The vision of Allah is of two kinds: one is seeing the manifestation of Allah’s attribute of Perfect Beauty directly in the hereafter, and the other is seeing the manifestation of the divine attributes reflected upon the clear mirror of the pure heart, in this life, in this world. In such a case the vision appears as the manifestation of light emanating from the Perfect Beauty of Allah and is seen by the eye of the essence of the heart.Allah describes the vision seen by the eye of the heart: The heart did not deny what it saw. (Sura Najm, 11)
On seeing the manifestation of the divine through an intermediary the Prophet says, ‘The faithful is the mirror of the faithful’. What is meant by the first ‘faithful’, the mirror in this phrase, is the pure heart of the believer, while the second ‘faithful’ Who sees His reflection in that mirror is Allah Most High. Whoever arrives at the level of seeing the manifestations of Allah’s attributes in the world will certainly see the Essence of Allah in the hereafter without shape or form.
The reality of this has been confirmed by many of the beloved and the lovers of Allah. Hadrat Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘My heart saw my Lord by the light of my Lord’. And Hadrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘I will not pray to Allah unless I see Him’. They both must have seen the manifestation of divine attributes. If someone sees sunlight coming through the windows and says, ‘I see the sun!’ he is telling the truth.
The purpose of the creation of this universe is to discover, to see that hidden treasure. Allah says through His Prophet, ‘I was a hidden treasure, I willed to be known. I created the creation so that I would be known.’ That is to say, that He would be known in this material world through His attributes manifested in His creation. But to see His very Essence is left to the hereafter. There, the vision of Allah will be direct, as He wills, and it will be the eye of the child of the heart that sees Him.
On that day some faces will beam (with joy and beauty), looking at their Lord. (Sura Qiyama, 223)
Our Master the Prophet says, ‘I have seen my Lord in the shape of a beautiful youth.’ Perhaps this is the manifestation of the child of the heart. The image is the mirror. It becomes a means, rendering visible that which is invisible. The truth of Allah Most High is exempt from and free of any kind of description or any kind of image or form. The image is the mirror, though what is seen is neither the mirror nor the one who is looking into the mirror. Ponder on that and try to understand, because that is the essence of the realm of secrets.
Yet all this is happening in this world of attributes. In the realm of the Essence all means disappear, burn into thin air. The ones in that realm of Essence themselves do not exist, but they feel the Essence and nothing else. How well the Prophet explains this when he says, ‘I knew my Lord by my Lord’. In His Light, by His Light! The truth of man is the secret of that light, as Allah says through His Prophet: ‘Man is My secret and I am his secret’.
On seeing the manifestation of the divine through an intermediary the Prophet says, ‘The faithful is the mirror of the faithful’. What is meant by the first ‘faithful’, the mirror in this phrase, is the pure heart of the believer, while the second ‘faithful’ Who sees His reflection in that mirror is Allah Most High. Whoever arrives at the level of seeing the manifestations of Allah’s attributes in the world will certainly see the Essence of Allah in the hereafter without shape or form.
The reality of this has been confirmed by many of the beloved and the lovers of Allah. Hadrat Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘My heart saw my Lord by the light of my Lord’. And Hadrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘I will not pray to Allah unless I see Him’. They both must have seen the manifestation of divine attributes. If someone sees sunlight coming through the windows and says, ‘I see the sun!’ he is telling the truth.
The purpose of the creation of this universe is to discover, to see that hidden treasure. Allah says through His Prophet, ‘I was a hidden treasure, I willed to be known. I created the creation so that I would be known.’ That is to say, that He would be known in this material world through His attributes manifested in His creation. But to see His very Essence is left to the hereafter. There, the vision of Allah will be direct, as He wills, and it will be the eye of the child of the heart that sees Him.
On that day some faces will beam (with joy and beauty), looking at their Lord. (Sura Qiyama, 223)
Our Master the Prophet says, ‘I have seen my Lord in the shape of a beautiful youth.’ Perhaps this is the manifestation of the child of the heart. The image is the mirror. It becomes a means, rendering visible that which is invisible. The truth of Allah Most High is exempt from and free of any kind of description or any kind of image or form. The image is the mirror, though what is seen is neither the mirror nor the one who is looking into the mirror. Ponder on that and try to understand, because that is the essence of the realm of secrets.
Yet all this is happening in this world of attributes. In the realm of the Essence all means disappear, burn into thin air. The ones in that realm of Essence themselves do not exist, but they feel the Essence and nothing else. How well the Prophet explains this when he says, ‘I knew my Lord by my Lord’. In His Light, by His Light! The truth of man is the secret of that light, as Allah says through His Prophet: ‘Man is My secret and I am his secret’.
- Quoted from the book Secret of Secrets by Abdul Qadir al Jilani
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