Learned Philosophers

A percipient rises from the Manifested i.e., the Phenomenal World and ascends step by step to the Angelic Realm, the Realms of Omnipotency and finally manages to reach the Realm of Divinity. This progress and advancement is not the result of the Corporeal efforts but only the efforts of the soul yield some results.

This thing has been thoroughly explained in all the sacred books revealed since the creation of man till the Holy Prophet of Islam (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Greek philosophers also utilized and benefitted themselves by these Divine Books. Although they were advantaged because of the disciples of the prophets, their own intellect made it complex and intricate and they made such distorting alterations in the teachings of the prophets which made their disciples go astray. Besides the Greek Philosophers, philosophers of other countries also participated in such alterations and distortions before Christ. This particular era of philosophical teachings falls after the birth of Moses and prevails till the birth of Christ. The Ego' described in the teachings of Moses and the. succeeding prophets was not only rendered ambiguous but was made almost an absurd thing by these philosophers.

Islamic Scholars were greatly influenced by the Greek philosophy, particularly in the third, fourth and fifth centuries since the advent of Islam, and their intellect appears to be travelling on the paths formulated by the said philosophy. In fact, such deceived scholars had drifted away from the cognition which had reached the followers of the successors of the Holy Prophet's Companions from the Holy Prophet( Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

Many references are found in the Holy Quran regarding that ‘Ego' which has been mentioned above. (Hazrat) Abraham happened to have this thought in his mind that Who was his Lord? Where was He? This curiosity made his mind attracted towards the star, the moon, and the sun. The Quranic verses:

"And, so also did We show Abraham the power and laws of the heavens and the earth that he might (with understanding) have certitude. When the night covered him over, he saw a star; he said: ‘This is my Lord! 'But when it set, he said, ‘I love not those that set'. When he saw moon rising in splendor, he said, 'This is my Lord! 'But when the moon set he said, 'Unless my Lord guide me, I shall surely be among those who go astray'. When he saw the sun rising in splendor, he said, 'This is my Lord; this is the greatest (of all)'. But when the sun set, he said, 'O my people! I am indeed free from your (guilt) of giving partners to Allah'. His people disputed with him. He said, '(come) ye to dispute. With me about Allah, when He Himself hath guided me? I fear not (the beings) ye associate with Allah, unless my Lord willeth (nothing can happen), my Lord comprehendeth in His Knowledge all things. Will ye not yourself be admonished? How should I fear (the beings) ye associate with Allah, when ye fear not to give partners to Allah without any warrant having been given to you? Which of (us) two parties hath more right to security? (Tell me) if ye know!. It is those who believe and confuse not their beliefs with wrong-that are truly in security for they are on(right)guidance. And, that was the reasoning about Us which We had given to Abraham （to use) against his people; We raise whom We will, degree after degree; for thy Lord is full of wisdom and knowledge".

（Surah [VI] Anam; Verses 75 to 83).

    When the sun and moon are witnessed to be setting down it is declared that I cannot befriend with those who hide away. It means that the Lord cannot be negated. Lord is he whose separation from the human conscience is not at all possible. Other than the lord is that which can possibly be separated from the human conscience.

Ego is hereby explained through this saying of Abraham. The same ego has been termed as self’ (Nafs) by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) of Islam and the Jugular vein (Habl-ul-Wareed) by Allah, the Most High. It is the Person of Man, Human Self or Ego (Conscience) from which its Lord cannot be detached and the same is the first step towards the cognition of Allah.

It is a known fact by everybody that life is ever reviving. This revival of life is apparently associated with the material sources i.e. air, water and food but the human body ultimately faces a moment when the air, water or food fail to renew the life; in material terms this state is known as death. Once it is taken over by death then life giving elements like air, water or diet cannot restore it to life. Had the water, air or food been the real source and means of human life it would not have been Impossible to restore a defunct to life with the help of these things. It is now a revealed fact that the cause of human life is not the air, water or food but something else. Explanation of this cause is found in the following Quranic Word:

“Glory of Allah, Who created all things in pairs that the earth produces as well as their own beings and other things of which they have no knowledge”

                   (Surah 36 Verse 36)

Motives or the causes of life, in the light of the aforementioned verse, on the one hand are the Conscious and on the other hand are the Unconscious. One of the motives is negation of gods which is the chief constituent for the maintenance of life. Man is constrained to follow this law under the will of the Persona Major.

Analysis of the whole life is evident upon this fact that half of man’s life is under the influence of the Conscious and the other half is influenced by the Unconscious. After one is born, part of one’s life is spent in a state of utter unconsciousness and if the moment spent in sleeping, which form almost the third part of the human life, are added to it, it would become exactly half of the average life. It is that half of the life which is spent under the Unconscious. No such man has ever been born who could have done without this law of nature. We know these two parts as the Conscious and the Unconscious lives. These very two parts are the two types of life. The Unconscious part of the life negates the Non-lords ensuing the involuntary rewards of the physical awakening. If somebody could enhance the number of moments controlled by the Unconscious he would certainly achieve the spiritual awakening. This principle is discussed in the Holy Quran in Surah ‘Muzzamil’.

 "O, Thou folded in garments! stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night, half of it--or a little less or a little more; and recite the Quran in slow, measured rhythmic tones. Soon shall We send down to thee a weighty Message. Truly the rising by night is most potent for governing (the soul) and most suitable for (framing) the Words (of prayer and praise). True, there is for thee by day prolonged occupation with ordinary duties; but keep in remembrance the name of thy Lord and devote thyself of Him wholeheartedly. He is Lord of the East and the West; there is no Allah but He; take Him therefore for thy Disposer of Affairs. ”

(Verse: 1-9)

 Just as the Unconscious negation of gods (non-lords) is necessary for the physical strength, according to the above cited Verses, in the same way the Conscious negation of gods is must for the spiritual awakening. This is the Law, Allah, the Most High has stated in the above verses. As the Unconscious negation of Allahs constructs the physical life similarly the Conscious negation of the gods enable us to achieve the spiritual life.

