A Thousand Wisdoms - Chapter Za' (ظ)
Chapter Za'
Tags: Za'
546 - Zahir (1)
Apparent, manifest, external, visible:
In verse (57:3) God says about His holy light: "He (i.e. the light of God) is the first, the last, the apparent and the hidden, and He knows everything."
547 - Zahir (2)
Apparent, manifest:
In verse (24:35) the ideal explanation (of light) starts with the name of "Allah" from which it appears as if this sublime and most beautiful example is that of His Essence. But when a person with insight comes to the phrase "the similitude of His light" in this verse, he becomes certain that it belongs to His light, and which is further affirmed by "light upon light" and it becomes more evident by the blessed words "Allah guides unto His light whomsoever He wills". The first, the last, the apparent and the hidden are among the names of His light.
548 - Zahir (3)
Apparent, manifest:
The best example of light is the sun which is manifest, not only itself, but it makes manifest all those things which are concealed by the darkness of the night. Centuries would not suffice to do research on what and how many benefits of the material sun accrue to the solar system and the planet earth, so how can it be possible to count or assess the grace and blessings of the sun of the world of religion, namely the Imam of the time?
549 - Zahir (4)
Apparent, manifest:
The holy light of God is always manifest in this world. Had he not been manifest, living and present, and was absent and invisible, then the unbelievers would not have attempted to extinguish it (61:8), because it is impossible to intend to extinguish something which is hidden and invisible.
550 - Zill (pl. zilal) (1)
Shadow:
In verse (56:30) there is the mention of the bounties of paradise for the people of the right hand and one of them is: "And spread shadow."
Question: What is this spread shadow?
Answer: By the spread shadow is meant the totality of the external and internal universe in the sense that the Universal Intellect is the shadow of the Universal Command and the Universal Soul is the shadow of the Universal Intellect and the shadow of the Universal Soul is the world of the subtle body and the dense body. This also shows that the sovereignty of the people of paradise will be over the people of this world.
551 - Zill (2)
Shadow:
See verses (25:45-46): "Have you not seen your Lord, how He has spread the shadow? If He willed He would certainly have made it still. Then We made the sun a guide to it. Then We seized it easily in Our hand." In this wisdom-filled verse there is an allusion to the fact that in the night of mi`raj, the holy Prophet not only had the vision (didar) of God, but he also observed how He spreads the universe of the earth and the heaven and how He easily enfolds and seizes it in His hand.
552 - Zill (3)
Shadow:
God created the Universal Intellect from the Universal Command (Word "Be") as its shadow and the Universal Soul from the Universal Intellect as its shadow and the Universal Body (subtle and dense) as its shadow. Thus, all external and internal bounties are mentioned in the word shadow.
553 - Zilal (sing. zill) (1)
Shadows:
God has created shadows of all sacred things of the world of religion in the personal world, particularly those of the Universal Intellect, the Universal Soul, natiq, asas, as well as of jadd, fath, khayal, imam, hujjat and da`i. (16:81; 25:45).
554 - Zilal (2)
Shadows:
God says: "And God has made shadows for you of what He has created." (16:81). In this verse there is also the wisdom-filled allusion that man is always in the higher world and his shadow is sent to the lower world. According to this proof it is a fact that each individual has two "I's" (higher "I" and lower "I").
555 - Zilal (3)
Shadows:
"And Allah has made for you the shadows of what He has created." (16:81). The beautiful spiritual and intellectual shadows of all things are in the personal world.
556 - Zilal (4)
Shadows:
It is said in verse (16:48): "All the things Allah has created cast their shadows to the right and to the left, prostrating themselves to Allah." The shadow on the right hand means the physical existence and the shadow on the left hand means the subtle or inner existence.
557 - Zulumat (sing. zulmah)
Darknesses:
It is said in verse (39:6): "He creates you in the womb of your mothers, creation after creation, in three darknesses."
Question: What are these three darknesses?
Answer: Physical darkness, spiritual darkness and intellectual darkness. This shows that light too, is of three kinds: material light, spiritual light and intellectual light.
558 - Zalum
Very unjust, very dark:
It is said in verse (33:72): "Verily We offered the trust (choice and responsibility of recognition) to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and were afraid of it, but man undertook it, verily he was unjust (and) ignorant (or very dark and ignorant)." Since man is very dark and ignorant, he needs light and intellect which can be attained only by bearing this burden of trust.
559 - Zann
Opinion:
Good opinion is lawful and evil opinion is forbidden, as mentioned in verse (49:12): "O you who believe, avoid much suspicion, for verily, suspicion in some cases is a sin."
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