Allah is All in All, The Hidden and Manifest are all Him

The realities of the human soul are unfathomable. Those realities are not subject to the limitations of time and space. Therefore, you shouldn’t imagine that our existence is only of the duration of our brief lifespan— fifty, seventy or eighty years—and that we then disappear and exist no more. Don’t imagine either that our realities are confined to these forms of flesh and bones. If you imagine for yourself such a limited existence, then, in reality, you are denying that your existence is real, as reality is eternal and unchanging.

The only thing changing in our lives is our outward form. It was created from dust and water, then caused to grow and become strong, then to shrivel and die. That form survives for its destined lifespan by means of air, water and food, then it reverts to dust and water, returning to its original form, once it has performed its duty and fulfilled its usefulness. The soul is tied to it for a short time in accordance with the Lord’s will, and when it returns to its original form the soul returns to its reality in the Divine Presence.

Therefore, when Allah Almighty mentions the names of the Holy Prophets in the Holy Qur’an, He is not referring to forms made of clay, which ate food and drank water, but to their real forms in the Divine Presence. And so, when we affirm the prophethood of the Seal of Prophets, Muhammad, peace be upon him, as part of our declaration of the Unity of God Almighty we are referring to that eternal existence in the divine realm.

The existence of Muhammad, peace be upon him, in the Divine Presence is an aspect of Unity; everything in the Divine Presence is eternal and real, so his existence pertains to that realm of absolute existence. There is no partition in that realm, the realm where all existence is engulfed in Unity Oceans, united in the reality of divine existence.

So don’t imagine that the Qur’an, which is an eternal book in the Divine Presence, refers to the physical temporary existence on earth of the Prophet Muhammad, Abraham, Moses, etc; no, it refers to their heavenly existence in the Divine Presence in Unity Oceans, in absoluteness.

Question: This is a very difficult point to comprehend, because when we say, “Allah, Muhammad, Abraham” these are distinct and separate entities in our minds. In the mind there are partitions: one for Allah, one for Muhammad, one for Abraham. It is difficult to conceptualize Unity and yet have these undeniably distinct categories. The mind cannot encompass this.

The Shaykh: One can only begin to approach such divine realities with the heart. When you say “The Atlantic Ocean”, it includes everything that exists in that ocean, but we do not say that the Atlantic Ocean is fish or ships, even though they are in it; we refer to it only as “The Atlantic Ocean”. Whatever Allah Almighty causes to appear never contradicts His Unity, nor is it considered as being severed therefrom. Now look in this mirror. Is that you in it, or not? Please, who is in it, you? “No, I am here.” Then who is that? “It’s a reflection.” But who is that, someone else or you? “Me.”

Look, it even speaks to you!

And if you put a mirror in front of you and another one in back so that they face each other, then you may see endless images of yourself from this side and from that. Like this, the Unity of Allah is absolute and all shapes are reflections, the prophets being the most perfected reflections.

Don’t imagine that the existence of such a vast universe with so may creatures in it in any way contradicts or detracts from the Unity of Allah; such imaginings would be foolishness. Yes, and you must know as well that everything has a distinct personality because Allah Almighty causes endlessly varying manifestations of His divine names to appear through His creatures.

In the Mystic Footsteps of Saints VOLUME 2