A Thousand Wisdoms - Chapter Qaf
Chapter Qaf
Tags: Qaf
665 - Qaf (1)
Supreme Pen:
In verse (50:1), it is said: "By Qaf (Supreme Pen) and the glorious Qur’an." The allusion made in this oath is that the Qur'an, which is in the Guarded Tablet, is written by the Supreme Pen.
666 - Qaf (2)
Mount Qaf:
By the Qaf is meant the mount of Intellect, as Mawla `Ali says: "I am the pearl of the oysters, I am the mount of Qaf.” That is, I am the unique pearl in which are gathered all purposes and I am the mount of Qaf upon which are the wonders and marvels of the world of Intellect." (For details see: Forty Keys: Key 33 "The Mount of Qaf"; Pure Intellect: "The Mount of Qaf", p.28)
667 - Qala an-Nabiyy
The Prophet said:
The holy Prophet said: "By He in Whose hand is my soul, the faith does not enter the heart of a servant who does not love my ahl-i bayt, for the sake of God and me." Here it is clear that the first and fundamental condition of true faith is the love for the holy ahl-i bayt. (Sharh, X, 483).
668 - Qala al-Baqir
Imam al-Baqir said:
"Whatever is said about God is about us and whatever is said about us is about those of our Shi`ahs who are advanced (bulagha'). (Ta'wilu'z-zakat, fol. 140).
669 - Qala Rasul Allah (1)
The Messenger of God said:
The holy Prophet said: "I have left behind among you two weighty things as a rope reaching the earth from heaven, one of them is greater than the other: the Book of Allah and my `itrat (progeny), the people of my house. They will never separate until they will come to me at the pond (of Kawthar)." These two unprecedented and magnificent things, each one of which is weightier than the heaven and the earth, or rather the entire universe, are the Qur'an and its Teacher (the Imam) whom the Prophet appointed as his khalifah or successor. It is they who are the rope of God which is stretched from the heaven to the earth in order to lift the people of the earth to the heaven. (Sharh, X, 481).
670 - Qala Rasul Allah (2)
The Messenger of God said:
The holy Prophet said: "I am leaving two weighty things among you. One of them is greater than the other: the Book of Allah which is as a rope which is stretched from the heaven to the earth, one end of which is with Allah and the other in your hands. So hold it fast and my progeny (together with it)." The Qur'an and the Imam in the world of oneness are one light which lasts forever like a rope (or pillar) stretched between the supreme Throne and the earth. (Sharh, X, 479).
671 - Qala `Aliyy
`Ali said:
Mawla `Ali said: "The Qur'an is revealed in quarters: One quarter is about us, one quarter about our enemies, one quarter consists of ways of life (siyar) and parables and one quarter consists of obligations and rules. And in favour of us are the most noble verses of the Qur'an." (Sharh, IX, 353).
672 - Qalib (1)
Mould, matrix, body:
It is said in a Hadith: The soul of the mu'min after death is in a body like his body in this world. (The only difference is that the worldly body was dense and the one after death is subtle and luminous) (Lughat, Qaf, p.142).
673 - Qalib (2)
Mould, dense body, subtle body:
According to the wisdom of the Hadith, another name which is used for the human body is "qalib (mould)". This is because of the fact that by the command of God, at the place of spirituality the body of the Perfect Man is actually used as a mould to make his countless copies, i.e. living pictures, by casting the Universal Soul into it. Take the example of Hazrat Dawud: each copy of his blessed mould is he himself, the personal world, enfolded universe, angel, subtle body as well as paradisiacal attire.
674 - Qalib (3)
Subtle body, garments, ibda`i body:
In verse (21:80) God mentions His great favours in these words: "And We taught him the art of making garments (labus) (of mail) for you." Here if we do not disclose the main favour of God by explaining the mithal and mamthul of the word labus, many questions may arise today about the mithal, i.e. the garments (of mail). Therefore, here we should say that the ta'wil of labus is the subtle body and that of Dawud is the Imam of the time.
675 - Qalib (4)
Paradisiacal attire, a miraculous man like a flying saucer:
Worldly attire has neither intellect nor soul nor sense and no movement, but the paradisiacal attire is adorned with the beauties of pure life and perfect intellect. Thus, it has as many names as it has functions, such as subtle body, ibda`i body, celestial body, astral body, angel, subtle man, a believing jinn, mihrab (fortress), sirbal (pl. sarabil, garment), rish (feathers), labus (attires), silk, etc. Thus, these are the luminous attires cast in the mould of the Revealed Light for mu'mins (male and female). The act of making them and its secret has been discussed in many of our writings.
676 - Qalib (5)
Living and conscious pictures:
Mawla `Ali has reported the following Hadith from Prophet Muhammad: “There will be a bazaar in paradise in which there will be no buying and selling, only the pictures of men and women. Whenever a person likes a picture, he enters it (i.e. becomes like it)”. (Tirmidhi, IV, 686). There is nothing in paradise without intellect and soul. Therefore, these pictures are the beautiful copies of chosen as well as common people, including the copies of `arifs and kamils, which are made during the individual resurrection.
