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Spiritual Experiences - Manifestations of the Sustainer

Manifestations of the Sustainer

Tags: Hazrat Musa, Sa`iqa, Mountain of Intellect, Enfold the Universe

1. The Divine manifestation in Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him)'s mirror: That is, the explanation of God's manifestation in the inner (batini) mirror of Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him). First of all, this fundamental point must be remembered that all those spiritual and intellectual miracles which are necessary for a human being's own recognition and that of God, are on the Sirat-i mustaqim inter-connectedly and sequentially. Therefore, we can say with certainty that although apparently the miracles of the prophets of the Qur'an are mentioned separately, in reality, the chain of miracles is the same from the beginning to the end, which after all the Prophets and awliya' (Imams), can be seen by the `arifs and saliks as well.

2. Read the complete noble verse (7:143) and its translation. We will only explain one of its wisdoms here. When Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him)'s spiritual resurrection occurred and Hazrat-i Israfil (May peace be through him) and Hazrat-i `Izra'il (May peace be through him) started doing their respective work, in that state God cast His manifestation on the mountain of Hazrat-i Musa's soul. Then, the mountain of soul smashed into pieces and scattered into countless particles, and every particle became an eternal mirror of the Divine manifestation. Hazrat-i Musa's soul now became such a universe of souls in which everywhere there were manifestations only. At that time Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him) had the complete experience of spiritual death, because sa`iqa means he fell down unconscious or he died. According to me, with respect to spiritual death, the second meaning is more correct, because the person who becomes unconscious cannot see anything, whereas according to this verse, Hazrat-i Musa was commanded by God to keep looking at the mountain. Thus, although spiritual death is very severe, there is no unconsciousness in it because it is for the sake of observation and recognition.

3. The second manifestation on the mountain of Intellect: It follows from the above explanation that although Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him) did not apparently have didar, his soul was immersed in the Divine manifestations. This alludes to the fact that the soul of God's lovers can have spiritual didar in every giryah-u zari, whereas they are not even aware of it. Now, I would like to say about Hazrat-i Musa (May peace be through him) that he had the highest didar on the mountain of Intellect. In this vision (ru'yat, didar), are gathered all the allusions of knowledge and recognition. There are manifestations of the knowledge of this vision (didar) in the entire Qur'an. This very holy vision is a hidden treasure, for the attainment of which the `arif's spiritual and intellectual creation takes place.

4. The Divine manifestation in the heaven and the earth of the world of religion: As mentioned in verse (24:35): "God is the light of the heavens and the earth". In the view of the Qur'an and Islam, the sun, the moon and the stars are neither God nor the loci of manifestation of His light. These are only among His physical creatures. You can call them natural phenomena like many other things. The most important thing about them is that they are the bright examples of the sun, moon and stars of the world of religion which are the natiq, asas, Imam and the subsidiary hudud. However, there is a world of difference between external light and internal light.

5. When God enfolds the universe during the spiritual resurrection of an `arif, you have to know the great secret of which universe it is. Where does He keep this enfolded universe? The correct answer is that the physical universe always stands in its place. God only enfolds the spiritual (batini) universe, that is, the universe of religion and confines it within the personal world. This means that all the necessary mirrors of the manifestations of recognition are in front of the `arif. eg., the mirror of azal and abad, the mirror of Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him), the mirror of Hazrat-i Nuh (May peace be through him), the mirror of Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him), etc.

6. The Divine manifestation in the heaven and the earth of the personal world: It is said in verse (57:3): "He is the first and He is the last, He is the manifest and He is the hidden and He has knowledge of everything". Although God does not have any priority or posteriority yet with respect to the `arif's personal world, He is the first and the last and He is the zahir, the evident light and manifest in the personal world as well as being hidden in it.

7. In the above-mentioned verse you see that az-zahir is among the attributive names of God and "And his Lord manifested for the mountain" (7:143) - is related to this blessed name. Therefore, there is no doubt that in the heaven and the earth of the personal world there are manifestations and theophanies of God's light, while He is also an-nur. Therefore, it is my faith and conviction that the first vision (didar) is in this very world. Nonetheless, there is a very big condition that every mu'min-i salik must die spiritually before physical death so that in every step of the way of spirituality he may see the manifestations and theophanies.

8. A question to my extremely dear students: O my companions and `azizan. Some kinds of questions are not for the purpose of discussion, debate and testing, rather for the sake of organising speech and to make writing attractive, worthy of paying attention to, easy and agreeable. Therefore, quite often I ask such sorts of questions and answers. Therefore, my `azizan, with utmost sincerity and love I ask you: when it is a universally accepted fact that the human being is a microcosm (personal world), will there be any magnificent sun or light present or not for its spiritual, intellectual and `irfani light? From your precious stock of knowledge you will answer that, indeed, in the personal world there must be light, because without the sun (light) there cannot be any concept of a world. I agree that this is very right and correct. The luminous sun, which is for the personal world, is unique and without any doubt it is the locus (mazhar) of God's sacred light. Therefore, it is impossible for weak people like us to confine its praise and description in our writing.

9. A ta'wil of awwal, akhir, zahir and batin: It is not a distant fact at all, rather it is one of the hidden secrets of the personal world, forehead and Sacred Sanctuary that here God, through His omnipotence has encompassed all the things of knowledge and recognition in the light of the manifest Imam, in such a way that nothing is left out of this wisdom-filled, most comprehensive thing, to the extent that here even azal and abad are together in front of the inner eye. Now at this stage, the ta'wil of the above-mentioned four names is as follows:

  1. Ism-i awwal (first): It is in the sense that azal is with the light.
  2. Ism-i akhir (last): It is in the sense that abad is with the light
  3. Ism-i zahir: It is in the sense that light rises in this place again and again.
  4. Ism-i batin: It is in the sense that light sets here again and again.

10. I have to explain the exalted Imam's miracles of knowledge and be fearful as well, lest there be any ingratitude and lack of appreciation on our side. Alas! Alas! If only we could shed tears very easily like a suckling baby or a new spring cloud! O Allah, bless us through Hazrat-i Muhammad (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) and his progeny!

Karachi, 5th August 1997
Tuesday, 30 Rabi` I, 1418 A.H.

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