In the Name of Allah the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Imamology, Lesson 46-51: The interpretation of the Verses 31 & 32 of the Surah "فاطر"

Collected Works of The Muslim Shiite Scholar and Thinker: Allāma Hājj Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husaynī Tihrānī

 

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Lessons 46-51: Interpretation of the verse

 ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ وَمِنْهُم مُّقْتَصِدٌ وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْكَبِيرُ.

 

In the Name of Allah, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful

And bless be upon Muhammad and his pure Household, and may Allah's curse be on his enemies from now until the Day of Resurrection! And there is no power or strength except for the Lofty Glorious Allah.

 

The Wise Allah has stated in His Glorious Book:

 

وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ هُوَ الْحَقُّ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِعِبَادِهِ لَخَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ وَمِنْهُم مُّقْتَصِدٌ وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْكَبِيرُ. [1]

‘… and that which We have revealed to you from the Book is the Truth confirming those [Books] which preceded it; for indeed Allah is the Perceptive upon His worshippers. Then We allowed some of Our worshippers, whom We had singled out, to inherit this Book. Yet there are some of them who wrong themselves while some others are lukewarm, and there are some who compete in performing good deeds with the permission of Allah; and that is the same great Divine blessing, (Qur’an: 35/31,32).’

 

The first verse is the Statement of Allah to the Holiness Messenger, Bless be to him and his Descendants, on the truthfulness of the Book that has been revealed to that Holiness – the same Book which is called the Glorious Qur’an, and is the confirmer of all the Divine Books revealed to the previous messengers.

The second verse is about the transition of the same Glorious Qur’an, after the Messenger, to the chosen worshippers of Allah, as the inheritance.

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The meaning of الْكِتَابَ in the Verse

Although some of the commentators have hesitated in the meaning of the ‘Book’ and have said: ‘Perhaps it is of those other Divine Books such as: the Torah and Bible,’ this hesitation of them is totally invalid and rejected, it is because the letters ‘ال’ in ‘الْكِتَابِ’stand for the definite article ‘the’, and in this Verse it is not defining a thing, and above all, the words: Torah and Bible have not been mentioned anywhere to need to need the definite article. However, the word ‘الْكِتَابِ’in the previous Verse, is absolutely for the Qur’an which is revealed to the Messenger and then, immediately, in the next Verse, has stated the inheritance of the Book for the Chosen Worshippers of His. Certainly the definite articles ‘ال’ for ‘كِتَابِ’ has been a covenant and it refers to the same Glorious Qur’an, and it means: “We will give the very Qur’an as the inheritance to Our Chosen Worshippers.”

And the reason for using the statement in the past tense as: ‘We gave as the inheritance’ is that the Divine Judgement has already fulfilled and confirmed about it. It is like that one makes his will that a certain property or books to be given to his son and then, after confirming and signing it he says: ‘O my son, I made my will and gave you such and such.’

The people of literature say that: ‘Anything which surely going to happen in the future, they use the expression in the present perfect. And the meaning of the ‘Inheritance of the Qur’an’ is transmitting the whole authorities of Qur’an to the inheritor, it is because the real meaning of ‘to inherit’ is to give the whole authority to the inheritor – to be responsible to using it as the main owner has commanded or asked for. For example, if a certain person inherits something from someone after his death, it means the inheritor has the whole authority as well he is responsible to protect and use it according to the will of the first owner – and the ownership of the property is his as it was for the main owner.       

The inheritance in the Kingdom and government is the same, they say: ‘Such and such has inherited the Kingdom from his father, or a Sultan has given his government-ship to his son, or one became the inheritance to the knowledge of his father, or a certain person, among so many children of the father, inherited his arts and knowledge – that is he took all those arts and knowledge of the father and succeeded with them.

