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True Vision - Vision of God

Vision of God

Tags: Face of God, Vision

Although it is a fundamental Qur'ānic reality that God is incomparable and has no resemblance with His creatures, it is also a Qur'ānic fact that His vision is possible not only in the Hereafter, but also in higher spirituality in this world. Here we are not discussing how the Divine vision is possible, indirectly or directly, in any case, it is a fact according to the Qur'ān, as it says:
"Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty) looking towards their Lord." (75:22-23). According to this sacred teaching of Islam, it is clear that the blessed vision of the Prophet and the Imam is important because of the fact that just as their obedience and love are God's obedience and love, their sacred vision is the vision of God and in this respect, the Holy Prophet has said: "He who has seen me, has indeed seen God."
In verse (7:79) in the language of wisdom, it is said that not loving the True Guide results in the rejection of advice and guidance. This is because it is the characteristic of human nature that the teaching of a teacher or the advice of a counsellor is received only if he is believed and loved, particularly, in religious teaching. Guidance cannot advance if a wall of enmity is erected in front of it.
According to religious teachings, love for God cannot be directly attained without the mediation of the Prophet, and that for the Prophet without the mediation of the Imam of the time. The Imam of the time is present and living in this world. Love for him is the root and foundation of the entire religious love(s), which leads to the love for the Prophet and then for God.
The Qur'ān says that God has granted mu'mins the love for faith. That is, He has made the faith cherished and beloved to them. This implies that the Prophet and the Imams, who are the embodied faith (īmān-i mujassam) must be befriended and loved.
The Holy Prophet has said: "He who has seen me, has indeed seen God." This Hadīth is full of great wisdoms. One of them is that he was the face of God in his time, as according to verse (48:10) he was undoubtedly the hand of God in his time. And as the Holy Prophet was the face of God in his time, the pure Imams are the face of God in their respective times. Thus knowing this fact will give great happiness to true mu'mins that the more they yearn for the sacred vision of the Imam of the time, the more the light of their faith will increase.
In Khutbatu'l-Bayān Mawlānā `Alī says: "I am the face of God in the heavens and the earth." The ta'wīl of this farmān is that the Prophet and the Imam are the face of God in the sense that, in the world of religion, they are the vicegerent and deputy of God and God is recognised through their recognition. Because the vision of God is attained through their vision and in their love is hidden the love for God. Thus the certain means of Divine vision is its first stage, and representative of the second stage. Thus the vision of the Prophet and the Imam is the representative vision of God.
If it is accepted that man is the most noble of creatures, because he is given excellence and honour over all things of the universe and existents, then it also has to be accepted that the Perfect Man is the most noble and excellent of mankind and the souls of righteous people are angels and spiritual beings (ruhāniyyīn) according to their ranks, then the Prophet and the Imam who are Perfect Men, are extremely close to God. In other words, they are in the state of fanā' fi'llāh (annihilation in God) and baqā' bi'llāh (survival in God). Had they not been so and had there remained the slightest distance in the path of God, they would not have been True Guides of the people. Thus, it is evident that the Perfect Man is completely merged in God. Therefore, the bliss of the gracious vision of the Imam of the time is essential, so that the mu'mins may be able to completely attain the blessings from his presence.

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