Fruit of Paradise - Great Wisdoms of Death

Great Wisdoms of Death

Tags: Death, Hudud-i din, Inbi`ath, Dabbatu'l-ard, Gog Magog

May the rays of the light of Imamat radiate upon you Mah Mahal, our beloved and angelic daughter! From the depth of my heart and with the utmost good wishes I say the sacred prayer of "Ya `Ali madad" to you. In this prayer I remember all the other `azizan there with you. May the Holy Lord bestow His favours upon you all and grant you success and eminence in both the worlds!

Dear daughter: We heard that you were informed by telephone, of the death of your esteemed father. "Innā li'llāhi wa-innā ilayhi rāji`ūn (We belong to Allah and to Him we return both temporarily and permanently)." This is a teaching of the Qur'an that we all believe. As you are the soldiers of the true Imam in the task of spreading his knowledge, let us discuss true knowledge instead of ordinary things so that, on the one hand, it is a gift of reward for your father and on the other hand, it will help increase knowledge in his army.

There are many kinds of death, but the most magnificent and wisdom-filled one is that related to the friends of God, i.e. mu'mins. Prophets and Imams are the chiefs of the friends of God. It is mentioned in a Hadith that death is a bouquet for a mu'min. How lovely and beautiful a bouquet is and how attractive its colours! Its fragrance is enough to start waves of pleasure and delight. This description applies to an external and material bouquet of flowers. If such a bouquet were to be everlasting, imperishable and not prone to fading and were to come from the spiritual beloved, then it would cause amazing happiness. This is an example of the death of a mu'min. Yet according to the exigency of wisdom, as long as the soul has not left the body, happiness should not be like a flood, for man cannot bear that which is intense and similarly, he cannot bear excessive happiness.
In the light of the universal Qur'anic law on death (3:185) it is evident that the soul, which is called soul according to the standard of God, does not become extinct due to death, but merely passes through many experiences of it. In reality, spiritual death is a world full of secrets of certitude and recognition. It is because of this that the Qur'an, in its language of wisdom has taught us to like death and yearn for it in our hearts. And why not, when death is the school of knowledge and recognition and a living example of the supreme Paradise (2:94).
The wisdoms of death are great, for as God says in verses (67:1-2): "Blessed is He in Whose hand is the (spiritual and intellectual) kingdom (of everything) and He has power over all things, Who created death and life in order that He may try you, which of you is the best in deeds." Wise mu'mins are aware of the great secret that wherever the hand of God is mentioned in the Qur'an, there His main and special treasure is mentioned. This has been explained in "Precious Treasure". Thus, in the language of wisdom, it is said in the above verse that spiritual birth is after physical birth and that the experience of spiritual death is necessary and then comes the stage of inbi`ath so that the grace and blessings of the kingdom, which is in the Divine hand, can be obtained. In "He created death and life" is mention of the supreme death and the purest life for man which is spiritual death and inbi`ath. If He had meant physical death and life, He would have said "He created life and death". We should also reflect that in reality the word "created" cannot be applied to physical death, because it is not something separate from the body and a self-sufficient tangible creature. On the contrary, it is true to say that by God's standard, life before inbi`ath is death and creature. Death in the sense that Hazrat `Izra'il repeatedly seizes the soul in it and creature in the sense that it exists and is tangible.
Not every mu'min can experience the taste of dying before physical death and in order to attain this experience it is necessary to obey the Imam of the time, so that the particle of his soul is merged with one of the hudud-i din (see Wajh-i Din, Guftar 26). Such mu'mins traverse the spiritual stages through the hudud-i din for as God says: "And they (cattle) carry your burdens to lands where you could not have reached without making particles of your souls." (16:7). By cattle are meant the hudud-i din, and with their support mu'mins reach the city of spirituality, i.e. Paradise, and they will have observed every stage of the previous spiritual journey.
Just as nobody can escape physical death, so also it is true that they will experience spiritual death in one form or another. This is mentioned in verse (4:78): "Wherever you are, death will overtake you even though you are in lofty towers." The ta'wil of lofty towers is the Imam of the time and his hudud. That is, even those who live in these towers of soul and knowledge will have to experience spiritual death, for the knowledge related to Resurrection is hidden in this experience.
In this connection, there is also verse (2:243): "Did you not see those who went forth from their homes in their thousands, fearing death and Allah said to them: Die. Then He brought them back to life. Verily, Allah is gracious to people but most people are not grateful." Q. Who were these thousands or innumerable people? Why did Allah say to them: Die? A. They were the particles of souls who, in fear of the sur of Israfil, were coming forth from the graves of human beings and going towards the caller where the personal Resurrection and spiritual death of one of the hudud-i din was taking place. These innumerable particles also experienced spiritual death with the hudud-i din and thus their inbi`ath also took place. All this happened in an unconscious state, but in Paradise it will appear in front of them like a spiritual film.
In verse (44:56) it is said: "They shall not taste death therein save the first death." That is, in Paradise there is no spiritual death. That has already happened in worldly life either directly or indirectly and either one is conscious or unconscious of it. In Paradise, one only observes this great feat and has the pleasure of the knowledge of it.
The spiritual death of Hazrat Sulayman is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an in this way : "When We decreed death for him, nothing disclosed to them his death (dabbatu'l-ard) save a little worm of the earth which was eating away his staff. When he fell down, the jinn saw clearly how, if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating torment." (34:14). By "dabbatu'l-ard" or earthworms is meant some souls, namely, Gog and Magog, and by staff is meant the animal soul, for the human soul receives support from it and Gog and Magog lick away at (and finish) it. By falling down, is meant lying down for the exercise of Hazrat `Izra'il.
In the personal world innumerable souls of both those that are alive and those that are dead are gathered together, as is mentioned in verses (77:25-26): "Have We not made the earth to draw to itself, the living and the dead?" In the external world people live everywhere and the dead are buried or burnt all over the world, so the question of drawing to itself does not arise. But when the individual Resurrection takes place, the earth of the personality of the Perfect Man draws together to itself all souls, both of the living and of the dead.
Spiritual death is in fact a chain of progress and ascension of the soul, which is why the friends of God desire it so much. Proof of this is found in verse (62:6): "Say (O Muhammad): O you who profess Judaism, if you claim that you are the friends of Allah, then yearn for death, if you are truthful." This verse shows that to have a desire for spiritual death is a sign of friendship of God. Physical death can be desired even by an infidel who wishes to escape from worldly difficulties and such a person cannot be Allah's friend. It should be noted that the desire for spiritual death can also be known by other names such as spiritual progress, Divine vision, attainment of the recognition of God.
In verse (6:122) spiritual death of the Perfect Man and his pure life are mentioned in this way: "Is he who was dead, then We raised him to life and made for him a light by which he walks in (the personal world of) people, like him whose similitude is (that he is) in utter darkness whence he cannot emerge?" These are matters discussed in the language of wisdom and therefore their level is very high. Thus by saying "dead" here is meant that the Perfect Man has gone beyond the stage of `Izra'il to the stage of inbi`ath where he was made alive in the pure life and a perfect light was made for him by which he could walk within people. Such a person can only be the Imam of the time and there is nothing surprising about that fact. Because if Satan, the misleading, can enter the hearts of people and do his work there (114:5), then why should not the true Guide, the Imam, also have access to the hearts and minds of people and do his work of illuminating them.

Wa's-salam (Peace).

Dust under the feet of mu'mins,
Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai,
6th January, 1985.

Chapter Index

Previous Chapter