The Twenty-Eighth Flash

THE TWENTY-EIGHTH SUBTLETY

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحٖيمِIn the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

لاَ يَسَّمَّعُونَ اِلَى الْمَلاَِ اْلاَعْلى وَيُقْذَفُونَ مِنْ كُلِّ جَانِبٍThey cannot listen to the highest assembly, and they are driven away from every side. — The Qur’an 37:8.

دُحُورًا وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ وَاصِبٌ اِلاَّ مَنْ خَطِفَ الْخَطْفَةَ فَاَتْبَعَهُ شِهَابٌ ثَاِقبٌDriven away, and for them is a lasting punishment, except for one who snatches a fragment of what is heard, whereupon a piercing flame pursues him. — The Qur’an 37:9–10.

وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّا السَّمَاۤءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَجَعَلْنَاهَا رُجُومًا لِلشَّيَاطِينِAnd indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and made them missiles against the devils. — The Qur’an 67:5.

A significant subtlety contained in verses such as these will be explained in response to the objections raised by the people of misguidance.

What follows is a concise answer, comprising three parts, to a question of great importance arising from the meaning of the verses cited above. These verses relate how spies from among the jinnSpiritual beings created from smokeless fire. and devils secretly listened for news from the heavens and conveyed tidings of the ghaybThe unseen; that which is hidden from human perception and knowledge., thereby enabling soothsayers, materialists, and certain spiritualists to give information concerning the unseen.

At the commencement of revelation to the Prophet (saw)Sallallāhu alayhi wa sallam (Peace and blessings be upon him), however, their persistent espionage was met with a more intense shower of meteors and brought to an end, so that no doubt could arise concerning the revelation.

Question:

From verses such as these, it appears that, in order to learn of even a minor and sometimes personal event belonging to the unseen, the spying devils penetrate the realm of the heavens, which lies at an exceedingly great distance.

It is as though that minor event were being discussed everywhere throughout that vast realm, so that whichever devil entered it, and wherever he entered, he would hear some fragmentary report of it and then convey it elsewhere. Yet reason and wisdom cannot accept such an interpretation.

Moreover, the meaning of the verses seems to suggest that certain prophets and certain awliyā(sing. walī) Those who seek the pleasure of Allah and attain elevated spiritual ranks through worship, obedience, and sincerity. take fruits from Paradise, which lies beyond the heavens, as though plucking them from somewhere close at hand, and that they sometimes behold Paradise as though it were near. Here, the utmost remoteness and the utmost nearness are brought together—a matter difficult for the intellect of this age to comprehend.

Furthermore, it seems inconsistent with the wisdom governing the universe with supreme perfection that the minor circumstances of a single individual should become a subject of discussion among the angels throughout the vast and all-encompassing realm of the heavens.

Yet these three matters are counted among the truths of Islam.