AN INTRODUCTION
Allah Almighty, with His
glorious divinity, His beautiful mercy, His mighty dominicality,
His generous benevolence, His immense power, and His subtle
wisdom, has equipped and adorned tiny man with many senses and
feelings, limbs and systems, members and faculties, and subtle
and immaterial aspects so that through them He might cause man
to perceive, know, taste and recognize the limitless varieties
and levels of His bounty, munificence and mercy. And so that,
through those tools, He might cause man to ponder over, know
and love the endless kinds of manifestations of His thousand
and one Names. And, just as each of man's great many members
and faculties performs a completely different service and worship,
so, too, do they have completely different pleasures, pains,
duties and rewards.
For example, the eye beholds
the beauty of forms and the varieties of the beautiful miracles
of power in the world of things seen. Its duty, taking its lesson
from these, is gratitude to its Maker. The pleasures and pains
peculiar to sight are known, there is no need to enlarge upon
them.
And, for example, the
ear perceives the different sorts of voices and their melodious
songs, and the subtle instances of Allah Almighty's mercy in
the world of things heard. Its worship, pleasures and rewards
are all different.
And, for example, the
sense of smell perceives the subtle instances of mercy within
the realm of scents. It has a duty of gratitude and pleasure
peculiar to itself. And, of course, it has a reward, too.
And, for example, the
sense of taste, which is in the tongue, through appreciating
the taste of all foods, performs its duty with a truly diverse
thankfulness. And so on. All man's faculties, including his
important subtle aspects, such as the heart, intellect and spirit,
have quite distinct duties, pleasures and pains.
Thus, Allah Almighty,
the Possessor of Absolute Wisdom, will certainly give suitable
recompense to each one of those faculties, which He employs
in human beings. Everyone may perceive with his conscience the
immediate results in this world of those numerous varieties
of love, as was explained above, and they may be confirmed through
experience.
As for the results in
the hereafter, their existence and reality have been conclusively,
through briefly, proved by the decisively clear Twelve Truths
of the Tenth Word, and by the six self-evident Fundamental
Points of the Twenty-Ninth Word. They are also clearly
demonstrated in detail by the distinct verses and the explanations,
allusions, symbols and indications of the All-Wise Qur'an, which
is,
'The most truthful of all words, most eloquent in its order, the Word
of Allah -The Lord, The Mighty, The All- Knowing'. There is
no need to present more extensive proofs. In any case, there
are further proofs in other Words: in the Second Station of
the Twenty- Eighth Word, which is about Paradise,
and is in Arabic, and in the Twenty-Ninth Word.
FIRST INDICATION
According to the Qur'an,
the result in the hereafter of licit and thankful love for delicious
foods and fruits is again delicious food and fruit, but in a
form appropriate for Paradise. And this licit love desires those
foods and fruits of the hereafter. So much so, that when you
utter the phrase 'Praise be to Allah' over the fruit you eat
in this world, it will be embodied as a fruit of Paradise and
presented to you there. Here you eat fruit, while there you
will eat 'Praise be to Allah'.
And since you see divine
munificence and the All- Merciful One's favours in bounty and
food, it is established by Hadith, the indications of the Qur'an,
and the requirements of wisdom and mercy that that pleasurable
gratitude will be given to you in Paradise in the form of a
truly delicious food.
SECOND INDICATION
Licit love for your instinctual
soul in this world is not a love built on its good qualities,
but rather one that sees its shortcomings and trains it with
a compassion that seeks to perfect it, and that impels it towards
good. This love results in giving to the soul objects of love
worthy of it in Paradise.
As is explicitly stated
and proved by a great number of verses in the Qur'an, when the
soul utilizes its desires and wishes correctly and employs its
faculties and senses in the best way in this world, that is,
in the way of Allah Almighty, as a result of this licit and
worshipful love the Absolutely Generous One will bestow on it
houris in Paradise, the everlasting realm. He will clothe these
houris in seventy all different varieties of the finery and
subtle exquisiteness of Paradise. He will adorn their beings
with seventy different kinds of beauty that will carries and
gratify all the senses of the soul. Each houri will be like
a miniature animated Paradise.
Furthermore, your love
of youth in this world, that is, the result of expending the
power of youth in worship, will be eternal youth in the realm
of bliss.
THIRD INDICATION
Licit love for your wife
in this world is sincere love in consequence of her delicate
tenderness, fine virtues and good character, together with your
protecting her from disobeying Allah obstinately and sinning.
The Absolutely Merciful One has promised that as a result of
this licit love your wife shall be given to you as an eternal
wife in the hereafter, the realm of bliss. She will be in a
form more beautifully adorned and attractive than the houris.
You will relate to one another in delight your former adventures
in the world, bringing to mind old memories. She will be an
intimate, gracious and eternal friend, who loves and is beloved.
And, most certainly, that which He Promises shall definitely
be given.
FOURTH INDICATION
The result of licit love
for parents and children is this. According to the Qur'an, the
Most Merciful of the Merciful will bestow on that happy family,
even though their stations may be quite different, the pure
pleasure of each other's company in the everlasting realm
He will return children
who die before reaching the age of fifteen years, that is, the
age of puberty, once more to the embrace of their fathers and
mothers, in a manner appropriate to Paradise.
They will be most
beautifully adorned and lovable, in the form of the children
of Paradise, who are known as, immortal youths'.* (*Qur'an 76:19.
56:17.) He will gratify their child-cherishing
sentiments and will give them that pleasure and delight eternally.
Since those children had not reached the age of responsibility,
they will remain eternally as lovable and sweet children.
Every pleasurable thing
in this world will be found in its highest form in Paradise.
