A001
Surah: 076 - Ayah: 001
Click here to see the translations
76:01
The final salvation and the eternal survival of man is in his annihilation (fana') In the Face of God. This annihilation is entirely different from that of worldly and material things and is extremely unique and miraculous. For it is attained through a supreme and magnificent vision (liqa, didar, ru'yat) and a significative (isharati) knowledge and gnosis, as is said in the beginning of the surat al-dahr: "Has there come on man a while of the dahr {in which) he was not a thing mentionable" (76: l). By dahr is meant that rank in which Mubdi and Qa'im are one and the same; by "a while from the dahr" is meant the while of Inbiath and ibda , in which man is annihilated by the vision of the Face of God, and he cannot say anything about himself, about where he is and what he is. For the ta'wilic wisdoms of this extremely great miracle come gradually. Here this reality should also be remembered that according to the allusion of the verse this extremely great miracle had also occurred to man in the past.
Answer 3: Here, first of all, in order to make the answer quite clear, it is necessary to mention what the non-spatial world is and what the non-temporal world means, so that the answer of the related question may be clear. The non-spatial world means the state which is not spatial and which is free from space and its dimensions. That is the spiritual and intellectual world, which is opposite to the material world. And the non-temporal world means the state which is not temporal, which is not moving and is static, and is called dahr (76:1).
"Has a period (kin) from the dahr (immovable time) come over man (again) in which he was not a thing- mentioned (shay'an madhkura). Verily We created man from mingled sperm." (76:1-2). The wisdom of the first verse has been explained above and that of the second is that, every human being, including Adam (a.s.) and Isa (a.s.), has been created from the mingled sperm of his parents. It is the greatest good fortune of mumins that after physical creation and perfection, they are created from their spiritual parents, the Natiq and the Asas, an example of whose tanzil and tawil is the mingled sperm of man and woman. Then after great progress on the path of spirituality, in the final destination is the intellectual (luminous) birth of the true mu'min from his intellectual parents who are the Universal Intellect and the Universal Soul, whose tayid (spiritual help) and tarkib (takhliq=creation) are like mingled sperm. Thus he who is born at this last stage, finds himself everliving in the light of pre-eternity (azal) and post-eternity (abad).
Even though man passes through several kinds of death and annihilation, none of them should be called pure non¬existence, and the state which is called non-existence, is not really pure non-existence, but is a name for the invisible world or the world of command. Thus the question of man's non-existence or extinction by death never arises. But one should not forget that the circle of life of man is extremely great, on which he moves without any beginning or end. At times on this circle there are places of knowledge and remembrance and at others, ignorance and forgetfulness. When the period of ignorance comes, then it is not possible for an angel or human being to remember or describe him with a name or an attribute. And if he himself does not have knowledge or recognition, then it is not possible for him to recognize and remember himself. He therefore becomes like a forgotten thing, as mentioned in verse (76:1).
Abad (Timelessness, haziratu’l-qudus)
Another wisdom-filled Qur'anic word in which azal and abad mean the same is dahr (76:1). Dahr means immovable time, which you can call azal from one aspect and abad from another, although in reality they both mean the same. O my dears! it is extremely useful to recognise dahr.
Note the wisdom of the word "maf'ul" in seven places of the holy Qur’an (4:47; 08:42, 44; 17:5, 108; 33:37; 73:18), which is that every work of God is accomplished and every promise fulfilled in the higher world. The people who are mentioned as being pre-eternally and post-eternally in paradise are there without any beginning and any end. Thus, this is an excellent definition of azal and abad.
Insan (Mankind, human being)
When an carif attains the vision of God at the place of dahr (immovable time), then, in reality, he becomes fana' fi'llah, and in this respect he has no trace at all (76:1). God, according to His law of creation, has created every human being from a drop of mingled sperm (76:2).
Dahr 2 (Immovable time, azal, renewal of azal)
It is said in the wisdom-filled verse (76:1): (First translation): "Has a time (hin) from immovable time (dahr) passed over man when he was not anything worth mentioning." (Second translation): "Has there come the time of the manifestation of azal (and the destination of annihilation) when he was not anything worth mentioning (i.e. he had become completely annihilated in God).
Man in the renewal of azal was (is and will be) a unique reality without a name and trace, i.e. absolutely annihilated and lost in the world of oneness, because "a thing not worth mentioning" has two aspects, one negative and the other positive. The negative is a veil and the positive is the veiled. Thus, here is the great secret of fana' fi'llah (annihilation in God). The renewal of the immovable time takes place in the personal world at the place of intellect (76:1).
In the Divine kingdom there are two kinds of things. One is the "thing mentioned" which God has mentioned and the other is the "thing unmentioned" which is what God has not mentioned. Both these things apply to man as stated in verse (76:1); "Has there ever come over man a hin (movable time) from the dahr (immovable time) in which he was a thing unmentioned (i.e. he was, but was not mentioned)?" This alludes to a time that has not yet come, but it will definitely come. This Divine teaching sheds light on the concept of creation within creation and it is clear that the creative act of God is eternal and has neither a beginning nor an end.
It is said in verse (76:1): “Has there come upon the human being any period of time (hin) from the immovable time (dahr) in which he was not a thing worth mentioning?” The wisdomfilled allusion of this verse is to the miracle of the manifestation of the sacred Sanctuary, where there is a great treasure of the secrets of macrifat. This miracle is the eternal chain of renewal. During every spiritual resurrection, all souls together with the nafs-i wahidah come to the sacred Sanctuary and become annihilated. The sacred Sanctuary transcends time and space, it is the meeting place of azal and abad. It is the meeting point of the east and the west, annihilation and survival, the heaven and the earth. Here, there is a well of pure sweet water and a palace. Here there is also the hidden Book and the pearl of Intellect.
Since all human beings are Allah’s household, then after becoming annihilated in the nafs-i wahidah, they become annihilated in Allah. Since the destination of all of them is the same, whether through conscious or unconscious annihilation, therefore one must have good thoughts for their sake and render some useful service to them.
This verse has been referred 12 times.