677 - Qanit
Obedient to God, devout, constant in prayer, submissive:
O my dears! With the inner eye note the extremely marvellous wisdom in verse (16:120), which is that Hazrat Ibrahim was a great ummat in his personal world, and his characteristics were humility, submissiveness and remaining obedient to God and recognising Him. Although the entire universe was enfolded in him, here there is a reference to those obedient servants of God who were moulded in his blessed personality and had become his copies and that he was the Imam of the people.
678 - Qa'im
Hazrat Qa'im:
At the end of chapter 33 of Wajh-i Din, it is said: No one will be able to recognise Hazrat qa'im except through five hudud: Asas, imam, bab, hujjat and da`i. Hazrat Qa'im is mentioned everywhere in this excellent book. Read it carefully.
679 - Qabr (pl. qubur)
Grave:
Human personality consists of three things: body, soul and intellect. Therefore, the grave is also of three kinds: physical, spiritual and intellectual. This shows that the physical grave is only for the body, and the soul enters in one of the hudud-i din and that the intellectual grave is for the sake of the demonstration of wisdom.
680 - Qabas (1)
Live coal, firebrand, spark, flame, flame of burning wood:
Qabas or miqbas means the flame which is taken from a big fire. The fire which is mentioned in verses (20:10; 27:7; 28:29) in the Qur'anic story of Hazrat Musa, is the fire of love, the lamp of guidance and the light of Intellect as well. It is among the miracles of the wise Qur'an that unique secrets are hidden everywhere in it, as mentioned in verse (20:10): "When he saw a fire he said to his family: Wait here, verily I have seen (anastu) a fire." Here in anastu there is a subtle allusion. It was possible to use "ra'aytu" instead of "anastu", but in the latter there is an allusion to the ardent love and affection for the light, because the words which are derived from its root letters (hamzah, nun, sin) have the meanings of familiarity, kindness, love and solace.
681 - Qabas (2)
Spark of light:
Prior to the mention of the bringing of the spark of light or flame in verse (20:10), there is the mention of Allah's beautiful names in verse (20:8), which is an indication that by the grace of God, the True Guide can establish a luminous bridge of ism-i a`zam between himself and his followers. He can initially give them a spark of light and gradually perfect it, but there is the pre-requisite of love, knowledge and good deeds on the part of the followers.
682 - Qabas (3)
Flame of light:
If one of the names of light is sibghatu'llah (colour of Allah, 2:138), what is this colour like? It is an extremely pleasant, faith-illumining, soul-nourishing, amazing and miraculous in comparison to the most superb and attractive colours of this world. In such a case, how is it possible not to have ardent love and affection for it!
683 - Qiblah (1)
House of God:
In verse (10:87) God says: "And We revealed to Musa and his brother: provide some houses for your people in Egypt (misr) and make your houses qiblah (house of God) and establish prayers, and give glad tidings to the believers." This verse has an exoteric aspect and an esoteric aspect.
684 - Qiblah (2)
House of God:
Misr means a city, by which is meant the personal world. That is, according to the Divine command, Hazrat Musa and Hazrat Harun ordained in their personal world some hudud-i din as the houses of the community, so that they may be further elevated to the rank of qiblah (house of God) in which to establish true prayers, so that this may be glad tidings for the people of faith.
685 - Qiblah (3)
House of God:
In verse (24:36) God says: "(This lamp of Divine light is lit) in houses which Allah has commanded to be exalted, and His name to be remembered therein." The inner house of God is first in the hearts of Prophets, Imams and `arifs and then after the spiritual revolution it rises to their forehead, just as the Ka`bah was lifted to the heaven during Hazrat Nuh's deluge.
686 - Qiblah (4)
House of God:
By the command of God, Hazrat Ibrahim and Hazrat Isma`il had constructed a spiritual qiblah, in addition to the physical Ka`bah and this is why God says in verse (2:125): "Take as your place of prayer the maqam-i Ibrahim (place of standing of Ibrahim)." That is, you should perform the spiritual prayer in the spiritual Ka`bah like Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) did.
687 - Qur'an (1)
Qur'an:
It is said in a Hadith: "How many reciters of the Qur'an are such that the Qur'an curses them!" (Lughat, Qaf, p. 54). Such a curse means deprivation and separation from the treasures of the Qur'an.
688 - Qur'an (2)
Qur'an:
It is said in a Hadith: "Indeed, the Qur'an has a zahr (exoteric aspect) and a batn (esoteric aspect) and every batn goes up to seven batns or upto seventy batns." (al-Mizan, I, 7). These are the external and internal bounties of the True Religion as mentioned in verse (31:20): "And He has completed His favours upon you, both externally and internally."
689 - Qurrat a`yun
Coolness of the eyes:
In verse (32:17) the bounties of paradise are mentioned as follows: "No one knows what coolness of the eyes is kept hidden (ukhfiya) for them." From "ukhfiya (is kept hidden)" it becomes evident that paradise is not far; it is in front of us, i.e. it is in the personal world, but it is veiled. With respect to the coolness of the eyes, there can be three allusions such as: (a) all the bounties of paradise, (b) in paradise every wish related to children will be fulfilled, (c) for eyes there is every scene and every vision. However, God’s visions and manifestations are so sublime that it is only He Who can duly describe and praise each of His manifestations and visions.
