The Mercy of Qur'an and the Advent of Zaman - Commentary On Four Suras

Supplement 3

43 This is the hell which the guilty call a lie.

44 Round about they will go, between it and hot, boiling water. 45 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

Jahannam is the final abode of those who are in the fire. It is jahnim the bottomless pit. Those who are in the fire have tasted a bit of it in this life but denied its reality. Everyone in this life has tasted it. If man had not tasted it, it would be meaningless to him. Sayyidna Adam, alayhi-s-salam, had not experienced a lie, so when shaytan told him to taste the fruit, to wish for something else, to be discontent, he did not know better and believed him. But this is not the case with us.

We have tasted the fire and the garden. If we did not know these things there would be incongruity in the balance. Everyone knows the meaning of uncertainty, disturbance, agitation, fear, anxiety, hatred and anger - all of these are fire. If man leaves them in himself long enough, they can create a stomach ulcer, which is an internal fire. It has been found that having a burning stomach is far more disturbing than having burnt skin, because it is internal, and therefore more potent. The fire is the lot of the criminal who has committed crimes against himself and yet denies them.

Yatufuna is from tafa, to walk about, to wander around. Tawwaf is derived from it and means going around in circles, circumambulating. The inhabitants of the fire move from burning hot to boiling water.

Tawf is a wall encompassing a garden. A word which echoes tafa, that is, which has a different root while sounding very similar, is tayf, which means shadow, dream or fantasy. In the Arabic language, certain words sound very similar to others, a phenom­enon which evokes a subliminal association in meaning. If one hears tawwaf one might, quite naturally, recall tawf and tayf, though they are known to have specifically different meanings. It is like going into a multi-screen circular theater which screens many films simultaneously: you are forced to glance at the screens closest to the film you are viewing.

The root system of the Arabic language is a vast receptacle of meanings. All the words of a similar sound have the potential to lead one to a single root, as the example of tawf and tayf illustrates. In life, man goes around and around without stopping, as if hallucinating, but when he comes to the tawf (wall) he stops. Most of the Arabic words that sound similar but have different roots have a semantic relationship.

Those who are at a loss in this world have denied the Rahman in the next world. They are in the same situation in both worlds. They move from the frying pan into the fire. Man moves from one job to another that is even worse. He leaves one wife and enters into an even worse relationship. He does not realize it is Allah's love hitting him, urging him to stop. This life is but a short prelude to the next life.

46 And for he who fears standing before his Lord are two gardens.

47 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

48 Having in them various kinds.

49 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

"And for he who fears standing before his Lord," who recognized the Lordship, who recognized that there is One entity in charge, who feared transgressing His laws and was completely in His hands, for him there are two gardens. One of them is the garden of arwah, the garden of the spirits - it is the garden of eternal bliss.

The other is the garden of hearts, the garden of mushahada, eternal witnessing. These are two inner gardens. There are many other examples of pairs of gardens: the garden of experiencing and the garden of recog­nition; the garden of wakefulness and the garden of sleep; the garden of the mashriq (east) and the garden of the maghrib (west); the gardens of the beginning and of the end.

50 In both of them are two fountains flowing.

51 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

In the garden, there are two fountains and there are two springs that flow. They are nourished in an invisible way, just as man's heart is also nourished. Man does not know how love is fed.

When people gather together to bury someone who was loved by them, how is it that the', dead may revive the love in living hearts? It is a hidden spring, a hidden river. It reminds people of Allah, the Taker and the Giver of life. Death reminds man of his end so that he becomes less fossilized, arrogant and hard-hearted.

52 In both of them are pairs of every fruit.

53 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

54 Reclining on beds, the inner coverings of which are of silk brocade; and the fruits of the two gardens are within reach.

55 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

How can man deny the bounties of Allah? In the gardens there are fruits of every kind, fruits which make you fakih ( gay, cheerful). In the gardens there are two different flowing rivers of bounty: man and woman.

Muttaki'ina (, reclining, plural of muttaki) implies that there is available all that could be imagined in the way of comfort, luxury and relaxation. It implies being in a state of great tranquility, your heart at rest. This is, of course, never possible in this life, because as soon as one becomes comfortable, an annoyance occurs that must be dealt with. Dealing with it causes another sort of reaction, and so on. The agitation in this life is never ending.

