Second aim:

(In despair, this being tries to demolish belief in Divine Unity through doubt.)

Question: You argue that the universe's Creator is absolutely One and the Eternally-Besought-of-All. He is Single yet has absolute and free control of everything. He exercises His absolute authority over all things simultaneously and can do innumerable things at the same time. How can we believe such a bewildering assertion? How can one being do countless things in countless places at the same instant and without difficulty?

Answer: Our answer requires that we analyze an extremely profound and subtle, as well as very elevated and comprehensive, mystery of God's being One and the Eternally-Besought-of-All. The mind can discern that mystery only by comparison. Although His Essence and Attributes have no like or equal and are not comparable, His acts may be considered through comparison.

First comparison: As argued convincingly in The Sixteenth Word, people can acquire universality through various mirrors. While being particular in essence, they can be universal by having numerous aspects at the same time. Just as things like glass and water become universal in those mirrors, more refined and transparent matters (e.g., air, ether, certain objects from the World of Symbols and Immaterial Forms) become like mirrors to bodies of light and spirit beings. Such matter transports them, allowing them to travel with the speed of lightning and imagination.

Seated on them, these bodies of light and spirit beings travel with the speed of imagination in such clear realms as the World of Immaterial Forms and can be present in thousands of places at once. Since they are of light and their reflections are identical with themselves and have exactly the same qualities, they act in every place as if they were personally present. The reflections of solid, corporeal bodies are not identical with themselves and, not having the same qualities as themselves, are lifeless.

For example, the sun is a concrete particular object that acquires universality by shining on transparent objects. It lends its reflections and images to all shining things on Earth according to each one's capacity. Even a drop of water and a piece of glass reflect the sun's image. The sun is present, through its light, heat, image, or the seven colors in its light, everywhere on Earth. If it had knowledge and consciousness, each object, especially shining and transparent ones, would be like a seat or chair through which it could contact everything. It also would be able to communicate with all conscious beings, through mirrors or each one's eye, while communicating with all others. While present and acting everywhere on Earth through its knowledge, power, and other attributes, it would be nowhere in person.

The sun is only like a solid, particular, and lifeless mirror to the Name the Light out of the Majestic Being's 1,001 Names. It is honored with such universal functions. Thus despite His Being Single in Essence, why should the Majestic Being be unable to do countless things at the same time?

Second comparison: Since the universe is like a tree, each tree may be an example of the universe's realities. Taking the huge tree in front of my room as a tiny specimen of the universe, we shall demonstrate Divine Singleness' manifestation in the universe. This tree has at least 1,000 fruits, and each fruit has at least 100 seeds. All fruits and seeds were created at the same time. However, that tree has the same single node of its nucleus of life in its original seed, roots, and trunk. This node contains the laws of its formation issuing from Divine Will and Divine Command, and permeates all parts of the tree by being present in each fruit and seed.

Unlike light, heat, and air, this nucleus of life, which is a single display of Divine Will and a law of Divine Command, does not dissipate but it is present in every part. Its manifold actions are not contrary to its singleness. In fact, the manifestation of Divine Will, that law of Divine Command and nucleus of life, may be present in each part and nowhere at the same time. It is as if that law of Divine Command had as many eyes and ears as that magnificent tree's fruits and seeds. Or it is as if each part of the tree had a control center for the “senses and feelings” of that law of Divine Command. The tree's veins and parts, such as branches, are like telephone wires in facilitating that law's operation or functioning.

Given that a single particular manifestation of God's Attribute of Will is observably the means of millions of acts in millions of places at the same time, we are convinced, as if seeing it with our own eyes, that the Majestic Being controls the Tree of Creation and all of its parts and atoms by manifesting His Power and Will.

As convincingly argued in The Sixteenth Word, such single, fixed, and helpless luminaries as the sun, restricted by matter, and His laws of Command and manifestations of His Will, such as those comprising the nucleus of that tree's life, move according to God's laws and are seen to be in many places and performing numerous tasks simultaneously. Although each such object is a particular thing restricted by matter, it resembles a universal thing and can accomplish many things at once. You see this with your own eyes, and so cannot deny it.

