The Pilgrimage of The Soul of The Nobles and The Righteous Ones - Chapter 4 of 7

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Chapter 4 - The Contemplation Of The Purpose - Draft

In Shia faith, Imam is a very singular being within Allah's creation.

At every era and any time there is one Imam. He is the one who incarnates the closest being to Allah and emanates His Attributes in the most perfect way so he sets as an archetype for other humans, a Purpose to become. The Purpose of Imam himself is Allah.

In Quran and Hadiths these Attributes are described as Allah's names. They are infinite and represent what Allah emanates of His Essence through Imam.

In Quran, Allah uses the analogy of light to depict His Essence and that of His Attributes. The analogy goes also for those of Imam.

"Allah is the Light of the Heavens and Earth.The analogy of His Light is a niche containing a lamp; a lamp which is enclosed in a glass, a glass which is like a shining star, lit from (the oil of) a blessed olive tree, which is neither from the East nor from the West, its oil is so clear so it seems to be ready to inflame even if no fire touches it. A light upon a light. Allah guides with His Light whoever He wants. And Allah expresses his analogies to people, and Allah has the Science of all things." (Surat al-Nour - Ayah 35)

اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ ۖ الْمِصْبَاحُ فِي زُجَاجَةٍ ۖ الزُّجَاجَةُ كَأَنَّهَا كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌّ يُوقَدُ مِن شَجَرَةٍ مُّبَارَكَةٍ زَيْتُونَةٍ لَّا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلَا غَرْبِيَّةٍ يَكَادُ زَيْتُهَا يُضِيءُ وَلَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ ۚ نُّورٌ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ ۗ يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَيَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ (سورة النور ـ آیه ۳۵)

Where Allah's Science and His Light infuses?

"In Homes that Allah has permitted to be raised, in order to call on his names (his attributes), and glorify Him therein mornings and evenings." (Surat al-Nour - Ayah 36)

فِي بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ فِيهَا بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ (سورة النور ـ آیه ۳۶)

What are these Homes?

"Men who no deal or business would distract from the calling on Allah, who stand for prayers and offer the charity (Zakat) fearing the Day when hearts and eyes will be turned inside out." (Surat al-Nour - Ayah 37)

رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ ۙ يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ الْقُلُوبُ وَالْأَبْصَارُ (سورة النور ـ آیه ۳۷)

"Therefore Allah will reward them for the best of what they have done, and He increases for them from His generosity, and Allah provides for whoever He wants without measure." (Surat al-Nour - Ayah 38)

لِيَجْزِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنَ مَا عَمِلُوا وَيَزِيدَهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ (سورة النور ـ آیه ۳۸)

This analogy depicts a layered Essence evoking a gradual process.

A process which takes place in men's Mind, enlightening layer after layer what they know, what they pass through and what they become.

The process of becoming a light upon a light, from the sunlight which nourishes the olive tree, which grows in a centered ground, with no inclination, neither towards the East nor towards the West. So Mind should be grounded to the "present", in a balanced position between common sense inspired from the "past" and the ambitions projected to the "future", in order to sparkle some spectrum of the true Light off of its interior.

Then the olive tree fruits the olive, which men treat to produce the olive oil, then they put the olive in a lamp, and they make a flame of fire off of the olive oil, and protect the lamp's fire with a glass, so they can see in the darkness of night when the sun is occulted.

Each step of the gradual process and its components are kind of lights over lights and all of them constitute the layers and the spectra of Allah's Light. These spectra are Allah's Attributes.

The infinite Attributes of Allah frame His Notional Body, and mankind is entitled to be some spectrum of this Notional Body.

In this Hadith attributed directly to Allah, Allah says to mankind through prophet Mohammad:

"My servant, obey Me, and I will make you like Me. I am alive and will not die. I will make you alive and you will not die. I am rich and will not be poor. I will make you rich and you will not be poor. I am so that whatever I want, it will be, I will make you so that whatever you want, it will be."

عَبْدِي أَطِعْنِي أَجْعَلْكَ مِثْلِي، أَنَا حَيٌّ لاَ أَمُوتُ أَجْعَلُكَ حَيّاً لاَ تَمُوتُ، أَنَا غَنِيٌّ لاَ أَفْتَقِرُ أَجْعَلُكَ غَنِيّاً لاَ تَفْتَقِرُ، أَنَا مَهْمَا أَشَاءُ يَكُونُ أَجْعَلُكَ مَهْمَا تَشَاءُ يَكُونُ.

Given the above, Imam is the perfect projection or the perfect shadow of Allah's Notional Body inside the creation.

