JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE
  AS EXPOUNDED IN THE QUR`AN
  (Excerpts Only)

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

Chapter 2
The Story of Man

Read in the name of your Lord Who created. He created man from a clot. (al-'Alaq:1-2)

The Qur`an reflects the signals which echo in man's heart. The clarity of the echo is proportionate to the purity of the heart, and that is the meaning of the command to read.

The origin of man is the command of God – Be. The rûh, the spirit, is like a subtle force, the origin of which is in another realm and cannot be directly experienced or intellectually understood. The presence of such a force is indicated by the experienceable manifestation it causes. A divine breeze causes the coagulation of the first cells, which then derive nourishment from the earth of the womb and move through the various stages of growth into a discernible form. Man was formed in such a way as to enable him to reflect upon his true origin.

In Arabic the root word of rûh (soul) is the same as that of rîh (wind, breeze) and râhah (comfort, ease). The search for comfort and ease is ingrained in man's nature. The subtle force that results in the creation of man is divine, sublime, and indiscernible by our gross intellects. The power of the intellect is derived from the rûh so how can it directly comprehend the nature of its originator? The Qur`an explains the origin of the rûh as a command – an instant of creation.

Man is in physical growth, and if he does not accompany that with spiritual growth he will then be out of balance. Physical growth signifies a cycle of stabilization and maturity and a return to the physical origin, the earth. Spiritually, the rûh rises from the unseen and is captured in the body, seeking its source by upholding and desiring the attributes of its creational source – harmony, peace, independence, contentment, etc. – and eventually returning at death. It is as though the body is loaned by the gross earth to the subtle rûh  for it to discover and know its Creator so that it knows its own nature, and thereby knows the right courtesy of gaining access to Him and getting close to Him, before its promised return – death.

That loan will be a successful one if the path of abandonment, of Islam and tawhîd, has been followed in this journey of life. After death, other processes of purification and neutralization, such as the fire and the garden, are part of the process of bringing the rûh to acknowledge its origin. Man is therefore physically sustained only for him to recognize his original state, and his original state is to be in true submission and abandonment. 

The Beneficent God, taught the Qur`an. He created man, taught him the clear evidence. (ar-Rahmân:1-4)

The mercy (rahmah) of Allah pervades everything. The Adamic state of being in the garden was one of complete bliss and tranquility; there was no hardship. God's advice to Adam, for it was advice and not a command, was not to go near that tree of turmoil, jealousy, and discontent. If it had been a command, Adam would have obeyed it because at that stage the Adamic consciousness knew only obedience and truth. It had no discrimination because it had not experienced untruth, until, that is, the rise of shaytân (Satan, the devil).

Once Adam tasted the "fruit" of the tree, he had to go through the full process of learning discrimination, which comes about by being exposed to opposites. The descent to earth was a natural outcome of the process of guidance. The earth is man's arena of practice where he can exercise choice and learn to select the right course of behavior and action. Man has inherited this knowledge from his primal state when choice did not exist.

Man was told: be in the garden and you will be in complete bliss – a state of positive neutrality. You are the closest to the Creator, but do not venture near that shajarah (tree or bush). Here we would not translate it as "tree". The root of the word is from shajara (to happen, break out, and in other forms, to quarrel, fight) and is related to shijâr, fight or quarrel. Shajarah implies upheaval. The warning to avoid that tree implies avoiding that state of questioning which causes man to be in uncertainty and upheaval. The moment he asks, "Why am I here?", he shows his impertinence; for were it not for the grace of life within him, he would not even be able to ask the question.

The tree of desire and expectation arose when Adam was told, "don't", and he asked, "why?". It is in the nature of the beast, for he contains the exception, which is shaytân. If we allow that state to predominate, the exception will be the rule, as it is now in the world.

A river has the main characteristics of viscosity and flow. The molecules of water that lie on the river banks are immobile. The rule is the mainstream, but the exception defies the mainstream. The rule is the abandonment into the natural creational laws, and the exception, we are reminded, is that there will be opposition. The rule is that a child is conceived out of intercourse between a man and woman and the exception is immaculate conception. As we know, this exception occasionally occurs and did in the case of Sayyidna 'Isa (Jesus). This is the sunnah (way) of creation.

The mercy of Allah is always there, and it is this mercy that enables Adam to return to that state of bliss. He returns when he recognizes the mercy. The knowledge of the Book of creation is the first and most encompassing manifestation of that mercy – and that knowledge implies the knowledge of tawhîd, the divine unity behind diversity, the unity of good and bad, the garden and the fire.

Adam was taught this knowledge. The knowledge was subgenetically ingrained in him. That is why the angels protested the creation of man who was going to squander his wealth and shed his brothers' blood. God taught Adam the knowledge of furqân, discrimination, the knowledge that comes from shaqâ', mercy and wretchedness. Man encompasses the meanings of all the divine attributes.

Adam remained in primal undiscriminating bliss without being tormented by opposites until he unwittingly transgressed the bounds. Adam knew the conditions for remaining in the garden, but desire was encouraged in him. The conditions of unquestioning, desireless tranquility and bliss excluded desire, and by desiring he was made unfit for the garden.

The rise of that desire – wanting the taste of the tree's fruit, wanting its meaning – heralds the birth of understanding and choice. As a consequence, man experiences differing outcomes of his discriminating actions which will result in his claiming of his heritage and original abode, the garden. Following the whispering suggestions of shaytân (from the verbal root shatana, to be cast off, e.g., a path) will, however, result either in man's waste and destruction, or in his recognition of the bounds. By recognizing the bounds, he remains within the garden walls, content with submission and tawhîd, as he was in his original state.

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