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VIRTUES OF BELIEF
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate
Surely We created man of the best
pattern; then We reduced him to the lowest of the low,
save those who believe and do good deeds.
(95:4-6)
Belief is a relation which
connects man to his Maker
Man, through the light of belief, attains
to the highest degree of perfection and acquires a value
worthy of Paradise. With the darkness of unbelief, he is
reduced to the lowest of the low and falls to a position to
deserve Hell. For belief is a relation which connects man to
his Majestic Maker. Man’s value derives from his
demonstration of divine art and the manifestation of Divine
Names through his belief. Unbelief breaks off this relation;
in consequence of it, the divine art is veiled and the value
of man is reduced to the worth of his mere physical entity.
The physical entity of man is of almost no value for it is
perishable and consists of a transient animal. We will explain
this truth by way of a parable:
In a work of art, the value of the material
of which it is made, differs from the value of the art that is
expressed in it. Sometimes the two may be of the same value,
and sometimes it happens that five dollars’ worth of art is
to be found in material like iron worth five cents. Sometimes,
even, an antique work of art will fetch as much as a million
dollars while its material is not even worth a few cents. If
this antique is taken to the antiques market, it may be sold
for its true value because of the art it contains and the name
of the brilliant artist who fashioned it. Whereas, this work
of art may only be sold for the price of its iron in the
blacksmith’s market.
Man
is a unique, priceless work of the art of God whom He
created to manifest all His Names as a specimen of the
universe
Similarly, man is a unique, priceless work
of the art of God, the All-Mighty, and the most delicate and
graceful miracle of His Power, whom He created to manifest all
His Names and their inscriptions, in the form of a miniature
specimen of the universe. If, therefore, man is illuminated
with the life of belief, then all these meaningful
inscriptions become visible. A believer manifests them through
his connection with his Maker, that is, the divine art
contained in him is revealed through such affirmations as “I
am the work of the Majestic Maker, His creature and the object
of His Mercy and Munificence.” Thus, belief makes manifest
all the traces of art in man, who gains value in proportion to
his reflection of this art and, though an insignificant being
(in material terms), he thereby acquires a rank above all
other creatures. He becomes one who communicates with God and
His guest on the earth, and one qualified for Paradise.
Unbelief reduces man to being like coal
although he is like diamond
If, however, unbelief, which consists in
the severance of this connection, becomes ingrained in man,
then all those meaningful manifestations of Divine Names will
be veiled by a darkness and no longer expressive. For, when an
artist is not identified, the aspects that express the worth
of his art cannot be identified either. Most of the meaningful
instances of that sublime art and the elevated inscriptions
are thus concealed. As regards the material aspects of his
being, man in unbelief attributes them to trivial causes, to
nature and chance, and thus reduces them to being like plain
glass although they are, in essence, like sparkling diamonds.
He is no more significant than any other material entity,
self-condemned to lead a transient, suffocating life, as no
better than a most impotent, needy and afflicted animal. In
the end, he decomposes into dust. Unbelief thus spoils the
nature of man and changes his diamond into coal.
Belief is a light which
illuminates man and reveals all the messages inscribed in
his being by the Maker
Just as belief is a light which illuminates
man and reveals all the messages inscribed in his being by the
Eternally-Besought-of-All (al-Samad), so too it
illuminates the universe and removes the darkness from the
past and future. We will explain this truth by way of an
imaginary event that I experienced regarding the meaning of
the noble Quranic verse,
God is the Protecting Friend of those
who believe. He brings them out of the layers of
darkness into the light. (2:257)
An imagined vision
In an imagined vision, I was standing on an
awe-inspiring bridge set over a deep valley between two
mountains. The whole world was completely covered by a thick
darkness. As I happened to look to my right, I had the vision
of a huge tomb. When I looked to my left, I felt as if I were
seeing violent storms and calamities being prepared amid the
tremendous waves of darkness.
Then, I looked down over the edge of the
bridge and I imagined I was seeing a very deep precipice.
In that dreadful darkness, I had recourse
to my torch. Through its dim light a very dreadful scene was
shown to me. All along the length of the bridge, such horrible
dragons, lions and monsters appeared that I wished I had not
had that torch. Whichever way I directed it, I got the same
fright. “This torch brings me only trouble,” I exclaimed,
and I angrily cast it to the ground and broke it. Then, all of
a sudden, the darkness disappeared and everywhere was
illuminated; it was as if I had switched on a huge light by
breaking my torch, and I saw everything in its true nature.
