Ascent (Mi`raj) of Soul - The Nature and Reality of Light
The Nature and Reality of Light
Tags: Light, Luminous lamp, Spiritual Colour, Knowledge, Guidance
Light literally and lexically means to shine, to illumine. In religious terms by this light is meant the light of guidance, who is the fountainhead of knowledge, wisdom, certitude and recognition and the means of well-being of the religion and the world. It is the Divine light dressed in the human attire of the Perfect Man, living and present in this world as the True Guide, salawatu'llahi `alayhi. This Divine light is mentioned everywhere in the Wise Qur'an. He is perfect in every respect and is the living light; his guidance is free from any doubt whatsoever. In the light of his guidance, not only do the realities of the heaven and the earth become clear and come in front in an enfolded form, but also the states of the first, the last, the apparent and the hidden become clear, because he is the light of the Omnipotent God in every respect.
Definition of Light:
If someone asks: What is the definition of light? The answer is that where it rises, there it becomes manifest and darkness disappears due to its radiance. This means that one specific attribute of light is manifestation. Thus, light not only itself becomes manifest, but it also manifests things hidden in the darkness.
Kinds of Light:
As is evident from the introduction of this subject, the light which we want to discuss here is spiritual or religious light and not the material or worldly light. Nonetheless, material light can be used as an example only. It should be known that there are three kinds of spiritual or religious light, or in other words, in reality it is one light but it has three aspects: ethical, spiritual and intellectual. In this sense we can also say that for the sake of human guidance are ordained three lights, because externally and internally human existence is of three kinds: the universal intellect, the universal soul and the universal body. Similarly, human existence also depends on three things: the intellect, the soul and the body. Further, man has three personal worlds: the world of intellect and knowledge, the world of spirit and spirituality and the world of body and humanity. There are also three worlds of jabarut (world of Divine attributes), malakut (world of angels) and nasut (the world of human beings) under lahut (the world of the unity of God). All these examples show that the light of guidance also has three levels, so that man may equally receive guidance from God at the place of body, soul and intellect.
The three kinds or three aspects of the light of guidance mean that the True Guide is the Divine Light, not only with respect to soul and intellect, but also with respect to his sacred body. Had it been possible to guide the intellect and soul of the people of the world without a body, then angels would have been sent as Prophets and Imams on the face of the earth. But this is not the case, the reason for this is that in the world of humanity and the physical world, the practical guidance is possible only through the body. Therefore, in the physical world only the body of the True Guide can act as the light. Thus, in this sense the sacred body of the Guide of the time is the initial aspect of the light of guidance or is the physical light.
Ethical Light:
The shadows of bad habits which are found in the world of humanity are the darkness of the un-ethical acts which can only be removed by the light of good ethics. It is because of this that God sent the Holy Prophet as the paragon of human character, as He says about him in verse (68:4): "Verily you are on an exalted standard of excellent ethics". That is, you are on the perfect rank of excellent habits, so that the people may have illumination of the light of guidance from each of your words and deeds and follow the light of that excellent model on the straight path.
The Holy Qur'an has called the Holy Prophet the luminous lamp (33:46), which first and foremost is applicable to his blessed and sacred personality, because those fortunate people who had attained the initial light of religion from him, had done so through his personality. In other words, the work of the luminous lamp which was sent to the world was to spread the light of humanity and ethics before spreading the light of intellect and soul, according to the order of human creation that, first is created the body, then the soul and finally the intellect.
If someone, despite the preceding explanation, were to question whether the personality of the True Guide is included in the light of guidance or not, the answer is that his corporeality and personality are included in the light, because the illumination of the ethics, soul and intellect are not possible without the support of the body. It is because of this that in the Wise Qur'an, the light of guidance is compared to a lamp in which are included not only the flame and illumination, but also the vessel of the lamp and the niche, as it is said: "Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth; His light is as a niche in which there is a lamp" (24:35). In this wisdom-filled example of the Divine light are included not only flame and illumination, but also the vessel of the lamp and the niche. From this it can be established that not only are the ethics, spirit and intellect of the Holy Prophet and the pure Imam included in the light of guidance, but also their personality and family, because personality is like the vessel of the lamp of Divine Light and family is like the niche in which there is the lamp.
