Circle-like Wisdoms
Tags:
Wisdom 1: One great secret of the perfect power of God lies in the fact that He created everything on a circle and made it dynamic (21:33; 36:40).
Wisdom 2: The heaven, the earth, the sun, the moon, the planets, the stars and all other things are circular not only in their shapes, but in their endless journeys too.
Wisdom 3: The movement of air around the earth and the ocean is circular. In particular, the cycle of water is worth observing. In this, there is indeed the close representation of all far distant examples.
Wisdom 4: Which comes first, tree or seed? The green crops of wheat or seeds? Hen or egg? Man or mingled sperm? The answer to these and other such questions is the same: each pair together make a circle and if observed universally, have no anteriority or posteriority among them.
Wisdom 5: Reflect on the blessed verse (25:62): "He it is Who made the night and the day to follow each other." That is, neither the night nor the day is decidedly anterior or posterior, rather both are equally anterior and posterior. In other words, the circle of their movement is not such that a part of it is anterior and the other posterior. When it is established that there is the circle of day and night, then whatever is related to time also has a circle, such as second, minute, hour, week, month, year, aeon, etc.
Wisdom 6: Undoubtedly the s_rah of F_tihah is the Mother of the Book or Mother of the Qurn, whose gist is Bismill_hi'r-rahm_ni'r-rah_m. The essence and starting point of Bismill_h is the dot under the b, which is the comprehensive point of realities and gnoses about which Mawl_n_ cAl_ says: "I am the dot under the B_' of Bismill_h." Many allusions are hidden in this farm_n of Imam cAl_, some of which are as follows:
a) The circle of the compass is created with the help of the dot at the centre, and accordingly Mawl_n_ cAl_ is the dot at the centre of the circle of the two worlds. b) In the beginning of any letter or writing, the dot comes into existence first with the tip of the pen, by the flow of which physical letters, words and verses (of the Qur'_n) are written. Thus, there is not a single verse of the Qur'_n in which the dot does not flow and manifest itself externally and internally. That is, there is no verse in each part of which Mawl_n_ cAl_ is not mentioned. c) Just as there is the circle of the tree and the fruit and that of the pearl of intellect and the personal world, so also there is the circle of the meaning and wisdom of the glorious Qurn and the dot under the B of Bismill_h. d) All bodily and spiritual things, big or small, are collections of innumerable particles and nothing is excluded from this law. For instance, reflect upon the human body, in which there are innumerable living particles and each particle is potentially a separate personal world and a circle.
Wisdom 7: The opposite states of man, such as standing and sitting, walking and stopping, sleeping and waking, speaking and remaining silent, weeping and laughing, sickness and health, hunger and satiation, anger and forbearance, rest and anxiety, travel and sojourn, etc., each pair together form a circle. In addition, there are other circle-like wisdoms in man, such as the system of the circulation of blood, the respiratory system, the system of diastole and systole, the blinking of the eyelids, etc. In short, all these circle-like wisdoms indicate with their mute expression that the kingdom of God has neither a beginning nor an end, but it is everlasting and eternal.
Wisdom 8: In verse (3:140), God says: "And these are the days which We alternate between the people." In this Divine teaching there are extremely far-reaching wisdoms.
Wisdom 9: If man wants to progress infinitely, it is possible on such a wisdom-filled circle, where, on the whole, temporary hardship is nominal and permanent comfort is abundant. Man is a prodigious being who has two "I's": one to live in Paradise and the other to come to and return from this world. In this connection, God says in a sacred Had_th: "Man is My secret and I am his secret." And the Holy Prophet has called the "Higher I" "Companion-on-High (Rafiq-i acl_)". The Had_th is: "O Allah! forgive me, have mercy on me and join me to the Companion-on-High" (Sah_h-i Bukh_r_, III, Book of Patients, Had_th 634).
