Sublime Realities - In the Light of the Face of God (Wajhu'llāh)

In the Light of the Face of God

Tags: Wajhu'llah, Face of God, Nafs-i wahidah,, Monoreality

The above title has many higher meanings. One of them is that, some special realities and recognitions are to be explained in the light of the magnificent and wisdom-filled Qur'ānic verses which are revealed concerning the subject of the Face of Allāh and Divine vision. In these luminous verses is hidden the supreme treasure of the secrets of ma`rifat and lights of oneness, which continue to be searched for by all the people of the religions of the world. And who does not yearn for this treasure!
In order to highlight the importance and necessity of this magnificent subject and in order to duly draw complete attention to it, some questions are posed here:
1. What is the primary meaning of "wajhu'llāh"?
2. Does it mean "dhāt (essence of God)" or "Face of God"? If "wajh" means "essence" why is "dhātu'llāh", not mentioned in this verse, while the word "dhāt" is also Arabic?
3. If according to you, the correct meaning of "wajhu'llāh" is "Face of God", how is it possible to be a Face of God, Who has no equal and resemblance? If it is in the sense of representation, show us in the light of proofs who represents His Face?
4. What does the Holy Qur'ān say about Divine vision? What is the meaning of verse (75:23): "They will be looking towards their Lord"?
It is the fundamental belief of Islam and also a fact that God is free from and above having organs and limbs. At the same time it is also clear in the Wise Qur'ān and religion of nature (Islam) that the extremely exalted rank of the vicegerent of God is also a fundamental reality and in this law of vicegerency, it is clear that just as the vicegerent of God can be rūhu'llāh (Spirit of God), yadu'llāh (Hand of God) and lisānu'llāh (Tongue of God), he can also be called wajhu'llāh, as it is clear from the Hadīth: "He who saw me, has seen God" that, the Holy Prophet was God's Face. Without this concept, the true explanation of the verses related to the Face of God is not possible, see for instance:
In verse (28:88), God says: "Everything is perishable except His Face". If by the Face of God is meant the vicegerent of God or the vicegerent of the Prophet, then both its exegesis and ta'wīl will be correct. Otherwise, it would mean that everything is perishable, God forbid, including God's organs, except His Face. But friends! How can such a view be correct? Also, if we mean by wajh the essence of God, then logically, it would mean that in addition to other things, God's attributes would also perish. But again how can this belief be correct?
Every Prophet and every Imam in his respective time acts as the Face of God, a principle which is ordained by none other than God Himself. Thus Hazrat Nūh was the Face of God in his time. In the background of Hazrat Nūh's deluge there occurred a Resurrection in which not only did the disobedient people drown and perish, but according to verse (28:88), every creature and everything as well, except for the believers who were in physical and spiritual arks and all those spiritual particles which had entered the ark of wisdom (world of particles) of the Face of God (11:40; 23:27) who remained saved from every aspect. Since in the wisdom-filled sunnat which is full of the treasures of secrets, there is no change at all (17:77; 33:62), therefore, without exception, God continues to repeat it in every cycle and every time according to the law of spirit and spirituality.
When, according to a Hadīth of the Prophet there is no Qur'ānic verse which does not have a zāhir (or exoteric aspect) and a bātin (or esoteric aspect), why should there not be a spiritual deluge or Resurrection also in those verses which are related to the story of the physical deluge? Thus it should be remembered that the exoteric example acts as a veil for the esoteric meaning or reality, so that it may be possible to explain all those great, hidden secrets in the form of secrecy. In short, although the external examples of the perdition of all those disobedient and wayward people which is mentioned in the Qur'ān, are different, spiritually all of them had the same punishment and that was the punishment of the spiritual Resurrection.
Q. In what sense can the vicegerent of God, whether Prophet or Imam, be the Face of God?
A. In the sense that their blessed dīdār (vision) represents the vision of God and in their luminous recognition is hidden the recognition of tawhīd, the oneness of God. Like Hazrat Nūh's Ark they are the means of salvation, they are the interpreters of the speech of God, as a Hadīth-i qudsī says that the light of God is working in their external and internal senses¹ and the annihilation in God becomes certain for those who become annihilated in them.