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The purpose of inheriting from the Qur’an

Inheriting the Honourable Qur’an, in this Verse, is the same, namely Allah has trusted the same facts of the Qur’an, which He had revealed to His Messenger, to the Inheritors of it; the apparent facts such as: the common and specific commands, brief and explanatory, absolute and bound, abrogated and abolished, the story of the messengers and the last nations, morality and the religious knowledge, the whole meanings of the Monotheism, advice, promise and threatening, interests and seditions as well the facts of personality and its appearance in the other fields.

And from the heart of the Qur’an are the paraphrases and the comments, generality and the verification, the boldness and facts in the Verses like the fact of the material world and the inter-worlds and the exemplary features, and the world of wisdom and the angels spirits and their positions, and the degrees of the pious as well the sinners, the fact and the perception of the pure and right Monotheism, the quality of the Divine Names and Attributes surrounding the entire being, and the combination of the Names and Attributes in the Essence. The fact of the manifestation upon all the worlds and the Divine Verses and many others that Allah has trusted to the inheritors of the Qur’an; it is so that the Messenger’s being is sensed in all of these and will remain for the world to come by the Inheritors.

Therefore, the Inheritor of the Qur’an is a genuine copy of the Messenger of Allah, and the Qur’an, as its first appearance with glory, decisive and lengthy:

كتاب احكمت آياته ثم فصلت من لدن حكيم خبير. [2]

‘… [this is] a Book that its Verses are decisive, and have been elaborated by the Aware Sovereign, (Qur’an: 11/1).’

will reveal with glory to the Inheritors one after another, because there must be a real relation between one who leaves the inheritance and the inheritor – not everyone can inherit everything. The kingdom cannot be transferred to the son, Minister or the barrister as the inheritance, the experience of a physician cannot be given to the son of a dustman, and the knowledge of a scholar cannot be transfer to an ignorant person.

Similarly, it becomes clear that the Inheritors of the Glorious Qur’an have more resemblance to the Messenger of Allah than the whole nations, above all, in attributes, the inward purity, the talent in receiving the facts and feeling the spirit of the Qur’an, are open minded like the Generous Messenger of Allah.

According to this Allah states:

ثم اورثنا الكتاب الذين اصطفينا.

‘We trusted the Book to Our Outstanding Worshippers whom We chose among all pure worshippers and purified them;’

it is because the meaning of  اصطفاis choosing something pure and faultless. And apparently the phrase مِن عِبادِنا is an statement because عِبادِناhas been added for honoring, and He wants to state that: “Those Chosen and the Inheritors of the Qur’an are the worshippers who want to show servitude to Us,” as Allah, the Honourable and Exalted has stated:

 وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَى [3]

‘… and peace be on those worshippers of His whom He has selected, (Qur’an: 27/59).’   

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Dividing Allah’s worshippers in three groups

However the sentence:

فمنهم ظالم لنفسه و منهم مقتصد و منهم سابق بالخيرات باذن الله. 

‘… yet there are some of them who wrong themselves while some others are lukewarm, and there are some who compete in performing good deeds with the permission of Allah, (Qur’an: 35/32).’   

It may be the worshippers of Allah have been divided in three sections, in that case, this sentence is explanation for the first one; that is, We gave the Qur’an to the chose ones among Our worshippers. It is because Our worshippers are all at the same rank and level but they are in three groups. And off course the Qur’an is inherited by the best ones of those who practiced the goodness, and the paradises, which have been promised, in three Verses have been joined to this Verse and are belonged to them:

جَنَّاتُ عَدْنٍ يَدْخُلُونَهَا يُحَلَّوْنَ فِيهَا مِنْ أَسَاوِرَ مِن ذَهَبٍ وَلُؤْلُؤًا وَلِبَاسُهُمْ فِيهَا حَرِيرٌ وَقَالُوا الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَذْهَبَ عَنَّا الْحَزَنَ إِنَّ رَبَّنَا لَغَفُورٌ شَكُورٌ الَّذِي أَحَلَّنَا دَارَ الْمُقَامَةِ مِن فَضْلِهِ لَا يَمَسُّنَا فِيهَا نَصَبٌ وَلَا يَمَسُّنَا فِيهَا لُغُوبٌ [4]

‘… entering the eternal gardens of Eden; they will wear gold and pearl bracelets there and their clothing will be silk. Then they will say, ‘Praise belongs to Allah Who has removed sadness from us! Surely our Lord is Oft-forgiving [and] Appreciative the One Who has settled us in the everlasting Abode by His bounty. Wherein no weariness will touch us nor fatigue affects us, (Qur’an: 35/33-35).’   

