Fruit of Paradise - Flowers of Wisdom

Flowers of Wisdom

Tags: Humility, Khilafat, Knowledge, Dhikr, `Ibadat, Dabbatu'l-ard, Hazrat Nuh

May the Lord of the world bestow upon the devoted members of Khanah-i Hikmat and Idarah-i `Arif, who live in both the east and the west, His special blessings and mercy!

This humble servant recites the wisdom filled prayer of Ya `Ali madad with the utmost sincerity and humility and wishes that this prayer is echoed in all the particles of the external and internal worlds so that the secret of spirituality is heard by the ear of intellect and the doors of ma`rifat are opened, one after the other.

Every `aziz should appreciate the wisdom of the principle that the greatest power of good work is hidden in humility. As the Wise Qur'an says: "And speak kindly to mankind." (2:83). In this command are all the beauties of conversation, as God's commands contain all relevant meanings. Thus this Divine teaching implies the beauties of both inner and outer conversation.
You can reflect on the allusions contained in the favour of God which is received in the form of tenderness of heart and humility in yourself as well as in other mu'mins after a successful `ibadat. This allusion of the law of nature is an intellectual miracle from the light of guidance, which speaks in the state of your condition and tells you to walk steadfastly on this straight path and to choose the spiritual pleasure and happiness that is received always through humility and politeness.
The Holy Prophet says: "Surely, some of the poetry is wisdom." That is, those poets whose concepts are not correct, their poetry is like empty walnuts, but those poets whose belief is based on reality, their poetry is full of the kernel of knowledge and wisdom, because they represent the truth.
In the Noble Qur'an walijah or cordial friendship is mentioned which is special for God, the Prophet and mu'mins. The root of the word walijah is waw, lam, jim, whose infinitive is wuluj which means "to enter". Thus the ta'wil of this is to let the light of God, the Prophet and the Imam and the soul of mu'mins enter the heart and to adopt them in the truest sense. In this verse the exalted Imam is mentioned beautifully in two ways: in the rank of khalifah or the successor of the Prophet and secondly as the amiru'l-mu'minin, the commander of the faithful. For the corollary of the rank of Prophethood is khilafat (Imamat) and the commander of the mu'mins is included in the word "mu'minin".
Hazrat Mawlana Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah (s.a.),: "Isma`ili faith is like light. You should be like light and not be like fire. It does not befit an Isma`ili to be someone's enemy, even to the extent that you should not ... be an enemy of non-Muslims." This is the unprecedented tolerance and broad-mindedness of Isma`ili faith. Nevertheless, the luminous guidance of the exalted Imam does not affect the ta'wil of the above mentioned verse, for friendship has two levels: one is in the position of the human soul and the other is in the position of the religious soul.
The highest virtue of mu'mins is taqwa, the fear of God, and he that has more fear of God is more respected in the eyes of God (49:13), but this fear which is according to heavenly standard, is based on the given knowledge (35:28). This supreme rank belongs firstly to the Prophet and then to the true Imam and through him can be attained by all others.
The earthly khilafat that God promised perfect mu'mins is in fact the khilafat of the personal world, in which it is possible for every mu'min to become a khalifah in his personal world like the people of Paradise and no doubt this is why a universe is kept hidden within every individual. This can be seen in the Qur'anic examples of the past and the way they are presented.
Q. What is the reason for the major and minor khilafats to be related not to heaven but to the earth?
Because the purpose of this glorious rank is an amelioration for people who live on earth. However, there is a great wisdom hidden in the obedience (sajdah) of angels to the khalifah of God (i.e. major khalifah) and in the sense that they are heavenly creatures, heaven is also subjugated to him (31:20).
Under the major khilafat come both the outer and the inner earth and this rank is restricted to the Prophets and the Imams. The minor khilafat includes only the inner earth, the other name of which is the microcosm or the personal world. Nevertheless, this personal world contains everything that the external world contains, because it is the subtle, spiritual form of the material universe. This is implied in a Qur'anic verse which says that the heaven (meaning the universe) will be peeled back and presented in a subtle form (81:11).
Among all the worlds that God has created, the best is the personal world, which the Qur'an calls "ahsani taqwim", the "best form" (95:4) and human beings are referred to as worlds. This implies that each individual is potentially a universe within himself. Q. Why are there so many worlds? A. The answer is that everyone will be given a kingdom of Paradise provided he is obedient and this is the arrangement that has been made to do that.
Whenever the subject of idolatry is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, it is necessary to know that externally and internally there are two forms of idols. There are many people in this world who reproach and taunt the idolatry of others yet do not realise their own idolatry.
The real heart of man is the exalted Imam, whom the Wise Qur'an has called qalb-i salim (26:89; 37:84) and qalb-i munib (50:33) which is in reality the higher "I". That is, the heart which has submitted to God and returned to Him. If a trial has become an obstacle between man and his heart, then in order to overcome this and reach the heart, he needs knowledge and good deeds.
