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Fruit of Paradise - Symbolic Language

Symbolic Language

Tags: Tree, Oneness, Brotherhood, Nun, `Arsh

I said : He said

  1. I said: In the Holy Qur'an, many magnificent trees are praised separately. Some belong to this world and some to Paradise.
    He said: It is not so. In reality there is only one tree, but as the Glorious Qur'an is the Paradise of knowledge and wisdom, and in Paradise everything has different manifestations, so sometimes this tree appears as the Olive (24:35), or the Tree of Sinai (28:30) and gives light, or the Pure Tree (14:24) which gives luminous fruit, or it manifests itself as the Fig (95:1), Pomegranate (55:68), Vine (16:11), Lote-Tree (53:14), Tuba (13:29), Date-palm (55:68), Banana (56:29) etc. As the Wise Qur'an in the language of wisdom says, reality is one but it has many and varied examples (17:89; 30:58).
  2. I said: God has a hundred different attributive names, nay a thousand and according to another Tradition, He has many thousands of names.
    He said: Listen carefully, for although apparently God has many names, in reality He has only one real name. For He is one, and unique. This real name is His Supreme name (ism-i a`zam) which is both living and speaking in every time and age and by this is meant the Prophets and the Imams. As for the other verbal names, they are manifestations of knowledge as well as being veils. Had this not been so, the concept of the beautiful names of God would not have been mentioned in the Glorious Qur'an (7:180; 17:110; 20:8; 59:24).
  3. I said: It is said in the Holy Qur'an: "On the day when the Spirit and the angels will stand (yaqūmu) in a row" (78:38).
    He asked me: Have you properly understood the wisdom of "standing (yaqūmu)" in this verse? Do you know what "standing in a row" means? By "standing" is meant inbi`ath which takes place at the rank of intellect and by "standing in a row" is meant to be organised and to be united and is related to the personal world. That is, the Spirit and the angels of the personal world become united in the all-inclusive representation of the light of Intellect. It is because of this that "standing in a row" has been compared to a structure built of lead (61:4). It is obvious that such a structure has total unity and shows no cracks or crevices. Another example of "standing in a row" is given in the spreading of wings by birds, where one can see that the wings are not separate from the bird (67:19).
  4. I said: The Holy Qur'an also says: "And your Lord and the angels will come rank upon rank" (89:22).
    He said: Remember well that coming and going are attributes relating to bodies, but God is free from and above all bodily attributes. This verse therefore is about the light of Intellect, which in its intellectual manifestations, represents not only the angels but also God Himself, Lord of honour.
  5. I said: The Holy Qur'an says: And when (on the Day of Judgement) the sky will be split asunder and it will become red like oil" (55:37).
    He said: True! But it seems to me that you have not considered whether the sky will be clear or cloudy on that day. The truth is that this event will happen behind the veil of clouds and therefore people will be unaware of it. In fact this is a spiritual event and as the Qur'an says: "And the day the sky will be rent asunder with clouds and the angels will duly be sent down" (25:25). Another verse about this subject is: "Wait they for nought else than that God and the angels will come unto them in the shadows of clouds and the matter is completed" (2:210). Remember! All these events are spiritual events and miracles relating to the personal world. None of them are hypothetical. They are all realities.
  6. I said: The Holy Qur'an says: God has surrounded all the states of knowledge and recognition of the Messengers and has duly counted everything (72:28).
    He said: This God has done in the Perfect Man's personal world, for it is he who is the Guarded Tablet. Know that "surrounding" is in the sense that He, the Knowing, the Wise, has built a strong wall around the secret sciences of the Prophets so that no one can enter without their permission, just as He made the Holy Prophet the city of knowledge and Mawla `Ali its gate. One should also remember here that the enumeration of all things by God is in the sense that He, the Wise, has contained all things in the number one, and such a number which is one but is everything is the light of Intellect.
  7. I said: In the Holy Qur'an the word "ara'ik" the singular form of which is "arikah" (throne) is used five times. For example, in Surah Ya-Sin: "They and their wives are reclining on thrones (couches) in the shade" (36:56).
    He said: Perhaps you think that the people of Paradise are on separate thrones, for as yet you seem to be unaware of the secrets of oneness. Remember that Paradise is under the law of oneness and therefore all people become one there including thrones, although it is true that there are innumerable manifestations of knowledge and recognition. In other words, when all people are annihilated in the Face of God (55:26-28), they will be unified in that state but will still retain their individuality in the form of manifestations. Just as in this world there is a person who is one, whose soul is one, but there are innumerable particles in him.
  8. I said: The word surur (plural of sarir, throne) has been mentioned four times in the Glorious Qur'an and one verse in which it is mentioned is: "And We shall remove whatever rancour there may be in their hearts; as brothers they will sit, face to face, on thrones" (15:47).
