A078
Surah: 022 - Ayah: 078
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22:78
1. It is established that the Qur'an and the light of Imamat are inseparable, so that from this most perfect means of guidance (which is in the form of the Book of God and its divinely appointed Teacher) the common and the chosen people may receive the exoteric and esoteric guidance of God according to their struggle and merit and there should not be any obstacle in the path of the recognition of one’s own self and the destination of salvation, as God says: “And He has not laid upon you any hardship in religion” (22:78). Having established the principle of the inseparability of the Qur'an and the light of Imamat, it is appropriate that in the light of the above –mentioned facts, we should present an example of the practical tawil, from which every wise person will realize how great is the difference between tanzil and tawil and how the light of Imamat illumines the true mumins with the light of tawil in every age. Hakim Sayyid Pir Nasir-i-Khusraw in his wisdom -filled book “Wajh-i Din” gives the tawil of the verses (95:1-3): “By the fig and the olive, by the mount of Sinai and by this peaceful city.”
Even wise people may be bewildered by the exoteric meaning of this verse that, when necessary, it is sworn by something which is sacred or venerated in religion, but here god swears by insignificant and lifeless things such as minerals and vegetables, while He commands us not to venerate natural phenomena, such as the sun, the moon, etc., because they are not creators, but are only among the creatures. Thus, the issue of in what sense are they venerable with God can be resolved only through tawil. Therefore, reflect on this tawil of the above mentioned verses:
Fig:
By the fig God means the Universal Intellect who is linked with the Divine Word, namely “Be”, without any intermediary. The Universal Intellect is called fig because of the fact that it is wholly edible both outside and inside and human disposition does not reject anything from it., rather it accepts it totally and eats the whole of it, just as the pure souls accept the favours of the intellect in their totality and nothing is rejected from them. The favours of the intellect to the soul is nourishment in order to bring forth the subtle form.
Olive:
The olive is the example of the Universal Soul, who accepts the favours of the Universal Intellect without any intermediary and it is compare to the olive because of the fact that some of it edible such as oil and pulp and some of it worthy of thrown away, such as stone and residue. That is, every soul which is pure and obeys the intellect is approved and accepted by it as the oil and pulp of the olive is edible. And every soul which is impure and vile and does not obey the intellect and does not abandon that which it probits and does not accept the favours of the intellect and followe its own desire, is driven and thrown away and despite as the stone and residue of the olive. And it is because of this that some of the souls deserve reward and some of them punishment.
Mount Sinai:
Mount Sinai is the example of the Natiq, who accepted the favour of the universal Soul hiddenly and conveyed it to the people of the world by way of the Shariat and appointed the Asas so that he may convey the tawil of it to the people, because Mount Sinai is a mountain, the exterior of which is ugly, rough and dark and annoys the onlooker, but in the interior of it are beautiful and precious gems and the viewer is pleased to see them, such as ruby, emerald, amber, gold, silver, brass and copper.
Thus in the same way the zahir or the exoteric aspect of the shariat of Natiq has doubts and differences and it becomes difficult for the wise person to accept it, but when he reaches its realities through the tawil and knows its meanings, the soul of the wise person accepts them and becomes satisfied.
The Peaceful City:
The peaceful city is the example of the Asas (Mawlana Ali), through whom the wise person is in peace from the doubt and ambiguity of zahir, and he who is left behind from (reaching) his tawil, fell into discord and ambiguity, and he who reached his tawil is relieved from the discord of the zahir. And from these four things by which God has sworn, two of them are from plants and two of them are from places. And it is not possible for the plants to dispense with the place and the meaning of that is the intellect and the soul are spiritual as the plants have soul and the Natiq and Asas are physical as the mountain and city are places. But these two plants are in the mountain and the city, similarly the benefits and the light of Intellect and Soul appear through the Natiq and Asas. The pleasure of the above-mentioned spiritual and physical fruits is felt only by those who eat them.
“Waltin (and fig)” and “wal-zaitun (and olive)” each one is one word (i.e. fig and olive), and “wa-Tur Sinin (and mount Sinai)” and “wa- hadhal-baladil –amin (and this peaceful city)” each one consists of two words (i.e. mount Sinai and peaceful city), so that the wise people may know that Intellect and soul are spiritual beings in the same state and Natiq and Asas are both body and soul and have two states.” (wajh-i Din, pp, 98-100)
Q124 According to some culama’, there are three kinds of jihad: (1) Jihad against the external enemy i.e. unbelievers; (2) Jihad against satan and (3) Jihad against the carnal soul. But reflecting upon the meaning of the major jihad one comes to the conclusion that the jihad against satan and the carnal soul is the same. What are your views about it? Please also tell us where in the holy Qur’an there is the mention of or allusion to the major jihad.
A124 It is true that the jihad against satan or the carnal soul is the same and that it is the major jihad. However, there is the paramount necessity of true knowledge, without which it is not possible to accomplish the major (spiritual) jihad. The two places in the holy Qur’an where the major jihad is mentioned are the two verses (22:78; 29:69).
The Qur’an teaches that the greatest preacher, supreme daci and the strongest centre of Islam is Prophet Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa(s) and this religion begins from the time of Hazrat Ibrahim(c) (22:78), rather from one aspect it commenced at the time of Hazrat Nuh(c) (42:13) and from another aspect, it is from the period of Hazrat Adam(c) (23:51-52).
This verse has been referred 12 times.