Book of Healing - Spiritual Healing - Excellence of Intellect and Wisdom
Excellence of Intellect and Wisdom
Tags: Intellect, Wisdom, lubb, nuhyah, ulu'l-albab, Sakinat
1. It is said in a noble Hadith that when God, may His glory be glorified, created the intellect, He granted it speech and said to it: "Come forward! It came forward. Then He said: Go back! It went back. Then He said: By My honour and majesty! I have not created a thing more beloved than you and I will perfect you in the one whom I like". In another Hadith, the holy Prophet says: God Almighty has not created a creature which is more honoured with Him than the intellect.
2. Regarding the intellect, Hazrat `Ali, may peace be upon him, says:
Al-`aqlu `aqlan Matbu`un wa masmu`un "The intellect is of two kinds: Innate and acquired by listening. Wa-la yanfa`u masmu`un Idha lam yaku matbu`un The intellect acquired by listening does not help; If the innate intellect is not there. Kama la-yanfa`u daw'u'sh-shamsi Wa-daw'u'l-`ayni mamnu`un As the light of the sun does not help; If the eye is deprived of light." (Lughatu'l-Qur'an, Nu`mani II, pg. 147).
3. Another name for the intellect is lubb, the plural of which is albab. Lubb means that which is free from every kind of adulteration. Lubb means the gist and essence of everything. Since the unadulterated intellect also is the gist and essence of man, therefore, it is called lubb. According to some, it also means pure. In short, every lubb is intellect but every intellect cannot be called lubb. It is because of this that the glorious Qur'an relates all those principles, which only the pure intellects can comprehend, to the "ulu'l-albab (those who have lubb)" (Nu`mani).
4. Intellect is also called nuhyah (pl. nuha). Nuhyah is derived from naha which means to prevent. Since the intellect also prevents man from shameful actions and improper things, therefore, it is also called nuhyah and the word "ulu'n-nuha (people of intellect)" is mentioned twice in the wise Qur'an (20:54,20:128).
5. In verse (29:43) it is said: "And those similitudes We strike them for the people, but none understand (ya`qilu-ha) them save those who possess knowledge (al-`alimun)". In this verse there is an allusion to the perfect intellect, mentioned in the beginning, which is in the divine `ulama'. It is these `ulama' who, by the grace and help of God, understand Qur'anic similitudes. Thus, such a noble intellect, which acts at this level, has paramount excellence.
6. The intellect attains perfection from the observations and studies of the earth of the personal world, which is the earth of spirituality, as it is said: "Have they not travelled in the land (of the personal world) and have they hearts wherewith to understand (ya`qilun) and ears wherewith to hear? For, indeed it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts, which are within the bosoms, that grow blind." (22:46). In this noble verse, man is invited to the recognition of his soul (self) so that it may lead him to the recognition of the Lord and therefore the opening of the eye of the heart forever.
7. The door of the recognition of the self and of God, opens only in the personal world. Those fortunate ones who attain this recognition can also reflect and ponder upon the external world and understand it, as it is said in verse (2:164): "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, and the ships which sail across the sea with that which is of use to men, and the water which God sends down from the sky, thereby reviving the earth after its death, and dispersing all kinds of beasts therein, and (in) the ordinance of the winds, and the clouds obedient between heaven and earth; are signs for those people who understand (ya`qilun)."
8. It is a true exegesis of a holy verse that religious intellect and knowledge are the greatest means of purity and in contrast to this, ignorance is the greatest impurity. This guidance and teaching is given in verse (10:100): "And He lays impurity (of disbelief and ignorance) upon those who do not understand (la ya`qilun)." That is, to remain outside of Islam (submission) and Amin (faith), is such an impurity that it cannot be washed away by any means.
9. We also have to see and know in the very light of the holy Qur'an what is that basic sin, due to which, let alone vice, virtue also turns into vice and eventually its perpetrator becomes bound for Hell. The answer to this is found in verse (67:10): "And they will say: Had we listened or understood, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire." From this verse, it is clear that the intellect is both Paradise and the path to Paradise and ignorance is both Hell and the fetters of Hell.
10. Now examine carefully those sixteen places in the glorious Qur'an where ulu'l-albab or the people of intellect are mentioned, and how God has linked all good deeds and beauties to the perfect intellect and how there is not a single bounty which is not spread on the dining table of the intellect and wisdom. For, it is the intellect which is called wisdom, by granting which abundant good is also granted (2:269). Now take note and be happy that one hidden name of intellect and knowledge is light. Yes, it is a fact that when the intellect reaches the level of perfection, the people of ma`rifat know it by the name of light. For, many meanings, such as, intellect, knowledge, ma`rifat, guidance, light and certainty, are in reality one and the same.
11. The wise Qur'an is full of the mention of darajat or ranks everywhere and there is no doubt that those ranks are based on knowledge, i.e. intellect, and the good deeds (which you can see). One blessed verse related to this subject indicates that the ranks reach the Supreme Throne (40:15). The number of these ranks can be different according to different examples. Nonetheless, in the light of verse (70:3-5), it can be said that these ranks comprise fifty thousand years. That is, a man who is at a remote distance, has to climb fifty thousand rungs of the soul and intellect to become fana' fi'llah or annihilated in God. In this example, the concept of people with respect to rungs and degrees is correct, but the subject of the Divine will is separate from it and is a special subject.
