The Straight Path

The Straight Path

The Almighty says: {[52] Thus We have revealed to you an inspiration of Our command. You did not know what the Book or faith is, but We have made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants. Indeed, you guide to a straight path, [53] the path of God, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and on the earth. Unquestionably, to God do [all] matters evolve.}^[34]

The straight path is the truth, or the path on which God Almighty wants His worshippers to walk. It is the path that takes one to the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence, the Exalted. In other words, the straight path is the correct beliefs and legal rulings that come from Him, the Almighty, reaching His worshippers through His prophets, messengers, and their successors^℗. Therefore, the rational person must search for the truth, in order to protect himself from chastisement and seek the Lord’s refuge by walking on His straight path. Satisfaction with this materialistic life and becoming immersed in it are worse than death. It is similar to nothingness; rather, it is hell. The Almighty said: {They urge you to hasten the punishment. Indeed, hell will encompass the disbelievers.}^[35]

Knowing the truth and following it is the true life because, at the path’s end, one reaches the world of the intellect and returns to the Ever-Living Who does not die, and this position is greater than attaining the gardens of Paradise. The Almighty says: {God has promised the believing men and women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, gardens of perpetuity and pleasantness; and satisfaction from God that is greater. That^[36] is the great attainment.}^[37]

The Almighty says: {And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for their eyes as a reward for what they used to do.}^[38] A rational person does not miss his chance to walk on this path. If he reaches the world of the intellect, then it is due to the mercy of God. If he does not, he oscillates between paradises^[39] due to the favor of God and the blessing of answering the call of the Ever Living that does not die: “Come.”^[40]

The Almighty says: {It is He who created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging clot; then He brings you out as a child; then [He develops you] that you reach your [time of] maturity, then [further] that you become elders. And among you is he who is taken in death before [that], so that you reach a specified term; perhaps you will use reason.}^[41] In other words, God created you with the hope that you would reach the world of intellect, just as the Prophets and Imams^℗ did. However, what that requires is to achieve the highest rank in this world, which is the rank of being in contact with the world of Divinity, or the rank of “two bows’ brace heights or nearer.”^[42] The owner of this praised station is the one for whom this existence was created: Muhammad^℗ and Ali^℗, who is the self [of Muhammad^℗].^[43] Although I chose to be brief and to the point, it is fine to clarify a bit more so that perhaps God will bestow upon me the supplications of whoever reads these words.

You must know, O beloved believing men and women, that the first creation is the intellect. It is the first spiritual world,^[44] and it is a comprehensive world. The beings that exist therein merge with one another, with full compatibility between them. This world’s inhabitants have ranks, and the highest rank is touching the world of Divinity, a rank specific to Muhammad^℗ and Ali^℗.

So Muhammad^℗ {[8] . . . approached and came down, [9] And was a distance [of] two bows’ [brace heights] or nearer.}^[45] and Ali^℗ is the “self” of [Muhammad]. The Almighty says {and ourselves and yourselves.}^[46] Ali^℗ is touched by the Self of God, as he [Ali] has narrated,^[47] and below the two of them [Muhammad and Ali] are ranks. So, they^℗ encompass and know everyone below them, and whoever is below them learns from them to the extent that his rank allows. No one knows Muhammad^℗ and Ali^℗ completely except the One who created them, and they are the only ones who completely know God, the Exalted, as much as is humanly possible.

The owner of the praised rank^℗[48] said, “O Ali, nobody has known God except you and me, and nobody has known me except God and you, and nobody has known you except God and me.”^[49]

As for the second world, it is the world of the Kingdom of Heaven.^[50] It is an ideal world of images, the World of Souls. It is similar to what a person sees while asleep because he or she is unaware of material existence and turns toward existence in the Kingdom of the Heavens. You could say it is one’s ideal or spiritual existence.

The third world is the physical world, a world similar to nothingness. If not for its capacity to exist, it would have no chance of existing. It is the lowest level of descent. If an ideal image [from the second world] spills over to the material, the body forms, which is the first rank of ascension or return. The bodies are then divided according to their existential ranks into inanimate objects, plants, animals, and humans. The human being either ascends and returns to his Initiator, the Exalted, and resides in the world of intellect and draws close to the Ever-Living One that does not die, or he degrades himself and turns away from his Lord, seeing only the material, which can barely be perceived, as knowledge cannot be acquired from the physical world unless the ideal image^[51] spills over into it. Therefore, he becomes like the herded “livestock,” meaning like animals, and actually goes even more astray because he was created to acknowledge the truth but turned away. He was created to become intellectual but insisted on ignorance; created to live but insisted on death.

Imam Abu Abdullah^℗ said: “God Almighty created the intellect. It is the first creation out of the spirits, those near the right of the throne, created from His light. He said [to the intellect], ‘Turn away.’ It turned away. Then He said to it, ‘Come back,’ so, it came back. Then God Almighty said, ‘I have created you exceptionally and honored you above all My creations.’ Then He created ignorance from a briny dark ocean. He said to it, ‘Turn away,’ so it turned away. Then He said to it, ‘Come back,’ and it did not come back. He said to it ‘You have chosen arrogance, so my curse is upon you. . .’”^[52]

As for the intellect, Muhammad^℗ comprises the complete intellect and, by extension, so does his successor Ali^℗, because Ali^℗ is the self of Muhammad^℗, as shown in the verse {and ourselves and yourselves.}^[53] As for the ignorance, the complete ignorance is “the second,” which is the origin of the arrogance that misguided Iblis and threw him into the abyss.^[54] Iblis (may God curse him) said: {My Lord, by what you have misguided me},^[55] meaning by the one who misguided me or by the undefined one that caused my misguidance. In the verse, the one that misguided him was the described but unknown person, labeled as such because he is dark with no identity. The word “what” (ma, in Arabic), which is used to describe non-intellectual beings, is used here because he does not have intellect.

In this way, there is someone from among the children of Adam who ascended, due to his worship and moral perfections, until he reached the distance of two bows’ brace heights or nearer. He is the teacher of the spiritual ones and the close angels, and he is the complete human: Muhammad^℗. Adam also taught the angels what they did not know. The Prince of Believers said: “The human being was created with a perceiving soul. If he purifies it with knowledge and work, it becomes similar to jewels in their initial form, and if he moderates its temperament and disengages it from contradictions, then he will join the seven mighty ones [the heavens].”^[56]

On the other hand, there is someone from among the children of Adam who casts himself into the abyss. He swims in a bitter sea where there are layers of darkness, one over the other. When one submerges his hand in it, he can barely see it, until he eventually becomes complete darkness with no light, ignorance without intellect, turmoil without peace, fear without reassurance, and tranquility never descends upon him. He does not wish for the mercy of God and is in despair of the Spirit of God. On the other hand, Iblis (may God curse him) wishes for the mercy of God if the Resurrection happens as mentioned in the narration. God Almighty said:

{When Iblis made their deeds pleasing to them, he said, “No one can overcome

you today from among the people, and indeed, I am your protector.” But when the two armies sighted each other, he turned on his heels and said, “Indeed, I am disassociated from you. Indeed, I see what you do not see; indeed I fear God. And God is severe in penalty.”}^[57]

Some of the children of Adam, with their malicious, arrogant souls, inspire the Satans of jinn with decorative speech. So, the Satans of jinn take and learn from the Satans of mankind. The Almighty said: {Satans from mankind and jinn, inspiring to one another’s decorative speech in delusion. But if your Lord had willed, they would not have done it, so leave them and that which they invent.}^[58]

Al-Haruri^[59] said:

“I was a lad from the soldiers of Iblis, and I rose until Iblis became one of my soldiers, so if he were to die before me I would master ways to corrupt that he would not master after me.”^[60]

A person may ask the question: “Do the disbelievers not have what is considered intellect, since they use their intellect to invent airplanes and advanced communication devices?” The answer can be found in this narration: Imam Abu Abdullah^℗ was asked about what Muawiya had. He^℗ said, "Muawiya has the evil, Satanic attributes of devilry and conniving. These attributes are similar to the intellect, but they are not the intellect."^[61] Each person has a share in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is his soul, an ideal image and a shadow of the intellect. This shadow^[62] is the capacity to be conscious, or the perceptive being planted in the paradises. Voiceless animals share it with us, but the human has a reflected image that is clearer. Since the reflection of the intellect upon the human’s soul is more brilliant and clearer, humans have a greater share of this shadow. Whoever has studied the animal world knows that some animals have the ability to invent tools, as biologists have stated. An example is the beaver that builds dams to raise the water level. So the human is not favored over the animal unless he searches further into this shadow to see the truth and intellect within. To be favored, the human also must walk toward this shadow-and, in turn, toward perfection-by practicing worship, gratitude, and kind morals. Otherwise, if the shadow is sufficient for him, then he is like livestock (i.e., like animals). If he degrades himself with reprehensible morals, then he goes even more astray.^[63]

Praise be to God Alone, and we were only given a little of the knowledge [from God]. My Lord, include me and the believing men and women in Your mercy. You are my supporter in this world and the hereafter, and You are the best supporter and the best Protector.