Sura 3: Surat ul-Waq'ia (The Event)
Introduction
This Meccan sura describes the major resurrection when all is brought forth and appropriate segregation and perfect justice take place.
The sura presents existential evidence to enable man to question the reason for his existence, and for him to uplift himself to the realization of the one Creator, Who is the only One deserving of adoration and worship.
Bismi-Ilahi-r- Rahman i-r- Rah im.
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Everything is by the name of Allah. The bismi-llah (in the name of Allah) is part of every sura except one, at-Tawba. Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-Rahim has a literal meaning that is always the same, but its message differs according to the meaning of the sura with which it is connected. Those who believe, and whose belief has been con firmed by varying degrees of personal awakening and experience, see the one hand behind everything which is manifest, as well as that which is not manifest. They see the subtle behind the gross. Everything has the label of Reality on it. Whatever you do or do not cognize, every attribute or action, is marked by its cause.
The bismi-llah is the gate which, if opened properly, will lead you into the garden of its sura. It is a determined part of each sura and as such should be read in the prayer as belonging to it. In the prayer one should choose the sura first, then say the bismi-llah in the name of He who has given you the power of declaring tawhid (divine unity), allowing it to flow into the sura as one thought.
1 When the great event comes to pass,
2 There is no belying its coming to pass
3 Abasing (one party), exalting (the other),
"When the great event comes to pass." Waqa'a means to fall, to befall, to happen. The event which concerns man is the promised event of the Resurrection, the yawm ul-qiyama, the day of the beginning of the next phase of man's experience. It is the main point of reference and of the greatest importance. Whatever exists in the next cycle of creation - not being based on the duality in which there is confusion of body and soul - is not subject to time. Whatever exists or can be experienced from the moment of the great event onward, has its reflection in this life. For example, in the Qur'an, the fire that is promised in the next life is referred to as nar ul jahannam (the fire of hell) or nar ul-kubra ( the great fire), implying that what you experience in this life is the small fire in the form of anger, disappointment, agitation and unfulfilled desires. Also the experience of the garden is potentially with man here and now. In the same way, the experience of the event, the day of reckoning, can be echoed and reflected within man here and now.
When a significant event occurs in someone's life it can cause him to begin to witness or to fully awaken. Such an event brings light into the passage of existence. Man is moving in a tunnel propelled by the powers of nature, guided or misguided by habits of the past, circumstances of the present and projections of the future. He is in a cocoon. If there is a sudden break in it and that crack begins to widen, then for the person who has experienced it there is a major event, there is a waqi'a. But when the great event, the yawm ul-qiyama, occurs, nobody can deny it. Everyone is subject to its power. It lifts up and brings down, blowing up planets, stars or aspects of the cosmos and collapsing other parts. One creation ends and another begins. The cosmic entities are compelled to move in opposite directions. A major uplifting, down-thrusting situation will occur.
It is the time when the hearts that are already enlightened are lifted and stripped of their burdens, and the hearts that have been tarnished and burdened are brought down. The mu min (believer) is elevated and the kafir (denier) or munafiq (hypocrite) is degraded. The day of reckoning is the final sorting out, the yawm ul-fasl (the day of separation into groups). There are no gray areas; your state will be joy or misery, according to what you have directed yourself toward and earned during the short preface of this life. Those who have been uplifting themselves along the path of truth will be fully uplifted in the next life, and those who have been degrading themselves will be completely degraded. The next consciousness is timeless, and will therefore have the stamp of permanency upon it. That is why it is called the final abode, for in it there is no movement.
4 When the earth shall be shaken with a (severe) shaking,
5 And the mountains shall be made to crumble with (an awful) crumbling,
6 So that they shall be as scattered dust,
"When the earth shall be shaken with a (severe) shaking." Ard ( earth) is whatever serves as a foundation, such as land. Rajja is to shake. Everyone wants stability, whether in one's. home, relationships, or in the economy. But those who seek absolute stability find that it only exists when there is trust in Allah. Every, other stability is relative. Even though it may last his lifetime, the seeker knows that the world and the cosmos are on a journey, and that the foundation upon which he has built his relative security may get shaken and pulled out from under him. At the time of the shaking, the flimsy relative foundation, having served its purpose in this creational cycle, is finished. For the man on the path such a calamity is regarded as direct evidence of the love of Reality for him. He therefore looks for some better foundation until he discovers the foundation of all foundations.
The solid mass, which came to equilibrium after the earth cooled down, giving it relative stability, will crumble into dust. The fortunate one who has intellect comes to realize that what he perceives as the solidity of his foundation is only in his mind. Nothing in this world is going to last, whether it be health, wealth or children. Once that is recognized, the awareness, immediacy and urgency of the quest become the major preoccupation in his life, and all other aspects become secondary and therefore acceptable because of their transiency. After his foundation has been shaken and destroyed, a new and much firmer foundation is built.
The measurement of worldly things is based upon specific time factors which are very different if there is a turning of the heart, resulting from a turning over of one's situation. It isa matter of attitude. The dislodging of the heart from this world is truly and genuinely a major event. It is a prelude to the experience of after-life. The heart is then totally uprooted and enters a state beyond freedom, for freedom is only meaningful because there are shackles. Man is capable of grasping this state intellectually and experientially, to varying degrees of clarity. For example, the most solid visible realities in this existence are the mountains which anchor the mantle of the earth. If these entities which are considered most solid can be torn free, then consider those things which are as flimsy as one's relationships or thoughts.
"They shall be as scattered dust." When the final event occurs there are definite streams into which everyone is segregated. In this world the streams are not clearly delineated because we perceive things in relative degrees, and that relativity blurs the delineations.
7 And you shall be three sorts.
8 Then (as to) the companions of the right hand; how happy are the companions of the right hand!
Man is sorted out into three types. At the final event there is a filtering process that takes place in much the same way as it occurs in this life. In one group there are those who are in iman (faith, trust), whose trust originates either from intellectual reasoning or through its inheritance from a family that believes in Reality, in Islam. In another are those who are at a loss, who are confused and arrogant. They are the people whose egos are so solid that they totally deny Reality. But these types are not always bound to their groups. There are occasions in which individuals leave the stream of those in loss and confusion to join the stream of those in utter trust, unshakable trust, which is based upon the knowledge of the one and only Reality.
The people of the right are the true people of iman. They believe in Allah and in His divine mercy upon His creation. They believe that the purpose of creation is to recognize the Creator and abandon their will into the will of the Creator. /man begins by outer submission, and ends with the direct recognition that one's will and what is decreed by Allah are one: they emanated from the One, are sustained by the One and will return to the One. At this stage man realizes the source of inner joy, for there is no longer any resistance.
The people of the right hand have acted positively and directly. The right hand in the Arabic culture, as well as in many other cultures, is the hand of willful and knowledgeable transaction, while the left hand is the hand of giving up and throwing away, the hand of negation.
9 And (as to) the companions of the left hand; how wretched are the companions of the left hand!
Mash'ama (the left hand) is from sha'ama and means to perceive a bad omen, to foretell a calamity or to be unlucky. The people of the left are left overs, having cursed themselves by their ignorance and loss. Man cannot question the Creator; he is given a description of Reality, a reference to the yawm ul-qiyama with which he may not interfere. In his life he may feel that he is at a loss, angry, unhappy and confused, yet he must realize that there is still the possibility of an awakening that may take him to the people of the right and he must continue striving.
10 And the foremost are the foremost,
11 These are they who are drawn near (to Allah),
"And the foremost are the foremost." Sabaqa is to be ahead, to precede. In this life everyone is either leading or being led. Allah refers here to the state of ultimate success which is the success of the one who has moved into the zone of the beyond time, the next creation. According to some traditions, the sabiqun were those who early on were in iman. The Imams identify some of the early mu'minun who went to the garden as the son of Adam who was murdered, the first man who embraced Islam from among Pharoah's people, Habib an-Najar who followed Sayyidna `Isa, alayhi-s-salam, and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, alayhi-s-salam.
As-sabiqun generally refers to those who will be in the garden without question, being already in that state in this life.
They are the near ones, the ones who have come first. Traditionally, the people of tafsir (, Qur'anic commentary) have said that it refers to all the Prophets. The Prophet himself, salla-llahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, said: "It refers to those who are close to my way." Those who have fully taken on the Muhammadi path have no account to render because they were rendering their account at all times during their lives. They had already been in a complete state of abandonment.
12 In the gardens of bliss.
13 A numerous company from among the first,
14 And a few from among the latter.
They are "in the gardens of bliss." Na`im ( ) is from na'ama, to live in comfort, ease. Nima is a blessing, any thing one wants to have more of. "It may be that you dislike a thing while it is good for you." (al-Baqara: 216). Often something comes to man in which he does not see the goodness. If man were to see what befalls him as being in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, bismi-llahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim, then he would see the mercy behind every event and every situation. Otherwise he would be judging from his individual point of view. The mu'min only sees goodness no matter how it may look to others. If he is in true iman, if he believes that the controller of this creation is the Rahman, he will try to see the rahma of Allah behind every event. For that reason, the mu'min's heart is never baffled, shocked, or disturbed. The mu'min acts as best he can because he is both actor and acted upon. Outwardly, he will respond to an emergency, while inwardly, he will be content, knowing that it came from the Reality. If he dislikes what happens to him it is because he has judged it incorrectly and erroneously.
Judgement is based on the degree of ignorance and knowledge. "And it may be that you love a thing while it is evil for you." (al-Baqara: 216) A child loves to be buried under a mound of chocolate, whereas a grownup with knowledge may recognize the damage it can cause his health. A responsible young man does not realize the affliction and the responsibility that comes with wealth until he earns it by the sweat of his brow; then he recognizes the difficulty of acquiring it, keeping it and dispensing it correctly. An irresponsible person, however, has a romantic desire for things without knowing what danger and affliction accompany them.
A group of those who came earlier to the knowledge of Reality came earlier to the garden of iman. They were early in the sense that they arrived at the garden before death, having achieved in this life the state of joy, tranquility and abandonment. They already knew the meaning of bliss and had a direct knowledge of tawhid in this world. Those who have not obtained direct knowledge can only improve their prayers and supplications in the hope that they will get it when this chain of the body and the world is removed by death. No matter how much one is in tawhid and iman there is still the pull of the body. It is another of Allah's reminders that one is held by the chain of this realm of existence. It does not matter to what extent one is in total abandonment, duality and loss are still recognized.
Human injustice exists because the ultimate height in spiritual evolution, which is the historical or worldly event of the appearance of the Mahdi (literally the rightly guided one; he is the twelfth Imam who is in concealment), has not occurred. At that time, the earth will be inherited by the humble people of right action and Allah's justice will be fully manifest in this life.
If one is concerned about time, then one is concerned about the chronology of events. If the light of intellect enables one to go beyond time for just a moment, then "early" implies those who simply got the message, regardless of when. Those whose main concern is to live the life of tawhid are inclined to place less importance upon time. The man who seeks unification seeks to obtain Sayyidna Ibrahim's knowledge, he seeks the company of the Prophet, salla-llahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, and desires the guidance, counsel and companionship of the Imams and the select sahaba (companions). He wishes to be close to their state. It is meaningless to desire closeness to them physically, without desiring to take of what they possess of meanings. And if one wishes closeness to their state it can occur at any time, because their states are expounded to man through the Qur'an, the sunna (Prophetic custom) and hadith (tradition). One is living in their presence if one has access to the gate of their state.
15 On thrones decorated,
16 Reclining on them, facing one another.
The root of surur (thrones) is sarra, which is to make happy, to confide a secret, to hide something. From it come many words that form an interesting pattern of meanings. Surer is joy, implying that the source of joy is a secret that can only be whispered to oneself. It is the secret of secrets and cannot be divulged. If one is happy, happiness is itself the explanation of that state, .but one cannot give the source of that state to someone else. It relates to another level of consciousness.
A pleasure is something one can share, something one can buy. It is related to attachments and is a worldly thing while surer, joy, is for its own sake. The bird sings because its nature is to sing, irrespective of whether the hunter is hunting it or the neighborhood is giving it extra food. A pleasure is the result of something that has occurred. A person is lonely, then he meets a companion who echoes much of what he believes in - that is a pleasure. Someone was hungry, there was emptiness in his stomach and it was filled by food - that is a pleasure. Pleasure is like neutralization: the negative and the positive meet and are neutralized.
Joy is something else; it is the negation of the negative. joy occurs when what was considered to be desirable has been recognized as being wahm, illusion. Negation of the negative is positive and that is the normal state of man. It is for this reason that man inherently seeks joy. He knows pleasure, he knows it is purchasable, but he does not readily know the way to joy. Man seeks happiness because it is his real nature. He is unhappy because he has been telling himself that he needs a certain something to be happy. He constantly runs after it, but as soon as he gets it, he desires something else.
The door to the abode of joy is the recognition of how to unknot what one has knotted. That is why it is said that the source is a secret within a secret. A desirable thing is in itself a wahm. The recognition of the wahm is the negation of it. And if that negation is genuine, then the root of joy is being nourished from within. That is the soil in which the tree of contentment will grow. Contentment is a tree that nobody can transplant into anybody else. One has to, through one's own labor, nurture it and make it grow.
There is inherent contentment in a created being such as a bird, but man has the consciousness of contentment. Furthermore, he has the light of consciousness of consciousness. This establishes man as the highest of creation. Man is conscious of the consciousness of happiness. He is conscious of the consciousness of unhappiness.
Surur cannot be passed on, it has to be earned. If one has grasped the way to its attainment one will constantly seek after it in one's life. It has nothing to do with time or place. Often, an ignorant man returns to the lake or the mountain top where he had spent a holiday or had had a good time, thinking that he can reproduce the inner state of a momentary opening of the heart. He yearns for the upliftment of joyfulness. This perverted seeking is found among the inspired souls of people such as artists and composers. In the biographies of these madmen, one will find that they often go back to the same mountain spot or shack, to live for the rest of their lives in a romantic illusion so that they can reproduce their creative moments. But creative moments are moments of detachment from this world. It simply happened that he was there in that chalet on that mountain top. He yearns for the moment of joy he experienced but cannot retrieve it. He thinks joy is prescribable or describable but it is not. "The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors. Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray." (al-Fatiha: 7) Look at what has caused you trouble and kept you from joy: attachments, expectations, desires and fears - guard against these and you are already in the garden.
The root of the word surur is also connected with the word meaning the cutting of the umbilical cord of a newborn baby. It is a joy ; because the child is no longer dependent on a thing called 'womb.' The cutting heralds his outer independence and leads him to the possibility of understanding that he is dependent only upon Allah. It is the beginning of a journey of joyfulness during which the child may begin to recognize that he is a child of Truth and Reality and that he is born by the grace of Allah, while the mother was the instrument within whom he had dwelt before birth. The potentiality of his existence before conception was in the knowledge of Allah and became an expression, a manifestation.
Sarir ( thrones, bed, singular of surer) is a symbol of relief from outer troubles and a means of joy. It allows one to relax and establishes a mood of happiness, a state of restfulness. "Reclining on them, facing one another." Reclining upon the couches, the near ones are not troubled, they are relaxed. Mutaqabilin (facing one another) is from taqabala to meet, to be face to face. They see their reflection in each other. They see others who are like them. They see repeat performances, holograms. Its root is qabala to receive; qibla, from the same root, is that to which one turns; qabila is a midwife, the one who faces and receives the baby.
17 Round about them shall go youths never altering in age,
18 With goblets and ewers and a cup of pure drink;
19 They shall not be affected with headache thereby, nor shall they get exhausted;
20 And fruits such as they choose,
21 And the flesh of fowl such as they desire.
This realm of experience, the janna (garden) is timeless. Man can only understand it from the reference point of his present existence which is based on existential needs, one person serving another. The mithal (metaphor) of the eternally youthful servants implies that in the non-time zone of the next life that state is no longer subject to decay.
The mentioning of meat in the garden is significant. It has been given its prominent position in this life because it is regarded as an important aspect of diet. It contains much of what man needs in terms of amino acids, minerals and vitamins. Traditionally, the practices of Islam encouraged the Muslims to eat it once or twice a week. Today, modern dieticians recommend that meat should only be eaten twice and fish once a week, the rest of the diet being composed of grains and vegetables. Traditionally, people ate animals that could be caught locally within the appropriate season. Today one finds people eating large quantities of meat and fat in places such as the Arabian peninsula where the temperature is exceedingly hot. Eating foods out of location and season only causes sickness. The aya describing the availability of meat in the garden is a mithal and does not mean that there are hunting parties in the garden. The indication is that the nourishment is of the highest and subtlest values.
22 And pure, beautiful ones,
23 The like of the hidden pearls:
24 A reward for what they used to do.
The hur (virgins of paradise) are described as pearls, maknun, hidden, kept, highly treasured; from the word kanna, to conceal, shelter. They are forever preserved in that translucency and purity.
The state of the garden is the mirror image, the reflection, of the quality of one's actions in this world. "A reward for what they used to do": one's reward is the action itself. It does not come later in time because in Reality there is no time. Action has its own reward within itself in this time zone. In the next life, where there is no time, it manifests again in meaning, in a state in which the soul sees itself.
Man perceives that having done a good turn for someone, he is paid back years later. Those with inner sight derive joy at the time of the action itself. They do not care for the visible outcome, which is completely secondary. It is like an expert gardener who, when he sees the plant nourished, visualizes the entire cycle of growth and decay. It is only the greedy and hungry fellow who simply waits for the fruit. The gardener who is totally in the joy of the process of gardening has already envisioned the fruit and has gone beyond it. Only the animal waits for the thing to manifest in order to eat it. From the point of view of the man of knowledge, the man who has abandoned himself, his action instantly contains the reward. And yet, there are also fruits that materially appear, but their unfoldment is in time and the seeker wants to know the non-time. It is the subtle being who recognizes that his action is its own reward. The quality of his reward is according to the source of his action, which is his intention. The being who has complete presence and awareness sees how the rewards and the actions are not separate.
25 They shall not hear therein vain or sinful discourse,
26 Except the word peace, peace.
Laghw (foolish talk) is that which is empty of meaning. The root of the word is lagha to talk nonsense, to make mistakes; in another form, it means to invalidate, nullify, eliminate. From lagha comes the word lugha, language. Lughawi means an expert in language and laghwi means someone who talks both a great deal and a lot of nonsense. Notice that an expert in language and one who talks nonsense are almost the same word.
"They shall not hear therein vain or sinful discourse." There is no ta'thim, offense or sin. There is complete equity there, no injustice. justice of the next world will be witnessed by all because there will be no interference with it. In this world one may see many outward aberrations in justice. Looking with an inner eye one sees nothing other than justice. As an outward being, having an outward orientation, one has to constantly do one's best to bring about outer justice, although inwardly one may see by the eye of abandonment that everything is perfect. Because there is no human interference, the next life will be completely meaningful and just. In this life, because man acts inadvertently or erroneously and transgresses, he recognizes what appears to be unjust. Looking through the eye of Reality, even what appears to be unjust is just.
Man is given a choice of acting or not acting. Acting wrongly results in an undesirable situation and therefore he makes claims of injustice. He has been acting incongruously with the governing laws. Outwardly, one strives to bring about outer justice; inwardly, one accepts whatever is decreed as being a part of the tarbiya (upbringing), of the rububiyya (lordship). Outwardly, one acts as the hand of Allah, as the leg of Allah, as the eye of Allah, because man is the khalifa (deputy) of Allah. That is tawhid.
Man, being confused, usually acts in opposition to this because he is afraid of being tested.
If, in upholding justice, a man finds that he is swamped by a situation of injustice, he still does his best though it may engulf him. He realizes that the situation has been caused by the transgressions of others, but that he still must pay the price along with the others. Imam Husayn, alayhi-s-salam, did not escape the injustice that had been going on for twenty years. It cost his blood and that of seventy-two members of his family. He was not above it. The wave of tyranny will eat the good and the bad in its wake. But if a man is a true man of abandonment, he recognizes that this is the justice of Allah. He does not recognize his own he-ness. He too is part of the fodder.
Imam Hasan's fight was, in contrast, making a peace treaty. He knew that the forty thousand soldiers who were promised to him would turn against him on the day of battle, and he saw that there was no reason to shed blood. When he signed the treaty some people still turned against him. Whichever way one acts one cannot win with man's justice. Man's justice has flaws, while Allah's justice is perfect. Allah's justice is to give one the opportunity to know the meaning of blissful abandonment into Allah. By suffering the closing of all doors except one, man is guided to Allah's door.
"Except the word peace, peace." Peace is where there is no action, stillness beyond which there is no stillness, the eye of the storm where all is quiet. One minute in a hurricane seems like a year, whereas its eye appears to be in timeless peace. Its outer perimeter is in maximum agitation. The men of the state of the hurricane's eye, the people of the garden, do not hear any nonsense. There is no movement or anything other than recognizable, cognizable peace. It is not the peace of a dead stone but of pure awareness, a state of bliss which man can taste here and now if he keeps to the path of Allah, if he keeps to the path of the Qur'an and the sunna of the Prophet without hypocrisy. It is the higher state of the garden that men of Allah - who have taken the message and who have invested rightly, correctly and fully - can attain.
27 And the companions of the right hand; how happy are the companions of the right hand!
28 Amid thornless lote-trees,
For the "companions of the right hand," the state of joy that they had in this world is mirrored in the next. The sidr is the lotetree of the next world. It has no thorns because everything in the next experience is in its purest form. Women are forever virginal, forever translucent, forever alive. Everything is in its ultimate, highest, purest, non-agitated form. Thorns are undesirable, and therefore do not exist in the garden of the next world. There is nothing that will afflict its inhabitants.
29 And banana-trees (with fruits), one above another.
Talhin mandud is the description of the banana tree in the early stages of its development, when its clusters of fruit are bunched together. This is a reference to the fruits of different shapes and descriptions that may not have been known amongst people of the day. Arabia was limited in what it had of these items. It is an allusion to the fact that there are so many things which one does not know of in the next life, so many other aspects of taste or of realizations.
30 And extended shade,
31 And water flowing constantly,
32 And abundant fruit,
33 Neither intercepted nor forbidden,
34 And exalted thrones.
"And extended shade." In the desert culture of Arabia the sun, though a giver of life, is also a destroyer of life, so therefore shade is a great mercy. The bigger the shade of something the greater is the object itself, and what is greater than Allah, al-Azim? If you are with Allah you have maximum shade. Zillin mamdudin is literally a long or extended shadow. In Islamic culture one used to show respect to a revered person or saint by saying: "May Allah increase your shadow."
In the final abode one witnesses maximum shade. Everything is in the shade of the Creator. There are no individuals who can cast a shadow or darken anything. Zillin mamdudin is the shadow which protects one and which, by inference, causes one to recognize Allah, because direct witnessing is not possible; one cannot see Reality, only its effects. The knowledge of Allah is by inference. One infers His existence. If anyone were to say that he has seen Allah, it would mean that he is either mad or a liar. If someone were to say that he has seen Allah at a given time and place, then where would He be the rest of the time? Allah is Ever-Present, All-Encompassing - beyond time, beyond comprehension, beyond sight. The faculties of sight and comprehension exist by the life which Allah has placed in people. How can these faculties perceive what makes them function? It is not possible. One infers there is Allah by reason, by heart, and by one's fitra (innate character). Within everyone is the seed that recognizes the perfect Creator. The imperfection in His creation that one sees is from the imperfect purification of one's own heart.
35 Surely We have made them to grow into a (new) growth,
The garden is the new creation where there are no desires, whims, troubles or attachments. Nasha'a is to grow, to rise up, to come into existence. Allah says: "Surely We have made them to grow into a (new) growth." It is of another foundation, one that is not physical. It is based upon light. The world of light is only accessible to man in moments of deep meditation and reflection.
Then We have made them virgins,
37 Loving, equals in age,
38 For the companions of the right hand.
39 A numerous company from among the first,
40 And a numerous company from among the last.
Stretching man's imagination, Allah describes the physical satisfaction of man-woman companionship. "Then We have made them virgins." The women there, in the next experience, are in perpetual virginity. We understand that in this realm it is not possible. One of the Imams was asked how a woman could remain a virgin. He replied that it was not a question of virginity in the physical sense. The descriptions of women and drink are not what can be experienced or understood. They are a mithil. They belong to another insha', another construction in the world of lights and consciousness.
41 And those of the left hand, how wretched are those of the left hand!
42 In hot wind and boiling water,
43 And the shade of black smoke,
44 Neither cool nor honorable.
Those at a loss in this world are grouped together and cast aside for their crimes. The beings that have not evolved and polished themselves in this existence are left to be recycled, fired and finished. They experience hot wind and boiling water, the opposites of tranquility, joy, stability and ease.
Allah's judgement is the perfect judgement. He is the All-Forgiving. He knows how to find and segregate those who are the doubtful cases. Some of the great seers, such as Mulla Sadra and Ibn al-`Arabi, often describe the situation of the `in-between.' Although the zone of the `in-between' begins in the next life, in the zone of non-time, its enactment can be imagined to be in time because it is the interspace, the `in-between' of this life and the next, after the segregation.
Some of these seers talk about the purification of people by fire.
Ibn al-`Arabi gives the fire seven different categories. A person may be put to fire in order to experience it, in order to give him a final chance to ask for forgiveness. Knowledge of the categories of fire may be of use, but may also result in unnecessary speculation. Being brought up in such a materialistic world, man immediately wants to subcategorize and contain everything, like the so-called scientists who run around the world collecting beautiful birds and butterflies to fill yet another biological museum. This is not the way to the attainment of inner knowledge. It is not by accumulation.
Traditions have reported that there are people who may be judged by men to be evil but by Allah's judgement are good. We cannot overlook someone's crime within shari`a (outward path); judgement in this zone of life can only be according to shari`a, not beyond it. Allah will have His own judgement on the subtler, hidden aspects of transgression, but shat is not our domain.
45 Surely they were before that made to live in ease and plenty.
46 And they persisted in the great violation.
"Surely they were before that made to live in ease and plenty." Mutraf means living luxuriously and recklessly in this world. It implies going beyond one's needs. Being reckless with nature's generosity, one becomes covetous and abusive. Zakat (charity, purification by giving) acts as a natural cure against the greed that often besets man. The Prophet, salla-llahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, was asked why zakat was two and a half percent. He said that in following Allah's justice and nature's intention, one finds that for every thousand people there are twenty-five truly destitute ones who are unable to provide for themselves and have to be carried by the rest.
If Allah loves someone He causes him trouble so as to awaken him. Out of love for one's land one causes it trouble by ploughing it, turning it upside down. The business of the heart (qalb) is to be maqlub (turned) so that it gives up and becomes free.
A mutraf loves the world and is content with it. Though the mutraf has invested wrongly, he is reinforced in his error by material success. The Qur'an advises the people of the right to leave him alone for his time will be short. He is far from Reality and unable to see that this life is going, to come to an end. He has not invested in the next abode. Allah says that when He wants to destroy a culture or a people that have transgressed, He unleashes the mutrafln (plural of mutraf). They know-exactly how to manipulate the system. They are the ultimate parasites. By their transgression within the worldly system, justice is established. The ecology has a perfect mechanism of replenishing itself. The transgression of the mutrafin will cause a reaction and they will be destroyed along with the elements and products of their transgression. It is a cybernetic, ecological cycle of destruction and self-rejuvenation, destroying an order that is not conducive to rejuvenate and resuscitate the order of nature. People are not destroyed by winged creatures descending and blowing fire on them. They are destroyed by the creature within and amongst themselves. Those who have a measure of detachment and reflection can see it repeated continuously in the history of man, because nothing changes. The sunny of Allah never changes. The law that governs existence is absolutely firm and is the foundation upon which everything else is built.
The permanency of the laws reflects an aspect of Allah's mercy, in that man is given something to rely upon. Man's laws have no such mercy or permanency. If the people who died a hundred years ago in America were to return, they would be imprisoned within a day, because they would have no idea of how to approach and negotiate the cumbersome, complicated laws of today. The true laws are unchanging laws. They come from the one and only true foundation of this existence and the next.
The mutrafun often meet to decide about the billions in the world who are barely surviving. The well-off and those who are at ease discuss the plight of the have-nots in this world in an academic and abstract way. When the high-tech cultures study the ways and means of helping the have-nots, it is out of self-interest rather than out of equity and justice. They are concerned about poverty, because if it were left to become too widespread it could cause revolution and the loss of their potential markets. To stabilize the situation they make a token effort to help the poor in Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Africa. The Qur'an says: "They persisted in great violation." The mutrafun have persisted in violating the laws of Allah.
47 And they used to say: What! when we die and have become dust and bones, shall we then indeed be raised?
48 Or our fathers of yore?
The deniers of the akhira (next life) think that this life is all that there is; therefore they want to grab all of it here and now in sensual pleasures and indulgences. There are two attitudes towards the next world. The first trusts that this world is not an end, but rather, a prelude to a never-ending world. Its people follow this trust until they know it directly. They are the believers. The man of trust regards this life as a training-ground for entry into the non-time zone. The second attitude towards the next world is held by the man without trust. He is greedy because there is nothing else for him but this life. He becomes increasingly covetous. He does not seek to obtain the qualifications for entry into the garden of the next life by sharpening his awareness, and increasing his joyfulness, abandonment and freedom. He is programmed to seek freedom but seeks it within the physical world. This is a perversion. Man is a seeker by nature, but if he believes that this life is the end, his motivation for action takes on a dimension that brings on chaos. This is the difference between the believer and the non-believer.
Man's disbelief in the akhira manifests in greed and aggressiveness. Today it is considered desirable to be aggressive and ambitious, In the past, if a person were described with those qualities, he would have been denounced. Now `ambitious and aggressive' means he is the first candidate to be employed.
In every man there is a yearning to live forever. But he does not reflect that this yearning is from Allah beaming within him, telling him to come back to his source. It is a constant signal from the heart whose meaning is foreverness. Whatever good a man does, he will want to preserve forever. The call of Allah is from within, to come to know the meaning of foreverness, because He is the Forever. There is only He, la huwa illa hu ( literally: There is no he but He). The point is missed, however, and the beam of light is dulled.
The world is attractive. Once you have dipped one toe in it you are pulled into its current and become completely engulfed. Human beings today are engulfed by the situation they are in. All are caught in the high-tech factory of modern life which does nothing other than spew them out after a lifetime of slave-like service, rejected and dejected. The best of them, their leaders, metamorphose into names of streets, stadiums and squares. The slaves follow habits, but the seeker breaks habits and becomes free of the system of enslavement.
49 Say: The first and the last,
50 Shall most surely be gathered together for the appointed hour of a known day. 51 Then shall you, O you who err and call it a lie!
In the Qur'an, a day (yawm) does not mean twenty four hours. It is said that the day of your Lord is like a thousand years of what you count. Elsewhere it is described as fifty thousand years. With Allah there is no time. Time is relative, as is shown by the phenomenon of travelling near the speed of light. "The first and the last shall most surely be gathered together for the appointed hour of a known day." There is a specific destiny for the outer world and for the inner world.
Those who have denied continue in their state of loss, into the zone of the beyond-time where the time dimension is erased and a state of perpetual turmoil lasts forever. The denier, having denied that his breath was given to him in order to glorify the One Who gave him breath, finds it to be timeless restlessness. In the state of everlasting loss, in the fire, nothing takes root. The more one attempts to contain the fire, the more it devours what is in and around it.
52 Most surely eat of a tree of Zaqqum,
53 And fill (your) bellies with it;
The individual is nourished from an everlasting bitterness, a tree of zaqqum that comes up from the bottomless pit of jahannam (hell). He experiences being lost in timelessness as if he was filling up his stomach with un-nourishing bitterness. He drinks without satisfaction.
54 Then drink over it of boiling water;
55 And drink as drinks the thirsty camel.
56 This is their gift on the day of requital.
Water is used to extinguish and reduce heat and is one of the elements that seeks to establish equilibrium. These elements or characteristics are: wet, dry, hot, and cold. If one is too hot, one is likely to go towards what is cool. Being too dry attracts one towards the wet. Man seeks to be in balance. Everything is kept in balance by the One. But at the appointed hour, the characteristics of the elements which served as equalizers in the physical creation are no longer applicable. Him are thirsty camels. This word is related to the word ha'im, meaning perplexed, mystified. In this life, man fills himself up with that which he considers necessary and without which he imagines he could not be happy. He abuses himself and nature by excessive consumption.
The description of the wretchedness of the "companions of the left" is that of jahannam, the fire. One of the derivatives of jahannam is jahnim, a bottomless pit, the state of zero gravity, the state of receiving the. very bad news that something you have cherished is no longer with you. Imagine someone suddenly being given news of multiple catastrophies, that everything which he had invested in, loved, or considered important for his tranquility, is gone - that is jahnim.
Man wants istiqrar, which is constancy, stability, and security. One finds in Arabic that a word is linked to many other words through its root. These words echo variations, make clear, and give greater depth of meaning to the initial word. Istaqarra ( verbal form of istiqrar) is to seek security or permanent residence. Iqrar is a foundation or settlement, and qarrara means to decide, report or relate. All these words belong to the same root as qarra, which means to establish, determine or resolve.
If a man is a man of truthfulness, he must admit that he is, ultimately, secure; for how could he seek the foundation of the origin of something that was not already in him?
The fact that man is seeking security is the proof that his origin or essence is secure, but he is looking elsewhere in ghafla, (heedlessness, stupidity). He thinks that his security lies with this fellow or with that job - that is ghafla. The fact that he is looking for security means that security is naturally attainable.
There is a story about a man, who one night lost his ring and went looking for it under a street lamp. After some hours, while people had collected around him to help, no trace of the ring had been found. Someone finally asked where he had lost the ring and he replied, "I lost it in there," pointing to his house. "Why, then, are we not looking for it there?" asked the inquirer, shocked. The owner of the ring replied, "Because there is no light in there." Man often looks where it is convenient for him to search. He does not look where the truth lies. It is human nature.
57 We have created you, why do you not then assent?
58 Have you considered the seed?
59 Is it you that create it or are We the creators?
Man's coming forth into the world is not an accident, it is purposeful. Accident is a description used to indicate an inability to understand a situation. Man has been created, why can he not confirm that? Why can he not accept this as true? Tusaddiqun is from saddaqa, to consider to be true.
Can man not see how procreation occurs? Did he create his offspring or is he simply a vehicle? He has not a clue concerning the amazing transformation that takes place in the womb. It is by the act of Allah. His act is simply an animalistic act.
60 We have ordained death among you and We are not to be overcome,
61 In order that We may bring in your place the likes of you and make you grow into what you know not.
62 And certainly you know the first growth, why do you not then mind?
"We have ordained death among you and We are not to be overcome." Mawt, death, is the experience of an apparent discontinuity, a separation in the path. But man cannot experience separation unless he inherently contains the experience of gatheredness. The subtle entity within him separates from the gross entity and this separation is experienced as death. In the separation there is also unification. The body unifies with what it belongs to, its element. It goes back to the earth. The ruh (soul, spirit) goes back to where it belongs by the order of the one and only, all-permeating Creator. Qadr from qadara is what is ordained, decreed or measured. Everything is according to a measure.
When a culture is open, genuinely and spontaneously allowing for exposure, then it can grow, adapt and become fully fit. Then it is worthy of fulfilling its trust as the pinnacle of creation. When it is not, it is replaced. Cultures will come and go. There is an element of the survival of the fittest in every aspect of life, there is no denying it. Man has been brought here in a state which appears to be tarnished and which has the possiblity of sinking low because of the necessary equilibrium between body and soul. He will be constructed again where the construction material is not physical. The next cycle in the rise of consciousness is based on material which is difficult for a human -being constructed out of earth-bound, mud-made materials - to fully comprehend, except by a stretch of the imagination. Man is like a prisoner whose view is as wide as the bars on the windows of his cell allow. If he uses his faculties of reason and heart, he can imagine that what he sees in front of him must occur in likeness somewhere else. Through this use of perception man can reach an understanding of the akhira.
Understanding the first growth, man knows that biologically, he has come from a mucousy, base beginning. He knows in his heart, if the heart is qalib (turning), that the root of life is not affected by his experiential life, but is a permanent, uncontaminated source. Allah appeals to man to look and understand that within him dwells the knowledge of his evolution, and that evolution, though manifesting now in time, must have had its roots in the zone of precreation. Man, from before creation, was planned. He was a potential manifestation. Allah reminds man in the Qur'an of the time when he was in the non-manifest, simply as potential energies.
63 Have you considered what you sow?
64 Is it you that cause it to grow, or are We the causers of growth?
65 If We pleased, We should have certainly made it broken down into pieces, then would you begin to lament:
66 Surely we are burdened with debt;
"Have you considered what you sow?" Man is simply an instrument of sowing seeds, whether the seeds are those of other human beings or of plants. He is simply an actor. He has not written the script nor has he any, possibility of changing the laws that govern it. The only degree of freedom he has is that of acting his role perfectly. When one sees a perfect actor, one believes that he is truly living his role. He has unified his will with destiny. It is an aspect of tawhid; he genuinely and totally becomes one with his part. From Reality's point of view, he is not in separation though he may imagine that he is. If your act is pure and perfect then there is no resistance between your will and what you are applying yourself to, because the application has been for Allah, by Allah and in Allah. This is baraka (blessing), divine efficiency. It is harmony, ecology, balance and sanity.
Man is not the cause of events, he is simply one string of an instrument in an orchestra. Man can move because there is life in him. He did not cause life to come to him; he is only a conduit. If one is genuinely dependent on the knowledge that Allah is the best of guardians, then one truly knows that there is no power or strength except by Allah (la hawla wa la quwata illa billah), that Entity from Whom there has been no separation.
If Allah wills, the actions man may feel proud of may be destroyed. It is in man's nature that he will, with audacity and arrogance, explain as superficial causes what are actually and simply the will of Allah.
67 Nay! we are deprived.
The Qur'an carries the reader to the present, into the next life and into what preceded life. It is the unifier by a thread that goes back and forth in time.
"Surely, we are burdened with debt." Gharama is to pay a fine. In physical existence man has fed himself from the wrong source and is now being penalized. The noun gharam means infatuation. When the final event occurs, at which time there is no possibility of arrogance or of duplicity, man is completely in a state of obsession and infatuation. There is no possibility of putting right his previous actions. If one thinks that he is in prison now, what will it be like then? No action will be rectifiable.
68 Have you considered the water which you drink?
69 Is it you that send it down from the clouds, or are We the senders?
70 If We pleased, We would have made it salty; why do you not then give thanks?
Look at the water you drink. If Allah had willed, all the water in the world could have been brackish. Reality challenges man by showing him the mercy and delicate balance of the creation. By changing one factor the entire creational setup would have been different; it would have been intolerant to forms of life on land. Taking for granted what Allah has given man is arrogance.
71 Have you considered the fire which you strike?
72 Is it you that produce the trees for it, or are We the producers?
Shajar means tree. In Islamic culture the tree traditionally symbolizes the tree of life; its branches symbolize all the aspects of creation connected to one trunk which reaches down under the ground to its roots which draw up nourishment for the entire organism. Does man know the root of life? Does he know its meaning? Has he created it? Has he created fire? All that he has done is to rub two sticks to gether to get a spark; he has done nothing. He is simply an experiencer - Allah is the Munshi', the Producer. Life's origin lies with the one and only Reality to Whom everything belongs anyway.
73 We have made it a reminder and an advantage for the wayfarers of the desert.
74 Therefore glorify the name of your Lord, the Great.
Tadhkira is from dhikr, which is remembrance, awareness and a way of passage. Tadhkira in modern Arabic means a ticket. It is to remind whoever stops you at the gate that you are allowed to get into the next situation. It is the qualification for entry based upon reminding the ticket collector.
The password for the door to glorification is the Name, the ism. At the door, upon being received, the Name is given. A man of sidq, a man of truth, says: Allah, or, my Lord. It is said in the traditions that when the aya "Therefore glorify the name of your Lord, the Great" came upon the Prophet, salla-llahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, he made it the way of worship. He asked the Muslims to say, "subhana rabbi-l-`azimi wa bihamdih" when they went into ruku` (bowing), because one does ruku' after standing and witnessing this life, the next life, the fire, the garden, and the origin. Whoever praises the one and only Reality is heard, because Reality is the All-Knowing. Having done that, one falls down and obliterates one's profile. It is then, when one is at one's lowest, that one can speak of the Highest, Al Ala - subhana rabbi-l- Ala wa bihamdih. In that state of obliteration the eyes are on dust, while one's inner eye sees the greatness of Al- A la, the Highest, the Mightiest.
75 But nay! I swear by the falling of stars;
76 And most surely it is a very great oath if you only knew;
"But nay! I swear by the falling of the stars," means I swear by the truth of it, by the positioning of it. Mawaqi` (position, place where something falls down) is from waqa'a, to fall. Nujum are stars, or anything that has light - I swear by the light, by the self-effulgent light of this message, this spark of truth that ignites in the heart of the believer. The evidence is that the message hits the right switch in the heart and lights it up. Everyone is a star, different, yet the same. It is an oath of the truth of physical reality. It is an oath attesting to the perfection of the positions of all things in this creation. The fixed position of the stars are a manifestation of the order of the cosmos. These fixed positions are, in fact, dynamic. They are not rigid, but interact with their environment.
77 Most surely it is an honored Qur'an,
78 In a book that is protected;
The Qur'an is that which is worthy of being read. It is that which has been gathered - the exposition of Reality. It encompasses what can be experienced and comprehended of Reality. It has immediate use in teaching one to live correctly, harmoniously and joyfully.
The Qur'an cannot be reached or understood if approached through the circumscribed limits of duality. If the reader is burdened by the affliction of duality, caused and nourished by his non-submission, then the Qur'an is veiled to him. As the pure exposition of Reality, the Qur'an can only reflect the degree of purity of the reader's heart.
79 None shall touch it save the purified ones.
The Qur'an is subtle. It contains what man imagines can be contained and more. So how can one touch it? One can only come to know it if one stops knowing anything else, and by complete abandonment and submission lets go into the Qur'an - there is only the Qur'an. This is the essence of the meaning of Islam.
In the existential situation there is duality. Existential knowledge and information are based upon a seeker and a sought. Something that has a defined domain, such as a language, can be acquired. This is existential knowledge and is informative; it is based on time, thinking capacity, and patience. But the knowledge of Truth cannot be acquired in this fashion. It can only be acquired by allowing it to emerge, because it is already there rooted in the heart. The knowledge of Truth is not nourished because man nourishes everything else other than it. His energy has been diverted towards otherness, towards existential matters, and the self-effulgent knowledge of the Book has not been given its due attention. Truth is the substratum of existence and it upholds the cosmic event which man experiences in his short life.
80 A revelation by the Lord, of the worlds.
Allah is the Lord of the two worlds, the physical and the nonphysical - this world which man experiences, and the next world where he is subject to the effects of his previous intentions. He will experience and become his intentions, nothing more. In this world, the gross prevails over the subtle, while in the next the subtle becomes obvious and everything that was once hidden in one's heart becomes a suhufan munashshara, a spread-open book.
81 Do you then hold this announcement in contempt?
82 And to give (it) the lie you make your means of subsistence.
The story of the dunya (this material world) and the akhira of this life and the next, is about purification. The human being can be likened to water which is by nature pure. As it flows it collects grains of sand. When the water is harnessed in a reservoir, the grains settle and the water reverts back to its pure nature. If the water is constantly kept in agitation the entire ecology of the water life is destroyed. Like water, human beings must harness themselves so that they can observe their wrong actions and avoid them. Otherwise their individual and societal ecologies will be disrupted and destroyed. The harness is the 'aql (intellect, reason).
The moment the eternal absolute silence was broken by the rise of creation there was a tune. The song of iman is the Qur'an and is continuously heard as growth moves on biologically. If we are not tuned to the song of iman, we are tuned to other than it. If man is tuned to other than the Qur'an he will scorn the Qur'an, because he wants harmony, not discord. A receiver cannot pick up two signals at once and likewise man's nature is to listen to one waveband, not two.
83 Why is it not then that when it (soul) comes up to the throat,
84 And you at that time look on
85 And We are nearer to it than you, but you do not see
Once man has committed himself to denial, he clings to it. He clings to what he has given value and invested in. When his life comes to an end, he is choked with death and held looking. Allah says: "And We are nearer to it than you, but you do not see." You have not been focusing your vision during your life on what is worthy of being seen. The Truth that permeates all manifestations is closer than closeness itself. That is the meaning of Allah's statement. The subtle power that underlies all visible powers is closer to the source, closer to Allah.
86 Then why is it - if you are not held under debt -
87 That you send it not back - if you are truthful?
Dayn, which means debt, is one side of a balance. If a man considers himself to be indebted, then obviously he will address himself to it correctly. If you consider yourself to be indebted to Reality then you will return that debt. The entire existence is based upon that debt about which Imam as-Sadiq, alayhi-s-salam, asks how it can be repaid. It is not possible to repay it. For example, suppose you feel blissful as a result of a joyful moment and want to be thankful for your joy. When you bring to consciousness your thankfulness, you find then that you must be thankful for being able to thank, to thank endlessly, like the infinitely reflected images of two mirrors facing each other. This is the meaning, that there is no end to one's realization of the impossibility of paying such a debt. It is an unfathomable gift, and man squanders it.
