devoid of true justice. Thus when we can understand that every particle of the universe and existents is illumined by the light of Divine justice and guidance, why should we not admit that this light of oneness has strung the essences of things into one unity despite their being in their respective places? Therefore, we say that in comparison to the ranks of the existents, their honorific (sharafī) equality is closer to God's oneness and this point of view has all those beauties which should be in connection with the rights of God and the rights of (His) servants, etc.
The implication of the doctrine of the sages of the other group of equality is that the reality of the beginning and end of the universe and the existents is the same, and is the absolute being who is always self-existent and self-subsistent. Hence the concept of His non-existence in a particular time is absurd, because the concept of "pure non-existence" is not valid, there being no logical or rational proof of such a non-existence. Contrary to this, we can find proof of the fact that "non-existence" of a thing means that its different parts exist scattered in their wholes or universals. But these parts cannot be absent from the world absolutely, nor can this particular example be a proof of the non-existence of the universe, because one thing can be the example of the other, when both are alike in a true sense. For instance, if a thing comes into being in this world after thousands of years, and then disappears, we cannot take it as an example of the birth and extinction of the universe. The reason for this is that if this happened to that thing, then it is according to the particular law of "obstruction to one thing by another thing". Similarly, if it disappears after a certain time, then the reason for this is also the same particular law that other things put pressure on it and it wore out and became extinct. How can this example be true of the universe? If we suppose that the universe did not exist for billions of years and then it came or was brought into existence, and then after a certain time it will become extinct, then the following questions arise:
What was the power or obstacle against the creation of the universe, which caused so much delay in its creation? With what measure were duration and years counted, while the sun, heaven and other things through which time is determined were not there? Further, if the universe is going to be extinct, what is that great power which will cause its extinction?
The second group of sages view everything materialistically and say that the absolute existence (universe) is like an automatic machine which runs on its intrinsic movement, which has neither an obstacle, nor is there any machine like this cosmic machine.
In any case, our purpose here was only to establish how there can be eighteen thousand worlds of the universe, which have been discussed in detail. We now have to explain the remaining part of the blessed verse in which the creation of the heavens and earths and their resemblance is mentioned. That is, as already mentioned the knowledge of the oneness of the world of creation and the world of command is hidden in the realities. After this knowledge Divine power is mentioned, which implies that power can also be truly understood when the knowledge of oneness is attained. An example of the knowledge of oneness is that in the light of the Qur'ān and the realities of the universe, we have to see: Does God Himself accomplish all work of the universe, small or big, or is He the absolute King and only commands? If the answer is that He only commands, then we have to investigate the (nature of) the command (amr). The gist of this investigation is that His command is not like the order (hukm) of a king. He is above such an order, in the sense that His command, ("Be (kun") (for related verses and explanation of the command "Be" see "Balance of Realities", pp. 54-55) is not applicable to anything of the world of creation until its creation becomes perfect through its natural capacities. When a thing becomes perfect through this process, and a spiritual living picture is also prepared, only then is the Divine command finally applicable to it. That again is not in the sense of teaching and making one understand, but that He (only) says "Be". This is not in word and voice, but He only wills, and His will (iradah) is not like the human will which is a result of external or mental events and accidents, rather the "Divine will" in connection with creation, perfection and the spiritual form of a thing means that it comes into being exactly according to the "law of nature (qānūn-i fitrat)". Thus it is the law of nature which is the will and command of God, which is found in the universe and the existents.
In the light of the above-mentioned realities, we can now say that power (qudrat) is another name of nature (fitrat), which is found in everything according to its quiddity (mahiyyat). Thus the meaning of Allah's being powerful over everything is that everything functions according to its nature, but since the action of everything comes into being under the influence of all other existents, sometimes attributing it to the law of nature, it is said that God did it and sometimes it is attributed to the last agent, both of which are correct. Now if the Holy Qur'ān says: "Allah is powerful over everything", or "Allah does what He wills", what should we understand by this? Is it only a possibility or is it a fact? The answer is given in the above explanation in detail. It is because of this that the Qur'ān says: "Allah is He Who created seven heavens (which were seven earths before) and (the present seven) earths like them also (will create seven heavens after their perfect evolution). The command continues to descend among them so that you may know that Allah has power over everything (action) and Allah has encompassed everything with knowledge." (65:12), so that we, through the example of the world of creation and the example of the world of command (i.e. the planet earth and our own self) are able to think about those two worlds and understand how He is powerful to do everything and how He has encompassed everything with knowledge.
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