The Kingdom of the Personal World
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1. From the hadith of recognition (hadith-i macrifat = man carafa), the wise people are certain that God, by His infinite mercy, has made the personal world the means of absolute recognition. For this reason, God, may His glory be glorified, includes the heavens and the earth (i.e., the subtle universe) in the personal world of an carif, so that he may attain the treasure of recognition in his own being. This is the greatest favour of the Lord of Honour to His servants. Although there is an apparent mention of self-recognition in the subject of recognition, its purpose is that the believing traveller on the spiritual path (mu'min-i salik) should first attain the great bliss of merging in the Imam, so that by this means they may reach the supreme goal of merging in the Prophet and merging in God. Without this means, the subjugation of the personal world as well as that of the universe is not possible at all.
2. Hazrat-i Mawla cAli has said in his Diwan: "Do you think that you are a small body while the macrocosm is (potentially) contained within you?". Thus, we say with certainty that those fortunate travellers on the path of spirituality who succeed in the extremely difficult exercise of "Merging in the Imam" see all great miracles of resurrection with the inner eye. They receive in a practical way the answer to every question related to the gathering and dispersing (hashr-u nashr). In short, resurrection is not physical, but hidden and spiritual, through which the spiritual kingdom is established in the personal world.
3. Among the marvellous and wonderful examples of the personal world, the example of the spiritual kingdom is of great importance. It has many names. Therefore, the spiritual kingdom was first given to Hazrat-i Adam under the name of Divine vicegerency. Every essential law of religion exists from the very beginning in accordance with the Divine tradition and is not created later. That is to say, the great kingdom (4:54) that God bestowed upon the progeny of Ibrahim and the progeny of Muhammad has existed since the time of Adam, because God, the Exalted, had chosen His vicegerent from among the people of the time and had bestowed upon him the spiritual kingdom (3:33).
4. Indeed, cAli of the time [i.e., Imam of the time] is the gate of the knowledge and wisdom of the holy Prophet Muhammad. Thus, the mu'min-i salik who attains union with the manifest Imam (36:12) continues to see in his personal world the innumerable wonders and marvels and the magnificent miracles of the spiritual kingdom of the exalted Imam. Every miracle is full of knowledge and wisdom. There is no doubt that the Imam possesses the spirit and spirituality of the Qur'an, and it is in this sense that he is the speaking Qur'an (Qur'an-i natiq) and the Light (nur) for the manifest book (kitab-i mubin). So, if you want to receive the precious benefit of the Qur'anic ta'wil directly from the holy and pure Imam, then you should merge in your Imam of the time through ardent love, devotion, knowledge and obedience. This single merging will fortunately serve the purpose of three merging for you [i.e., fana' fi'l-Imam, fana' fi'r-Rasul and fana' fi'llah].
5. You must have noticed how magnificent the treasures of gems hidden in the esoteric aspect of the story of Hazrat-i Talut are. Though I mention the miracles of knowledge of the cAli of the time, at the same time I fear lest we all become ungrateful and indifferent to these spiritual bounties. All of you pray and supplicate for Divine grace, and simultaneously strive to become strong in knowledge, so that you may sincerely render the service of knowledge to all. In this way, you will be able to perform practical gratitude.
6. Hazrat-i Imam is the locus of manifestation of Divine wonders and marvels (mazharu'l-caja'ib wa'l-gara'ib). His command is apparent as well as hidden, in speech and action, in explicit words and in silent allusions. We may have been commanded to fulfil a particular task for which we may be negligent. Surely, we have been entrusted with a great responsibility and a great service.
7. O my cazizan! When the holy Imam bestows the luminous knowledge on one of his followers, there is expediency and wisdom in it, and it is Imam's own programme. So why should such a follower have false fear of anything? God willing! The spreading of the light of knowledge will gradually dispel hostile and unpleasant questions and greatly help those who are interested in true knowledge, al-hamdu li'llah!
Margala Towers, Islamabad Wednesday 9 Muharram al-Haram 1419 AH / 6 May 1998
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