Ascent (Mi`raj) of Soul - Spirit and Spirituality

Spirit and Spirituality

Tags: Recognition, Ma`rifat, Didar, Certainty, `ilmu'l-yaqin, `Aynu'l-Yaqin

In today's majlis I would like to discuss some fundamental and special points about the subject of spirit and spirituality. It is the greatest and the most important subject in the religion of Islam, because it is the recognition of one's own self or soul that leads to the recognition of God. It is the successful result of true knowledge and good deeds and it is the ultimate goal of religion.

The Most Comprehensive Principle:
When it is a fact that the precious treasure and its unbounded, lasting and imperishable wealth of the recognition of God is hidden in man's own recognition, why should not more and more attention be paid to it? The recognition of soul in reality means to see and recognize it completely with the inner eye. This subject is so great, vast and comprehensive that it comprises all subjects related to religion, because everything is contained in the supreme recognition of God. In other words, the subject of the recognition of God covers all subjects and extends to them. Therefore, I would like to emphasize that it is a dire need to pay more and more attention to the subject of spirit and spirituality.

Hazrat Mawlana `Ali says: "He who recognizes his soul, indeed recognizes his Lord (rabb)". It is also said: "He who among you recognizes his soul more, recognizes his Lord more". Since the supreme rank of the recognition of God becomes complete after passing through many stages of spirituality and merging in the origin, it cannot be attained merely by one's own efforts. The help and guidance of the True Guide on this delicate and difficult path are indispensable. This great feat of mu'mins' religious life can be accomplished in the light of the sacred guidance of God, the Prophet and the Imam of the time.

Straight Path and Recognition:
As it is a fact that the straight path is another name of Islam and on this path ma`rifat is the last destination after shari`at, tariqat and haqiqat, so also is the recognition of one's self or soul (in which is the hidden treasure of God's recognition) the final stage of religion. This is the station of recognition (maqam-i ma`rifat) which a mu'min reaches through true knowledge and good deeds. In other words, the straight path is the path of obedience of mu'mins, on which they can advance and progress gradually till their heart is completely illumined with the radiance of the light of recognition.

Observation and Recognition:
When a mu'min reaches the stations of recognition, he sees things with his inner eye and as a result, he recognizes not only his own soul, but also his Lord.

Recognition, although apparently only one word, is so exalted and so great in its meanings and wisdoms, that it comprises all the realities and recognitions of life and the universe. But it is sad that very few can understand the domain of recognition and its meanings.

Light of Recognition:
Recognition or ma`rifat is a light, the eternal light which has always been there, and which has many names, such as Divine light, the light of the Qur'an, the light of Islam, the light of Prophethood, the light of Imamat, the light of faith, the light of certitude, the light of mu'mins, etc. Then reflect for a while and consider what is beyond the light of recognition. It is everything. It is the light of God, therefore, it is the light of the universal of universals, in the illumination of which the secrets of God and Godhead are revealed to the `arifs, and the living and luminous realities of pre-eternity (azal) and post-eternity (abad) come in front of them completely. Through it they recognize the Tablet, the Pen and the angels; they become aware of the secrets of the creation of the universe and they know the miracles of the Prophets and the Imams practically; they observe the states of a sublime reality such as revelation and recognize Jibril, Mika'il, Israfil and `Izra'il.

Resurrection, which is the most hidden subject of the Wise Qur'an, is experienced practically through this light and at the end of this spiritual journey for the search of reality, is attained the hidden treasure of God and Godhead. God, as mentioned in a sacred Hadith, in which there is everything and beyond it there is nothing.

The light of recognition illumines, not only this life of the `arif, but through it he also directly becomes aware of the realities of death and the Hereafter in this very life, and has the amazing vision or didar of "soul" which is a great luminous creature of God, or in other words, a living, luminous and miraculous reflection of His Divine Vision.

In the light of recognition, the world of spirituality which is opposite to this world, comes in front of the `arif as the inner unveiling. The veil of Hell and Paradise is removed and their scenes are observed with the inner eye and this results in the absolute certainty of the attributes of God and His oneness.

