Caskets of Pearls Vol. 1 - Casket of Pearls 26

Casket of Pearls 26

Tags: Qalam, Tawbah, Ta'wil, Didar, Vision, Throne, `Arsh, Sultan

Q251 Qalam and aqlam (pl. of qalam) are mentioned in four places in the Qur'an (3:44; 31:27; 96:4; 68:1). Please tell us the ta'wil of qalam? Please also tell us the ta'wil of verse (31:27): "And if all the trees in the earth were pens and the ocean, with seven more oceans to help it (were ink), the words of Allah would never be exhausted."
A251

The ta'wil of qalam is Intellect, the light of Intellect, the Pearl of Intellect.
By kalimat (sing. kalimah) are meant the kalimat-i tammat (perfect words) of Allah, and the nature of their endless knowledge is such that if all the trees on the earth were to be pens and the ocean, together with seven other oceans were ink, their tafsir (exegesis) would not be complete.

Q252 Tawbah has very great importance in the Qur'an and Islam; therefore, please tell us its literal meanings and wisdom.
A252 Tawbah means to abstain from sin and this is according to the numerous ranks of the people of faith, because its wisdom is the return of a mu'min to his rank. Since there are varying ranks and stages, therefore it is said that tawbah is in degrees, step by step, until the ultimate tawbah, which is the return to Allah, as was Hazrat Adam (May peace be through him)'s tawbah.

Q253 What is the wisdom of the hadith: "And he who returns to God before the rising of the sun from the west, God returns to him"⁶²?
A253 The universal meaning of tawbah is the returning of people to the true religion, the respite for which is the rising of the sun from the west. The rising of the sun from the west means the rising of the light of Imamat, which only happens in the personal world and then the spiritual resurrection takes place.

It should be noted that the Universal Intellect is the absolute east of the light of oneness (wahdat) and the Universal Soul is its west and the east of the natiq. Natiq is the west of the Universal Soul and the east of asas; asas is the west of the natiq and the east of Imam. Imam is asas' west and the east of the subsidiary hudud. Thus, when the light of Imamat rises in the personal world of these hudud, it rises from the west of the asas, i.e. the Imam.

Q254 From your explanation it appears that the Qur'an and the hadith also have universal meanings. We used to consider it an act limited to the fold of Islam, whereas it is related to all those people to whom He has sent a Messenger (7:158). We also have to reflect on at-tawwab (He who returns, He who accepts repentance), which is one of the attributive names of Allah. Is it not true that this and other names have universal meanings? Now, the question is: what do those who did not do tawbah in the fixed respite, i.e. they did not accept Islam, have to do?
A254 Study verses (3:83; 13:15) carefully. These verses mention God's powerful law of taw`an wa-karhan (willingly and unwillingly), which causes people to return to God. Returning to God willingly or unwillingly means the spiritual resurrection, which has been mentioned repeatedly.

Q255 What do you say about the belief of some people that it is only the Imam who can explain the ta'wil?
A255 It is a belief and not knowledge, therefore, there is the need of some explanation, which is:

There is no doubt that the main fountainhead and the commander of the battle of ta'wil is the exalted Imam only, but every teacher also has students and every commander an army.
If any true scholar is asked whether the Imam teaches his murids ta'wili wisdom by degrees or not, the answer will certainly not be in the negative.
One must not forget the blessed farmans of Hazrat Mawlana Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah, salawatu'llahi `alayhi, which are related to the spiritual progress of mu'mins.
If fana' fi'l-Imam is possible, the attainment of ta'wil from the exalted Imam is also possible.
Where the recognition of the Imam is possible, ta'wil is also possible.
Study carefully the blessed farman of Mawlana Hazir Imam (May peace be through him) in which he has praised the esoteric. Is esoteric not ta'wil? In the past were not some of the hudud-i din under the Imam attaining ta'wil from him? Do we not have books on ta'wil in our madhhab written by them?

Q256 Truly speaking, by the grace of God, there is a large store of knowledge to answer every kind of question. We would like to ask why you prefer educational questions and answers? What is the secret in this preference?
A256

Discourses of knowledge become systematic and logical by this practice.
The purport of discourses becomes easy and interesting for the readers.
In the presence of questions and answers based on knowledge, there is no need of debates and polemics.
There are still many more benefits in this method.

