Caskets of Pearls Vol. 2 - Casket of Pearls 61

Casket of Pearls 61

Tags: Fitrat, Harut and Marut, Munkar and Nakir, Light of mu'min men and mu'min women, Khalq-i Jadid, Certainty

Q601 Please tell us which noble verse is being explained in the hadith mentioned in the previous question (Hadith: "Every child is born according to nature (Islam), but it is (mostly) parents who make it a Jew or Christian or Magus (fire-worshipper)."¹³).
A601

Let us search in the great Qur'an with love for the light of Islam, where we find the Verse of Fitrat (Nature) in Surah-yi Rum (30:30) as follows: "Allah's religion of nature (or law) is that according to which He has created people. There is no change in the creation of Allah."
In the light of the above-mentioned hadith we learn that the fitrat mentioned in verse (30:30) is the eternal (qadim) name of the religion of Islam and religion is described as fitrat or nature because it accords exactly with the law of nature.

Q602 The portion at the beginning of the Verse of fitrat (30:30) is: "So set your face towards the true religion." Please explain what seems to be a great secret in this.
A602

Its ta'wili gist is: 'O beloved Prophet, transform your spiritual face into the Divine Image (surat-i Rahman) for the sake of the true religion (din-i hanif). (see the hadith: Man ra'ani faqad ra'a'l-haqq = He who saw me saw Allah).¹⁴

Q603 Are the four books, namely the silent book, the speaking book, the book of the personal world and the book of the universe, always separate or is there a time when they can also become one book?
A603

Allah has kept every book and everything encompassed and enumerated in the Imam-i mubin (36:12) for the people of recognition. Every `arif sees and recognises the exceptionally sublime rank of the Imam of his time with his spiritual eyes in his personal world.
If you have studied the ever-reaching and ever-pervading glory of the topic of qiyamat in the wise Qur'an you will have realised that every verse mentions some dimension of it and you will need to ask where the centre of such an encompassing qiyamat is? That centre is the Imam (May peace be through him) himself (17:71).

Q604 You had at one time started to explain the subject of the two mu'mins (mu'minayn) and the two unbelievers (kafirayn), but for some reason perhaps this explanation was not completed. Could you please reveal that secret in this wisdom-filled book?
A604

God willing! You must have read or heard that there are two companions in the personal world, an angel and a jinn. Amongst these two the chain of renewal continues such that two mu'mins and two unbelievers continually come and go into the angel and the jinn respectively, so that they can be called two or four or more.

Q605 Are these two angels also Harut and Marut (2:102)? Are they also Munkar and Nakir? Are they also those angels who record the deeds of human beings (82:10-11)?
A605 Yes, they are Harut and Marut, as well as Munkar and Nakir and they are also the recorders of deeds. They are also the four angels of the personal world because whatever is in the universe and in the world of religion is also in the personal world (51:20-21).

Q606 It is said in Surah-yi Hadid verse (57:12) and in Surah-yi Tahrim verse (66:8): "On that day the light of mu'min men and mu'min women will run in front and on their right sides." What is the reason for the running of the light? Why is it in front and on their right sides?
A606

This wonderful and wisdom-filled description concerns the Sacred Sanctuary, where the mu'min men and mu'min women of the time gather in the Imam (May peace be through him) of the time and their light continues to run in front and on their right sides in the form of a circle. There are countless wisdom-filled allusions in this.
This is the example of the eternal and sempiternal life, which is on the great circle. This is an example of the fact that everything rotates on a circle (36:40).
Here the running of the light is not in the sense of the speed of lightning, rather it is in the sense of gathering the events of thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of years in a very short space of time.

Q607 It is said in Surah-yi Ibrahim verse (14:19): "If He so wills, He can take you away and bring a new creation (in your place)." Please explain the ta'wili wisdom of how this happens.
A607

Here it is sufficient to explain just the new creation (khalq-i jadid). Its meaning can never be that all the people of the world die and that they are replaced by others like them, rather it means that by Allah's command the age of the dense body has to come to an end and the time of the subtle body has to come. The subtle body is called the new creation (khalq-i jadid), because like the flame of a lamp, there is a continual renewal in this luminous body at every moment. Therefore there is no notion of 'old' in it.
Jinns, that is, male and female paris, angels and the creatures of paradise are all subtle.

Q608 It is said at the end of Surah-yi Hijr in verse (15:99): "Wa`bud rabbaka hatta ya'tiyaka'l-yaqin". There is a problem in the translation of this noble verse, therefore could you kindly translate and explain it to us?
A608

Translation: "And until you attain certainty (recognition), continue to worship your Lord."
The objective of worship is recognition and didar, which is in the form of the truth of certainty and merging in Allah. This is why it is emphasised that the standard or ultimate end of worship is recognition and didar, not physical death.

Q609 Knowledge of certainty and the eye of certainty are mentioned in Surah-yi Takathur (102:5, 102:7) and the truth of certainty is mentioned in Surah-yi Waqi`ah (56:95) and Surah-yi Haqqah (69:51). Please tell us something about these three stages of certainty.
A609

That knowledge which is certain, real and spiritual, and is free from and above doubts and uncertainties is called the knowledge of certainty.
That knowledge, recognition and certainty which is attained by the inner eye, is the eye of certainty.
The treasure of secrets which is [attained] after didar and merging in Allah in the Sacred Sanctuary is the truth of certainty.

Q610 Please explain the wisdom of the way the truth of certainty is mentioned at the end of Surah-yi Waqi`ah (56:95) and Surah-yi Haqqah (69:51).
A610

In both Surahs after describing the states and events of spirituality, qiyamat and the hereafter, they finally conclude that the living luminous mirror of all these is the rank of the truth of certainty, which can be seen only by the `arifs. The law is that every mu'min can be a salik and every salik can become an `arif.

¹³Al-Bukhari, p. 222, hadith 1385.
¹⁴Ibid. p. 1207, hadith 6996, 6997.

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