In the Illumination of Recognition:
It should be known that recognition or ma`rifat is a luminous living universe, which contains everything and whatever it contains has a soul. In other words, if seen in the illumination of recognition, the soul of everything including life-less stones, appears and speaks, as God says: "They (organs) shall say: Allah Who makes everything speak, made us speak" (41:21). This wisdom-filled allusion of the Qur'an is to the world of recognition, in which everything has a soul which can speak. Thus by observing in the illumination of the light of recognition, it becomes evident that everything has a soul, including inanimate things, such as stones, soil, air, etc. The soul of vegetables is apparent from their capacity of growth, the soul of animals nobody doubts, and as for the human soul, it is an unanimously accepted reality. Thus, in the eyes of recognition there is nothing which does not have a soul. Thus it is a fact that during the attainment of recognition the `arif meets and converses with the souls of all things and as a result the veil of the secrets of their recognition is lifted and their realities become clear.

The testimonies of the above-mentioned realities and recognitions are also found in the Holy Qur'an, as it is said in verse (6:112). "And had We sent down the angels to them and had the dead spoken to them, and (even) if had We gathered all (spiritual) things before their eyes, (even then) they would not believe."

Apparently this verse appears to be an example. But those who know, know that it is not only an example, but also a living fact. Thus it is a very great, wonderful and amazing event that for those who have direct contact with the spiritual world, not only do the souls of the dead, the angels and jinns appear to them, but simultaneously the souls of all human beings and all things meet and converse with them. And the greatest event in this connection is the didar or vision of the Divine Light.

Comprehensiveness of Recognition:
It is almost universally accepted that the complete recognition of God is attained by His luminous didar, whether this didar, which is full of the manifestations of His majesty and beauty, be His own or of His light who is His vicegerent and representative, or of man's own soul, in which is hidden this great capacity that when the time comes it represents Him in every respect and in every form. In any case, the didar of God is true and it's result is recognition, which is the greatest proof and supreme goal of spiritual observations.

Q. Can a wise person, despite this explanation, think that some essential realities still remain hidden forever from the eyes of the people of recognition?

A. No. How can it be possible while God's blessed didar and His sacred recognition are established facts? If God, despite being the most hidden, or hidden of the hidden, grants the everlasting wealth of His recognition by manifesting Himself in the spirituality and luminosity of His chosen servants or when the most hidden treasure is discovered in the recognition of God, the Blessed, the Exalted, Who is the most sublime, the greatest and beyond everything, can anything still remain hidden from the eye and access of recognition?

The greatest secret:
It should be known that in comparison to God's recognition nothing has any importance. The greatest secret is God's reality. Thus a religious and wise person can easily conceive that God Himself is the greatest of all secrets. That is, the nature of the recognition of God is extremely difficult and the unity of God is the most difficult thing. Thus, when it is believed that His recognition is attainable and His unity recognizable, then is it possible for any wise person to think that there are certain things which are still beyond the recognition of the people of recognition? No, it is not correct to think so. It is against the meaning of "Allahu Akbar". That is, it is only God Who is the greatest and He is over and above everything. This means that all things are confined in the mercy of God and above His mercy is His knowledge and He Himself is above His knowledge and its sovereign.

This explanation, on the one hand, ascertains the grandeur and sublimity of the recognition of God, and on the other, makes it evident that nothing is beyond His mercy and knowledge. From this it necessarily follows that those fortunate people who attain the recognition of God, receive everything, on account of the following reasons:

Allah is the true sovereign and when He wills, He grants His recognition to one of His servants and makes him His friend, then as a result of His friendship, he receives everything.
The recognition of God brings with it His knowledge and His knowledge brings with it everything, as we have explained in the above that His Godhead and recognition are above everything and all things are under His knowledge and mercy.
Although it is true that God is beyond every example, yet His mercy necessitates to furnish some easily understandable examples for the initial levels of the explanation of the concept of divinity. Thus, He has provided many such wisdom-filled and meaningful examples of His essence. Among them, one soul-nourishing example which represents His greatest favours is that of a "Hidden Treasure". If it is accepted that the people of recognition receive God not as a master, lord and king, but as a treasure then it requires us to think with great attention about how great this favour of God is. He gives Himself and His Godhead with all its perfect attributes as a treasure to an `arif as the reward for attaining His recognition. This secret should not be divulged any farther because in it are hidden wonderful wisdoms of Divine mercy and kindness. This shows that the light of recognition is everything.

Multiplicity-like Unity:
It would not be out of place at this point to discuss a unity which, in reality, is unity, but apparently is considered to be multiplicity. It should therefore be called a multiplicity-like unity, such as the sun and its innumerable reflections, that their true unity is always in the sun, but the sun's apparent multiplicity is in all clear and transparent things in which its light is reflected, such as a mirror, water, etc.