In verse (28:88), it is said: "Everything is perishable except His Face (i.e. the mazhar of light)", and one special definition of this annihilation is that when the spiritual Resurrection of the Perfect Man (Prophet or Imam) occurs, the subtle particles of all things, such as minerals, vegetables, animals and human beings enter his personal world, as mentioned about Hazrat Nūh (a.s.). During this, the sūr of Isrāfīl blows constantly in his personal world² and everything becomes annihilated in him unconsciously, except for himself, although physically he is included among perishable things, yet in his luminous rank he is extremely exalted, close to and merged in God.
The above explanation is about unconscious annihilation or perdition. Now, we want to explain the conscious and luminous annihilation that, every Prophet and every Imam in the beginning becomes annihilated in the luminosity of his predecessor and attains the rank of the Face of God. Reflect upon verses (55:24-28). The concept of annihilation according to Sufis is: annihilation in the Shaykh, annihilation in the Messenger and annihilation in God. According to us however, it is the Imam of the time who is the true and perfect murshid. Thus, although the luminous annihilation is in three levels, they are linked together.
The fundamental pure sunnat of the Holy Prophet was that he used to invite people to his luminosity, knowledge and wisdom and to that end he used to designate Mawla `Alī as his door. The purpose of this was that the door of God was the Prophet and that of the Prophet, the Imam of the time, as everything has a door. This means that all the treasures of God and the Prophet, including the treasure of the realities of azal, become available to the one who enters through the door of the Imam of the time. So obedience to the exalted Imam is the supreme bliss for the people.
This extremely exalted rank which is called the luminous Face of God or the Image of the Compassionate (sūrat-i Rahmān) is not of today, but has continued from azal. That is, it exists from eternity. Does the Face of God have another name at the place of azal? Yes, it also has another name at this place, which is called nafs-i wāhidah, Single Soul. Although it has many names, here we will explain the wisdom of the Qur'ānic verses, in which this name is mentioned. The wisdom of one such verse is: He it is Who created you (in the spiritual world and at the place of azal) from a single soul (person). Then He, in His infinite mercy created the law of duality (36:36; 51:49) and ordained for each one two "I's", of which, by the command of God, one "I" by the name of mustaqarr (permanent) remained in the higher world in the state of azal and ibdā` and the other entered the arena of trial of this world. The first one is real and the second is its shadow.
Q. Is this not the story of Ādam and Eve? Are we not their children? How can many souls be created from an individual or a Single Soul?
A. This is the story prior to the physical Ādam and Eve and their physical children. However, if you call the Single Soul the real Ādam or spiritual Ādam, it would not be wrong. There are two bright examples of how the souls of people were created from the Single Soul. One is that countless living pictures were made from the Single Soul, which is the Face of God and the Image of the Compassionate as well. The other example is that the Single Soul was used as an ibdā`ī mould and as many copies as there are human beings were made by casting the matter of light into it. These two examples differ only in words, but in meaning there is no difference.
All Qur'ānic words are revealed having been weighed in the scale of wisdom. Thus the word "wāhidah" is on the pattern of "fā`ilah", and so the nafs-i wāhidah is the fā`il (agent or subject) of the verb "tawhīd". That is, it unifies human souls with itself, because in azal all of them were with it. The Omnipotent God has made this work easy for it. Thus those who purify their souls according to Islamic teachings can be merged in the Single Soul, not only tomorrow, but today also, if not completely, at least partially, and if not practically, at least in the form of knowledge. Thus in this connection, reflection upon the Qur'ānic wisdoms and search for the secrets of ma`rifat are very great `ibādat.
The exalted places where Ādam and human beings are created are two: the world of command and the world of creation. Creation in the world of command is not procreative, it is ibdā`ī (instantaneous), which appears from the word "Be". Therefore, in the world of command man does not have a mother. As for the father, he is there from one aspect and not from another. It is because of this that amrī or ibdā`ī creation took place from the Single Soul, the example of which in this world is all those countless spermatozoa which are found in a young man, whereas the mother is still in the veil of the unseen. Similarly people first existed in the world of particles and in the place of intellect, and later they were born from Ādam and Eve in the world of creation.
