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Say: the
knowledge is with Allah alone *
None knows the Unseen save
Allah.
According to
some narrations, Hell is beneath
the earth. As we have explained
in other places, in its annual
orbit, the globe of the earth
traces a circle around an area
that in the future will the place
of the Great Gathering and Last
Judgement. It means Hell is
beneath the area of its orbit. It
is invisible and unperceptible
because it consists of veiled and
lightless fire. In the vast
distance travelled by the earth
are many creatures that are
invisible because they are
without light. Like the moon
loses its existence when its
light withdraws, we are also
unable to see numerous lightless
globes and creatures which are in
front of our eyes.
There are two
Hells, the Lesser and the
Greater. In the future, the
Lesser will be transformed into
the Greater and is like its seed;
in the future it will become one
of its habitations. The Lesser
Hell is under the earth, that is,
at the earth’s centre. It is
the inside and centre of the
globe. It is known in geology
that in digging downwards, the
heat for the most part increases
one degree every thirty-three
metres. That means that since
half the diametre of the earth is
around six thousand kilometres,
the fire at the centre is at a
temperature of around two hundred
thousand degrees, that is, two
hundred times hotter than fire at
the circumference; this is in
agreement with what is related by
Hadiths. This Lesser Hell
performs many of the functions of
the Greater Hell in this world
and Intermediate Realm, and this
is indicated in Hadiths. Just as
in the World of the Hereafter,
the earth will pour its
inhabitants into the arena of the
resurrection within its annual
orbit, so too at the Divine
command will it hand over the
Lesser Hell within it to the
Greater Hell.
Some of the
Mu’tazilite imams said that
“Hell will be created later”
but this is mistaken and foolish,
and arises from Hell not having
completely opened up at the
present time and developed into a
form entirely appropriate to its
inhabitants. In order to see with
our worldly eyes the dwelling
places of the World of the
Hereafter within the veil of the
Unseen and to demonstrate them,
either the universe has to be
shrunk to the size of two
provinces, or our eyes have to he
enlarged to the size of stars, so
that we can see and specify their
places. The knowledge is with
Allah, the dwelling-places
of the Hereafter are not visible
to our worldly eyes, but as
indicated by certain narrations,
the Hell of the Hereafter is
connected with our world. In a
Hadith it is said of the intense
heat of summer, “It gives an
inkling of Hell.” That is to
say, that Greater Hell is not
visible to the tiny and dim eyes
of the minds of this world.
However, we may look with the
light of the Divine Name of
All-Wise, as follows:
The Greater
Hell beneath the earth's annual
orbit has as though made the
Lesser Hell at the earth's centre
its deputy and made it perform
some of its functions. The
possessions of the All-Powerful
One of Glory are truly extensive;
wherever Divine wisdom pointed
out, He situated the Greater Hell
there. Yes, an All-Powerful One
of Glory, an All-Wise One of
Perfection Who is owner of the
command of ‘Be!’ and
it is has tied the moon to
the earth before and eyes in
perfect wisdom and order, and
with vast power and perfect order
tied the earth to the sun, and
has made the sun. travel together
with its planets with a speed
close to that of the annual
rotation of the earth, and with
the majesty of His Dominicality,
according to one possibility,
made it travel towards the sun of
suns, and like a feet decked out
with electric lights has made the
stars luminous witnesses to the
sovereignty of His Dominicality.
It is not far from the perfect
wisdom, tremendous power, and
sovereignty of Dominicality of
one thus All-Glorious to make the
Greater Hell like the boiler of
an electric light factory and
with it set fire to the stars of
the heavens which look to the
Hereafter, and give them heat and
power. That is, give light to the
stars from Paradise, the world of
light, and send them fire and
heat from Hell, and at the same
time, make part of that Hell a
habitation and place of
imprisonment for those who are to
be tormented. Furthermore, He is
an All-Wise Creator Who conceals
a tree as large as a mountain in
a seed the size of a finger-nail.
It is surely not far then from
the power and wisdom of such an
All-Glorious One to conceal the
Greater Hell in the seed of the
Lesser Hell in the heart of the
globe of the earth.
I n S h o
r t : Paradise and Hell are the
two fruits of a branch of the
tree of creation which stretches
out towards eternity. The
fruits’ place is at the
branch’s tip. And they are the
two results of the chain of the
universe; and the places of the
results are the two sides of the
chain. The base and heavy are on
its lower side, the luminous and
elevated on its upper side. They
are also the two stores of this
flood of events and the
immaterial produce of the earth.
And the place of a store is
according to the variety of the
produce, the bad beneath, the
good above. They are also the two
pools of the flood of beings
which flows in waves towards
eternity. As for the pool's
place, it is where the flood
stops and gathers. That is, the
obscene and filthy below, the
good and the pure above. They are
also the two places of
manifestation, the one of
beneficence and mercy, the other
of wrath and tremendousness.
Places of manifestation may he
anywhere; the All-Merciful One of
Beauty, the All-Compelling One of
Glory, establishes His places of
manifestation where He wishes.
As for the
existence of Paradise and Hell,
they have been proved most
decisively in the Tenth,
Twenty-Eighth, and Twenty-Ninth
Words. Here, we only say this:
the existence of the fruit is as
definite and certain as that of
the branch; the result as the
chain; the store as the produce;
the pool as the river; and the
places of manifestation as
definite and certain as the
existence of mercy and wrath.
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