Yirmi Dokuzuncu Söz/en

This, the Twenty-Ninth Word, is about the Immortality of Man’s Spirit, the Angels, and the Resurrection.

اَعُوذُ بِاللّٰهِ مِنَ الشَّي۟طَانِ الرَّجٖيمِ

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

Therein came down the angels and the Spirit by the permission of their Sustainer.(*) * Say: The Spirit [comes] by command of my Sustainer.(*)

[This treatise consists of an Introduction and two main Aims]

Introduction

It may be said that the existence of the angels and spirit beings is as definite as that of human beings and animals. Indeed, as is explained in the First Step of the Fifteenth Word, reality undoubtedly requires and wisdom certainly demands that like the earth the heavens have inhabitants, and that its inhabitants are intelligent, and suitable for the heavens. In the tongue of the Shari‘a, those inhabitants, of which there are numerous kinds, are called angels and spirit beings.

Reality requires it to be thus. For despite the earth’s smallness and insignificance in relation to the heavens, its being filled with intelligent beings and from time to time being emptied and then refilled with new ones suggests —indeed, states clearly— that the heavens too, with their majestic constellations like adorned palaces, are filled with animate creatures, the light of the light of existence, and conscious and intelligent creatures, the light of animate creatures. Like man and the jinn, those creatures are spectators of the palace of the world, and ponderers over the book of the universe, and heralds of this realm of dominicality. With their universal and comprehensive worship, they represent the glorification of the large and universal beings in the universe.

The nature of the universe surely points to their existence. For since it is embellished and decked out with uncountable numbers of finely adorned works of art and meaningful decorations and wise embroideries, it self-evidently requires the gazes of thoughtful admirers and wondering, appreciative lovers; it demands their existence.

Yes, just as beauty requires a lover, so is food is given to the hungry. Thus, the sustenance of spirits and nourishment of hearts in this boundless beauty of art looks to the angels and spirit beings; it points to them. For while this infinite adornment requires an infinite duty of contemplation and worship, man and the jinn can perform only a millionth of that infinite duty, that wise supervision, that extensive worship.

This means that boundless varieties of angels and spirit beings are necessary to perform those duties, and to fill and inhabit the mighty mosque of the world with their ranks.

Indeed, a species of the spirit beings and angels is present in every aspect, in every sphere, of the universe, each charged with a duty of worship. It may be said according to both the narrations of Hadiths and the wisdom in the order of the world that from lifeless planets and stars to raindrops, all are ships or vehicles for a kind of angel. The angels mount these vehicles with Divine permission and travel observing the Manifest World; they represent their praise and glorification.

It also may be said that certain sorts of living bodies act as aeroplanes for different kinds of spirits. From the birds of Paradise, called the Green Birds in a Hadith which says: “The spirits of the people of Paradise enter into Green Birds in the Intermediate Realm and travel around Paradise in them,”(*) to flies, each is a vehicle for a sort of spirit. The spirits enter into them at a Divine command, and through the faculties and senses of those living bodies like the eyes and ears, observe the miracles of creation in the corporeal world. They perform the particular glorification of each.

Just as reality necessitates it to be thus, so does wisdom. For, with an intense activity, the All-Wise Maker continuously creates subtle life and luminous intelligent beings from dense earth, which has little connection with spirit, and from turbid water, which has small relation with the light of life. He surely then creates certain sorts of intelligent beings from the seas of light and even from the oceans of darkness, from the air, electricity, and other subtle matter suitable for spirit and appropriate for life. And surely these creatures are exceedingly numerous.

First Aim

To believe in the angels and affirm that belief is a pillar of faith.

There are four Fundamental Points in this Aim.

FIRST FUNDAMENTAL POINT

The perfection of existence is through life. Rather, the true existence of existence is through life. Life is the light of existence, and consciousness is the light of life. Life is the summit and foundation of everything. Life appropriates everything for living beings; it is as though it makes one thing the owner of everything. Through life, a living thing may say: “All these things belong to me. The world is my house. The universe is my property, given to me by my owner.” Just as light is the cause of things being seen, and, according to some, of the existence of colours, so is life the revealer of beings; it is the cause of their qualities being realized. Furthermore, it makes an insignificant particular general and universal, and is the cause of universal things being concentrated in a particular. It is also the cause of all the perfections of existence, by, for example, making innumerable things co-operate and unite, and making them the means of unity and being endowed with spirit. Life is even a sort of manifestation of Divine unity in the levels of multiplicity, and a mirror reflecting Divine oneness.

Consider the following: a lifeless object, even if it is a great mountain, is an orphan, a stranger, alone. Its only relations are with the place in which it is situated, and with the things which encounter it. Whatever else there is in the cosmos, it does not exist for the mountain. For the mountain has neither life through which it might be related to life, nor consciousness by which it might be concerned.

Now consider a tiny object like a bee, for example. The instant life enters it, it establishes such a connection with the universe that it is as though it concludes a trading agreement with it, especially with the flowers and plants of the earth. It can say: “The earth is my garden; it is my trading house.”

Thus, through the unconscious instinctive senses which impel and stimulate it in addition to the well-known five external senses and inner senses of animate beings, the bee has a feeling for, and a familiarity and reciprocal relationship with, most of the species in the world, and they are at its disposal.

If life then displays its effect thus in the tiniest of animate beings, certainly when it rises to the highest level, that of man, it will be revealed and extended and illumined to such a degree that just as a human being is able to move through the rooms of his house with his consciousness and mind, which are the light of life, so he may travel through the higher, and the spiritual and corporeal worlds with them. That is to say, just as that conscious and animate being may go in spirit as though as a guest to those worlds, those worlds too come as guests to his mirror-like spirit by being reflected and depicted there.

Life is a most brilliant proof of the All-Glorious One’s unity, and one of the greatest sources of His bounty; it is a most subtle manifestation of His compassionateness, and a most hidden, unknowable, and incomparable embroidery of His art. Life is hidden and subtle, because the life of plants even, which is the lowest of the levels of life, and the awakening of the life-force in seeds, that is, their stirring, opening, and growth, which are the first steps in plant life, has remained unfathomed by human science since the time of Adam, despite being so evident and familiar, so ubiquitous and common. Man’s reason has been unable to discover its true reality.

Moreover, life is so pure and unblemished that in both its aspects, that is in both its inner and outer faces, it is pure, translucent, transparent. Not veiling it with causes, the hand of power touches it directly. Whereas It made apparent causes a veil, to be the source of the insignificant aspects of things and their base external qualities, which are inappropriate to the dignity of power.

IN SHORT:It may be said that if there was no life, existence would not be existence; it would be no different from non-existence. Life is the light of the spirit, and consciousness is the light of life.

Since life and consciousness are important to this great extent; and since there is self-evidently an absolutely perfect order in the universe, and a masterly precision and most wise harmony; and since our lowly, wretched globe, our wandering earth has been filled with uncountable numbers of animate beings, intelligent beings, and beings with spirits; it may be concluded with decisive certainty that those heavenly palaces, those lofty constellations also have animate and conscious inhabitants appropriate to them. As fish swim in water, so are those luminous inhabitants present in the fire of the sun. Fire does not consume light; indeed, Fire aids light.

Moreover, since, as is plain to see, pre-eternal power creates innumerable animate beings and beings with spirits from the most common substances and densest matter, and giving it great importance, transmutes dense matter by means of life into a subtle substance; and since it strews the light of life everywhere in great abundance, and gilds most things with the light of consciousness; with such flawless power and faultless wisdom, the All-Wise and All-Powerful One would certainly not neglect the other floods of subtle matter like light and ether, which are close to and fitting for the spirit; He would not leave them without life, without consciousness, inanimate. Indeed, He creates animate and conscious beings in great numbers from light, which is also matter, and even from meanings, air, and even words. Just as He creates numerous different species of animals, so from these torrents of subtle matter He creates numerous different spirit creatures. One kind of them are the angels, others are the varieties of spirit beings and jinn.

If you wish to see just how true, self- evident, and rational it is to accept the existence of great numbers of angels and spirit beings, and as the Qur’an shows, just how contrary to truth and wisdom, and what a superstition, aberration, delirium and foolishness it is not to accept them, consider the following comparison.