    He said: It is true that although in the beginning there is friendship and enmity for the sake of God, but after one reaches the highest degree of faith, it becomes evident that such enmity is only a temporary thing. God, the Holy, purifies the hearts of the Perfect Men in this very world from every kind of impurity. Thus, this is a description of people as a whole. Or, we should say that to say God removes rancour from the hearts of the people of Paradise is a description related to ordinary people. In any case, when there is no enmity in Paradise, there can only be friendship and love and when this love is earnest and ardent, then there is oneness only. Thus this Divine teaching indicates that in azal (pre-eternity) and abad (post-eternity) all people of Paradise should be considered on the thrones of equality and equity, i.e. on the throne of uniformity (yak-rangi) of Paradise in the same place and that all people should be brothers one to another. For in Paradise, all of them are the children of the spiritual Adam and Eve, namely the Universal Intellect and the Universal Soul.
  9. I said: The sages say: "Oneness does not give birth except to oneness". What does this mean? What kind of oneness is it that, despite being one, adopts the duality of parenthood and gives birth to another oneness?
    He said: From one aspect this means that the Universal Intellect and the Universal Soul are the names of a single oneness and from another aspect, they are two and form a simple pair. Thus, whatever birth this oneness gives is in fact nothing but oneness. In other words, the collective existence of the people who are born of these parents has two aspects: externally, they are many yet internally, they are one just as their eternal (azali) parents have two aspects. One should remember here that the oneness of human beings is pre-eternal and post-eternal and that their multiplicity is only temporary and transitory. The sages have this internal and eternal aspect of existents in mind in their saying.
  10. I said: It is said in verse (49:10): "The believers are naught else than brothers. Therefore make peace between your two brothers." This shows that religious brotherhood is confined only to the believers. In this case how is all of mankind threaded in the string of religious brotherhood?
    He said: Listen carefully! Many of the verses of the Glorious Qur'an speak in the language of tanzil or in the language of ta'wil that the religion of Islam, in the world of particles has superseded all the religions of the world and that in the future this will also be so in the physical world, for as it was said to the Prophet: "We have given you an open victory" (48:1). Also it is said: "When God's succour and victory will come and you will see mankind entering the religion of God in troops" (110:1-2). This is an example of the victory of the religion of God in the world of particles. In this way, all people, first in the rank of soul, will be the spiritual children of the Natiq and the Asas and then, in the rank of Intellect, will be the children of the Universal Soul and the Universal Intellect.
  11. I said: It is said in the Qur'an: "And (remember) Dhu'n-Nun (the Prophet who was swallowed by a whale i.e. Hazrat Yunus) when he went off in anger" (21:87). In another place it is said: "Nun. By the pen and that which they write" (68:1). In the first verse Nun means "whale" and in the second, "ink-pot". What is the ta'wili link between the two?
    He answered: The whale which devoured Hazrat Yunus was a powerful soul of his spirituality. The ink-pot by which God swears means Universal Soul, and the pen the Universal Intellect. It should be remembered that where the example of Universal Soul is the whale, the ocean is the Universal Intellect. For the entire external world is immersed in the great ocean of soul and the ocean of soul in the ocean of knowledge (intellect) and beyond this there is nothing.
  12. I said: Just as words like surur and ara'ik for thrones have been used for the people of Paradise, similarly has the word `arsh (pl. `urūsh) also been used for them or is it used only for God's throne?
    He said: Where the `arsh (throne) is used in a literal sense it is common for all, but when used in a technical sense its use is special. For example, it is used in the common form in verse (27:23) for the throne of Queen Sheba, but in verse (20:5) it is used in a special sense. Nevertheless, even in a technical sense, in the way of wisdom, it has been used for the people of Paradise. Some examples are:
    1. `Arsh is the supreme example (16:60; 30:27). It is not a material throne used for sitting on, but a thing to be observed. That is, it is the light of Intellect which the people of Paradise observe with utmost yearning.
    2. Those people who are annihilated in the Face of God, for them `arsh is used with all its meanings.
    3. `Arsh is the light and therefore where it runs in front of and on the right side of mu'mins, there they are linked to the `arsh. (57:12).
    4. The intellectual birth of every mu'min, both man and woman, takes place on the Supreme `arsh. Remember it is the inbi`ath which is the intellectual birth.
    5. The one who meets God through the secrets of ma`rifat also attains the `arsh.
    6. `Arsh and Kursi (Dais) i.e. the Universal Intellect and the Universal Soul respectively are the intellectual parents of human beings and it is therefore necessary to be brought up in their laps.
    7. `Arsh is the name of the world of oneness, where all people are one in intellectual form.
    8. In every personal world there is an `arsh and a spiritual kingdom.
    9. The heart of a believing servant is the Throne of God, i.e. the Imam of the time, who is the real heart of the mu'min and to whom mu'mins are attached.
    10. The House of God and the Throne of God have the same meaning. Thus, those who have entered the House of God, their higher I (ana-i `ulwi) is on the Supreme `arsh.

The most humble servant,
Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai.
31st January, 1985.

Note: Though all articles are very important, this article is particularly useful and revolutionary.

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