Wisdom 10: It is incumbent upon the wise people to thank the true Guide, Q_'imu'l-qiy_mat, calayhi afdalu't-tahiyyati wa's-sal_m, for the special favours that his sacred light has shown the secrets of recognition and treasures of Paradise, because of which the gems of realities and recognitions have spread so far and wide that it has become very difficult to be adequately grateful for them. All of us are lacking in this respect. Nonetheless, there is no despondency and if His grace descends, we shall shed tears in His presence.
Wisdom 11: The concept and ta'w_l_ wisdom of the "Companion-on-High", who is mentioned in the Had_th is a revolutionary discovery. Now, by the illumination of the light of this Had_th, many intricate questions cease to exist automatically. If man is observed in the light of knowledge and recognition, he is always in Paradise with respect to his higher "I". Thus many of those questions which had arisen from a sense of despondency regarding his reality, or due to ignorant questioning of the system of guidance, come to an end. When the wise people will come to know about this extremely great favour of God, there will be a revolution in their thinking and they will definitely confess that most of their questions were based on misunderstanding and hence they cease to be.
Wisdom 12: Alas, if only our souls were sacrificed in the path of our Beloved time and again! He has always kept _dam/man in Paradise in the form of the Permanent Soul and sends his transitory soul again and again to this world as a shadow clothed in human attire (6:98), because the Great Qur'_n alludes in its wisdom-filled way that God has made for mankind a useful shadow of everything (16:81). Thus the external (physical) existence of man is the shadow of the internal (spiritual) existence, and the appearance of the shadow again and again is but natural.
Wisdom 13: A bright proof of the presence of the higher "I" and the Permanent Soul of the people in Paradise is h_r_s (pure maidens with big beautiful eyes), ghilm_n (young attendants), and wild_n (youths) (56:17,22; 52:24). These subtle creatures, with their countless beauties, are like living houses of Paradise and their existence there is pre-eternal and post-eternal, because Paradise and all its bounties were created in pre-eternity, as the Qur'_n says in these wisdom-filled words: (a) "There wait on them immortal youths." (56:17), (b) "H_r_s cloistered in pavilions (veil of pre-eternity)" (55:72), The collective meaning of verses (56:35-38) is that the people of the right hand and their wives will be pre-eternally and post-eternally young, lovely and coeval. But, in reality, God has done this in the pre-eternity itself.
Wisdom 14: This universe, i.e. time and space, is like a prison, whereas the non-spatial and non-temporal world (pre-eternity) is the freedom of Paradise. Another name of the non-temporal world is the world of command and the human soul has come from this world (17:85), the upper end of which, as mentioned in the above, is the Permanent Soul. The real soul of a mu'min (male or female) in Paradise is a special model of the elegance and beauty of God, as mentioned in the sacred Had_th: O child of _dam! Obey me, so that I will make you a living and a luminous copy of me ...". Thus, God has done this in the very pre-eternity.
Wisdom 15: In verse (56:32-33), God says: "And fruits in abundance, incessant, unending and unforbidden." The chain of the bounties of Paradise is not like a long line whose ends are cut off, such as:
cut off cut off.
Contrary to it, a circle is incessantly unsevered.
Thus, Paradise, including this world is like a circle. It is this world which is the farm of the next world, therefore, it has paramount importance. You should always think universally and abandon the habit of thinking partially. That is, you should not think that the wisdom of this world will cease after death.
Wisdom 16: The wisdom-filled law of the Holy Qur'_n must be remembered that, together with the external description of everything in it, there is also the implicit mention of its hidden knowledge and wisdom. The external is called mith_l and internal, mamth_l, as it is said in verse (52:24): "And young attendants like hidden pearls will go round." The analogy given here of young attendants or ghilm_n going round or circumambulating, stands for the sun of the light of intellect revealing the secrets of pre-eternity and post-eternity by its rotation of rising and setting.