One of the meanings of Holy Prophet being sent by God as "a mercy for the worlds" is that whatever human and ethical virtues are found in the world of humanity from the beginning to the end are due to his ethical light, otherwise its meanings would have remained incomplete. However, it is a different matter whether someone, after accepting his light of humanity and ethic, also accepts the grace of his spiritual and intellectual light or not.
Spiritual Light:
There are many people in this world who are always suffering from the darkness of spirit and spirituality and who deny the realities of the hereafter, because they have no relation with and are not interested in faith and religion. According to them, this external and worldly life is everything, whereas according to religion it is the life of spirituality and the hereafter which is far better and superior. Thus Almighty God has appointed the spiritual light in order to remove the darkness of spirit and spirituality. That is, in every age He has appointed the blessed and sacred soul of the True Guide as the fountainhead of spiritual light, so that for the people of the inner eye, the spiritual world may be far greater, more luminous and brighter than the material world.
God says in verse (21:107): "And (O Muhammad!) We sent you not but as a mercy unto the worlds". This means that, according to the Divine Will, the light of Muhammad (s.a.s.) rose from the world of lahut and continued forever in the worlds of jabarut, malakut and nasut in the form of knowledge, wisdom and guidance. It should be known that nasut, which is the world of human beings, is the lowest, above which is malakut, which is the world of souls and angels, above which is jabarut, the world of actual angels and Divine attributes and above which is lahut, the world of oneness or the world of essence, which is the highest. It should be noted that this order of elevation is not spatial, rather it is in the sense of honour.
God, the Beneficent, the Merciful, has ordained the light of guidance and mercy in order to help man, who has come to this world from the presence of God and has to return to Him according to "we have to return to Him" (2:156). God knew that man is weak in every respect and cannot be successful without His succour and help in the long chain of this journey. Thus, He decided to help him through the means of the light of guidance and to lead him step by step, stage by stage and world by world until he merges in the ultimate origin.
It is a pleasant concept of the people of tariqat that the true salik (spiritual traveller) should first annihilate himself in the Perfect murshid (spiritual guide) and through him in the Holy Prophet and through him in Allah and thus attain the rank of fana' fi'llah (annihilation in God) and baqa' bi'llah (survival in Allah). This explanation shows on the one hand that the need and importance of the light of guidance continues not only in the world of nasut, but also in the worlds of malakut and jabarut by the command of God. On the other hand, it shows that the ultimate destination of the salik, is annihilation in God, where he has to annihilate his existence and "I" in the reality of God and revive in His pre-eternal (azali) and post-eternal (abadi) unity.
Gradual Light of Spirituality:
Man's nature is such that initially he is weak in every field and then progresses gradually. Accordingly, spiritual light too, is initially dim, and then increases gradually until one day it turns into a stormy world of intense dazzling lights and this is the stage of the greatest trial.
The initial light of spirituality in one respect is like material light, but also differs from it in many respects, because spiritual light is an immaterial reality which is free from physical qualities and attributes and beyond time and space. It is far more sublime, superior, perfect, beautiful and attractive than material light. Its soul-nourishing colours, attractive radiance and pleasant resplendence are unique. It is an ever-fresh, colourful world of spiritual miracles and luminous manifestations and is the paragon of the spiritual beauty of all things of the heaven and the earth. The numerous forms of its manifestations change every moment. Every thing of it is a Divine feat and a model of wisdom, therefore, it gives tremendous coolness to the eye of the heart by its soul-refreshing manifestations.