690 - Qarin (1)
Companion:
It is said in a Hadith: "There is none among you except that he has a companion from among jinn and a companion from among angels”. The companions asked him: You also? He said: “Yes, indeed, I had also, but God helped me against the devil and he submitted to me."
691 - Qarin (2)
Companion:
It is said in verse (43:36): "And whosoever goes blind to the remembrance of the Beneficent, We appoint for him a devil who becomes a (constant) comrade." The wisdom of this verse is revealed by the Hadith in which it is mentioned that the heart of every individual has two ears where there are two companions, a devil and an angel. In the case of negligence the devil gets an opportunity to insinuate and in the case of constant Divine remembrance the angel gets an opportunity to inspire good thoughts.
692 - Qarin (3)
Companion:
This Divine law continues not only internally but also externally. That is, the Imam of the time is the supreme Name of God and His sacred remembrance. He who recognises the Imam of his time and remembers God through him escapes the major devil and is protected in the refuge of God. Thus the angel who is on one side of the human heart is a spark of the light of the Imam, and the devil, who is on the other side, is the soul of the enemies of the Imam.
693 - Qalb (1)
Heart:
In a sacred Hadith it is said: "I am contained neither by My heaven nor by My earth, but I am contained by the heart of My believing servant." (al-Mu`jam, p. 1265). That is, I am dwelling in the heart of My believing servant. We should know that such a perfect mu'min, in the mirror of whose heart God manifests, is the successor of the holy Prophet, namely the Imam who, in reality, is the mazhar of the Divine Light.
694 - Qalb (2)
Heart:
According to the great wisdom hidden in verse (8:24), the heart means the Imam, i.e. Hazrat qa’im (a.s.), who is the heart of every mu’min man and mu’min woman.
695 - Qalb (3)
Heart, the heart which is between the two fingers of God in the higher world:
It is reported in a Hadith: "There is not a heart but is between the two fingers of the Lord of the worlds." (Ibn Hanbal, IV, 182; Ibn Majah, I, 13). The ta'wili wisdom of this Hadith is extremely important, because God has given freewill to everybody and has not compelled anyone. Thus the ta'wil is that the representative of all hearts is the Pearl of Intellect and the fingers of the Lord are the Universal Intellect and the Universal Soul, jadd, fath and khayal. The two among them are the Intellect and the Soul, between which there is the demonstration of the Pearl in which are contained the keys of knowledge and wisdom. Otherwise, if we rely upon the exoteric aspect then the concept of freewill ceases to exist.
696 - Qalb salim (1)
Immaculate heart, sound heart:
It is the heart which is free from inner diseases and is always under God's providential care and guidance, as was the blessed heart of Hazrat Ibrahim (37:84).
697 - Qalb salim (2)
Sound heart:
In verse (26:89) is mentioned qalb-i salim, the sound heart, by which is meant a heart which has been illumined with the light of Imamat. In the case of such a mu'min, the Imam himself becomes his heart.
698 - Qamis (1)
Shirt:
Hazrat Yusuf said: "Go with this shirt of mine." (12:93). This miraculous shirt was the ibda`i body of the Imam. The shirt is like a veil and the one veiled is the Imam himself.
699 - Qamis (2)
Shirt:
In verse (12:93), quoting the words of Hazrat Yusuf, it is said: "Go with my shirt and put it on my father's face, he will become a seer again." This is a bright example of the miracle of the light of the Imam of the time, that he can cast the reflection of his light on a lover and can give him a copy of his ibda`i body. Hazrat Yusuf was both the physical and luminous son of Hazrat Ya`qub, but here it is necessary to know that all the weeping and shedding of tears of the latter was for the luminous vision of the luminous son.
700 - Qamis (3)
Shirt:
Question: In the example of Hazrat Ya`qub and Hazrat Yusuf, God transferred Imamat from the father to the son long before and then He separated them from one another and let the father weep profusely. What is the wisdom in this?
Answer: There is guidance for the people of faith in every example of the Prophets and Imams. Thus, between the Imam of the time and a true lover, there are many exalted links. One of them is that the Imam is the father and at a special place, i.e. the personal world, he is like a son also. For instance, the hujjat is the spiritual son of the Imam, but it is also true that in his personal world, the Imam is his luminous and intellectual son also. Thus, O my dears! there is an indication in the story of Hazrat Ya`qub for you to shed tears with ardent love for the spiritual didar of the luminous son of your personal world.
701 - Qiyamatuhu
His resurrection:
It is said in a Hadith: "He who dies, his resurrection takes place." (Ihya', IV, 64). In this Hadith there is the mention of the death of ma`rifat and the individual or minor resurrection, in which however, is hidden the major resurrection and it is this individual resurrection or spiritual revolution which is the ta'wil of the Qur'an also.
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