Qur'anic Minarets - Topmost Questions Part 1
Topmost Questions Part 1
Tags: Ranks, Hazrat `Izra'il, Shin, Qaf, Sacrifice, Dhibh
Q.1 What is the wisdom in the Qur'anic command to recite God's tasbih specifically in the morning and evening (3:41; 33:42; 48:9)?
A. The specific wisdom of this Divine command is in the personal world, where the greatest miracle is the morning of azal and the evening of abad, where God must be accepted free from and above any changes.
Q.2 If it is true that everything of the external world is also in the personal world, is there an example of the coming of Prophets in the spirituality of mu'mins as they do in the external world?
A. Study verse (5:20) carefully, particularly "When He made among you Prophets and made you kings." That is, God made Prophets in your external world and also in your personal world and He made you potentially kings. Although in this statement Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him) is addressing the entire community, it was addressed to the hierarchs of religion (hudud-i din) who were representing this reality and it was through them that all the mu'mins became kings in paradise.
Q.3 In the beginning very few people will enter paradise and gradually all of them will enter it. Although this is a very great secret, nonetheless our age is such that, if possible, all secrets should be known as there is benefit in the discovery of scientific secrets. The question therefore is: Will all people be in different ranks in paradise or will they all be on the same level?
A. The Equality of the Compassionate (Musawat-i Rahmani) is a matter of a long passage of time, therefore prior to it there will be ranks (darajat), a clear proof of which can be found in verse (76:20), in which it is mentioned that some people will have "magnificent kingdom". This magnificent kingdom has no obvious meaning without subjects. Thus, it is evident that the people of paradise will be in different ranks.
Q.4 Jadd, Fath and Khayal (i.e., Israfil, Mika'il and Jibra'il (May peace be through them)) are frequently mentioned in religious books, but `Izra'il (May peace be through him) is not mentioned with them, although he is also one of the closest angels and his useful work in connection with spiritual progress is very amazing. What is the reason for not including him with the other three angels?
A. `Izra'ili wisdom is kept under a veil. Had it been open and had all people understood it with certainty, they would have preferred to die before [the appointed time of] death and the world's prosperity would be affected.
Q.5 In verse (2:24) why are men and stones the fuel of hell?
A. It should be remembered well that knowledge and wisdom are light and ignorance is fire. Thus, if the human intellect is illumining with the light of knowledge, it is a precious pearl otherwise it is such a stone which is burning in the fire of ignorance.
Q.6 "When on the day the da`i (inviter) shall invite them to an unknown thing." (54:6) Who is this inviter? From where will he invite? What is the thing which is unknown to the people?
A. This is the da`i of the personal world who will invite people to the matter of Imamat together with the voice of the sur of Israfil (May peace be through him) through the ears because the resurrection in fact is the invincible and majestic da`wat of the Qa'im (May peace be through him) so that all people may be one in his kingdom (40:16).
Q.7 What is meant by this similitude? Or what is its object (mamthul)?: "God is not ashamed to strike a similitude even of a gnat, or aught above it." (2:26)
A. It is the initial voice in connection with individual spirituality and resurrection, which starts with the ringing of the ear, which is like the gnat's sound, which in reality is the same da`i (mentioned in the preceding question) in the subtle particle.
Q.8 Why are those who come out of graves at the sound of the sur of Israfil (May peace be through him) likened to locusts (54:7) and moths (101:4) which are flying creatures, whereas human beings in their dense physical bodies cannot fly?
A. An `arif observes the spiritual resurrection in his body whereas the rest of the people undergo it unconsciously. That is, their living bodies are as if graves, from where the representative particles (which are both soul and subtle body), which resemble locusts and moths, fly to the centre of the resurrection, i.e., the place of Qa'im (May peace be through him)'s manifestation.
Q.9 The question is about the verse (13:8): "And everything with Him is in a quantity." What is this quantity of the Lord of the worlds?
