Coolness of the eye - Preface
Preface
Tags: Heaven, Earth, Manifestation, Oneness, Sacrifice
In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
In the wisdom-filled verse (7:96), there are many gems of secrets for mu'mins with certainty: "If the people of the towns had believed (in the true sense) and feared God, surely We should have opened for them (the doors of) blessings of the heaven and the earth". One ta'wili wisdom of this noble verse is that the Imam of the time, salawatu'llahi `alayhi wa-salamuhu, is the heaven of the world of religion and the pure souls of the mu'mins are its earth. Another ta'wil of this verse on the law of Imamat is that in the personal world, the head of every true believer is the heaven and the feet are the earth. Thus those who have been blessed, have seen with certainty how the blessings and bounties of the spiritual heaven and the earth relating to intellect, knowledge and soul are granted to people of ma`rifat and faith.
Other ta'wils of the heaven and the earth: The Universal Intellect is the Throne as well as the heaven, and the Universal Soul is the Dais (kursi) as well as the earth. Further, in the order of the hudud- i din (hierarchy of religion), every higher rank is the heaven and every lower rank that is linked to it, is the earth. The hudud in descending order are: Universal Intellect, Universal Soul, Natiq, Asas, Imam, Bab, Hujjat, Da`i (and the rest of the hudud). In this order, the Universal Intellect is the absolute heaven and the Da`i and the hudud under him are the absolute earth. But the hudud in between (from Universal Soul to Hujjat), are on the one hand the heaven and on the other, the earth.
In the Wise Qur'an sometimes the word for "heaven" is used in the singular, such as "sama'" and sometimes in the plural, such as "samawat". The secret of this is that the Imam of the time is one, but in the personal world, his great spiritual manifestations are seven, therefore, he is both sama' and samawat. One purpose of the seven manifestations of the Imam is that the people of ma`rifat should recognise the six Natiqs and the Qa'im. The same meaning in another example is that they should recognise the six days of God, in which He created the world of religion, and recognise the Saturday in which He completed all matters related to the light of the Throne.
Some important articles, which were written earlier are also included in this book for the greater benefit of readers. These articles conform to the central theme of the present book. Also for the sake of blessing, a chapter from the renowned book Jami`u'l- Hikmatayn of Hazrat Pir Nasir-i Khusraw, may God sanctify his secret, is included in this book as an appendix.
Reason for the naming of this Book: This book is called "Qurratu'l-`Ayn (Coolness of the Eye)", in which is hidden a great Qur'anic secret. The secret in which lies the key to bliss, is in this sacred verse: "And those who pray: Our Lord! vouchsafe us the coolness of our eyes from our wives and our offspring (dhurriyyat, i.e. the dharrat or particles of soul) and make us the Imam of the righteous" (25:74). This prayer is a prerogative of the pure Imams, who have two kinds of children: physical and spiritual. The holy Imam has the coolness of the eyes from both of them: by means of the physical son, he becomes the Imam of the world of religion and by means of the spiritual children, the Imam of the personal world.
Manifestations of the Imam: At the place of the soul and the rank of intellect, the exalted Imam has many manifestations. But the prerequisite to see them is: First, one must believe in him as the light of God and His living ism-i a`zam (Supreme Name), then by journeying spiritually through knowledge and `ibadat, enter the personal world and see with the inner eye: He was the mountain of the soul and has now become the world of particles, whose every particle is a world-illumining sun. Who can be the sur of love, other than him? He is also the fire of Musa (May peace be through him) and the mountain of intellect. His sacred light, through innumerable rays acts as the army of the souls and angels. He is both the spiritual father and the luminous child of every true believer. It is extremely great news that he himself is the Book of Deeds of the true believers. He is recogniser (`arif) and the recognised (ma`ruf). He is the locus of manifestation of the marvels and wonders of God, and therefore he is called Mazharu'l-`aja'ib. Since he is the Imam-i mubin, what is not within him?
World of Oneness: The Holy Qur'an in its wisdom-filled expression emphasises that the Supreme Creator has created all things in pairs. The meaning of pair includes both male and female, as well as opposites or contraries. Thus He created the world of multiplicity from the world of oneness and kept the difference between them, so that in the light of this difference, the secrets of the world of oneness may be known. For instance, in this world of multiplicity, a thousand people have a thousand different forms, but in the world of unity, all of them are gathered together and created as one person, who can manifest himself in all those forms. The same is true of other realities.
Historical Record: This humble servant, the dust under the feet of mu'mins, taking the name of the Lord of Honour, started his journey to the West on the morning of 19th June, 1991 and by the grace of God reached London the same day. There he spent a month in extreme delight, happiness and success in pleasant meetings with the earthly angels, in conversations of the knowledge and wisdom of the exalted Imam of the time, darwish-like munajats and in writing a lovely book, "Qurratu'l-`Ayn". For, God has made some sacred souls in London, the treasures of secrets.
