A012
Surah: 036 - Ayah: 012
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36:12
Wisdom 23: God encompasses all the subtle things of the universe, the existents, this world and the next world in the manifest Imam, because it is the Imam who is the house of His sacred light. Thus, the act of reviving the two kinds of the dead and the record of deeds and traces is also in the Imam, as He says: "Verily We bring back the dead to life, and We write down what they have sent before them, and their traces. And We have encompassed everything in a manifest Imam." (36:12). That is, nothing is beyond the domain of the subtle body, the great soul and the perfect intellect of the pure and holy Imam.
The Manifest Imam (imam-i mubin), i.e. the Imam of the time in every age is the mazhar (locus of manifestation) and representative of the Divine Treasures, so that there should not be any lack or narrowness In Islam, which is the religion of God and the religion of nature. As it is said in the Qur'an: "Wa kulla shay'in ahsaynahu fi Imamin mubin" (36:12), i.e. 'and We have encompassed everything in a Manifest Imam. Another translation and explanation of the verse is: "And We have enumerated everything in a Manifest Imam". That is to say, 'We have encompassed the particles of all souls In 360 da is and these daais in 12 Hujjats of Jazirahs and the Hujjats of Jazirahs in the four closest Hujjats (Hujjatan-i huzur or muqarrab) and the four Hujjats We have resurrected in the exalted essence of the Imam, like the four birds of Hazrat Ibrahim. This is the enumeration of all things in the Manifest Imam. And whenever God wants to enumerate things, He enumerates actually like this and encompasses them in one number. A third translation and explanation of the verse is: "And We have made everything a pearl in the essence of the Manifest Imam". "Hasan (sing. hasah or haswah)" in Arabic means pebbles and its ta'wll is the Pearl of Intellect (gawhar-i aql), for pearl is a precious stone. Thus this Pearl in its essence is the world of Intellect ( alam-i aql), in which everything necessarily has to be in the intellectual form.
The Divine Spirit or the Holy Spirit in reality is the light of the Imam of the time, which according to the Qur'an (36:12) comes with everything. One extremely important thing in light is the individual resurrection, with which the door of complete spirituality opens and the internal senses wake up completely. Although the internal eye is already opened from quite early on, but the world of colourful lights which is in front of him is silent without any conversation.
The last ta'wil of the angels is the living and present Imam. For he, at the place of intellect, soul and body, is such a supreme angel and such a supreme soul, that all angels and souls are contained in him, for God has encompassed everything in him (36:12). Since he is the Divine light and the Divine light is always in the form of the perfect intellect, the supreme angel and the greatest man, so that the world of intellect ( alam-i jabarut) the angelic world ( alam-i malakut) and the human world ( alam-i nasut) may continue to be illumined by the Divine light.
Wisdom of Everything: Wherever in the Qur'an "everything" is mentioned, you should not think only of lower things and forget the higher ones. Thus in verse (36:12) where God says that He has encompassed everything in the Imam-i muhin, one should think of everything to which the word "thing (shay )" is applicable so that we should also include the great things such as the Throne, Pedestal, the Pen, the Tablet, and also the Divine manifestation, for all these are encompassed in the Imam-i muhin, who is the mirror which shows God. And there are numerous proofs of this fact.
The verse related to Imam-i Mubin: "Verily We bring back the dead to life (there are two kinds of dead, spiritual and physical) and We write down what they have sent before them; and their traces. And We have encompassed everything in thdmam-i mubin" (36:12). That is, the Imam of the time is the House of God, in which the entire Godhead is there. Now, if it is said that the Throne, the Pedestal (kursi), the Pen, the Tablet, heaven, earth and all their particulars are in the Imam-i mubin, this would be a further explanation. In short, God also always enfolds and unfolds all things (2:245).
The Supreme Pen (Divine Pen) is in the sacred sanctuary of the personal world, where according to verse (36:12), all the secrets of realities and recognitions are gathered and encompassed. When the believing servant recognizes himself and his Lord in the illumination of the Revealed Light, then not only the Pen and the other great things are attained, but the Lord Who is extremely Benevolent (al-akram) also teaches him knowledge through the Supreme Pen, which is the light of Intellect. In such a state, why should he not love God!
Imam: The root of this word is alif mim, mim, which literally means guide, or he who is followed. But in Ismaili terminology, by the Imam is meant he whom God and the Prophet have commanded people to obey. Further, neither was the past nor will the future be devoid of such an Imam, for his exalted personality, as the Guarded Tablet, exists from azal (pre-eternity). As the Glorious Qur'an says: "And We have encompassed everything in the Imam-i mubin" (36:12). One of the meanings of mubin is speaking and explaining, or the one who makes bayan (an explanation) (43:19), and bayan is another name of ta'wil (75:19) as is alluded in verses (55:1-4) the Rahman (Beneficent), raising the Perfect Man in spiritual ranks, taught him the Qur'an and thereby made his spiritual creation and finally at the rank of azal (pre-eternity) taught him the bayan (ta'wil). Thus the Imam-i mubin is such an exalted personality that his recognition is not possible without (the help) of his own light.
The Holy Prophet said: "I am the city of (Divine) knowledge and Ali is its gate". There is also the extremely important Hadith: "I am the house of wisdom and Ali is its door". These two magnificent examples of the mutual link and unity between the light of Prophethood and the light of Imamat are extremely elegant and adorned with the beauty of meaning and are full of marvels and wonders of secrets to the people of insight. Because these two wisdom-filled Hadiths are an explanation of the blessed verse which is the universal law of Imamat (36:12) in the Heart of the Qur'an (Surah-i Ya-sin).
This is the story of a wonderful and amazing time when this humble servant went through a spiritual revolution in Yarqand (China). Whether revolution is in a physical (zahir) sense or in a spiritual (batin) sense or in both, its root lies in "qaf lam, ba' (i.e. qalb). Qalb (in Arabic) means the heart and the centre. Since everything has a heart, the heart of the Qur'an is the Surah of Ya-sin (36) and the heart of the universe is the Perfect Man. See the diagram in "Qur'anic Healing" (2nd Edition, p. 90). But is it necessary to understand the special relationship of the Surah of Ya- sin and the Perfect Man (Imam)? You will find the answer to this in verse (12) of the same Surah (36:12).
Seventh wisdom: For those who recognise the Imams of the ahl-i bayt (a.s.), it is indeed not difficult to understand the meaning and purport of the durud, because in the spirituality and luminosity of the Imam of the time, who is the progeny of Muhammad (s.a.s.) and the Manifest Imam (36:12), the renewal of the similitudes of encompassing everything continues. If a mu 'min enters the personal world, he will come to know that, just as the rays of the sun constantly pour down upon the moon, the luminous rain from the absolute light of God, constantly pours down upon the revealed light (4:174; 5:15). This is the esoteric and cosmic exegesis of the durud. This exegesis contains all the realities and recognitions, from which no good word or meaning is excluded. Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all worlds!
Regarding the blessed names of God, the Exalted, in Kitab al-ZInah (p. 130), is mentioned the Hadith: Li'llahi tisatun wa-tisuna isman, man ahsa-ha dakhala'l-jannah. In the Hadith literature, it is translated as: "God has ninety-nine names, and whoever will remember them will enter Paradise". However, there arises a great logical question for the people of wisdom, which is if a non- Muslim memorizes them, will he enter Paradise? If not, why not? The reason is that without (the recognition of) the Prophet, such a bliss is not possible. This shows the reality that the keys to the treasures of the names (of God) are preserved with the Holy Prophet and after him, with his successors. Thus, "man ahsa-ha" (in true sense) means that whoever, in the light of marifat, encompasses all those names of God in His living name i.e. the Manifest Imam (36:12) will enter Paradise. In this Hadith is hidden the secret of marifat. You are aware of this teaching of the Holy Qur'an that, God has encompassed all things in the Manifest Imam (36:12) (as His treasure), then how can His names be outside of His treasure (15:21)? You can also see that the word " ahsayna-hu", which is in the Principle of Imamat (36:12), is also in this Hadith in the form of "ahsa-ha”.
Imam and Imamat: In the Wise Qur'an, a synonym of khalifah or vicegerent is "Imam". The comprehensiveness of the word "Imam" has been discussed in the Book "Imam-shinasin or "Recognition of Imam". Yet, in this connection, it is necessary to mention two more evidences: First, the word "Imam" is mentioned in the "Heart of the Qur'an", namely, Surah of Ya-Sin. Or, it should be understood that the title of the "Heart of the Qur'an" is given to this Surah because the principle of Imamat is mentioned in it. Secondly, the proof of the utmost comprehensiveness of the word "Imam" is the principle: "And We have encompassed everything in the manifest Imam." (36:12). The meanings of encompassing everything, according to the Wise Qur'an, are: to fold up the heavens and earth (21:104; 39:67), to make a treasure by gathering together the value and worth of both the worlds (15:21), to give the form of a magnificent Olive tree to the entire universe and the existent in it and then light a lamp from its oil (24:35), to encompass the subtle form of the greater world, the macrocosm in the personal world of the pure Imam (51:20-21), to make the true Imam the universal Record of Deeds (45:28-29), to give to the holy Imam the status of the Universal Intellect, the Universal Soul and the subtle Universal Body, etc.