"If you are not held under debt" is a question that cannot be challenged. Look at your life and how it has disappeared. Where are the controls that man thought he had? 'Ali Zayn ul-`Abidin, alayhi-s-salam, said: "The true mu'min (believer) dies as if he were taking off a filthy garment." But he who does not believe, and who has invested only in this world, has the garment of life torn and stripped from his being as he tries to cling on.
"Why is it - if you are not held under debt - That you send it not back - if you are truthful?" If you are not under debt, if you are not under the complete and utter control of your Lord, why then do you not send death back when it comes? The mu'min, upon hearing that somebody has died, says: "There is no power nor strength except by Allah." Man only has relative strength during the short period of his life.
The true seeker is heartened when he hears that somebody has died, because he knows death is the door to the next experience. He who believes rejoices, because the dead man is released from the confusion of the duality of this life, and with certainty now has knowledge. It is not that he rejoices because someone is destroyed - for it is only the flesh and the bones that are destroyed, the ruh lives on. The true seeker is interested in knowledge. When a baby is born, the true seeker cries, knowing what this new entity will have to go through.
88 Then if he is one of those drawn nigh (to) Allah)
89 Then happiness and bounty and a garden of bliss.
"Then if he is one of those drawn nigh (to Allah)." Man does not know the Real. He does not know the way to the Real because there is no way to the Real. But he may come to know what is not the Real. He learns the roads that take him far from Reality. By stopping the drives along those roads one can naturally and spontaneously be on the one and only road, the one and only path of tawhid. The worldly existence and the next life of he who is close to Allah is one of na`im, comfort and ease, which is the janna (garden of paradise). In it he sees things with tawhid and is not subject to experiential changes.
The Prophet `Isa, alayhi-s-salam, said: "I was looking for my people when I came across those who were afraid of the fire. I told them, `You will win by your trade. But that is not what I am looking for.' Then I came upon the people who were praying for the garden and I said to them, `You will get it but you are enslaved to that state. I am not looking for that.' Then I came upon people who were truly and simply in worship, in sane bewilderment, in pure glorification, and I said to them, `You are my people.' "
If you want Allah, the fire and the garden are the steps to Him. In the Qur'an there are descriptions of their different degrees. The final degree of the garden is where there is no sound and nothing is heard: "They shall not hear therein vain or sinful discourse, except the word peace, peace." If there is anything to be heard it is peace, peace. It is pure consciousness. What happens in the lower garden is the negation, or the neutralization, of desires by their fulfillment, in order for one to go beyond them into utter silence, into the essence.
90 And if he is one of those on the right hand,
91 Then peace to you from those on the right hand.
This sura is about the different states that one may acquire according to the degree of one's tawhid. The muqarrabun, the close ones, are far from other than Him and are therefore close to Him.
The people of the right are the righteous, are those who have acted diligently. Some commentators describe the ashabu-l-yamin (companions of the right) as the ashabu-l-mujahada, the people who are in jihad, the people who continually strive and are patient in their suffering. There is peace upon them even though they are in turmoil and affliction. This life is the house of affliction, but if the affliction is harnessed along the path taken by the Prophet, salla-llahu alayhi wa a`lihi wa sallam, it is tolerable. Otherwise a sane person can only jump from a window and openly declare the incomprehensibility of his existence. This life is a place of hardship in which resistance to Allah's mercy is rubbed away. Man has no option but to be in jihad.
92 And if he is one of the rejecters, the erring ones,
93 He shall have a gift of boiling water,
94 And burning in hell.
"And if he is one of the rejecters," meaning, if he has denied the one and only Truth, if he has denied that tawhid. A man by his rejection is called one of the mukadhdhibin ad-dallin (rejecters, erring ones). First he lies, denying what he knew within his heart to be true. If man denies his indebtedness, he is at a loss.
"He shall have a gift of boiling water." Man can experience the drinking of hot water here and now. When one becomes very angry and emotionally disturbed, even attempts to crush that anger are rejected and only increase the fire of agitation. The cool rains of mercy are not recognized and thus have the effect of boiling water. An outer fire is containable and its boundaries are known, while the inner fires of desire, lust, fear and anger, are without boundary. Man himself is the tree that feeds the fire. The ultimate state of the mukadhdhibin be comes nuzulun min hamim. Their home is where the boiling water, the fire, is. They dwell in jahim, roasting hell.
95 Most surely this is a certain truth.
96 Therefore glorify the name of your Lord, the Great.
"Most surely this is a certain truth." One is earning entry into the next life by one's actions in this life - and actions are based on intentions. Man manufactures either the key to hell or the key to heaven, and begins to experience those states here by the purity of his intentions. There is no discontinuity. Those who manufacture the key to hell already experience it now. It is a continuum from this life into the next.
The one who manufactures the key of joy, the key to the garden, has already entered that state. The file that he has in his hand, which is knowledge combined with action, is used to smooth the rough edges of himself, of his personality, with all its special contours of desire. If he is ultimately willing to be filed down to nothing, to be a non-entity, then he will recognize the One Entity. The more he asserts his own identity, the less he can see the One Entity.
The Prophet, salla-llahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, has said: "There are not two hearts in the breast of man." If one's intention is to know, one will come to know Allah. And once you have come to know Allah, nothing else matters. If your intention is only to have economic well being, then you will get that and all the difficulties inherent in it. If your intention is to have a house and the pleasure of children, you will get that and the disappointments that naturally come along with it. You cannot get one thing without its opposite. This is the balance. The Qur'an is called the Mizan, the Balance, and the laws that govern existence are in balance. Existence is not chaos, it is cosmos - in precise balance.
Amir ul-Mu'minin 'Ali, alayhi-s-salam, once said that the first thing that comes to the man of abandonment and faith is a glimpse of Reality, of which he seeks to attain certainty. That certainty comes by questioning,. studying, understanding, and moving steadily along the path, by living the Qur'an. The first stage of certainty is like being informed that there is a fire in the wood, and you trust the reliability of the informant to have given correct information. This is called ilmu-l yaqin ( the knowledge' of certainty). The second stage is actually seeing it, witnessing the truth of the message, and this is `aynu-l-yaqin (the eye or source of certainty). The third stage is haqqu-l yaqin (the truth of certainty), which is actually experiencing the fire. One experiences the fire's warmth by being next to it or being burned by it. There is no doubt about its quality anymore. The fourth stage is haqqu-l-haqq (the truth of the truth), when one is consumed in the fire and there is nothing left.
La huwa illa hu: There is none other than He. This is the final stamp of Truth. One burns in it. Nothing can take it away from you once it has been engraved because then you have paid your debt.
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Author: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