Similarly, there is a fountainhead of souls which is called the sun or the light of the spiritual world, in which there is the real unity of souls, but at the same time, there is also an apparent multiplicity in particular souls. In this connection too, if we want to use a collective term, we can call it multiplicity-like unity, which means that the unity of souls which is always in the eternal light appears temporarily in individuals, just as on the one hand there is the unity of the sun and its rays, and on the other, there is the apparent multiplicity.

The Single Soul (nafs-i-wahidah):
The Single Soul is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an in a wisdom-filled way. It is the Universal Soul which is like the fountainhead of souls and the eternal light, as the Wise Qur'an says: "Your creation and resurrection is but (the creation and resurrection of) a Single Soul" (31:28). That is, the souls of people were created with the Universal Soul in pre-eternity (azal), therefore in the Universal Soul their unity is still like the unity of a single soul. In other words, each one of us still has a higher "I" or higher reality of the soul attached to the Universal Soul, just as it was attached in pre-eternity. In addition we also have a lower "I" or a subsidiary or temporary life which depends on our personality and which can be compared to the reflection of the sun in the mirror.

When the personal resurrection takes place in connection with the spirituality of a mu'min then, together with all the souls of the universe which have come to him in the form of particles, he suddenly feels linked with the Universal Soul. This is an example of the collective resurrection in one's personal spirituality in which all people will find themselves alive in the Universal Soul as alluded to in the above-mentioned verse. The Holy Qur'an also says: "The mu'mins are surely brothers" (49:10). Further in a Hadith explaining the same purport, it is said: "Mu'mins are surely brothers and the Prophets are like a single soul". It is evident from this that although humanity is scattered at the lower levels, it is united at the higher levels and at the height of the Universal Soul it is like a single soul from pre-eternity to post-eternity. These realities and recognitions can greatly help us to understand monoreality.

Recognition and the Qur'an:
In this connection the following question can be raised in one way or another: What does the Qur'an say about recognition? The answer is that the Glorious Qur'an has mentioned the recognition of God everywhere in its special language of wisdom. Some examples of this are as follows:

In verse (24:35), it is said: "Allah is the light of heavens and the earth". This alludes first and foremost to a Divine light which grants spiritual knowledge, luminous guidance and Divine recognition to the people of the inner eye. If Allah is light then by this light is certainly meant His manifestations and the observations of the `arif and his attainment of recognition, because light not only effaces darkness and shows the hidden things, but it also manifests itself, just like the sun which not only effaces darkness and spreads light and shows the heaven and the earth but also itself becomes manifest. Thus, in this sense the people of recognition observe the manifestations of the Divine light with their inner eye. This then results in the fact that wherever light is mentioned in the Wise Qur'an, there is also mentioned the recognition of God.
According to verses (33:45-46) God had sent the Holy Prophet as a Prophet, a messenger, a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, a warner, an inviter to God and a luminous lamp. These blessed names of the Holy Prophet imply the meanings of recognition. Prophet means the one who informs about God and in reality Prophethood is based on the observations of spirituality and the manifestations of light. Similarly, messenger means the one whom God has sent from His extreme closeness. Witness means the one who has observed the real event and is the witness of it. In these names the Holy Prophet's spirituality and recognition are prominently mentioned. Had he not observed paradise and the Divine vision (didar), then in reality, he would have been neither a witness, nor a bearer of glad tidings, nor a warner. These names can be truly applicable to him only after observing the spiritual world. Inviter to God means the one who enables others to meet God. There cannot be any doubt that the Holy Prophet was merged in God and was inviting others to walk on the straight path and to merge in Him. The Holy Prophet was accomplishing this tremendous work of mission in the illumination of the light of recognition, because he was the luminous lamp of the light of guidance, which means that he himself was the light of recognition. This example clearly shows that the recognition of God is mentioned in the wisdom of the Holy Qur'an, particularly in verses which are related to the praiseworthy attributes of the Perfect Man.
In verse (13:43) it is said: "And those who disbelieve say: You are not a messenger: Say (O Muhammad): Allah and he who has knowledge of the Book are sufficient witness (of my messengership) between me and you".

