Qur'anic Minarets - Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him) (Dhu'n-Nun; Sahibu'l-Hut)

Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him) (Dhu'n-Nun, 21:87; Sahibu'l-Hut, 68:48):)

Tags: Hazrat Yunus, Fish, Universal Soul

The Man of Fish: That is, Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him) who had been swallowed up by a fish. It is mentioned in a Hadith: "There is no verse of the Qur'an which does not have an exoteric [meaning] and an esoteric [meaning] and that its esoteric [meaning] has an esoteric [meaning] [and so on] to seven esoteric [meanings]." By Divine success and spiritual help (ta'yid), we are going to explain the esoteric wisdom (ta'wil) of the fish. In ta'wili language, land means corporeality whereas the ocean means spirituality. Thus, fish means the soul which lives in the ocean of spirituality. However, fishes that live in the ocean of spirituality are of every kind, small and big, good and bad. One of them is the fish of the carnal soul which incites to evil and can very easily swallow a human being. It is within us, but if it becomes dominant it is as if we are imprisoned in its stomach.
The Sweet Ocean and the Saline Ocean/Two Kinds of Spirituality: The spirituality of good and evil is mentioned in verse (35:12). Although these two oceans are not alike, concerning the fresh meat of fish and acquiring pearls, there is no difference between them. Here fresh meat means spiritual knowledge and pearls symbolise the secrets of the Intellect.
Three Kinds of Meat: Three kinds of lawful meat are mentioned in the Qur'an: the meat of sheep, etc: this is the example of the knowledge of physical hudud; the meat of fish: this is the example of the knowledge of spiritual hudud; the meat of birds: this is an allusion to the knowledge of angels, although the spiritual beings and the angels are one.
Hunting during the state of Consecration: What secret is hidden in the fact that the hunting of the ocean is lawful during the state of consecration, whereas that of the land is unlawful?

