Epistemology

The talqīn of the deceased points to the possibility of communicating with the dead after death, the spiritual life of the soul, the mutual influence of this world and the Hereafter, and God’s grace in making up for what has been missed. It is also a form of supplication and exhortation, and is added to the deceased’s provisions for the afterlife.

We are unaware of the effects of our actions because “effects” refers to people’s ways, signs, and intentions—things anyone can discern by sharpening their perception. It is possible to attain this degree of awareness in this world, and God records both people’s actions and their effects.

Both human existence and human will are manifestations of the divine will. God has willed that human beings have freedom within certain bounds and be able to exercise their will. Thus, the statement “Your seeking is the form of His self-disclosure” means that both human existence and human will are manifestations of the divine will.

The diversity of human perceptions of God reflects both the Lord’s indescribable greatness and the limitations of those who perceive Him. The idea of the divine Essence manifesting itself is mistaken; what is manifested are God’s signs, names, and attributes. Self-knowledge means recognizing the station of the One who is sought by the Divine Will—that is, discerning God’s will—not a means of knowing the divine Essence.

The experience of time and timelessness, like everything else, is a manifestation of divine power. Whenever God Almighty wills, He brings a person to experience time, timelessness, or any other mode of temporality.

A near-death experience does not, in itself, indicate timeless perception; rather, it is a form of perception involving different qualities of time.

Real time depends on the divine will, whereas conventional time is measured by clocks and human-made divisions. Units such as seconds, minutes, and hours have no bearing on the reality of time; they were devised solely to organise worldly affairs.

In particular mystical states, mystics and those who attain a high degree of knowledge and certainty may experience time in different ways, and may undergo experiences that transcend time and are difficult to describe. Knowledge itself occupies a station beyond the timeless.

Studying time in discussions of divine unity deepens our understanding of the majesty of the Almighty and prevents us from confining the Divine Essence within the limits of time. An understanding of time also helps us better appreciate God’s Most Beautiful Names and verses such as «و ان یوما عند ربک کالف سنه».

The essence of the Almighty Lord lies beyond the reach of the human intellect and does not need to be known. We come to know and relate to created beings through the divine names and attributes, for God’s majesty and grandeur are such that He has no need of any description or relationship. In this context, created beings exist within the realm of the divine names, attributes and acts.

The faculty of imagination is like a screen that reflects the heart: it displays whatever is on the network to which the heart is connected. When the heart is guided by reason, it connects to the realm of the unseen and becomes receptive to divine inspiration. This connection gives rise to true imaginings and thoughts, both in sleep and while awake. The stronger one’s reason and noble character, the clearer and truer one’s imaginings become.

Creating man from dried clay made from putrid mud is a test: will he rise from lowliness to the highest station and, by resisting the possibility of sin and what is disliked, demonstrate the art of servitude to God? This foul-smelling clay is the raw material for sin. Yet by transforming it into goodness and beauty, a person returns to his primordial nature. On the Day of Resurrection, good and evil return to those who brought them forth.

Creating beings without their permission reflects the transcendence of the Divine Essence, which is beyond existence and has no need to seek permission. A being’s initial coming into existence is pure grace, not injustice, since at the moment of creation it had no will with which to grant or withhold permission. The capacity to want and to choose arises in the being through the Creator’s subsequent act of will.