Chapter 2: The Beginning, Resurrection, coming from the first nature, return to it and the Qadr Night and the Day of Judgment

Chapter 2: The Beginning, Resurrection, coming from the first nature, return to it and the Qadr Night and the Day of Judgment

The beginning is “Fitrah”, and the end is returning to it

“So, direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allah upon which He has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allah. That is the correct religion”¹. What is Fitrah? We can translate it as a human’s innate nature. When a flower blossom converts to a flower, Arabian people use the word Fatarah. In other words, Fatarah means revealing true appearance. The sky, Earth, and all the creatures are manifestations of God. To understand this topic, we need to understand the meaning of the creations of God. “Allah is the Creator of all things”². How does God create? Any creations that exist, comes from the mercy and blessing of God. The question is: “Can creatures exist without God’s mercy?” For sure not. “I created you before, while you were nothing”³. The mercy of God comes, and creations are manifestations of that Mercy. The mercy from God becomes limited or defined and then a creature appears. So, the sky, Earth, Sun, humans, and others are the mercy of Allah. This is only a one-way mercy, and it is from God. Therefore, whatever you see is a form of the mercy of God. “So, wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah”⁴. Face here is human heart which is faced toward Allah. We need to be careful of how we interpret this verse. One of the considerations of face here is the human heart but not exactly like ours. Always keep following verses of the Holy Quran in all your interpretation that “There is nothing like Him”⁵. All creatures are manifestations of God and will return to him. “Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return”⁶. Human Fitrah is not changeable, and it is the same for all humans since we came from the same source. “No change is there in the words of Allah”⁷. For example, every single person loves perfection, whether that person be educated, non-educated, living in a desert, in a high rise, or even people living in isolation. You might ask how can we prove this? If you ask a person living in an isolated jungle to select between a broken spear and a sharp spear. He would pick the sharp spear. If it is true that we are born with Fitrah and God’s love is in our nature, then why do we see people in this world with different attitudes? When humans start their life in this world, their Fitrah is mixed with their lust and people then see different things as perfection. One sees money as God, one sees power as God and so on, they missed that real perfection is to be close to God. Religion is a direct link to human Fitrah, not to their lust and temptation, therefore religion is constant, and it is completely dependent on our Fitrah. Some people might say that prophet Muhammad(S) lived 1400 years ago, and religion needs to be changed. They forget the point that religion is dependent on human Fitrah which is remain the same and is constant. If you buy a washer/dryer machine you will ask its manufacture how to use it or maybe refer to its manual. We know that we have not made ourselves, then why should we not go and ask our creator what the purpose of a human is and how we can achieve it. The holy Quran is like a manual for Human beings (Allameh Hassanzadeh). Anyway, this is important to know that we came from the same place and will be back there sooner or later. We are like an ocean wave that comes from the ocean and returns back to it.

1- فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفاً فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْها لا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ
2- اللَّـهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ
3- وَ قَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَ لَمْ تَكُ شَيْئاً
4- فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّـهِ
5- لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ
6- إِنَّا لِلَّـهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
7- لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِكَلِمَاتِ اللَّـهِ

First was God and nothing else were with him¹

This is a particularly important phrase, and we need to explain it in more detail. Before anything else, we need to understand the meaning of the “First”. We have different types of First.

–First in Time: for example, someone born before you then we say he is first, and you are second.

–First in space: for example, someone close to Ka’ba and you are a few lines behind him, so he is first compared to you.

–First in level: for example, the president is first in level and vice president is second.

–First in cause and effect: Cause is first, and effect is second. For example, when you turn a key to open the door. The movement of your hand is first, and movement of the key is second. It is not necessary to have time. There are other types of First which can be found in philosophy books.

So, first it was God and nothing else. This does not mean that there was a time that God was and nothing else(God is the creator of time and not bound by time). If you consider the time, then there would be lots of questions that would need to be answered. This is how most people think of it, but the truth is: “ time is a dimension of matter, and both are God’s creation”. Matter has length, width, and depth. “It is impossible to have matter without time and time without matter”. In the metaphysical world there is no matter, hence its free from time and space. In the intelligence world, there is no time and space. Time is amount of movement. Now with this explanation is it possible to say that: there was a time that this world did not exist? No. why? Because if there is no physical world there would be no time. So, this world existed forever, there is no way we can find a specific time in which the physical world did not exist. There were and always will be changes in this world, but this is not what we discussed above. The key point is that this eternality is not on its own and it is fully depending on someone else who is God. A simple example to understand is like the sun and sun light. If there is a sun, there is sun light. Sun light is fully dependent on the sun. this world is fully depending on Allah, but Allah is self-dependent. Now back to Khajeh’s point: “First was God and nothing else with him”. One mystic man said: At the moment there is God, and nothing else with him(because they see creatures as His manifestations and fully dependent on Him).

 “Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Wise”². So, God is ever knowing and wise. Creatures exist if God exist since he is “eternal kindness”³. His kindness is eternal and there needs to be creatures to receive this kindness. If you look at this world with a true monotheistic viewpoint: “there is God and nothing else” but when the mercy of God descends, you will see it manifest into humans, animals, sea, sun, moon and so on. if you understand and reach the highest level of truth, then you will see that no creatures independently exist, and they all depend on God for their existence. There is a long way to reach this truth, even though it is the closest thing to us. Imam Sadegh said “I swear by the God of Ka’ba that the monotheistic person is he who does not see with God anything else”⁴. A thing in this world has two aspects: 1- truth and divine aspect  2- physical and creature aspect. So, if we look at them with the first aspect we realize “It was God and nothing else” and if we look at them with the second, we see creatures and will look for God. Human Fitrah is our heaven that Satan separate us from our monotheism nature. We need to return to our pure nature which tell us that everything from God.

