Potential Supreme Name
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1. The Supreme Name (ism-i aczam) is always potentially present in the world of religion, and it actualises for every such mu'min who fulfils its commands and conditions. It should be known that only the Imam of time is the real and living Supreme Name [of God], while the symbolic beautiful names mentioned in the wise Qur'an are all allusions to and proofs of the exalted Imam. For example, the twin written names "al-Hayyu'l-Qayyum" are mentioned together in three places in the holy Qur'an. They allude to the fact that the true Supreme Name is the one who is always living, speaking and knowing. He is the one who is everlasting and who can bring about the resurrection.
2. The holy Qur'an repeatedly makes us understand that God created all things in pairs. One is the symbol and the other is the symbolised; one is the proof and the other is the implied object or reality. Thus, the Supreme Name in verbal and written form is the symbol and the proof, while the Great Name in human and luminous form is the symbolised and the implied reality. For example, seven chapters of the Great Qur'an begin with [the disjointed letters] "Ha'-Mim" (40:1, 41:1, 42:1, 43:1, 44:1, 45:1, 46:1). Ha'-Mim is the abbreviation of al-Hayyu'l-Qayyum, which means [the holy personalities of] the hujjat of Qa'im and Hazrat-i Qa'im, for they are both one in the act of resurrection, but two as persons, just as Ha'-Mim, which has a numerical value of 48, is one, but al-Hayyu'l-Qayyum are two names.
3. If you truly love the holy and pure Imam, see his theophanies in the mirror of knowledge and wisdom. Each of his theophanies is a fruit of paradise. Adopt the habit of always abiding in the garden and orchard of the knowledge of certainty, so that the path of the eye of certainty may become easy [for you].
4. The law of pairs that God has established is unshakable and irrevocable (55:52, 11:40, 13:3, 51:49, 36:36), so that the reality may become clear to the people of wisdom that with the Qur'an there is also a living light (5:15), with the Prophet there is also the legatee (108:1), with zahir there is also batin (31:20), and with the symbol there is also the symbolised reality (3:103). This law is such that no prudent person can deny it.
5. In God's godhead, there is the law of ranks as well as the law of equality, and there are separate proofs of these two realities. The proof of ranks is the word "darajat" which is mentioned 14 times in the holy Qur'an. The mention of equality is often found in the places where the Divine Throne (carsh-i ilahi) is mentioned. One of its many examples is the verse: "God, the Compassionate, did the work of equality (musawat) on the Throne" (20:5). This is the great secret of Monoreality.
6. There are several meanings of carsh. One of them is the roof. On the roof, there is the equality (musawat), and under the roof, there is the ladder of ranks. Moreover, remember the reality that God's Throne (carsh) on the ocean of knowledge (11:7) is, in another example, the laden ark (36:41), on board which are the souls of the people of faith. This is clear proof of Monoreality (yak-haqiqat). See also in surah-yi Mulk (67:3) that the souls who are in the equality of the Compassionate (musawat-i Rahmani) are no different from each other.
7. Allah is both the Enfolder (al-Qabiz) and the Unfolder (al-Basit). Thus He, may His glory be glorified, always performs equality by enfolding people in the Perfect Human Being (i.e., the Single Soul or nafs-i wahidah) and also creates ranks by spreading them out. This wisdom is extremely wonderful and marvellous.
8. If it is a recognised fact that the Supreme Throne is a great angel, it is definitely the universe of similar sacred souls, as well as the laden ark. It is the blessed personality of the exalted Imam who, according to a noble prophetic tradition, is the Ark of Nuh, and all those who have embarked on it are the people of salvation. No wonder that all souls will eventually be gathered therein according to the law of equality, for if all are subject to the law of ranks, then all are also subject to the law of equality, and nothing can be outside the embrace of God.
9. We believe that the prophetic tradition: al-khalqu ciyalu'llah (i.e., people are [like] God's household) contains the ultimate and revolutionary teaching. How can the wise Qur'an not contain such teachings? In fact, everything is mentioned first in the Qur'an and then as its exegesis in the noble prophetic traditions.
Karachi Monday 16 Rabic ath-thani 1419 AH / 10 August 1998
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