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Spiritual Experiences - The Magnificent Wisdoms of Divine Favours

The Magnificent Wisdoms of Divine Favours

Tags: Hazrat Adam, Hazrat Nuh, Hazrat Ibrahim, Hazrat Musa, Hazrat `Isa, Hazrat Muhammad, Ark, Throne, Judi, Kalimat, Return to God, Mi`raj

1. If you study the Qur'anic stories of the Prophets deeply, you will indeed have the amazing pleasure that in addition to His beloved Prophets and Awliya', God has also granted true believers all the spiritual bounties. (God willing) we shall mention a few examples of this starting from the story of Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him).

2. There is no doubt that "God created Adam in His image" (Hadith). It is also said in a noble Hadith "Whoever will enter paradise will be in the image of Adam." That is, that fortunate mu'min's intellectual birth in the Sacred Sanctuary becomes like that of Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him). Is it not a great favour of God to Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him) and his children? Another very great favour is that when the angels prostrated to Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him), in that state the progeny of Adam became copies of their father by being moulded in his matrix (7:11).

3. There are countless favours of God on Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him) and his progeny, in that He honoured Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him) with the crown of vicegerency and He promised the true believers of his progeny that very soon they would also be given the vicegerency of the universal earth, just as had been done to the previous chosen believers: (24:55). Remember that in spirituality and luminosity this universe has countless copies, so that countless believers may be granted the major vicegerency, which is also the spiritual kingdom.

4. Hazrat-i Nuh (May peace be through him)'s physical ark was a symbol, and the spiritual ark was the symbolised. The spiritual ark was an ism-i a`zam and its zikr (remembrance) and the people of the ark were a spiritual unity (Monoreality). Therefore, this ark reached the heavenly throne and the earthly throne (the throne on the water). It reached the heavenly throne in the sense that at the end of the deluge the ark rested on mount Judi (11:44). Judi is a name for the Pearl of Intellect which is the light of the throne. The ark reaching the earthly throne means that the ark of Nuh is the throne of God on the water (11:7). Thus, a very pleasing question is: Is it not a great favour of God that He not only placed the souls of the people of faith in the loaded ark, but He also made them sit on the heavenly throne and the earthly throne (11:7, 36:41)? Now we have to reflect on the ark which was already laden, who were the people sitting in it? Is it not the greatest secret of Monoreality that all these same believers were already in this ark? Al-hamdu li'llah.

5. It is said in verse (37:79): "Peace is on Nuh in the personal worlds". That is, in every personal world there will always be the spiritual personality and the wisdom-filled practical life of Hazrat-i Nuh (May peace be through him), so that the people of faith may benefit in their spiritual life from the companionship of prophets and awliya'. In this surah (S037) peace is also mentioned on other holy personalities, one of them being in (37:130) "Peace on the progeny of Muhammad in every personal world". That is, the Imam (May peace be through him) of the time is present in the personal world of the `Arifs and the Perfect Men.

6. The Chief of the Prophets (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) is mentioned abundantly in the wise Qur'an. It had to be so in the whole Qur'an and it indeed is. It is clear to all that the unique and incomparable book such as the Qur'an is revealed to his sacred personality. Therefore, the Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)'s blessed name 'Muhammad' has been mentioned four times in the Qur'an and the blessed names of the remaining five great Prophets have been mentioned as follows: Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him) - 25 times, Hazrat-i Nuh (May peace be through him) - 43 times, Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him) - 69 times, Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him) - 136 times and Hazrat-i `Isa (May peace be through him) - 25 times. My topic is very concise and therefore I would like to say a few words about the natiqs only.

7. There are unfathomable mercies and blessings for the people of faith in the Qur'anic story of Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him). The following saying of Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him) (14:36) "Thus, whoever follows me is of me" means 'whoever follows me on the path of religion and the course of spirituality is my spiritual child, he is a part of my spiritual being or he is from my progeny because by following me in the stages of spirituality he will see the same miracles that I have seen and eventually all these people will become one with me in the Sacred Sanctuary'.

8. In his time, Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him) was a great individual Prophet and also an obedient community (16:120). How fortunate were all those who entered the personal world of their Prophet and became one community! It is true to say that the personal world of every Prophet and every Imam is the spiritual country of believing men and believing women and this personal world is physical as well as luminous.

