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Qur'anic Minarets - Examples of Wisdom

Examples of Wisdom

Tags: Khalifa, White Stone, Zill-i Mamdud, Shadow, World of Unity

  1. Man and Heaven: "Are you more difficult in creation or is the heaven which He built? He raised its roof and made it equal." (79:27-28) The heaven means the Universal Soul, who is the heaven of the personal world. It is the Universal Soul whose roof is the Universal Intellect where there is equality, i.e., the Compassionate's equality (musawat-i Rahmani). This is the description of a human being's spiritual elevation: in the beginning, he was a human being, and later he becomes a universe.
  2. The Wisdom of the Word "Khalifah" (successor, vice-gerent, 2:30): You should not think that you have understood all the wisdoms of the world "Khalifah" while you have to learn much more about it. For example: When did the system of Khilafat start in God's Godhead and how long did or will it continue? Is the Divine Khilafat confined only to the earth? If so, why did the heavenly angels fall down in prostration to the earthly Adam? Why did they acquire knowledge from him? Is Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him) God's Khalifah directly? Or is he the Khalifah of the previous Khalifah? A human being's khalifah is [present] when he himself is not present, in which case what is the extremely great secret that Allah Who is Everliving (al-Hayy) and Everlasting (al-Qayyum) has a Khalifah?
  3. Treasure of Azal (15:21): Just as in monetary matters, the worldly treasure is repeatedly mentioned and recourse is taken to it, similarly for knowledge and reflection it is extremely important to have recourse to it time and again. The unbounded treasure of this great secret is at the apex of the possible spirituality of every individual, in which are gathered together all Qur'anic wisdoms. The pleasant point must be noted here that although this living and speaking treasure is non-temporal and non-spatial, the people of recognition of all places and all times can, by observing it, obtain countless benefits from it.
  4. White Stone: The black stone, which is set in the wall of the Ka`bah was originally in paradise where it was whiter than milk. This is because the things of paradise as such do not themselves come to this world, rather only their material shadows are created here. Thus, in the paradise of spirituality [even now] the White Stone, i.e., the Hidden Pearl is there as the symbol and proof of the supreme pilgrimage.
  5. Long shadow (zill-i mamdud, 56:30): This means that in paradise every mu'min will have a long shadow. This length is for quantity as well as continuity. This means that the paradisal soul with respect to the Higher 'I' continues to remain in paradise, but the manifestation of the lower 'I' continues to take place in the shadows of the body. This is the meaning of "long shadow".
  6. Intellectual Perdition and Intellectual Life (8:42): The worst death is the intellectual death and the best life is the intellectual. Those whom the wise Qur'an has described as ignorant and cattle-like are dead to the intellectual proof, whereas those who are considered as the possessors of intellect are revived with respect to intellectual proof and in the true sense [alive]. Thus, you must continue to attain the grace and blessing from the fountainhead of knowledge and wisdom of the Qur'an and the Imam.
  7. The World of Unity and the World of Multiplicity: The world where all the souls are gathered together is the world of unity and this world where people are dispersed and scattered is the world of multiplicity. The world of unity has many names, such as Single Soul (31:28), One community (2:213), the world of particles (36:41), ibda` and inmbi`ath (31:28), personal world (6:98), Manifest Imam (36:12), single number (19:94), the world of angelicity (36:83), Universal Soul (14:34), Treasure (i.e., Universal Intellect) (11:12), the world of command (7:54), etc. The world of unity is living, speaking and knowing; it is a Perfect Human Being as well as a Great Angel.
  8. Example of Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him): He, due to being the Single Soul, a compendium of souls, the world of particles and the world of unity, was himself a community and a Supreme Monist (16:120). This verse alludes that all people had become united and completely obedient like a single individual in his spirituality. All Perfect Human Beings are similar to him.
  9. Only Circles: Wherever you observe the world with insight, you will see only circles: the circle of existence and non-existence, the circle of day and night, the circle of the shape and rotation of heaven and the earth, the circle of the returning of everything to its origin. There is nothing that does not rotate on a circle (36:40). Thus, the supreme circle of the external and internal existents is truly amazing and wonderful in that countless ranks start from the earth (which contains minerals and gems) and by reaching the earth of the Universal Soul and the Pearls of the Universal Intellect, the circle of recognition [of existents] becomes complete.
