January 15, 2015
Allaah has created these veils for a good purpose. For if Allaah’s beauty were displayed without a veil, we would not have the power to endure it. Through the intermediary of these veils we derive life and enjoyment.
Look at as-shams, the sun. Through its light we can distinguish good from bad, and find warmth. Trees and orchards become fruitful from its heat, and their fruits -- unripe, sour and bitter, become mature and sweet. Through its influence, mines of gold and silver, rubies and carnelians are produced. But if as-shams were to come nearer it would bring no benefit whatsoever. On the contrary, the whole world and every creature would be burned up and destroyed.
When Allaah reveals Itself through a veil to the mountain, those slopes become fully arrayed in trees and flowers and verdure. However, when Allaah brings revelation without a veil, It destroys the mountain and breaks it into atoms.
(adapted from Fihi Ma Fihi,
translated by A. J. Arberry, p. 65 - 66)
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In Surah Al-Araf (Surah 7, Verse 143) of the Qur’aan, the Prophet Muusaa (Moses), a.s., asks the Beloved to show Its face to him. The Beloved replies that Muusaa cannot see It directly, but to look upon a nearby mountain, and if the mountain can bear the revelation of Its Glory then Muusaa would be able to see It. When the Beloved manifests Its Glory upon the mountain, it instantly crumbles to dust.
Imagine if you can a huge mountain crumbling to dust before your eyes due to an unseen force. Even if we saw a bomb blow up a mountain, we would see an explosion and smoke indicating a cause. And there would still be big chunks of rock and remnants of the mountain remaining, but this mountain was completely reduced to dust. Overwhelmed, Muusaa fainted. This was from witnessing the Glory of the Beloved, not direct sight of It. When Muusaa revived, he repented for his request and affirmed that he would be the first (most devoted) of the faithful.
Islam unequivocally affirms that Allaah, the Absolute, is the Creator of all -- including evil, including veils. In the divine intention of every creation lays a benefit; this should not be obscured by how humans use the gift of freewill to turn in ways that differ from this intention.
As has been addressed in previous posts, within the divine intention of evil is the opportunity to withstand its temptations and mature into the strength of living divine guidance and piety. So what is the divine intention of the veils of creation?
Another unequivocal affirmation of Islam, especially among Sufis, is that Beloved is the only Reality. Sometimes this is phrased as: all there is the Beloved, the Absolute. But how many of us are really ready to accept and live this? Even to consider this point conceptually, if the Beloved is all there is then who am “I?” What is this “I” I consider myself to be? Unless we are ready to completely relinquish the “I,” Reality is not something we (the “I”) can withstand. Even for Muusaa, a prophet of the highest spiritual maturity and surrender, as long as there is the “I” that asks to see the Beloved’s face, veils are necessary to prevent his destruction. Until we are genuinely ready to relinquish the “I,” to have it be dissolved into the only Reality, veils are here to serve a good purpose.
The dissolution of the “I” into the only Reality of the Beloved is regarded as being among the highest of spiritual stations. Some regard it as the ultimate purpose of creation: that we are created from Source, journey through this which we call life, only to return to (dissolve into) Source. Part of the intent of the veils is to facilitate this “I” unfolding into the depths of surrender until one is genuinely open to pure dissolution. Ultimately, it is the realization of the Beloved that begets this unfolding. We cannot see the Beloved, but Its beauty gracefully turns us in the direction of this realization. This points to one of the good purposes of veils: For if Allaah’s beauty were displayed without a veil, we would not have the power to endure it. Through the intermediary of these veils we derive life and enjoyment. Jalaal ud-Diin Rumi further adds: When Allaah reveals Itself through a veil to the mountain, those slopes become fully arrayed in trees and flowers and verdure. Life and enjoyment, the lushness of creation’s manifestations: are we engaging and experiencing these in ways that point us to