There were two men, one rustic and uncouth, the other civilized and intelligent, who made friends and went to a splendid city like Istanbul. In a distant corner of that civilized and magnificent city they came across a dirty, wretched little building, a factory. They looked and saw that the strange factory was full of miserable, impoverished men working. All around the building were beings with spirits and animate beings, but their means of livelihood and conditions of life were such that some were herbivorous, they lived only on plants, while others were piscivorous, they ate nothing but fish. The two men watched the scene. Then they saw in the distance thousands of adorned palaces and lofty castles. Among the palaces were spacious workshops and broad squares. Because of either the distance, or the defectiveness of the men’s eyesight, or because they had hidden themselves, the inhabitants of the palaces were not visible to the two men. Moreover, the wretched conditions in the factory were not to be seen in the palaces. In consequence of this, the uncouth country-bumpkin, who had never before seen a city, declared: “Those palaces have no inhabitants, they are empty, there are no beings with spirits in them,” uttering the most ignorant garbled nonsense. To which the second man replied: “O you miserable man! This insignificant little building you see here has been filled with beings endowed with spirits, with workers, and there is someone who continually employs and replaces them. Look, there is not an empty space all around this factory, it has been filled with animate beings and beings with spirits. Do you think it is at all possible that there would be no high-ranking and suitable inhabitants in that orderly city, in those wisely adorned palaces so full of art which we can see in the distance? Of course they are occupied, and the different conditions of life there are appropriate for those who live there. In place of grass, they eat pastries, and in place of fish, cakes. Their not being visible to you because of the distance, or your weak eyesight, or their hiding themselves, can at no time point to their not being there.”

The fact that a thing is not seen does not indicate its non-existence.

As the above comparison indicates, the fact that the globe of the earth is the home of these infinite numbers of beings endowed with consciousness and spirit, despite its insignificance and density among the lofty heavenly bodies and planets, and even its grossest and most rotten particulars becoming masses of micro-organisms when they cease as sources of life, necessarily, demonstrably,

decisively indicates, testifies to and proclaims that infinite space and the majestic heavens with their constellations and stars are full of animate beings, conscious beings, and beings with spirits. The Illustrious Shari‘a of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition call these beings, who are created from fire, light, and even from electricity, and from other subtle flowing matter, “The angels, the jinn, and spirit beings.”

There are different kinds of angels, just as there are different kinds of corporeal beings. Indeed, the angel who is appointed to a raindrop will not be of the same sort as the angel appointed to the sun. There are also a very great many different sorts of jinn and spirit beings.

The Conclusion of this Fundamental Point:

As may be established empirically, matter is not essential so that existence may be made subject to it, and be dependent on it. Rather, matter subsists through a meaning, and that meaning is life, it is spirit.

Also, as may be established through observation, matter is not the thing served so that everything may be ascribed to it. It is rather the servant; it renders service to the process of the perfection of a truth. And that truth is life. And the fundament of that truth is spirit.

Also, as is self-evident, matter is not dominant so that recourse may be made to it or perfections sought from it. Rather, it is dominated; it looks to the decree of some fundament, it is in motion in the way that that decree dictates. And that fundament is life, it is spirit, it is consciousness.

Also, as is necessary, matter is not the kernel, it is not the fundament, it is not a settled abode so that events and perfections may be affixed to it or constructed on it. Rather, it is a shell prepared to be split, rent, dissolved; it is a husk, it is froth, it is a form.

Consider the following: a creature so minute it can only be seen with a microscope has such acute senses it can hear its friend’s voice, and see its sustenance; it has extremely sensitive and sharp senses. This demonstrates that the effects of life increase and the light of the spirit intensifies in proportion to the reducing and refining of matter. It is as though the more matter is refined and the more we become distanced from our material existences, the closer we draw to the world of the spirit, the world of life, and the world of consciousness; and the more intensely the heat of the spirit and the light of life are manifested.

Is it therefore at all possible that there should be this many distillations of life, consciousness, and spirit within this veil of materiality, and that the inner world which is beyond this veil should not be full of conscious beings and beings with spirits? Is it at all possible that the sources of these numberless distillations, flashes, and fruits of meaning, spirit, life and the truth apparent in this material existence in the Manifest World should be ascribed only to matter and the motion of matter, and be explained by it? God forbid! Absolutely not! These innumerable distillations and flashes demonstrate that this material and manifest world is but a lace veil strewn over the inner and spirit worlds.

SECOND FUNDAMENTAL POINT

It may be said that all the scholars of the speculative and the scriptural sciences have, knowingly or unknowingly, united to effect a consensus in affirming, despite difference of expression, the existence and reality of the angels and spirit beings.

One group of Peripatetic philosophers of the Illuminist School even, who made much progress in the study of matter, without denying the meaning of the angels, stated that each realm in creation has a spiritual, incorporeal essence. They described the angels thus.

Also, a group of the early philosophers who were Illuminists, being compelled to accept the meaning of the angels, were only wrong in naming them ‘the Ten Intellects and Masters of the Realms of Creation.’

Through the inspiration and guidance of revelation, scholars of all the revealed religions have accepted that each realm of creation has an angel appointed to it, and have named them the Mountain Angel, the Sea Angel, and the Rain Angel, for example.

Even the Materialists and Naturalists, whose reasoning is restricted to what is immediately apparent to them and who have in effect fallen from the level of humanity to that of inanimate matter, rather than being able to deny the meaning of the angels,(*) have been compelled to accept them in one respect, though naming them the Flowing Forces.

O you wretched man who is reluctant to accept the angels and spirit beings, on what do you base this view? What facts do you rely on that you oppose the conscious or otherwise unanimity of all the scholars concerning the existence and reality of the meaning of the angels and the real existence of spirit beings? And since, as was proved in the First Fundamental Point, life is the revealer of beings, indeed, is their consequence, their quintessence; and since all the scholars are in effect unanimous in their acceptance of the meaning of the angels; and this world of ours has been filled to such a degree with animate creatures and beings with spirits; is it all possible that the vastness of space and the rarefied heavens would remain empty of dwellers, have no inhabitants?

You should never think that the laws in force in this creation are sufficient for the universe to be alive, because those governing laws are insubstantial commands; they are imaginary principles; they may be considered as non-existent. If there were no absolutely obedient creatures called angels to represent them, make them apparent, and take their reins into their own hands, those laws could not be defined as existent, nor be represented as having a particular identity, nor be an external reality. Whereas, Life is an external reality, and an imaginary command cannot sustain an external reality.

In Short:Since the scholars of religion and philosophy, and of the speculative and scriptural sciences, have in effect agreed that beings are not restricted to this Manifest World; and since, despite being inanimate and inappropriate for the formation of spirits, the visible Manifest World has been adorned to such an extent with beings with spirits; existence is surely not limited to it. There are numerous other levels of existence in relation to which the Manifest World is an embroidered veil.

Furthermore, since, just as the sea is appropriate for fish, and the World of the Unseen and the World of Meaning appropriate for spirits, and this necessitates their being filled with them; and since all commands testify to the existence of the meaning of the angels; certainly and without any shadow of a doubt, the most beautiful form of the angels’ existence and spirit beings’ reality, and the most rational view of their nature which sound intellects will accept and acclaim, is that which the Qur’an has expounded and elucidated. The Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition states that: “The angels are honoured slaves. Never contesting a command, they do whatever they are commanded. The angels are subtle, luminous beings, and are divided into different kinds.”

Just as mankind is a nation and human beings are the bearers, representatives, and embodiments of the Shari‘a or code of divine laws which proceeds from the attribute of Divine speech, so are the angels a mighty nation, and those of them who are workers are the bearers, representatives, and embodiments of the ‘code of laws pertaining to creation, which proceeds from the attribute of Divine will.’ They are a class of God’s slaves who are dependent on the commands of the creative power and pre-eternal will, which are the true effective agent, and for whom all the heavenly bodies are like places of worship, like mosques.

THIRD FUNDAMENTAL POINT

The question of the angels and spirit beings is one of those questions in which the reality of a universal may be inferred from the existence of a single particular. If a single individual is seen, the existence of the species may be concluded. Whoever denies it, denies it as a member of the species to which it belongs. While whoever accepts the single individual is compelled to accept its whole species. Since it is thus, consider the following: Have you not seen and heard that all the scholars of the revealed religions throughout the ages from the time of Adam until now have agreed on the existence of the angels and the reality of spirit beings? The different groups of mankind have concurred in having seen and conversed with angels and in their narrations concerning them, as though they were discussing and narrating events about one another.

Do you think that if a single angel had not been seen, and the existence of one or numerous individuals not been established through observation, and their existence not been perceived clearly, self- evidently, that it would have been at all possible for such accord and such a consensus to continue, and to continue persistently and unanimously in such an affirmative and positive manner, based on observation?

Also, is it at all possible that the source of this general belief should not be some necessary principles and self-evident matters? And is it all possible that a baseless delusion should persist and become permanent in all the beliefs of mankind throughout all the revolutions it has undergone? And is it all possible that the basis of the assertion of these scholars of the religions, of this mighty consensus, should not be a certain intuition and empirical certainty? And is it at all possible that that certain intuition and empirical certainty which result from innumerable signs, and those signs which have been observed on numerous occasions, and those numerous observations should not all, without doubt or hesitation, be founded on necessary principles? In which case, the cause and the basis of the assertion of the universal belief held by these scholars are the necessary and categorical principles resulting from the great number of times the angels and spirit beings have been observed and seen, which demonstrates the strength of the consensus.

