Question 93 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 2

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them abundant peace. The Exalted said: ‘Thus We revealed to you a Spirit from Our command. You did not know what the Book was, nor faith, but We made it a light by which We guide whomever We will from among Our servants. Indeed, you surely guide to a straight path’ (^[160]). It is narrated from Abu Hamza that he said: I asked Abu Abdullah (a) about knowledge: Is it knowledge that the learned person learns from the mouths of men, or is it in the Book that you possess, which you read and thereby know? He said: ‘The matter is greater and more necessary than that. Have you not heard the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: “Thus We revealed to you a Spirit from Our command. You did not know what the Book was, nor faith”?’ Then he said: ‘What do your companions say concerning this verse? Do they acknowledge that he was once in a state in which he did not know what the Book was, nor faith?’ I said: ‘I do not know, may I be made your ransom, what they say.’ He said to me: ‘Yes, he was once in a state in which he did not know what the Book was, nor faith, until Allah, the Exalted, sent the Spirit mentioned in the Book. When He revealed it to him, through it He taught him knowledge and understanding. It is the Spirit that Allah, the Exalted, gives to whomever He wills. When He gives it to a servant, He teaches him understanding’ (^[161]). We, the children of Adam, were sent down by Allah to this dark worldly realm for the second test. We were veiled by bodies and made to forget the first test in the World of Particles, where we had previously been. In the World of Particles the condition of each of us was determined. The most wretched of the wretched confined his gaze to himself and saw only the ego; and the winner of the race-may Allah’s prayers be upon him and his family-confined his gaze to his Lord and paid no attention to himself when Allah, Glorious is He, manifested to us. The Exalted said: ‘When your Lord took from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants and made them bear witness concerning themselves, “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we bear witness”-lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were unaware of this”’ (^[162]). The rest of the children of Adam were ranked between these two stations. This second test exists only so that Allah may establish His proof against the people and so no one may say, ‘We were not given a second opportunity.’ This second test exists only because of Allah’s generosity, Glorious and Exalted. There will be a third test for those of pure faith and those of pure disbelief, because the reward of Allah’s guardians is immense and the punishment of Allah’s enemies is severe. They enter a third test to demonstrate that their result is the same: ‘Rather, what they used to conceal has become apparent to them. If they were returned, they would surely return to what they had been forbidden, and indeed they are liars’ (^[163]). It also completes Allah’s proof against creation regarding His favoring His guardians and taking vengeance upon His enemies-those of pure faith and those of pure disbelief-so that no one may say, ‘Why did You give these people this immense station, and why did You punish those people with a punishment with which You punished no one in all the worlds?’ Despite the repeated opportunities Allah gives them and despite Allah repeating their test, they will not be satisfied, but will say: ‘Our Lord, You caused us to die twice and gave us life twice. We confess our sins. Is there any way out?’ (^[164]). Allah warned the people lest their outcome after death be regret and these words: ‘My Lord, if only You would delay me for a short term so that I may give charity and be among the righteous’ (^[165]). I hope you have understood that a person’s birth in this world does not mean his first creation. At most, it means his first entry into this corporeal world for the second test, after Allah made him forget the first test and his result in it. The Exalted said: ‘We have ordained death among you, and We are not to be outdone in replacing you with your likes and bringing you into being in that which you do not know. You have certainly known the first creation, so why do you not remember?’ (^[166]). That is: We may bring you to life in a new life and a new world. Indeed, you were in a former life, so why do you not remember? A person remembers only by Allah’s will and volition, Glorious is He. I think these words answer all your questions if you contemplate them. As an example, I will answer some of them through these words: ‘Know that I was the Yamani before I was born, and I did not know in this corporeal world until Allah reminded me and made me know.’ ‘I learned some of the sciences of this corporeal world just as the prophets (a) before me learned. Jesus (a) was a carpenter and learned carpentry from Joseph the carpenter.’ ‘I know much, but I know nothing until Allah reminds me of what is present on the page of my existence.’ I also remind you that knowledge is not in heaven so that it descends to you, nor in the earth so that it emerges for you. Rather, it is in the breasts; ask Allah for understanding and He will make you understand: ‘Be mindful of Allah, and Allah teaches you. Allah knows all things’ (^[167]). You, I, and every human being-we all need to return to Allah so that He tells us who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. Know that no person attains reassurance until Allah answers him and he knows the truth from Allah. He will then not care whether he falls upon death or death falls upon him. Life will not be dearer to him than death, nor death dearer to him than life. Rather, his beloved will be Allah, and he will have no will or volition except the will and volition of his Beloved, Glorious is He. He will remain awake at night when the people sleep so that he may be alone with his Beloved, who does not sleep. When he prays and reads the Quran, he knows with certainty that his Beloved hears him and listens to him, so his eyes overflow with tears: ‘When they hear what was sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of what they recognize of the truth. They say, “Our Lord, we believe, so write us among the witnesses”’ (^[168]). As for what happened to you at the Sacred House, know that pigeons are known to carry messages. Something from one falling upon you means that a message will come to you. Its occurring in Allah’s House means that the message is from Allah. I ask Allah to grant you success in reaching the truth after you sought it, and to grant you good in this world and good in the Hereafter. He is my Guardian, and He protects the righteous. You requested a supplication for guidance and provision. I advise you to perform the night prayer and afterward recite this supplication of Zayn al-Abidin Ali ibn al-Husayn (a): ‘My God, the stars of Your heaven have set; the eyes of Your creatures sleep; the voices of Your servants and animals have become still; kings have closed their doors upon themselves, their guards circle them, and they are veiled from anyone who asks them for a need or seeks a benefit from them. But You, my God, are Living, Self-Subsisting; neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes You, and nothing distracts You. The gates of Your heaven are open to those who call upon You; Your treasuries are not closed; the gates of Your mercy are not veiled; and Your benefits are not withheld from those who ask You, but are freely given. You are my God, the Generous, who does not reject a believing petitioner who asks You, nor veil Yourself from any of them who seeks You. No, by Your might and majesty: their needs are not withheld beneath You, nor does anyone other than You fulfill them. You see me standing in the lowliness of my station before You; You know my inward secret, look upon what is in my heart, and know what will set right the affair of my Hereafter and my world. O Allah, remembrance of death, the terrors at its onset, and standing before You have made my food and drink unpleasant, caught in my throat, disturbed me from my pillow, and prevented my sleep. How can one who fears the Angel of Death amid the night’s visitations and the day’s visitations sleep? Indeed, how can the rational person sleep when the Angel of Death sleeps neither by night nor by day and seeks his soul by night and throughout the hours?’ He (a) would prostrate after this supplication and place his cheek upon the earth, and say: ‘I ask You for spirit and rest at death, and pardon for me when I meet You.’