1- كان اللّه و لم يكن معه شى‏ء 
2- إِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا
3- قدیم الاحسان
4- الموحد و رب الکعبه لا یری مع الله غیر الله

Our story is like young fishes in the ocean who were looking for water. They heard from their parents that they are in the water, and without water they will not survive. Their parents also told them that water is everywhere, and they are alive because of water, but they keep saying if this is true why do we not see the water. They went to an old wise fish and asked him about water, and he said same thing as their parents. Few fishes were very serious to see water and insisted that the old fish show them a way that they can see it. The old fish said to them you need to go to the shore where there are big ships. After they went there, they were trapped by a fisher man and then they realized that they were in the water and saw whatever their parents told them was right. In one meaning, the old men are prophets and in the other meaning fisher men are prophets and guardians of God that help people to see the truth of this world. There was a guy that had not been to a jungle before, he asked someone to get him to a real jungle. When he arrived in the jungle, he was telling his tour guide that these trees do not allow him to see the jungle!! Everything is existence and existence is concomitance to truth. Anything that has existence, has God. Every existence is belonging to Allah. Creatures are indicators of God, but keep in mind any creature is limited.

How did Allah creates creatures? Are they created from absolute nothingness? can nothingness exist? If it does exist, then it is not nothingness it would be existence! were we nothing before and then became a being? When the mercy of Allah comes with a specific figure a being is created. Like the ocean and a wave, waves come from the ocean and return back to it. It was not there before, but when the ocean got a figure waves were created. A waves existence is not independent. It comes from the ocean and will return to it. A waves identity was not there but its truth was in the ocean. So, being created from nothing means, the mercy of God came, and we were created. “For I created you before, while you were nothing”¹. “Has there [not] come upon man a period of time when he was not a thing [even] mentioned?”². He was a thing but not mentioned. There was a time that the wave was not a mentioned thing  even though its truth was in the ocean. Our truth and reality were there but our mentioned names were not. It was God and nothing else, and it is still God and nothing else.

Creatures have quantity. They have limits and measure. Khaleq is an Arabic word which means creator. Khaleq (creator) in Quranic translation is the person that measure a thing. For example, when a carpenter or tailor measures something we will call him Khaleq or creator. Note this is different than giving something existence. In other words, we are measurements of Allah. “Our Lord is He who gave each thing its form (measure) and then guided [it]”³. Did  I want this face? Did I want to be tall or short? and so on. In Quran, we see many places with “men qabl”(from before). It is crucial to go over all of them and understand the deep meaning. For a more detailed explanation on this subject, it is recommended to refer to “unity from mystic and philosopher viewpoints” book of Allameh Hassanzadeh.

Fitrah or human nature in mystic view is that there is nothing except God. We look at creatures and measurements of Allah and try to find Allah. When you look at yourselves in the mirror, you see your face. Creatures are like mirrors that show what? They show God or we can say existence but with creatures’ limits and measures. “So, wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah”⁴. I am a mirror in which you see a face of Allah. What is the meaning of nothing after being? Means returning to our Fitrah and source.

1- وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِن قَبْلُ وَلَمْ تَكُ شَيْئًا
2- هَلْ أَتَىٰ عَلَى الْإِنسَانِ حِينٌ مِّنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْئًا مَّذْكُورًا
3- قَالَ رَبُّنَا الَّذِي أَعْطَىٰ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَىٰ
4- فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّـهِ

In explanation of nothingness after being, Mula Faiz Kashani explained a tradition from Imam Sadiq (A) as followed: “ Whoever is on the Earth will die, then all in the sky will die and only the Angel of death, Angel Gabriel, Angel Michael and the Throne’s angels will be alive. Then, the Angel of death comes to God and stands before him. God asks him: “Who is left alive?” He already knows but the Angel of death replies: “Oh, my Lord, no one is left except me, the Throne’s angels, Angel Gabriel and Angel Michael”. God says, “Tell Gabriel and Michael to die”. Then the angels will say: “Our Lord! They are your messenger and trustworthy!”. God says, “ I have decreed death for everyone in which they have soul”. Then, the Angel of death comes and stands before God Almighty, God says to him: “Who is left?” He knows better, he says: “Lord! There is none left but the Angel of death and the Throne’s angels”. God says, “Tell the Throne’s angels to die”. Then, the Angel of death, depressed and sad, comes down, and God says to him: “Who is left?”. He says: “Oh Lord! There is no one left but the Angel of death”. God says, “Die, oh angel of death!”. So, he dies, then God takes the earth with his right hand and the skies with his right hand and says: “Where are those who claims to be partners with me?” “Where are those who took another God with me?”. Faiz says: “This tradition is from secrets. The death of every soul in the Earth and Skies may be pointed to annihilation of every lower-order being in the higher-order being. The last step of annihilation is eternal level”. 

There is a question: We know that in the metaphysical world, there is no time. So, how is it possible for the Angel of death to take all of the souls, and then come to God? In the Day of Judgment, when you pass each level and go to the next level, you see there is no one except God and all creatures fade away or vanish for you. You will come to the level to see that the Angel of death is also getting faded away or annihilated for you. In the Day of Judgment, all creatures will be annihilated but there is only God Almighty. “To whom belongs [all] sovereignty this Day? To Allah, the One, the Prevailing”¹. There are three main levels in Tawhid (monotheism):

1. Tawhid Af’al (Monotheism of actions): In this level, mystics see that all actions are from God².
2. Tawhid Sefat (Monotheism of attributes and qualities): In this level, mystics see that all good attributes are from God³.
3. Tawhid Zaat (Monotheism of self): In this level, all creatures will be annihilated⁴.

