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| gencnurCom | The
Twenty-Ninth Word This,
the Twenty-Ninth Word, is about the Immortality of
Man’s Spirit, the Angels, and the Resurrection. In
the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Therein
came down the angels and the Spirit by the permission of
their Sustainer.1 * Say: The
Spirit [comes] by command of my Sustainer.2 [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 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 ____________________ 1.
Qur’an, 97:4. The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - p.522 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,”3 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. ?? ____________________ 3.
Muslim, Imara, 121; Tirmidhi, Tafsir Sura Al-i ‘Imran,
19; Fada’il al-Jihad, 13; Ibn Maja, Jana’iz, 4;
Darimi, Jihad, 18; Musnad, i, 266; vi, 386.
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - p.523 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.
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - First Aim - p.524 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
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - First Aim - p.525 There
were two men, one rustic and uncouth, the other civilized
and intelligent, who made friends and went to a splendid
city like 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
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - First Aim - p.526 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
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - First Aim - p.527 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,4 have been compelled to accept them in
one respect, though naming them the Flowing Forces. ____________________ 4.
They have been unable to find a way to deny the reality
and meaning of the angels and spirit beings. In fact,
they have been compelled to affirm them in one respect by
claiming them to be one of the natural laws, although
they described them wrongly, naming them Kuwa-yi Sariya
or Flowing Forces. (Hey you who consider yourselves to be
so clever!...) The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - First Aim - p.528 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,
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - First Aim - p.529 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
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - First Aim - p.530 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
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - First Aim - p.531 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 The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - First Aim - p.532 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”!5
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.6 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].7 Therein
come down the angels and the Spirit by God’s permission
in every errand.8 ____________________ 5.
Qur’an, 38:50.
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.533 ...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.9 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,10 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].11 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.”12 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 some-thing 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 ____________________ 9.
Qur’an, 66:6.
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.534 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, ever-lasting, 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.
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.535 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 said of an All-Wise One of Glory,
an Imperishable Preserver, Who includes and preserves in
the tiny dot-like seed of a mighty tree the programme and
law of its formation, which 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.
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.536 •
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. The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.537 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,13 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. ____________________ 13.
Qur’an, 17:85.
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.538 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
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.539 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 every-thing
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
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.540 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
all human individuals 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 The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.541 (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, The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.542 Say,
“He will give them life Who created them in the first
instance…,”14 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 ____________________ 14.
Qur’an, 36:79. The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.543 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, demonstrates 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…19 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.20 ____________________ 19.
Qur’an, 36:79.
The
Words / Twenty-Ninth Word - Second Aim - p.544 |