Furthermore, is it all possible, rational or feasible that the unanimous testimony of the prophets and saints, who are like the suns, moons, and stars in human society, concerning the existence of the angels and spirit beings and their actually seeing them, should be prey to doubts or be the object of suspicion? Especially since they are qualified to speak in this matter. It is obvious that two people who are qualified to speak on a matter are preferable to thousands who are not. Moreover, in this question they are affirming a matter, and people who affirm a matter are preferable to thousands who deny or reject it. Is it at all possible for there to be any doubt concerning the statements of the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition, the Sun of Suns in the world of truths, which never at any time sets, shining continuously in the skies of the universe? And can there be doubt concerning the testimony and witnessings of the Muhammadan Being (PBUH), the Sun of Prophethood?

Since, if on a single occasion the existence of a single spirit being is verified, this demonstrates the real existence of the whole species; and since it proves the existence of the whole species to be true, for sure, the best and most rational and acceptable form of their real existence will be similar to that expounded by the Shari‘a, described by the Qur’an, and seen by the One who ascended to a “distance of two bow-lengths.”

FOURTH FUNDAMENTAL POINT

If the creatures of the universe are observed with care, it may be seen that like particulars, universals have collective identities, each of which appears as a universal function; it is apparent that each performs a universal duty.

For example, just as a flower as itself displays an embroidery full of art, and with the tongue of its being recites the Creator’s Names, so the garden of the globe resembles a flower, and performs an extremely orderly, universal duty of glorification. And just as a fruit issues a proclamation expressing its glorification of God within an order and regularity, so does a mighty tree in its entirety have a most well-ordered natural duty and worship. And just as a tree glorifies God through the words of its fruits, flowers and leaves, so do the vast oceans of the heavens glorify the All-Glorious Creator and praise the Sublime Maker through their suns, moons, and stars, which are like words; and so on.

Although external beings are outwardly inanimate and unconscious, they all perform extremely vital, living, and conscious duties and glorification. Of a certainty, therefore, just as angels are their representatives expressing their glorification in the World of the Inner Dimensions of Things, so are they the counterparts, dwellings, and mosques of those angels in the external and manifest world.

As is explained in the Fourth Branch of the Twenty-Fourth Word, the first of the four categories of workers employed by the All-Glorious Maker of the palace of this world is that of the angels and spirit beings. Since, without knowing it, plants and inanimate beings perform extremely important though wageless duties at the command of One Who does know; also without knowing it, animals serve extensive universal aims in return for an insignificant wage; and since, observedly, in return for two wages, one immediate and the other postponed, human beings, knowing the All-Glorious Maker’s aims, are employed through their conforming to them, their taking a share of everything for themselves, and their supervising the other servants; it will certainly be the first category, as well as the fourth, which will constitute the servants and workers.

They both resemble human beings in that knowing the universal aims of the All-Glorious Maker, they conform to them through worship, and they are contrary to them. For being beyond sensual pleasure and some partial wage, they consider sufficient the pleasure, perfection, delight and bliss they experience through the All-Glorious Maker’s attention, command, favour, consideration, and name, through their perception of Him, connection with Him, and proximity to Him. They labour with the purest sincerity, their duties of worship varying according to their different kinds, and according to the varieties of the creatures in the universe.

Like in a government there are various officials in the various offices, so the duties of worship and glorification vary in the spheres of the realm of dominicality. For example, through the power, strength, reckoning and command of God Almighty, the Archangel Michael is like a general overseer of God’s creatures sown in the field of the face of the earth. If one may say so, he is the head of all the angels that resemble farmers. And, through the permission, command, power, and wisdom of the All-Glorious Creator, the incorporeal shepherds of all the animals have a head, a supreme angel appointed to the task.

Thus, since it is necessary for there to be an angel appointed over each of these external creatures in order to represent in the World of the Inner Dimensions of Things the duties of worship and service of glorification which it performs, and to present them knowingly to the Divine Court, the way the angels are described in the narrations of the Bringer of Sure News (PBUH) is certainly most appropriate and rational.

For example, he declared: “There are some angels which have either forty, or forty thousand, heads. In all the heads are forty thousand mouths, and with the forty thousand tongues in each of those mouths they glorify God in forty thousand ways.” This Hadith has a reality and both contains a meaning, and has a form, or manner of description.

Its meaning is as follows: The angels’ worship is both extremely orderly and perfect, and most universal and comprehensive.

As for the form of the truth, it is this: There are certain mighty corporeal beings that perform their duties of worship with forty thousand heads in forty thousand ways. For example, the heavens glorify God with the suns and the stars. While the earth, which is a single being, performs its duty of worship, its dominical glorification with a hundred thousand heads and with the hundreds of thousands of tongues in each mouth. Thus, the angel appointed to the globe of the earth has to be seen in this way in order to display this meaning in the World of the Inner Dimensions of Things.

I myself, even, saw a medium-sized almond tree which had close on forty large branches like heads. When I looked at one branch, I saw it had nearly forty smaller branches like tongues. Then I looked at one tongue of one of those small branches; forty flowers had opened on it. I studied the flowers considering the wisdom in them, and saw in each close on forty exquisite and well-ordered stamens, colours, and arts, each of which proclaimed one of the All-Glorious Maker’s Names and their constantly varying manifestations.

Is it at all possible that the All-Wise and Beauteous One, Who is the All- Glorious Maker of the almond tree, would impose this many duties on an inanimate tree, and not mount on it an appointed angel appropriate to it, to be like its spirit, to understand and express its meaning, proclaim it to the universe, and present it to the Divine Court?

O friend! So far, our explanation has been an introduction to bring the heart to acceptance, the reason to submission, and to compel the soul to surrender. If you have understood it to some degree, and wish to meet with the angels, prepare yourself. Moreover, purify yourself of wrongful prejudice. Now look, the doors of the world of the Qur’an are open! Look, the paradise of the Qur’an is with “wide-open gates”!(*)

Enter and Look! See the angels in beautiful form in the paradise of the Qur’an! Each of its revealed verses is a place to alight, so look from them:

By the [winds] sent forth one after another [to man’s profit], * Which then blow violently in tempestuous gusts * And scatter [things] far and wide; * Then separate, one from another * Then spread abroad a message.(*)

By the [angels] who tear out [the souls of the wicked] with violence, * By those who gently draw out [the souls of the blessed] ,* And by those who gently glide along [on errands of mercy],* Then press forward as if in a race, * Then arrange to do [the commands of their Lord].(*)

Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by God’s permission in every errand.(*)

...over which are [appointed] angels stern [and] severe, who flinch not [from executing] the commands they receive from God, but do [precisely] what they are commanded.(*) Also listen to:

...Glory be to Him! They are but servants raised to honour. They speak not before He speaks and they act [in all things] by His command,(*) listen to its praises. And if you wish to meet with the jinn, enter this resounding Sura: Say, it has been revealed to me that a company of jinn listened [to the Qur’an].(*) See them and listen to what they say. Take a lesson from them. Look, they are saying: “We have really heard a wonderful recital * It gives guidance to the right, and we have believed therein: We shall not join [in worship] any [gods] with our Lord.”(*)

Second Aim

The Second Aim is about the resurrection of the dead, the end of the world, and the life of the hereafter.

It consists of four Fundamental Points, and an Introduction which is in the form of a comparison.

INTRODUCTION

If someone was to claim about a palace or a city: “This palace or city will be destroyed, and will then be repaired and reconstructed so that it is intact,” six questions would surely arise in the face of his claim.

The First:Why should they be destroyed? Is there a reason or something to necessitate it? If the answer is “Yes,” he would have to prove it.

The Second:A question such as the following would arise: “Does the builder who would destroy and then reconstruct them possess the power to do so? Would he be capable of it?” If the answer is “Yes,” he would have to prove it.

The Third:The following such question would arise: “Are their destruction possible?

And, are they going to be destroyed in the future?” If the answer is “Yes,” and if he proves both the possibility of the destruction and its occurrence, the following two further questions would arise:

“Is it possible for this strange palace or city to be reconstructed from scratch, I wonder?

If it is possible,

will they be reconstructed?”

If the answer is “Yes” and he proves these as well, then in no aspect or corner of this matter can a gap or chink remain through which any doubt, misgiving or suspicion might enter.

Thus, like in the comparison, there are facts necessitating the destruction and reconstruction of the palace of the earth and city of the universe. Its author and builder is powerful enough; its destruction is possible, and will occur. Its reconstruction is possible, and will occur. These matters will be proved after the First Fundamental Point.

FIRST FUNDAMENTAL POINT

Man’s spirit is definitely immortal.

Almost all the indications in the First Aim which point to the existence of the angels and spirit beings also point to the immortality of man’s spirit, which is our topic here. In my opinion, the matter is so certain that further explanation would be profitless. Indeed, the distance between us and the caravans of innumerable immortal spirits who are waiting to go to the hereafter in the Intermediate and Spirit Worlds is so fine and slight that there is no need to demonstrate it with proofs. Numberless saints and people of illumination getting in touch with them, and those who discern the secrets of the grave seeing them, and even a number of ordinary people communicating with them, and the mass of people forming relations with them in true dreams, have formed a mass of unanimous reports, and quite simply become part of the commonly accepted knowledge of mankind. However, because materialist thought has stupified everyone in this age, it has been able to implant doubts in their minds concerning even the most evident matters. In order to remove these doubts, therefore, we shall set forth an Introduction and four Sources from the numerous sources springing from the heart’s intuition and the intellect’s insight.

Introduction

As is proved in the Fourth Truth of the Tenth Word, an eternal, everlasting, and peerless beauty requires the eternity and permanence of mirror-bearing enraptured admirers. And a faultless, eternal, and perfect art seeks the perpetuation of thoughtful heralds. And a boundless mercy and beneficence require the continued ease and happiness of needy ones to thank it.

And the foremost of those mirror-bearing enraptured admirers, those heralding thoughtful ones, those needy thankful ones is the human spirit, in which case, it will accompany that beauty, that perfection, that mercy on the endless road to eternity; it will be immortal.

As is also proved in the Tenth Word, in the Sixth Truth, not only the human spirit, but also the simplest levels of existence have not been created for extinction; they manifest a form of immortality. Even an insignificant flower, which has no spirit, when it ceases from external existence, manifests a sort of immortality in a thousand ways. For its form is made permanent in countless memories. And finding perpetuation in all its hundreds of seeds, the law according to which it was formed continues. Since the flower’s law of formation, the model of its form, which resembles a tiny fragment of spirit, is made permanent by an All-Wise Preserver; and since it is preserved throughout turbulent transformations with perfect order in its tiny seeds and made permanent; if you do not understand the degree to which the human spirit, which is of an extremely comprehensive and elevated nature, and has been clothed with external existence, and is a conscious, living, and luminous commanding law, most certainly manifests immortality, and is tied and bound to eternity, if you do not understand this, how can you claim to be a conscious human being?

Can it be asked of an All-Wise One of Glory, an Imperishable Preserver Who includes and preserves the programme and law of formation of a mighty tree in its tiny dot-like seed? For that law to some degree resembles a spirit,“How can He preserve the spirits of the dead?” .

FIRST SOURCE:

This is subjective. That is to say, if anyone studies his own life and self, he perceives an immortal spirit. Indeed, in the course of occupying its body for a number of years the spirit causes the body to change considerably, yet the spirit self- evidently remains constant. In which case, although the body is ephemeral, it does not affect the spirit’s permanence, nor spoil its nature, even though the spirit is completely naked at death. However, in the course of life, the spirit gradually changes its body- clothes, and at the time of death, it is suddenly undressed.

It has been established through certain conjecture, indeed, through observation, that the body subsists though the spirit; in which case, the spirit does not subsist through the body. Rather, since the spirit subsists and is dominant of itself, the body may be dispersed and gathered together again as it wishes; it will not infringe the spirit’s independence. In fact, the body is the spirit’s house, it is its home; it is not its clothes. What clothes the spirit is a subtle, fine sheath, something which may be likened to a body, which is to some extent constant, and is ethereal and appropriate for the spirit. At the time of death, then, the spirit is not completely naked, it leaves its home dressed in its body-like sheath.

SECOND SOURCE:

This is objective. That is to say, it is a sort of empirical judgement which has been formed through repeated observations and numerous occurrences of events. Indeed, when it is understood that a single spirit continues after death, this necessitates the continuation of all spirits as a category of being. For according to the science of logic it is certain that if an intrinsic quality is observed in a single individual, the existence of that quality may be assumed in all individuals.

Because it is intrinsic. If it is intrinsic, it will be present in each individual. Whereas the indications based on not one but on innumerable observations beyond calculation and count, and the signs pointing to the immortality of spirits are so definite, that like for us there is a place called the New World, that is, America, and that human beings are found there, we can in no way doubt the existence of those people. In the same way, it is unacceptable to doubt that the spirits of those who have died are now present in great numbers in the World of the Inner Dimension of Things and in the Spirit World, and that they have relations with us. Our immaterial gifts go to them, and their luminous emanations come to us.

Moreover, with certain intuition, one may perceive with one’s conscience that a fundamental aspect of man continues after his death. And that fundamental aspect is spirit. As for spirit, it is not subject to destruction and dissolution. This is because it is simple and uncompounded,it has unity.As for destruction, dissolution, and decomposition, they are the function of complex and compound substances. As we explained above, life ensures a form of unity within multiplicity; it causes a sort of permanence. That is to say, unity and permanence are fundamental to spirit, from which they spread to multiplicity.

The mortality of man’s spirit would be either through destruction and dissolution, whereas unity provides no opportunity for these, and its simple nature disallows decomposition; or it would be through annihilation. But the limitless compassion of the Absolutely Generous One would not permit annihilation, and His boundless munificence would not allow that He should take back from the human spirit the bounty of existence which He has bestowed on it, which it ardently desires, and of which it is worthy.

THIRD SOURCE:

Man’s spirit, which has been clothed in a living, conscious, luminous external existence, is a comprehensive and veracious commanding law disposed to acquiring universality. And even the weakest commanding laws manifest stability and permanence. For if it is considered carefully, it will be seen that present in all species which are subject to change, is a constant truth that, revolving within the changes, transformations, and stages of life, causes the outer forms of things to change, and living and not dying, is permanent.

Thus, while the human being is an individual, because of the comprehensiveness of his nature, his universal consciousness, and all-embracing imagination, he is like a species. A law that governs and is in force in the species is also in force in the human individual.

Since the All-Glorious Creator has created man as a comprehensive mirror, for universal worship, and with an exalted nature, even if the spirit-truth which is present in each individual causes the individual’s outer form to change hundreds of thousands of times, with the Sustainer’s permission, it will not die but will continue, departing as it came. In which case, at God’s command and with His permission and through His making it permanent, the human individual’s spirit, which is the conscious element and living part of him, is immortal.

FOURTH SOURCE:

Consider the laws that govern in species, which to a degree resemble the spirit, and since they both issue from the World of the Divine Command and Will, with regard to their source, are to a degree appropriate for the spirit, and only lack a perceptible existence. Study them and it will be seen that if those commanding laws were clothed in external existence, each of them would become the spirit of the species. And the laws are always permanent; they are always perpetual and constant. No change or transformation affects the laws’ unity, or spoils them. For example, should a fig-tree die and be dispersed, the law of its formation, which is like its spirit, will continue in its tiny seeds; it will not die.

And so, since even the most commonplace and weak commanding laws are thus connected to permanence and continuance, the human spirit must be connected not only with permanence and immortality, but with all eternity. For according to the Qur’an’s glorious decree of: Say: The Spirit (comes) by command of my Sustainer,(*) spirit too is a conscious and living law which has come from the World of the Divine Command, and which Pre-Eternal power has clothed with external existence.

That is to say, just as the unconscious laws which proceed from the Divine attribute of will and the World of the Divine Command are always, or mostly, enduring, so is it even more definite that the spirit, which is a sort of brother to them, and like them is a manifestation of the attribute of will and comes from the World of the Command, manifests immortality. It is also more worthy of it, because it is existent, it has an external reality. And it is more potent, more elevated, because it possesses consciousness. It is also more enduring than them, and more valuable, because it is living.

SECOND FUNDAMENTAL POINT

There are matters necessitating eternal happiness, and the All-Glorious Agent is capable of bestowing that happiness. Also, the destruction of the universe and death of the world are possible, and they will occur. And the resurrection of the world and the Last Judgement are possible, and they will occur. We shall explain all these six matters briefly and in a way that will satisfy the reason. In fact, in the Tenth Word, arguments are set forth which raise the heart to the level of perfect belief, while here, we shall discuss them in the manner of the Old Said’s explanations in his treatise called Nokta (The Point), which convince and silence the reason only.

There are matters which necessitate eternal happiness.

A decisive argument pointing to those matters consists of a supposition filtered through Ten Sources and Central Points.

FIRST POINT:

If observed carefully, it will be seen that a perfect and intentional order embraces the whole universe. Traces of choice and flashes of purpose are to be seen in every aspect of it. What strikes the eyes through the testimony of their fruits is that in every thing is a light of intention; in every function, a flash of will; in every motion, a gleam of choice; in every composite whole, a blaze of wisdom. Thus, if there was no eternal happiness, this authentic order would merely consist of a weak and futile form. It would be a false order, not a true order. Connections and relations and immaterial things, which are the spirit of order, would be lost and come to nothing. That is to say, what gives order to order is eternal happiness. In which case, the order of the universe points to eternal happiness.

SECOND POINT:

Total wisdom is apparent in the universe. Indeed, Divine wisdom, which is the representation of pre-eternal favour, proclaims eternal happiness through the tongue of the observance of benefits and following of purposes demonstrated by the universe in its entirety.

Because, if there was no eternal happiness, it would be necessary, through pride, to deny the wisdom and benefits which are self-evidently constant in the universe. Since the Tenth Truth of the Tenth Word demonstrates this truth like the sun, we shall content ourselves with that and cut short the discussion here.