The Sacred Being is free of matter, exempt from restrictions and the darkness of density. All lights and luminaries, as well as all creatures of pure light, are a single shadow of His Sacred Names' lights. Existence and life; the worlds of spirits, immaterial forms, and symbols; and the Intermediary World of the grave are semi-transparent mirrors of His Beauty and Grace. His Attributes are all-encompassing, and His acts are universal. How can something hide from Him, Who is Single, Who manifests His Attributes and acts through His universal Will, absolute Power, and all-encompassing Knowledge? What can be hard for or concealed from Him? Who can be far from Him or draw near to Him without acquiring universality? What can prevent Him from doing something else?

As Ibn ‘Abbas pointed out, why should He not have immaterial eyes and ears that can look at and hear creatures? Why should chains of things not be like veins or wires that quickly convey His laws and commands? Why should things considered obstacles and impediments not be the means of His free disposition of creation? Why should causes and means not be only apparent veils (to His direct control of the universe and free operation)? Why should He not be present everywhere and not contained by any place? Why should He need to reside in a certain place? Why should distance, size, or veils of the levels of existence be obstacles to His nearness to things, or to seeing and controlling them as He wishes?

Why should change, alteration, containment by space, and division (all intrinsic qualities of physical, restricted, contingent, solid, and multiplying beings) be accidental or necessary to the Sacred Being, the Light of Lights, the Single One of Unity, the Necessarily Existent One, Who is free of matter and restriction, exempt from defect and fault? Does impotence ever befit Him? Does defect ever appear in His Honor and Dignity?

Conclusion of the Second Aim: Reflecting on God's Singleness while looking at the fruit tree in front of my room, a series of reflections occurred to me. I relate them below.

Glory be to Him Who has made the garden of His Earth a display hall of His art. He uses it to exhibit His Wisdom, manifest His Power, cause His Mercy to blossom, the seeds of His Paradise to be sown, and His creatures to come and depart. Adorned animals, ornamented birds, fruit-bearing trees, and flowering plants are all miracles of His Knowledge, wonders of His art, gifts of His Munificence, and offerings of His Favoring. Flowers smiling because of beautiful fruits, birds singing at the dawn breeze, raindrops glittering on flowers' cheeks, and mothers' compassion for their infants—all this is because the All-Loving One wills to make Himself known, the All-Merciful One wills to make Himself loved, the All-Compassionate One wills to make His Compassion known, and the All-Favoring One wills to make His Affection recognized by humanity, jinn, angels, and other spirit beings.

Each fruit and seed is a miracle of Divine Wisdom, a wonder of Divine art, a gift of Divine Mercy, a proof of Divine Oneness, and a sign of God's bounties in the Hereafter. They are true witnesses of His all-comprehensive Power and all-inclusive Knowledge, as well as mirrors to His Oneness in this world of multiplicity, for in the tongue of its being, each one says: “This elaborate tree is included in me. Don't be absorbed in its elaboration. All its parts and features are encapsulated in me.” A seed is like the fruit's heart, a mirror to Divine Oneness. In the tongue of its being, it “recites” in its heart the Divine Names recited by the entire tree.

Seeds are also signs of Divine Destiny and embodied symbols of Divine Power. Through them, Destiny indicates and Power alludes to the fact that each elaborate tree has grown from one seed and so points to its Maker's Oneness, Who has no partner in its creation and fashioning. After it has grown and elaborated itself fully, it encapsulates all its laws, realities, and life-history in a fruit. As all of its meaning is contained in a seed, it shows the Majestic Creator's wisdom in His creation and government. As in the case of that tree, Oneness also is the source of the Tree of Creation's existence and growth. Similarly, being the fruit of the universe, humanity points to Unity in the multiplicity of beings, and the human heart sees the meaning of Unity in multiplicity with the eye of belief.