The Wise Qur'an says that respite has been given to Satan to perform his work until the stage of inbi`ath (raising) in the personal Resurrection of someone and this is testified by a Hadith that the Holy Prophet's Satan had become a Muslim because of the Prophet's inbi`ath i.e the period of respite of his Satan had come to an end. An interesting question is: Why does this happen and what secret lies in it? The answer is that the defeat of Satan is through true knowledge and as both knowledge and wisdom increase, the weaker the Satan becomes until the time of inbi`ath when his period of respite comes to an end completely.
It is strange to say that Satan had a great deal of knowledge, because if he had true knowledge, he would not have gone astray. It is even possible that he had done a great deal of `ibadat and many things which are called knowledge, but which have no reality as such and this is implied in the blessed verse in the Wise Qur'an that says that the Satans from mankind and jinn know nothing except gilded discourses (which are empty of inner meanings) (6:113).
One of the well known names of the Qur'an is "Dhikr" (21:50), and this is also one of the names of the Holy Prophet (65:10-11). You should be aware that dhikr means the remembrance of God as well as advice and counsel. Thus those who acquire Qur'anic knowledge receive not only the reward of the remembrance of God and advice but also the reward of the companionship of the Holy Prophet and the people of dhikr, the Imams.
`Ibadat has many aspects, that is, the slavery of God has many forms. Among these, one most exalted form of `ibadat is service of Qur'anic knowledge, because the Qur'an is the origin and foundation of Islam (submission), and iman (faith) and is the last, beloved Book of God.
In verse (27:82) God says: "And when the word (of Resurrection) is fulfilled concerning them, We shall bring forth a beast from the earth (dabbatu'l-ard) (i.e. the earth of spirituality) who shall speak to them, because they did not believe with certainty in Our signs." By dabbatu'l-ard is meant that rank of Mawla `Ali in which, when the time comes, he speaks in the form of particles of the soul, and by God's signs are meant the holy Imams.
You know that according to an Hadith, Hazrat Nuh's Ark is an example of the Ahl-i bayt of the Prophet. Let us examine a connected wisdom from the Wise Qur'an: "Then We delivered him and the people of the ark and We made it a sign for the people (of the world)." (29:15). In the light of the above mentioned Hadith, the allusions of this verse are that the deluge continues to occur in one form or the other and that people can be delivered only through the Ahl-i bayt of the Holy Prophet. God has kept this means of salvation as a sign forever so that there should not be any lack of means in the religion of Islam, because the religion of nature is complete and perfect and Allah's favour exists in a complete and consummate form (5:3).
Hazrat Nuh prayed in this wisdom-filled way: "O my Lord! Forgive me, my parents, and he who enters my abode as a (chosen) believer, and the believing men and believing women." The greatest wisdom of this blessed verse is that just as an individual was excluded from the Ahl-i bayt of Hazrat Nuh because of his disobedience, many mu'mins entered and were included in his Ahl-i bayt because of their obedience.
By the abode of the Prophets and the Imams is meant spirituality and luminosity, and it is necessary for mu'mins to enter this today or tomorrow, for it is not necessary to enter their house in a physical form. This is certain, from the example of Salman-i Farsi that, at the time of Prophethood there were others like him who had entered the house of light of the Ahl-i bayt, which consisted of the Holy Prophet, Mawla `Ali, Hazrat Bibi Fatimah, Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn, even though their names are not mentioned. For the Imam is the living path of religion for this purpose. That is, the Imam is the straight path, the guide, and the gate of the city of spirituality as well, so that he can help the mu'min reach the desired destination.
The Holy Qur'an says: "Whoever comes with a good deed, shall receive ten of the like thereof." (6:161). That is, whoever does one good deed here shall receive ten good deeds in the hereafter. The ta'wili wisdom of this is that he who becomes a mustajib by accepting the true da`wat does a very good deed and shall receive ten good deeds in the form of Mustajib, minor Ma'dhun, major Ma'dhun, limited Da`i, unlimited Da`i, Hujjat of jazirah, supreme Hujjat, Imam, Asas, and Natiq. These are the ten ranks of goodness which encompass all good deeds.
In the Noble Qur'an wherever it is commanded to do something, it applies to all lower as well as higher ranks. For instance, it is commanded in 27 different verses: "And know (wa'`lamu)!" This does not mean that one should continue to acquire knowledge only in this world, but to become attached to it in the hereafter also, for it is said: "And know that Allah comes between man and his heart, and that to Him you shall be gathered." (8:24). The purpose of this command is that the knowledge concerning human essence must be acquired completely and perfectly so that the secret of how God comes between man and his heart is known. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds!

Indigent servant,
Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai,
5th November, 1984.

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