56 In them are those who restrain themselves; man nor jinn have not touched them before.

57 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

58 As though they were rubies and coral.

59 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

Qasiratu-t- tarf are those who restrain them­selves, who lower their gaze. Qasirat is in the feminine gender and implies that they are man's opposite. Man and his opposite are like the positive and the negative which, when put together, make one by neutralization. These women are not desirous but are available to bring about contentment.

They have never been touched and are ever pure. Their virginal state stops man from imagining the physical vulgarity to which he is accustomed in this world. This implies purity of a higher state. This state is based on a timeless equilibrium. The instant there is a desire, it is made quiet.

There is never any real satisfaction in any relationship in this life except for the relationship between the slave and his Master. In every other relationship in this world there is blame. A man blames his wife and she blames him, while nobody blames himself - and so it never ends. People end up having had five wives and five divorces.

Man expects the highest from others while not having expected the highest of himself. A person who can live with one partner can live with any wife. If he can live with himself, he can live with anyone else. Man blames others, claiming that they are wrong: they do not lower their eyes nor do they have the right courtesy.

"As though they were rubies and coral." Rubies and coral scintillate in their purity. The ultimate beauty of nature is pure and simple, with­out interference or compromise. In the garden women have not had to beautify themselves. They too are real and pure.

60 Is the reward of goodness but goodness?

61 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

Is not the reward of good action, good action itself? Every action has its equal and opposite reaction. If you have done good it will come back to you. But is that goodness done for Allah, or is it for your own whims? Many people think they are acting correctly, while in reality they are at a loss. There is ahadith, a tradition, which says: "The sleep of the `alim (one who knows), is better than the wakefulness of the worshipper." Wakefulness is measured by the degree of knowledge and recognition of the worshipped.

Many people are striving for right action, establishing orphanages and so on. If they expect those whom they help to fall at their feet in gratitude, it means these so-called generous people are not serving for Allah's sake. "Is the reward of goodness but goodness?" is often used incorrectly. If one's action is honorable, it will only have a like reaction.

Is the ihsan ( the best action) not for He Who created man, Who gave man the possibility of unending realities? The service that man renders for the Rahman should be the best.

How else can man repay the Rahman? How can he repay the mercy of Allah other than by reflecting His attributes? Could the Prophet of Allah, salla-llahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, be other than the greatest of creation and the mercy of Allah upon the worlds? The faithfulness of the slave to his Lord is exemplified by all the prophets if their actions, and the best we can do is to follow in the dust of their footsteps.

62 And besides these two are two (other) gardens.

63 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

64 Both inclining to blackness.

65 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

66 In both of them are two springs gushing forth.

67 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

68 In both are fruits and palms and pomegran­ates.

69 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

Besides the two gardens are two others, the gardens of those who fear to stand before Allah in the next life: "Both inclining to blackness." Mudhammatan , related to the root idhamma, means that which is of a dark green color inclining to black, as gardens from being much watered. Still these gardens are not of the pure light which is the essence of everything.

In both of these gardens are two springs. Within every event one finds two situations, within each duality there is yet another duality -in the sensory and in the meaning. The unfoldment of duality within duality is unending. If one reflects upon this world and its affairs, one will find that there is no end to that reflection. Reflection is a sea whose shores end up with Reality, with knowledge. Within Reality there is an immense sea: the more one looks into it the more one finds two.

70 In them are goodly things, beautiful ones.

71 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

In the garden there are beautiful ones from whom comes only khayr (good). In man's state on earth there cannot be khayr without bad enveloping it. Every good action that man wants to initiate is surrounded by the possibilities of wrong action. He has to wade and cut through the jungle of wrong action to get to right action. The way of shqytan is easy, but the way of right action is difficult. Allah says that only khayr comes from these beauties.

In the beauty of this world lies its opposite, ugliness. Whatever anything may be, think of it when it is decaying and stinking. Think of a pond of beautiful water lilies, then think of them in winter and how they die and rot. Think of a beautiful young woman, then think of her when she is old and decrepit. Beauty in this realm contains within it ugliness, whereas in the next realm there is only beauty within the khayritun hisa`n (goodly things, beautiful ones).

72 Pure ones confined to the pavilions.

73 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

Hur (virgins of paradise) are in the highest state of courtesy and purity, which is actually what man desires. The pure ones are confined to pavilions, ready and waiting to neutralize any duality that might be introduced by man's arrival. Khiyam are tents, enclosures which stabilize what has been unfulfilled.