It may be the dividing of الذين is for اصطفينا, that is: We gave the Qur’an as the inheritance for Our Chose ones, and they are three groups: the first group includes the people who harm themselves, the second one are those who move in the course of justice, fairness and moderation; and the third ones are those who have outstripped the others through the good nesses and benevolent – by permission of Allah, over passed the entire people.

In the course of the inheritance, the Qur’an has taken all the three into consideration, it is because with more or less differences, they are of the chosen ones. However, the real inheritor and the custodian of the Qur’an are the very third group who are the out- strippers.

This kind of usage and style of speech is common in the daily conversations: when something belongs to a certain man then it can be related to the close community of that man. It is like some people say: ‘In a certain match, a group won the race’ – though only one person among the group has succeeded. Or some say: ‘The Qur’an was sent down to the people of Mecca and then to Medina,’ but it is obvious that it was revealed only to the Messenger of Allah.

There are a lot of such usages in the Qur’an. In the Chapter of the Believers, Verse 54, it is stated:

و لقد آتينا موسى الهدى و اورثنا بنى اسرائيل الكتاب هدى و ذكرى لاولى الالباب.

 ‘… We also gave Moses the Guidance and let the Children of Israel inherit the Book [of Torah],  that is a Guide and as a Reminder to the men of reason, (Qur’an: 40/54).’

However, it is obvious that the Torah was not to all Children of Israel but it was after Moses that it was given to some of them. Even if it is not the same Book of Torah, it might be the very Book of the Divine Revelation, it was only given to the Holiness Moses as the Torah, but not to all people.

Anyhow, by considering the narratives related either by the Shiite or the Sunnite it becomes quite clear that this second probability is stronger. And in this Verse, Allah has divided His worshippers into three groups and although each party look different from the next one, and a party of them has oppressed itself, on the whole, their priorities and attributes distinguish them the other people. All those three groups somehow deserve to inherit the Qur’an though in fact the inheritance goes to third group who are prior in doing good. And those promised heavens are for those who oppressed themselves, and the mediators and the just who, because of the forgiveness of Allah, have achieved this reward.

As in those Verses, they praise Allah for His forgiveness and gratefulness, and these attributes are suitable for their sins and forgiveness so that is for the first and second groups. On the other hand, they praise the same Allah who has taken away their sorrows and sadness and has entered them to the eternal paradise where they will remain in comfort. This kind of praise also matches the first ones, but not with third one that they enter paradise without reckoning and dwell in the Peaceful Quarters of Allah  فى مقعد صدق عند مليك مقتدر and they encounter with the expression: يا ايتها النفس المطمئنة ارجعى الى ربك راضية مرضية

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All the Inheritors of the Book are from Fatima's Children

Thus, it is related that all those three groups mentioned already are the children of Fatima, upon her be peace, and all them enter paradise: however, the first group will go through severe investigation and at last achieving satisfactory results against oppressing themselves. The second group enter paradise with easier investigation, and those in the third group, who are the real inheritors of the Qur’an, enter paradise without being questioned. There is a narrative in the book of “Kafi” of Muhammad bin Ya‘qub who, by means of his documents, relates Ahmad bin Omar saying:

قال: سالت ابا الحسن الرضا عليه السّلام عن قول الله عز و جل: ثم اورثنا الكتاب الذين اصطفينا من عبادنا- الآية، فقال: ولد فاطمة عليها السلام، و السابق بالخيرات الامام، و المقتصد العارف بالامام، و الظالم لنفسه الذى لا يعرف الامام. [5]

He says: ‘I asked the Holiness Imam Reza, upon him be peace, about the interpretation and the meaning of this Noble Verse and he answered: “The chosen worshippers are the children of Fatima, upon her be peace, and the former is towards the charities of the Imam, the moderate and just and know the Imam, however, the oppressive to himself is one who does not know the Imam.”

