Spiritual Experiences - Example of the Single Soul (Nafs-i Wahidah), "One, Two and All"
Example of the Single Soul (Nafs-i Wahidah), "One, Two and All"
Tags: Nafs-i Wahidah, Single Soul, Hazrat Adam, Duality, Yatim
This is an excellent topic of spiritual science in that first of all the Single Soul is Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him) who is one, two and all. That is, the collective name of the father Adam, the mother Eve and the entire progeny that was to come up to the resurrection of resurrections is the Single Soul. For the word "wahidah", which is on the pattern of fa`ilah (present participle), has two meanings: (1) one itself (2) he who makes [others] one or the unifier. Therefore, while Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him) was undergoing the personal spiritual resurrection, God gathered together and united all human beings in the personal world of His vicegerent in the form of particles. This extremely magnificent event takes place in every Perfect Man without which the recognition of the hidden treasure is impossible.
Every human being is a child of the Single Soul (Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him)) and therefore he is potentially like his father: one, two and all. It is due to this that the signs of unity, duality and multiplicity are made in the personality of every individual: Unity in the sense that the human being is one in his collective personality; duality in the sense that his eyes and all other organs are in pairs. The sign of multiplicity is that he is a collection of countless cells, the number of which only God knows. In view of the unfathomable mercy of the Cherisher of the world, it is possible that every cell may represent a universe. This is in the sense that for every faithful soul there is a kingdom of countless universes in the paradise of azal and abad and each universe has everything in it.
You may be aware of the wisdom of the Qur'an, that God brings together things as extended as the universe and confines them and He also spreads the confined things to the boundaries of the universe and makes them extensive. Thus, within you there are as many unlimited worlds as there are innumerable cells and in every world there are potentially the subjects of your kingdom. If you are working by benefitting from the law of merging in the murshid then you should be congratulated, otherwise you will be answerable on the day of judgement, as according to the Prophetic saying: "Each one of you is a ra`i (shepherd=ruler=king) and each person will be asked what he had given his subjects?"
Arabic is the chief and sovereign of all languages spoken in this world and in paradise. Since it is the language of the wise Qur'an and the exalted Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny), therefore everything of it is made extremely beautiful. Look at the excellence of numbers within its grammar: As with numbers, in its grammar first is the singular, then the dual and finally the plural. This quality does not perhaps exist in any other language. Quality in the sense that the Qur'an mentions the duality of everything except God. In mentioning duality, the first wisdom is that no creature is single but rather, it has a pair, so this must be a universal testament to the fact that God, the One, does not have any pair at all. The second wisdom is that everything testifies to the fact that in religion, after God, the greatest rank is that of the Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny), who is not without a pair either physically or spiritually. In fact, he is the father of the mu'mins and his asas (Hazrat-i `Ali (May peace be through him)) is their mother.
In verses (90:8-16) it is mentioned: "Have we not made for him a pair of eyes, and a tongue and a pair of lips? And shown him the two ways (good and evil). But he has made no effort to cross the steep incline. And what do you know what the steep incline is? It is freeing the slave. Or the giving of food in a day of privation to the related orphan, or to the indigent in the dust."
People understand multiplicity and they can accept the unity of God. However, they do not understand the great wisdom of duality, which means prophethood and walayat, although this is the one which is the path of guidance and the door to knowledge and recognition. Therefore, in many places in the Qur'an, attention is drawn to the importance of two or the pair and this fact is found in many examples. For instance, the Qur'an says that a human has been given two eyes, but what two great blessings in that despite their duality, there is unity in their action! The tongue is one, yet in it is the sign of duality. The lips are two, but in speech there is unity and integrity. The paths of good and evil are separate, nonetheless the collective reward for following good and desisting from evil is one. Thus, wherever there are signs of two, pair and duality in the Qur'an, they are used for the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul and for the natiq and asas.
It is now the cycle of ta'wil and therefore you will not be able to find a worldly slave in order that you may free him. However, it is true that every individual is a slave of his own carnal soul; he is enduring the slavery of his ignorance and carnal habits. Therefore, it is incumbent upon him to free himself from this worst of slavery through knowledge and wisdom. If he truly succeeds in doing so, a revolution of spirituality and knowledge will take place in him whereby he will be able to feed his orphan relative or an indigent lying in the dust. Before explaining its ta'wil, let us see a very excellent example.
It is said in a Sacred hadith that Allah, may He be mighty and glorified, said to the holy Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny): "I had become ill, why did the progeny of Adam not visit Me? I was thirsty, why did the progeny of Adam not give Me water to drink?" I asked: "O Lord, do you become ill?" He said: "If one of My slaves from the people of the earth falls ill, no-one visits him. If he is visited, it is visiting Me. When someone on the earth is thirsty, then he is not given water to drink. But if he is given water to drink, then it is for Me."
In the light of this law of mercy, we can say that one Qur'anic name of the Imam is Yatim, which means unique. Thus, yatiman za maqrabah means the unique Imam of the age who is the spiritual and luminous relative of the people of faith, and to feed him on the day of starvation is to give true knowledge to deserving people. The ta'wil of the needy sitting in the dust is the hujjat who lives with the murids of the Imam. The murids are the dust, because they accept the water of knowledge and become alive eternally, just as soil becomes alive with material water. One more allusion of the indigent sitting in the dust is that the hujjat does his work whilst living on the earth, whereas the Imam's intellectual rank is in the higher world. Therefore, the ta'wil of feeding the indigent lying in the dust on the day of starvation is that, in the time of the famine of knowledge, you must spread the dining table of true knowledge for the people. Only then can you cross the steep incline.
Every human being is the progeny of the Single Soul (Hazrat-i Adam (May peace be through him)) and therefore, he is potentially like his father Adam: one, two and all. This pleasant point can draw the attention of the wise people because this numerical formula (universal=law=constitution) is extremely magnificent and is in accordance with the Qur'an, as mentioned in verse (34:46): "O Prophet, tell them that I do advise you only on one wisdom, that for God, stand up (in spirituality and personal resurrection) first in pairs then singly and then reflect." The way of returning to God is that you must leave multiplicity and merge in two, and then merge in Allah, Who is One and subsequently reflect on the results of knowledge and recognition, then you will attain success, God willing.
Consider (36:36) very carefully: "God is pure, Who created in pairs all vegetation of the earth, as well as their own (human) kind and other things of which they have no knowledge". Here are many clear indications for the wise people, the most important of which is that the people of faith are not without spiritual parents, as the Prophet (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) has said: "O ' Ali, you and I are the (spiritual) parents of mu'mins".
Karachi, 5th December 1996
Thursday, 23 Rajabu'l-murajjab 1417 A.H.
| Chapter Index | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter |