The importance of Intelligence in Shia narrations  – 1

“In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful”

The importance of Intelligence in Shia narrations  – 1

H 1, Ch. 1, h 1

Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Ya’qub has narrated from a number of our people of whom one is Muhammad ibn Yahya al-‘Attar who narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Hassan ibn Mahbub from ‘Ala’ ibn Razin from Muhammad ibn Muslim from Abu Ja’far (A) (Imam Sadiq (A)) who has said the following.

“When Allah, God, created Intelligence He made it speak, and then He said to it, ‘Come forward’. It came forward. He then said, “Go back.” It went back. Then Allah said, “I swear by My honor and glory that I have not created any creature more beloved to Me than you. I will not perfect you in anyone except those whom I love. I, however, will command only you to do things and prohibit only you from doing certain things. I will grant blessings (rewards) to you only and will subject only you to punishments“.

It is important to know that the word “when” is not referring to the time domain but is based on level or status. We know that Intellect is an immaterial thing that surrounds the material world. From the above narration, we find that Intellect is a creature of God that is the most beloved creature of God. In another narration, Intellect is mentioned as the first creature (again not a time-domain creature). The Intellect obeys God’s order to “Come forward” and “Go back”. This Intellect is called “The Total Intellect” and our intellects are rays of the “Total Intellect”. Some mystic commentators said, “The Intellect of believers is represented when the Total Intellect comes forward and the Intellect of disbelievers, when the Total Intellect goes back”. We discussed that we have three worlds in philosophy, 1- Intellect World, 2-Methal or Barzakh World, and 3- Material World. When the Intellect obeys God’s order and “Goes back” then the mercy of God descends from the Intellect world to the Methal world and then to the Material world (Descending Arc) but when the Intellect obeys God’s order and “Comes forward” then things ascend from the Material world to the Methal world and then to the Intellect world (Ascending Arc). A manifestation of the Intellect was our Father Adam (A) when God ordered him to “Go back” from heaven to the Earth and “Come forward” after repentance.

A narration says, “God never takes an ignorant person as His Guardian”. Our humanity depends on the level of our intellect. In this world, ignorant and wise people are similar on the outer but their inners are very different. “I will not perfect you in anyone except those whom I love”. It means some people might have incomplete intellect but God’s beloved Guardians have the perfect intellect. In a narration, one of our Imam said, “The Intellect has 75 armies (attributes) and only prophets (Perfect humans) pose all of them which all of them”. Another hadith says that “All people perish except the scholars, and the scholars perish except those who act according to their knowledge, and those who act according to their knowledge perish except those who act sincerely and for God’s sake.  These people are blessed and they are in a great position”.

“I, however, will command only you to do things and prohibit only you from doing certain things”. So, it will not be a religious duty for a crazy person or a little child. The more human intellect there is, the greater the religious duty will be. A pious man among the Children of Prophet Jacob(A) (Bani Israel) was praying and worshiping very hard. Angel Gabriel (A) was surprised and asked God about his position in Heaven. God showed the angel the level of that worshiper in heaven. Angel replied, “this is so small”, God said, “Go and talk with him to see how much knowledge he has about me!”. Angel came and started talking with the worshiper. After a short conversation, the worshiper said, “look at this beautiful grass field. It would be good if God had a donkey to enjoy eating here”. Angel said, “God does not have a donkey”, The worshiper said, “Yes, that is unfortunate and a defect of God”. He was thinking that God is like a human who needed a donkey to move around.

Muhammad Mahdi Me’marian

All praise is to God to the extent that He deserves it.