And Kolaini has related the same narrative, with the same words and phrases, has not mentioned ‘the children of Fatima, upon her be peace, from Salim, quoting the Holiness Imam Muhammad Baqir, upon him be peace[6]

And also ibn Babwiia, with his series of documents, relates from Jabir bin Yazid Jo‘fi, quoting the Holiness Imam Muhammad Baqir, upon him be peace, though he spares mentioning the clause: ‘The Children of Fatima, upon her be peace,’ he adds in the bottom:

جنات عدن يدخلونها يعنى المقتصد و السابق. [7]

The people who enter paradise among these three groups are the second and third groups, that is, those who know the Imam and the Imam himself.

And Tabarsi has related of Abdul Aziz, who has quoted the Holiness Imam Sādiq, upon him be peace, stating:

الظالم من لا يعرف حق الامام، و المقتصد منا العارف بحق الامام، و السابق بالخيرات الامام، و هؤلاء كلهم مغفور لهم. [8]

The Holiness Imam Sādiq also translated the Verse like Imam Bāqir and he added at the bottom: “And all these three groups will be forgiven by Allah.”

And ibn Babwiia, by means of his series of documents, has related of the Holiness Imam Sādiq stating:

 انه سئل عن قول الله عز و جل: "ثم اورثنا الكتاب الذين اصطفينا من عبادنا فمنهم ظالم لنفسه و منهم مقتصد و منهم سابق بالخيرات باذن الله." فقال: الظالم يحوم حرم نفسه، و المقتصد يحوم حوم قلبه، و السابق يحوم حوم ربه عز و جل. [9]

[In the interpretation of theses three chosen groups] the Holiness Imam Sādiq states: “The meaning of ‘aggressive to himself’ is that one always looks after himself, he is after his own desires and benefits; and the meaning of ‘moderate’ is that one always is careful of his heart, he is cautious not commit any sins, not to be neglected of his praying and worshipping, not to contaminate his heart and always to keep his heart pure and illuminated.

And the meaning of ‘The prior and volunteer in the goodness and benevolent’ denotes one who always thinks of his Creator and desires to circumambulate His Ka‘ba, that is: he has ignored his heart and himself and sees no person in himself, he has no heart to keep it pure and to look after, he always witnesses the Beauty of the Right and His illumination, and in short, he becomes fascinated in His Attributes and disappears in the Holiness Essence of His.”

However, Al‘lāma Tabatabaee, from the “Maani al-Akhbar” of Sadough relates from the Holiness Imam Sādiq, upon him be peace, that:

الظالم يحوم حوم نفسه، و المقتصد يحوم حوم قلبه، و السابق بالخيرات يحوم حوم ربه. [10]

‘The self-oppressive circumambulates his own desires, and the moderate circumambulates his heart however, the volunteer to the goodness and the benevolent circumambulates his own Creator, Allah.” In both cases the meanings are the same.

