Book of Healing - Spiritual Healing - Eye of Certainty and Recognition (`Aynu'l-yaqin and Ma`rifat)
Eye of Certainty and Recognition (`Aynu'l-yaqin and Ma`rifat)
Tags: Eye of Certainty, Recognition, Ma`rifat, `Aynu'l-Yaqin, `arrafa, Inner eye, Basirat
1. Tawhid and the recognition of God, i.e. God's practical recognition is the most effective medicine for the soul and intellect and the means of superb health as well. For, God has created man with all religious and worldly resources and means, by using which, he may enrich himself with the everlasting wealth of His recognition and thus attain all those bounties frequently mentioned in the wise Qur'an, which are infinite, imperishable and unending.
2. The pleasing and soul-nourishing subject of ma`rifat begins with that very Primordial Man, the Father of man, Hazrat Adam, as God says: "And He taught Adam all the names, and then presented the named ones to the angels...." (2:31). It is evident to a clear sighted eye that this Divine teaching, which is related to the realities and gnoses, was given to Hazrat Adam, the Chosen of God, spiritually. Therefore, this knowledge became a heavenly treasure for the angels. No one should doubt that God had specially given His vicegerent the knowledge of the beautiful names (7:180), in the illumination of which, he had seen all the secrets of ma`rifat, by observing with the eye of certainty.
3. See the subject of "" in the book "Healing through Knowledge". Indeed, there is nothing without a pair because it is only God Who is pairless. Accordingly, no fruit of knowledge of the Qur'an is alone, rather it is a sum of two. For instance, take the phrase "children of Adam", which has a common and a special meaning. The common meaning is known to all and therefore, it is necessary here to explain only the special meaning, which is that in reality, the children of Adam are the Prophets and the awliya'. For, it is in their succession that the excellence, vicegerency and spirituality of Hazrat Adam continue hereditarily and it is with them that the treasure of knowledge of the names of Hazrat Adam, the Chosen, has remained hidden.
4. In verse (7:172), it is said: "And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam (Prophets and awliya'), from their backs, their descendants (particles of the soul), and made them to see (and recognise) their own soul (and asked them): "Am I not your Sustainer? They said: Yes! we bear witness (because we have seen that You are our Sustainer)." Here it is necessary to know that every Prophet and every wali observed this miracle, which took place in the light of spirituality and ma`rifat, individually in his own time. It should also be remembered that ash-shuhud and ash-shahadah mean to be present and to observe with either the eye or insight. They are also used for simply: "To be present". (Mufradatu'l-Qur'an, pp. 274-75). This means that Perfect Men observe the soul with the eye of certainty and there is the renewal of similitudes of the event of alast (Am I not?) in each of their personal worlds, so that the means of attaining ma`rifat should not be lacking.
5. Another synonym of ma`rifat is yaqin, as it is clear from verse (6:75): "And thus did We show Ibrahim the (spiritual) kingdom so that he may be among the `arifin (muqinin)". See also verse (51:20): "And in the earth there are signs for the people of ma`rifat (muqinin)". Thus, `aynu'l-yaqin means the eye of ma`rifat and this rank comes after `ilmu'l-yaqin or the knowledge of certainty (102:5-7).
6. How excellently the wise Qur'an, which is the fountainhead of knowledge, ma`rifat and truthfulness, reminds us of the universal principle of Hazrat Ibrahim: "Then whoever follows me, is surely of me" (14:36). That is, whoever acts upon my religion in the real sense, will be annihilated in me (i.e. the Prophet) and will be merged in my spiritual and intellectual being and except for the external Prophethood and Messengership, will attain all the ranks of ma`rifat. The same purport is found in verse (4:69), which is revealed about those who have received the Divine favours, namely, the Prophets, awliya', shuhada' and salihin, whose spiritual and intellectual companionship can be attained by anyone who truly obeys God and the Prophet.
7. The purport of the wisdom-filled verse (5:44) is: God revealed the Torah, whose spiritual aspect alone was preserved and free from every kind of interpolation, hence bright guidance, the speaking light and the treasure of ma`rifat were in its spirituality. Thus Hazrat Musa and all the Prophets of his cycle, who had submitted their self and "I" to God at the place of ma`rifat, used to guide the Jews in the light of this spiritual Torah. The same was also done by the people of God and the `ulama', for they had memorized the knowledge and wisdom from the (spiritual) Torah when they had observed the renewal of similitudes of its revelation with `aynu'l-yaqin or the eye of certainty. In this sense they were present at the place of revelation and also witnesses (5:44) of it. This example, like a key to a very great treasure, is extremely important.
8. When the word shahid is related to the spiritual aspect of man, it is used in four senses simultaneously:
- the one slain in the path of God,
- the one who has been present at the spiritual and intellectual places,
- the one who has observed the renewal of similitudes of the spiritual and intellectual miracles and
- the one who is the eye-witness of these events.
In fact, these are the four virtues of a mu'min walking on the spiritual path. A bright example of this is in verse (57:19): "And those who (duly) believe in God and His Messengers, are those who are siddiqin (the truthful) and shuhada' with their Sustainer. For them there is their reward and their light (not only in the Hereafter, but in this world also)" (57:19). It is obvious that here the word shahid can be used in the four meanings mentioned above.
9. The blessed verse (47:6) in which the word "`arrafa" is mentioned, is an extremely important and decisive verse about observation with `aynu'l-yaqin and ma`rifat. The word `arrafa, which is in the past form, means "He made it to be recognised". The complete verse is: "Wa yudkhiluhumu'l jannata `arrafaha lahum (And He will usher them in Paradise which He has made them to recognise)". This clearly shows that ma`rifat is not only attainable, but is very necessary to attain.
10. As in the material world, there are two means to see a thing: the sun and the eyes, so to observe the signs (miracles 51:21) of the spiritual world or the personal world, it is necessary to have the `aynu'l-yaqin in addition to the light of ma`rifat. For the great purposes of light cannot be attained without the eye of certainty. Therefore, wherever in the Qur'an light is mentioned, the great importance of the eye of certainty is also necessarily alluded to. Further, in this connection, the glorious Qur'an is not only content with allusions, but has also severely condemned the blindness of the inner eye.
11. The holy Prophet, by the command of God, started the mission of Islam in such a way that, he used to invite people to what he had seen in the illumination of the light of ma`rifat with the inner eye. In order to understand this reality one should reflect upon verses (4:105; 12:108). There can be neither any doubt nor any amazement in this fact, for God has sent His beloved Prophet after making him a living light (5:15) and a luminous lamp (33:46). Neither can there be any amazement in how a person, being annihilated in the light (i.e. the Prophet), turns into light. For such amazement will be tantamount to asking how wood turns into fire when it is thrown into a burning fire?
12. It is known to everyone that man, in reality, is the most eminent of creatures. In such a case, how can a wise person accept that he cannot attain light and the inner eye (basirat) in this life, while the glorious Qur'an, in view of the possible progress of humanity and the excellence of the foremost ones, says that man can see (75:14) and recognise his own soul. For, in his existence, he is not only flesh, skin and body, but also soul, intellect and the inner eye (75:14). There is very great wisdom in this noble verse.
Monday, 22 Jumada I, 1409
2nd January, 1989.
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