The Philosophy of Islamic Teachings (30)

(We continue where we left off in the 29th instalment, where we expounded on the meaning of revelation). 

The meaning of revelation (continued). 

There is no doubt that if the recipient of revelation asks a question, and God answers the question; if there is a sequence between question and answer; if the revelation is characterised by Divine light and majesty, and if it comprises knowledge of the unseen and true understanding, then it is indeed the Word of God. It is imperative that the Divine relationship be like a dialogue between two friends. When the servant asks a question, he should get a sweet and eloquent answer from the Exalted God in which his thought, his projection and his very being are not to be a part. If such a dialogue is granted as a blessing to a person, then it is the Word of God, and its recipient is willed by God. That revelation is granted as a blessing, and that a series of holy and living revelations are granted to a servant of God clearly and in a pure form, is not the lot of anyone except those who attain a high level of faith, sincerity and good work, and of that which we cannot discover here. Holy and true revelation shows many wonders of the Divine. Many times a bright light is generated along with the bestowal of a majestic and brilliant revelation. What other blessing could be greater than this, that a recipient of revelation can converse with the Being who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth? God can be seen in this world only through conversation with Him. 

This does not include the condition of a person from whose mouth proceed words or verses unaccompanied by such a dialogue. God tests such a person, as He sometimes tests His lazy and negligent servants, by causing phrases and statements to come out of their mouths and hearts in respect of which the servants are as blind, not knowing whether such words emanate from God or from Satan. Persons thus tested should implore "istighfar" (God's forgiveness) with regard to such an experience. But if a righteous and honoured servant of the Lord experiences a continuous dialogue with the Divine, and hears, while fully awake, a sequence of bright, wise, sweet, majestic and meaningful words, in the form of at least ten questions and answers - that is, if the servant asks God and God answers, and the servant, fully awake, asks another question and God answers again, and the servant, fully awake, asks another question and God answers again, repeating this exchange at least ten times - and if in the course of the dialogue God accepts his prayers, and provides him with profound knowledge, informs him of coming events, and repeatedly honours him with His dialogue, then such a person is to be deeply grateful to God, and is to devote himself to Him more fully than any other, because God, in His Grace, has chosen him from among His servants, and has made him the heir of the faithful ones who preceded him. This blessing is very rarely bestowed, and is the highest Divine favour. Those to whom it is bestowed consider all else worthless. 

A characteristic of Islam 

Islam has always produced people of this spiritual supremacy. Only in Islam does God approach His servant, and converse with him and speak within him. God makes His throne in the heart of such a person, and guides him from within to the heavens. He bestows on him the same blessings that He bestowed on his predecessors. It is a pity that the people of this blind world do not see how near a man can come to God. They do not step forward; and if another offers himself, they either regard him as an unbeliever, or they regard him as a god, and put him in the place of God. Both of these attitudes are great blunders which pass from one extreme to the other. A wise man should possess a high degree of resolve, and should not reject or denigrate the one whom God has chosen for this eminence, nor bow down to him as if he were a god. When a person attains such a degree of exaltation, God the Exalted manifests such a relationship with him that He seems to protect him with the mantle of His Divinity, making him a mirror through which the rest of us can see God. For this reason, the Holy Prophet (lpbD) said: "He who has seen me has seen God". This is the ultimate stage of man's spiritual progress, in which he is granted full satisfaction. 

The lecturer receives the honour of Divine conversation. 

At this point in my exposition, it would be a great injustice to my fellowmen not to declare that the Divine goodness has chosen me to receive the status I have just described, and has honoured me with the conversation whose characteristics I have just set forth in detail, that I may give sight to the blind, that I may guide those who seek Him, who hitherto was hidden, and that I may give to those who accept the truth the good news of that Holy Source of which many speak but which few find. I assure the listeners that unless they follow the Holy Quran, no one can find God, in whom is salvation and the eternal welfare of man. If people were to see what I have seen, and if they were to hear what I have heard, then they would reject vain tales and run in search of the Truth. Conversation with the Divine is the heavenly water which effaces all doubts; it is the mirror through which we behold the Supreme Being. He who seeks in his soul the Truth, let him arise and seek. I tell you truly that if souls are filled with true seeking, and if hearts are thirsty, people will seek the way to see God and will seek the good way. How do we discover the way, and how do we break through the veil that separates us from it? I assure all seekers that only Islam gives us the good news of that way. All other peoples have closed the way of revelation. But be assured that God has not closed this way: it is only a pretext offered by those who have been deprived of it. Be assured that, just as we cannot see without eyes, nor hear without ears, nor speak without a tongue, so we can never see the face of the true Beloved without the help of the Holy Quran. I was young and now I am old, but I will never find anyone who would drink from the cup of visible understanding without drinking from this Holy Fountain. 

(lpbD) - peace and blessings of God be upon him. 

(To be continued in instalment 31, dealing further with the subject of revelation.)