A. Although universes and galaxies are far more than one, the duration of lengthy time is unbounded and existents and creatures are innumerable, yet the Omnipotent Lord by contracting everything confines it in a fixed quantity, and that is less than the fist of the Divine Hand. All those things, which according to us are countless, are confined in a single number and this same thing is the fixed quantity as well as the single number.
Q.10 It is mentioned in (68:42): "On the day the shin shall be laid bare and they shall be called to prostrate themselves but they shall not be able to do so." What is the ta'wil of baring the shin and what is its relationship with prostration?
A. Shin means the Intellect because all the hierarchs of religion depend upon it. The allusion to baring the shin is to the manifestation of the Intellect, and the relationship of prostration to this event is that people should submit to the Pearls of Intellect, but it is not possible for the masses.
Q.11 Is there on the planet earth any trace of the fabulous Mount Qaf (kuh-i qaf), where jinn, pari and the Simurg (griffin) live?
A. There is no such mountain in the physical world. However, there is definitely a luminous mountain in spirituality, where everywhere there are written such words whose last letter is qaf and where in addition to jinns and paris of secrets, live the Simurg of the Supreme Soul.
Q.12 What kind of amazing words are written on Mount Qaf? Do they show good or evil, or both? Are their specimens in the glorious Qur'an?
A. Those words are full of wisdoms and shed light on both good and evil. Their examples are everywhere in the Qur'an, such as Qaf (50:1), which means the Divine Pen, namely the Universal Intellect. See some more such words, such as sidq, which means that the main place of truthfulness is the rank of Intellect because its last letter qaf means the mount of Intellect; `amiq: depth of Intellect; baytu'l-`atiq: the ancient house of Intellect; `adhabu'l-hariq: intellectual punishment, namely to burn in the fire of ignorance; haqiq: the one who recognises the true one, he who has access to the rank of intellect; tabaq: Intellectual heaven; sabiq: the one who advances to the light of Intellect; saq: shin, namely Intellect, who is the azali foundation of the hierarchs; `ayn-sin-qaf (42:2): True love, which can be [only] with the recognition of Intellect.
Q.13 Who was sacrificed in the path of God? Whose title is dhabihu'llah - Hazrat-i Isma`il (May peace be through him) or Hazrat-i Ishaq (May peace be through him)? What is meant by dhibhin `azimin (37:107)?
A. The command of sacrifice was about Hazrat-i Isma`il (May peace be through him) when instead of his body being sacrificed his soul was sacrificed and this spiritual sacrifice was performed by Hazrat-i Ishaq (May peace be through him) as well. Thus, instead of one pure individual, the spiritual sacrifice of two great souls was called a 'great sacrifice'. In fact, it is the soul of every Perfect Man which is sacrificed.
Q.14 Please explain the wisdom of the blessed verse (40:16): "Whose is the Kingdom today? God's, the One, the Omnipotent."
A. No mu'min has any doubt in God's being the eternal King, yet it is also a great wisdom that in the personal world, His Kingdom is established simultaneously with the manifestation of the resurrection and this, His Kingdom is in the form of vicegerency. Thus, this Kingdom certainly belongs to Him, Hazrat-i Qa'im (May peace be through him) and to mu'mins.
Q.15 Please present an example of the greatest spiritual progress of mu'mins from the Qur'an so that they may realise all their responsibilities in the true sense.
A. Through obedience to the Prophets and Imams and by following them, mu'mins can cross all the stages of spirituality until they see with their inner eye that the light of azal rises in the world of the forehead. This light is also called the sun of intellect, whose east and west are the same place (57:12; 66:8). It is here that the greatest Divine vision (didar) and rank of merging (martabah-yi fana') are attained and it is here where all hidden treasures and their keys are. Thus, Hazrat-i Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah (May peace be through him) in a special majlis in Hasanabad (Bombay), as an example pointed to his blessed forehead and said: "Here is the paradise, attain it."
This blessed farman revives the memories of the pleasant days of the Diamond Jubilee (1946).
18 Jumada I 1410 AH/ 18th December, 1989 AD
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