Spiritual light is the light of God which was in the Holy Prophet and it is the light of the Prophet which is in the Imam. It is the world of the heart as well as the eye of the heart, it is soul as well as spirituality, it is the Hereafter as well as Paradise, it is the nourishment of the soul as well the comfort of the heart and mind. The soul, in reality, is everything, because it is from the command of God (17:85). In fact, at the exalted place of the manifestation and observation of spirituality, it is itself the world of command, therefore, at this place it constantly represents the manifestations of "Be and it is". That is, it becomes evident from the observations of spirit and spirituality how God gives luminous existence to everything by the command of "Be" and how through this word, things continue to always appear in the spiritual world.
The Spiritual Colour:
There is no doubt that in one respect the exquisite and colourful beauty of the external world also belongs to God, but in another, His special and distinctive colour (which is the colour of the light of guidance, islam (submission) and iman (faith)), is hidden in the soul and the spiritual world, as God says: "It is the colour of Allah and who is better than Allah at colouring, and we worship Him (alone)" (2:138). That is, tell the Christians that recognition and salvation cannot be attained by baptism, but only by being tinted in the colour of faith, spirit and spirituality. This is the colour of God and who can be better than God in granting this colour.
Spiritual colour is mentioned in the Wise Qur'an mostly in those verses which are related to the subjects of light, Resurrection and Paradise. It is also mentioned in those verses in which is mentioned any kind of colour. For instance, in verse (2:69) about the ox of the children of Israel, it is said: "Verily, it is a yellow ox, its colour is bright yellow, delighting the beholders". By this, in ta'wil, is meant the spiritual colour which a mu'min sees in his heart through the True Guide. This delight is from the first observation of spiritual colour and also by the opening of the eye of the heart for the first time. Otherwise, how can one attain so much happiness and delight by merely seeing a physical ox of yellow colour, which God has Himself mentioned with so much importance?
Spiritual Faculties:
Just as the darkness of the night hides the things of this world and the light of day shows them, the light of guidance shows the things of spirit and spirituality which the darkness of negligence and ignorance hide. In this connection, the various spiritual powers and faculties become actual, particularly seeing, hearing, smelling, speaking and touching spiritually. These five faculties are called the five internal senses, through which the light of guidance rises in the heart of mu'mins. This means that the light of guidance guides not only in the state of spiritual illumination, but also in the form of spiritual and luminous seeing, hearing, smelling, speaking and touching.
In order to understand in what states and how the light of guidance helps and guides, one should reflect on this sacred Hadith: "My servant always seeks My closeness through additional prayers until I love him. When I love him, I become his ear with which he hears, and I become his eye with which he sees and I become his hand with which he grasps and I become his foot by which he walks". (Bukhari, III, Hadith 1422).
There is no doubt for the wise people that these attributes belong to the True Guide, who is the light of guidance and has the honour of being the vicegerent and representative of God in the exterior and interior of humanity. Thus, the act of his guidance is considered the act of God. Otherwise God, as such, is free from being the ear, eye, hand and foot of His servant.
The gist of the preceding details is that the light (of guidance) is the fountainhead of physical, spiritual and intellectual faculties and the means of every kind of feeling and comprehension. Therefore, light has many meanings and is everything. For instance, when by light is meant guidance, then the guidance of eyes is possible in the form of illumination and the guidance of ears in the form of hearing speech. This shows that guidance is in the state of voice as well. Similarly, if there is a guidance for the nose also, then it has to be in the form of fragrances. Thus, one state of light is also like the fragrance of Paradise. The guidance of the tongue is in the form of natural and miraculous speech in which the speaker speaks automatically and likewise light also comes as the faculty of touching.
Light is the sun of the world of religion. Or, in other words it is the powerhouse of God. Now, think materially and scientifically as to what things are made and what kind of powers come into existence from the sun and the powerhouse. It is obvious that neither the sun, nor the powerhouse mean only light, rather these two sources of material power contain within themselves, innumerable things and countless powers which only scientists know. In the light of this example think about the light of intellect and soul and the difference between them. Material light is devoid of intellectual and spiritual attributes and empty of the wealth of religion and knowledge, whereas the attributes of spiritual light are so perfect that God has made him His vicegerent on the face of the earth.
