REVELATION, INSPIRATION, VISION AND DREAM (continued...)
Revelation Is A Means Of Salvation
We have been created for a great purpose which is the true understanding of God, and on that understanding depends our salvation. It delivers us from every impure and doubtful way and leads us to the edge of a pure and clear river. It can be acquired only through Divine revelation. When being lost wholly to our ego, we dive deep with an eager heart into an unattainable Being, our humanness having appeared in the court of Godhead returns with some signs and lights from that world. Thus that which the worldly ones look upon with contempt is the only thing which brings a long-separated one in an instant to his Beloved and bestows comfort upon the lovers of the Divine. It relieves a person suddenly of all types of egoistic limitations; till that true light descends upon the heart it is not possible that it should be illumined. The imperfection of human reason and the limitations of current knowledge bear witness to the need of revelation. (Izalae Auham pp. 428-429).
OBJECTION. The belief that God sends down His word from heaven is utterly wrong for the law of nature does not confirm it, nor do we ever hear a voice coming down from above. Revelation is the name given to those thoughts which arise in the minds of wise people by the use of reflection and observation.
ANSWER. A truth which is well established and has been observed with their own eyes by numberless men of understanding, and the proof of which can be found in every age by a seeker after truth, suffers no harm by the denial of a person who is bereft of spiritual insight. If the thinking or defective knowledge of a person whose heart is wrapped up in coverings fails to confirm it, the truth cannot be considered as being outside the law of nature. For instance, if a person who is unaware of the power of attraction of a magnet, and has never seen a magnet, were to claim that a magnet is only a piece of stone and that he has never witnessed any such power of attraction in any stone, and therefore it is wrong to assert that a magnet has such a power for this is contrary to the law of nature, then would his assertion cast doubt on the well-established quality of a magnet? Certainly not. All that his assertion would prove would be that he is stupid and ignorant who considers his own lack of knowledge as proof of non-existence of a reality and does not accept the evidence of thousands of people who have experience of it. It is not possible to hold that every law of nature should be capable of being tested by every individual. God Almighty has created the human species as possessing great diversity in their overt and covert faculties. For instance, some people possess very good sight, others are weak sighted and some are altogether blind. Those who are weak sighted, when they find that those with good sight have perceived a thing from afar -- for instance, that they have discerned the crescent which they themselves are unable to see -- they do not deny it and consider that their denial would only expose their weakness. The blind, of course, have nothing to say in such a matter. In the same way, those who possess no sense of smell believe those serious and truthful people who speak of good smell and ill smell. They do not doubt them for they know that so many people do not tell lies and must be speaking the truth, and that without doubt their own sense of smell is lacking and that is why they are unable to experience any smell. Men also differ in respect of their covert capacities. The capacities of some are of a low degree and are covered up by veils. Some have from ancient times possessed high and clear souls and have been the recipients of Divine revelation. For the former to deny the personal characteristics of the latter would be the same as if a blind one, or one with weak sight, were to deny the observations of one with excellent sight, or as if a person lacking the sense of smell should deny the experiences of one with a sense of smell.
Then to convince a person who denies the existence of revelation, there are ways like the ways of convincing a person who denies the observations of the overt senses. For instance, if one who is congenitally bereft of the sense of smell should deny the existence of good smell and ill smell, and should assert that those who claim such a sense are liars or are mistaken, he can be convinced of his mistake in the following manner. He should be asked to select a few pieces of clothing and should rub some with perfume and leave others untouched and thus test the sense of smell of a normal person so that by repeated experiences he should be convinced of the existence of a sense of smell and that there are to be found people who can distinguish between that which is fragrant and that which has no smell. In the same way, the existence of revelation can be proved to the satisfaction of a seeker after truth through repeated experiments. When to a recipient of revelation are disclosed hidden matters and secret mysteries which cannot be discovered through the experience of reason alone, and a revealed book is found to contain wonders which are not to be discovered in any other book, a seeker after truth realizes that Divine revelation is an established truth. If such a person possesses a pure soul then he himself by treading on the right path can, to the degree of the illumination of his heart, have experience of Divine revelation like the Aulya, whereby he acquires a certain knowledge of the revelation vouchsafed to the Messengers of God. For a seeker after truth who would sincerely express a desire to accept Islam, I am prepared to provide this means of satisfaction. If any one should doubt my word, let him come to me with sincerity. Allah has the power to do what I say and He is the Helper in every matter.
Fine Thought Is Not Revelation
To imagine that the fine points that are disclosed to people through reflection and observation are revelation, and that revelation is nothing more than this, is an error due to ignorance. Were it true that human thinking constitutes Divine revelation then man also could have discovered the unseen by the use of his reflection and observation. It is obvious, however, that however wise a person may be he cannot disclose anything hidden by merely reflecting on the matter. Nor can he exhibit any sign of Divine power. His speech indicates no sign of God's Power and, however much he might reflect, he cannot discover the unseen which is beyond his reason and observation and his other senses. Nor is his speech or composition of so high a degree that no one can compete with him. Thus there are enough reasons for a wise person to conclude that whatever a man might think in consequence of his own reflection, or observation, cannot be the Word of God. Had it been the Word of God, a person would have had access to all that is unseen and would have been able to expound those matters the exposition of which depends upon Divine power, inasmuch as it is necessary that the work of God and the Word of God should disclose Divine manifestations.
The Distinction Between Creation And Command
It may be asked from whom and where from proceed the good and bad designs that arise in one's mind as the result of reflection and observation? The answer is that such thoughts are the creation of Allah and not His command. There is a difference between creation and command. By creation is meant that God Almighty produces something through physical means and attributes it to Himself because He is the Cause of causes. Command is that which proceeds directly from God Almighty without the intervention of any means. Revelation, which descends from God, proceeds from the world of command and not from the world of creation. Thoughts that arise in peoples' minds in consequence of observation and reflection all proceed from the world of creation in which the Divine power operates behind the veil of means. God has created men in the world of means equipped with diverse types of powers and faculties and has invested them with the characteristic that when they employ their reflection in a good or bad matter their minds alight upon appropriate plans. As it is part of the law of nature that when a person opens his eyes he can see something and when he directs his ear towards sound he can hear something; in the same way when he reflects on the way of success in a good or bad design, some plan arises in his mind. A good man by reflecting upon good designs thinks of good things, and a thief by reflecting upon the various ways of robbery invents a plan to commit robbery. As a man can think of deep evil designs, in the same way when he uses his faculty in a good way he can think of good designs. As his bad thoughts, however deep and effective they may be, cannot be held to be revelation, in the same way his thoughts which he deems to be good are not revelation. In short, whatever good thoughts occur to good people and whatever bad thoughts or designs arise in the minds of thieves and robbers and murderers and adulterers and forgers as the result of reflection and observation are all the result of the exercise of natural qualities, and because God is the Cause of causes, they are called the creation of God and not His command. They are the natural qualities of man as in the case of some vegetables the quality of purgation or the quality of constipation and other qualities are natural to them. As God has invested other things with different types of qualities, He has invested man's power of reflection with the quality that it helps man whenever he requires its help in a good or bad design. A poet who seeks to write lampoons concerning anyone finds his mind running in that direction and he is able to produce such poetry. Another poet seeks to praise the same person and commendatory verses come to his mind. This kind of good or bad thought is not the mirror of the Divine will and cannot be called His word. God's holy word is the word which is far above human faculties and is full of perfection and power and holiness. The very first condition of its manifestation is that human faculties should be entirely suspended and rendered useless. There should be neither reflection nor observation and the person concerned should be dead like a corpse. All means should be cut off and God Almighty Who alone has reality should cause His word to descend upon the heart of someone by His special design. It should be understood that as the light of the sun comes only from heaven and cannot be produced inside the eye, in the same way the light of revelation descends from God and by His design and does not arise from inside a person. As God truly exists and sees and hears and knows and speaks, His word should descend from Him and should not be the produce of man's mind. From our minds arise the same thoughts, good or bad, which dwell within us according to our nature, but God's limitless knowledge and boundless wisdom cannot dwell in our hearts. What greater denial of God could there be than for a man to think that all the Divine treasures of knowledge and wisdom and hidden mysteries are present in our hearts and surge up in them. This would mean that we ourselves are God and that there is no Being outside of us Who is Self-Existing and possesses Divine attributes, Who should be called God. For if God truly exists and His unlimited knowledge is special to Him, of which our hearts cannot be the measure, hen utterly wrong and senseless would be the observation that God's limitless knowledge fills our heart and all the treasuries of His wisdom dwell therein as if God's knowledge is limited to that which is contained in our hearts. This would amount to a claim of Godhead itself, but is it possible that the heart of man should comprehend all the excellencies of the Divine? Is it permissible that a particle should become the sun? Certainly not. We have already stated that the characteristics of the Divine, like His knowledge of the unseen and His comprehension of wisdom and other natural signs cannot be manifested by man. God's word should be characterized by God's Greatness, God's Power, God's Blessing, God's Wisdom and God's Peerlessness. All these characteristics are found in the Holy Quran, the proof of which we shall set forth at its proper place. If those of Brahmo Samaj still persist in denying the existence of revelation, which should comprehend the unseen and other proofs of power, they should study the Holy Quran with full attention so that they should come to know that in this Holy Word surges a whole ocean of matters that are unseen and manifestations of power which are beyond the strength of man. If they should be unable, through lack of insight, to discover these Quranic excellencies themselves, they should read this book of ours with attention so that they might discover as a sample some of the treasures of hidden matters and powerful mysteries of which the Holy Quran is full. They should also know that as proof of the existence of Divine revelation that descends from God and comprehends hidden matters, there is another way that is open and that is that God Almighty always creates from among the Muslims, who base themselves upon the true faith, such people who receive revelation from God and disclose such hidden matters the disclosure of which is not within the power of any one except of God, the One, without associate. God Almighty bestows this holy revelation only on those of the faithful who truly believe in the Holy Quran as the Word of God and act upon it with full sincerity and who believe in Muhammad, the chosen one, peace be on him, as the true and perfect Prophet, who is better and higher and more exalted than all the Prophets and is Khatamal y, and accept him as their guide. Such revelation is not vouchsafed to the Jews and Christians and Aryas and Brahmos, but has always been vouchsafed to the perfect followers of the Holy Quran and is now vouchsafed to them and will continue to be vouchsafed to them. Though the revelation which is special to Messengership has been cut off as no longer needed, the revelation that is vouchsafed to the sincere servants of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, will never be cut off. This revelation is a grand proof of the revelation which is special to Messengership which humiliates every opponent of Islam. As this blessed revelation with all its blessing and honour and greatness and glory is vouchsafed only to those Honourable servants who are included among the Muslims and are the servants of the Holy Prophet, the followers of all other sects are deprived of this perfect light which carries the good news of nearness to God and of acceptance by Him and of His pleasure. Thus this holy revelation not only proves its own existence, but also proves that the Muslims alone are the people who are acceptable to God and who base themselves on the true faith, that all other people worship falsehood and are misguided and are under the wrath of God. Ignorant people will say all sorts of things on hearing this and will shake their heads in denial or will ridicule me like foolish and wicked persons. They should know, however, that denial and ridicule are not the way of those who possess nobility and are seekers after truth, but are the way of those wicked people who have nothing to do with God and truth. There are thousands of things in the world which possess qualities that cannot be understood by reason and are known only by experience. It is, therefore, the way of the wise that when some quality of a thing is manifested repeatedly by experience they no longer doubt its existence. It is only a donkey who persists in denial after repeated experience. For instance, rhubarb is a cathartic and a magnet has the power of attraction and though there is no reason why they should possess these qualities, yet when repeated experience manifests that they have these qualities every reasonable person has to admit that rhubarb is a cathartic and a magnet has the power to attract. If anyone should deny this on the ground that there is no reason for it, such a one would be condemned as mad or insane. So we submit to the Brahmos and other opponents that whatever we have stated concerning revelation, namely, that it is even now the experience of perfect individuals among the Muslims and is confined to them and is not to be found in any others, is not without proof, but can be demonstrated to every seeker through test and experience like thousands of other truths which are being discovered by these means. If anyone should be truly a seeker after truth, we undertake to demonstrate this to him provided he should make a sincere promise in writing that in case of proof he would accept Islam and should then turn to us with sincerity and in good faith. If they turn away then Allah knows best those who create disorder.