9. In verse (2:124) it is said "And when Ibrahim was tried by his Lord with certain words (kalimat) which he fulfilled, God said: I will make you Imam for all the people". Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him) pleaded "and also from my off-spring? (God) said: those who are unjust will not benefit from My promise". Question: What were the certain words (kalimat)? Answer: The Supreme Names of God and Perfect Words. Question: For which people was Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him) appointed as Imam? Answer: For the former ones, for the present ones and those who are going to come, [because] when somebody becomes Imam by the command of God according to the chain of "light upon light", he becomes the Imam of every time. Question: Compared to the unjust, here it is alluded to the just. Who is just and who is unjust in the office of Imamat? Answer: The just are Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him) and his progeny because Allah has made them Imams successively as long as people are present in the world (3:33, 4:54) and Imam always remains just, but the person who becomes imam of his own accord is unjust and this false imamat cannot last in his progeny.

10. In (2:125) it is said: "And when we made the House of God a place of reward for the people and the place of safety, and (commanded) to take Ibrahim (May peace be through him)'s place as a place of prayer." That is, He made the Imam's luminous recognition the place of reward and safety for the people and to attain this recognition they were commanded to go to the stage of Intellect where there is the centre of the truth of certainty.

11. Certain examples of glad tidings for the people of faith mentioned in the story of Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him) in the Qur'an are presented here. By Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him)'s rod is meant ism-i a`zam. The ta'wil of the 'revered rock' is the asas (Hazrat-i Harun (May peace be through him)). By the 12 springs are meant the 12 Hujjats, therefore, when Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him) taught Hazrat-i Harun (May peace be through him) the ism-i a`zam, then the water of spiritual knowledge gushed forth for the 12 hujjats simultaneously from his blessed heart (2:60). This miracle of knowledge happens from the Imam (May peace be through him) of every time.

12. In (10:87) it is said: "And We revealed to Musa and his brother: provide houses for your people in Egypt (personal world) and make your houses qiblah (that is, turn the house of the heart into the house of God) and establish prayers in it, and give glad tidings to the believers". That is, whatever you have seen and whatever recognition you have attained, through it give the believers the power of knowledge and glad tidings so that they too make an effort and progress. This is because the spiritual teaching of the Prophet and Imam is not only profoundly effective but also contains glad tidings.

13. This is the translation of one exemplar verse (5:20): "And when Musa said to his people: O my people! Remember the bounties of Allah upon you, when He made prophets from among you (i.e., in your personal world) and made you kings and gave you that which was not given to any of the people of the time." This is addressed to the believers of the first rank in whose personal world there is the manifestation of the Prophets and who, because of [being] the spiritual and intellectual copies of the Imam, are kings in paradise, because the Imam is the Sovereign and his spiritual copies are the kings. Imamat is that unique thing which is not found in other communities of the world.

14. The wisdom of "Kill yourselves" (2:54) is that each one of you should kill his carnal soul through jihad. Wherever there are great secrets of recognition in the Qur'an, due to a stringent veil there is a very wisdom-filled trial. For example, it is said about those people of Israel who were dying whilst still physically alive. That is, they were at the destination of Hazrat-i `Izra'il (May peace be through him), as mentioned in verse (2:55-56). "So, the lightning seized you while you were watching (this event). Then we resurrected you after your death so that you should be grateful." This was not a physical death, but rather a spiritual death by which the door of spirituality opens and the spiritual bounties start on a big scale due to which gratitude to God becomes obligatory.

15. In Hazrat-i `Isa (May peace be through him)'s story also, there are lots of advantages of knowledge and recognition for the believers. The explanation of all of these is beyond the scope of this short article. Therefore, we shall content ourselves only with certain examples. Here, the most notable thing is that the Prophet and the Imam are the verbal and personal ism-i a`zam. Thus, Hazrat-i Maryam (May peace be through her) was given a verbal ism-i a`zam (word) in which there was Hazrat-i `Isa (May peace be through him)'s light potentially (4:171). The Imam therefore gives the teaching of ism-i a`zam to some murids so that with special `ibadat and spiritual exercise the Imam's light may rise in them.

16. It is mentioned in verses (3:49) and (5:110) that Hazrat-i `Isa (May peace be through him) used to make some special birds with God's permission. These were countless copies of his spiritual and intellectual being, which can also be called angels and garments of paradise. This spiritual miracle belongs to every Perfect Man so that the people of faith can wear this attire in paradise and fly. Apart from this, what miracles are not possible in such blessed attire? Indeed, these miraculous things are the living pictures of the bazaar of paradise which are mentioned in a noble Hadith. Please refer to .

