CHAPTER III: THE PEN AND THE PRESERVED TABLET
(LAWH AL-MAHFUZ)
It has been possible to conceive of the existence of the
Seven Heavens and Paradise and Hell all written on a small "Preserved Tablet" or
a small piece of paper and preserved in a minute part of the heart and seen with
a part of the eyeball, not exceeding the size of a lentil seed, without the
Heavens and Earth, Paradise and Hell actually existing in the eyeball or the
heart or the tablet or the paper. It is not necessary that the pen and the
tablet should be the same, as we know, for they are formless and only God can
know what they really are. In spite of our selfless efforts, we miserably fail
to imagine the feature of God’s fingers with which He writes on the "Preserved
Tablet". We also fail to understand how the tablet receives impressions like a
hard and broad body upon which writing is inscribed, as children write upon a
slate. For the multiplicity of this writing requires something extended on which
to write. And if the writing is infinite, the material bearing it will be
likewise infinite. Apparently, infinite body and infinite lines on a single body
are inconceivable. It is also possible to conceive of the speech of God as being
read with tongues preserved in the hearts and written in books without the
actual existence of that speech in these things. For if the very speech of God
should actually exist on the leaves of a book, God Himself, through the writing
of His name on these leaves, would exist actually thereon. Similarly, the very
fire of Hell, through the writing of His name on the leaves, would exist
actually thereon and the leaves would be consumed. In like manner God is seated
upon the throne in the sense which He willed by that state of equilibrium - a
state which is not inconsistent with the quality of grandeur to which the
symptoms of origination and annihilation do not permeate. If these things cannot
be explained in terms of the power of a powerful being, how then can they be
explained at all? It is essential, therefore, that we should believe in them in
accordance with religion. As a result of the deep search into the problem of
essence and attributes, it has been found that God is the only reality; we are
but phenomenal. Human attributes are only impressions and ephemeral mirroring
faintly God’s attributes which are eternal. Whatever the mind conceives is
definite in so far as it is limited by place and time, but God is not a
space-filling body and His life is timeless. The difference between God’s
knowledge and power and human knowledge and power is greater than the difference
between any two things, for He is not composed of bodies within whose limits
powers are diffused. His power and will and knowledge are one and the same as
His essence. His life is not like ours, which needs for its completion the two
different powers which are manifested through our knowledge and action. On the
contrary, His life is identical with His essence. If His attributes are
attributed to us, we would not understand them. Death is the separation of soul
from the body, which is reunited at the command of God on the Day of
Resurrection.
The Doomsday and the Resurrection of Bodies
The individual souls ar part of the Universal Soul to which
they will return. Thus the individual’s death is a minor return and that of the
Universal Soul is the major return towards the Creator. The separation of spirit
from matter is a mystery and the union of spirit with matter is a mystery also.
As it is, we always misunderstand ourselves and rarely understand others. This
is the end of our discourse on the mysteries of the human soul. The Prophet
said: "..." [As soon as one dies, Doomsday begins for him]. Here the word
qiyamah does not mean the Resurrection of bodies, which is a permanent
entity to which existence will return after death. Here the word qiyamah
means the particular Doomsday - a subject which we have discussed in detail in
the opening chapter entitled "Patience" included in our book called Ihya `Ulum
al-Din ("Revivification of Knowledge"). The general Resurrection of bodies
will include all human beings and not a particular man. The time of Resurrection
is known only to God, and He has not divulged this secret even to His Prophets
and saints. It seems that the appointed time of the Day of Resurrection was not
foretold for the welfare of men and for fear of the harm which might ensue.
Though all times are equal by nature, there are certain times which are
different from others in so far as the strange things created in them are
concerned. According to Mutakallimun (Scholastic theologians), the
creation of strange creatures depends upon the will of the Creator in any form
He wills. Even philosophers do not deny the possibility of the resurrection of
bodies, as they are unanimously of opinion that all created things originate
from the revolution of the heavenly bodies, which are living beings composed of
bodies and souls and that the higher and lower beings differ from one another in
their attributes and functions. They also believe that bodies are governed by
the heavens, the heavens by the souls, the souls by the various orders of the
angels, and the angels by the "Light of Lights," who has dominion over the whole
universe. It is not necessary that every preceding revolution of the heavenly
bodies should resemble the one following it. They believe that it is possible
that such a revolution might take place, as has no parallel in the history of
the heavenly revolutions. This is the reason why such strange animals have been
created in extraordinary times as have no resemblance whatsoever with others in
the Animal Kingdom. It is also possible that the revolutions of the heavenly
bodies may be suitable, but the beings which they create may be unexpectedly
different. For instance, if we throw a stone in water, a circular wave is
produced. If we throw another stone immediately after the first one, it is not
necessary that the same form of the wave would follow, since we threw the first
stone in the standing water, and the second in the moving water. Decidedly the
second form would be different from the first. In this case, the cause is the
same, but the effect is different, because some of the properties of the
standing water mixed with those of the moving water. Therefore, it can be safely
inferred that a time may come which is different from all other times which have
passed. So we can easily comprehend what Resurrection really means. Religion
teaches us to believe in it which will be accompanied by the resurrection of
life. You should, therefore, believe in the resurrection of the dead and the Day
of Judgment, both of which have been mentioned in the traditions. They are real
and belief in them is obligatory, because, according to reason, they are
possible. They signify restoration to life after death, which, like the first
act of creation, is within the power of God.
Attachment of Soul to Dead Bodies in Their
Graves and on the Day of Resurrection
It is absurd to think that it is impossible for the soul to
exist after the death of body. Those who deny resurrection or attachment of soul
to dead bodies in their graves are the ones who are confounded and go astray
from His path. In serious discussions no importance can be attached to such
persons, and no notice ought to be taken of them. Death of the body does not
cause the death of the soul, because the latter does not subsist in body. Rather
the attachment of soul to body (during its lifetime) is astonishing indeed, for
the soul is not in the body, just as accidents are not in a substance. The soul
is not an accident. It is a self-subsisting substance which recognizes its
Creator and His attributes through itself and its attributes unaided by senses,
for the things it knows are not felt. To call it an intelligence means that it
is a non-material body. Every such being is an intelligence, i.e. it has
self-knowledge and self-consciousness, and knows what is other than itself. It
is so decreed that all the angels know all the intelligibles, without a single
exception, because they also are pure intelligences not-in-matter. Man during
his lifetime is capable of complete detachment from worldly desires. The soul
abstains from carnal desires, turns away from the world and betakes itself to
the struggle for the attainment of piety. If these conditions are satisfied,
then, while it is yet in the world, its connection with worldly things is cut
off, whereas the connection with things of the Hereafter grows stronger. In his
initial stages, the mystic, by constantly remembering God and concentrating on
the perfect, eternal and absolute reality, loses even his self-consciousness. He
gets empty of feelings - and even of ideas. He even ignores himself, as being
now inside the Divine Presence and living together with it and having
communication with it. His physical being continues, but his individuality has
departed, though for his fellow-men he still has his physical body and
appearance. This is a type of ecstatic state, of contemplation, inspiration and
illumination, which is most glorious attainment and very wear the goal of life -
a state of concentration, at unification, of liberation, of discovery, of
heightened and intensified powers and withal a burst of joy, of rapture and of
radiance. lt is a point within ourselves, which, as the mystic holds, is equally
God’s central reality and ours, where spirit with spirit meets. One who gets rid
of his senses, in order to meditate over Divine Reality does not stand in need
of his body or mind for spiritual subsistence, for it is the body which
functions as the source of the diverting influences or preoccupations. When you
begin to reflect over the intelligibles, the effect of all these diverting
things on you will remain in abeyance. A dedicated Sufi believes that there is
no reality but God. His only recognizable desire is to pass his life in such a
manner that his exiled soul is enabled to return and lose itself in its Creator,
his only recognizable sorrow lies in the difficulties and distractions that
delay the achievement of fana’ (annihilation) - the passing away of
soul’s consciousness in the absolute goodness and beauty of God. Those who know
the true nature of the human soul, which corresponds to the plane of the angels
from where it derives real cognitions, do not believe in the soul’s inability to
separate itself from body. On the contrary, they are of opinion that it is
really surprising how a soul gets itself connected with body. Know that
attachment implies governance of body and its functions. When man intends to
write, he holds the pen and moves his fingers in the required direction. He
knows that the intention is not in his fingers, but in his mind. Undoubtedly, if
the mere appearance of the form of a line or a letter in our soul were
sufficient for the production of that form, our knowledge too would be identical
with power and, therefore, with will. But actually this is not so, because the
faculty of writing is placed under the control of our bodies, and our power is
with the principle which moves the muscles. So it is not impossible for the
Creator of matter and soul to cause resurrection of the dead, since restoration
to life is nothing but a second act of creation, like the first one. Some of the
philosophers who think that the infinity of the soul and the finitude of matter
make resurrection impossible can only babble and show their perplexity and are
so bewildered that they cannot explain.
Belief in the Balance of the Day of Judgment
Again, belief in the Balance of the Day of Judgment, which is
real is also obligatory. Man should believe that God’s judgment of the body and
soul is just and in accordance with His will. On the Day of Resurrection, God
will weigh on His judgment seat each act, each thought, each motive, great or
small, with perfect justice. Our deeds will be weighed, and happy are those
whose good weighs more in the scale than ill. If we do exist now, we cannot
think of our annihilation or destruction; destruction in the sense of
annihilation, especially in respect of soul, is impossible in this world of
reality. We believe in the existence of soul as a thing independent from the
body, that it will continue to exist after death, and that when it sees its
essence, it sees all and comprehends all things. At the time of death realities
of all intelligibles are laid bare unto man. So God says: "..." [Now We have
removed from thee thy covering and piercing is thy sight this day (al-Qur’an, 1.
22)]. The beginning, the ending and the continuing are the conception of human
minds that depend upon our conception of time, but we all know that time has no
absolute existence. It is only a form of our knowledge, of our nature, as
related to the experience of nature outside. This conception vanishes at the
time of death. The manner in which our deeds will be weighed is that God causes
to exist in the balance sheets of man’s works a weight in proportion to the
value of these works in His sight. Consequently, the value of the works of men
becomes known to them, so that the justice of God in punishment, His grace in
forgiveness and generosity in reward might become evident. The balance is a kind
of instrument with which greater or lesser things are weighed or measured. There
are various kinds of balances in this vast world of phenomena - the popular
scale for weighing valuable and heavy things - the astrolabe for taking the
altitude of heavenly bodies - the ruler for measuring straight lines - science
of prosody or laws of versification for composing poems - the knowledge of music
or art of combining sounds to give them a pleasing effect, in which there is a
system of notation, expressing the relative duration as well as the pitch of the
notes. God has power to make an intellectual or physical balance out of any
material and of any form or shape. He wills in order to weigh our deeds. What is
there to prevent one from consenting to the belief in the spiritual or physical
balance in the Hereafter, when the existence of this thing can be safely
inferred from the verses of the Qur’an. One should also believe that God will
take into account all our good and evil deeds. This is why He maintains the
proper record of our deeds, for it is inconceivable to think of an individual
who lacks the power of doing beneficial or harmful deeds. He rewards His
believing servants for their acts at obedience in the spirit of generosity and
encouragement rather than according to their merit and desert and He punishes
those who do not stand one instant in contemplation of God and retain their
interest in the causes of worldly pleasures.