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Imam is the preferred worshipper

And Muhammad bin Abbas ibn Mahiar, who is of the reliable narrators, has related from Abi Is‘haq Sabiee that he has said:

 خرجت حاجا فلقيت محمد بن على عليهما السلام فسالته عن هذه الآية "ثم اورثنا الكتاب الذين اصطفينا من عبادنا" فقال: ما يقول فيها قومك يا ابا اسحاق- يعنى اهل الكوفة-؟ قال: قلت: يقولون انها لهم، قال: فما يخوفهم اذا كانوا من اهل الجنة؟ قلت: فما تقول انت جعلت فداك؟ قال: هى لنا خاصة يا ابا اسحاق اما السابقون بالخيرات فعلى و الحسن و الحسين عليهم السلام و الامام منا، و المقتصد فصائم بالنهار و قائم بالليل، و الظالم لنفسه ففيه ما فى الناس و هو مغفور له. يا ابا اسحاق بنا يفك الله رقابكم و يحل رباق الذل من اعناقكم و بنا يغفر الله ذنوبكم، و بنا يفتح و بنا يختم، و نحن كهفكم ككهف اصحاب الكهف، و نحن سفينتكم كسفينة نوح، و نحن باب حطتكم كباب حطة بنى اسرائيل. [11]

 Abi Is‘haq Sabiee says: ‘I left Kufa for the Hajj Pilgimag, and then, when I went to see the Holiness Imam Muhammad Bāqir, upon him be peace, I asked him of the interpretation of the Verse: ثمّ اورثنا الكِتاب

the Holiness stated: “What are the opinions of your nation, the people of Kufa, and their scholars about the meaning of the Chose?”

I had honour to inform him: ‘They say that: “They themselves are the Inheritors of the Book and the Chosen worshippers of Allah.”’ The Holiness stated: “If they are the people of paradise, so why do they fear of the chastisement of Allah?”

I said: ‘May I be made your sacrifice, so what is your opinion about the comment of this Verse?’

The Holiness stated: “This Verse is specified for us. O Ishaq, the phrase:السابقون بالخيرات  are Ali, Hassan, Hussein, upon them be peace, and the Imams from us, the Household. And the moderate among us are those who are in the altars to pray from dawn to dusk as well through the night, however, the oppressive to himself is one whose situation is like the other people – though they will be forgiven by Allah. O Abu Ishaq, for the sake of us, Allah has released you, and He has taken away the hardship, abjectness, blasphemy and the other evil attributes from you. And for the sake of us, He will wipe out all your sins, and Allah has honoured us the key to the gates of Bliss and the Monotheism – we are the final gate to the knowledge and Monotheism. Like the Cave of the Companions of the Cave, we are the secured caves and shelters for you, and like the Save-Arch of Noah, we are the saving arch for you. We are the cause of forgiveness, mercy, and the removing the sins for you – like the ‘Gate of Forgiveness’ for the Children of Israel.”

And ibn Babwiia Sheikh Sadough, by means of his documents, relates from Abu Hamza Thomali, may Allah be pleased with, that he said:

 قال: كنت جالسا فى المسجد الحرام مع ابى جعفر عليه السّلام اذ اتاه رجلان من اهل البصرة فقالا له: يا بن رسول الله انا نريد ان نسألك عن مسالة؟ فقال لهما: سلا عما شئتما. قالا: اخبرنا عن قول الله عز و جل: ثم اورثنا الكتاب الذين اصطفينا من عبادنا فمنهم ظالم لنفسه و منهم مقتصد و منهم سابق بالخيرات باذن الله ذلك هو الفضل الكبير- الى آخر الآيتين- قال: نزلت فينا اهل البيت. قال ابو حمزة الثمالى: فقلت: بابى انت و امى فمن الظالم لنفسه منكم؟ قال: من استوت حسناته و سيئاته من اهل البيت فهو الظالم لنفسه. فقلت: من المقتصد منكم؟ قال: العابد لله فى الحالين حتى يأتيه اليقين. قلت: فمن السابق بالخيرات؟ قال: من دعا و الله الى سبيل ربه و امر بالمعروف و نهى عن المنكر و لم يكن للمضلين عضدا و لا للخائنين خصيما، و لم يرض بحكم الفاسقين الا من خاف على نفسه و دينه و لم يجد أعوانا. [12]

Abu Hamza Thomali says: ‘I was sitting with the Holiness Imam Muhammad Bāqir, upon him be peace, in the Holy Shrine of Ka‘ba when two men of Basra came and said: O the son of the Messenger of Allah, do you let us ask a question?’