Some people put forward the objection that there are many groups like astronomers, soothsayers, physicians, palmists, etc., who claim to reveal the unseen and sometimes foretell things some of which come to pass, and that more recently some people have been able to reveal hidden matters through mesmerism; then how could the revealing of the unseen be conclusive proof of the Divine origin of revelation? The answer is that all these groups speak from conjecture and possess no certain knowledge nor do they claim to have certain knowledge. Their so-called prophecies are based upon signs and doubtful indications which have no relation- ship with certainty and which are not above suspicion and error. Very often their predictions are proved baseless and false, on account of which those predictions lack all honour and acceptance and helpfulness and success. Those who indulge in those predictions are generally poverty-stricken unfortunates, and are held in no honour and are cowards and mean and unsuccessful and without any merit. They cannot convert the unseen to come into accord with their predictions and in their own circumstances they exhibit the signs of Divine wrath and they possess no blessing or honour or help from the Divine. But the Prophets and the Aulya do not merely disclose the unseen like the astronomers, but with the grace and mercy of God, which always accompany them, they make such prophecies in which the lights of acceptance and honour shine like the sun and which comprehend the good news of honour and Divine help. Consider the prophecies of the Holy Quran and you will find that they are not like the predictions of the astronomers or others but are full of majesty and glory. All those prophecies are characterized by declaring the honour of the recipients and the disgrace of their enemies, their glory and the humiliation of their enemies, their success and the failure of their enemies, their victory and the defeat of their enemies, and their prosperity and the ruin of their enemies. Can any astronomer or soothsayer or mesmerizer put forth such prophecies? Certainly not. Always to proclaim one's own good, and the decline of the opponent and to refute whatever the opponent says and to promise the fulfillment of that which is in one's favor, can only be from God and cannot be the doing of man { Braheeni Ahmadiyyah Volume III, pp. 210- 218, footnote 11 (Amritsar, Safir Hind Press, 1882); Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 1 (London, 1984) }
Man's Knowledge Of The Universe Is Defective And Incomplete
Though man has been occupied for thousands of years in the discovery of God's powers through physics and mathematics, yet his knowledge is so defective that he cannot be described as successful in his search. On the other hand, hundreds of hidden mysteries are disclosed to those to whom visions and revelation are vouchsafed and they are borne witness to by thousands of the righteous. But the philosophers continue to deny them. The philosophers base all thinking and reflection on the brain, but those who have experience of visions have discovered through their spiritual experiences that the fountainhead of reason and understanding is the heart. For thirty-five years I have observed that revelation which is the source of spiritual understanding and of the knowledge of the unseen descends upon the heart. Very often a voice strikes the heart with force, as a bucket is thrown with force into a well full of water, and that water of the heart surges up like a closed blossom and arriving near the brain blooms like a flower and gives birth to words which are words of the Divine. These spiritual experiences establish that the brain is not concerned with knowledge and true understanding. It is true that if the brain is healthy and suffers from no defect it is benefited by the secret knowledge possessed by the heart, and as the brain is the center of the nervous system it is like a machine which can pump up water from the well. The heart is the well which is the fountainhead of hidden knowledge. This is a secret that has been discovered by men of truth through true visions and I myself have experience of it {Chashmai Ma’arafat ( Qadian, Anwar Ahmadiyyah Press, 1908) pp. 270-271. Now published in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984) vol. 23.}
I have been honored with Divine converse for nearly eleven years and I know well that revelation descends from heaven. If one were to illustrate revelation by reference to some worldly object one could perhaps compare it with the telegraph which itself discloses every change that occurs in it. My experience is that at the time of descent of revelation which is vouchsafed to me as the revelation of the Aulya, I feel that I am under the control of an external force that is very effective. Sometimes this control is so strong and envelops me so forcefully in its light that I find myself drawn to it compulsively and no faculty of mine can stand up to it. In this condition I hear clear and bright words. I sometimes see angels and observe the power and awe of truth. The words that are conveyed to me often comprehend matters that are unseen and there is such extraordinary control and seizure which is proof of the existence of God Almighty. To deny this would be to destroy an open truth {Barakatuddua (Qadian, Riyadh Hind Press 1310 A.H.) p.26 Now prited in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984) vol. 6.}.