Origin of the wave is from the ocean, but it was not mentioned and did not have a name. All your knowledge is gathered with unity in your intellectual or soul level. In the next level you decide to explain for example “one story from your life- when you graduated from college”, so in the lower-level which mystics call “the heart level”, this subject is explained in detail. In the lower level which mystics call “the  Khial level”, the whole story will get proper figures and shapes. After this in the lower level, which is your physical level, you tell the story by your tongue.

Intellectual level > Heart level > Khial level > Physical level

The key point is that your knowledge exists in all the levels, but it will come from unity in multiplicity. With above explanation we would be able to say that “all creatures in this world that seem to be separated, in reality they are in the higher level united like the example of our knowledge that is united in intellectual level”.

“He arranges [each] matter from the heaven to the earth; then it will ascend to Him.” Things are managed from the sky to the earth. When a person hears a story from someone, it goes to their Khial then to their Heart then it gathers in their soul or intellectual level. The above example applies to the human world, but the same will also apply to the whole universe. Things are measured in the heart level, and then are transformed into the proper shape and figure finally appearing in the physical world. The important point to note is that spiritual descendance is without excess (Tajafi²) meaning the source does not leave its original place. Descendance of a raindrop is excess, which means that at any given moment, the raindrop is in one place, that is, it leaves a higher level and descends to a lower level. But the descent of God’s grace is not in the form of the descent of raindrop, but while it is in the high rank, it also descends in the lower rank. For example, your knowledge in a given time is at the level of your soul/intellectual, heart, Khial/imagination, and sense. When you want to teach a person a mathematical formula, your knowledge about this formula is not separating from you to reach the student ears.

At the end creatures perish and only God exists

“Everyone upon the earth perish, and there will remain the Face of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honor”³. The word “Fan”⁴ in above verse is an active noun. They have already perished not that they will perish. Creatures are manifestations of God and are not independent things. Therefore, as the creation of things after nothingness is called the beginning (Mabda) then the destruction of them after existence is call the end (Ma’ad). This does not mean that for example the sun and moon will be destroyed, rather just like other creations they are fully dependent to God in the mystic view point hence they can be considered destroyed. Do not think that the day of judgement will come in a time and day in the future. The day of judgement is already happening, but you do not see it. A tradition  from Amir Al-Mo’minin Ali(A) says: this world is in the hereafter and the hereafter is surrounding this world⁵. When your day of judgment comes you will see all the verses that are related to the day of judgment. “As We began the first creation, We shall restore it”⁶. “Allah it is Who created you in weakness, then He appointed strength after weakness, then after strength appointed weakness and grey hair. He creates whatsoever He wants, and He is Knower, the Potent”⁷. We say this body, hair, teeth belong to me but if it is actually true then why can you not keep them?In Quran, we have “Wahid”⁸ and “Ahad”⁹. There is common mistake about the meaning of these two words. Most people translate these two words, considering them of the names of Allah with the same meaning. In Arabic if we say “Ma Ja’ani Ahad” means no one(comprehensive) came to me but if we say “Ma Ja’ani Wahed” means one specific person(singular) did not come to me. “Ahad” includes more people and is comprehensive. God is not one that can be counted. He does not have quality. He is the one that can not be pointed. He is the one that is unique. He is the real one. In Quran we see that Ahad only appears alone “Say thou: He is Allah, the One!(Unique)”¹⁰. Wahed always comes with another word like “Allah, the One, the Subduer”¹¹.

1- يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ
2- تجافی
3- كُلُّ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَانٍ *وَيَبْقَىٰ وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ
4- فان
5- الدُّنيا فِي الآخِرَةِ وَالآخِرَةُ مُحيطَةٌ بِالدُّنيا
6- كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُّعِيدُهُ
7- اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن ضَعْفٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ ضَعْفٍ قُوَّةً ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ ضَعْفًا وَشَيْبَةً ۚ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ ۖ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْقَدِيرُ
8- واحد
9- احد
10- قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
11- اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ

Inexistence or nothing do not exist. We cannot point out nonexistence. Existence is “Ahad” and unique. He is “Samad”¹ means is needless or in another meaning by mystic view point, Samad is the one that does not have free space for anything else. When a Mystic truly see this then his day of judgment has arrived. Now we see creator and creatures, but mystic only sees God and His manifestation.

In the beginning, God spoke, and creatures replied: “Am I not your lord? They said: Yes! we testify”² and in the end, God spoken Himself: “Whose is the dominion to-day? It is of Allah, the One, the Subduer” ³.

We know that God is one and unique, “Allah is the Lord of all the worlds”⁴. Allameh Tabatabaei said: “Rab”⁵ means owner and manager. Any creature has a “Rab”, for example a rooster has a spiritual and intellectual reality in the Hereafter that is free from matter. That rooster is the truth of all birds and manages them all. In other words, all birds that we see are descendants of it.

Mystics only see God and others disappear for them, this does not mean that others will be destroyed since their existence is from God, so only the illusion of other creations having independent existence will be destroyed for them. “Everything is perishable save His countenance”⁶. So, the beginning is from Him, and the end is to Him. “Verily, unto God do we belong and, verily, unto Him we shall return”⁷.

