Book of Healing - Spiritual Healing - Following the Prophets and their Companionship

Following the Prophets and their Companionship

1. What scarcity of the bounty of knowledge can there be in the supreme Paradise of the Qur'an for those fortunate mu'mins who are in love with the Qur'anic wisdoms! Then let us thank God, the Exalted and try to attain the bliss of reflecting on His mighty Book. God willing, this pure act will prove to be the cure of our spiritual diseases. It is a fact that the most effective prescriptions of heavenly medicine lie in the secrets of the Qur'an.

2. Through the allusion of teaching, it is commanded in the noble Qur'an: "Guide us on the straight path, the path of those upon whom You have showered favours." It is clear that by the command of God, mu'mins have to walk on the path of Islam and go further and further. But this great task can be accomplished only in the illumination of the light of guidance, which can be attained through the Prophets and the awliya'. In this magnificent teaching, God also wants the mu'mins, not only to progress on the straight path and the destinations of spirituality, but also to benefit from all those bounties related to the soul and ma`rifat, for this is the path of the favoured ones, on which at every step and every stage, there are only bounties and favours. Indeed, all the favours of God are for the sake of His servants.

3. If you want to know the basic realities of spiritual progress on the straight path and its countless bounties, you should reflect on verse (4:69). What is the reward of obeying God and the Prophet in this verse? The reward is the companionship of the Prophets, the awliya', the siddiqin (the truthful), the shuhada' (martyrs, witnesses) and salihin (the righteous). That is, it is to have the bliss of traversing the stages of the spiritual journey following those whom God has favoured with special bounties. "Following" is used here in the sense of "with them" and "in their companionship". For, in the above-mentioned verse, the words "with (ma`)" and "companion (rafiq)" are used. In both these words, the keys of wisdom are hidden, and these need to be looked at with the right perspective and the conclusions deduced by correct thinking.

4. Since spirituality is beyond the bounds of space and time, therefore a fortunate follower, by following only the footsteps of his Guide, can be with him and become his companion. It is this purport which is implied in verse (4:69). This matter, in reality, is related to the spiritual manifestation and presence of the light of guidance, in that, it is this light which represents the Prophets, the siddiqin, the shuhada', and the salihin in the personal world. This same light is both one and many, while the law of the unity of lights is "light upon light" (24:35).

5. Although the great universe of realities and gnoses is spread in the limitless vastnesses of space and time, God makes it limited in the personal world by enfolding it in His hand (39:67). This is the event of the minor Resurrection, in which, not only are the people of the past and the people of the later times gathered (56:49-50), but so are all things (6:111). There is no doubt that God describes the same one reality through various examples (17:89; 18:54).

6. The following magnificent address of God is to the people of ma`rifat: "And We created you, then We created your (spiritual) form, then told the angels (in front of you in the personal world): Prostrate yourselves to Adam." (7:11). Thus, in this way the companionship of the Prophets and awliya' is attained. You can also call this event the miracle of the renewal of similitudes, the removal of time, the demonstration of light, the togetherness of realities, the unveiling of secrets, the rank of the eye of certainty, the Single Soul, the manifest Imam, the Mother of the Book, the record of the Prophets and the awliya' and annihilation in the Prophet.

7. How can those mu'mins who have attained the rank of annihilation by obeying God and the Prophet, be with Hazrat Nuh in their spiritual journey? For this, refer to verses (36:41-42): "And a sign (ayah) unto them is that We bore their particles of soul in the (spiritual) laden ship, and created for them of the like thereof, whereon they ride." The sign (ayah) of God is the name of the indelible and everlasting miracle which is in the personal world forever, for the sake of observation. There is no doubt that the people of ma`rifat observe within themselves Hazrat Nuh's deluge and his Ark. With the eye of wisdom, see verse (24:34) where the spiritual aspect of the glorious Qur'an relates to the Guarded Tablet, there the verses are speaking and in them is found the renewal of similitudes of all the events and miracles of the previous Prophets and awliya'.

8. An example of Hazrat Ibrahim in the personal world is that, in the beginning when the inner eye of the mu'min-i salik opens, he sees dazzling light and various kinds of pictures. If they are looked at with the eye of a great muwahhid (believer in One God) like Hazrat Ibrahim, then they are not Divine manifestations, rather they are all but idols. Thus, Hazrat Ibrahim breaks them into pieces, except their chief (21:58).

9. Another example of Hazrat Ibrahim is that backbiting, ill will, jealousy, enmity and hostile attempts against the friends of God, in reality are called Nimrod's pyre. But the power of God, the Omnipotent is such that, in their personal world, the renewal of similitudes of the miracle of Hazrat Ibrahim takes place and from this fire the garden of the spirit and spirituality is created, as God says: "We said: O fire! be coolness and peace (spiritual help) for Ibrahim" (21:69).

10. Man in his existence is both the quintessence of the entire universe and the model of the world of religion. Thus the potential spirituality of the personal world is so elastic, that it represents the miracles of the Prophets. The reason for this is that the Prophets are the Single Soul and hence their miracles are alike, although the examples are different. Thus, an example of Hazrat Musa in the personal world is that he burns the calf, which Samiri had made from the ornaments, and then scatters it in the sea. By ornaments are meant the bright things of the initial spirituality, which in fact, appear to be like the ornaments of silver, gold, pearls and gems. Samiri is Satan and the calf is the animal soul which he decorates. To burn the calf and scatter it in the sea, means to have recourse to the True Guide and cause the animal soul to melt and burn in the fire of heavenly love and then to throw the particles of its ashes forever into the sea of knowledge and wisdom (20:97).

11. In the Qur'anic story of Hazrat Musa it is said: "And when Musa said to his people: O my people! remember the favour of God upon you when He made among you (i.e. in religion and the personal world) Prophets and made you kings" (5:20). That is, how great is the favour of God that He made Prophets in religion, who reach the personal world, so that He may eventually make you kings. Thus those mu'mins who had become annihilated in Hazrat Harun, Hazrat Musa and God, had become kings. There is no change in this sunnat of God.

12. Hazat `Isa, by the command of God, used to make birds (ibda`i shirts) by reciting the Supreme Name not only in his personal world, but also in the personal world of the mu'mins (3:49). These birds are the subtle bodies and the believing jinns (72:11,14). It is also said about Hazrat `Isa: "And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be" (19:31). That is, whether I am in the Word (3:45) or I am in the Spirit or in my mother (4:171), or I am in the world of religion or in the personal world, or I am in front of those who belong to me or far from them, in any case, God has made me blessed.

13. The holy Prophet has the extremely important status of "mercy for all the worlds". Therefore, it was his holy and sacred light which, by the command of God, was acting in all the Prophets and in this sense, the holy Prophet was in all of them and they were gathered in him, as one of his blessed names is "hashir (gatherer)". The holy Prophet is that luminous lamp from God, which can illumine the personal world with the light of knowledge and wisdom (33:46). The glad tidings which the mu'mins receive in dream and spirituality, are through him, because he is "mubashshir (giver of glad tidings)" (33:45). Although it is true that in the seclusion of the mi`raj there was none other than God and the Prophet, how is it possible for those who became annihilated in God and the Prophet and whose eye God becomes, not to be able to observe the mi`raj?

Wednesday, 8 Rajabu'l-murajjab, 1409/15th February, 1989.

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