The Revealed Light and the Manifest Book
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1. O fortunate cazizan! O lovers of the light of guidance! You have repeatedly heard and read about the revealed light. Indeed, each time it has a new splendour and a new theophany. This is the characteristic of the wise Qur'an that its wonders and marvels never end and God willing! It will be so even today. Let us do some research in the illumination of the Divine speech: is the manifest book a light, or is the master of the book a light? Or are they both separate lights? Or is their light internally a single light? The categorical answer to this question is present in the wise Qur'an: "Indeed there has come to you from Allah, a light and a manifest book" (5:15). It is clear from this noble verse that the teacher of the book (i.e., the holy Prophet) is the light and the holy Qur'an is the book. However, in the Prophet's heart, the holy Qur'an is also a spirit and a light (42:52).
2. The holy Prophet had become light even before the revelation of the Qur'an. Later, the spirit of the Qur'an was gradually revealed to his blessed heart. From this living spirit, God made the internal light of the Qur'an. It is extremely important to understand this wisdom-filled purport, which is at the end of surah-yi Shura (42:52). Thus, it is a fact that God's speech (i.e., Qur'an) is externally a holy book and internally a living light. However, you should never forget that the inner living light of the book is one and united with the inner light of the teacher of the book, because there is unity between the lights.
3. The extremely important wisdom should always be remembered that the heavenly book exists in the heart of the Natiq, Asas, and the Imam in the form of a living spirit and a living light. This wisdom-filled allusion is present in various places in the wise Qur'an. For example, in surah-yi Ma'idah (5:15, 5:44, 5:46) it is said that before the Mighty Qur'an, the Torah and the Gospel were in the same way a light in the heart (i.e., the personal world) of the Natiq, Asas and the Imam. The translation of this noble verse is: "Verily, We sent down the Torah (on the heart of Musa), in which was guidance and a light. The Prophets who submitted to Allah used to judge among the Jews according to it (i.e., the inner Torah), and (similarly) rabbaniyyun (i.e., the Imams) and ahbar (i.e., the Dacis) also used to judge according to what was entrusted to them from Allah's book, and they were witnesses to it …" (5:44).
4. See in Daca'imu'l-Islam that the above translations of rabbaniyyun and ahbar are in accordance with the saying of Hazrat-i Imam Jacfar al-Sadiq. Thus, the spiritual Torah was entrusted to the Prophets, Imams and Dacis in their personal world, and therefore they used to see its spirit and spirituality, and its light and luminosity. It is for this reason that they were witnesses to it. It means that after the Natiq, the light of the Qur'an is also cast on the mirror of the heart of the Asas, Imam, Bab, Hujjat and Daci. In other words, these are the hierarchs of religion (hudud-i din) in whom a spiritual revolution occurs from the higher to the lower, encompassing the esoteric bounties of the Qur'an.
5. It is said about the Gospel (Injil): "And We gave him (i.e., cIsa) Injil, in which was guidance and light" (5:46). This means that there was spiritual guidance and speaking light only in the Injil which was in the personal world of Hazrat-i cIsa. The greatest of the descriptions of light is that Allah, the Exalted, is light Himself, as it is said: "Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth (of the personal world)" (24:35). Thus, God's holy speech, which Hazrat-i cIsa used to hear in his soul and spirituality, was light. Sometimes, instead of speech, there is an allusion (wahy) with the vision (ru'yat), and sometimes the Divine speech manifests through an angel, Prophet, Asas, or Imam. This is a succinct description of the theophanies of light.
6. It is said in surah-yi Anmbiya': "And verily We gave to Musa and Harun the criterion and a light and a remembrance for the righteous" (21:48). This Divine speech mentions three great bounties that God had bestowed upon Hazrat-i Musa and Hazrat-i Harun, namely, Furqan (criterion, i.e., the collection of miracles), nur (light), and dhikr (remembrance, i.e., the supreme name = the collection of [God's] beautiful names = exhortation). The spiritual Tawrat is also hidden in these meanings. Indeed, all these supreme bounties were also attained by the hierarchs of religion (hudud-i din) according to their ranks, for the righteous (muttaqin) here mean the hierarchs of religion.