Q257 The holy Prophet says: "I have a time with Allah in which there is no room either for a close angel or for a Messenger Prophet".⁶³ Could we attain some blessings of recognition of this noble hadith?
A257 God willing, on the one hand there is an allusion in this hadith to the absolute merging in God and on the other to diverse theophanies and manifestations. Where the holy Prophet is the primordial light, there he has eternal and permanent mi`raj. The mi`raj, which he had after the sacred advent and the office of Prophethood, is an exemplary mi`raj and that event too, is more than once. Additionally when he was doing luminous `ibadat being unconcerned with worldly matters, he used to find himself on the mi`raj of the personal world. The sacred position of the holy Prophet was that sometimes he used to be with his great companions on the earth, sometimes with a closest angel, sometimes with a messenger Prophet, as it is in the story of mi`raj, and sometimes in the most sublime and exalted state.

Q258 It is mentioned in Kawkab-i durri (pp. 298-99) that a person by the name of Wa`lab asked the commander of the faithful, `Ali (May peace be through him) in a polemical way: "Did you see your Lord until you recognised him?" The Imam replied: "I never worship a Lord Whom I do not see." Again Wa`lab asked: "How did you see Him?" The Imam said: "The physical eyes did not see Him as open seeing, but the hearts (i.e. the inner eyes) saw Him with the realities of recognition".⁶⁴ Would you kindly tell us some wisdoms of these blessed words of Mawla `Ali (May peace be through him).
A258

The recognition of God (ma`rifat, `irfan) is at the apex of Islamic matters. Had the Imam not guided us on behalf of God and the Prophet, we would have been deprived of the everlasting wealth of recognition.
The answer of Mawla `Ali (May peace be through him) describes, confirms and testifies to the Divine vision (didar) as clearly as the sun.
We also came to know that recognition, which is the spirit of `ibadat, is a result of didar.
The sacred vision of God is with the inner eye.

Q259 In the same book (p. 261), it is narrated from Sa`d that he said: "There was none among the companions of the Prophet except `Ali who would say: Ask me about other than the Throne (duna'l-`arsh)'".⁶⁵ Please explain this to us.
A259 "Other than the Throne" is a conventional translation, but the correct translation is "under the Throne". See Hans Wehr's "A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic", where dun also means below, beneath, under. Thus, Mawla `Ali (May peace be through him) said: "Ask me about what is under the Throne." Throne means the Pen and the kursi under it is the guarded Tablet. The Pen is the Light of the Prophet and the Light of the guarded Tablet is the Light of `Ali (May peace be through him). Thus, the Imam indicating himself as the guarded Tablet invited questions about himself.

Q260 It is mentioned in verse (55:33): "O company of jinn and men, if you have power to penetrate regions of the heavens and the earth, then penetrate [them]! You will never penetrate them save with (Our) sanction." Is this verse related to the external world or to the internal world? Or to both? What does the word "sultan" mentioned in this verse mean? Why is it necessary to go beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth?
A260

This verse is related to both the external and the internal worlds, because the signs of Allah are in both of them.
"Sultan" which literally means power, might, rule, dominion, sway, proof, refers to the Imam of the time, whom God has made the treasure of every kind of power, such as ism-i a`zam, spiritual resurrection, knowledge, wisdom and proof.
Spiritual travelling of going beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth takes place within oneself. [In the context of this] The amazing competition among the nations and religions of the world is extremely significant.
This is the spiritual war and the battle for knowledge in order to subjugate the universe and to see the miracles of God in which the recognition of God is also included. The same is the way of observing the non-spatial world by going beyond space and time. In short, thousands of secrets are hidden in this noble verse.

⁶² Abu'l-Husayn Muslim, Sahih Muslim (Riyaz, 1998), p. 1174, Hadith 6861.
⁶³ Badi`u'z-Zaman Furuzanfar, Ahadith-i Mathnawi (Tehran, 1968), p. 39.
⁶⁴ Muhammad Salih Kashfi, Manaqib-i Murtazawi, translated into Urdu by Sharif Husayn as Kawkab-i Durri (Lahore, n.d.), pp. 298-99.
⁶⁵ Ibid., p. 261.

Chapter Index

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter