the Abyss.
(FMF no. 17, 77–78; DOR 89–90; SOTU 81–82)
This excerpt from one of R‰mÏ’s discourses serves to set the scene for this Treasury by situating the Children of Adam in their place among the various orders of animate beings. We stand between the angelic beings and the animal kingdom, as do the jinn, the other of the two categories of creature known in Islam as ‘the Two Weights’ (al-Thaqal¥n). What we have in common are the responsibility that goes with the power to choose between good and evil, and the handicap of being ‘a mixture of intellect and lust’. Yet but for these obstacles we could not merit any reward for obedience to God’s commands. There is none for the angels, who are innately obedient and who have no appetite to be satisfied by tangible rewards.
When the Creator announced that He was establishing a Deputy on Earth, the angels anticipated that this meant the arrival of a creature who would cause trouble and bloodshed, and they were shocked. God then showed them the wisdom behind the creation of Adam, whose knowledge extended to knowing the ‘names’, or the inner realities, of all things. As for Adam’s progeny, some (urged on by the Awliy¥’, or saints) follow an upward path, some (urged on by the Shay¥~Ïn, or devils) a downward one. Others are believers who strive to maintain their faith and character – or rather to improve them, since it is practically very difficult to stand still in the conditions that face us. In practice, then, we are either progressing or regressing. Who will follow the upward Path?
The Human Microcosm
آدمی عظیم چیز است: در وی همه چیز مکتوب است. حجب وظلمات نمی گذارد
که او آن علم را در خود بخواند. حجب وظلمات این مشغولی های گوناگون است
وتدبیرهای گوناگون دنیا وآرزوهای گوناگون. با این همه که در ظلمات است و
مـحجوب پرده هاست، هم چیزی میخواند و از آن واقف است. بنگر که چون این
ظلمات و حجب بر خیزد، چه سان واقف گردد واز خـود چه علم هـا پیدا کند. آخـر
این حـرفتها از درزیی وبـنٌـایی ودروگـری وزرگـری وعلم نجـوم
وطـبٌ وغیره وانواع حِرَف، الی ما لا یُعَدٌ وَ لَا یُحْصَی
از اندرون آدمی پیدا شده است؛ از سنگ و کلوخ پیدا نشد. آنکه میگویند زاغی
آدمی را تعلیم کرد که مرده در گور کند، آن هم عکس آدمی بود که بر مرغ زد.
تقآضای آدمی اورا بر آن داشت. آخر حیوان جزو
آدمی است؛ جزو، کُلّ را چون آموزد؟
A human being is something vast; all things are inscribed within him. Yet veils and darknesses will not let him read the knowledge that he has inside him. The veils and darknesses are these various preoccupations, schemes, and worldly desires. Yet despite all these things being hidden in darknesses, concealed behind those veils, man is able to read something, and is aware of it. Consider how aware he becomes and what knowledge he discovers in himself when the darknesses and veils are removed. After all, trades like tailoring, building, carpentry, goldsmithing, science, astronomy, medicine, and so on – countless different trades – were discovered within mankind, not inside rocks or clods of earth. Now, it is said that a raven instructed man to bury the dead in a grave. That, too, was a reflection of human [intelligence] which came to the bird; it was an expression of human need that prompted him to do it. For animal [nature] is [merely] part of human [nature]. How could the partial teach the whole?
(FMF no. 11, 50; DOR 61–62; SOTU 52)
Towards the end of a fascinating discourse, R‰mÏ reminds us that the human soul contains universal knowledge. Despite appearances, every human being is a microcosm, a universe in miniature. The Qur’an tells us that the first man and Prophet, Adam (peace be upon him) was taught the names of all things. The name of anything, in primordial language, reflects its fundamental meaning and essential nature. Without the requisite knowledge present within them, how could the Children of Adam, at the beginning of their story, have testified to the Divine Lordship by themselves and on the basis of knowledge?
Mawl¥n¥ R‰mÏ cites the wide variety of trades and professions as examples of human knowledge and learned skills. One of the implications of this is that whatever may be the outward process involved, every kind of learning is a form of discovery (or what Greek sages called anamnēsis, ‘unforgetting’) within the soul. As enlightened educators often remark, the original meaning of ‘education’ is to bring something out. The privilege of being by fi~ra (primordial nature) homo sapiens, distinguished from other creatures by the modalities and extent of human knowledge, also carries responsibilities. God Most High swears by the human soul and its Creator that those who cultivate their souls will prosper and those who ‘bury’ them (beneath ‘darknesses and veils’) are doomed to utter failure.
The Believer’s Heart
Compared to the vastness of [Adam’s] pure soul,
the expanse of the seven heavens is narrow.
The Prophet related that God has said,
‘I am not contained in the jar of “high” and “low”;
I am not contained in earth or heaven, or even Heaven’s highest heights. Know this for sure, noble one.
Yet I am contained in the true believer’s heart.
How wondrous! If you look for Me, search in those hearts.’
(M I, 2652–2655)
These