By the personal world is meant the world of religion and the world of oneness which is in the personality of the Manifest Imam. It is in his pure and holy personality where all things are encompassed intellectually and spiritually and the rain of Divine light pours on everything. It is obligatory for the sake of knowledge for a mu’min to think deeply about these subtle things encompassed in the light of the holy and pure Imam (36:12). He should also reflect upon this physical example that all iron objects are manufactured by making them red in the fire. Now if they are made red again casting them into the fire, they can certainly be called fire. Similarly, things related to knowledge and recognition are lights in the Exalted Imam even though many people are not aware of this fact. For instance, faith (iman) has many ranks, which in the higher ranks is light. Inverse (66:8) one can see that some mumins have received light but need to perfect it so they pray: “ Our Lord! Perfect our light for us, and forgive us.”
Kullu Shay’ (Everything): when the caption (title) of everything is mentioned in the Glorious Qur’an, nothing is left out its meaning, because everything means all intellectual, spiritual and physical things including the most special and most sublime intellectual thing, which is the Divine vision. Without this there is no purpose in the ladder of the innumerable bounties and favours, nor is it possible to attain recognition of God. Thus God by encompassing all things in the Holy personality of the Manifest Imam has counted them and has given them the form of the Pearl of Intellect (36:12). This shows that everything in reality is the Pearl of Intellect. The Supreme Creator had first created the universe and the existents from it. As He saya: “Or do they not see how God at first creats the creatures and then He creats them again (making them the gawhar-I azal, Pearl of pre-eternity, in His hand) (29:19).
Let me tell you some wonderful things about the personal world or the world of particles. Verse (36:12) “And We have encompassed everything in the manifest Imam.”means that every intellect, every soul and every subtle body (particles) exists in the Light of Imamat. This is because everything submits to and is eventually annihilated in the Imam of the time, when his personal Resurrection takes place. This annihilation is either voluntary (willingly) or by force (unwillingly) (3:83).
God has made Imam-I mubin the city of His knowledge and has encompassed everything in him, including the hudud-I din (36:12). Thus, in order to acquire the wisdom of the Quraan, it is extremely important to study the hudu-I din in the illumination of the light of Imamat, without doing which, the tawil of the Quran is not at all possible.
Ayat (Miracles of knowledge)
According to verse (36:12) God, by His perfect power, has encompassed every subtle and inner thing of His magnificent and unprecedented kingdom in the Imam-i mubin. These things are the quintessence of the universe and the existents and the compendium of His signs. Thus, alluding to this fountainhead of knowledge and wisdom and treasure of the secrets of recognition (i.e. the Imam-i mubin), it is said: "And there are signs (miracles) in the earth for the people of certitude and within yourselves (potentially). Will you not then see?" (51:20).
Ayat (The luminous personality of the Imam in which all signs are encompassed)
Mawla 'Ali has said: "Ana ayatu'llahi wa aminu'llah, i.e. I am Allah's signs and I am the trustworthy of Allah." (Kawkab, p. 208). Ayat in the sense of the signs of Divine power or miracles, are in four places: (i) The higher world, (ii) the wise Qur’an, (iii) the external universe and (iv) the personal world, but according to the Qur'an (36:12) all these Ayat are encompassed in the light of the Imam-i mubin. That is, his light is the higher world, he is the speaking Qur'an, the quintessence of the universe and a luminous personal world in true sense.
Imam (9) (Guide)
The following Hadith is about the virtues of the Qur'an: "Indeed, everything has a heart and the heart of the Qur'an is Ya-Sin (36)” (Tirmidhi, V, 162). One main reason for this title of Ya-Sin is that the Treasure of the treasures of God is mentioned in it, which is: "And We have encompassed everything in the manifest Imam." (36:12). That is, God enfolds the universe in the living and present Imam and also unfolds it from him.
Ayat (The luminous personality of the Imam in which all signs are encompassed)
Mawla 'Ali has said: "Ana ayatu'llahi wa aminu'llah, i.e. I am Allah's signs and I am the trustworthy of Allah." (Kawkab, p. 208). Ayat in the sense of the signs of Divine power or miracles, are in four places: (i) The higher world, (ii) the wise Qur’an, (iii) the external universe and (iv) the personal world, but according to the Qur'an (36:12) all these Ayat are encompassed in the light of the Imam-i mubin. That is, his light is the higher world, he is the speaking Qur'an, the quintessence of the universe and a luminous personal world in true sense.