 The thing that has been called the Unconscious in the above statement, the Self by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the Jugular vein in the Quranic words is known as the Ego according to the Sufistic terminology. When the god (Non-God) is negated and the awareness of the Ego remains there the Ego sublimates towards its Lord-God. When this Ego after sublimation is merged in the Elohistic Attributes (Persona major) it moves synchronizing along with the Elohistic Attributes. The first and foremost stage is to Believe (to have faith). Conditions regarding this belief have been precisely laid down in the very initial verses of the Holy Quran.

 “Alif-Lam-Meem. This is the Book of Allah, in it is guidance sure without doubt to those who fear Allah, who believe in the Unseen!” (Surah: 2, Verses 1-3)

Law

For introduction of the Unseen world believing the Unseen is compulsory. The very same law of the Preserved Scripturum has been stated in the foregoing verses. This law is being followed, invariably, by mankind in every walk of life. Everyday experiences and observations confirm that we can neither understand nor comprehend anything unless we are attentive to it with certainly. When a tree is perceived is structure, its leaves, flowers, colors, almost everything belonging to that tree comes before our eyes. But fulfillment of a condition of the law is necessary for this, that is, we have to have this belief in the first place that there exists a tree before our eyes. We can feel in our perception the color formation, appearance of leaves, flowers, etc of the tree which is present before our eyes only after acknowledging it as an Established Reality, whatever may be the reasons for this belief. If the tree is not there in our mind then it is virtually impossible for our sight to describe it because sight only describes the articles of belief.

The very same law is operatives in our daily life. When we undertake a journey towards another city we are sure and believe in the existence of that city whether the same has ever been sighted before or not. This is the very same law of the Preserved Scripturum which is valid for both the material and the spiritual worlds, equally. Training of a child is based and depends entirely on this very Law. Every child makes use of the things told to him only after acknowledging it as a fact and reality.

 Now, a few words to describe the ascent and descent of the Ego’. The Ego, the Human self or the Person which is also known as the soul is such a silhouette of the light which on the one hand is associated with its Origin (Basis) and with its species on the other. Its Origin is that collection of the Elohistic Attributes through which the senses of the whole universe are linked together in one relation. As if there is an ocean of subtile light upon whose surface all the forms and figures of the Universe are appearing and emerging and every form and figure after performing the functions and duties of its species sink back I the Ocean. Each form and figure of a particular species is called the individual’. Perception of this individual is composed of two components. The perception begins its journey from the river-bed and reaches the surface of the river and after appearing on the surface, the perception of the individual tends to become the Conscious of the individual. Allah the actions and deeds performed in this state are known as the conscious movements and the same is the external life of an individual. Whereas the Latent perception is the Unconscious of the individual, in fact, this Unconsciousness is a collection of the Latent perceptions of all the droplets of the ocean. In other words the same could be termed as the Conscious of the Ocean’. The collective Conscious of the Ocean is the Unconscious of the Individual thus, all the individuals emerging on the surface of the ocean are linked together in the chain of the Latent Conscious. When the strings of this Conscious move in the ocean all the surfaced individuals feel themselves acquainted and familiar with one another. When the sun is sighted by man he realizes that the sun, is also an individual and a member of the universe all the same. In his mind the existence of the sun and his own self are felt equally alike although different from one another. This very affinity and acquaintance according to Sufism is known as the Correlation’.

 This correlation is that Latent perception which is encompassing every individual of every species in the bottom of the ocean. This is the reason that every particle of the universe possesses the common properties of the universe. Man’s Ego in its conscious, thorough the very same Latent perception or the Correlation, acquire cognition of various properties of the universe by its steady and gradual endeavors. Although man’s Ego already enjoys a Latent familiarity of the common properties of the universe, gradually it transfers this Latent perception in its Conscious through its striving efforts. This produces that ability in it which enable it to see and feel the movements taking place in the Common Properties of the universe. When any movement occurs in the Ocean or the Unseen, the individual knows it well. Allah, the Most High, has stated the Law regarding this in the Holy Quran which has already been mentioned.                                          

“We have Created all things in two types”.

 Two types or the two sides unite to form an entity for instance, thirst is one side and water, the other. Thirst is the similitude of the soul and water is that of the body. That is, Illustrative Formations are di-hedral and have binary formation, the soul and the body and both these cannot be separated from one another. In case of annihilation of feeling of thirst the water will also eventually disappear from the w-orld. In terms of Sufism the side pertaining to the soul is called Illustrative form and the material side is the Body. If there is an epidemic of a contagious disease in the word it is definite that medicine for the same is pre-existing. Thus, both the epidemic disease and its medicament together will be known as illustrative Formation.                                                                                               

Law

The soul, meaningfulness or the formational construction of anything is called Knowledge of the Object and its embodiment, the physical exhibition or Manifestation is known as the Object. If somehow existence of the Object becomes a certainty.

 When we feel heat, or warmth, in the internal side of this feeling, a feeling of coldness remains active at that time. Warmth or heat is felt externally or outwardly as long as the feeling of coldness persists internally. That is, the feeling of coldness in the Unconscious and the feeling of warmth or heat in the Conscious both combinative are an Illustrative Formation. Thus, one side is the Knowledge of the Object and the other is the Object itself. If Knowledge of the Object could be ascertained then the existence of the Object becomes inevitable. If there is a desire for quinine in any one then the presence of Malaria is indispensable which would eventually occur because in this case the desire for quinine is the Knowledge of the Object and malaria is the Object.