THIRD POINT:

Through the testimony of reason, wisdom, deduction, and experience, the absence of futility and absence of waste in the creation of beings, which is constant, indicate eternal happiness. The sign of there being no waste and nothing vain in creation is the All-Glorious Maker’s choosing and preferring the shortest way, the closest point, the lightest form, and the best manner in the creation of everything, and His sometimes imposing a hundred duties on one thing, and His attaching a thousand fruits and aims to a slight being.

Since there is no waste and nothing in vain, there will surely be eternal happiness. For non-existence and no return would make everything futile; everything would be a waste. The absence of waste in all creation, and in man for instance, which is established by science, demonstrates that man’s limitless disposition, and infinite hopes, ideas, and desires will not be wasted either.

In which case, man’s deep-rooted desire to be perfected points to the existence of a perfection, and his desire for happiness proclaims that he is definitely destined for eternal happiness. If it was not so, contrary to all other beings, which are made wisely and with purpose, those authentic immaterial faculties, those elevated hopes, would be waste and futile; they would wither up and be for nothing. Since this truth is proved in the Eleventh Truth of the Tenth Word, we cut the discussion short here.

FOURTH POINT:

In each of many different things, in night and day, and winter and spring, in the skies, and even in man’s personalities and in the bodies which he changes throughout his lifetime, and in sleep, which resembles death, is a different sort of resurrection resembling the resurrection of the dead; they all tell of and allude to the reality of the Day of Resurrection.

For example, the day, year, lifetime of man, and revolution of God’s great clock known as the earth resemble the dials of a weekly clock of ours that tell the seconds, minutes, hours and days; each the forerunner of the following, they give news of one another; they turn and function. Like they show morning after night, and spring after winter, they intimate that after death the morning of the resurrection will appear from that instrument, that vast clock.

There are many varieties of resurrection that a person experiences during his lifetime. Just as he sees the signs of the resurrection through a sort of dying every night and rebirth every morning, so it is agreed that he undergoes what resembles a resurrection every five or six years by changing all the particles in his body, and even undergoes a gradual resurrection twice a year. Also, every spring, he witnesses more than three hundred thousand sorts of resurrection and rising to life in the animal and plant kingdoms.

Thus, so many signs and indications and marks of resurrection most certainly point to the great resurrection of the dead as though they were droplets of it. An All-Wise Maker causing a sort of resurrection in that way in the animal and plant worlds, that is, raising to life exactly the same all plant roots and certain animals in the spring, and restoring other parts of them, such as leaves, flowers and fruits, not exactly the same but similar, may be an indication of a personal resurrection in the human individual within the general resurrection.

For the human individual is like a species in comparison with the other animate species, and the light of the mind has given such a breadth to human actions and thought that they encompass the past and the future. If he consumes the world even, he is not satisfied. In the other species the nature of the individual is particular; its value is personal; its view, restricted; its qualities, limited; its pleasure and pain, instantaneous. Whereas man’s nature is exalted; his value, most high; his view, universal; his qualities, limitless; his immaterial pleasure and pain in part permanent.

In which case, the various resurrections which are repeated in the other animate species self-evidently tell of and point to human beings being resurrected and restored to life exactly the same in the great resurrection of the dead. Since it is proved with the certainty of twice two equalling four in the Ninth Truth of the Tenth Word, we cut short the discussion here.

FIFTH POINT:

Those who have looked closely into the realities of creation consider that the unlimited potentialities included in the essence of man’s spirit, and the unlimited abilities contained in those potentialities, and the endless desires arising from those abilities, and the infinite hopes resulting from those endless desires, and the limitless thoughts and ideas born of those infinite hopes are hands stretched out towards eternal happiness, which is beyond this Manifest World, are eyes gazing at it, that they are turned towards it.

Thus, man’s nature, which cannot lie, and the definite, intense, unwavering desire for eternal happiness in his nature inspire the conscience with certainty concerning the realization of eternal happiness. This fact is demonstrated as clearly as daylight in the Eleventh Truth of the Tenth Word, and so we cut this short here.

SIXTH POINT:

The mercy of the All-Beauteous Maker of these beings, Who is the All-Merciful, All-Compassionate One, points to eternal happiness. Yes, it is of the nature of that mercy, which makes bounty bounty and saves it from revenge, not to withhold from man eternal happiness, which delivers beings from the anguish of eternal separation. For if eternal happiness, the head, chief, aim, and result of all bounties, is not given, and if after dying, the world is not resurrected in the form of the hereafter, all bounties would be transformed into desire for revenge. And such a transformation would necessitate denying the existence of Divine mercy, which is self-evident and necessary, and, through the testimony of all the universe, unquestionable and manifest. It is a constant truth more brilliant than the sun.

Look and take note of the bounties of love, compassion, and reason, some of the manifestations and subtle traces of mercy. Suppose that eternal separation and unending parting are going to drag out human life; you will see that tender love becomes a great calamity; sweet compassion, a great misfortune; that luminous reason, a great tribulation. That is to say, mercy (because it is mercy) cannot confront true love with eternal separation. Since the Second Truth of the Tenth Word has demonstrated this fact most beautifully, we cut this short here.

SEVENTH POINT:

All the exquisiteness, all the virtues, all the perfections, all the attraction, all the yearning, all the compassion known and seen in the universe are meanings, significations, immaterial words. They necessarily and self-evidently show to the heart and thrust in the mind’s eye the manifestations of the All-Glorious Maker’s favour and kindness, benevolence and munificence.

Since there is a truth, a reality, in this world, most certainly there is true mercy. And since there is true mercy, there will be eternal happiness. The Fourth Truth of the Tenth Word, and also the Second Truth, have illuminated this fact as clearly as daylight.

EIGHTH POINT:

Man’s conscience, which is his conscious nature, looks to and points to eternal happiness. Yes, if anyone listens to his own awakened conscience, he will hear a voice crying: “Eternity! Eternity!” Should the whole universe be given to such a conscience, it could not satisfy its need for eternity.

That is to say, the conscience being attracted and drawn in this way is possible only because it is attracted by a true aim and captivating truth. The conclusion of the Eleventh Truth of the Tenth Word demonstrates this fact.

NINTH POINT:

This is the message of Muhammad the Arabian (Peace and blessings be upon him), who was truthful, veracious, and trustworthy. Indeed, his words opened the doors of eternal happiness; all that he said are windows opening onto everlasting bliss.

In fact, he held in his hand the consensus of all the prophets (Peace be upon them) and the unanimous agreement of all the saints, for after Divine unity, all their calls and efforts were concentrated on the resurrection of the dead and eternal happiness. Is there anything that could shake such a strength? The Twelfth Truth of the Tenth Word demonstrates this truth in the most obvious manner.

TENTH POINT:

This is the certain news of the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition, which has preserved its miraculousness in seven respects for thirteen centuries, and as is proved in the Twenty-Fifth Word, is a miracle through its forty sorts of miraculousness.

Yes, this news of the Qur’an is the revealer of bodily resurrection, and the discloser of the enigmatic talisman of the world and the key to the wisdom in the universe. Also, the certain rational proofs contained in the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition, which it lays before the eyes, commanding that they be pondered over are thousands in number.

In short, the Qur’an presents for man to study a great many verses and great many telescopes revealing eternal bliss, like, and, Say, “He will give them life Who created them in the first instance…,”(*) Seeing that He has created you in successive stages,(*) which comprise a comparison or analogy, and, Nor is your Sustainer ever unjust to His servants,(*) which points to evidence of justice. We explained in our treatise entitled Nokta (The Point) the substance of the figurative analogy in, Seeing that He has created you in successive stages,(*) and, Say, ‘He will give them life Who created them in the first instance…’,(*) which the Qur’an makes clear through other verses. It was as follows:

On passing from stage to stage, the human body undergoes wondrous and orderly transformations. From sperm to a blood-clot; from a blood-clot to flesh and bone; from flesh and bone to a new creation, that is, the transformation into human form; it follows extremely precise rules. Each of these stages has such particular laws, such determined order, such regular development that it displays the manifestations of a purpose, will, choice, and wisdom as though through glass.

Thus, the All-Wise Maker, Who creates the body in this way, changes it every year as if it were clothes. For the body to be changed and for its continuance, a compound is necessary so that new particles appear that will work and fill the place of the parts that are dissolved. Since the body’s cells are destroyed through an orderly Divine law, it requires a subtle matter, known as sustenance, which will repair it, again through an orderly dominical law. The True Provider allots and distributes this sustenance through a particular law in relation to the different needs of the body’s members.

Now, consider the behaviour of the subtle matter which the All-Wise Provider sends: you will see that while the matter’s particles are dispersed through the air, soil, and water like a caravan, they suddenly gather together in a way that suggests a deliberate action, as though they had suddenly received the order to move. They collect together in the most orderly fashion as if each particle of them was entrusted with a duty and ordered to proceed to a specified place.