74 Man has not touched them before nor jinn.

75 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

The hur have never been touched, existing as if `charged.' Once a charged object has been touched it no longer retains its charge. They are pure powers, not women with legs and hands. Coming into the next life men become neutralized by contact with them and become unified.

76 Reclining on green cushions and beautiful carpets.

77 Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?

Abqari is a colorful carpet and can also mean a genius. Abqar is a legendary place inhabited by jinn. It is the name of certain comforts and joys that men get in this world, that state of reclining which the people of the garden attain. No longer confined by their bodies, they are pure awareness.

78 Blessed be the name of your Lord, the Lord of Glory and Honor!

This sura begins with an aya which is a proof, a sign and a mani­festation. The first is the Rahman, Who taught the knowledge of Him­self through the Mizan, the Qur'an. Allah's first manifestation was his light, the light of knowledge. The kafirun (deniers) de­sire to put out the light of Allah and His order, but Allah does not allow it because "Allah is the light of the heavens and earth."

The sura ends with tabaraka (blessed be). Blessed is the name of Allah. If man calls Allah's name, Allah approaches his dwelling.

Man, in this life, is on a journey. He has in his hand a ticket, which instead of reading `Chicago', reads `Allah'. Allah is the ticket and the port is the nafs. If man goes through that port, if he passes his nafs, then he is on his way towards that Name. When he reaches the Name It is one with Reality. While travelling, the traveler might say that he is going to Chicago, but the ticket itself is not the experience of Chicago. The experience of the place does not begin until he is actually there.

Man is as good as his intention. Stop time - press time together rather than telescoping it as is done in the life-experience - and the name and its reality become one. If man's heart is completely in Chicago then the name will be unified with its reality. If man's ticket is in his hand, if he has recognized the baraka of the Rahman, then he has taken the Name as a key, then he has reached the goal. The door will come to the key. He will find the Rabb (Lord) already there. The Lord has nothing other than the highest love for this creation, which contains every meaning - which is man.

Lordship has in it all the honor and the glory. In this impossible situation of the world, man strives to be glorified and honored but finds it futile because the honor and glory belong to Allah. If man honors and glorifies Him, he comes to see only Him. Then the opinions of others, whether good or bad, mean nothing to him. People admire him, he does not mind. They curse him, he does not mind, because, having put himself in the lowest possible position, his mind is on Allah. Allah's reaction to his behavior is the opposite: He bestows upon him real honor, not human honor.

The door and key to the knowledge of the Rahman, the knowledge of the all-encompassing Beneficent, is the recognition of His baraka, the recognition of His blessedness. Whichever way man turns he sees blessedness. If his experience is sweet it is blessedness, if it is bitter it is blessedness. If there is peace it is blessedness, if there is war it is blessedness.

How can there be peace without war? How can there be health without an illness? How can there be Islam without a boundary beyond which are its enemies? There is daru-l- islam (house of Islam) and daru-l-kufr (house of denial); there cannot be one without the other. How can life be treasured and valued maximally unless there is death? How can there be awareness unless there is numbness, as experienced in this life as wakefulness and sleep? Both states are glorious and a blessing from Allah.

How can there be nafs in man and yet no nafs in him? The knowl­edge of the nafs, once it is experienced, is one of the highest blessings, because it is the knowledge of the Rabb. If man is faithful, if he has trust, then he will continuously see the rahma of the Rahman in every aspect. That is the positive contentment of the Muslim. He has discrimina­tion, the ability to discern a healthy atmosphere from an unhealthy one; but within both he recognizes the blessedness.

His contented heart guides him to the right and correct action, to ihsan. What is the maqamu l-ihsan, the station of excellence, but acting as though Allah sees you, even though you do not see Allah? Man must attain purer action until he is as an individual doing his wus` , his utmost according to his ability. Then he is in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. That is the garden. The reward of ihsan is ihsan.

If a man can do something better than what he is doing now, he should do it. He should be completely fulfilled. Once that point has been reached, he will have burst out of his self-imposed constraints. He would not be where he does not belong, he would not be where he does not get the maximum benefit, because he recognizes every breath. Imam 'Ali, alayhi-s-salam, said, "What is halal (lawful) for you is counted and what is haram ( forbidden) for you is punished." Because breath, being a gift of the Rahman, is halal upon man, he must account for how he uses it.