A person should think about his
sins and repent for them and think about his worships and thank for them. He
should also ponder about extremely beautiful and delicate arts and
systems
and their relationships to each other on his own body as well as on other
creatures in order to appreciate the greatness of Allâhu
ta’âlâ. The totality of all creatures and other beings are called world (’âlam).
[“’Âlam” consists of three parts, ’âlam-i-ajsâd,
i.e. the world of bodies, the physical world or corporeal world; ’âlam-i-arwâh, i.e. the world of souls, the spiritual world;
and ’âlam-i-mithâl,
i.e. the world between the spiritual and the physical worlds. “’Âlam-i-mithâl”
is not a world of existence. It is a world of appearance. Every existence in
the other two worlds has an appearance in ’âlam-i-mithâl.[1] ’Âlam-i-arwâh (the world of souls)
consists of beings beyond the ’Arsh, (i.e. the ninth heaven). They are not
material beings. Their world is also called ’âlam-i-amr.
’Âlam-i-ajsâd is the world of material beings. It is also called ’âlam-i-khalq.
It consists of two parts. Mankind is called ’âlam-i-saghîr. Everything other
than mankind is called ’âlam-i-kebîr. Everything which exists in the ’âlam-i-kebîr
has a representation or likeness in mankind (’âlam-i-saghîr).
Man’s spiritual heart is a gateway to the world of souls. This gateway is
blocked off, ruined in the hearts of disbelievers. For this reason,
disbelievers are not aware of the world of souls. The only possibility, the
only prescription in order for the spiritual heart to obtain life, in order for
it to open its door to the world of souls is through believing and becoming a
Muslim. A Believer should strive hard to enter the world of souls through this
gateway of the spiritual heart and thereafter make progress towards eternity.
The comprehensive knowledge of Sufism (Tasawwuf), which is one of
the main eight branches of Islam’s teachings, disciplines in this kind of
endeavour. The specialists of this branch of knowledge are called friends (Walî)
of Allah and enlightener (Murshid). The most famous among
all “Murshids” is Imâm ar-Rabbânî Ahmad Fârûqî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’. He
passed away in India in 1034 Hijrî, 1624 A.D.
It is not possible for a
sensible person who studies in medical and scientific universities to observe
the delicate art and balance in the creatures and sees and understands their
delicate relationships to each other, not to believe the
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[1] Please see the sixth chapter of the third fascicle of Endless Bliss for detailed information on these three worlds, and also the thirty-sixth chapter of the first fascicle for ’âlam-i-mithâl.
greatness, knowledge, and power of Allâhu
ta’âlâ. A person who does not believe after observing and
understanding all of these must be either an abnormal, retrogressive, ignorant
and stubborn idiot pursuing his sensuous desires, or a person enslaved by his
nafs, or a sadistic tyrant obtaining pleasure from tormenting other people. If
one studies life stories of disbelievers, it becomes clear that they belong to
one of these categories.]
Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sal-lam’ states in a hadîth-i-sherîf:
“Have
belief in Allâhu ta’âlâ by meditating on the order among the created
beings.” It will solidify a person’s belief (îmân)
to study astronomy and thereby to discern the systematic order in the movements
of the earth, the moon, the sun and all the other heavenly bodies, in their
rotations and revolutions, and in the delicate calculations in their distances
from one another. There are multifarious benefits and uses in the creation of
mountains, metals, rivers, seas, animals, vegetation, and even microbes. None
of them were created for a useless purpose. Clouds, rain, lightening,
thunderbolt, underground waters, energy materials and air, in short, all
created beings perform certain functions and services. Mankind, so far, has
been able to understand very little about these innumerable number of services
rendered by these innumerable beings. Is it ever possible for mind, which is
not capable of understanding the creatures, to comprehend the Creator? Islamic
scholars who discerned His greatness and Attributes were bewildered and stated
that they realized that it is not possible to understand Him. One of the
Believers of Mûsâ (Moses) ‘alaihis-salâm’ prayed for thirty years. The shadow
of an overhanging cloud was protecting him against the sun. One day the cloud
did not show up, so that he had to stay under the sun. When he asked his mother
what the reason could be, she said that he probably committed a sin. When he
said that he had not committed any sins, his mother inquired, “Didn’t you look
at the skies, or at flowers? When you saw them, didn’t you think of the
greatness of the Creator?” “I did look at them,” he replied, “but I was remiss
in the business of pondering.” There upon she said, “Is there any other sin
bigger than this? Make tawba right away.” A sensible person should not forget
about the duty of pondering. Is there anyone who has any guaranty that he will
not die tomorrow? Allâhu ta’âlâ did not create
anything without any use. The uses which men have so far been able to discern are by far more numerous than those which they have not. Pondering can be done in four ways, according to (Islamic) scholars. Pondering about the beautiful arts of Allâhu ta’âlâ which manifest on human beings causes one to believe Him and love Him. Pondering about the rewards promised by Him for the worships causes one to perform those worships. Pondering about the punishments informed by Him causes one to be afraid of Him and thereby inhibits one from wronging others. Pondering about one’s having enslaved oneself to one’s nafs and committing sins and living in a state of heedlessness regardless of all the blessings bestowed by Him causes one to have shame towards Allâhu ta’âlâ. Allâhu ta’âlâ loves those who observe the terrestrial and celestial creatures and take lessons from them. It is stated as follows in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “No other act of worship is so valuable as meditation.” And another hadîth-i-sherîf reads: “A momentary meditation is more useful than sixty years’ worship.” The book Kimyâ-i-sa’âdat, in Persian, by Imâm Ghazâlî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ contains a lengthy discourse on tafakkur (meditation, pondering).