A049
Surah: 003 - Ayah: 049
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3:49
Wisdom 33: The personal world of the Perfect Man is the workshop of the wonders and miracles of Divine knowledge and wisdom. One great miracle is that God is creating angels by casting the soul in the matrix of the personality of the Perfect Man. These angels are also his copies. This miracle used to be performed by Hazrat cIsa in the example of bird (3:49; 5:110), in the case of Hazrat Musa and Hazrat Harun this used to happen in making mu'mins kings (5:20). This supreme favour of God is possible in every age.
In the city of Madyan Hazrat Musa took on the work of looking after sheep and goats for Hazrat Shuayb for eight to ten years. This story is true in zahir, but its tawili aspect is that countless souls entered his world of particles, and he nurtured and protected them.
By the permission of God Hazrat Isa used to make flying Paradisiacal shirts and then he breathed into them the world of particles through the Sur-i Israfil. For its ta 'wili wisdom reflect upon verse (3:49).
Q. If Hazrat Isa could, with God's permission (3:49), revive the dead it is easy for God on the Day of Resurrection to revive them by the command of "Be" or just by His will. What wisdom is hidden in Hazrat Israfil's duty of breathing the soul into the people of the graves?
A. A very great secret and wisdom-filled allusion in this is that the greatest power in religion is the pure love for God, the Prophet and the Imam of the time and the special means of arousing it is through sacred music so that by this means the lifelessness of the heart disappears and true life is attained. This is the wisdom-filled allusion of Sur-i Israfil, if a wise person reflects on it, understands and benefits from it.
The gist of what is said in the verse (3:49) is that Hazrat Isa in his time used to make a figure of a bird out of clay and used to breathe ism-i azam into it and it used to become a bird by Allah's command. He also used to heal those born blind, lepers and used to raise the dead by Allah's command.
In the above-mentioned miracles, the tawil of the clay is the status of a mumin. and that of bird is an angel and a spiritual entity (ruhani). The ta'wil of making clay, mixing water with dust, is to mix ilmul-yaqin (knowledge of certainty) with the belief and faith of a mumin. and that of making a figure of a bird out of clay is creating the capacity and zeal for angelicity and spirituality in that mumin. The tawil of breathing into the figure of the bird is to grant the dhikr of ism-i azam and special ibadat to a prepared mumin. and that of becoming a bird is the spiritual birth of a mumin. namely, the beginning of the angelic and spiritual life and the flight in the world of spirituality.
The tawil of healing the one born blind is to grant the open inner eye to a new Muslim, giving him the above mentioned kind of spiritual training. The tawil of healing a leper is to improve (the condition of) a mumin who is trapped in the extremely intense light and white luminousness in the beginning of spirituality, and the tawil of raising the dead is to revive spiritually and restore to their previous position those who used to live in the life of the spirit of faith ( ruhul-iman) and then had died with respect to ruhul-iman. This is the tawil and wisdom of the above-mentioned miracles of Hazrat Isa (a.s.).
Now the question arises whether the Chief of the Prophets, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (s.a.s.) also performed such miracles, or not? You will certainly reply, why not? For, he possessed all the perfect qualities of all the prophets and was the closest friend of God. These tawili miracles are such that they are related not only to the Prophet, but also to the holy Imams.
Sahib-i Juththah-i Ibdaiyyah: You may find the term juththah-i ibdaiyyah (ibdai body) in some of the works of the dignitaries of religion. In it lies the greatest wisdom and happiness because it is the astral body of the holy and pure Imam, and it has many names in the Mighty Qur'an, such as tayr (a bird, 3:49), libas-i taqwa (the raiment of piety, 7:26), sarabil (shirts, 16:81), labus (garments, 21:80), maharib (fortresses, 34:13), hadid (iron, 57:25), etc. And in the personal world of every hujjat seventy thousand sarabil are made, by the permission of the Sulayman of the time, so that he may grant them to the subordinate hudud.
Reflect on verses (3:49; 5:110), which show that the great miracles, which Hazrat Isa used to perform were, in reality, the act of God. But since the Divine light was directly working in him, they are attributed to him. One of his miracles which is specifically related to this subject will be mentioned here: Hazrat Isa used to make birds out of clay. If we do not know the wisdom of this miracle then, apparently, it would appear to be only a sensory miracle which does not have far-reaching benefit. But the wise know that the miracles which are given to the Prophets by God, are all full of wisdom and extremely useful.
When Hazrat 'Isa, in his spiritual journey, entered the stage of 'Izra'il (manzil-i 'Izra'ili), he experienced the spiritual death for approximately a week. During this, angels like him were made by casting the Universal Soul in the mould of his personality. This miracle takes place in the spirituality of every Prophet and every Imam, so that the mu'mins of all ummats may receive innumerable benefits from these great angels, as Hazrat 'Isa said: "I create for you out of clay as a likeness of a bird" (3:49). This means that for your spiritual benefit God creates such angels from my personal world. It should be remembered that this is the stage of annihilation (manzil-i fana). Therefore, what God is doing here, for the sake of Hazrat 'Isa, becomes 'Isa's act. Otherwise, creating angels is the act of God Himself. Further, this law should also not be forgotten that in such a state, the act is directed there, where He wills.
Q263 What is the ta’wil of the birds, which Hazrat Jesus(c) used to make by the permission of God, as mentioned in verses (3:49; 5:110)?
A263 The ta’wil of this is that Hazrat Jesus(c) used to make subtle living figures, that is, the angels who were cast in the mould of his personality, so that the people of faith of that time may wear them as paradisal attire.
Q266 What is the ta’wil of verse (3:49): “Lo! I come unto you with a sign from your Lord. Lo! I fashion for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, and I breathe into it and it is a bird, by Allah’s leave. I heal him who was born blind, and the leper, and I raise the dead, by Allah’s leave. And I announce for you what you eat and what you store in your houses”?
A266
- This living bird is an angel who is created in the personal world of the Perfect Man from a particle of a mu’min’s soul.
- The healing of those born blind means that the Prophet and the Imam grant the inner eye to mu’mins.
- The healing of the leper means that it is extremely arduous to go beyond the initial light (whiteness), but it is easy for those who receive the affection of the spiritual physician.
- The dead refers to those who are ignorant. The true Guide breathes the spirit of knowledge into them, which revives them.
- The Perfect Man knows what type of sustenance of knowledge the people eat and what level of sustenance of macrifat they store.
This verse has been referred 4 times.