Also, it is apparent from their conduct that they are being propelled through a particular law of one who acts and has choice, and from the realm of the inanimate are entering the animal kingdom. Then they enter a body as sustenance through a particular rule, and with a determined order and in a regular process, and after being cooked in the four kitchens of the body, undergoing four amazing transformations, and being strained through four filters, they are apportioned through regular laws and the beneficence of the True Provider according to the all- different needs of the members, and are circulated to every part of the body.

Thus, whichever of these particles you consider with the eye of wisdom, you will see that blind chance, lawless coincidence, deaf nature, and unconscious causes can in no way interfere with it; it is impelled in a discerning, orderly, hearing, and knowing fashion. For whichever stage each of them enters from the surrounding element to the body’s cell, it acts as though voluntarily through the specified laws of that stage. It enters it in an orderly fashion. To whichever level it journeys, it steps with such order that it appears self-evidently to be proceeding at the command of an All-Wise Mover.

In this way, it gradually advances from stage to stage, and level to level until, at the command of its Sustainer, without deviating from its aim and object, it reaches its appropriate position, for example the pupil of Tevfik’s eye, where it establishes itself and works.

This situation, that is, the manifestation of dominicality in sustenance, demontrates that first the particles were determined; they were appointed to the task, they were designated to those positions. It is as if the existence of an arrangement and order, like “This will be the sustenance of so-and-so’s cells” being written on the forehead of each of them, points to each person’s sustenance being written on his forehead by the pen of Divine Determining, and his name being written on his sustenance.

Is it at all possible that the All-Glorious Maker, Who nurtures and sustains with boundless power and all- encompassing wisdom, Who has absolute disposal over all beings from minute particles to the planets, and spins them with order and balance, should not bring about ‘the last creation,’ or that he should be unable to do so?

Thus, many verses of the Qur’an present to man’s view this wise last creation, which will take place at the resurrection of the dead and Great Gathering. It removes doubt and uncertainty. It says: Say, He will give them life Who created them in the first instance…(*)

That is, the One Who created you from nothing in so wise a form is He Who will bring you to life again in the hereafter. And it says: And it is He Who begins [the process of] creation, then repeats it; and for Him it is most easy.(*)

That is, “Your return and being raised to life at the resurrection is easier and more trouble-free than your creation in this world.” Just as it is easier and more trouble-free for the soldiers of a regiment who have dispersed to rest  to regather under the regimental flag at the sound of a bugle than forming a new regiment from scratch, so according to reason, it  is easier and more possible  than  the  first  creation  for  the  fundamental particles  of  a  body,

which are intermingled and familiar and connected with one another, to regather at the trumpet- blast of the angel Israfil (Peace be upon him), and reply to the All-Glorious Creator’s command with, “Here we are, O Lord!” Anyway, perhaps it is not necessary for all the particles to regather. The fundamental parts and essential particles, which are like nuclei and seeds, and are called “the root of the tail” (the coccyx) in a Hadith,(*)

may be sufficient as a basis of the second  creation.  The All-Wise Creator may construct the human body on them.

The following is a summary of the judicial comparison indicated by verses like the third one above:

We often see in this world that tyrannical, sinful and cruel men pass their lives in great ease and comfort, while the oppressed, upright and religious live under great difficulties and in degradation. Then death comes and makes the two equal. If this equality had no end and was not finite, an injustice would be apparent. However, since Divine wisdom and justice are free of all inequity as is established by the testimony of the universe, they self-evidently require a final assembly where the former will be punished and the latter receive their reward. Then disorderly, wretched men may receive punishment and reward in conformity with their potentialities, be the means of absolute justice, manifest dominical wisdom, and be the elder brother of all the beings in the world.

For sure, the realm of this world does not allow for the blossoming of man’s limitless potentialities contained within his spirit. This means he will be sent to another world. Man’s essence is indeed mighty, so he is designated for eternity. His nature is exalted, so his crimes are great. He does not resemble other beings. His order is important, too. He cannot live without order. He cannot live without meaning. He cannot be made in vain. He cannot be condemned to absolute extinction. He cannot escape to pure non-existence. Hell has opened its mouth, and awaits him. And Paradise has opened its graceful embrace, and watches him. Since the Third Truth of the Tenth Word has demonstrated these two examples most beautifully, we shall cut the discussion short here.

Nor is your Sustainer ever unjust to His servants. By way of example, you may make analogies and study other verses from the Qur’an similar to the two above, which contain many subtle and rational proofs. Thus, these Ten Sources and Central Points form a decisive proof and certain supposition, and just as this sound hypothesis and powerful proof are decisive evidence for the cause and necessity of the resurrection and Day of Judgement, so —as is clearly proved in the Tenth Word— do most of the Most Beautiful Names, like All-Wise, All- Compassionate, Preserver, and All-Just, require the coming of the Last Day and resurrection, and the existence of everlasting bliss; they point clearly to the realization of eternal happiness.

That is to say, the matters necessitating the resurrection of the dead and the Day of Judgement are so powerful that they leave no room at all for any doubt or uncertainty.

THIRD FUNDAMENTAL POINT

The Agent possesses the power.

Without doubt, the matters necessitating the resurrection of the dead exist. Also, the One Who will bring it about is powerful to the utmost degree. There is no deficiency in His power. The greatest things and the smallest are the same in relation to His power. It is as easy for Him to create the spring as to create a flower. Yes, One so powerful that this world together with all its suns, stars, worlds, particles, and substance bear witness to His sublimity and power with endless tongues. Does any doubt or misgiving have the right to consider bodily resurrection remote from such a power?

It is plain to see that every age within this world an All-Powerful One of Glory creates a new, travelling, orderly universe. Indeed, He makes a new, well-ordered world each day. He perpetually creates and changes with perfect wisdom transient worlds and universes one after the other on the face of the heavens and the earth. He hangs on the string of time regular worlds to the number of the centuries, years, indeed, days, and through them demonstrates the tremendousness of His power. He attaches to the head of the globe the huge flower of spring which he adorns with a hundred thousand embroideries of resurrection as though it was a single flower, and through it displays the perfection of His wisdom and the beauty of His art. Can it be said of such a One, “How can He bring about the resurrection of the dead, and how can He transform this world into the hereafter?”

The verse, Your creation and your resurrection is but like a single soul proclaims the All-Powerful One’s perfect power, that nothing at all is difficult for Him, that like the smallest thing,

مَا خَل۟قُكُم۟ وَلَا بَع۟ثُكُم۟ اِلَّا كَنَف۟سٍ وَاحِدَةٍ (*)

the greatest presents no difficulties for His power, and that it is as easy for His power to create innumerable individuals as to create as a single one. We have explained the verse’s essential meaning briefly in the Conclusion to the Tenth Word, and in detail in the treatise entitled Nokta (The Point), and in the Twentieth Letter. In connection with the discussion here, we shall elucidate a part of it in the form of three ‘Matters’, as follows:

Divine Power is essential, in which case, impotence cannot intervene in it.

Also, it is connected to the inner dimensions of things, so obstacles cannot become interpenetrated with it.

Also, its relation is according to laws, so particulars are equal to universals, minor things are like comprehensive ones.

We shall prove these three matters.

FIRST MATTER:

Pre-Eternal Power is the necessary inherent quality of the Most Pure and Holy Divine Essence.

That is to say, it is of necessity intrinsic to the Essence, it can in no way be separated from It. Since this is so, the Essence which necessitates that power clearly cannot be affected by impotence, the opposite to power. For if that were the case, it would entail the combining of opposites. Since the Essence cannot be affected by impotence, self-evidently it cannot intervene in the power which is the inherent quality of that Essence. Since impotence cannot intervene in that essential power, clearly there can be no degrees in it. For the degrees of existence of a thing are though the intervention of its opposites. For example, the degrees of heat are through the intervention of cold, and the degrees of beauty through the intervention of ugliness; further examples can be made in the same way.

Since in contingent beings these qualities are not true, natural, and inherent, necessary qualities, their opposites may enter them. With the existence of degrees, diversity, variance, and change arose in the world. Since there can be no degrees in Pre- Eternal power, of necessity, those things decreed by it will be the same in relation to it. The greatest will be equal to the smallest, and particles the same as the stars. The resurrection of all mankind will be as easy for that power as the raising to life of a single individual; the creation of spring as easy as the giving of form to a single flower. Whereas if attributed to causes, the creation of a single flower would be as difficult as the spring.

It has been proved in the footnote to the last section of the Fourth Degree of ‘God is Most Great’ in the Second Station of this Word, and in the Twenty-Second Word, and in the Twentieth Letter and in its Addendum, that when the creation of beings is attributed to the Single One of Unity, all things become as easy as one thing. If they are attributed to causes, the creation of a single thing becomes as difficult and problematical as that of all things.

SECOND MATTER:

Divine power is related to the inner face of things.

Yes, the universe has two faces like a mirror. One is its external face, which resembles the coloured face of the mirror, the other is its face which looks to its Creator. This resembles the mirror’s shining face.

