Mystical Realities and the Path to Divine Unity

The human soul, when inspired, becomes capable of creation. This inspiration is akin to breathing life into the soil of the seeker’s existence, drawing them closer to the station of divine creativity.

Key Point

The breath of the spirit brings the seeker to spiritual actualisation, enabling them to manifest divine creativity. This actualisation resembles a flower emerging from the soil of the seeker’s being, spreading the divine fragrance throughout the world.

Empowerment and Responsibility of Thoughts

Actualisation of thoughts and the seeker’s authority: In empowerment, the seeker’s inner thoughts and volitions are realised, yet they must be controlled to achieve unity. Saints do not actualise all their thoughts to prevent harm to creation. This authority is like a sword kept in its sheath to protect the world from damage.

Key Point

In empowerment, the seeker’s thoughts are actualised, but saints regulate them to avoid causing harm to creation.

The Qur’an states in Surah Yasin, verse 82:

“His command, when He intends something, is only to say to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.”

This verse demonstrates the actualisation of divine impulses, which manifest in saints in a controlled manner.

Concealment of Perfections and Preservation of Creation

The realm of truths is a realm of concealment. Saints do not display their perfections or visions, as extravagance indicates deviation from the path. Concealment signifies humility and preserves unity, preventing self-exhibition. This concealment is like a treasure hidden within the saint’s being to shield creation from deprivation.

Key Point

Concealment of perfections in the realm of truths signifies humility and the preservation of unity, preventing saints from self-display.

The Qur’an states in Surah Al-Imran, verse 179:

“Allah would not leave the believers in the state in which you are until He distinguishes the impure from the pure.”

This verse emphasises the necessity of distinguishing genuine saints from pretenders.

Non-Display of Power and Safeguarding Creation

Saints do not display their empowerment so as not to belittle creation. Displaying power would create an existential censorship and disturb the order of creation. This restraint is like a veil drawn over their perfections, allowing creation to progress under the shadow of free will.

Key Point

Saints conceal their empowerment to protect creation from deprivation and disturbance in the natural order.

The Qur’an, in Surah Al-Kahf, verse 7, illustrates the system of choice and testing:

“Indeed, We have placed whatever is on the earth as adornment for it to test them as to which of them is best in deeds.”

The Role of the Spiritual Guide

The guide prevents the seeker from hastening in spiritual vision and, through careful pacing, facilitates the expansion of guidance, safeguarding the seeker from contraction and misguidance. The guide functions as a lamp illuminating the dark path of mystical pursuit, protecting the seeker from pitfalls of excess and aberration.

Key Point

Through delayed instruction and guidance, the spiritual master prevents the seeker from premature vision and leads them to balance and expansion.

The Qur’an, in Surah Al-Imran, verse 200, affirms:

“O you who have believed, be patient, persevere, maintain your positions, and fear Allah, that you may succeed.”

This verse underlines patience under the guidance of a spiritual master.

Lovers and Gradual Spiritual Progress

Devotees reach the truths with effort and caution, encountering contraction in vision. This path requires exertion and the guidance of a master to remain safe from the pitfalls of contraction and error. Lovers resemble climbers patiently ascending the peaks of truth.

Key Point

Lovers attain truths with diligence and care, experiencing contraction in vision, and depend on guidance from a master. This effort is like sowing seeds that bear fruit through patience and vigilance.

The Favoured Ones and Special Divine Grace

The favoured ones, through special divine grace, perceive the essence directly without traversing all stages and are free from contraction and expansion. They resemble birds soaring effortlessly with divine wings to the heights of spiritual knowledge.

Key Point

The favoured ones, by special grace, perceive the essence prior to all stages and are liberated from contraction and expansion.

The Qur’an, Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 207, states:

“And of the people is he who sells himself seeking the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is Kind to His servants.”

This verse reflects the effort of devotees and divine favour towards the chosen.

Unity and Elimination of Duality: The Goal of the Path

The ultimate aim of the realm of truths is unity, achieved by overcoming duality. The seeker, by entrusting affairs to God, is liberated from selfhood and duality, attaining oneness with the Truth. Unity is the ultimate destination to which the entire mystical path is directed.

Key Point

Unity is the goal of the realm of truths, realised through elimination of duality and entrusting all to God.

The Qur’an, Surah Al-Ikhlas, verse 1, declares:

“Say: He is Allah, the One.”

This verse expresses the essence of unity.

The Realm of Truths and Concealment of Unity

The realm of truths is a domain of concealment. Saints preserve unity by not displaying their perfections. Extravagant display signals deviation, while concealment protects creation from deprivation and the saint from self-exhibition. This concealment is like a treasure hidden in the treasury of unity.

Key Point

The realm of truths is a realm of concealment; saints safeguard unity by refraining from displaying perfections. This treasure manifests only in the presence of the Truth, benefiting creation through the humility of saints.

Conclusion

This study systematically delineates the final stages of mystical progress through empowerment and the realm of truths. Empowerment signifies the seeker’s station in divine proximity, adorned with the light of existence and guided to visionary revelation. The realm of truths, through successive stages of vision and inspection, transforms the effects of spiritual authority into direct perception of essence. The seeker experiences contraction, yet through divine expansion reaches spiritual ecstasy, awakening, and union. Saints, by regulating thoughts and concealing perfections, protect creation from deprivation and attain unity, the ultimate goal of the mystical path.

Divine Permanence: The Realm of Ultimacy and Unity

In the realm of ultimate realities, the seeker undergoes annihilation in the singular essence, attaining permanence through the Truth. Thus, the transient is eternally consumed in the divine, while the enduring subsists through the permanence of the Truth. The seeker manifests divine guidance to creation while remaining detached from form, revealing the essence to them as a mercy. This culminates in the absolute unity of the Truth in its own self, reflected in all forms of existence, as the Commander of the Faithful, Ali, stated: “A light shines from the dawn of eternity, illuminating the structures of unity with its effects.” The essence of monotheism is thus testified: “Allah bears witness that there is no deity except Him.”

The Journey through the Valleys of Truths and Unity

This treatise provides a deep and precise exposition of the mystical journey in the realm of truths and unity. This domain, like a high summit in the mystical path, guides the seeker towards complete knowledge, detachment from the self, and annihilation in the singular essence. Key concepts such as detachment, union, annihilation, and unity map the seeker’s liberation from selfhood and attainment of the singular Truth.

Complete Knowledge and Annihilation in the Singular Essence

The seeker reaches the final stages of mystical knowledge through perseverance, divine guidance, and detachment, culminating in unity with the Absolute.