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The highest level of shahood is known
asfatah (exploration). This happens when someone gains excellence in shahood to
a point where while witnessing the unseen he is unable to close his eyes owing
to the mounting pressure; they are compelled to remain open. When that happens
then sayr (journey), shahood and other spiritual experiences are witnessed with
open eyes. During this stage, the student witnesses the period between the
creation and the end-time with his own eyes while performing normal daily
routines of his life. From the far corners of the universe, he sees creation in
progress, the birth of numerous galaxies and their stars, their chronological
evolution and their eventual demise as well.
A mere second of fatah sometimes may be
an encircling of the period between creation to the end time. Experts of
Astronomy claim that it takes more or less four years for any light, that is
from any system other than our own solar system, to reach us. According to
them, there are even some stars whose light reaches us in thousands of years.
This means the stars that we look at night are the figure that existed thousands
of years ago. We are then bound to recognize the fact that the present moment
is a thousand years old moment. A point to ponder is that between these two moments,
which are in fact one, thousands of years elapse. Where do those thousand of
years go?
This suggests that these thousands of
years are nothing but an angle of perception. This has divided this single
moment into thousands and thousands of years. Just as this angle of perception
sees the thousands of years in the present moment, it could as well see the
future thousands of years in the present moment. Therefore, the period from the
creation to the end is a single moment that has been divided by the angle of
perception into the various stages between the beginning and the end of time.
This
division is what we know as Space (makaan), meaning the entire period between
the creation and the end is Space (makaan) and all the incidents that this
universe has seen are confined in the divisions of that single moment. It is the grace of the perception that has given
that moment the appearance of the beginning to the end.
The
perception that we are used to could never be able to see the length of
that single moment. The perception that could is mentioned in the Sura Qadar of
Qur'an (Koran):
'And We have revealed this during the
night of power. And what dost thou sense what night of power is? That night of
power is better than thousands of months. Angels and the Holy Spirit descend on
that night by the Will of their Lord to do the work. That night is all peace
till dawn.
The aforesaid night of power is that
perception that reveals the affairs of the period between creation and the
end-time. This perception is thirty thousand times or even greater than the
normal perception because one night was compared with thousand of months. With
the help of this perception man is able to get acquainted with the spirits and
angels and witness the mysteries of creation.
The following is an excerpt from the
author's book Jannat Ki Sayr
(Urdu, Al-Kitab Publications) in which
he is relating an incident from the earls' days of his spiritual life.
I was returning home from the city
market in a bus. It was so crowded that it seemed like passengers were loaded
like a cargo. Besides exhaust fumes and heat, the smell of passengers sweating
was all over the bus. Every time when the bus would restart after the stops,
the air filtering through the sweats of passengers would make my brain explode.
A few passengers were wearing perfumes
while others had the hair creams that smelled like a stinking drug. This
mixture of bad and good smells was giving me a headache and I felt like I was
being suffocated. When this happened suddenly a thought crossed rm,
mind, why there is so much odor in a man?
My
mind was so focused on that thought that my eves became a little mushy. Then I
saw a circle. There were six more circles on top of that. Each circle was made
of a different color. Some were blue while others were green, red, or black and
one was transparent. My I concentrated on those circles. Suddenly they turned
into six more circles (chakra) and suddenly I became aware that every creation
exists under these six circles (chakra).
When I paid more attention to it the
space between them started to increase. First circle (e/iakru) was seen in the
middle of the head, second one at the forehead, third under the neck, fourth
one in the middle of the chest, fifth one at the heart and the sixth one at the
navel.
The
circle (chakra) at the navel was dark and dingy. I was a bit surprised to find
that in the middle of all those bright circle (chukra)s there existed this
dark, polluted and dingy circle (chukra) but why? I felt as if my mind had
already left my body. 'l'he body of bones and flesh felt like an empty
envelope. I was no longer aware that I was traveling in a bus. I saw that on
every man's shoulders there were two angels. They were writing something,
however, the way then were writing was not the way we write in our world. They
had no pen, nor tablet on which to write. The angel's' mind would take notice
of something and that would appear in the form of a film. The forms and figures
of the film would show if the mind of one of them was engaged in thoughts of
greed while someone else is busy thinking about jealousy and other negative
thoughts. A third person is bent on murdering someone. This person left his
home with this plan. One of the angels quickly inspired him that murdering
someone is a big sin and the punishment for this crime is execution.
Nevertheless, this person would ignore this inspired message and kept on going
according to his plan.
When
the inspiration failed, the other angel took notice of it and recorded that
person's plan to commit murder and the entire episode appeared on that film
including his rejection of the inspiration. This person went ahead and stabbed
to death another human being just like him. The second angel recorded the
entire incident.
After committing the murder, that person's
conscience became uneasy. His mind was now burdened with an enormous guilt and
the realization that he will eventually have to pay for this crime. That guilt
itself became an image in the recording.
These three men acted on their will and
the way they had planned the outcome in their mind and acted on their schemes,
every action and every movement became an image that was
recorded by the angels. On the other hand, there was another person who left
his home for prayers in the mosque. After entering the mosque he with honest
heart prostrated himself before God. God loves honesty.
