Question 537 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 6

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 peace. ‘The one who possessed knowledge from the Book said, “I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you.” When he saw it settled before him, he said, “This is from my Lord’s favor, to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful. Whoever is grateful is only grateful for himself, and whoever is ungrateful-indeed, my Lord is Self-Sufficient, Generous”’ (^[69]). May Allah grant you success in every good. He was Solomon’s vicegerent, Asaf (a). As for how he brought the throne, it was through raising, which I have explained and clarified. It has been published in the books and you can read it. Consequently, neither time nor place affects the process of transfer, because the whole matter consists of determining the two locations of transfer, then raising the throne from one place and returning it from the state of raising at the second place in a single instant. In the state of raising, there is neither time nor place; therefore, there is no movement that would require the transfer to be delayed. As for what the knowledge from the Book is, it is not words or meanings. Rather, it is realities that appear and become manifest upon the page of a person’s existence when he is sincere to Allah, Glorious and Exalted is He, each person according to his measure. As you see, what became manifest in Asaf (a) was something from the Book: ‘The one who possessed knowledge from the Book said.’ As for what became manifest in Muhammad and the family of Muhammad (a), it was the entire Book, until they themselves became the Book of Allah, Glorious is He. The Exalted said: ‘Those who disbelieve say, “You are not a messenger.” Say, “Allah suffices as a witness between me and you, and so does the one who possesses knowledge of the Book”’ (^[70]). This witness is Ali (a). Allah clearly explained that Ali (a) is the Book of Allah and that everything is enumerated in him. The Exalted said: ‘Indeed, We give life to the dead and record what they sent ahead and the traces they left, and We have enumerated all things in a manifest Imam’ (^[71]). Know-may Allah grant you success-that from one aspect this Book is Allah’s manifestation within creation. It is the image of Allah, the Complete Human, Muhammad and the family of Muhammad (a). If you would read what I have written in the books, Allah willing, you would be granted success in knowing the answers to these questions and many others. May Allah grant you success and make your steps firm in knowing the truth. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. The following is some of what appears in the book With the Righteous Servant concerning raising. It is published on the website of the Supporters of Imam al-Mahdi (a), and you can read it: The meaning of raising: Concerning raising and explaining its meaning-the second matter remaining from the preceding question, in which I asked the Righteous Servant (a), saying, ‘We have not succeeded in explaining raising, or at least it is not very clear to some of us.’ He answered me (a): ‘Regarding raising, I will give you an example. But do you know differentiation and integration in mathematics? The example depends upon it to some degree.’ I said, ‘I do not know that.’ He said (a): ‘Praise be to Allah. You know a straight line, and you know what “infinite” means in mathematics? In any event, I will try to make it as simple as possible. Suppose you have a staff and place it upright. Its highest point is the soul of a particular human being, or that person’s highest station, and its lowest point is the body. But please note that this is an example, not reality exactly as it is. Now divide this staff into slices in your mind. For the case to be represented in the best possible way, these slices must be as small as possible. Now look at the slices: how many are there? To know that, you must divide the length of the staff by the length of the slice. If, for example, the length of the staff is one and the length of the slice is as small as possible, do you know what the smallest number equals? The smallest number that expresses existence is not zero, but it is as close as possible to zero. Since numbers are infinite, it cannot be delimited, but it can be conceived. It is not one-tenth, because one-hundredth is smaller; one-thousandth is smaller still; and in this way you can add zeros without end because numbers are infinite. We therefore conceive the result through the result of division by zero. The result of dividing the length of the staff by zero equals infinity-unbounded. Since the number is not zero but near to it, the result is as the Exalted said: “If you count Allah’s blessing, you cannot enumerate it.” This means that counting is possible in principle, but in reality can it be counted? No: “If you count Allah’s blessing, you cannot enumerate it.” This verse now also explains its meaning to you. Perhaps you previously asked yourself: how can I not count Allah’s blessings upon me; how can I not enumerate them, when outwardly they are countable? Is that not so? Whatever the number of the blessings may be, it is countable. But it has become clear to you why they cannot be enumerated, or why enumerating them is impossible in reality: they are, in truth, poured upon every aspect of the person’s existence, upon all his manifestations. If you wished to count a person’s manifestations, could you enumerate them? The example has made clear that this is impossible. Is this clear now?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said (a): ‘Do not say “yes” if something is unclear.’ There actually was an unclear matter, which I explained in my question. I said, ‘Do a person’s manifestations mean the different states through which he passes, such as standing, sitting, and so on?’ He said (a): ‘No. I will now give you another example. Suppose that a human being is light intended to reach a place, and you turn on the source of light at some place. How does the light move from the source and its location to the other place? It occurs by its becoming manifest step by step toward the goal. These steps-the steps of motion-are the person’s manifestations. In reality, they remain as steps, always present and always renewed, because the source is constantly transmitting. If the transmission ceased, the person would perish and return to nonexistence. Now, if I moved you back a few steps, nothing in you would change. You would only become unseen in the bodily world, and you would have a more luminous body, not weighed down by darkness. This is raising, and it has degrees. If I wished you to return, I would move you forward a few steps, and you would become visible and would need what the people of that bodily world need in order to remain in it. Thus, the one who is raised is among the people yet not among them. Because a human being is an existence whose manifestations are close to infinite in number, the divine blessings upon him cannot be counted. The human being-the person’s natural disposition-is close to the Infinite, who is Allah, Glorious and Exalted is He. He is the image of Divinity. Thus, Ali (a) said in describing the human being’s state: “You suppose yourself to be a small body, while within you the greater world is enfolded.” Perhaps I have tired or inconvenienced you, so excuse me.’ Ahmed Alhasan Muharram al-Haram, 1432 AH