Precious Treasure - Record of Deeds (Namah-yi A`mal)
Record of Deeds (Namah-yi A`mal)
Tags: Record of Deeds, Namah-yi A`mal, Sijjin, Illiyyun, Sabiqun, Muqarrabin, Wall, Zaraba
The "Record of Deeds" is one of the most important and magnificent subjects of the wise Qur'an. There are many reasons for its importance. One main reason is that in it spirituality is explained in the way of wisdom to all human beings both ordinary and the chosen, which has made it very easy to conceive of spiritual realities, as God says: "And every person's record of deeds (ta'ir) have We fastened to his own neck, and We shall bring it forth for him on the Day of Resurrection, which he will find (in the form of) a scattered book. (And it will be said to him): Read your book. You are sufficient as reckoner against yourself this day" (17:13-14).
A human being's neck means his religious guide, whether true or false. The main reason to call the record of deeds "ta'ir (flying)", is that it flies. Since it consists of flying subtle particles, it is also called the "scattered book (kitaban manshura)", in which every particle speaks. (In this connection), God says: "And whoever does a particle's weight of good will see it then, and whoever does a particle's weight of ill will see it then" (99:7-8). That is, the good and the bad deeds of a person will be in the form of particles. Although resurrection will happen in this world, the world of particles (`alam-i dharr) will be in front of the beholder, in the sense that he will see only the particles of soul in his interior and exterior.
It is said in verse (18:49): "And they will find present (hazir) (in the form of a living recorded film) what deeds (good or bad) they had done." The word "hazir" (present) conceals the living and conscious filming of spirituality by which a human being's deeds are recorded without leaving anything out. A minor example of this in the material world is film, without which it would be impossible for all the deeds to be recorded in written words alone. Therefore, the living and speaking picture of whatever deed has been done by a person will appear in front of him, to the extent that time, space and everything of the surroundings will also be included. Further, if the deed is related to an area or country, they will also appear spatially in the living, speaking pictures.
The result of one's deeds is related not only to the body and the external world, but also to the soul and the intellect. Therefore, in the book of deeds there will be three kinds of observation: physical, spiritual and intellectual. Had it not been so, the glorious Qur'an would not have interpreted [this verse] in this way: "What kind of book is this that leaves not a small thing nor a great thing but has counted it!" (18:50).
The records of deeds are basically related to the people of religion and their schools of thought. Therefore, the greatest collective records of deeds will be related to nations (ummats), as the Qur'an says: "Each nation is summoned to its record" (45:28). That is, each great Prophet's luminous existence, through his successors, comprises the people of the entire cycle. Therefore, summoning to the records of deeds means that the nation or the people will be summoned with this blessed personality, as God says: "This Our Book (in which all the deeds of all of you are recorded) speaks against you with truth. Verily We have caused (all) that you did to be recorded" (45:29). The Speaking Book means the light (nur), which in the status of Prophethood and Imamat, has a right to speak. To speak as a record of deeds means to witness, for the conditions and deeds of man are spread over physical, spiritual and intellectual boundaries. Nothing can witness all such conditions and deeds except the light of guidance, which encompasses body, spirit and intellect and which [as the Imam] is appointed by God as the guardian angel over the people of his time.
Regarding this book of luminosity, it is also said: "And with Us is the Book (of the deeds of the people) which speaks truth, and they will not be wronged (even a particle)" (23:62). 'Speaks truth' (haqq) means that it speaks with the tongue of the light of Intellect, for haqq is among the names of the light of Intellect.
In the surah of Tatfif, it is said: "No, but the record of the vile is in the Sijjin. Ah! What will convey unto you what Sijjin is! A written record" (83:7-9). Sijjin is the false guide and he is in the form of the false book and therefore the collective record of deeds of the vile is confined and imprisoned in the narrowness of Sijjin.
In the same surah, it is said: "No, but the (collective) record of the righteous is in `Illiyyin. Ah! What will convey to you what `Illiyyun is! A written record. The near ones are present in it" (83:18-21). `Illiyyin is the true guide, whose rank is at the extreme height of the highest paradise and the collective records of the righteous are in his holy light. He is the living and speaking book of truth (haqq) and truthfulness (sidq), and its spiritual aspect is observed in the hereafter, but is also possible in this world.
With respect to giving the Book or the record of deeds, there will be three kinds of people: ashab-i yamin (those on the right hand) who will hold the record of deeds in their right hand; ashab-i shimal (those on the left hand), whose record of deeds will be in their left hand and sabiqun (the foremost ones), who will receive their record of deeds from the front and they will be elevated to the foremost and highest rank. The main relationship of their record will be with the light of Intellect, therefore they will be called muqarrabin (the closest ones). After them is the rank of ashab-i yamin, who are the people of salvation (ahl-i najat) and whose record of deeds will reach the soul, but they will gradually advance, passing through the stages of soul. Last will be the ashab-i shimal, whose record of deeds will be confined only to the body and the external world, while the record of the ashab-i yamin will have access to the inner (batin) and the soul and the sabiqun will have access to the inner of the inner and the light of Intellect. Therefore, the ta'wil of the left hand is zahir (external) or the place of the body, that of the right hand is the batin where the soul is, and that of 'in front' is the batin of the batin, where the light of Intellect manifests, as God says: "On the day you will see the believers, men and women, their light running in front of them and on their right hand" (57:12). This light is the real light and the record of deeds of the sabiqin and muqarrabin. The intellectual journey of this light is circular and the ta'wil of its running is that, a sinlge luminous day at this place consisting of just a few seconds, contains the events of a thousand years of this world.
In the following verse, God says: "On the day when the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say to those who believe: Wait for a while, so that we may take a spark from your light (and make it a light in us)! It will be said: Go back (in the chain of the past) and seek (there) a light! Then there will be erected a wall between them, in which there will be a gate, within (the batin of) which there is mercy, and outside (zahir) of it is torment" (57:13). This is the mention of the individual resurrection, which occurs in every time with the spiritual elevation of the Perfect Man. In this resurrection, the world of particles appears in front [of him] and all the people become present in the form of particles and their entire story is narrated in unspoken language (zaban-i hal) in the way of wisdom. That is, this is not their conscious resurrection as the event of "alast" (Am I not?) is itself a spiritual reality, but since it is related to the world of particles nobody remembers it. Therefore, the erecting of the wall between the hypocrites and the believers means that after a fixed time the particles of soul are removed from the place of resurrection and a wall of parables is erected between them.
The wise Qur'an contains innumerable, diverse wisdoms. One of these wisdoms is that Qur'anic words have semantic and ta'wili relations. Therefore, in the wisdom-filled book of God, the Qur'an, zaraba and zuriba are used to strike a parable or to explain it. Hence, fa-zuriba baynahum bi-surin, means a wall of parables was erected between them, on the inside of it being mercy and on the outside, intellectual torment. The gate in the wall means the principle of ta'wil, so that those who are capable may enter the batin from the zahir and mamthul (meaning of parable) from mithal (parable).
Zaraba (struck) is derived from zarbun (to strike), but no dictionary can tell you the reason why. In a wisdom-filled Book like the Qur'an, the word zaraba is used to explain a parable, while its original meaning is 'to strike'. Its reason can only be understood in the light of ta'wil, and that is, since zaraba is the hand's act, it therefore indicates God's hand. For, it is only God's hand, which creates various parables by the stroke (zarb) of the Pearl of Intellect.
London,
2nd July 1984.
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