Wisdom 17: It is said in verse (52:20): "They will recline on thrones set in rows; and We shall wed them to fair ones with beautiful eyes." Each pious one of them will sit on the throne of the kingdom of the personal world and We will make him the patron of the people of the inner eye in knowledge and recognition. By "h_run c_n" is meant the people of the inner eye, because the external eye is the example of internal or inner eye.
Wisdom 18: In verse (55:72), God says: "H_r_s, close guarded in pavilions". That is, the secrets which are kept in the veil of pre-eternity, by knowing which infinite pleasure and happiness are attained. This is because the place where there are the renewal of pre-eternity and the secrets of eternity, is the Holy Sanctuary (haz_ratu'l-quds) in which are gathered and united all the pleasures and happiness of religion and the world. Since this treasure is the quintessence of the favours of both the worlds, it is described with the most beautiful examples.
Wisdom 19: Recently I have written a very short article by the title of "Essence of the Universe". Please study it carefully. Many parables and examples are required in order to explain the greatest treasure of God in which are contained goodness, beauty, elegance, perfection, value, soul, intellect, wisdom, light, illumination, pleasure, happiness and all other bounties, and this work has been done by God Himself, as He says in verse (17:89): "And We have displayed to the people, in this Qur'_n, every (kind of) example." That is, the treasure of realities and recognition is one, but its examples are countless.
Wisdom 20: It is said in an Had_th: "God has created _dam in His (Compassionate) image (s_rah).... Thus, he who enters Paradise, he will be in the image of Adam." (Sah_h Bukh_r_, Kit_bu'l-ist_dh_n, B_b, 685), from which some points are mentioned here:
Point 1: The above-mentioned Had_th is an exegesis of verse (7:11): "And verily We created you (physically), then We made your (spiritual) form (sawwarn_kum), then We said to the angels: Prostrate yourselves to _dam." This is a clear fact for the wise people that the perfect ones are with Hazrat _dam in all stages of spirituality. Point 2: When Hazrat _dam entered the Paradise of perfect spirituality, he was granted the Image of the Compassionate. Similarly, whoever enters this Paradise of spirituality, will be in the image of his father _dam. Here there is an allusion that through Hazrat _dam, every mu'min in Paradise will be in the Image of the Compassionate. Point 3: Complete spirituality is initial and partial Paradise, it is not the universal Paradise.
Wisdom 21: Although vegetables have the vegetative soul in comparison to minerals, but in comparison to animals, they are dead because they do not have the animal soul; the animals are alive in comparison to the vegetables because of this animal soul, but in comparison to mankind, they are dead, because they do not have the rational soul; similarly, man in comparison to animals is alive because of the rational soul, yet in comparison to the Perfect Man he is considered dead, due to not annihilating himself in the Perfect Man, the Murshid, and attaining the pure life and Holy Spirit. Thus, there are two kinds of the dead: living-like dead (spiritually dead) and physically dead.
Wisdom 22: God says in verse (8:24): "O you who believe! Respond to Allah and to His Messenger when he calls you to that which will give you (real) life (yuhy_kum)". Yuhy_kum literally means "it will revive you", as though in a sense you were dead. But the question is: Dead with respect to which soul, since we have the rational soul? The answer is that we have not yet received the soul which is in the Perfect Man.
Wisdom 23: God encompasses all the subtle things of the universe, the existents, this world and the next world in the manifest Imam, because it is the Imam who is the house of His sacred light. Thus, the act of reviving the two kinds of the dead and the record of deeds and traces is also in the Imam, as He says: "Verily We bring back the dead to life, and We write down what they have sent before them, and their traces. And We have encompassed everything in a manifest Imam." (36:12). That is, nothing is beyond the domain of the subtle body, the great soul and the perfect intellect of the pure and holy Imam.