Intellectual Light:
It is extremely important to know that the highest rank of light is in the intellectual state, the middle is in the spiritual form and the lowest is in the physical form, even though the human intellect, soul and body are not separate from each other. In other words, the light of the personality of the True Guide is apparent, the light of his soul is hidden and that of the intellect is the hidden of the hidden. This means that the light of intellect is comprehended at the last stages of spirituality. It often manifests in the best examples of spirituality, but otherwise, in its abstract form, it is not visible. It is because of this that I have called it the hidden of the hidden.
The light of guidance spreads the illumination of the knowledge of certainty through his body, provides the illumination of the eye of certainty through his soul and the illumination of the truth of certainty through his intellect. The way that mu'mins receive the grace and blessings of this guidance is that by the external senses they attach themselves to the knowledge of certainty, by the internal senses to the eye of certainty and by the intellectual senses they comprehend the truth of certainty.
In one respect the Dais (kursi=Universal Soul) stands on the universe and the Throne (`arsh=Universal Intellect) on the Dais. In another way, it is also true to say that the Throne comprises the Dais and the Dais the universe. This means that the intellectual light comprises the spiritual light in its domain of knowledge and the spiritual light comprises the Universal Body. This explanation shows that the light of intellect is the Throne of the kingdom of God, upon which depend His true unity and perfect recognition. From this is evident the rank of the intellectual light.
It is said that this universe is like a great human being, which has a soul and an intellect, i.e. the Universal Soul and the Universal Intellect. The same is true of the Perfect Man who is called perfect and complete in the sense that the Universal Intellect is the name of his exalted intellect, the Universal Soul his great soul and the Universal Body, his subtle body which comprises and covers the entire universe. Thus, the True Guide is the Universal Intellect as well as the Universal Soul, the Throne as well as the Dais, as Mawla-yi Rum says:
`arsh-u kursi ra madan kaz way judast
Mazhar (Locus of Manifestation) of the Light of Intellect:
Since intellectual light is invisible, therefore at the first level its mazhar is the soul and at the second level, personality. We have already said the light of the personality or body is apparent, that of the soul, hidden and that of the intellect, the hidden of the hidden. To explain this further, although the light of the intellect does not appear by itself and its grace can be comprehended only mentally and in the thought, yet it appears in many examples of spirituality, the grace of which can be received through the internal senses.
Further, the light of the intellect appears not only through the spiritual mazhar but also through the physical mazhar or the mazhar of spirituality, from the light of which mu'mins benefit through the external senses. Had there not been the manifestation of the light of intellect in this world, the people of the world in their entirety would have gone astray.
The Real Nature of Light:
The real fountainhead of light is intellect and its light always emits in the form of knowledge and it is obvious that this light is ordained in order to remove the darkness of ignorance. Thus, the light of intellect is like a pearl which always spreads the light of knowledge and wisdom, just like the fountainhead of the sun which always spreads material light in the universe. But since the illumination of the light of intellect is in the state of knowledge and is immaterial, it does not appear to the external senses and similarly ignorance, which is not a material thing, does not appear to the external senses either and therefore, the materialists can very well understand the light and darkness of this world, but they are not able to discern and distinguish between the light and darkness of the world of religion.
If intellectual light is knowledge on the one hand, on the other it is guidance, because knowledge and guidance eventually are one thing. That is, their pursuit and purpose is the same, because knowledge means to know, and the object of which, in reality, is God, and guidance means to walk on the straight path and reach the ultimate destination which is God. Thus, the illumination of the light of intellect is certainty and recognition, which remove the darkness of doubts, disbelief and rejection and at the place of the truth of certainty (haqq-ul yaqin), it becomes the complete recognition of God.
When it is established that the intellectual light is in the form of knowledge, wisdom, guidance, certainty and recognition, then it should also be known that it is revelation (wahy) and inspiration (ilham) as well as divine help (ta'yid) and success (tawfiq), because all such meanings become one in the sense of knowledge (`ilm) and the fundamental and ultimate reality of such words and terms is one.
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