17.

Most of the Prophets' miracles have ta'wil. Therefore, it would be appropriate to say that most of Hazrat-i `Isa (May peace be through him)'s miracles were also ta'wili and esoteric, for example, giving physical eye-sight to one born blind. The ta'wil of this is that Hazrat-i `Isa (May peace be through him), with his effective teaching of knowledge, was creating the inner eye within the people. Similarly, the ta'wil of resurrecting the physical dead is to revive the dead of ignorance in the spirit of true knowledge, etc.

18. Hazrat-i Muhammad (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny), the Prophet of Allah, Allah's beloved, the Chief of the Prophets, whose exalted personality is the fountainhead of mercy for all the personal worlds of the former and the later, as God says "O Prophet, We have sent you as a mercy for all the personal worlds" (21:107). Which creatures have personal worlds? Jinn, human beings, angels, Messengers, Prophets, awliya', `arifs, sages, learned people, etc., have personal worlds. In short, the universal mercy for all is the light of the holy Prophet.

19. It is said in (33:21): "Verily in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example, for everyone who has hope in Allah and the last day and remembers Allah abundantly." The excellent example of the holy Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) is not only in physical knowledge and action but for spiritual progress as well. Thus, in this wisdom filled teaching there is indeed an allusion to benefit from the bounties of Shari`at, Tariqat, Haqiqat and ma`rifat. The Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) had the didar of God in this world (that is, in the spiritual mi`raj). Is there any allusion or not in the Prophet's excellent example about the recognition of mi`raj or the recognition of God? In the above mentioned blessed verse, hope for Allah comes first and hope for the hereafter comes later. From this it becomes known that God's didar is also before the hereafter and this recognition is necessary otherwise the Qur'an contains a severe condemnation (17:72). In the beginning, the knowledge of certainty will represent the eye of certainty to you. This reality is in the Qur'an (102:5-7).

20. When there is the paramount importance of the right path and its accessories in the Qur'an and Islam, why should the desired destination not have great importance too? Why do we not think properly about what the desired destination is? Or who it is? How is it possible that the Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) has not told us about the desired destination of the right path? Indeed, the Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) has guided and pointed out both with his speech and action and prior to this there is the luminous guidance of the Qur'an as mentioned in verse (2:156): "To Allah we belong and to Him we are going to return". From this, it is clear that we have come from the special nearness of God and we have to return to that nearness. This very verse itself alludes to vision (didar) and recognition.

21. The [sublime] law of return to God is when a great soul (Single Soul) returns to God, then all the people of the universe are spiritually merged in it. Therefore, it returns to God in two senses. (a) It goes alone (b) it takes everyone with it or they go all together. However, it is very amazing that in the end this great soul itself merges in God. I think this is a great secret of recognition, but it requires a separate explanation.

22. Now the sublime reality that when the Mercy for the Worlds, i.e., the holy Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny), experienced the spiritual mi`raj the souls of the whole world were present with him in the state of being merged, can be better understood. This is a great favour of the holy Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) for the world of Islam and the world of humanity. If one were to now ask whether other than the holy Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny), other Prophets, Awliya' etc., were honoured with the observation of mi`raj or not? Its answer is not in the negative, but rather in the affirmative. But this question raises another question: In which beloved of God's name is the external and internal universe and the very mi`raj itself? Who is the Sahib-i lawlak? (the one about whom God says: "Were you not there, I would not have created the heavens"). Whose was the holy light which was created first? Whose title is the Chief of the Prophets and why? Who is the mercy of God for all universes? Who is that Greatest Benefactor, who as the Chief of Prophets made all Prophets and communities potentially reach the mi`raj? For many such questions, the single and only answer that can be given is the blessed name of Hazrat-i Muhammad (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny), the Prophet of God.

23. Now it is easy to say that mi`raj is extremely necessary for every Prophet, every wali (Imam) and every `arif because the Sacred Sanctuary is the name of that place of mi`raj where there are God's treasures and there is no knowledge or recognition which is not available there. Therefore, without mi`raj, no knowledge, no wisdom, and no recognition is complete. Thus, we can know where the allusion to a Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)'s mi`raj is in the wise Qur'an. In short, the mi`raj of the Perfect Man can be pointed out. God willing, for this there will be a separate article.

Al-hamdu li'llahi Rabbi'l-`Alamin!

Karachi, 1st July 1997
Tuesday, 25 Safaru'l-muzaffar 1418 A.H.