The Holiness said: “Do ask whatever you want.”

They said: ‘We are going to ask of the interpretation of this Noble Verse concerning the Inheritors in it, and also who are the Chosen ones by Allah?’

The Holiness stated: “These Verses have been sent down for us, the Household.” Abu Hamza says: ‘Then, I asked: ‘May my father and mother be made your sacrifice, who are the ‘oppressive to their souls’ among you, the Household?’

The Holiness stated: “However of the Household of the Messenger whose good and bad deeds are the same is considered being oppressive to his himself.”

I asked: ‘Then, who is the moderate and just among you, the Household?’

He stated; “It is he who fulfills the worship of Allah in both situations: adversity and privilege, in difficulty and comfort until the end of his life.” I asked: ‘So who is the one who is volunteer in doing good deeds?’ He stated: “By Allah, he is the one who invites the people to Allah, enjoins good behaviour and forbids the disapproved; and does not support the astray nor help the misled ones. He does not make friends with the treacheries nor becomes the enemy of the friends of Allah, he is pleased with the commands and verdicts of the lewd people unless in severe fright and in the state of the friendlessness.”

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Imam is the inheritor of the whole Knowledge of the Qur’an

And the writer of the book “Thaqib al-Manaqib” relates from Abu Hashim Ja‘fari that he said: ‘I was sitting with the Holiness Abi Muhammad Imam Hassan Askari, upon him be peace, and I asked the

Holiness about:

ثم اورثنا الكتاب الذين اصطفينا من عبادنا فمنهم ظالم لنفسه و منهم مقتصد و منهم سابق بالخيرات باذن الله قال عليه السّلام: كلهم من آل محمد، الظالم لنفسه الذى لا يقر بالامام، و المقتصد العارف بالامام، و السابق بالخيرات باذن الله الامام. قال: فدمعت عيناى و جعلت افكر فى نفسى ما اعطى الله آل محمد، فنظر الى و قال: الامر اعظم مما حدثتك به نفسك من عظم شان آل محمد فاحمد الله فقد جعلك مستمسكا بحبلهم تدعى يوم القيامة لهم اذا دعى كل اناس بإمامهم، فابشر يا ابا هاشم و انك على خير. [13]

Abu Hashim says: ‘When I asked the Holiness Imam Askari, upon him be peace, about the commentary of this Verse, and the Inheritors of the Book and also their division into three, the Holiness  stated: “All of them are the children of Muhammad; an oppressive to himself is one who does not know his Imam and he does not confess to his Guardianship, and the moderate is one who knows his Imam, however he who, with the permission of Allah, takes upper hand in doing good, is the Imam himself”’

Abu Hashim says: ‘By Imam’s explanation about the ranks and degrees of the children of Muhammad I was touched and tears ran down from my eyes; I thought that how much Allah had favoured to the off spring of Muhammad! At that moment the Holiness turned to me and stated: “The question is much greater than you are thinking of, the position of the off spring is much higher. Now, be thankful to Allah Who has directed you to follow their Guardianship , and when on the Day of Resurrection, they call everyone after him Imam, they will call you after the Imams of the Household; o Abu Hashim, glad tidings to you for such Divine Gift!”’

Muhammad bin Ya‘qūb Kolaini, by his documents, has related Ahmad bin Hamad quoting his father who has quoted the Holiness Abu al-Hassan, the first, quoting Musa bin Ja‘far, Upon Him be Peace, saying: ‘I was in the presence of that Holiness and asked him: ‘Has the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to him and his Descendants, inherited the knowledge and status of all the messengers?’The Holiness answered: “Yes, he has inherited from Adam, the father of man, up to his own era. Allah has not assigned any messenger unless Muhammad was prior to him.” I said: ‘But Jesus, the son of Marry, enlivened the dead with the permission of Allah!’

He stated: “You are right, and Solomon, the son of David, knew the channel of communication of the birds however, the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to him and his Descendants, had gone through all these stages.

When the hoopoe had disappeared from the sight of Solomon, the son of David, he doubted that it might have disobeyed his command and had not turned up on time, so he got angry and said:    

مَا لِيَ لَا أَرَى الْهُدْهُدَ أَمْ كَانَ مِنَ الْغَائِبِينَ.

‘… what’s wrong with me that I do not see the hoopoe? Or is it absent, (Qur’an: 27/20).’

It was because the hoopoe showed Solomon the water on the surface of the land, and due to the sharpness of its eyes, it saw the patches of the water on the land and then guided Solomon to that position.

The Holiness Solomon was angry for the hoopoe’s absence and he said:

لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا أَوْ لَأَذْبَحَنَّهُ أَوْ لَيَأْتِيَنِّي بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ. 

‘… I shall punish it severely, or I will slaughter it, unless it brings me a convincing excuse, (Qur’an: 27/21).’

Anyhow, the Holiness Solomon was angry, because whenever he wanted water, the hoopoe would direct him to the water, but now, he was short of water.

Solomon, who had the wind, the ants, the Jinn and the Devils ass well the armies of the Devils in his disposal and all were obedience to him, now, he was unaware of the plan of the hoopoe. The knowledge that Allah had taught that bird Solomon was unaware and unfortunate about; he did not know the place of the water under the sky but the bird knew all about it – therefore, Solomon was half-knowledge:

والله تعالي يقول: "وَلَوْ أَنَّ قُرْآنًا سُيِّرَتْ بِهِ الْجِبَالُ أَوْ قُطِّعَتْ بِهِ الأَرْضُ أَوْ كُلِّمَ بِهِ الْمَوْتَى."

And Allah, the Exalted, states: “If there were a Qur'an by which mountains would move along, or the earth would crack open, or the dead would speak out” [it would be the very Qur’an]…, (Qur’an: 13/31).’

This Qur’an, with such specialties, has come to Muhammad’s off spring as the heritage, this Qur’an by which the mountains move, the earth splits into pieces, and by that the dead turn to speak. Under the firmament, we feel it to be of ours [and we do not need the knowledge of a hoopoe to get to know the things]. And nothing has been explained in the Book of the genesis, nations and creation for the foregoing messengers unless the entire knowledge and permission of it is with us, the Household of Muhammad. Allah has permitted us to use that power, knowledge and permission in the Mother of the Book.”

Allah states:

و ما من غائبة فى السماء و الارض الا فى كتاب مبين.

Then He  states:

ثم اورثنا الكتاب الذين اصطفينا من عبادنا.

‘… nothing is hidden in the heavens or in the earth unless it is put in the Clear Book.

‘… so We trusted this Book as the heritage to Our pure and selected worshippers.’

We, the off spring of Muhammad, are those whom Allah has chosen and then has entrusted us the Book as the heritage; it is such a Book that includes the knowledge of everything.

فيه تبيان كل شى.[14]

Within is the explanation of everything.    

And from ‘Kafi’, by means of his documents, there is quotation from the Holiness Imam Muhammad Bāqir, upon him be peace, that he has stated:

يمصون الثمار و يدعون النهر العظيم. قيل: و ما النهر العظيم؟ قال: رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم و العلم الذى اعطاه الله. ان الله عز و جل جمع لمحمد سنن النبيين من آدم و هلم جرا الى محمد. قيل له: و ما تلك السنن؟ قال: علم النبيين باسره، و ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم صير ذلك كله عند امير المؤمنين. [15]

[The Holiness Imam Bāqir, upon him be peace, stated:] “These people go after the little still water which has connection to nowhere, or to the little springs which are sometimes found in different patches of land and wade away too soon, but, unfortunately, they ignore the great streams with full of water!”