Some people surmise that since Paradise is not appropriate for
reproduction, there will be none of this cherishing of children,
which is so sweet, that is, the pleasure of loving and carressing
them. But it will be there, too, and in the most delightful
and sweet form. This, then, is good news for those whose children
die before puberty.
FIFTH INDICATION
The result of love for
righteous friends in this world, according to the decree of,
'Love for Allah's sake' is, as the Qur'an states,
'Facing one another on
thrones of
happiness'*. (Qur'an 15:47, 37:44.) Allah Almighty will seat
them on the chairs of Heaven facing one another. He will cause
them to meet with their friends, pleasantly, agreeably and sweetly.
They will enjoy themselves recounting their old memories and
adventures in' this world, with a pure love and companionship
that will not be subject to separation.
SIXTH
INDICATION
The
result of love for the prophets and saints is as the Qur'an
explains. That is, it will be both to benefit in the intermediate
world and at the resurrection from the intercession of the prophets
and saints, and, also, to profit abundantly, through that love,
from the station and blessings that befit them. Indeed, according
to the meaning of
'a person
will be together with whom he loves', an ordinary man
may approach the highest station by following an exalted person
whom he loves.
SEVENTH INDICATION
The result of licit love
for beautiful things and the spring. That is, to see with the
eye of, 'how beautifully they have been made', and to love the
beauty and order of the actions, which are behind those works
of art. To love the manifestations of the Beautiful Names, which
are behind the order and harmony of the actions, and to love
the manifestations of the attributes behind those Beautiful
Names. And so on.
The result will be to
see in Paradise, the ever- lasting realm, the manifestation
of the Names, and the beauty and attributes within the Names,
in a form a thousand times more beautiful than the beautiful
creatures to be seen here. More than this even, Imam-i Rabbani
(may Allah be pleased with him) said, "The subtle exquisiteness
of Paradise will be the similitude of the manifestation of Allah's
Names." Just think of it!
EIGHTH
INDICATION
The result in the hereafter
of thoughtful love in this world for the two beautiful faces
of the world, which are, the tillage for the hereafter and the
mirror of the Divine Names. An everlasting Paradise will be
given that is as large as the world but is not ephemeral and
transient like this world. And the Names, only pale shadows
of which are shown in this world, will be displayed in the mirror
of Paradise in a most brilliant form.
Moreover, the result of
loving the world as being the tillage of the hereafter is as
follows. When the world is seen thus, that is, as a seed-bed
or small place of cultivation that produces only shoots, it
results in a Paradise where those shoots burgeon and blossom.
For in this world man's senses and faculties are tiny shoots
and in Paradise they will unfold in the most perfect form. And
his abilities, which are here like tiny seeds, will be given
to him there in a form that will blossom with all sorts of delights
and perfections. This is proved by the indications of the Qur'an
and by Hadith, and is necessitated by mercy and wisdom.
For it is not blameworthy
love of the world, which is the source of every fault, but,
rather, love of its two faces that look to Allah's Names and
to the hereafter, and is for the sake of the Names and the hereafter.
It is to cultivate those faces with thoughtful worship, as if
taking the whole world as the means for worship. It is, therefore,
most definitely necessitated by mercy and wisdom that a reward
should be given that is as large as the world. And, therefore,
one who, through love of the hereafter, has loved its seed-bed,
and through love of Almighty Allah, has loved the mirror of
His Names, will most certainly desire a beloved like the world.
And that, too, will be a Paradise as great as the world.
Question: What is the use of such
a vast and empty Paradise?
Answer:If it was possible for
you to travel with speed of imagination round all the regions
of the earth and most of the stars, you would be able to say,
"The whole universe is mine". And the fact that the angels,
other human beings and the animals share the world with you
would not quash your claim. In the same way, if Paradise, also,
was to be thus full, you would be able to say, "Paradise is
mine". The meaning of the Hadith, 'A five hundred year Paradise
will be given to some of those in Paradise, has been explained
in the Twenty-Eighth Word and the Twentieth Flash,
the Treatise on Sincerity.
NINTH INDICATION
The result of faith and
love of Allah. It is proved by the consensus of the people of
unveiling and verification, by certain Hadith14, and by the Qur'an that
a thousand years of happy life in this world is not worth one
hour of life in Paradise. And that a thousand years of heavenly
life is not worth one hour's vision and contemplation of the
All-Glorious One, Who possesses incomparable beauty and perfection.
Everyone may perceive
through his conscience a great longing for the vision of a personage
famous for his magnificence and perfection, like the Prophet
Solomon (upon whom be peace), and a great yearning to behold
a personage distinguished by his beauty, like the Prophet Joseph
(upon whom be peace). And to, if you can, compare how longed
for, sought after, and desire arousing is the vision of One,
one manifestation of Whose beauty and Perfection are all the
virtues and perfections of Paradise, which are thousands of
times more elevated than all the virtues and perfections of
this world.
Oh Allah, bestow upon
us in this world love for You and love for that which will draw
us closer to You, and the right-guidedness that You have commanded,
and, in the next world Your mercy and the vision of You.
Glory be unto You, we
have no knowledge save that which You have taught us. You are
indeed All-Knowing, All-Wise.*
Oh Allah, grant blessings
and peace on him whom You sent as a mercy to all the worlds,
and on all his family and companions. Amen.
* * *
14
Included in the Hadith is the following: 'That vision far surpasses
all the other delights of Paradise, so much so that it causes
them to be forgotten. And after the vision the loveliness and
beauty of those who experience it will have increased to such
a degree that when they return, it will be only with difficulty
and scrutiny that their families in their mansions will recognize
them.