Its external face is the arena of opposites. It is where matters like beautiful and ugly, good and evil, big and small, difficult and easy appear. It is because of this that the All-Glorious Maker has made apparent causes a veil to the disposal of His power, so that the hand of power should not appear to the mind to be directly concerned with matters that on the face of it are insignificant or unworthy. For majesty and dignity require it to be thus. But He did not give a true effect to causes and intermediaries, because the unity of oneness requires that they have none.

As for the face of beings which looks to its Creator, in everything it is shining, it is clean. The colours and distortions of individuality do not intervene in it. This aspect faces its Creator without intermediary. There are no chains and disposition of causes in it. Cause and effect cannot intrude on it. It contains nothing contorted or askew. Obstacles cannot interfere in it. A particle becomes brother to the sun.

In Short:Divine power is both simple, and infinite, and essential. The place connected to Divine power has neither intermediary, nor stain, nor is it the scene of rebellion. Therefore, within the sphere of Divine power great does not take pride of place over small. The community does not take preference over the individual. Universals cannot expect more from Divine power than particulars.

THIRD MATTER:

Divine power’s relation is according to laws.

That is to say, it regards many and few, great and small as the same. We shall make this abstruse matter easier to understand with a number of comparisons.

In the universe, Transparency, Reciprocity, Balance, Order, Disengagedness, and Obedience are all matters which render many equal to few, and great equal to small.

First Comparison:This explains the Mystery of Transparency.For example, the sun’s image and reflection, which are its radiance and manifestation, display the same identity on the sea’s surface and in every drop of the sea. If the globe of the earth was composed of varying fragments of glass and exposed to the sun without veil, the sun’s reflection would be the same in every fragment and on the whole face of the earth, without obstruction or being divided into pieces or being diminished. If, let us suppose, the sun acted with will and through its will conferred the radiance of its light and image of its reflection, it would not be more difficult for it to confer its radiance on the whole surface of the earth than to confer it on a single particle.

Second Comparison: This concerns the Mystery of Reciprocity. For example, let us suppose there is a vast ring composed of living beings, that is, of human beings, each holding a mirror. At its centre is an individual holding a candle. The radiance and manifestation reflected in all the mirrors surrounding the central point will be the same, and its relation will be without obstacle, fragmentation or being diminished.

Third Comparison: This concerns the Mystery of Balance. For example, there are an enormous set of scales which are extremely accurate and sensitive. Whichever of two suns or two stars or two mountains or two eggs or two particles are placed in its two pans, it will require the same force to raise one pan of those huge sensitive scales to the sky and lower the other to the ground.

Fourth Comparison: This concerns the Mystery of Order. For example, a huge ship can be turned as easily as a tiny toy boat.

Fifth Comparison:This concerns the Mystery of Disengagedness. For example, a nature disengaged from individuality regards all particulars from the smallest to the greatest as the same and enters them without being diminished or fragmented. The qualities present in the aspect of external individuality do not interfere and cause confusion; they do not alter the view of a disengaged nature such as that. For example, a fish like a needle possesses such a disengaged nature the same as a whale. Or a microbe bears an animal nature the same as a rhinoceros.

Sixth Comparison: This demonstrates the Mystery of Obedience. For example, a commander causes a single private to advance with the command “Forward march!” the same as he causes an army to advance.

The truth of the mystery of this comparison about obedience is as follows: As is proved by experience, everything in the universe has a point of perfection, and everything has an inclination towards that point. Increased inclination becomes need. Increased need becomes desire. Increased desire becomes attraction, and attraction, desire, need, and inclination are each seeds and kernels which together with the essences of things conform to the creative commands of Almighty God. The absolute perfection of the true nature of contingent beings is absolute existence. Their particular perfections are an existence peculiar to each which makes each being’s abilities emerge from the potential to the actual.

Thus, the obedience of the whole universe to the Divine command “Be!” is the same as that of a particle, which is like a single soldier. Contained all together in the obedience and conformity of contingent beings to the pre-eternal command of “Be!” proceeding from the Pre-Eternal will are inclination, need, desire, and attraction, which are also manifestations of Divine will. The fact that when subtle water receives the command to freeze, with a refined inclination it may split a piece of iron demontrates the strength of the mystery of obedience.

If these six comparisons are observed in the potentialities and actions of contingent beings, which are both defective, and finite, and weak, and have no actual effect, without doubt it will be seen that everything is equal in relation to Pre-Eternal power, which is both pre-eternal, and post-eternal, and creates the whole universe out of pure non- existence, and being manifested through the works of its tremendousness leaves all minds in wonderment. Nothing at all can be difficult for it. Such a power cannot be weighed on the small scales of these mysteries, neither are they proportionate. They have been mentioned to bring the subject closer to the understanding and to dispel any doubts.

Result and Summary of the Third Fundamental Point:

Since pre-eternal power is infinite, and it is the inherent, necessary quality of the Most Pure and Holy Essence; and since the stainless, veilless inner aspect of everything is turned to it and faces it, and is in balance with respect to contingency, which consists of the equal possibility of being and non-being; and since this inner face is obedient to the order of creation and the Divine laws of the universe which form the Greater Shari‘a, the Shari‘a of Creation, and it is disengaged from and free of obstacles and different characteristics; certainly, like the smallest thing, the greatest cannot resist that power, nor expect more from it than the smallest.

In which case, the raising to life of all beings with spirits at the resurrection is not more difficult for Divine power than raising a fly to life in the spring. Thus, the decree of: Your creation and your resurrection is but like a single soul,(*) is no exaggeration; it is true and correct. And our claim that “the Agent possesses the power” has been proved true in decisive fashion; there is nothing to hinder it in this respect.

FOURTH FUNDAMENTAL POINT

Just as there are things necessitating the resurrection of the dead and Great Gathering, and the One Who will bring it about possesses the power to do so, so the world possesses the potential for the resurrection of the dead and Great Gathering. There are four ‘Matters’ in this assertion of mine that ‘this place is possible.’

The First is the possibility of this world’s death.

The Second is its actual death.

The Third is the possibility of the destroyed, dead world being reconstructed and resurrected in the form of the hereafter.

The Fourth is its actual reconstruction and resurrection, which are possible.

FIRST MATTER:

The universe’s death is possible.

For if something is included in the law of the process of perfection, there is bound to be growth and development in it. And if there is growth and development, that thing is bound to have a natural life-span. And if it has a natural life-span, there is bound to be a time for its natural death. It is established by inductive reasoning and extensive investigation that it cannot save itself from the claws of death.

Indeed, just as man is the microcosm, and he cannot be saved from destruction, the world too is the macroanthropos; it neither can be saved from the clutches of death. It too will die and will then be resurrected, or it will lie in repose and then open its eyes in the morning of the resurrection.

Also, just as a living tree, which is a miniature copy of the universe, cannot save its life from destruction and dissolution, so the chain-like universe, which has branched out from the tree of creation, cannot save itself from destruction and dispersal in order to be repaired and renewed.

If, with the permission of the pre-eternal will, some external disease or destructive event do not befall the world before the time of its natural death, and its All-Wise Maker also does not demolish it before that time, for sure, according to scientific reckoning, a day will come when the meanings and mysteries of the verse:

When the sun is rolled up; * When the stars tumble; * When the mountains are swept away; * When the she-camels, ten months with young, are left untended; * When the wild beasts are herded together; * When the oceans boil over;(*)

will become manifest with the permission of the Pre-Eternal All-Powerful One, and the death agonies of the macroanthropos which is the world will begin; it will fill space and make it reverberate with an appalling death-rattle and devastating sound; roaring, it will die. Then, at the Divine command, it will return to life once more.

A Subtle, Allusive Matter

Just as water freezes to its own detriment, and ice melts to its own detriment, and a kernel gains strength to the detriment of the shell, and a word becomes coarse to the detriment of the meaning, and the spirit weakens on account of the body, and the body becomes finer on account of the spirit, so too this world, the dense world, becomes transparent and refined with the functioning of the machine of life on account of the hereafter, which is the subtle world.

Creative power sprinkling the light of life on dense, lifeless, extinguished, dead objects with an astonishing activity is a sign that it dissolves, burns, and illuminates this dense world with the light of life on account of the subtle world.

No matter how weak reality is, it does not die; it is not annihilated like a form. Rather, it travels in individuals and forms. Reality grows, develops, and gradually expands, while the shell and the form wear out, become finer, and break up. They are renewed in a better form so as to become suitable to the stature of the stable and expanded reality. In regard to increase and decrease, reality and form are in inverse proportion. That is to say, the more substantial form grows, the weaker reality becomes. The less substantial form becomes, to that degree the reality grows stronger.

Thus, this law encompasses all things included in the law of the process of perfection. This means that a time is certain to come when the Manifest World, which is the shell and form of the mighty reality of the universe, will break up, with the permission of the All-Glorious Creator. Then it will be renewed in a better form.

The meaning will be realized of the verse: That day the Earth will be changed into a different Earth.(*)

In Short: The death of the world is possible. Moreover, there can be no doubt that it is possible.

SECOND MATTER:

This is the actual death of the world.