Imam (10) (Guide)
There is no doubt that the Omnipotent God can revive every kind of dead, but the greatest miracle in this connection is to see how He revives in the Holy Spirit those who die (by spiritual discipline) before the physical death. Rest assured that the phrase "Verily We revive the dead ones" in the beginning of the verse regarding the principle of Imamat is a special allusion to this miracle, as follows:
Imam (11) (Guide)
The principle of Imamat is: "Verily We revive the dead ones and We write down what they have sent before them; and their traces which they have left behind. And We have encompassed every (abstract and subtle) thing in the manifest Imam." (36:12). In this wisdom-filled verse, there is first the mention of "the reviving of the dead", which is an extremely important subject: the subject of the annihilation in the Imam, annihilation in the Prophet and annihilation in God. These three annihilations or, in reality, one annihilation is in the pure love for the Imam of the time.
Haram (4) (Spiritual sanctuary, intellectual sanctuary)
In the sense of "fruits of everything", all the miracles of all the Prophets of the Qur'an are centred in the inner sanctuary, in which there are innumerable wisdoms. In other words, at this place God enfolds the inner universe, due to which the past and the future are included in the present and the concept of azal and abad comes before one. It is about this reality that in verse (36:12), it is said: "And We have encompassed everything in the manifest Imam."
Natwi (We shall enfold)
When by the command of God the personal resurrection takes place in an carif and the light of the manifest Imam from the progeny of the holy Prophet, i.e. the Imam-i mubin, rises in his heart (batin), then in this luminosity is enfolded the inner aspect of the entire world, so that perfect recognition is attained by the observations of all spiritual and intellectual things. See verse (36:12), in which the spiritual resurrection of the carifs and kamils is mentioned. Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds!
Malak al-mawt (The angel of death, cIzra’il)
According to verse (36:12) God, by His perfect power, has encompassed every subtle and inner thing of His magnificent and unprecedented kingdom in the Imam-i mubin. These things are the quintessence of the universe and the existents and the compendium of His signs. Thus, alluding to this fountainhead of knowledge and wisdom and treasure of the secrets of recognition (i.e. the Imam-i mubin), it is said: "And there are signs (miracles) in the earth for the people of certitude and within yourselves (potentially). Will you not then see?" (51:20).
In a worldly example, the path and the guide on the path exist separately from one another, but in religion the same one person is both the path and the guide. Thus the Qur’an names him sometimes as the right path, or sometimes as the guide or as Light or as the ladder, or as mi'raj etc. Because he has numerous functions so he has numerous different names, for God has given him the status of being everything (36:12).
We believe that according to verse (36:12), God has encompassed everything in the manifest Imam, in the sense that his intellect, soul and luminouse body respectively encompass all intellects, souls and bodies. Exactly in the same way all the subjects of the heavenly Books are contained in the subject of imamat. It results from this that the wisdom of every Quraanic verse is a link in the chain of teachings of the concept of imᾱmat.
This individual is the Divine Throne in the world of humanity and the world of religion. This evidence or sign (ayat) demonstrates the practical meaning of the Quranic verse (36:12): “ And We have encompassed everything (i.e. the entire knowledge and wisdom concerning the form of the universe and its inhabitants) in the manifest and speaking Imam.”
Regarding the word mubin let us reflect on the following Prophetic Tradition: “''cAliyyun babu cilmi wa-mubinun li-ummati ma ursiltu bihi min bacdi'' (cAli is the gate of my knowledge and after me, he is the interpreter (mubin) for my community, of that with which I have been sent)”. That is, cAli is the master of true knowledge and the ta’wil of the Qur’an. This Tradition not only shows that mubin means manifest and interpreter, but is also the interpretation of verse (36:12): “''Wa- kulla shay’in ahsaynahu fi imamim-mubin''”. For, it is clear that the knowledge and wisdom of the holy Prophet, which is in the Qur’an and Hadith, is also in the blessed personality of Hadrat cAli. Thus the gate of the knowledge of the Prophet means that all the sciences and wisdoms of the Prophet are in Hadrat cAli, just as a prosperous and organized city is surrounded by its strong wall and gate. Thus, it is evident that the light of Hadrat Muhammad, peace be upon him and his progeny, the spirit of the Qur’an and the reality of the Hadith are included in the light of cAli, namely, the manifest and speaking Imam. What then is left out of the light of the Prophet, the spirit of the Qur’an and the reality of the Hadith? In fact, the ultimate great secrets of God’s Godhead are also included in these realities. It is from here that these secrets reveal to an carif. This much explanation of Imamim-mubin is sufficient in this book.