{The first nothingness was Adam in the heaven and the first being was when Adam was placed onto this world. The second nothingness will be the annihilation of Adam in the unity which is the returning heaven}

In the mystic view point, there are two arcs “Descendant Arc and Ascendant Arc”⁸. The heaven that Adam and Eve were living in was in the descendant heaven and the heaven that their children will go is ascendant heaven. “And We said: “O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in this garden, and eat freely thereof, both of you, whatever you may wish; but do not approach this one tree, lest you become wrongdoers”⁹. This verse is all humans that are in heaven and Satan deceived them. “and thus he led them on with deluding thoughts”¹⁰. What was that tree? Why God said do not eat? Why Adam and Eve ate? And why did they come out? There are some sweet discussions about this, but it needs a sharp mind to understand it. That tree was attention to multiplicities at the time of annihilation in essence. Meaning at the same time see creator and creatures. So, when they paid attention to multiplicities then they came out of heaven. Before eating from that tree their ugliness was hidden but after that their ugliness become apparent for them. “We did say, “Down with you all from this [state]”¹¹. We are like this, if we reach the unity there would not be any ugliness but when we descend we will have eating, drinking, marriage, ect. That is why we say to restrain your lust so that you may turn away from the status of an animal and return to the heaven.

1- صمد
2- أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ ۛ شَهِدْنَا
3- لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ ۖ لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ
4- الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
5- ا رَبِّ
6- كُلُّ شَيْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجْهَهُ
7- إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
8- قوس نزول و قوس صعود
9- وَقُلْنَا يَا آدَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَكُلَا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ
10- فَدَلَّاهُمَا بِغُرُورٍ
11- قُلْنَا اهْبِطُوا مِنْهَا جَمِيعًا

Note: what Satan said to Adam and Eve? “Your Lord has only prohibited you from this tree lest you become angels, or lest you become immortals”¹. Since Adam liked that place and wanted to stay there forever, Satan was able to trick them to eat from the forbidden tree. The key message here is that humans need to completely surrender to their Lord. Adam should say that I want whatever my Lord wants for me. If He wants me to stay here forever then I fully accept it, if not then I am fully obedient. Since Adam had selfishness, He ate from the tree. Regardless of which level humans are on, they need to be fully obedient to God. If God wants me poor, rich, sick, healthy then I accept it fully.

“Mowahid”² (the person who believes God is one and unique) see only God, he is not the person who just believes God exists. Since he sees God everywhere he does not commit any sin or bad action. Adam did one thing that caused him to come out from heaven and we do a lot of bad actions and still believe that heaven is just for us. Satan committed a sin and Adam made a mistake. Why did Satan become accursed but not Adam? Both disobeyed God, Satan did not prostrate, and Adam ate from the forbidden tree. Satan’s action was from self-magnification or arrogance “and when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My spirit, fall you down before him in prostration!” (72) Thereupon the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together, (73) save Iblis: he gloried in his arrogance, and [thus] became one of those who deny the truth(infidels)”³. Instead, Adam and Eve said, “The two replied: “O our Sustainer! We have sinned against ourselves -and unless Thou grant us forgiveness and bestow Thy mercy upon us, we shall most certainly be lost!”⁴. Adams action was a mistake therefore they said, please forgive us but Satan thought that he knew better than God and wanted to teach his Lord and bring reason that I am better than Adam, you made me from fire and made him from mud. So, Satan became accursed, but Adam forgiven.

There was selfishness in Adam therefore he was descended to this world and similarly If a “Mowahid” does not see God everywhere then he will also descend. Heaven in the ascendant arc is in higher level than heaven in the descendant arc. Because in that heaven God and you are pleased with each other. “O thou peaceful soul! * Return Unto your Lord well pleased and well-pleasing”⁵. How can a person be pleased with God? It needs to be from the bottom of your heart not just saying I am pleased with your mouth. So many calamities happened to Imam Hussain(A) and his beloved family, but he was saying “O Lord, I am pleased with you pleasant”. If we have a little tooth pain, then we become grumpy and angry with others. Someone asked Allameh Tabatabaei that what is your advice for the youth? “He replied, do not forget God, whatever bad happens to you consider that it is what God wants for you. For example, if you are sick or poor remain content with it and acknowledge that everything is from your Lord. You will understand this advice when you practice it for a while”.

There is a point in “Return unto your Lord well pleased and well-pleasing”. It mentioned that return to your Lord. Each being has a “Rab”⁶(owner and manager) which is an existence link or canal to actual reality. The “Rab” of Prophet Muhammad(S) in this verse refer to “Rab” of all the worlds. Meaning the return of all beings would be to toward his Lord who is the Lord of all worlds. Special attention is needed to understand this verse, so carefully read it, and think about it.

1- مَا نَهَاكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّا أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ الْخَالِدِينَ
2- موحد
3- فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي فَقَعُوا لَهُ سَاجِدِينَ ‎﴿٧٢﴾‏ فَسَجَدَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ كُلُّهُمْ أَجْمَعُونَ ‎﴿٧٣﴾‏ إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ اسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ
4- قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
5- يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ‎﴿٢٧﴾‏ ارْجِعِي إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً
6- رَبِّ

Note about “And enter thou My Garden”

For God, it is a paradise in which there is no palace, no milk, and no honey. The fruits of that Garden are knowledges. In this heaven all except God is perished and other than God are illusions. Amir Al-Mu’minin in truth tradition said to Kumail, “Truth is the fading away of illusions and appearance of the definite”¹. There is no one except God, if we see others, this is due to our illusions and fantasies. Avicenna said: whoever wants mysticism for mysticism, he has hidden “Sherk”² (worship other than Allah). He is like the person who prays to be seen by others or who pray to go to heaven or who pray to not go to the hell. The pray should be just for God not because of something else. One of the important points that we must observe in our prayers is that we are talking directly to God Almighty.

There is a tradition from our prophet Muhammad(S): “ This world is forbidden for the people of the hereafter, and the hereafter is forbidden for the people of this world, but both (this world and the hereafter) are forbidden for the friends of God (Auliya’ of God”)^”3. God revealed for prophet Dawood(A): “ o Dawood, keep your friends away from lusts because the hearts that love lusts have their intelligence hidden from me”.

Another tradition: “ if anyone regrets something they have lost in this worldly life, they will be two months walking distance away from the heaven and close to hell”. Our heart is God’s place not worldly wishes.

