Saintly Faces

As the qalander ['saintly free thinker'] conscious awakened, it met a 'knower of secrets' in the realm of the unseen and omnipresence of God [ghaib-o-shahood] Though this 'knower of 'secrets' was not composed of a body consisting of a bony skeleton covered by flesh and blood, yet in his transcendental body he appeared solid, and as the hands composed of flesh mid blood shook the transcendental hands that had no flesh, no discernable change was felt in their touch. As mind became compatible with the solid transcendental body, consciousness became familiar with that 'knower of secrets'.

The question was asked: Who is Allah the Exalted, how is He, What does He do, and where does He live?

Lashes that were covering the half open, dazed eyes of the knower of secrets moved, and the smile on his lips as well as the look of knowledge and inspiration upon his face deepened. Upon my question, that 'man of knowledge and awareness' posed a question: "Allah is He who after raising the heavens has established balance between them. The question is, 'do you know yourself?'"

Obviously, I did not have an answer to that question.

The knower of the secrets' said, 'Look at the Earth from the elevation of the sky!”

I saw that a tiny seed was placed upon the earth. The earth, impulsive with maternal instincts, secured the seed within her belly and transferred her creative abilities within that seed. I saw that a tiny seedling sprouted, or one can say that two fine layers of the seed arose as two delicate leaves. The roots were so weak that they were not able to get their nutrition directly from the earth. This tiny plant was obtaining its nutrition from the two tiny leaves that had come out of the seed. Gradually the roots grew strong enough to obtain nutrition directly from the earth. As soon as this ability developed, the two tiny leaves that had come out of the seed fell to the ground. Now the plant began to obtain its sustenance directly from the earth. The process over days, months, and years, turned those tiny roots into a large and strong tree—a tree that was able to obtain its nutrition from the earth, and to draw vital sustenance from the surrounding light.

When a human being was transferred to the belly of mother, the same creative factors appeared in the process of his birth. Within the mother's belly the human found neither bread, nor fruit, and no conveniences of a kitchen. The digestive organs were so weak that the human could not afford to partake of such food. The creative ability within the mother filled the mother's breasts with a pure, digestible, and delicate nutrition—milk—and as the baby was born, springs of milk gushed out, and when milk was no longer needed, the springs dried up.

This is a system that has been going on from eternity and one that will continue to go on forever. The man, the 'knower of secrets,' focused his dark intoxicated eyes upon me. I saw that waves were coming out of his eyes and entering into my mind. As the absorbed waves filled the mind entirely, they overflowed outwards. These waves had the appearance of a liquid. Upon reflection, it became clear that these waves were water. The 'knower of secrets,' placed the index finger of his right hand between the two nostrils at the base of the nose. It was shocking beyond belief to see that the base of everything in the present world is water that flows through a pipe between ascent ['sa'ood] and descent ['nuzool']. It is the same water, which in the belly of the mother, changes form and becomes nutrition for the baby through a tube. Then the same water turns into milk; and on a mango tree it turns into a mango; on a berry tree it turns into a berry; on an apple tree, on apple; and on a banana tree it becomes a banana. That is, it is the same matter that on different trees manifests itself in different forms. The same water at times becomes a flower of a single colour, and at other times becomes many colours within a single flower.

It says in the Holy Quran:

And it is that holy and blessed being that sends
water from the heavens, and from it creates so
many varieties of fruits, and so many types of species.
[Holy Quran ch7: v57, ch50: v7]

The same water makes a shell beautiful by giving it beautiful features, and the same water makes a shell unsightly. Even this limited aspect of the activity of water is so deep and complex that to understand it, is in fact, to gain insight into the system of the universe.

Those who ponder this system of creation come to realize that the universal creative program is bound up in a single relationship. The difference is that only two species from the present world, man and jinn, have the ability to

understand this system. Other species lack the capacity to understand this system because they had refused to carry the weight of the trust tiered by Allah, whereas, man has the ability to understand this complex system because he had accepted the offer to keep Allah’s trust. The Holy Quran explains this as follows:

And we offered our trust to the heavens, and
the earth, and the mountains, but they all
announced that, 'we do not have the capacity
to carry the weight of this trust,' and man took
upon this trust unthinkingly. Indeed he is
unjust and ignorant.
[Holy Quran ch33:v72]

Ignorance and injustice lies in the fact that man has in his possession that trust of Allah from which the entire universe is deprived. Allah the Exalted states in chapter Al-e-Imran:

That day shall arrive when some faces will
become illumined and some will turn dark. Say
to those whose inside is dark that you rejected
the commands of Allah after you had believed
in Him; now suffer the punishment of this evil
doing. And those who after accepting the trust
of Allah the Exalted, kept Allah's approval
above everything else, their faces will be
illumined and on them will shower the eternal
blessings of Allah.
[Holy Quran ch3:v106-107]