I call God to witness that it is the truth that revelation falls upon the heart from heaven as rays of the sun fall upon a wall. It is my daily experience that when the Word of God is about to descend on me then in the first stage I feel a sort of helplessness and experience a change and, though my senses are in a manner working, I find that a powerful force has taken my whole being in its grip and I feel that all the arteries of my being are in the control of that force and all that is mine is no longer mine but belongs to it. When I m in that condition first of all God Almighty presents those of my thoughts to me on which He intends to cast a ray of His words. Those thoughts come before me one after the other in a strange guise, and it so happens that when a thought passes through my mind - for instance, whether a certain person will recover from his illness or not - then suddenly a Divine phrase falls like a ray and often with its falling the whole of my body is shaken. Then this is succeeded by another thought and as soon as it appears a piece of revelation falls upon it like an archer shooting an arrow on every quarry that appears before him. Just at that time it is felt that this chain of thoughts is generated by our natural capacity and that the words that fall upon it descend from above.
Although poets and thinkers, etc., also receive suggestions on reflection, there is no relationship between revelation and such suggestion, for that suggestion is a consequence of thinking and reflection and is received within the limits of humanness in the full possession of one's senses. But revelation is received when the recipient comes under the full control of God Almighty with all his being, and his own senses and reflection do not intervene in any way. It appears as if one's tongue is not one's own and is being used by some other strong power. This should make clear the distinction between natural capacity and that which descends from heaven {Ibid., 22-23, footnote).
The slight slumber that overtakes one at the time when the Word of God descends upon the heart is completely outside material causes and all physical causes are suspended at the time. When a righteous person, who has true relationship of love and fidelity with God Almighty, submits a supplication to God in the upsurge of that relationship, he is suddenly overtaken by a slight slumber while he is still occupied with his supplication and he seems to wake up and finds the answer to his supplication, couched in eloquent words, being conveyed to him behind the veil of that slumber. Those words possess a majesty and a quality of delight, and Divine power is felt shining through them. They penetrate the heart like an iron nail and often comprehend hidden matters. It often happens that when that righteous person seeks to submit something more with regard to his first supplication, or submits a fresh supplication, he is again overtaken by a slumber which disappears within less than a second and from it emerge holy words, as the kernel emerges from the shell, which are delicious and full of majesty. In this manner God, Who is Gracious and Merciful and full of kindness, responds to every question and does not manifest any contempt or disgust. If a supplication is made sixty or seventy or a hundred times a response is received in the same manner. That is to say, that at the time of each supplication a slight slumber overtakes the recipient of revelation. On occasion this faintness or slumber is heavy as if the person had fallen into a swoon. Such revelation is vouchsafed on very important matters and is the highest type of revelation. He slumber that overtakes a recipient of revelation at the time of his supplication and prayer behind the veil of which Divine revelation is received, is above any physical causes. Whatever the physicists regard as the law of nature concerning sleep is contravened in this instance. There are hundreds of spiritual matters which refute the thinking of philosophers. Very often a person sees in a vision objects that are thousands of miles distant and appear as if they were close to the eye, and often a person can meet and converse in complete wakefulness with the souls of those who have passed away {Chashmai Maarifat ( Qadian, Anwar Ahmadiyyah Press, 1908) Now published in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984) vol. 23 pp. 103-104}.