12. The holy Prophet was the revealed light (nur-i munazzal) and the luminous lamp (5:15; 33:46), in the sense of the light of intellect and the light of guidance. Therefore, we can say with absolute certainty that this heavenly light of the intellect and wisdom was not only illumining the assemblies of the people of faith in the external world, but its greatest work and miracle was to illumine their hearts, and this actually happened. For illness is in the heart (as mentioned in verse (2:10)) and the same illness is also darkness. Thus the main work of light is in the heart of a believing servant and that is to remove every kind of darkness of intellect and soul and to spread light in its place, so that the inner senses may wake up from the sleep of ignorance and start their work.
13. The sound heart is the name of the light of intellect and the sick heart is the name of the darkness of ignorance. These two opposites or contraries have many respective names. Some of these names are mentioned here as an example, so that the people of wisdom may know the law that in everything of the Qur'an, (20:98, namely, every verse) there is the mention of intellect and knowledge. Whatever may be mentioned apparently, yet in it are hidden the precious gems of intellect and wisdom.
| The Sound Heart and The Sick Heart | |
|---|---|
| Light of Intellect | Darkness of Ignorance |
| Light of submission & faith | Darkness of disbelief & hypocrisy |
| Light of guidance | Darkness of polytheism |
| Light of knowledge & wisdom | Darkness of ignorance |
| Light of remembrance & worship | Darkness of oblivion & negligence |
| Light of truth & reality | Darkness of falsehood |
| Light of truthfulness & certainty | Darkness of lie & doubt |
| Light of obedience | Darkness of disobedience |
| Light of love & affection | Darkness of enmity & grudge |
| Light of insight | Darkness of benightedness |
| Light of good | Darkness of evil |
| Light of recognition | Darkness of denial (to recognise) |
14. If it has become possible for the misleading (muzill) Satan to spread the darkness of disturbing thoughts in the hearts of people, then on the other hand, according to Divine justice, it has also become possible for the True Guides to erase darkness from their hearts, by illumining them with the light of guidance. A bright example of this great feat is in verse (6:122): "Is he who was dead and We have raised him unto life, and set for him a light through which he walks within men, as him whose similitude is that of the one who is in darknesses from where he cannot emerge?"
15. There is a veil on the great wisdom of the above-mentioned blessed verse, which is: Mayt (dead) has three meanings: (a) See verse (2:28): "And you were dead (amwatan)." (b) Death before death, which happens to the Perfect Men. (c) In comparison to the luminous life of the Perfect Man, his previous life was no more than a death. Then see the meaning of "fi'n-nas (in the people)": Is the extent of the light simply to walk amongst the people externally, or does it have a very great meaning? Reflect deeply on this.
16. It is said in a Hadith: "Beware of the perspicacity of the mu'min who sees through the light of God" (Ahadith-i Mathnawi, p. 14). Who can such a mu'min, who is at the perfect level of faith, be? Such a mu'min can only be the Perfect Man, namely, the wali. Other mu'mins who, according to this command, cannot be at this level of light, need to fear the rank of light. However, it is possible for them to progress and annihilate themselves in the Perfect Guide.
17. The perfection of the intellect and knowledge lies in the signs and miracles which appear in spirituality. Full-fledged spirituality starts from the stage where there is Hazrat Israfil as well as Hazrat `Izra'il, and in which the dead are revived and shown spiritual and intellectual miracles. Such an observation is only possible for a fortunate mu'min when he slaughters the ox of his carnal soul with the knife of knowledge, `ibadat and spiritual exercise (2:73).
18. The light of intellect is a living word, which continues to have a luminous and wisdom-filled conversation in the heart and mind of the siddiqin (the truthful) and shuhada' (martyrs, witnesses) (57:19). A bright example of this is that of Hazrat Maryam, in whom the light of Hazrat `Isa was revealed in the form of a Word (4:171). Hazrat Ibrahim also made this light an enduring Word in his children under the title of the lasting Word (43:28). In short, light is not only the name of the illumination of the inner eye, but it also illumines all spiritual and intellectual powers like an unprecedented and unique sun.
19. Sakinat means satisfaction, consolation of the heart, tranquillity, peace. If it is God-inspired, then it is called a spiritual miracle and is far superior to physical peace. The revelation of this magnificent sakinat is mentioned in the wise Qur'an. For instance, see verse (48:26) in which, the kalimah-yi taqwa (word of piety), which was a Supreme Name and was affixed to the heart and mind of the mu'mins, is also mentioned with the revelation of sakinat. That is, previously the chain of Divine remembrance used to discontinue despite tremendous effort, but now by the grace of God, due to sakinat, the light of remembrance started to repeat itself automatically and continued without any interruption.
20. The Surah-yi Ya-Sin is the heart of the Qur'an and the blessed verse (36:83) which is at its end, is the gist and essence which contains the allusion (isharah) to the beginning and the end of the Divine word and act and the pearl of the universe and the existents. That pearl in the hand of God is malakut, which is the world of intellects in which intellectual unity is found. Therefore, the world of intellect is one, but in it innumerable things are represented and the intellectual manifestations are countless. Thus the greatest excellence of the intellect is that it is the heavenly and earthly malakut which contains everything and is perfected only in the one whom God, the Exalted, loves.
Nasir Hunzai,
London,
19 Safaru'l-muzaffar, 1409
1st October, 1988.
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