Some people asked the Holiness: ‘What does the great streams with full of water mean?’

The Holiness stated: “It means the Messenger of Allah, Bless be to him and his Descendants, and the knowledge that Allah has honoured him. Allah, the Honourable and Exalted, has brought together the entire custom and knowledge of the messengers – from Adam to the last one – in the Blissful Personality of Muhammad, Bless be to him and his Descendants.” They asked him what those customs were.

He stated: “The knowledge of all the messengers, and Muhammad, Bless be to him and his Descendants, has trusted all those customs and knowledge to the Commander of the believers.”

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References


[1] Surah 35, "فاطر", Verses 31 & 32.
[2] Surah 11, "هود", Verse 1.
[3]
Surah 27, "نمل", Verse 59.
[4]
Surah 35, "فاطر", Verses 33 - 35.
[5] " غاية المرام‏", page 351, narrative four, and the commentary of " الميزان‏", volume 17, page 49, and " بحار الانوار", volume 7, page 44 from " بصائرالدرجات‏".
[6] " غاية المرام‏", page 351, the first narrative, and "بحار الانوار", volume 7, page 44 from "بصائرالدرجات‏", and also in page 45 of "تفسير على بن ابراهيم‏".

[7] " غاية المرام‏", page 351, narrative eight.
[8] " غاية المرام‏", page 353, narrative sixteen. And in the commentary of "الدر المنثور", volume 5, page 25, under the noble verse he says:

 وَ اخرج الطيالسى و احمد و عبد بن حميد و الترمذى و حسنه و ابن جرير و ابن المنذر و ابن ابى حاتم و ابن مردويه و البيهقى عن ابى سعيد الخدرى رضى الله عنه عن النبى صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم انه قال فى هذه الايه: «ثمّ اورثنا الكتاب الذين اصطفينا من عبادنا فمنهم ظالم لنفسه و منهم مقتصد و منهم سابق بالخيرات»

 'Then We made heirs to the Book those whom We chose from Our worshippers, whom We had singled out, to inherit this Book. But of them some wrong themselves, and some of them are normal, and of them are some taking the lead in [doing] good works with the permission of Allah. That is the greatest grace.' He said:

 " قال: هؤلاء كلهم بمنزله واحده و كلهم فى الجنه.‏"

Those – all of them are considered as one, and are in paradise altogether.'  
[9] "غاية المرام‏ ", page 351, narrative seven.
[10] "تفسير الميزان‏ ", volume 17, page 50, and "بحار الانوار ", volume 7, page 43 from "معانى الاخبار ".
[11] "غاية المرام‏ ", page 352, narrative eleven, and "بحار الانوار ", volume 7, page 44 from the book of " سعد السّود", ibn Taawous, quoting the commentary of " محمّد بن عبّاس مروان". And in the commentary of " الدّر المنثور ". And he says, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah, Bless be upon him and his Descendants say: Allah, the Exalted has stated:

 " ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ وَمِنْهُم مُّقْتَصِدٌ وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ "

 'Then We made heirs to the Book those whom We chose from Our worshippers, whom We had singled out, to inherit this Book. But of them some wrong themselves, and some of them are normal, and of them are some taking the lead in [doing] good works with the permission of Allah.'  
[12] "غاية المرام‏", page 352, narrative nine, and "بحار الانوار", volume 7, page 44, from "معانى الاخبار", 'the meaning of the narratives.
[13] "غاية المرام‏", page 353, narrative eighteenth, and " بحار الانوار", volume 7, page 44 from " کشف ".

[14] " غاية المرام‏", page 351, narrative four, and " بحار الانوار ", volume 6, page 226, from " كافى‏". Within is the explanation of everything, (the Ghāyat al-Maram, page 351, fourth narrative, and Behar al-Anwar, volume 6, page 226 fro ‘Kafi’).
[15] " بحار الانوار", volume six, page 226.

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