Page 259 - For Men of Understanding

its forms. In the Qur'an, this fact is stated thus: “No vision can grasp Him,
but His grasp is over all vision.” (Surat al-An'am: 103) That is, we cannot per-
ceive Allah's existence with our eyes, but Allah has thoroughly encompassed
our inside and outside, our vision and thoughts. We cannot utter any word
except with His knowledge, nor can we even draw breath.
In the course of our lives, while we watch perceptions we assume to be the
"external world," the closest being to us is Allah Himself. The secret of the fol-
lowing verse in the Qur'an is concealed in this reality: "It was We Who creat-
ed man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for
We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein." (Surah Qaf:
16) When a person thinks that his body is made up of "mat-
ter," he cannot comprehend this important fact. If he takes his Why is it not then
brain to be himself, then what he accepts as the "outside that when it (soul)
comes up to the
world" will begin at about 20 to 30 centimetres away. But
throat, and you at
when he conceives that everything he thinks of as matter is
that time look on,
only perceptions in his mind, any notions such as outside or
We are nearer to
inside, far or near lose all their meaning. Allah has encom- him than you, but
passed him and He is infinitely close to him. you see not.
Allah informs men that He is "infinitely close" to them with (Surat al-Waqia,
the verse “If My servants ask you about Me, I am near…” 83-85)
(Surat al-Baqara: 186). Another verse relates the same fact:
“Surely your Lord encompasses the people.” (Surat al-
Isra: 60)
Man is misled if he thinks that the being closest to him is himself. Allah, in
truth, is even closer to us than ourselves. He has called our attention to this
point in the verse "Why is it not then that when it (soul) comes up to the
throat, and you at that time look on, We are nearer to him than you, but
you see not." (Surat al-Waqi'a: 83-85) People, however, remain unaware of this
phenomenal fact because they cannot see it with their eyes, as revealed in the
verse.
On the other hand, it is impossible for man-who is nothing but a shadow
being, as Imam Rabbani put it,- to have any power independent of Allah. The
verse "But Allah has created you and your handwork!" (Surat as-Saffat: 96)
shows that everything we experience takes place under Allah's control. In the
Qur'an, this reality is stated in the verse "When you threw, it was not your
act, but Allah's." (Surat al-Anfal: 17) whereby it is emphasised that no act is
independent of Allah. Since we humans are shadow beings, we ourselves can-
not be the ones who perform any act. However, Allah gives us shadow beings
the feeling that we act by ourselves. In reality, it is Allah Who performs all acts.

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