Wisdom 24: By the Divine Pen is meant a great angel called the Universal Intellect and the Guarded Tablet is also a great angel called the Universal Soul, and they are the perfect intellect and the supreme soul of the Imam of the time. They are one Light, which works like the Pen and the Tablet in the higher world. It is a miracle of the perfect power of the omnipotent God, that the spiritual miracles of the light of Imamat are practically shown in the personal world of every c_rif so that the chain of His spiritual favours may continue forever.
Wisdom 25: In the previous majlis (gathering) of knowledge, our dear caz_z_n of Gilgit asked some important questions. One of them which needed more explanation was: In verses (12:21-29), it is said that Hazrat Y_suf's shirt was torn from behind. The external reason is known to all, but we would like to know its ta'w_l or esoteric wisdom.
Answer: The ta'w_l of this event is such that the spiritual Beloved Who is the paragon of beauty (King of the kings of the beautiful ones) of both the worlds, Who is our Beloved and the Sovereign of others is not in need of our love, rather we are in need of loving Him. Therefore, we want to stop Him in the palace of remembrance, but He does not stop. Yet one day His holy hem comes into our hand, if not from the front, from behind, and due to the struggle between our attempt to stop Him and His attempt to turn away, the subtle shirt is torn from behind. This is a bright proof of the fact that it is we who had started to play the musical instrument of love, and we were the ones in need of love who used to get together and weep. Yet, He was not paying any attention to us. But, now thanks be to God, the lovers have crossed the stages of trials, have become successful and received the fruit of love. And all this happened in such a strange way that the unique and everlasting treasure of elegance and beauty, for which we were yearning so deeply, is, by God, our own soul of soul and higher "I"! We also shed tears now, but that is in order to assimilate the immense happiness granted by Him and this is perhaps the best way to do so. Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds!
Wisdom 26: There is no doubt that all or some of the verses of the Wise Qur'_n are like subsidiary books (98:3). However, according to my limited access, the esoteric and exoteric miracles of the Glorious Qur'_n have continued to happen. One of them is such that its wisdom touches the mind and soul every time, due to which I am extremely bewildered. The verse is: "Man is created in haste. Soon will I show you My signs, then you will not ask Me to hasten." (21:37). An ideal wisdom of this verse is that the special man (ins_n-i kh_ss) is created from rapid remembrance. In this verse God says: Soon will I open and show you the treasures of the place of Intellect and the higher world, so that you will have Paradise and the comfort of the Sacred Sanctuary and will live in rest and peace.
Wisdom 27: The Wise Qur'_n is the Book of heavenly and Divine wisdom, in which the injunctions which are apparent are for all, the common as well as the chosen people, but the injunctions which are hidden in wisdom-filled allusions are only for the chosen, as God says: "On no soul does God place a burden greater than it can bear." (2:286). Thus, the Holy Qur'_n indicates to the people of tar_qat and the people of haq_qat that they should experience spiritual death before the physical death and become enriched with the everlasting wealth of knowledge and recognition.
Here are some references to the verses in which spiritual death is alluded to: (a) "Then you slay your (carnal) soul." (2:54) (b) "Then We revived you after your (spiritual) death, so that you may be grateful." (2:56)
"Indeed, God commands you to slaughter an ox." (2:67), that is, to sacrifice the carnal soul.
(d) "Then yearn for (practical) death, if you are the truthful." (2:94). That is, by spiritual death, you prove that you have entered the initial paradise.
Wisdom 28: One of the essential and extremely important subjects of the Holy Qur'_n is the sunnat (law, habit) of God, which must be studied with special attention and deep penetration, so that in its light, the complex and intricate question of the common people as to whether Hazrat _dam, Hazrat c_s_, others Prophets and the rest of the human beings are created according to the same natural law, or are there different ways of creation may be solved automatically. In reality, there is only one way of creation, because God has one sunnat and one law of nature only, as He says: "The law of creation (fitrat) of God is one, according to which He has continued to create mankind (i.e. there has never been and will never be a time without His creatures). There is no change in the creation of God (nor has there been a change in His sunnat). This is the lasting Religion (and these are the people who accept it)."