These fruits and seeds are also tablets of Divine Wisdom through which Wisdom speaks to conscious beings like this:

This tree's life and the efforts spent for its growth are aimed at its fruits, which represent it and is the aim of its growth. Its life is aimed at the seeds, because each seed is an index bearing the tree's entire meaning. Thus, the One Who creates the tree and the necessary conditions for its growth aims all manifestations of His Names concerned with the tree's life at the fruit, the raison d'être of its existence. Furthermore, that huge tree is sometimes pruned to control its growth and make it yield better fruits for many years; they cut off some parts of it so that it may rejuvenate.

Similarly, as we are the Tree of Creation's fruit, we are the reason for the universe's creation and existence, and the human heart is the most illumined and comprehensive mirror of the Maker of the universe. Because of this, humanity undergoes frequent pruning in the form of convulsions, revolutions, upheavals, and physical and social change, and it will cause the destruction and re-construction of the universe. The door of this world will be closed and the door of a new one be opened for its judgement.

Here it is appropriate to explain a point showing the eloquence and force of Qur'anic expressions dealing with the Resurrection. As argued above, the universe must be destroyed and a new one built to judge humanity. There is a Power that will do this. However, the Resurrection will be done in stages. We must believe in and acquire knowledge of some of those stages. In order to perceive and acquire knowledge of other stages, we must evolve spiritually and intellectually. To prove the simplest stage, the Qur'an draws our attention to a Power that will open up the Resurrection's broadest sphere.

This is the simplest stage that all people must know and believe in: When people die, their spirits go to other abodes. Their bodies rot underground, but a tiny part (a seed) remains intact. During the Resurrection, God re-creates us from it and returns the spirit to it.

This stage is so easy that countless examples of it are seen every spring. Many Qur'anic verses call our attention to the operations of a Power that will gather and then disperse all atoms. Sometimes they show the works of a Power and Wisdom that will send creation into non-existence and then re-create it, or rend the heavens asunder and scatter the stars. They also show the operations and manifestations of a Power and Wisdom that will make to die and then revive all living creatures at once through a single call, or the works of a Power and Wisdom that will toss mountains into the air, completely level and then re-shape the world in a new and more beautiful form. This means that, together with the phase in which all people will be re-created and which all people must believe in and have knowledge of, Almighty God will perform all tasks connected with the Resurrection with the same Power and Wisdom.

Question: You often use analogies in the form of parables in The Words. According to logic, such analogies do not offer certainty, and issues requiring conviction for belief must be based on logical proofs. Analogy is used in jurisprudence for potential solutions and for cases in which a fairly certain presumption is enough. Furthermore, you set forth analogies and comparisons as parables, which by definition are not real.

Answer: According to logic, analogies do not offer certainty. But one type of analogy is stronger than logical proof and gives greater certainty than deduction: You point to the tip of a universal truth through a particular analogy and base your conclusion on that truth. To teach that mighty truth and deal with particular incidents and realities in accordance with it, you show the general or universal law on which the truth is based in a certain, particular object. For example, through the analogy that the sun is a single body that can be present in all shining objects at once because it emits light, we show the law of a truth: Light and things of light are not restricted. Distance, ·size, and quantity make no difference to such items, and they cannot be contained in space. A tree's leaves and fruits are formed easily and perfectly at the same time and in the same center through a law of Divine Command. This shows the tip of a mighty truth and a universal law, and proves that truth and law. Like a tree, this vast universe is the result of that law and the manifestation of oneness. All analogies and comparisons in The Words are of this kind. They offer greater conviction and certainty than logical proofs.

As for the second part, according to the science of eloquence, a metaphor is a word or phrase used to suggest or express a meaning other than its original one. In such statements, the metaphorical (and not the original) meaning is considered. If the metaphorical meaning conforms to reality, you are saying the truth. For example, height can be conveyed by the phrase: “The sheath of so-and-so's sword is long.” If that man is tall, this statement is true whether or not he has such a sword. If he is not tall, this statement is false even if he has such a sword, for the phrase is only figurative in meaning.

Such parables as those in the Tenth and Twenty-secondWords contain realities that are to be sought in metaphors. Their original meanings are like telescopes through which to see the truth being discussed. We speak in parables so that readers may understand subtle realities through such comparisons. However, to make them understandable to everyone, states and dispositions are presented in the forms of speeches, and the community's character is presented as a particular individual.