Out of many forms of revelation which God has disclosed to me, one is that when God Almighty desires to disclose some hidden matter to His servant He causes to flow from his tongue some phrases in a slight slumber, sometimes gently and sometimes harshly. Those phrases that flow harshly from the tongue fall upon the tongue as hardly as hail falls suddenly upon a hard piece of ground, or as the hooves of a fast running steed strike the earth. Such a revelation arrives with speed and is so awe-inspiring that the whole body is affected thereby and the tongue runs with it so fast and in such a majestic voice as If It IS not one's own tongue. The slight slumber disappears altogether when the revelation is completed and during the time that it is received one lies motionless like a corpse. Such revelation is received when God Almighty out of His wisdom decides not to accept a supplication or decides to postpone its acceptance or wishes to convey something which would lie heavy on the recipient. For instance, when a person seeks to acquire something quickly and such acquisition is not in accord with the Divine will or has to be postponed. I have been the recipient of such revelations on occasion, which it would take too long to describe in detail, but I will set down one instance. About three years ago I prayed that people might be disposed to help in the publication of this book whereupon I received this type of revelation in hard words 'Not yet.' When I received this revelation I informed a number of Hindus and Muslims of it, who are still alive and they also witnessed thereafter the lack of attention of people to this book.
As regards the other type of revelation, in which phrases flow from the tongue with gentleness, it would be enough to state that when some time had passed after the revelation just mentioned, and I was beset with difficulties, I received a revelation one day: Take hold of the branch of the palm-tree and shake it; it will shed fresh ripe dates upon thee. From this I understood that this was an indication that I should invite people's help and that there was a promise that through such effort I would be able to collect enough money to defray the expenses of the publication of that part of the book. I informed several Hindus and Muslims of this revelation also and I also informed Hafiz Hidayat Ali Khan, Extra Assistant Commissioner, who had arrived in Qadian the same day or the following day. I also informed Maulvi Muhammad Husain of Batala. In short, after the receipt of this revelation, according to the Divine command, I made some effort towards inviting assistance and thereafter I received from Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Malerkotla and a few other places enough assistance to meet the expenses of the publication of that part. All praise is due to Allah for this { Braheeni Ahmadiyyah Volume III, (Amritsar, Safir Hind Press, 1882); pp. 223-227 Now published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 1 (London, 1984) }.
The second type of revelation, which on account of its many wonders I call perfect revelation, is that when God Almighty desires to inform a servant of a hidden matter after his supplication or on His own, He imposes a faintness upon him, whereby he becomes completely lost to himself and sinks in that faintness like a person who dives in deep water and disappears in it; then when he emerges from this diving he feels a sort of echo inside himself, and when that echo ceases he feels from inside himself words that are appropriate and fine and delicious. This diving in the faintness is a wonderful experience, which cannot be adequately described in words. In this condition a whole ocean of understanding is opened for a person. When repeatedly he has this experience of diving that is imposed upon him by God Almighty and he receives a response to every supplication in fine and delicious words, and in each instance God discloses to him verities which it is beyond human power to disclose, he thereby achieves the fullness of understanding and cognition. Man's supplication and God's response to it through the manifestation of His Godhead is an experience as if the suppliant beholds God in this very world and immediately both worlds appear equal to him. When at the time of need a servant makes repeated supplication to his Lord and receives a response, as one human being receives from another, and that response is couched in fine eloquent words, sometimes in a language of which he is completely ignorant, and comprises hidden matters which are beyond the power of creatures, and sometimes conveys the good news of great bounties or of high ranks or of nearness to God, and sometimes comprehends prophecies with regard to worldly blessings, then by the hearing of these fine and eloquent phrases which are far above human power he acquires a degree of understanding w which is appreciated only by him upon whom this bounty is bestowed. In truth such a one recognizes God as one recognizes a firm and old friend. Such revelation often relates to grand affairs. It sometimes contains words the meanings of which have to be sought for in a dictionary. Sometimes I have received such a revelation in a strange language like English or some other with which I am totally unacquainted {Ibid, pp. 236-238, sub-footnote I).