Coming down from the heaven to this world is like paying attention from perfection to deficiency and falling away from human nature(Fitrah)

In the mystic view mercy of God passes through the following world until it reaches the physical world: 1- Unique hidden level⁷ 2- Unity level which is the level of God’s names and attributes⁸ 3- Intellectual world⁹ 4- Methal world¹⁰ and 5- Physical world.

Unique hidden level is the appearance of absolute Existence, then it will be descended to the lower level. There are two important points here: 1- Appearance or descendance of something form the upper to lower level does not mean it left upper level, rather it co-exists in both upper and the lower level. 2- The appearance or descendance may not be in the exact same form once in the lower level, rather it would be a limited version since the lower level can accommodate the same form as the upper level. Descendant of God’s mercy is called Descendant arc¹¹.

The truth and reality of the holy Quran which is God’s knowledge was covered or limited 70,000 times until it became like the holy book in our hands.

1- أنّه کمیل کان من خواص علی(ع)، اردفه على جَمَله فسأل عنه،قال: یا أمیرالمؤمنین(ع) ما الحقیقة؟ فقال(ع): مالک و الحقیقة؟ قال کمیل: أولستُ صاحب سرّک؟ قال(ع): بلى ولکن یرشّح علیک ما یطفح منّى قال کمیل: أو مثلک یخیّب سائلا؟ فقال(ع): الحقیقه کشف سبحات الجلال من غیراشارة. فقال: زدنی بیانا. قال(ع): محوالموهوم مع صحو المعلوم. فقال: زدنی بیانا. فقال(ع): هتک الستر لغلبة السّر. فقال: زدنی بیانا. قال(ع): نور یشرق من صبح الازل فیلوح على هیاکل التوحید آثاره. فقال: زدنی بیانا. قال (ع): اطف السراج فقد طلع الصبح
2- شرک
3- الدنيا حرام على أهل الآخرة، والآخرة حرام على أهل الدنيا، والدنيا والآخرة حرام على أهل الله
4- قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
5- يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ‎﴿٢٧﴾‏ ارْجِعِي إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً
6- رَبِّ
7- مقام غیب احدیت
8- مقام واحدیت  اسما و صفات
9- عالم عقول
10- عالم مثال
11- قوس نزول

Going from physical world to the heaven is paying attention from deficiency to perfection

There is a poem from Allameh Hassanzadeh called “Dafter Del”(Heart note). It is given to him after 40 days praying with special attention. It includes 19 chapters which is equal number of letters of “Bi-smi llahi r-rahman r-rahim”¹. In each chapter, the poem started with “Bi-smi llah”. It describes extremely high level of mysticism knowledges and truths.

The origin of each connection is “love”². The attraction between atoms and molecules is also out of love. Love for atoms, molecules, plants, animals, and humans is different but proportional to them. Each motion that we see originates from love. Since we love to live and have a good life, we go to work. Since we love beauty, we buy a new house, new car, new dress, and even go the barber. Even when we get scared or escape a difficult situation, it is also based on love because we love to be alive and comfortable. In the physical world, the ultimate connection and closeness is when objects become close to each other. When a human loves another human they hug each other, and marriage is the ultimate closeness in the physical world which also originates from loving to having children. For example, when a child loves her doll, she holds it tightly in her arms, and squeezes tight, she loves to be close to her doll or be united with it.

Love in the hereafter is different. There is no matter in the metaphysical world, therefore love means becoming united. As we discussed this in the introduction, joys and pains also would be much stronger in the hereafter. This unity is like the unity of perceiver and perceived that we discussed before. We can also call this connection, cause and effect, or annihilation or fading away of lover to the real loved one, or development of our Nafs, or intensifying of our spirit, or intensifying of existence, or we can say that existence will be in a position that is constantly blessed, or “Tajadod Al-Amthal”³ (The transformation of the universe or anything other than God , meaning that in every instance the whole world is changing/transforming , it is not such that God created the universe and left it by itself) or “Harkat-Johari”⁴ (This is Mulla Sadras’ theory. From his point of view the essence and truth of the object , is essentially changing and moving . because the nature of motion is conversion , the whole physical universe is constantly changing) or we can call it “converting energy to matter”.

1- بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
2- شرک
3- تجدد امثال
4- حرکت جوهری

Matter can not be a cause but can be a helper. Matter can not give existence to another matter. If in mysticism discussions, we say that a mystic created something, it is related to his/her supernatural level in which they have a power to create something with God’s permission. Mulla Sadra says: some mystic spirit has a power to create matter as big as sun which is not related to their physical level but come from their spiritual level.

If we want to reach perfection level, we must have effort, perseverance, and patience. If a fan spins once and stops, then spins again and stops, it would not be able to reach its perfection level to blow air. In this journey, we need to be patient. If we do not have vision yet, it is due to that we are still not ready to receive those visions. The mercy of God is like radio waves that are constantly broadcast but we need to tune ourselves like a radio to receive news.

There is a tradition from prophet Muhammad(S) which says: “O’ Lord, show me the truth and reality of things as they are”¹. Meaning that we are not seeing the truth and reality of things, we only see their properties like color, weight, length, width. We should start the journey towards God to be able to see the reality of things.

 “God originates creation, and then will revert it, then you will go back to Him”²

God revealed the creatures, not that they did not exist, but they were hidden, and He revealed them. Then they return to him. Although creatures only exist with God’s existence , they only become visible in the physical world through God’s will. The creatures like us, animals, earth, and the sky are Allah’s knowledge that is revealed in the physical world. They were in His knowledge but became visible in this world (Descendant arc). So, they travel from the descendant level downwards until they come to the lowest and the most limited level which is the physical world. At last, it would be ascending from the physical world level by the level to go back where they originated from. At first, it is the descending of light and at last, it is the ascending of the light. The key point is that in all the descendent and ascendent arc stages, He is the Light. “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth”³. He is the light of all things, and He is the existence of all things.