Because of God's approval of honesty, he
became eligible for Divine Mercy (rahma) and rewards. Even though he did not know whether his prayers were approved, because
his intentions were pure, after performing the prayers his conscience became
content and he felt peace and serenity. The station of peace and serenity is
heaven. After becoming content, his consciousness became aware that his final
station is heaven.
The moment focus shifted to heaven, the
entire heaven with its trees, fruits, creatures, lakes of honey, the well of
kauthar, they all came into my vision. When consciousness was able to witness
all that, then the angel turned his focus on the film and this entire episode
was recorded in his film as well.
On the other hand, there was another man
who also left his home for prayer. His mind is filled with filth and hatred for
God's creatures. Injustice is his hobby. Cruelty, insensitivity, and violence
are his favorite actions. He entered the mosque and prayed for a while;
however, his conscience is not satisfied. This unsatisfactory condition of
conscience can be labeled nothing but the condition of hell. This person
finished his prayers but his conscience was not content. The angel in his film
also recorded this state.
The
Angels then told me:
"There are two different characters
in front of you. One of the characters ignored the angelic inspiration and
instead followed his own carnal impulses and went ahead and killed his fellow
human being. One of the other persons performed an action which otherwise seems
like a nice deed but his intentions were not honest. He was deceiving himself.
The second group is the one whose intentions are honest, their minds are pure
and clean, and they do respect the Divine laws. Now we are going to give you
the accounts of the daily life of one person from each group.
"The
one committed the murder. Whenever he gets time off from the grind of daily
busy life is afflicted with enormous guilt. His heart gets uneasy and his mind
gets worried and confused and he finally sinks into depression. Now the images
on the film made by the angels get deeper as the things get worse by the will
of that person. The bright circle (chakra) inside that person gets dim and that
cloud finally settles on the circle (chakra) that is at the navel. At the
circle (chakra), the lights are absorbed by the darkness. When someone gets in
this state then darkness and dinginess become a smelly wound. That smell
becomes part of that person's blood. This stage gets worse to point when the
other circle (chakra) get out of touch with that person."
I was absorbed listening to the sermon
of the angel when I heard it huge sound. It sounded like
ringing bells. When I paid attention to this sweet melody, my hearing was
struck by a voice saying:
"God has sealed their hearts, their
ears and their sight with a heavy curtain, for these disobedient the punishment
is everlasting damnation."
The
moment I heard this voice my heart became so fearful that I started trembling.
I felt as if all the pores in my body had opened. I was shocked and started
crying. I was weeping so strongly that I ended up having hiccoughs. People who
saw thought that I was some crazy person. Some were even sarcastic and made fun
of me. How unfortunate it was that not a single person expressed any sympathy
towards me. I then left the bus and started walking towards my home.
When
I got home it was dark, but I was so morose from the experience that I went
straight to bed. I was really hurting. It felt like someone had nailed my
heart. Suddenly my focus turned towards the mercifulness and kindness of the
Prophet Muhammad. I saw those two angels were still present and trying to
comfort me. The angel, who was making the film of good deeds, started to open
his film right in front of me and that film turned into a screen.
Glory
to God! That same circle (chakra) at navel which was dark and smelly turned
into a bright circle (chakra) right in front of my eyes. It was so bright that the
brightness of the sun seemed like a lamp in comparison. That filth and sadness
imposed on my mind was washed away in an instant.
That
person who had offered his prayers with purity and had in his heart respect for
the laws created by God was also present. The rays from the bright circle
(chakra) inside that man were revolving like the rays from the sun. It was
placid almost like a still ocean. The bright and shins' heart was festive and
intoxicated with ecstasy and in this joyous occasion that person was strolling
in the valley of Paradise. The scenery of paradise is beyond words. The palaces
were so great that no one in this world could even imagine the artistic beauty
of their architecture. In the middle of the palace of diamonds and pearls I saw
that same man resting. For his service there were hoorins and different types
of birds were busy- singing as if they were singing his praise. The
pools were made of rare pearls and precious stones whose beauty far exceeds
any worldly gems.
There
is it higher station in heaven which is reserved for
people who pray to God with purity and honesty. Their hearts are filled with
the desire to serve God's creatures. Their hearts are seekers of Truth and they
respect other human beings as an offspring of Adam and Eve. They feel others
pain as their own and try their best to relieve them of their misery. By
beholding that serene world, I, myself became peaceful. I surrendered my
intelligence and my hearing seemed to be sinking. The sight that sees the world
seemed like a fake and my eyes became watery. However, these were not the tears
of sadness and fear but were of thankfulness. After seeing me happy the angels
became happy as well and then they inquired of me, "Do you know whose station
is this?"
"This
is the station of those who followed the path of God's prophets with honesty
and these are those whom the God has called His friend (wali). Verily God's
friends have neither fear nor are they accustomed to sadness."
These
angels were kramin katibeen.
KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI
In the current information age, the very question of what Man
is, and to what extent his abilities
go, has gained prominence. Metaphysical knowledge tells us
that Man is not just a mass of muscles and bones but in fact is a living
universe or microcosm (a'lam asghar) itself. His life is primarily relying on
information. As a matter of fact his life is nothing but a collection of
thoughts and imagination. His every movement is influenced by information and
thoughts. Every human achievement is circled around the unseen world of
cognition, imagination and creative thoughts. By giving new meaning to this
idea, Man creates and invents new things out of nothing.