A Thousand Wisdoms - Chapter Fa'
Chapter Fa'
Tags: Fa'
642 - Fatimah (1)
Daughter of the Prophet, chief of the ladies of paradise:
It is said in a Hadith: "Fatimah is the chief of the women of paradise." (Bukhari, Cairo,V, 36; Delhi, V, 74). This Hadith is among the proofs of the greatness of the holy ahl-i bayt. This Hadith shows that Fatimah is the sovereign of the women of paradise, because there is sovereignty for the great people of faith. (see verse 76:20).
643 - Fatimah (2)
Chief of the ladies of the believers:
The holy Prophet said to Hazrat Fatimah: "Are you not happy to be the chief of the ladies of the mu’mins, or the chief of the ladies of this community." (Bukhari, Delhi, IV, 527; Cairo, IV, 248; Muslim, IV, 1906).
644 - Fatimah (3)
Chief of the ladies of the world:
The holy Prophet said to Hazrat Fatimah: "Are you not happy that you are the chief of the ladies of the worlds." Fatimah said: My dear father, where is Maryam? He said: She is the chief of the ladies of her time and you are the chief of the ladies of your time and your husband is the chief in this world and in the next." (al-Isti`ab, II, 750)
645 - Fatimah (4)
Chief of the ladies of paradise:
Once the holy Prophet drew four lines on the ground and asked the people: “Do you know what this is? They said: God and His Prophet know better. The holy Prophet said: They are Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad, Khadijah, daughter of Khuwaylid, Maryam, daughter of `Imran and Asiyah, daughter of Mazahim (wife of Pharoah). They have the greatest superiority over the ladies of paradise”. (Ibid., II, 750).
646 - Fajr
Dawn, the dawn of azal:
The surah of Qadr (97), although it consists of only five verses, is full of numerous universal wisdoms and realities of the cycle of resurrection. The last of these verses reads: “It (the night of Qadr) is peace, till the break of dawn.” Ta’wil: The age of the hujjat-i qa’im is the source of spiritual help till the dawn of azal breaks. Since everything rotates on a circle (21:33; 36:46), therefore the spiritual journey returns to the direction of azal where the dawn of resurrection breaks, as it is said in the Qur’an (79:44): “To your Lord is its (i.e. resurrection) termination.”
647 - Fida' (1)
Sacrifice, ransom, recompense:
It is reported by Mawla `Ali that the holy Prophet never uttered "May my father and mother be sacrificed for you" for anyone except Sa`d bin Waqqas. On the day of the battle of Uhud, the Prophet said to him: "Shoot (your arrow)! May my father and mother be sacrificed for you (Irmi fidaka abi wa ummi)!” (Muslim, IV, 1876; Tirmidhi, V, 650)
648 - Fida' (2)
To sacrifice, to ransom, to recompense, to be ready to lay down one’s life:
How deep and full of wisdom is the above-mentioned Hadith of the holy Prophet, who was the most illustrious, matchless, unique and the beloved of God in the heavens and the earth. The word fida' comes from fidyah, which in its different forms is used thirteen times in the Qur'an, the brightest example of which is verse (37:107): "And We ransomed him (fadaynahu) with a great sacrifice (i.e. ram)." The ta'wil of this is that Hazrat Isma`il underwent an inner and spiritual sacrifice, which is greater than the physical one.
649 - Fida' (3)
To be sacrificed:
According to me sacrifice has two aspects, and so there are two kinds of sacrifice: one is ascending and one descending. For instance, the fuel which falls into the sun, is an ascending sacrifice and the light which the sun emits and spreads throughout the universe is a descending sacrifice. Similarly, the melting of mu'mins in the love of the Imam is an ascending sacrifice whereas the radiation of his light upon them is a descending sacrifice.
650 - Farash (sing. farashah)
Moths, butterflies:
It is mentioned in verse (101:4): "The day (i.e. Day of Resurrection) on which human beings shall be like scattered moths." The wisdom-filled allusion of this verse is that due to the darkness and dreadfulness of the resurrection, all the moths of soul will scatter around the lamp of the light of Imamat, as mentioned in another related verse (17:71): "The day when We will invite every people (of the time) with their Imam."
651 - Furqan (1)
To differentiate between true and false:
The children of Israel are addressed in verse (2:53): "And (remember) when We gave unto Musa the Book and the furqan (the compendium of miracles, the differentiator between right and wrong) that you may be guided aright." The word "furqan" is primarily an infinitive, which means to decide between right and wrong, to distinguish, to differentiate. It is also used as a present participle, i.e. the one who differentiates between right and wrong. Thus, it is used in the noble Qur’an in the sense of the light of the heart of a mu'min, Divine grace, Divine speech and miracle (Qamus, p. 399). The means of guidance which God had given for the cycle of Hazrat Musa were the Book, the Prophet (Musa), the Imam (Harun) and furqan (miracles). Similarly, for the cycle of the holy Prophet, for the sake of guidance, He gave four very great things, which are: the wise Qur’an, the holy Prophet, the Exalted Imam and the ta'wils of the Qur'an which are the intellectual miracles of the Prophet and the Imam.
652 - Furqan (2)
Torah and miracles:
It is mentioned in verse (21:48): "And verily, We granted to Musa and Harun the criterion (Torah) and a light and remembrance for the righteous ones (muttaqin)." Here you should remember the Hadith in which Mawla `Ali is compared with Imam Harun and recognise the rank of the ta'wil of Mawla `Ali. Also be sure that through the light of Prophethood and the light of Imamat, all miracles of the heavenly Book related to soul, intellect, knowledge and recognition come to the righteous ones who are attached to the remembrance of the supreme Name, because all these miracles are eventually for them.
653 - Furqan (3)
Spirit and spirituality of the Qur'an:
It is said in verse (8:29): "O you who believe! If you fear God, He will grant you a furqan (i.e. the esoteric knowledge of the Qur'an)." In order to have wider knowledge of the Qur'an, study its different translations too. According to me, this verse also has the same purport of the above-mentioned verse that the spiritual and intellectual miracles of the Qur'an are for those who fear God.
654 - Furqan (4)
Luminous miracles:
According to Mujahid, "Ramazan" is one of the names of God, and just as the month of God is called "shahru'llah" in the same way it is called “shahru Ramazan” (Lughatu'l-Qur’an, III, 98, see also Lughat, Ra’, p. 134). This confirms the ta'wil of Ramazan quoted in Wajh-i Din, of the verse (2:185) which is: "The month of Ramazan is the person in whom the Qur'an is revealed (in the form of ta'wil)”. That is, the wasiyy (legatee) of the holy Prophet, so that he may guide the people on the right path and distinguish its clear proofs”. (Wajh, pp. 253-54).
655 - Firru!
Run!:
God says in verse (51:50): "So, you run unto Allah!" The wisdom-filled allusion of "running" is that every work of religion should be accomplished with full vigour and promptness. For instance, if the open or hidden dhikr (remembrance) is not satisfactory, what then can be the reason for it other than laziness? So, its remedy is that you should run unto Allah, i.e. you should do rapid dhikr.
656 - Fasl al-khitab
Decisive speech, clear statement:
In verse (38:20) it is said about the physical and spiritual kingdom of Hazrat Sulayman: "And We made his kingdom strong and gave him wisdom and decisive speech." Ta'wil: The practical recognition of the Pearl of Intellect is called wisdom (hikmat) and that of the Divine Word (kalimah-yi bari) is called decisive speech (faslu'l-khitab).This secret of secrets (sirru'l-asrar) is so great and so hidden that I am scared to divulge it, therefore this much explanation will suffice here.
657 - Fitrah (1)
Creation, formation, law of nature:
The law of nature can be defined in many ways. One pre-eminent definition is that God created Hazrat Adam in His surat-i Rahman and when his children enter paradise, they also become in the image of their father. That is, they are also created on the surat-i Rahman (see Surah).
658 - Fitrah (2)
Creation, formation, law of nature:
In verse (30:30) the Qur'an says: "So set your (spiritual) face devotedly to the religion of qa’im (i.e. become annihilated in surat-i Rahman and become surat-i Rahman). The (intellectual and luminous) creation of God is the one according to which He created people”. (That is, physical creation is followed by spiritual creation after which there is finally the intellectual creation, in which one has to be created in the surat-i Rahman like Hazrat Adam).
659 - Fitrah (3)
Creation, formation, law of nature:
In the same verse (30:30) God continues: "There is no change in (the special and intellectual) creation of God and this is the religion of the qa’im (but most people do not know)". It is inconceivable that people are created from God as such, rather they are created from the reflection of the surat-i Rahman, i.e. the Single Soul or Adam. Adam or the Single Soul embraced all of them. Thus when the people begin to merge in their origin, they regain the same image of Adam, which they used to have originally.
660 - Fitrah (4)
Religion of Islam:
It is narrated in a Hadith: "Every child is born according to nature (Islam), then it is his parents who make him a Jew, or Christian or Magus." (Mishkat, I, 194). The greatest secret here is that fitrah is used in the sense of the religion of Islam. How can the law of nature and law of religion be two, while Islam itself is the religion of nature? That is, Islam is the religion which is exactly according to the law of creation.
661 - Fitrah (5)
Religion of Islam:
The wisdom of this Hadith is that potentially every child of the nations of the world is born according to nature (Islam) and then through progress, gradually he can eventually actualise within himself all the beauties of Islam. But, it is necessary to observe what the influence of parents is upon him. If the parents were unable to influence their children at all, then the wise Qur’an would not have said: "O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from the fire (of hell)." (66:6)
662 - Fulk
Boat, ship, the personal world of the manifest Imam:
The Imam of the time is Nuh's Ark, just as mentioned in verses (36:41-42): "A sign unto them is that We bore their spiritual particles (dhurriyyat) in (his) laden ark and We have created for them the like of it whereupon they ride." The blessed personal world of the true Imam has continued to be the inner ark in which there is the world of particles, so that the particles of all things and all human beings may be preserved in it.
663 - Fana'
Annihilation, death, spiritual death:
O my dears! There is no doubt that the Imam of the time is your pure soul (or Holy Spirit). Thus, you should try to attain this pure soul by being annihilated in him through ardent love, knowledge and true obedience, so that you may be liberated from the torment of ignorance. You have heard and seen time and again that the soul of minerals is vegetable and the additional soul of vegetables is animal and the conscious soul (rational soul) of animals is the human soul and the Holy Spirit of all human beings is the Imam of the time, because in order to go to God's presence, there are the ladders of spiritual progress (70:3).
664 - Fi'llah
About God:
Imam Muhammad al-Baqir says: “Whatever is said about God is about us, and whatever is said about us, is about those of our Shi`ah who are advanced (bulagha’).” (Ta'wilu'z zakat, fol. 140). This is a unique and everlasting treasure of recognition.
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