The proof of this matter is the consensus of all the revealed religions; the testimony of all sound natures; the indication of all the changes, transformations, and alterations in the universe; the testimony to the number of centuries and years through their deaths in this guesthouse of the world, of all living worlds and mobile worlds to the death of the world itself.

If you want to imagine the death agonies of the world as the Qur’an points them out, think of how the parts of the universe are bound to one another with an exact, exalted order. They are held with such a hidden, delicate, subtle bond and are so bound within an order that on a single one of the lofty heavenly bodies receiving the command: “Be!” or, “Leave your orbit!”, the world will go into its death agonies. The stars will collide, the heavenly bodies reel, a great din will strike up in infinite space like the devastating sound of millions of cannon- balls and great guns the size of globes. Clashing and colliding with one another, sending out showers of sparks, the mountains taking flight, the seas burning, the face of the earth will be flattened.

Thus, through this death and those agonies the Pre-Eternal One of Power will shake up the universe. He will purify the universe, and Hell and the matters of Hell will draw to one side, and Paradise and the matters appropriate for Paradise draw to the other, and the world of the hereafter will become manifest.

THIRD MATTER:

The return to life of the world, which will die, is possible.

For, as is proved in the Second Fundamental Point, there is no deficiency in Divine power, and the things necessitating it are extremely powerful. The matter is within the realm of the possible. And if a possible matter has something extremely powerful necessitating it, and there is no deficiency in the power of the agent, it may be regarded not as possible, but as actual.

An Allusive Point

If the universe is studied carefully, it will be seen that within it are two elements that have spread everywhere and become rooted; with their traces and fruits like good and evil, beauty and ugliness, benefit and harm, perfection and defect, light and darkness, guidance and misguidance, light and fire, belief and unbelief, obedience and rebellion, and fear and love, opposites clash with one another in the universe. They are constantly manifested through change and transformation. Their wheels turn like the workshop of the crops of some other world. Of a certainty, the branches and results, which are opposites, of those two elements will continue into eternity; they will become concentrated and separate from one another. Then they will be manifested in the form of Paradise and Hell.

Since it is out of this transient world that the permanent world will be made, its fundamental elements will certainly go to eternity and permanence. Indeed, Paradise and Hell are the two fruits of the branch of the tree of creation, which stretches, inclines, and goes towards eternity; they are the two results of the chain of the universe; the two storehouses of this flood of Divine activity; the two pools of beings, which flow in waves towards eternity; and the place of manifestation, the one of Divine favour, the other of Divine wrath. When the hand of power shakes up the universe with a violent motion, those two pools will fill up with the appropriate matters.

The secret of this Allusive Point is as follows:

As eternal benevolence and pre-eternal wisdom necessitated, the Pre-Eternally All- Wise One created this world to be a place of trial, an arena of examination, a mirror to His Most Beautiful Names, and a page for the pen of Divine Determining and power. Now, trial and examination are the cause of growth and development. And growth causes the disposition to unfold. And this unfolding causes the abilities to become apparent. And this emergence of the abilities causes the relative truths to become evident. And the relative truths’ becoming evident causes the embroideries of the manifestations of the All-Glorious Maker’s Most Beautiful Names to be displayed, and the universe to be transformed into a missive of the Eternally Besought One.

It is through this mystery of examination and the mystery of man’s accountability that the diamond-like essences of elevated spirits are purified of the coal-like matter of base spirits, and the two separated out from one another.

Thus, since it was for mysteries such as these, and for other most subtle and elevated instances of wisdom which we do not yet know of that the Pre-Eternally All-Wise One willed the world in this form, He also willed the change and transformation of this world for those instances of wisdom. He mixed together opposites for its change and transformation, and brought them face to face. Combining harm with benefit, including evil with good, and mingling ugliness with beauty, He kneaded them together like dough, and made the universe subject to the law of change and mutation, and the principle of transformation and perfection.

A day will come when this assembly of examination is closed, and the period of trial is finished, and the Divine Names have carried out their decree, and the pen of Divine Determining has completed writing its missives, and Divine power completed the embroideries of its art, and beings have fulfilled their duties, and creatures accomplished their acts of service, and everything has stated its meaning, and this world produced the seedlings of the hereafter, and the earth has displayed and exhibited all the miracles of power of the All-Powerful Maker, and all the wonders of His art, and this transient world has attached to the string of time the tableaux forming the panoramas of eternity.

For the eternal wisdom and pre-eternal beneficence of the All-Glorious Maker necessitate truths like the results of the examination and trial, the truths of those Divine Names’ manifestations, the truths of the missives of the pen of Divine Determining, the originals of those sample-like embroideries of art, the aims and benefits of the duties of beings, the wages of the acts of service of creatures, the truths of the meanings the book of the universe stated, the sprouting of the seeds of innate disposition, the opening of a Supreme Court of Judgement, the displaying of the sample-like panoramas taken from this world, the rending of the veil of apparent causes, and the surrendering of everything directly to the All-Glorious Creator. Since the All-Glorious Maker’s pre- eternal wisdom and beneficence necessitate these truths, they require the purification of those oppoites in order to deliver the world from change and transience, transformation and extinction, and to separate out the causes of change and the matters of conflict. And most certainly they will bring about the resurrection and purify those opposites in order to obtain these results.

Thus, as a result of this purification Hell will take on its eternal and dreadful form, and its inmates will manifest the threat: And get you apart this day, O you sinners!(*) While Paradise will assume its everlasting and majestic form, and its people and companions will manifest the address of: Peace be upon you! Well have you done! Enter here to dwell for ever.(*) As is proved in the Second Question of the First Station of the Twenty-Eighth Word, through His perfect power, the Pre-Eternally All-Wise One will give the inhabitants of these two houses eternal and permanent bodies which will not be subject to dissolution, change, old age, or decline. For there will be no causes of change, which are the cause of decline.

FOURTH MATTER:

This is possible, it will occur.

Indeed, after dying, the world will be resurrected as the hereafter. After being destroyed, the One Who made the world will repair and reconstruct it in an even better form, and will convert it into one of the mansions of the hereafter. Just as the proof of this is, foremost, the agreement of the Holy Qur’an together with all its verses comprising thousands of rational proofs and all the revealed scriptures, so do the attributes of the All-Glorious One pertaining to His might and those pertaining to His beauty, and all His Beautiful Names, clearly indicate its occurrence. So too did He promise He would create the resurrection and Great Gathering through all His heavenly decrees which He sent to His prophets. And since He has promised, most certainly shall He bring it about. You may refer to the Eighth Truth of the Tenth Word concerning this matter. Also, just as foremost Muhammad the Arabian (Peace and blessings be upon him), with the strength of his thousand miracles, and all the prophets and messengers, saints and the righteous agreed on its occurrence and gave news of it, so does the universe together with all its creational signs tell of its occurrence.

In Short: The Tenth Word with all its truths, and the Twenty-Eighth Word with all its proofs in the ‘Especially’s’ in its Second Station, have demonstrated with the certainty of the sun’s rising in the morning after setting the previous evening that after the setting of the life of this world, the sun of truth will appear once more in the form of the life of the hereafter.

Thus, seeking assistance from the Divine Name of All-Wise and benefiting from the effulgence of the Qur’an, from the beginning up to here our explanations have taken the form of four ‘Fundamental Points’ in order to prepare the heart for acceptance, the soul for surrender, and to convince the reason. But who are we that we should speak of this matter? What does this world’s true Owner, the universe’s Creator, these beings’s Master, say? We should listen to Him. Can others dare to interfere officiously while the Owner of this domain speaks?

We must listen to the Pre-Eternal Discourse of the All-Wise Maker which He delivers addressing all the ranks of those of each successive century in the mosque of the world and place of instruction which is the earth, with thousands of decrees like, When the Earth is rocked with a great convulsion, And the Earth casts out its burdens, And man cries out: “What is happening to it?” On that Day it will relate what all those upon it have done. For so your Sustainer will have commanded it. On that Day men will go forth in groups to the Judgement, to receive requital for their former deeds. Then anyone who has done an atom’s weight of good, shall see it. And anyone who has done an atom’s weight of evil, shall see it,(*) which causes the earth to tremble, and, But give glad tidings to those who believe and do good works that theirs shall be Paradises beneath which flow rivers. Whenever they are given fruits therefrom as sustenance, they will say: “This is what we ate before as sustenance,” for they shall be offered it in a form resembling that of this world. And they shall have there women pure and good, and they shall dwell there for ever,(*) which fills all creatures with joy and eagerness. We must give heed to these decrees of the Possessor of All Dominion, the Owner of This World and the Next, and we must say, “We believe in it and we affirm it.”

All glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.(*)

O our Sustainer, do not punish us if we forget or do wrong.(*)

O God, grant blessings to our master Muhammad, and to the Family of our master Muhammad, as You granted blessings to our master Abraham and to the Family of our master Abraham; indeed, all praise is Yours, all splendour.

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The Twenty-Eighth Word ⇐ | The Words | ⇒ The Thirtieth Word

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