They interpret origin to night and that is “the Night of Destiny”⁴ and resurrection to day and that is “ the Day of Judgement”⁵

Why do we call descendance as night? Because the absolute light will get limitations and descend and come towards darkness. We call it day of judgment because things become clear and will go back to the light again. In night, the truth is hidden but in day the truth is revealed. Towards the day of judgment truth becomes clearer in each level but in the night of destiny truth become more darker in each level. This is one of the interpretations of “the night of destiny”.

Haji Sabzevari (great philosopher) said: “The Truth is the night of destiny, meaning one of the signs of God’s full control is the night of destiny, and that is the origin of all nights. The night of destiny is not like any other nights, it is superior and the uppermost of all other nights. The night of destiny is the origin of time and, it is the spirit of time. It means the things that happen in the physical world one after the other, is a manifestation of the night of destiny. We have a night of destiny in the physical world which is 23rd night of the holy month of Ramadan which is representative of the night of destiny not the real one. As mentioned, the real night of destiny is beyond time.

One of the interpretations of the night of destiny is descendent extension of God’s light in the descendent arc. Meaning that the pure light that does not have any darkness gets limited and mixed with darkness. Similarly in the day of judgement is the ascendent extension of Gods light in the ascending arc.

Another interpretation of the night of destiny is the inner state of the guardians of God. Amir Al-Mo’minin Ali (A) said: “I am the night of destiny”. Imam’s heart is the place of God’s will which is called “Mashiat Allah”⁶. The heart of these Guardians is also interpreted as the night of destiny. A tradition says: “My Guardians are under my dress, no one knows them” . Meaning no one knows their level and status.

1- اَلَلَّهُمَّ اَرِنِی الْاَشْیَاءَ کَمَا هِیَ
2- اللَّهُ يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
3- اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ
4- لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ
5- یوم قیامت
6- مشیئت الله

There might be some guardians of God that are normal people, and no one thinks they are guardians of God, even their families. For example, Allameh Sayed Mohammad Hussain Tabatabaei who was a great philosopher and interpreter of the holy Quran was well known but his brother Allameh Sayed Mohammad Hassan Tabatabaei was not well known in the society. Therefore, it is exceedingly difficult to find out the status of guardianship of the people who are well known in the society. Allameh Hassanzadeh is incredibly careful to observe and keep appearance, so that no one notices his guardianship.

“God hid three things in three things, 1- He hid his pleasure in His obedience, so do not underestimate any obedience’s since His pleasure may be in that obedience (do not underestimate any good actions) 2- He hid His wrath in His disobediences, so do not underestimate any sin since His anger may be in that disobedience(do not underestimate any bad actions) 3- He hid His guardians among His creatures, so do not look down on people, for perhaps one of them is amongst the guardians of Allah”¹.  Prophet Moses(A) and Prophet Khidr(A) passed through a village and asked for food, but no one recognized them and did not give them food. Prophet Khidr(A) fixed a broken wall and prophet Moses asked why are you doing this? We should ask them for food instead (refer to the holy Quran for full story).

In the night of destiny and the descendent arc we have “The angels and the Spirit descend therein, by the permission of their Lord, with all decrees”² but in the day of judgment and the ascending arc we have “the angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day whereof the span is fifty thousand years”³. So, ascendent is interpreted as day and descendent as night. Interpretation of the descendance of angels and the spirit in the night and ascendence of them at day is very useful to understand the day of judgment and the night of destiny and their levels. (For detail explanation refer to Allameh Hassanzadeh book which is called “Quran and Human”).

There are also some key points in having angels as plural and the spirit as singular. Why did it not says spirits? “They question you concerning the Spirit. Say, ‘The Spirit is of the command of my Lord, and you have not been given of the knowledge except a few”⁴. We have in another verse of Quran that says “and Our command is but a single [word], like the twinkling of an eye”⁵. A tradition says: “The spirit is a creature enormous compared to the angles Gabriel and Michael”. The spirit is one truth. All the levels of the angels compressed together is the spirit, in other words angels are manifestations of the spirit. Great mystic Ibn Al-Arabi in his book “Fotohat Makkieh” said: “Angels are also prophets of God, and its root is from Alukeh meaning intermediary”.

1- إنّ الله خبّأ ثلاثة أشياء في ثلاثة أشياء: خبّأ رضاه في طاعته؛ فلا تحقرنّ من الطاعة شيئاً، فلعل رضاه فيه.. وخبّأ سخطه في معصيته؛ فلا تحقرنّ من المعصية شيئاً، فلعلّ سخطه فيه.. وخبّأ أولياءه في خلقه؛ فلا تحقرنّ أحداً، فلعله ذلك الولي
2- تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ
3- تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ
4- وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الرُّوحِ ۖ قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي وَمَا أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
5- وَمَا أَمْرُنَا إِلَّا وَاحِدَةٌ كَلَمْحٍ بِالْبَصَرِ

Figure 1 shows both the descending and the ascending arc as a circle. North would be the absolute hidden status and South would be the absolute visible status. In the descendent arc the light of existence will be hid under quiddity of creatures or his manifestations until it reaches to the absolute appearance status which is this physical world. Then it starts its journey from absolute darkness towards absolute light which is the truth of the day of judgement in which only God is shining.

In one interpretation, the whole descendent arc is called “the night of destiny”.