I discovered that the bridge was, in
reality, a highway on a smooth plain. The huge tomb on the
right was a green, beautiful garden in which the assemblies of
worship, prayer, glorification and discourse were being held
under the leadership of illustrious persons. The scenes on the
left which I had previously imagined to be turbulent, stormy,
frightening precipices, now appeared as a banqueting hall, a
shaded promenade, a very beautiful resting place behind lovely
mountains. I realized that what I had imagined to be horrible
monsters and dragons were, in fact, once domesticated animals
such as camels, sheep and goats. “Praise and thanks be to
God for the light of belief,” I said, and then awoke
reciting the verse,
God is the Protecting Friend of those
who believe. He brings them out of the layers of
darkness into the light. (2:257)
Those two mountains that I saw in my
imagined vision are, in reality, the beginning and the end of
this life and the life between death and the Resurrection. The
bridge is the life-span, between the two phases of the past
(on the right) and the future (on the left). The torch is man’s
conceited ego that, relying on its own achievements, does not
heed the Divine Revelation. What had looked to me first to be
monsters are the events of the world and the extraordinary
creatures in it.
Self-confident ego in the darkness of
misguidance
Thus, the person who has fallen into the
darkness of misguidance and heedlessness because of his
confidence in his own ego resembles me in the former state-in
the dim light of a torch. With his inadequate and misguided
knowledge, he sees the past as a huge tomb in the darkness of
extinction; he sees the future as a stormy scene of terror
controlled by coincidence or chance. The torch shows him
events and creatures which are, in reality, subjugated to the
All-Wise and the All-Merciful and, in submission to His
Decree, fulfill specific functions and serve good purposes, as
harmful monsters. Thus he is the one referred to in the verse:
As to those who do not believe, their
protecting friends are false deities. They bring them
out of light into layers of darkness. (2:257)
If, however, such a man is favored with
divine guidance and so belief enters into his heart, and his
Pharaoh-like ego is broken, if he listens to the Book of God,
then he will resemble me in my later state. All of a sudden
the whole of the universe will be filled with Divine Light,
demonstrating the meaning of the verse,
God is the Light of the heavens and the
earth
He then sees through the eye of his heart
that the past is not a huge tomb, rather each past century is
the realm of authority of a prophet or a saint. The purified
souls, having completed the duties of their lives, (that is,
the duties of worship), with the words, God is the Greatest!
on their tongues, flew to higher abodes on the side of the
future. He looks to his left. Through the light of belief, he
discerns, behind the mountain-like revolutions of the
intermediate world [the world between this one and the next]
and the next life, a feasting place set up by the
All-Compassionate One at the palaces of bliss in the gardens
of Paradise. He has the conviction that the storms,
earthquakes, epidemic diseases, and the like serve for a
specific function, just as he understands spring rain and
winds, for example, in spite of their apparent violence, as
serving many agreeable purposes. Even death, in his view, is
seen as the beginning of eternal life, and the grave as the
gateway to eternal happiness.
Belief is both light and
power. Whoever attains true belief can challenge the whole
universe and, in proportion to the strength of his belief,
be relieved of the pressures of events
Belief is both light and power. Indeed,
whoever attains true belief can challenge the whole universe
and, in proportion to the strength of his belief, be relieved
of the pressures of events. Relying on God, he travels through
the mountainous waves of events in the ship of life in
complete safety. He voyages through the world comfortably
until his last day, since he has been relieved of his burden
by entrusting it to the Power of the Absolutely Powerful One.
The grave will be a resting place for him, after which he
flies to Paradise to attain eternal bliss. By contrast, if he
does not rely upon God, not to speak of flying, the weight of
the worldly life will force him down to the lowest of the low.
Belief, therefore, consists of the affirmation of Divine
Unity, which requires submission to God, and submission
requires reliance upon God, and that reliance yields happiness
in both worlds.
The meaning of reliance on God
Such reliance upon God should not be
misunderstood: it does not mean ignoring cause and effect
completely. It means, rather, that one should think of causes
as a veil to the hand of Power: in observance of them one
seeks to act in compliance with Divine Will, which is a sort
of worship in action. That desire and seeking is, however, not
sufficient to secure a particular effect. The achievement, we
must understand, in accordance with right belief, is to be
expected only from God, the All-Mighty: we believe in Him as
the sole producer of effects, and therefore we should be
always grateful to Him.