If you wish you can find out about this verse in a Shi`i commentary, in which you will find several reliable Sunni references as well, that for the testimony of the messengership of the Holy Prophet, the Perfect Man who is mentioned after God in the above-mentioned verse, is Mawlana `Ali. Whatever the disbelievers may say about his messengership, there are two just witnesses of it and they are God and Mawlana `Ali as Imam-i mubin, who testify that he is the true messenger of God.

Here you have to think logically about the testimony of Mawlana `Ali as to what is its criterion. You will certainly come to the conclusion that its criterion is the supreme testimony of God, the Blessed, the Exalted. This means that in confirmation of the messengership of the Holy Prophet, the testimony of Imam `Ali is as profound, all-embracing and correct as that of God. It was not hypothetical, superficial and limited. It was based entirely on observations with his own eyes. That is, to witness the messengership of the Holy Prophet without seeing all the spiritual wonders and miracles and their nature and reality from the cave of Hira up to the night of mi`raj, has no meaning, because his Prophethood and messengership cover all stages of the soul and spirituality, and to testify to this extremely great work, the first witness is God Himself.

In addition to mentioning that he was a witness of the messengership of the Holy Prophet in this verse, it is also said that he had the knowledge of the heavenly Book, whereas the knowledge of the heavenly Book is not only in the exoteric and esoteric aspects of the Qur'an, but also in the Guarded Tablet of spirit and spirituality, which is the Mother of the Book (ummu'l-kitab) and in the domain of knowledge, the Book and the Mother of the Book are the same. In the light of these realities it becomes clear that in no stage of spirit and spirituality is the light of walayat separate from the light of Prophethood. This means that whenever the light of Prophethood saw the manifestations of God, the light of walayat also saw them and without this nobody can fulfil the conditions of the criterion of becoming the witness of the messengership of the Holy Prophet together with God. It can be estimated from this discussion how the recognition of God is mentioned in Qur'anic wisdom.

Recognition and Paradise:
As mentioned earlier, where the recognition of God is attained through the light of recognition, nothing is excluded from that recognition, because it comprises and covers everything and so Paradise is also included in this vast domain. This means that in the manifestations of spirit and spirituality which are observed as a result of successful remembrance and luminous `ibadat, Paradise is also included, as God says: "And He will admit them into Paradise which He has (already) made recognizable to them" (47:6). This shows that Paradise must be recognised in this very life so that it may remain for ever after death. Otherwise, it is impossible to recognize it in the Hereafter. It is in this sense that God says in verse (17:72): "And whosoever is blind in this (life), he shall (also) be blind in the Hereafter, and far astray from the (straight path)". This verse clearly shows the importance of the inner eye and the observation of spirituality and therefore, a mu'min must attach himself to the farman of the Imam of the time. It is he who is appointed by God and the chosen Prophet for this supreme rank and by obeying him, a mu'min can attain the knowledge of certainty and the light of recognition.

Knowledge of Certainty (`ilmu'l-yaqin):
If a mu'min cannot observe the Paradise of spirit and spirituality with the inner eye in this life, he should not be disappointed if he is staunch and firm in faith and love for the Imam of the time. In such a case he can use the knowledge of certainty and can conceive the realities of Paradise, because in the absence of the eye of the heart and spiritual light, the light of the knowledge of certainty works as the eye, about which the Noble Qur'an says: "Nay, would that you knew knowledge of certainty, you shall certainly see hell-fire" (102:5-6). In these verses there is the praise of the knowledge of certainty and this clearly means that those fortunate mu'mins who have the knowledge of certainty, see not only Hell, but also recognize the realities of Paradise in its illumination. And all this should be completed in this world before one's death, so that after the knowledge of certainty, the rank of the eye of certainty may be attained.

The Eye of Certainty (`aynu'l-yaqin):
By the eye of certainty is meant the eye of the heart or the inner eye, with which man can see and recognize his own spirit and spirituality, as well as everything of the spiritual world and Paradise. Recognition becomes complete at this place. If a mu'min has not been able to attain this place, he should know that he is lacking either in the knowledge of certainty, or in `ibadat, spiritual exercise and true love. Therefore, he should obey the Imam of the time completely with sincerity and love and strive for remembrance, `ibadat and true knowledge, so that by the pleasure of God and the Prophet, he may receive the help and luminous guidance of the Imam of the time and thereby easily attain the rank of the knowledge of certainty and the eye of certainty.

Chapter Index

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter