A Key to Wisdom - Explanation of the Preface to the Wahj-i Dīn
Explanation of the Preface to the Wahj-i Dīn
Tags: Wajh-i Din, Rational soul, Pairs, Subhan
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Praise be to the Exalted and Powerful Creator, Who created the external world from the internal world and showed the traces of the latter in the former, so that people may attain perfect certainty of His truth and unity through the observed proofs of these traces, and say that their Lord is True, as is clear from verse (41:53): "Soon We will show Our signs to them in the horizons (of this world), and within themselves until it becomes manifest to them that He is True."
Then He, the Absolute Wise, provided the human intellect a rare opportunity to demonstrate its rank and supremacy by closely investigating and examining these traces, as a result of which, it may be distinguished from all other things.
God, through His perfect power, has concealed the self-subsisting substance in the accident which does not subsist by itself. Thus in the dryness and wetness and cold and heat of the four elements, namely, earth, water, air and fire respectively, He has kept a substance, which if hypothetically removed, would cause the elements to vanish, but the substance itself will be able to remain without them. This is an example of substance and accident.
The Wise Creator made human bodies compatible with the rational soul, which came into being after the heavenly bodies, elements, minerals, vegetables and animals, etc., because the human bodies come into being as a result of their respective actions. And the purpose of joining the body with the soul is that every wise person may observe with insight that the soul, despite being a powerful substance, is in need of a body which is a weak accident. That is, the purpose of the life of the soul cannot be achieved without the body. Thus, no wise person should think that a subtle thing is free from a dense thing, just as a dense thing is in need of a subtle one. That is, a thing which does not have its own body is in need of a thing which has a body.
God, Who is the Maker of the pairs of opposite things, is free from all those attributes, including those which are logically considered to be contrary to or a pair of another thing, because a pair is the name of two contrary or opposite things, such as day and night, near and far, much and little, white and black, good and evil, just and unjust, etc. Thus, in reality, God does not have an attribute which has any contrariety whatsoever. The reason for this is that each of His creatures is in need of its opposite for its (own) recognition, but God neither needs anything, nor is there contrariety in His attributes whatsoever, just as on a black board one has to write with white chalk, and on white paper with black ink, etc. As the Holy Prophet has said in this regard: "Things are recognised by their contraries."
Every wise person with insight can see how excellently this Hadīth accords with Qur'ānic reality. God says: "He is Subhān (free from everything) Who has created all in pairs, from what the earth grows, and from themselves and from those which they do not know." (36:36).
One of the countless marvels and miracles of the Wise Qur'ān is that if in a verse one of the names of God is mentioned, it serves as the explanation of that particular name. Nonetheless, apparently its subject does not change. Thus in this blessed verse, in addition to the mention of the creation of all intellectual, spiritual and physical things in pairs, the explanation of the name "Subhān" is also given, which is one of His beautiful names. The implicit sense of this is that He is free from resembling His creatures whom He has created in pairs and from having their attributes, whether they are intellectual, spiritual or physical. This is because contrariety is found in the attributes of these things, due to which they are created in pairs. For instance, day and night are a pair. Now the more the day increases, the night decreases, and the more the night increases, the day decreases. Similarly good and evil are a pair. The more the good increases, the evil decreases, and the more the evil increases, the good decreases. This shows that God does not have an attribute which has a contrary.
May blessings be on the chosen Messenger of God, who is the most eloquent among Arabs and non-Arabs. He received revelation, i.e. negation-and-affirmation. The universal guidance, extensive elaboration and comprehensiveness in the meaning of this negation-and-affirmation are evident from the fact that it has been revealed in the form of a sacred book, called the Wise Qur'ān. The same negation-and-affirmation, with its perfect and complete number and quantity, has also been revealed in the form of a word, as well as in the form of a supreme name, or a letter. The same has continued on the blessed tongue of all Prophets and true Imams. Thus the message which the Prophets and the Imams conveyed to the people and the realities which they explained or the chain of guidance which still continues, is like the message of God conveyed by the Holy Prophet. The gist of this explanation is that the reality which the Holy Prophet had received by the name of negation-and-affirmation, or the Holy Qur'ān, or a word or the supreme name, etc., is a living light, and the above-mentioned names are its functions. Thus, God says: "And thus We revealed to you a spirit from Our command. You did not know what the Book (universe) was, nor the faith, but We made it a light by which We guide whomsoever We will of Our servants. Verily you guide to the right path." (45:52).
May blessings be on the holy name of the Prophet Muhammad, the Chosen, who is the interpreter of God's universal Book and His religion, the language of the Holy Qur'ān and the first founder of the laws (sharā'i`) of the Prophets, and may God's blessings be on his luminous, atomic body, which is the quintessence of the physical body, but free from it and its composition which consists of heat, cold, dryness and wetness. It is both visible and invisible simultaneously, because it is the subtle and astral body.
And may the blessings of God be on the pure soul of Imam `Alī, the secret of God, who is an unbounded treasure of the trust of knowledge and recognition, from which it is possible to attain a share of knowledge and recognition, if one strives for it. In fact, one can attain this share in the condition in which God and the Prophet have kept in him (Imam `Alī) for everyone as a trust according to his cyclical and local needs. And may the blessings of God be on their (the Holy Prophet and Imam `Alī's) progeny, who are the Jalālī (majestic) angels of this world and the next and the true guides of the path, which is called the straight path and the final destination of which is the same treasure of knowledge and wisdom, namely, Imam `Alī, about whom the Holy Prophet says: "O `Alī! the straight path is the name of your path and the final destination is also your destination", where the people receive spiritual comfort and peace.
Wa's-salām (peace)!
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