As we said the night of destiny is the heart of the perfect human. Quran descended at once in the heart of prophet Mohammad(S) then it was expanded or descended again during 23 years to the physical level of prophet Mohammad(s). “Brought down by the Trustworthy Spirit * upon your heart (so that you may be one of the warners)”¹. All things are detailed in the Heart(inward), so everything that happens in this world is a descent from the heart of the perfect human (Prophet Muhammad (S) or Imams (A)) or the night of destiny level. All things are measured in the night of destiny then descend to the physical world. Before the night of destiny, things are not visible. So, if this is the case, what is the night of destiny that is the one night mentioned in the holy month of Ramadan? This night of destiny is dependent of the real night of destiny which is beyond time. In the other words, things are measured in the real night of destiny beyond time then will appear back-to-back in the physical world.

Perfection of the beginning is the end, perfection of the night is the day, perfection of the day is the month and perfection of the month is the year. So, if the beginning is interpreted as the night of destiny then its perfection would be the day of judgement. If the night of destiny is related to the month then its perfection which would be the day of judgement is related to the year. “The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months”⁶ and “He governs all that exists, from the celestial space to the earth; and in the end all shall ascend unto Him [for judgment] on a Day the length whereof will be [like] a thousand years of your reckoning”⁷.

1- نَزَلَ بِهِ الرُّوحُ الْأَمِينُ ‎﴿١٩٣﴾‏ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُنذِرِينَ
2- تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ
3- تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ
4- وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الرُّوحِ ۖ قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي وَمَا أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
5- وَمَا أَمْرُنَا إِلَّا وَاحِدَةٌ كَلَمْحٍ بِالْبَصَرِ
6- لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ
7-يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ

“I mixed human’s nature with my two hands in forty mornings”¹

He said: I mixed human nature with my two hands. What are the two hands of God? Does he have hands like us? No, “Sobhan Allah”. He has hands but not like us. In one interpretation two hands indicates “beauty and glory(dignity) attributes”². The age of perfection for humans is 40. Repeating a sentence 40 times has dominant affect on our Nafs. If we would like to dominant an attribute in our Nafs we should repeat it 40 times. Mixing means placing both beauty and glory attributes deposited for a while in humans. Angels are manifestation of either beauty or glory attributes.  Angels of torment cannot understand mercy and vice versa. Humans gather all beauty and glory attributes. We see this in the two sons of Adam which one of them become a manifestation of beauty and the other of the glory attribute. A tradition from Prophet Muhammad(S) said: “I saw children of Adam as ants on his right and left side. Rights were heavenly children and lefts were hell children”.

“Said He: O Iblis! What has kept thee from prostrating thyself before that [being] which I have created with My hands? Art thou too proud [to bow down before another created being], or art thou of those who think [only] of themselves as high?”³. Satan replied: “I am better than he: Thou hast created me out of fire, whereas him Thou hast created out of clay”⁴. He saw the appearance of Adam and was not aware of his inner light. He brings a reason for God and try to teach God?!!. God said: “How could it be that He who has created [all] should not know [all]? Indeed, He alone is unfathomable [in His wisdom], aware”⁵. We should not try to teach God something meaning that we should not think what He has decided about us is wrong. “And He taught Adam the names, all of them; thereafter He set them before the angels and said declare unto Me the names of those if ye say sooth”⁶.

What are these names? Are these verbal names like “Allah”, “Al-Rahman”? No, they are names of names. names of God are lightly truths. So, if we hear in traditions that “We are names of God” , it means that the names of God are manifested in us ⁷. So, when it is said: “we taught Adam names of God” means we taught the reality of creatures to Adam(A) because creatures are places of appearance of God’s names. Tradition says: even this carpet was also taught to Adam. “Oh Lord, we ask you with names that filled everything”. So, if anyone has been taught the names of Allah then he will know everything. Everything is a manifestation of God names. In philosophy, we say: “ if you know the cause, you will know the effect”.

Another two important points  in the above verse: 1- Names of God have not been taught to Angels only presented to them 2- In Arabic pronoun “hum” in “Arazahum” (presented to them) is used for things that are intellectual. So, the names of God are the truths that are intellectual.

In mystics, there is a topic that says: “each beauty names have glory names and vice-versa, but sometimes one name in the same Mazhar(place of appearance) dominates other names”. For example, when we see an ocean, we say this is a manifestation of a glory name of Allah but at the same time we might say it is a manifestation of beauty a name of Allah. This is what happened to Imam Hussain in Karbala and Lady Zainab said: “we have not seen except beauty from God”. But this vision is not for every human.

Allameh Hassanzadeh collected 40 traditions that talk about the number 40. One of the traditions which also talks about the number 40 is mentioned from Imam Baqir(A) in the interpretation of verse 5 of Surah Haj.

1- خمرت طینۀ آدم بیدي اربعون صباحا
2- اسما و صفات جمالی و جلالی
3- قَالَ يَا إِبْلِيسُ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَن تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ ۖ أَسْتَكْبَرْتَ أَمْ كُنتَ مِنَ الْعَالِينَ
4- قَالَ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ ۖ خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ
5- أَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ
6- وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلَائِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَٰؤُلَاءِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
7- مظهر اسما الله
8- أَسْمَائِك الَّتِی مَلَأَتْ أَرْكانَ كلِّ شَی

“Unto Him the angels and the Spirit ascend on a Day the duration of which is fifty thousand years”¹. “He regulates all affairs, from the heavens to the earth. Then it ascends to Him on a Day the length of which is a thousand years by your count”². Why is there a difference in years for a Day(Yaum)? This difference is based on the difference of the Days of Judgment. Amir Al-Mo’minin said: “oh dear God, it is for you all the praise for the number of days in this world and the hereafter”³. We know days in this world, but what are the days in the hereafter? Days in the hereafter are truths and perfections that will appear for a human. There is one day that equals to one thousand years and there is another day which is equal to fifty thousand years. Therefore, when a person can perceive one day of the Hereafter, he will be 50,000 years away from another person. Sometimes a person gets a mercy from God that goes a thousand years one night, that is, understanding something deeply will be equal to a thousand years. The seeker will go through the last days step by step to reach the Day of resurrection and see the truths as they are. And that will be the day that the seeker will only see God. “To whom does the sovereignty belong today?” “To God, the One, the Irresistible”⁴.

Signs and Wisdoms: What is Meant by Moses is the Origin and What is Meant by Jesus is the Resurrection.

The Holy Qur’an has an apparent meaning from which the reader understands the meaning and purpose, but it also has esoteric meanings which are not against apparent meaning and that only certain people who are pure understand. Khajeh says that “the meaning of  Moses is the origin, and the meaning of Jesus is resurrection, or in other words, the meaning of  Moses is to come down and the meaning of Jesus is to rise, and in other words, the meaning of  Moses is appearance, and the meaning of Jesus is inward”.

Moses is the owner of the west where is the place of sunset. “You were not on the Western Side when We decreed the command to Moses”⁵. Tradition says: “The first thing God Almighty wrote was the Torah”⁶. Jesus is the owner of the east where is the place of sunrise. “And mention in the Scripture Mary, when she withdrew from her people to an eastern location”⁷. Tradition says: “Indeed, he is a sign for the Hour”⁸. If you look closely at the life of Moses (PBUH) and Jesus (PBUH) and their laws, you will see differences. The apparent rule overcomes Prophet Moses. The Torah full of similarities. It is based on the appearance and talks less about the resurrection. Moses was a revolutionary, he led the community, unlike Jesus. But in the case of Jesus (PBUH), esoteric rules prevail over him and the aspect of separation from the intoxication of this world is more dominated in him. Jesus was a human being that did not have a house, he did not have a wife, he was not even ordered to fight with others, and He was kind to everyone and was cut off from the people and isolated and separated from the worldly life. In the prophet Jesus,  manifestation of beauty attributes and names of God is dominant but in prophet Moses, manifestation of glory attributes and names of God is dominant.

1- تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ
2- يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ
3- اللهم لك الحمد  بعد د  ايام الدنيا والاخره
4- لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ ۖ لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ
5- وَمَا كُنتَ بِجَانِبِ الْغَرْبِيِّ إِذْ قَضَيْنَا إِلَىٰ مُوسَى الْأَمْرَ
6- اول ما كتب الله تعالى التوراه
7- وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ مَرْيَمَ إِذِ انتَبَذَتْ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا مَكَانًا شَرْقِيًّا
8- وانه لعلم للساعه

A tradition from Prophet Muhammad (S) says: “In Ascension, I have been given a cup of water, a cup of milk, and a cup of wine. I grabbed a cup of milk. Angel Gabriel told me that since you chose a cup of milk then your nation will be guided. If you chose a cup of water, then your nation would be flooded (in the worldly life), and if you chose a cup of wine, your nation would be misguided”.

Each choice is a different type of knowledge. Water is the apparent and general knowledge. Wine is also a type of knowledge, but it is hidden knowledge, just like how someone who drinks wine (drunk), their brain wouldn’t work correctly. Knowledge and truths that are beyond the limit of intelligence will be manifested as wine. Milk is a different type of knowledge, too. For babies, milk is food and a type of healthy drink.

If we look closely at the life of Prophet Moses (A), we will see that he was always in relation with water. The name Moses means the person who was taken from water. Here are some examples: It was revealed to Prophet Moses’ (A) mother to put him in a basket then put that basket in the river to save him from the army of Pharaoh. When Prophet Moses (A) entered Madyan, he helped the daughters of Prophet Sho’ayb (A) give water to their sheep from a well. One of the miracles of Prophet Moses (A) was that he hit his staff to the water and then the vast water split into two. After Prophet Moses (A) and his nation passed, the vast water came together, and Pharaoh and his army drowned while trying to chase him and his nation. Prophet Moses (A) saw Prophet Khizr (A) at the connection of the two seas. Prophet Khizr (A) made a hole in a ship while the ship was moving on water; Prophet Moses questioned that action.

Prophet Moses (A) made the hidden truths apparent in this world, but Prophet Jesus (Isa) (A) guided people to hidden truths. Prophet Muhammad (S) is the combination of the two Prophets. “Those with him are stern against the disbelievers, yet compassionate amongst believers”¹. Meaning, he was in the middle of peacefulness and aggressiveness. He has the beauty and the glory attributes together. Prophet Muhammad (S) had both attributes of Prophet Moses (A) and Prophet Jesus (A). He was comprehensive. Prophet Muhammad was the origin and resurrection. He was the origin because “I was a Prophet when Adam was between water and mud”². “There is an essence for everything, and the essence of creation is Prophet Muhammad (S)”³. He is the resurrection because “I have kept my intersession for the great sins of my nation”⁴. The Qiblah of Prophet Moses (A) was in the west and the Qiblah of Prophet Jesus (Isa) was in the east, but Prophet Muhammad (S)’s Qiblah was in-between them. “My Qiblah is between east and west”⁵. “Surely, it is not east nor west”⁶. “Verily, in all this there are messages indeed for people who think!”⁷.

1- أَشِدَّاءُ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ
2- کنت نبیا و آدم بین الماء و الطین
3- لکل شیء جوهر و جوهر الخلق محمد صلی اللّه علیه و آله
4- ادخرت شفاعتی لاهل الکبائر من امتی
5- ما بین المشرق و المغرب قبلتی
6- لا شَرْقِیَّۀٍ وَ لا غَرْبِیَّۀٍ
7- إِنَّ فِی ذلِکَ لَآیاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ یَتَفَکَّرُونَ