Praise be to God, the successful tour of America will prove itself to be extremely significant in the history of Khanah-yi Hikmat and Idarah-yi `Arif. This humble servant reached America on 19th July, 1991, and for a period of three weeks the army of knowledge of the exalted Imam gave him so much honour and so much happiness, that they cannot be adequately expressed in words. These kind friends eagerly arranged the assemblies (majalis) of knowledge in their well decorated, furnished and cosy houses. During the munajat in the court of the Provider of needs and during the rhythmic lectures, all those who attended the majalis, completely melted in the fire of the love of the Imam. Many questions were respectfully asked, in order to increase their knowledge and due to the power of their faith, the answers were given with amazing satisfaction. There were countless favours of the light of Imamat on this most humble servant and now their further increase is manifold.
On 11th August, 1991, Chairman Nuruddin Rajpari and I went by air from America to Canada. When we arrived in Edmonton, I experienced a miracle of ta'wil in luminous imagination. Perhaps this was glad news that in this city too, there would be great success. Accordingly, we received great sadaqah (alms) of knowledge of the holy Ahl-i bayt of the Holy Prophet. For there the programme was made by such mu'mins and mu'minahs that the heavenly mercies and blessings continue to descend morning and evening on their pure houses. For a whole week, they attended the workshops of knowledge and I am sure that God has enriched them with the wealth of religion. Amin!
On 18th August, we returned from Canada to America. It was already night, but despite that, the `azizan who had come from remote areas were anxiously waiting. Since their spiritual teacher had to leave for London the next day (19th August, 1991), members of Idarah-yi `Arif had gathered at the residence of my dear Abdul Majeed Panjwani, to have a farewell meeting. In this elegant gathering, I was deeply touched and prostrated with gratitude, prolonging my prostrations and shedding tears, by what was said and read out by the lovers of the knowledge of Imamat. I was also made to shed tears with the same intensity by the `azizan of Canada. I hope that, God willing, the honourable scribes (82:11) have recorded every majlis as perfectly as Paradise demands.
Co-operation and Translation: "Do you think that you are a small body, while the great world is contained in you?" This blessed saying of Mawla `Ali should be read repeatedly with love and devotion, for in it lies the fundamental and luminous lesson of the eminence of human beings. But how can the hearts of those people, which have become narrow and dark due to ignorance, contain the great world within them? This shows the paramount importance of knowledge and therefore emphatic attention is always drawn to its acquisition. Let us serve knowledge and wisdom with good intention and pure-heartedness and spread their light in the world. There are many services whose benefit reaches a limited number of people, but the service of knowledge is everlasting and infinite.
I wish to sacrifice myself for the `azizan, who cooperate together and who have been translating my books. Amin! You may be surprised if I say that I have actually been sacrificed for all my `azizan, who are with me in this service of knowledge. The allusion of this was a luminous dream which I saw in Tashghurghan (China), in which I found myself slaughtered and beheaded. This was a great spiritual miracle, in which are hidden several secrets.
In reality it was not a new event, for it is the same miracle which has continued from the past. That is, for a mu'min to see himself dead in a dream, is an example of sacrifice and spiritual martyrdom, for as the Holy Prophet has said: "Every mu'min is a shahid (martyr)". Now if some mu'mins have seen their death in dream, it is glad tidings. However, in order to present the sacrifice of knowledge and good deeds, they still have to pass through many stages.
Study carefully verse (37:102), in which it is related that Hazrat Ibrahim slaughtered his beloved son Hazrat Isma`il in a dream. Thus, in order to act upon that in a wakeful condition, as soon as he flung him face down, God accepted his sacrifice and ransomed Hazrat Isma`il with a great sacrifice (dhibhin `azim, 37:107 - i.e. the miracle of `Izra'il). Dhibhin `azim means a great sacrificial animal, by which is meant the soul of Imamat. For the grandeur and eminence of this soul is such that, when it is sacrificed at the stage of `Izra'il, many souls attain salvation through it.
Expression of Gratitude: This army of knowledge in the East and the West does not belong to me, it belongs to my Mawla. Since I am myself a slave of Mawla and a servant of this army, I am extremely happy with this slavery and service.
Many people think that all kinds of happiness lie in maintaining their pride and egos. Contrary to this, I know that real happiness lies in destroying the idol of vanity and pride again and again. This is why I wish to be sacrificed for my `azizan, I want to kiss their hands and feet and say to them: Ruhi fida-kum (May my soul be sacrificed for you)! .... The ta'wil of this is that we yearn to be actually sacrificed for them at the stage of `Izra'il. Amin! May they thus advance in the service of knowledge with absolute certainty! Praise be to God, the Sustainer of the worlds. The end belongs to the righteous ones.
Nasir, London,
14 Safar, 1412/24th August, 1991
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