In this Hadith attributed to Imam Ali Ibn Abitaleb, the first Imam of Shia faith, peace be upon him, Imam is described in these words:

"I am the Science of Allah, and I am the conscious Heart of Allah, and the speaking Tongue of Allah, and the Eye of Allah, and I am the Hand of Allah."

 إن أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام قال: أنا علم الله، وأنا قلب الله الواعي، ولسان الله الناطق، وعين الله، وجنب الله، وأنا يد الله. التوحید - الشیخ الصدوق - الصفحه ۱۶۴ - ۲۲ باب معنی جنب الله عز و جل

This Hadith sets a presentation of Imam based on the trinitarian perceptions, described in the introduction of these articles:

1. The Science of Allah (علم الله) is the perception of the logical reasoning and knowledge of Allah.
2. The conscious heart of Allah (قلب الله الواعي) is the perception of the Purpose, should I describe it as an intuitive, affective and unwavering perception of Allah, which is the Reference for Imam.
3. The third perception is the sensory perceptions (ولسان الله الناطق، وعين الله، وأنا يد الله.) of the earthly body, which positions man within the creation as a shadow of Allah (جنب الله), enabling him to interact and take actions.

This trinitarian perception frames the Notional Body of Allah with infinite Attributes. But to depict Him Islam enumerates 99 Attributes as archetypes.

Each attribute shines in infinite nuances and spectra, from all the states of being in humans' life. Indeed as mentioned previously, each attribute is a state of being.

For instance, the attribute al-Mosawwir (ٱلْمُصَوِّرُ) stands for the one who shapes form or crafts. Humans are entitled to do that, and while doing so they incarnate some spectrum of this attribute.

On this link you can consult a proposed translation of the 99 names of Allah describing His Notional Body.

In the experience of earthly life, humans are entangled and vibrate with Imam, who is their Purpose to become, with different level of "proximity of entanglement" and different "amplitudes of vibration" as a result of their "degree of entanglement". These words may not reflect the actual meaning. Should I put it this way, humans are synchronizing with Imam, as a mean (Tawasol or توسل) in order to be closer with what Allah wants us to become. Humans may be aware of this state of being or ignore it, but it is there.

The bottom line of the Shia doctrine and faith is that we as humans have a living Purpose to discover and ally with.

This Hadith hammers the importance of this Purpose:

"The one who died without earning some awareness of the Imam of his time, died as an ignorant."

مَنْ مَاتَ وَلَمْ يَعْرِفْ إِمَامَ زَمَانِهِ مَاتَ مِيْتَةَ جَاهِلِيَّةً - شَرْحُ المَقَاصِدِ لِلتَّفْتَازَانِيِّ ج۲، ص ۲۷۵

And the axiom of the Shia faith is that the twelfth Imam, al-Mahdi, represents the Purpose, as he is the perfect and crystal clear incarnation of Allah's Notional Body, the One Allah created for mankind to be His Caliph and Regent in the heavens and earth, while other humans are yet weak, distorted and confused incarnations of Allah's Notional Body.

But they have the capacity to stand up straighter towards the Purpose, by bonding or entangling with Imam, and this is what makes them evolve and grow according the Purpose to become.

The Shia dogma stats that such an entanglement is  done through knowledge and acquisition of the "science" of Imam.

Lets quote here two Hadiths attributed to prophet Mohammadﷺ, which sets Imam as the Purpose for the creation of mankind, and his rank as Allah's Regent:

"O Ali, if we were not, Allah wouldn't create Adam and Eve neither Paradise and Hell, nor Heaven and Earth."

یا عَلِیُّ! لَوْلَا نَحْنُ مَا خَلَقَ اللهُ آدَمَ وَلَا حَوَّاءَ وَلَا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَا النَّارَ وَلَا الْسَّمَاءَ وَلَا الْأَرْضَ - مجلسی، بحارالانوار، ج۱۸، ص۳۴۵

"O Ali, you are my Caliph and the regent over my nation during my life and after my death. You are to me as Shith is to Adam, and as Sam is to Noah, and as Ishmael is to Abraham, and as Joshua is to Moses, and as Simon is to Jesus. O Ali, you are my successor, my heir, and the one who will wash and cleanse my body after my death. You are the one who hides me in my grave, who performs my religion, and who fulfils my promises. O Ali, you are the Commander of the Faithful, the Imam of the Muslims, and the leader of the noble ones and the dragonfly of the pious ones. O Ali, you are the husband of the Lady of Women, my daughter Fatima and the father of my grandsons, al-Hassan and al-Hussein. O Ali, God Almighty made the offspring of every prophet from his sperms, and He made my offspring from your sperms. O Ali, whoever loves you and is your friend, I will love him and I will be his friend. And whoever hates you and is hostile to you, I will hate him and I will be hostile to him. Because you are from me and I am from you. O Ali, Allah has purified us and has chosen us. Our parents have never met in incest since Adam. Only those who were born well, will love us. O Ali, be glad, for you will be wronged and killed after me."

"Ali (peace be upon him) said: O prophet of Allah, is that so while my religion is safe?"

"prophet Mohammadﷺ said: In safety of your religion, O Ali, you have not gone astray and you will never go astray. If it were not for you, the party of Allah (Hezbollah) would not have been known after me.

يا علي أنت خليفتي على أمتي في حياتي وبعد موتي، وأنت مني كشيث من آدم وكسام من نوح وكإسماعيل من إبراهيم وكيوشع من موسى وكشمعون من عيسى يا علي أنت وصيي ووارثي وغاسل جثتي، وأنت الذي تواريني في حفرتي وتؤدي ديني وتنجز عداتي، يا علي أنت أمير المؤمنين وإمام المسلمين وقائد الغر المحجلين ويعسوب المتقين يا علي أنت زوج سيدة النساء فاطمة ابنتي وأبو سبطي الحسن والحسين، يا علي إن الله تبارك وتعالى جعل ذرية كل نبي من صلبه وجعل ذريتي من صلبك، يا علي من أحبك ووالاك أحببته وواليته، ومن أبغضك وعاداك أبغضته وعاديته، لأنك مني وأنا منك، يا علي إن الله طهرنا واصطفانا، لم يلتق لنا أبوان على سفاح قط من لدن آدم، فلا يحبنا إلا من طابت ولادته، يا علي أبشر بالسعادة فإنك مظلوم بعدي ومقتول! فقال علي (عليه السلام) يا رسول الله وذلك في سلامة من ديني؟ قال: في سلامة من دينك، يا علي إنك لم تضل ولن تزل ولولاك لم يعرف حزب الله بعدي - بحار الأنوار - العلامة المجلسي - ج ٣٨ - الصفحة ١٠٣ 

And this Hadith ends by emphasising the social dimension of Imam, as the frame of reference by whom the social body of party of Allah, Hezbollah, is known to mankind, as they vibrate within the frequencies of Imam and they stand as an extension of Imam's notional body of divine attributes.

And according to Shia doctrine, the Imam in our time is al-Mahdi, the twelfth and the last one of the chain of Imamate, who stands in his role (al-Qaeïm القَائِمَ) while being occulted from the public. 

In this Hadith attributed to the sixth Imam, al-Sadegh, he describes al-Mahdi in these words:

"The standing one of us (al-Qaeïm القَائِمَ) will be victorious through fear, supported by victory. The earth is folded for him. And all the treasures will be revealed to him. And Allah Almighty will make his religion prevail over all religions, even if the non-believers can't stand it. His authority reaches the East and the West. And there will remain no ruin on earth except that it will be rebuilt. And the Soul of Allah, Jesus, son of Mary (peace be upon him), descends and prays behind him."

Then Ibn Hamran asked Imam: "O the son of Allah's Messenger, when will your Qaeïm emerge?"

Imam al-Sadegh said: "When men imitate women and women imitate men, men are pleased with men, and women with women. When the naked women ride on saddles. When false testimonies are approved. When the testimony of the just one is rejected. When people take lightly the shedding of blood, adultery, usury and bribery. When the wicked prevail over the righteous. When Sofyani emerges from the Levant, and Yamani emerges from Yemen, and a sinking in the desert. When a young man from the family of Mohammad (may Allah bless him and his family) is killed while while being in ruling position. His name is Mohammad ibn al-Hassan, and his nickname is al-Nafs al-Zakiyya (purified Mind). And when a cry come from the heaven that the truth is with Ali and his followers. Then our Qaeïm (peace be upon him) will emerge. When he comes out, he will lean his back against the Kaaba, and three hundred and thirteen men will gather around him. And the first thing he will utter is this verse: “The Remnant of Allah (Baqyïat Allah, بَقيَّتُ اللهِ) is better for you, if you are believers.”

"Then he will say: “I am the Remnant of Allah (Baqyïat Allah), His proof and His regent (caliph) over you.”"

"No one greets him except those who say: “Peace be upon you, O Remnant of Allah on His earth.”"

"Then, when the group - which represent four thousand men - will gather for him, he will leave Mecca. And on earth, there will not remain any deity other than Allah (the Almighty and Majestic), whether an idol or anything else, except that a fire will fall upon it and it will be burned. And that will occur after a very long occultation."

عن الإمام أبي عبد الله جعفر بن محمد الصادق (عليه السلام) أنّه قال: إِنَّ القَائِمَ مِنّا مَنْصُورٌ بِالرُّعْبِ، مؤَيَّدٌ بِالنَّصْرِ، تُطْوَى لَهُ الأَرْضُ، وَتَظْهَرُ لَهُ الكُنُوزُ كُلُّهَا، وَيُظْهِرُ اللهُ تَعَالَى بِهِ دِينَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ المُشْرِكُونَ، وَيَبْلُغُ سُلْطَانُهُ المَشْرِقَ وَالمَغْرِبَ، وَلا يَبْقَى فِي الأَرْضِ خَرَابٌ إِلّا عَمِرَ، وَيَنْزِلُ رُوحُ اللهِ عِيسَى بْنُ مَرْيَمَ (عليه السلام) فَيُصَلِّي خَلْفَهُ. قَالَ ابنُ حمران: قيل له يا بن رسول الله متى يخرج قائمكم؟ قال: إِذَا تَشَبَّهَ الرِّجَالُ بِالنِّسَاءِ، وَالنِّسَاءُ بِالرِّجَالِ، وَاكْتَفَى الرِّجَالُ بِالرِّجَالِ، وَالنِّسَاءُ بِالنِّسَاءِ، وَرَكِبَتْ ذَوَاتُ الفُرُوجِ السُّرُوجَ، وَقُبِلَتْ شَهَادَةُ الزُّورِ، وَرُدَّتْ شَهَادَةُ العَدْلِ، وَاسْتَخَفَّ النَّاسُ بِالدِّمَاءِ وَارْتِكَابِ الزِّنَا وَأَكْلِ الرِّبَا وَالرُّشَا، وَاسْتِيلاء الأَشْرَارِ عَلَى الأَبْرَارِ، وَخُرُوج السُّفْيَانِي مِن الشَّامِ، وَاليَمَانِيُّ مِن اليَمَنِ، وَخَسْفٌ بِالبَيْدَاءِ، وَقَتْلُ غُلامٍ مِن آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ (صلّى الله عليه وآله) بَيْنَ الرُّكْنِ وَالمَقَامِ، اسْمُهُ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الحَسَنِ، وَلَقَبُهُ النَّفْسُ الزَّكِيَّةُ، وَجَاءَتْ صَيْحَةٌ مِن السَّمَاءِ بِأَنَّ الحَقَّ مَعَ عَلِيّ وَشِيعَتِهِ، فَعِنْدَ ذَلِكَ خُرُوجُ قَائِمنَا (عليه السلام). فَإِذَا خَرَجَ أَسْنَدَ ظَهْرَهُ إِلَى الكَعْبَةِ وَاجْتَمَعَ عِنْدَهُ ثَلاثُمائَةٍ وَثَلاثَةَ عَشَرَ رَجُلاً، وَأَوَّلُ مَا يَنْطِقُ بِهِ هَذِهِ الآيَة: ﴿بَقيَّتُ اللهِ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنينَ﴾، ثُمَّ يَقُولُ: أَنَا بَقِيَّةُ اللهِ وَحُجَّتُهُ وَخَلِيفَتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ، فَلا يُسَلِّمُ عَلَيْهِ مُسَلِّمٌ إلّا قَال: السلامُ عَلَيْكَ يَا بَقِيَّةُ اللهِ فِي أَرْضِهِ، فَإِذَا اجْتَمَعَ لَهُ العقْدُ - وَهُو أرْبَعَةُ آلافِ رَجُلٍ - خَرَجَ مِن مَكَّةَ، فَلا يَبْقَى فِي الأَرْضِ مَعْبُودٌ دُونَ اللهِ (عزَّ وجلَّ) مِن صَنَمٍ وَغَيْرِهِ إِلّا وَقَعَتْ فِيهِ نَارٌ فَاحْتَرَقَ، وَذَلِكَ بَعْدَ غَيْبَةٍ طَوِيلَةٍ

I would construe that the attribute: the Remnant of Allah (Baqyïat Allah بَقيَّتُ اللهِ), means that Imam is the closest being to Allah. He is the embodiment of Allah's attributes, in their greatest and most accomplished state of being, at a time when humanity is in deep trouble and has distorted his being into non-sense. And in this context, Imam is standing as a living frame of Allah's reference. 

The attribute "Remnant of Allah" is important because according to this Hadith, Imam al-Mahdi will use it in his first words of presentation to the public at moment of his appearance. He is quoting the Ayah 86 of Surat al-Hude:

"The Remnant of Allah is better for you, if you are believers, and I am not your protector."

 بَقِيَّتُ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ ۚ وَمَا أَنَا عَلَيْكُم بِحَفِيظٍ (سورة هود‏ ـ آیه ۸۶)

Obviously it is up to people to search for their Purpose and synchronise themselves with him.

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