Recognition of Imam Part III - Key 2 Divine Knowledge
Key 2 Divine Knowledge
Tags: Divine Knowledge, Guarded Tablet, Hazrat Adam, `ilm-i ghayb, knowledge of the unseen, Hazrat Yusuf
The second Qur'anic universal law is about Divine knowledge, which is in verse (2:29): “And He is Knower of all things (kulli shay'in)”. Mu'mins and Muslims do not have the slightest doubt about the fact that God knows everything perfectly. Nothing is hidden from His knowledge, nor is there anything outside the domain of His knowledge. But, according to the people of spiritual insight (basirat) who are aware of His tawhid (unity) and ma`rifat (recognition), this is not an outstanding attribute of God. For, as a result of His obedience, even the Divine Pen (qalam-i qudrat), i.e., the Universal Intellect and the Guarded Tablet, i.e., the Universal Soul, are also given the knowledge of and power over everything.
In addition, God, may He be exalted, has a living and truthful Book in which the Divine hand has encompassed the knowledge of everything in spiritual and luminous writing as shown in the following two verses: “And with Us is a Book which speaks the truth” (23:62); “And We have encompassed everything in a Book” (78:29). Since it is a universally accepted fact that all these things are contained in this luminous Book of God and nothing is outside it, it is necessary to accept that it contains even the things which specially belong to God, as the Book itself belongs to Him. What are the things which specially belong to God? They are His attributes among which first and foremost are life, knowledge, will and power. When it is evident that the treasures of all God's attributes are contained in His living and speaking Book, then it should also be accepted that the Book which possesses all His attributes cannot be other than His holy light.
The bearers of the holy light of God are the Prophets and Imāms only, whom He has chosen for His vicegerency in the earth, in the sense that He has made them the lamp of the absolute light in their respective times, so that by the radiance of their guidance, knowledge and wisdom, the world of religion may continue to be illumined, as is evident from verse (33:46) of the wise Qur'ān, that the holy Prophet was the luminous lamp of the Divine light in his time.
It is our belief and faith that the manifest Imām (imam-i mubin), i.e., the Imām of the time, is the Vicegerent of God, the mazhar of His Pen and the Guarded Tablet, the Speaking Book and the light and successor of the holy Prophet of the last time. The concept of the manifest Imām according to us is an eternal (azali-u abadi) reality, as the glorious Qur'ān says: “And We have encompassed everything in the manifest Imām” (36:12).
If someone says that by the manifest Imām is meant the Guarded Tablet, I would ask: “Well, sir, tell me what the Guarded Tablet is made of? That is, what is the quality and reality of its existence? Is it made of one of the gems? Is it among the intelligible existents, or from among the spiritual ones?” His reply has to be one of these.
If he replies that the Guarded Tablet is an intellectual existent, this reply is wrong on the ground that, since in “everything” are mentioned all the three (kinds of existence) – intellect, spirit and body, then how is it possible for the Guarded Tablet of mere intellect to possess all three of them if the spirit and body are not included in it? If he replies that the Guarded Tablet is a great soul, again his reply will not be correct, for in the Guarded Tablet of pure soul, with the exclusion of intellect and body there can only be spiritual things. In “everything” there is the mention not only of spiritual things, but rather of all things.
If he says that the Guarded Tablet is made of some precious stones without accepting a ta'wil for such a statement, it would also be wrong. For the precious stones are without intellect and soul and have no significance for God. Thus, how can a precious stone contain intellectual and spiritual things?
From this explanation, it is established that by Imam-i mubin is meant the manifest Imām in whose blessed and sacred personality there is the combination of intellect, soul and the perfect human body, due to which he is the bearer of every subtle thing, including the Guarded Tablet itself.
In connection with Divine knowledge, it is necessary to explain briefly the knowledge of the unseen (`ilm-i ghayb), so that the subject may not remain incomplete. Regarding it, God says: “(He is) the Knower of the unseen and He reveals unto none His unseen (ghaybihi) except a messenger whom He has chosen” (72:26-27). Here the meaning of “`ala ghaybih”, which means “on all His ghayb (secret)”, is worth pondering upon. This means that God also reveals His entire ghayb to a chosen messenger.
The gist of what has been discussed so far about the subject of Divine knowledge is that His greatest attribute in relation to it is that He confers upon His chosen servants His gifts of special knowledge, to the extent that He does not even withhold the knowledge of the unseen. As from the verse: “And He taught Ādam all the names” (2:31), it is clear that God Himself is the teacher of Hazrat-i Ādam(`a). Further, the knowledge of names (`ilmu'l-asmā') is not a bookish and external knowledge, rather it is indeed the knowledge of the unseen, which except for God was not known even to the angels. Thus God had granted to Hazrat-i Ādam(`a), the father of humankind, the knowledge of the unseen.
In order to know more realities regarding the knowledge of the unseen, reflect on this noble verse: “And with Him are the keys of the unseen. None but He knows them. And He knows what is in the land and the sea. Not a leaf falls but He knows it, not a grain in the darkness of the earth, naught of wet or dry but [it is recorded] in a clear Book.” (6:59)
From this verse it is clear that God's knowledge of the unseen is in the Speaking Book. That is, the living and speaking pictures of all things are in the kitab-i mubin (Speaking Book), i.e., the light of Imāmat.
It should be remembered that by the knowledge of the unseen is meant the knowledge of the secrets of the things in the heavens and the earth and the apparent and the hidden. When such knowledge is revealed, it no longer remains the knowledge of the unseen. It is thereafter called the exoteric knowledge. However, the wisdom and ta'wīl of what is revealed still remain the knowledge of the unseen. Thus by the command of God, Hazrat-i Jibrā'īl(`a) was not niggardly in telling the holy Prophet the secrets of the unseen, as is said in the wisdom-filled speech of God: “And he (Jibrā'īl) is not niggardly about (telling the secrets of) the unseen” (81:24).
With regard to the treasure of the knowledge of the unseen being hidden in the Speaking Book or the Speaking Qur'ān, it is said: “And there is not a thing of unseen (gha'ibah), in the heaven and the earth, but it is in a Speaking Book (kitabin mubin)” (27:75). By this Speaking Book is meant the light of Imāmat.
It should be known that in the light of the Speaking Book, i.e., the Speaking Imām, there are such luminous pictures of everything in the heaven and the earth, which according to “sibghatu'llah (colour of God, 2:138)” abound in the colours of the intellect and the soul, and by the permission of God each of these pictures can demonstrate the example of the thing to which it is related in the universe and the existents. This reality is called the luminous ta'wīl. Thus, in this sense, Hazrat-i Yūsuf(`a) was in the position of the “Speaking Book” in his own time and could tell the condition of any hidden thing through the luminous examples in him. Thus, in order to draw attention towards the knowledge of the unseen [possessed by him] as a true Guide, he said to his two mates in the prison: “The food which you are given shall not come unto you but I shall tell you its ta'wil before it comes unto you. This is of that which my Lord has taught me” (12:37).
There are two kinds of the knowledge of ta'wīl: luminous and bookish. The knowledge of ta'wīl which is with the Prophets and Imāms is in a luminous form and is also called the given knowledge (`ilm-i ladunni) or the knowledge of the unseen.
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