Wisdom 29: It is said in verse (76:2): "Indeed, We have created (every) man from mingled sperm." This is an universal law, from which no human being can be exempted, whether Hazrat _dam, Hazrat c_s_ or any other human being who has descended to the earth in the ibd_c_ body, because, other than God, there is nobody without parents. You should observe everything in the light of circle-like wisdom.
Wisdom 30: In four Qur'_nic verses, it is mentioned that the righteous people will be adorned with bangles in Paradise (18:31; 22:23; 35:33; 76:21). It should be known that this is an example of circle-like wisdom, which encompasses all the secrets of the universe. Otherwise, what is the importance of bangles of gold in the supreme Paradise of intellect and soul? It is said in verse (22:23): "They shall be adorned therein with bangles of gold and pearls; and their garments there will be of silk." That is, they will be granted such knowledge which is circle-like, which has no beginning and no end, and by the pearl is meant the Pearl of Intellect which demonstrates the pre-eternal and post-eternal secrets, and by the garments of silk is meant the ibd_c_ body, because just as among garments the finest and the most precious garment is the silk one, among bodies, the most exalted and excellent is the ibd_c_ body.
Wisdom 31: It is said in verses (36:41-42): "And a sign for them is that We have their dhuriyyat (particles of souls) in the loaded Ark and We have created for them similar arks on which they ride." Hazrat N_h had two loaded Arks: one physical and the other spiritual. By the spiritual ark is meant the blessed personality of the true Imam who is in every age, as mentioned in verse (36:42) that God has also created arks similar to Hazrat N_h's ark after him. That is, the ark of Imamat of which the world is never devoid, is the ark of salvation as mentioned in the Had_th: "The place of my ahl al-bayt among you is like the Ark of N_h (a.s), whoever embarks on it is saved and whoever lags behind is drowned."
Wisdom 32: In verse (14:36), God, reporting the statement of Hazrat Ibr_h_m, says: "Then he who follows me is of me." That is, he is my spiritual child. The Holy Prophet has said about Salm_n-i F_rs_: "Salm_n is of us, the ahl al-bayt". Imam Ja`far as-S_diq has said about some of his friends: "You are from us, the ahl al-bayt". You should not forget that the means of such a unique and most exalted spiritual progress are obedience and love.
Mawl_n_ cAl_ has said about Salm_n: "He is a minaret and sign of the knowledge of the first and of the last, and is an ocean which never exhausts (due to usage)." (Kit_bu'l-Maj_lis wa'l-Mus_'ir_t by Q_d_ Nucm_n, p.56).
Wisdom 33: The personal world of the Perfect Man is the workshop of the wonders and miracles of Divine knowledge and wisdom. One great miracle is that God is creating angels by casting the soul in the matrix of the personality of the Perfect Man. These angels are also his copies. This miracle used to be performed by Hazrat c_s_ in the example of bird (3:49; 5:110), in the case of Hazrat M_s_ and Hazrat H_r_n this used to happen in making mu'mins kings (5:20). This supreme favour of God is possible in every age.
Wisdom 34: The Holy Prophet said: "I receive revelation from Jibr_l, Jibr_l from M_k_l, M_k_l from Isr_f_l, Isr_f_l from the Tablet and the Tablet from the Pen." Thus, the N_tiqs receive ta'y_d from five higher hud_d. Then there are five physical hud_d between the N_tiqs and mustaj_bs for the sake of knowledge and guidance, who are: As_ses, Imams, Hujjats, Naq_bs (the lords of islands) and D_c_s (Jan_hs) (As_su't-Ta'w_l, p. 70).
