Recognition of Imam Part II - The Earth will shine with the Light of its Lord

The Earth will shine with the Light of its Lord

In verse (39:69) regarding the diverse manifestations of the Divine light, namely, the light of Imamat, it is prophesied: "And the earth shall shine by the light of its Lord, and the Book will be placed, and the Prophets and witnesses will be brought, and it will be judged between them with the truth and they will not be wronged".

This prophecy, made in this holy verse about the light of Imamat and the spiritual events during the revelation of the Qur'an, is related to four events: individual spirituality, collective spirituality or during the spiritual cycle: individual resurrection and collective resurrection.

The prophecy regarding the favour of the light of Imamat, which a true mu'min receives in his individual spirituality, is that when he will act upon the exoteric guidance (tanzili hidayat) of the Prophet and the esoteric guidance (ta'wili hidayat) of the Imam of the time, the earth of his heart will be illumined by the light of his Lord and his spirituality will speak miraculously as a living book; the holy souls of the Prophets with their miracles and with all other events will appear to his spiritual vision and there will also be the spiritual manifestations of the holy lights of the witnesses, namely, the pure Imams, and he will be judged with due equity and justice.

The way the light of Imamat has continued to rise from the chain of Imams in the form of exoteric and esoteric guidance after the Prophet and the way it has continued to give the light of knowledge and wisdom to the people of this world, during the collective spirituality (or the spiritual cycle), a time will come in which the world of humanity will reach the pinnacle of perfection in science and art, intellect, understanding, nobility and unity. All kinds of vices will vanish; the truth will have victory over falsehood and there will be only the sway of the true and the truth; the wrong beliefs and concepts will become extinct altogether and only the true faith and correct concept will last and flourish.

This is the meaning of the earth shining with the light of its Lord. For here, by the earth is meant the humanity which is always in need of the favours of the Prophets' and Imams' light; this is the meaning of judging the people according to the Divine law by placing the books of deeds of different faiths and concepts in front and bringing the Prophets and Imams (to witness). For, all of them had the same religion to which they had invited the people exoterically and esoterically. Thus, such a time about which the Qur'an has prophesied in many places, will be the day of victory and success of the Prophets, the Imams and the mu'mins of every age. We can also call the above-mentioned two states of individual and collective spirituality, "resurrection", which takes place in this life.

As for the question of how the light of Imamat is related to the resurrection, which takes place after the physical death individually, as well as collectively, its examples can be found in the above detailed description of the individual and collective resurrection. However, it should be remembered that the spirituality or resurrection which takes place in physical life, is a partial one and the complete resurrection takes place only after death. In short, it is the holy Imam's light that the people of this world and those of the next world are always in need of.

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