Answer: The state of consecration is the spiritual closeness and esoteric pilgrimage of the exalted Imam, who is the living house of God. The ta'wil of the hunting of the ocean is acquiring knowledge from the spiritual hudud, which is lawful; the ta'wil of hunting on the land is to acquire knowledge from the physical hudud, which is unlawful (5:96). From the beginning of this article to this point, whatever has been explained has shown that the ta'wil of the fish is spirit, spiritual and spiritual hudud and its hunting is spiritual knowledge. Now, we will explain to some extent [the ta'wil of] the fish, which is in the esoteric aspect of Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him)' story.
Two Kinds of Walking: One type of walking is physical and the other is spiritual. Spiritual walking is through God's remembrance and His worship. Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him) became angry with his people [abandoning them] and took the path of spirituality thinking that he would not want for spiritual sustenance. However, he became imprisoned in the stomach of a spiritual fish where the darknesses caused by the ceasing of light made him cry out: "There is no God except You. You are free from any attribute. Verily, I am one of the wrongdoers." (21:87) "Then We heard his prayers and saved him from anguish. Thus, do We save believers." (21:88)
Every Qur'anic Story Corresponds with every Stage of Spirituality: What was the laden ark that Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him) reached by fleeing towards it? What does [drawing] the lot (qur`ah, 37:141) mean? This ark was the world of particles, which is full of spiritual particles. This ark sails with true remembrance (haqiqi dhikr), but Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him) had to be tested therefore the lot was drawn against his name and he jumped into the ocean of spirituality as a sacrifice for those countless souls. He was swallowed up by a huge spiritual fish, as the holy Qur'an says: "Had he not been among those who recite tasbih, he would have been detained in its belly till the day of resurrection." (37:143-144 )
Analogies of Good and Evil: Although there are only two things, good and evil, there are numerous examples of both in spirituality, just as in the world of dreams you always see nothing but good and evil. However, it is evident that both have countless parables and allegories, therefore every time there is amazement that one has seen something new, whereas they are the same good and evil but their forms continue to change. Thus, the fish in whose belly Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him) remained can have many other parables, whose reality and quality may be the same. If this is correct, the above-mentioned trial can be described in other examples as well.
The Guidance of the Prophets and the Desired Destination: There is no doubt whatsoever that the Prophets were guided by God, therefore they were sent to guide people. None of them had come from halfway, they had come from the desired destination with the recognition of the supreme rank. Since the Qur'an says that they were sent by God (2:213) it is appropriate to ask, from which spiritual station or rank, were they sent as Prophets? The natural answer to this question is that God had sent them from His proximity and presence. In verse 2:213, if we take the word "ba`atha" in the sense of ibda` and inmbi`ath, even then it means the same thing, that they had come from the most sublime station of spirituality, although they used to live among other people from the very beginning. With this certainty, let us refer to the Qur'an so that we may obtain more knowledge about Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him).
Which is this Desolate Plain (`ara') (37:145-148 )?: "Then We cast him on the desolate plain while he was sick, and We caused a gourd to grow over him, and We sent him to a hundred thousand people or more and they believed, so We let them enjoy for an appointed time." The 'desolate plain' signifies the plain of Intellect, the purpose of casting Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him) on it was to make him reach there and bestow upon him the wealth of utmost intellectual sound health. The gourd means the manifestation of the miracle of Intellect in which there are countless indications and allegories of intellect, understanding, knowledge and wisdom, including the Treasure of azal, the Divine Word, the rank of merging and subsisting in God (fana' fi'llah and baqa' bi'llah).
The Law of Secrets and Veils: In the light of the Hadith at the very beginning of this article it has been mentioned that every verse of the Qur'an has an exoteric meaning and an esoteric meaning. This means that the exoteric aspect of the verse is a veil and the esoteric aspect is veiled, just as it is God's habit (sunnat) that when He speaks to human beings, He does so from behind the veil (42:51). Indeed, this is like "light upon light" where one light becomes the veil of another light, such as the sun, which is its own veil. That is, one cannot see the background of the sun, nor its interior, nor can one gaze at its surface. This shows that knowledge is its own veil.
Selection of Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him): It is mentioned in verses (68:48-50 ): "So have patience for the decree of your Lord and do not be like Yunus who cried while he was in anguish. Had not a bounty from his Lord reached him, he would certainly have been cast off on the desolate plain in a bad state. Then his Lord selected him and made him of the righteous ones (salihin)." God nourishes the intellects and knowledge of His great Prophets at such a sublime spiritual place that [ordinary] people cannot conceive it. For instance, if the desolate plain is mentioned as being the plain of Intellect, very few people would believe this because ordinary people have the most difficult veils before them.
Why are there numerous examples of the Universal Intellect and the Universal Soul?: It has always been God's habit (sunnat) that He enfolds and unfolds everything without any exception. Since this is a fact, why should there not be many examples of the same reality in the noble Qur'an? Nonetheless, it should be known how the Divine hand enfolds the universe and everything in it! Take for example: when a fruit ripens on a fruit-bearing tree, the entire tree is potentially enfolded in the form of essence and in the state of the vegetative soul in the stone, i.e., the kernel, whereas the tree remains intact in its place. Similarly, in the spiritual observation of the people of recognition (ma`rifat), the universe is enfolded and given a new existence whilst it remains intact in its place.

The Mother of the Book is the name of the Guarded Tablet (i.e., Universal Soul), it is also the name of the Surah of Fatihah and of Mawla `Ali (May peace be through him). Thus, the Qur'an is condensed in the surah of Fatihah literally and meaning-wise and [similarly] the same Qur'an is gathered together in the Imam of the time [who is `Ali (May peace be through him)] spiritually and intellectually. Thus, if the fact that the Universal Intellect, the Universal Soul, natiq and asas have many names and many examples is accepted, it means that the glorious Qur'an is full of their mentions, as you have read and heard that the desolate plain and the gourd are examples of the rank of Intellect. Similarly, there are many examples in the stories of the Prophets, which show their grandeur, sublime spirituality and the rank of the Intellect.

Now, if I say that heaven and earth are the names of the Universal Intellect and the Universal Soul, perhaps you may be surprised, whereas these are two keys which can be sufficient to bring about a revolution in your knowledge. This revolution will start from the very beginning when you study the declaration of khilafat or vicegerency (Inni ja`ilun fi'l-arzi khalifah, 2:30) and you will prefer the translation: "I am going to appoint a vicegerent in the earth of the Universal Soul" to the translation: "I am going to appoint a vicegerent on the planet earth" because this will establish the view that the Prophets and Imams have the vicegerency of the entire universe. It is a fact however no revolution takes place or continues by [simply] pressing a button or flicking a switch on or turning a key. It requires intellect, wisdom and extremely rigorous hard work. God willing! You will succeed!

Note: you must study Hazrat-i Yunus (May peace be through him)' story in the Qur'an and the exegesis, so that you may be well aware of its exoteric and esoteric aspects.

11 Dhu'l-hijjah 1409 AH/14th July, 1989 AD

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