Wisdom 35: On page 341 of the above-mentioned book is the following Had_th and its brief ta'w_l: "Fear the perspicacity of the mu'min who sees with the light of God." That is, the perspicacity of the Imam. (J_mic-i Tirmidh_, II, Tafs_r-i S_rah-i Hijr). Here by mu'min is certainly meant the exalted Imam, because he is the commander of the mu'mins, and therefore he is the first mu'min in his time and the bearer of the Divine light. Otherwise, an ordinary mu'min cannot even conceive that he sees in the illumination of the light of God. For those who are able to understand, the first allusion of this Had_th is sufficient, in which those who are commanded to fear are different and many and the one from whose perspicacity one must fear is different and is only one. This suffices for those who are able to understand.
Wisdom 36: It is said in verse (9:105): "And said: Work: Soon will God observe your work and His Messenger and the mu'mins." According to Imam Jacfar as-S_diq, here by mu'mins are meant the Imams. (Dac_'imu'l-Isl_m, I. p. 21).
God says in verse (9:119): "O you who believe! Fear God and be with those who are truthful (s_diq_n)". Study this verse very carefully: on the one side are all those who believe and on the other, are the truthful ones who are the Imams from the progeny of the Prophet, as Imam Jacfar as-S_diq says: "We are the truthful ones". In such cases, the Holy Qur'_n commands that the people of faith should fear God and follow the truthful ones and be with them in knowledge and good deeds.
Wisdom 37: The Holy Prophet says: "The people in their entirety are the household of God, the most beloved of them to God is he who benefits His household the most." (Majmacu'l-Bahrayn, p. 70, according to Tabar_n_ and Bayhaq_).
When God summons the people of the age with their Imam, they are delivered from the Hell of ignorance, because the event of "The day when We will summon every people with their Imam", is the minor Resurrection as well as the invitation to the true religion by force (17:71). This service of the Imam to the household of God is so unique that no other person can render it.
Wisdom 38: It is reported that the Holy Prophet said to Mawl_n_ cAl_: "You are the patron of this ummat and its Dhu'l-Qarnayn." (al-Maj_lisu'l-Mu'ayyadiyyah, I, p. 335). You are aware of this fact that every verse and every sound Had_th which is about Mawl_n_ cAl_, is also related to the Imam of every age. Because the light of cAl_, which is the light of God and the Prophet, continues in the holy chain of the Imamat and nurtures the people spiritually and intellectually. This patron, who has been appointed by God and the Prophet, is always present in this world.
Wisdom 39: On p. 212 of the above-mentioned book, it is written: There are two kinds of the names of God. One type are those names which are verbal and composed of letters, which a scribe writes and sometimes also erases. The other type are those which are living, speaking, rational and noble, such as Prophets, Legatees and Imams, who are the standard and sign of the Hereafter, the guides of tawh_d and the means and intermediary between the worshipper and the worshipped.
What great treasures of countless blessings are these beautiful Names of God, the blessed, the exalted (7:180; 17:110; 20:8; 59:24)! What wonderful, soul-nourishing and faith-illumining lights there are in them! There is no doubt that the Imam of the time is His Supreme Name and the sacred and venerated Naqsh. Al-hamdu li'll_h (Praise belongs to God).
Wisdom 40: All those Qur'_nic verses which are revealed under the title of "kull (whole, all, universal)" are universal laws, and it is necessary to reflect upon them again and again, as it is mentioned in the Holy Qur'_n: "Everything is perishable save His countenance. His is the command, and to Him you shall all return." (28:88).
You see that this perishing is never like utter non-existence, rather it is in the sense of the folding of everything of the universe in the hand of God, in which everything in front of God's countenance is annihilated unconsciously and it is only the c_rif who attains the greatest bliss of annihilation in God with consciousness and recognition. Dear friends! Let us pray together that may God grant us success and courage to render some service to the Glorious Qur'_n! _m_n!.
N. N. (Hubb-i cAl_) Hunzai, Dhu'l-Faq_rab_d, Gilgit, Monday, 25 Dhu'l-Hijjah 1414/6th June, 1994.
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