7. In surah-yi Ma'idah it is said: "And We have revealed to you the Book with truth, confirming the scripture that came before it and a guardian over it" (5:48). The original [i.e., luminous] form of the previous books was in soul and spirituality, so the Qur'an verifies this form [of the previous books] and not of any interpolated book. Moreover, this pure book of God is a guardian of the previous heavenly books in the sense that the living spirit and the light of all those books is present and preserved in the spirit and the light of this book, because there can be spirits in one spirit and lights in one light.
8. The spirituality and luminosity of the heavenly books constantly demonstrate the renewal of similitudes (tajaddud-i amthal) in the holy light of Natiq, Asas, and Imam, through which all the secrets of each heavenly book are unveiled to them. But the question is, do Bab, Hujjat and Daci see the living spirit and the living light of the heavenly book or not? And if they do, to what extent do they see it? An excellent answer to this question has already been given, but for the sake of knowing more, several answers can be given. The Qur'anic story of Hazrat-i Maryam is very appropriate as an answer [to this question], because she is in fact an example of Bab, Hujjat and Daci. Read the following Qur'anic realities and recognitions that pertain to her:
9. The first point is that Hazrat-i Maryam was given the Supreme Name for the sake of spiritual elevation. The holy Qur'an (4:171) refers to the Supreme Name as Allah's word (kalimatu'llah) and Allah's Spirit (ruhu'llah), in which was the light of Hazrat-i cIsa. The second point is that angels only converse with prophets and awliya'. Hazrat-i Maryam was among God's friends (awliya'u'llah), so the angels not only spoke to her, but also gave her many great glad tidings. One of these glad tidings is: "And when the angels said: O Maryam! Certainly, Allah has chosen you and purified you, and has preferred you above the women of the world" (3:42). This means that along with all other excellences, God had endowed her with the treasure of knowledge and recognition. This is because those whom God purifies become physically, spiritually and intellectually pure, and those who are intellectually purified can hold in their hands the hidden book (kitab-i maknun) which contains all the secrets of the heavenly book (56:77-79).
10. The heavenly title of Hazrat-i Maryam is "siddiqah (truthful woman)" (5:75). In the language of wisdom, it means an exalted lady who testifies to the prophets through the ta'wil of the heavenly books, as it is said in the last verse of surah-yi Tahrim: "And (similarly) Maryam, daughter of cImran, who guarded her (physical and spiritual) private parts, so We breathed into her of Our Spirit (by means of the trumpet of Israfil and resurrection), and she testified (through ta'wil) to the words of her Lord (namely, kalimat-i tammat, i.e., the Perfect Words, and asma'-yi cizam, i.e., the Great Names) and to His books, and she was one of the (true) obedient ones" (66:12).
11. Hazrat-i Maryam was neither a Prophet nor an Imam, but in her personality she had clear examples of Bab, Hujjat, and Daci. Moreover, in her personality there was a model of the exalted ladies of the Qur'an and Hadith, such as Hazrat-i Khadijatu'l-Kubra, Hazrat-i Fatimatu'z-Zahra', etc. Thus, when we see in the light of the Qur'an and spirituality, we come to know that the spiritual elevation of Hazrat-i Maryam had reached the final destination, i.e., the Sacred Sanctuary (23:50). Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, had made Hazrat-i cIsa and his mother Hazrat-i Maryam, His miracle and a sign of the final destination.
12. The heart's light continues to rise in pure hearts. Read this article carefully and tell us what is not contained in the light? If you all say that the light embraces everything, then acquire the knowledge of certainty (cilmu'l-yaqin) in the light of Qur'an, hadith, and farman, so that thereafter the eye of certainty (caynu'l-yaqin) and the truth of certainty (haqqu'l-yaqin) may be attained and it may be observed that this same light ultimately becomes the light of believing men and women (57:12, 57:19, 66:8).
13. Material things occupy space according to their size, so all material things cannot be contained in a limited place. On the contrary, spiritual things are non-spatial, and space is not a problem for them. Thus, all the heavenly books can be contained in only one spirit of the Qur'an (42:52). It is in this sense that the noble Qur'an is called guardian or protector (muhaymin, 5:48). Also, one of the attributive names of God is Muhaymin (59:23). To have certitude in all the miracles of God's omnipotence, the universal (kulliyyah) of the rank of Imamat is: "And We have encompassed everything in the manifest Imam" (36:12). Mawla cAli has said: "I am the one who has a thousand books from the books of the Prophets" (Kawkab-i Durri, chapter III, manqabat 33).
Karachi Saturday 19 Muharram al-Haram 1419 AH / 16 May 1998
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