The likeness of one who trusts in God
and of one who does not is in this way:
Once two men boarded a ship with heavy
burdens on both their heads and backs. One of them put his
burden on the deck immediately after they boarded the ship,
and sat on it in order to watch over it. But the other, both
stupid and arrogant, did not put his burden down on the deck.
He was told to unburden, to relieve himself, of his heavy load
but he answered: “No, I will not leave it, as it may be
lost. Anyway, I am strong enough to carry it.” He was told
again: “But this reliable royal ship which is carrying you
and us is even stronger, and can hold it better. You will most
probably get tired, feel dizzy and fall into the sea together
with your burden. Your strength will fail. Then with your
doubled back and brainless head, you will no longer be able to
bear that burden which is getting heavier every moment.
Besides, if the captain sees you in this state, he will either
say that you are insane and expel you from the ship or he will
think, “That man is an ingrate or even a traitor. He does
not trust or suspects our ship, and makes light of us,” and
he will order you to be put in prison. Also, you will be
marked out and made fun of by everyone. To the perceptive,
your vanity reveals your weakness, your arrogance reveals your
impotence, and your pretension betrays your humiliation: as a
result, you have become a laughing-stock-look, how everybody
is laughing at you!
These words were enough of a warning for
that poor man. He put his load on the deck, sat on it, and
said to his companion: “May God be pleased with you! I have
obtained relief; more, I have been saved from imprisonment and
becoming a laughing-stock.”
Now, man, who does not put his trust in
God! Come to your senses, as did the man in the parable, and
put your trust in God so that you may be delivered from
begging from the whole creation and trembling in fear in the
face of each happening. You will also be delivered from
self-conceit, from being ridiculous, from the pressures of
this life and from the torments of the Hereafter.
Belief enables man to attain
true humanity and to acquire a position above all other
creatures
Belief enables man to attain true humanity,
and to acquire a position above all other creatures. Thus,
belief and worship are the most fundamental and important
duties of man. Unbelief, by contrast, reduces him to the state
of a brutal but extremely impotent beast.
Among thousands of proofs for this truth,
the difference between the ways in which human beings and
animals come into existence is a decisive one. Almost from the
very moment an animal is born, it seems to have been sent to
this world after having been trained in another and perfected
in all its faculties. Within a few hours or days or months, it
comes into full possession of its natural capacity to lead its
life according to its particular rules and conditions. A
sparrow or a bee, for example, acquires in less than a month
or, rather, is inspired with, the skill and ability to
integrate into its environment in a matter of twenty days, to
do which a man would require twenty years. This means that the
basic obligation upon animals, their essential role does not
include seeking perfection through learning, or progress
through scientific knowledge; nor does it include prayer and
the petitioning for help by displaying their impotence. Their
obligation or role in creation is to act within the bounds of
their innate faculties, which is the mode of worship specified
for them.
Man, by contrast, is born with no knowledge
of life and his environment and with a need to learn
everything. Unable to know entirely the conditions of life
even after twenty years, he needs to continue his learning
until the end of his life. He appears to have been sent to the
world with so much weakness and inability that it may take him
as much as two years only to learn how to walk. Only after
fifteen years can he distinguish between good and evil, and by
virtue of living in a society, attain to a point where he can
choose between what is beneficial and what is harmful to him.
Through whose compassion is my life so
wisely administered? Through whose generosity am I being
so affectionately trained? Through whose favors and
benevolence am I being so solicitously nourished?
Thus, the essential duty of man, the one
intrinsic to his existence, is to seek perfection through
learning and to proclaim his worship of God and servanthood to
Him through prayer and supplication. He should look for the
answer to such questions- Through whose compassion is my
life so wisely administered? Through whose generosity am I
being so affectionately trained? Through whose favors and
benevolence am I being so solicitously nourished? Then he
should pray and petition The Provider of Needs in humble
awareness of his needs, even one in a thousand of which he is
unable to satisfy. His understanding and confession of his
impotence and poverty will then become two wings on which to
fly to the highest of ranks, being a slave of God.
Man has come to this life to seek
perfection through knowledge and prayer
This means that man has come to this life
to seek perfection through knowledge and prayer. Everything by
its nature is essentially dependent on knowledge. And the
basis, source, light and spirit of all true knowledge are
knowledge of God, and belief is the very foundation of this
knowledge.
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