Part 40
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Verse (36:12) reads: “Verily We bring back the dead to life and We write down what they have sent before them, and what they have left behind. And We have encompassed and counted everything in the manifest Imam.”
This verse is also called the universal of “Imam-i mubin”. Its spiritual exegesis, ta’wil and recognition become complete in the personal world in the sacred Sanctuary during the spiritual resurrection. This farman of Hazrat Imam Muhammad Baqir is among the laws of macrifat that “Whatever is said about Allah is about us (the Imams)”.32
Q170 Are the favours of God mentioned in the Hadith-i nawafil, attainable from Him directly or through the hudad-i din?
A170 There is the ladder (micraj) of hudud-i din in order to [ascend and] attain the special closeness of God. There is no ascension without the ladder. This ladder consists of living ranks. Study the wise Qur’an, where there is the mention of ranks (darajat) and ladders (macarij). Just as from verse (36:12), it appears that it is God Himself Who records the deeds of the servants, but from verse (82:11), it appears that the task of recording deeds is assigned to certain angels who are called the honourable scribes (kiraman katibin). It becomes evident from this that God, Who is the real King, appoints His personnel for different kinds of work, but He Himself is free from and above [doing] any kind of work.
Q271 The best and most exalted personal book (the spiritual book) was the holy Prophet and after him, Mawla cAlÄ(c). Now, please tell us does Imam-i mubin (the manifest Imam, 36:12) mean the Imam of space and time? If you say that the manifest Imam is the Imam of the time, please tell us what are ayat and miracles in his spirituality and luminosity.
A271
- Although apparently the universe appears to be spread out, it is confined, encompassed and enfolded in the manifest Imam.
- By His perfect will Almighty Allah has enfolded and kept the endless expanses of space and time in the fist of the manifest Imam.
- The kingdom of Allah has so many things that it is impossible for jinn and humankind together to count them, yet Allah has counted them and kept them all in one number, Imam-i mubin.
- He has condensed the boundless ocean in a unique pearl.
- Indeed, the Imam of the time is the Imam-i mubin, and the ayat that are in his spirituality and luminosity are living forever and are unique in their comprehensiveness and perfection.
Q344 Did the universal law of the Imam-i mubin (36:12) exist in the time of Adam(c) too? What is the difference between God’s spirit and His light? Is it true that the sur of resurrection is blown in order to breathe God’s spirit into every Perfect Man?
A344
- The universal law of the Imam-i mubin is eternal, therefore the Imam is in the background of the story of Adam(c).
- God’s spirit is the light and His light is the spirit, thus there is no difference in their meaning.
- God’s spirit means the Soul of souls, which is the absolute Light. When this spirit is about to come into a Perfect Man then necessarily Israfil blows the sur and the spiritual resurrection takes place.
- The spirit that God calls “My spirit” (15:29; 38:72) or “Our spirit” (19:17; 21:91) is with respect to honour or with respect to His mazhar.
Q392 This is a very interesting and extremely useful discussion. Kindly furnish more proofs for us.
A392
- Imam-i mubin (36:12) is the Guarded Tablet in which all things including languages are preserved and recorded.
- cIlliyyin means the exalted Imams who are a written book in which the record of deeds of all the righteous ones is preserved (83:18-20), and the record of deeds is in the language of every individual.
- See verses (99:7-8) that man is going to see each and every particle of his word and deed. This shows that every word of the language is preserved.
- In verse (18:9), there is an allusion that just as God had miraculously preserved the people of the cave, He preserves the ancient languages and inscriptions as well. Praise belongs to Allah!
Q422 In the same surah in verse (36:12), it is mentioned: “Surely it is We who bring the dead to life and write down what they have sent forward and what they have left behind. And We have encompassed everything in the Imam-i mubin (manifest and speaking Imam).” You often refer to the last part of this verse, but today please explain the interconnected wisdom of the entire ayat, so that all may benefit from it in attaining the recognition [of the Imam].
A422
- When the spiritual resurrection takes place through the Imam of the time, all the people of the world, become merged in his personality in the form of particles, and God brings them to life in him and also preserves and records all their deeds and traces, those which they have sent forward and those they have left behind.
- Because God has kept all things encompassed and counted in him.
- It is evident that the last part of the ayat is the exegesis of the first part, because the Divine act of bringing the dead to life and writing down their deeds and traces, sent forward or left behind, continues to take place in the Imam-i mubin.
This verse has been referred 66 times.