  10. The Collective Purport of Every Qur'anic Topic: You cannot solve a problem, whether it is related to light or guidance until its collective purport is clear. Take for example the topic of light. In verse (24:35), Allah says: "Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth." Explaining this further, Allah says: "O Prophet! Verily We have sent you as a witness and a bearer of glad tidings and a warner and as a summoner by His permission and a luminous lamp [of guidance]." Further explaining the latter verse, Allah says: "O you who believe! Fear Allah and believe in His Messenger. He will give you twice as much of His mercy and will appoint for you a light whereby you shall walk and He will forgive you." (57:28) Without doubt this is but the light of Imamat. Thus, this is the collective purport of the subject of light.
  11. Twofold Things: Everything is of two kinds. Thus, intellect is of two kinds: religious and worldly; soul too, is of two kinds: the soul of faith and the animal soul; body as well is of two kinds: subtle and dense. Thus, fortunate and prudent mu'mins are the ones who strengthen the religious intellect by knowledge and recognition (ma`rifat), the soul of faith by good deeds and make the subtle body conspicuous by God-fearing (taqwa), so that on the day of resurrection, they may revive in these three things.
  12. Indirect Pleasure and Happiness: Sweetness and happiness are [experienced] directly and indirectly. For example, although knowledge and wisdom are the nourishment of the intellect, remembrance and `ibadat that of the soul and physical food that of the body, they have common pleasures and happiness too. However, for those whose intellect and soul are not advanced their pleasures and happiness are very limited, such as an animal and a human being who is like an animal.
  13. Who is the Heir of the Qur'an?: It is mentioned in verse (35:32): "Then We made the heir of the Book those whom We chose from Our servants." These are the pure Imams. Thus, as long as the Qur'an is in this world, the heir of the Qur'an (Imam) has to exist and be present in this world, because the Qur'an and its Teacher are inseparable (5:15), just as in the time of Prophethood, the holy Prophet himself was its Teacher.
  14. Wisdom in Fragrances: One extremely pleasant and subtle bounty among the innumerable Divine bounties is fragrance, which the holy Prophet used to like. The wisdom in the Prophet's liking fragrance is that it is the example of the opening of the soul, as well as that of Hazrat-i Yusuf (May peace be through him)'s shirt (12:93) because the subtle bounties in paradise for the subtle body are in the form of fragrances, and in connection with attaining God's recognition His friends are bestowed with the recognition (ma`rifat) of these bounties.
  15. Human Being and Angel: There are three great kinds of destinations of spiritual ascension:
    1. The destinations of humanity,
    2. The destinations of angelicity,
    3. The destinations of fana' fi'llah and baqa' bi'llah.
    It is obvious that the holy Prophet was first of all a human being, then he became an earthly angel (17:95) and when he attained spiritual ascension, he became more exalted and sublime than even an archangel and reached the destination of fana' fi'llah and baqa' bi'llah. This is his excellent example to which the wise Qur'an always continues to invite (33:21).
  16. Wonders and Marvels of the Divine Workshop: Among the three kingdoms of nature the mineral kingdom is at the bottom. However, if observed with insight, [we will come to know that] not only are there exquisiteness and attraction in minerals and gems, but [also] what extremely wonderful craftsmanship of the Divine Hand is inscribed in the exterior and interior of even a particle of earth. There is a permanent capacity of the earth to continue to produce beautiful and precious things, such as gold, silver, rubies and diamonds from its womb; the workshop of the vegetative kingdom is even more wondrous. Observe how long ago when the planet earth became capable of vegetation, how did all these different trees come into existence? Is this not a material manifestation of the sublime paradise?

    There are obvious signs of nature in the mineral kingdom, nonetheless, the action of the Divine Hand is more conspicuous in the vegetative kingdom because in the creation of this stage the vegetative soul is added. There are even more marvels and wonders in the animal kingdom, since in addition to the vegetative soul the animal soul is also working in it. Humankind is, in fact, far superior to the mineral, vegetative and animal kingdoms because of the human soul, in which the greatest Divine bounty can be created such as the intellect. The living proof of the noblest created being is the Perfect Human Being.

    Now, the fact becomes understandable that every mu'min who walks on the spiritual path and reaches the desired destination is considered the most wonderful Divine workshop. All the subtle worlds continue to do their respective work in his spirituality. For example, in the spiritual form of the mineral kingdom, he sees gems; in the subtle form of the vegetative kingdom, he views gardens and orchards; in his spirituality in the animal kingdom, he sees beasts and birds as well as the world of humanity, etc., which is the God-given kingdom. Thus, the human being in his origin is the greatest Divine workshop.

17 Dhiqa`dah 1409 AH/22nd June, 1989 AD

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