In verse (7:189) God says: "He it is Who created (khalaqa) you (in the world of command) from a Single Soul and then (in the world of creation) made (ja`ala) its mate from it, so that it may have peace."³ Here arises another question: how was Eve made from Ādam? You can reflect upon the above-mentioned verse that there are two words: one is khalaqa and the other is ja`ala and there is a great difference between the two. Why is it so? It is because of the fact that the first word khalaqa is used for creation and the second word ja`ala for the appointment. Had it not been so and Eve had been created from the side of Ādam, then this would have been the law of nature, and today every woman would have been born not from her parents, but from her husband. This is not true and the reality is something else. That is, no man can be called husband unless he has his wife and no woman can be called wife unless she has her husband. Thus as the position of a wife is determined because of the husband, so are the relative value and meaning of husband determined because of the wife. Thus their designation is not one but two sided. This example is applicable to spiritual husband and wife also.
Q. What is the wisdom in the permanent "I" and transitory "I"? What is the secret in this duality? Are they the two ends of soul? Through what kind of examples can we understand this reality? Would you kindly shed more light on this matter.
A.
1. The Holy Qur'ān indicates that everything has a shadow (16:81; 25:45). Thus, man's higher "I" is like the sun and the lower "I" like its shadow, i.e. reflection.
2. The Qur'ānic wisdom says that soul is not a limited thing, but an all-reaching and all-embracing reality, therefore, it should simultaneously be in both the worlds.
3. The Prophets and Imams, due to these two "I's", can see both the spiritual world and this world, and this attribute of theirs shows that everybody has two "I's".
4. In the spatial world, there is coming and going, but in the non-spatial world, it is not so. Yet, as an example it is permissible to say that this "I" can ascend and that "I" can descend, so that they may be one.⁴
Although each and every verse of the Glorious Qur'ān is full of the rubies and pearls of heavenly knowledge and wisdom, yet let us see one extremely amazing secret which is related to the supreme treasure of human grandeur. In this blessed and holy verse, first it is said that mu'mins should accept the special da`wat (call, invitation) so that they may be revived in the spiritual life. Then they have to know in the light of knowledge and recognition how God comes in between man and his heart for the sake of trial. What is the real heart? Where is it and what is its status? All these secrets will be unveiled only when a mu'min recognises his Lord in his personal world. It should be remembered that by this heart is meant the Imam of the time, who is the higher "I" of a mu'min as well (8:24).
When a fortunate and successful mu'min attains the supreme vision of spirituality as a result of his true obedience to God, the Prophet and the Imam of the time, then who is the sovereign of the vision? God? the Prophet? the Imam? the Archangel? One's own soul? Higher "I"? Azal or dahr? One or all? Ibdā` or inbi`āth? The first or the last? Please tell us. Who is the one who gives the vision? By God! that is everything and in the terminology of Sufis it is called "hamah ūst (He is everything)". It is the light of the Face of God, in which all realities appear together, nay, all of them together become one reality which is called the "Reality of realities" and the same is Monoreality.
In this world there is nothing which does not say something in symbolic language. Thus when two persons encounter each other, they appear in the eyes of one another. This is the pupil which says in symbolic language that when spiritual vision takes place, the higher "I" and the lower "I" merge in one another.

Note: This article is extremely important therefore read it carefully and try to read it profoundly and repeatedly to understand its depth.

Nasīr al-Dīn Nasīr Hunzā'ī,
London, 11th December, 1986.

Endnotes:
^1. Sahīh Bukhārī, III, Kitāb-i Riqāq, Bāb 844, Hadīth 1422.
^2. The Sūr of Isrāfīl is necessary for Resurrection and annihilation.
^3. Hazrat Ādam attained peace by this arrangement in the sense that the chain of light had to continue in this world (7:189).
^4. In the Qur'ān there are numerous examples of the ascent and descent of the spirit and angels. For example, see: 7:40; 15:14; 35:10; 42:52; 53:7; 57:4; 58:22.

Chapter Index

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter