The Fourth Indication

drags these created beings, that have the status and value of written messages of independent, eternal besoughtness, down to a pit of triviality, without meaning or purpose. It thus constitutes an affront to all existent beings, just as it is also a rejection and denial of all the sacred Divine names - the inscriptions and manifestations of which are witnessed and beheld upon these existing beings. It is the denial of the limitless number of proofs indicating the truth and truthfulness of Allāh (Exalted is He). Disbelief, thus, is a crime of limitless magnitude; and a crime of limitless magnitude deserves a punishment that is endless.

The Fourth Indication

As we saw in the allegory, by way of ‘Twelve Illustrations’:

It is by no means possible that the like of this king should possess a land resembling a temporary guest house, but not possess another, perpetual land that is stable, and that is the locus of the manifestation of his sublimity, and the sphere of his supreme kingdom.

It is likewise in no sense possible that the Ever-Abiding Creator of this transient world, should bring this world into existence yet not bring into existence a world that is enduring.

And it is impossible that the Eternal Artful Maker of this unique and transient universe should create this universe, but not create another stable, perpetual universe.

And it is also impossible that the Wise, Almighty, Compassionate Originator of this world that is an exhibition, testing-ground and a sowing field, should create it, but not

create the realm of the Hereafter that constitutes the locus of the manifestation of all of His purposes.

This reality can be entered into by way of ‘Twelve Gates.’ These gates are opened by means of ‘Twelve Realities.’ We will now begin with the shortest and simplest of these.

The First Reality

The gate of Lordship and the kingdom

Being a manifestation of the Name al-Rabb (The Lord).

Is it at all possible for the station of Lordship and the kingdom of Divinity that it would bring this universe into existence showing great concern for very lofty purposes and high aims in order that its perfections become manifest, and for there then not to be a recompense for the believers who by way of servanthood accepted those purposes and aims, nor a punishment for the people of misguidance who responded to those purposes and aims with denial and insult?

The Second Reality

The gate of generosity and mercy Being a manifestation of the Name al-Karīm (The Generous) and the Name al-Raḥīm (The Compassionate).

Is it really possible that the Lord of this world, who possesses endless generosity, mercy, elevated qualities and jealousy, as evinced by the effects that He has made manifest, would not give a recompense befitting His generosity and mercy, and would not give a punishment befitting His might and jealousy?

Yes; if the way things proceed in this world is carefully observed, one sees that all living beings, from the most powerless and weakest of them (Footnote) to the strongest, are given the provision befitting them. The weakest and most powerless of them are given the best provision of all.

A remedy and a healing are made to reach the each afflicted one, coming whence they never expected. Banquets are put on and gifts are given with immensely lofty generosity, that indicates self-evidently that a hand of infinite generosity is working in [this world].

For example:

In spring the way in which, like houris of Paradise, the trees are dressed in garments resembling silk brocade; they are inlaid with ornaments of flowers and fruits, and subjected to our service.

The sweetest and most artful, multifarious fruits are presented to us upon their branches, their delicate hands; moreover, look at how we are fed the sweetest, healing honey from the hand of a poisonous flying insect; furthermore, how we are dressed in the most beautiful and softest of garments by

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Footnote: The conclusive evidence that licit sustenance is not acquired by means of one's ability, but is bestowed based upon one's poverty, is the excellent provision of babies and small children, who have no ability and strength, and the meagre provision of strong, able predatory animals; as well as the corpulence of stupid fish and the scrawniness, that comes with the anxiety of acquiring sustenance, of clever, crafty foxes and monkeys. That is, provision in relation to ability and volition is thus in reverse proportionality; that is, the more that one depends upon one's own ability and volition, the more one is afflicted with the anxiety of attaining provision.

means of an insect that has no hands; likewise, how within a little kernel, a vast treasury of mercy is stored up for us.

If one carefully looks at all of these things, it is understood self-evidently that they are all the effect of a generosity of surpassing beauty, and a mercy of surpassing delicacy. Moreover, the striving of all beings other than man and certain predatory animals, from the sun, moon and earth to the smallest of creatures, to carry out their tasks with perfect meticulousness, and the fact of their not overstepping their own bounds even the length of a fingertip; and the very existence of universal obedience in sublime dignity - all of this indicates that all things only act by the command of One possessing tremendous majesty and might.

Whether they are plants, animals or human beings, it is self-evidently understood from the care of mothers (Footnote) for their weak, powerless children with compassionate pity and with the most wonderful nourishment of milk that the manifestations of a singularly vast mercy work within these matters and direct them.

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Footnote: Yes; a hungry lion's preferring its weak cub over itself, and its abstaining from eating the piece of meat that it has procured, giving it instead to its cub; a timid hen's attacking dogs and lions in order to protect her young; also, a fig tree's itself eating mud and feeding its fruits which are its children, pure milk - all of this makes selfevidently clear to anyone who is not blind that they only move by the command of One Endlessly Compassionate, Generous and Pitying. Yes; the fact of unconscious creatures, like plants and beasts, carrying out singularly conscious and wise acts necessarily points to there being a superlatively Knowing and Wise being, and that He is employing them, and to the fact that they act in His name.

The Actor in this universe possesses the like of this endless generosity, endless mercy, and endless majesty and might.

Now, endless majesty and might necessarily entail that the transgressor be disciplined. Endless generosity entails endless hospitality, and endless mercy entails a beneficence befitting to it.

Yet the fact of the matter is that only a one millionth part like a drop in the sea becomes realised and manifest in this transient world and this short lifespan.

That is to say, there must thus exist a realm of happiness befitting that generosity and mercy - otherwise, one would be forced to deny the very existence of this manifest mercy, which would be like denying the existence of the sun that fills the day with its light.

For extinction without restoration would turn pity into affliction, love into burning [torture], blessings into punishment, the intellect into a sinister tool, and pleasure into pain. Extinction without restoration entails the coming to an end of the very reality of mercy itself.

Likewise, there must be a realm of retribution befitting that majesty and might. For how often does the oppressor remain in his might, and the oppressed in humiliation, the both of them then departing from this world in these states? The matter must then be postponed to a Supreme Court of Justice, and delayed - but not neglected.

Sometimes retribution takes place even in this world. The multifarious punishments that have afflicted the rebellious and recalcitrant nations of previous ages demonstrate

that man is not unattended and unrestricted. Indeed, he is susceptible at all times to the blows of majesty and jealousy.

Yes; the duties and capabilities of man stand out in their importance when compared with those of the rest of existing beings.

If man does not know his Lord through true faith after his Lord has made himself known to him through the like of such harmoniously ordered works of art, and if he does not try to endear himself to his Lord through servanthood after His Lord has so endeared Himself to him by way of the ornamented fruits of His mercy; and if he does not reverence Him with gratitude and praise after His Lord has manifested His love and mercy upon him through the diverse blessings that He has bestowed upon him, is it at all possible that this man not be punished, or that he be left unattended and unrestricted?

[Is it at all possible that] the might and jealousy-possessing Majestic Being would not ready a realm of retribution? And is it really possible that the Merciful and Compassionate would not ready a realm of recompense, and bestow eternal happiness upon the believers who, in return for His making Himself known, know Him through faith, and who in return for His endearing of Himself to them, love Him through worship and service, and causing others to love Him, and in return for His mercy to them, have gratitude and reverence?

The Third Reality

The gate of wisdom and justice

Being the manifestation of the Names al-Ḥakīm (The Wise) and al-‘Ādil (The Just)

Is it at all possible (Footnote) that the Majestic Being who manifested the kingdom of His Lordship with wisdom, harmonious order, justice and a balance that runs through all things, from particles to suns, would not recompense and reward the believers who take refuge under the wing of protection of His Lordship, and who only act in true faith and servanthood in accordance with that wisdom and justice? [And is it really possible] that He not discipline those who transgress the bounds, rebelling against that wisdom and justice through disbelief and tyranny?

However, not even one in a thousand of that which is befitting to that wisdom and justice is implemented on man in this temporary world; [the matter] is rather postponed.

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Footnote: Yes; the expression 'is it at all possible?' has been repeated many times, for it conveys an important secret, which is that most disbelief and misguidance stems from deeming things improbable. That is, the people of disbelief and misguidance deem something to be impossible or absurd and so they deny it. It is for this reason that in the 'Resurrection Epistle', it has been conclusively shown that real improbability, real impossibility, absurdity, real difficulty, and indeed difficulties that are at the degree of logical inconceivability lie upon the road of disbelief and the method of misguidance - and that true possibility, and true intelligibility and indeed ease of the degree of necessity are all upon the road of true faith and the way of Islam.

The upshot: philosophers are going into denial by deeming things improbable. 'The Tenth Word' shows which side [of the argument] is truly improbable through that expression [is it at all possible... ?], and slaps them in the mouth.

The majority of the people of misguidance depart from this world without having received their punishment, just as most of the people of guidance depart without finding their recompense.

The matter must then be postponed to a Supreme Court of Justice, and ultimate felicity. Yes; it is visibly apparent that the One who acts within this world does what He does with infinite wisdom.

Do you wish for a proof of that? The proof of that is the fact of His carefully attending to their best interests and to what is of benefit to them in all things.

Do you not see the careful attending to the benefit and wisdoms existing within man’s every limb, bone and vein, and indeed in the very cells of his body - they are in every place therein, and every part therein; even adorning certain of his limbs with as many wisdoms as there are fruits on a tree - all of this indicates that these things are being made to take place by a hand of infinite wisdom.

Moreover, the existence of an endlessly harmonious order in the artful making of all things demonstrates that matters are fulfilled according to an infinite wisdom. Yes; the insertion of the exact blueprint for the development of a beautiful flower within its tiny seed, and the writing down, with the spiritual pen of destiny, of the scroll of works, life story and the list of apparatus pertaining to a vast tree, within an extremely small seed, all makes clear that a pen of endless wisdom works within these matters.

The fact that there is an exceedingly beautiful art inherent in the making of all things indicates that it is all the

inscription of an Artful Maker Who is Endlessly Wise. Yes; the insertion into the body of tiny man of an index of the entire universe, the keys to all of the treasuries of mercy, and the mirrors of all of His Names, indeed points to wisdom in endlessly beautiful artistry. And now, is it at all possible that this governing, dominant wisdom, carrying out such activities of Lordship as these, would not wish to honour them and honour them eternally, those who take refuge in the wing of that Lordship, those who through their faith obey Him? Do you also wish for a proof that all things are made to proceed according to justice and balance?

The bestowal of existence upon all things, and their being dressed in their particular forms and placed in their appropriate places in sensitive balances and according to particular specifications all indicates that they are made to proceed by way of an endless justice and balance.

Further, the granting of rights to all those entitled according to their innate capacity; that is, His bestowal upon them in the best way possible of all things necessary to their existence, as well as all of the apparatus that is requisite to their living on [forever], indicates a hand of absolute justice.

And furthermore, the fact that all needs that are requested and desired in the language of capacity, of innate need, and of desperate need are continually responded to, points to endless justice and wisdom.

Now, is it at all possible that a justice and wisdom that hastens to relieve the most insignificant need of the most insignificant creature, would neglect the greatest need, like that of eternity, of man, the greatest of creatures; and is it at

all possible that He would leave them without a response to the greatest thing in which they ask for help, and the biggest request that they have; and that He would not both preserve and safeguard the sublimity of His Lordship by protecting the rights of His servants? The fact is, man, who lives out his short life in this transient world, is not able therein to attain the like of the reality of justice; rather, [this attainment] is postponed to a Supreme Court of Justice.

For true justice requires that that very tiny man attain recompense or meet a punishment not in accordance with his small size, but rather according to the immensity of his crime, the importance of his quiddity, and the sublimity of his vocation. And since this transient, temporary world is extremely far from being the type of place in which the like of this justice and wisdom could become manifest for man who was created for endless eternity, surely that Just Being, August Possessor of Beauty, the Wise Being, Beautiful Possessor of Majesty, must possess a perpetual Hell and an enduring Paradise.

The Fourth Reality

The gate of magnanimity and beauty

Being a manifestation of the Names al-Jawwād (The Magnanimous) and al-Jamīl (The Beautiful)

Is it at all possible for endless magnanimity and generosity, inexhaustible riches, treasuries that never dry out, nonpareil eternal beauty and flawless eternal perfection to not necessarily entail the existence of beings filled with gratitude, and in need of Him? The existence of yearners for Him, who fulfil the role of mirrors, witnessers in wonderment at Him, those who will dwell eternally in the realm of felicity and the house of hospitality?

Yes; the ornamentation of the earth’s surface with such beautiful works of art; the moon and the sun having been made into two lamps; the face of the earth having been made into a table of blessings, and having been filled with multifarious foods; fruit-giving trees having been made into vessels and renewed on many occasions within every season; all of this indicates the existence of a limitless magnanimity and generosity.

Now, the like of this endless magnanimity and generosity and the like of these inexhaustible treasuries and mercy necessarily entail the existence of a perpetual guest house and a perpetual realm of felicity wherein lies all that is yearned for.

They also categorically entail that those enjoying the hospitality continue in the realm of felicity and abide therein eternally, such that they do not have to suffer the pain of extinction and separation.

For just as the end of pleasure is pain, so too is the end of pain pleasure. The like of this generosity does not wish them to grieve. It thus necessarily entails the existence of an endlessly eternal Paradise, as well as the existence of beings eternally in need.

This is because endless magnanimity and generosity wish to bestow blessings endlessly; and endless blessings and benefactions entail infinite gratitude and enjoyment.

This, in turn, entails that the existence of the individual who attains these benefactions be forever perpetuated, such that by means of his perpetual enjoyment, he shows his thanks and gratitude for that eternal benefaction.

Otherwise, merely partial enjoyment that is spoilt by swiftly coming to an end cannot be reconciled with the necessary entailments of the like of this magnanimity and generosity.

Look further now to the exhibitions in every part of the world, that serve as exhibitions of the wonders of the Divine works of art. Carefully observe the lordly proclamations (Footnote) within the hands of the plants and animals upon the face of the earth.

Give an ear to the prophets and the saints, the proclaimers of the beauties of Lordship. Look how they all congruently manifest and make clear the faultless perfections of the Majestic Maker, by way of their exhibiting of the wonders of His art; how they attract the gaze of [the people] to those perfections. That is to say, the Artful Maker of this world possesses greatly important, awe-inspiring and hidden perfections, which He wishes to manifest by means of these extraordinary wonders of artistry. For the hidden perfections in which no deficiency lies require being exhibited and announced to appreciative, admiring, awe-filled witnessers saying ماشاءالله (1).

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Footnote: Yes; a brightly designed and brilliantly adorned flower and a most artfully conceived and bejewelled fruit affixed to the end of a delicate branch as fine as wire of a tree as dry as a bone; they are surely an announcement board driving conscious beings to read the wonders of creativity of the miracle-working, Wise Artful Maker, Who loves to artfully create. If plants are like this, draw your own conclusions about animals!

1. Translator’s note: ماشاءالله Māshā’Allāh, is an Arabic phrase that expresses appreciation, joy, praise, or gratefulness for an object, event or person that was just mentioned.

Perpetual perfections necessarily entail the existence of perpetual manifestation, which in turn makes it necessary that these appreciators and admirers abide forever.

For in the eyes of transient admirers, the value of these perfections falls. (Footnote1)

And these beautiful, magnificent, artful, ornamented beings spread out upon the face of the universe give news of beauty, just as beams of light give news of the sun.

They allude to the subtleties of a peerless (Footnote2) hidden beauty, and these existent beings point to the existence of hidden treasures of that transcendent comeliness and holy beauty in every one of the names.

Such lofty, peerless hidden comeliness wishes to behold its own beauty in a mirror, and wishes to witness the degrees of its beauty and the different forms of its comeliness within

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Footnote1: Yes; it has become proverbial that a beautiful woman once threw an ordinary man who was infatuated with her out of her presence; to console himself, the man said 'damn her, how ugly she is!' and denied her beauty. Another time, a bear stood under a vine carrying sweet, delectable grapes, and wished to eat therefrom; his hands were unable to extend far enough to pick them, nor was he able to climb up to the vine, and so he said in his own language, in selfconsolation, 'they are sour', and went on in vainglorious anger.

Footnote2: Although mirror-like creatures evanesce and pass away one after the other, the existence of that same manifestation of beauty within and upon the faces of the creatures that succeed them indicates that that beauty is not their own property, but constitutes rather signs and indications of a transcendent comeliness and holy beauty.

a conscious and yearning mirror. It wishes furthermore to be seen and witnessed such that it sees its beloved beauty through the eyes of others.

That is, He wishes to look at His beauty from two different perspectives:

The First: To Himself witness His own beauty in manyhued mirrors.

The Second: To witness it through the witnessing of yearning observers and awe-filled admirers.

That is to say, beauty and comeliness wish both to behold themselves and to be beheld. Seeing and being seen both necessarily entail the existence of yearning observers and awe-filled admirers. Since beauty and comeliness are endless and eternal, they require the perpetuation of the existence of those who yearn for them.

For perpetual beauty is not content with a transient yearner, for the love of the witnesser condemned to extinction without restoration turns into enmity when he brings his extinction to mind. His awe turns to disregard, and his reverence to contempt. This is because self-centered man turns into an enemy of that which he is ignorant of, just as he is against anything that he cannot get hold of. The fact is, in return for beauty deserving endless love, and limitless longing and admiration, he instead implicitly gives enmity, spite and denial. From this, the secret of a disbeliever’s being an enemy of Allāh is understood.

Now that endless magnanimity and generosity, that nonpareil beauty and comeliness, and that perfection without deficiency all require the existence of ever-abiding than

kers, yearners and admirers. Yet we see that every person who comes to this guest house of the world departs and disappears very quickly.

He tastes something of the beneficence of generosity and thereby has his appetite awakened - but he does not eat, and leaves. Of the light of that beauty and perfection he sees a dim light and perhaps a mere shadow thereof, but departs before having satisfied himself. That journey and travel must then be to eternal, enduring meadows of beauty.

The upshot: Just as this world with all therein constitutes an absolute proof of its Majestic Artful Maker, so too do the holy Names and attributes of the Majestic Artful Maker indicate the realm of the Hereafter, pointing to it, and entailing it.

The Fifth Reality

The gate of the compassion and servanthood of Muḥammad (ASW)

Being a manifestation of the Names al-Mujīb (The Answerer) and al-Raḥīm (The Compassionate)

Is it at all possible for a compassionate Lord, the pity and mercy of Whom is endless, Who is aware of the least need of the least of His creatures, and comes to their aid with perfect compassion and whence they would never expect; Who hears the softest voice of the most hidden of creatures and helps them - Who responds, in the language of both state and speech, to every requester; would it really be possible for such a being to then be aware of the greatest need of the greatest of servants, and the most beloved (Footnote) of all creatures to Him,

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Footnote: Yes; he who ruled for one thousand three hundred and fifty years and still rules, the community of whom has reached numbers of more than three hundred and fifty million in most times; the one the subjects of whom daily renew their allegiance to, testify to the perfections of, and perfectly submit to the commandments of; half of the earth and a fifth of humanity have become dyed with his dye, which is to say that they have taken on his spiritual colour - he is the beloved of their hearts, and the trainer of their spirits; he is surely the greatest servant of the Lord who acts within this universe. Moreover, most of the types of creations have applauded his vocation and his messengership in their bearing one of the many fruits of his miracles.

There is no doubt that he is the most beloved of the Creator of this universe's creatures. All human beings have a need like everlasting life that they request through every one of their innate abilities, a need that raises them from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high. This need is doubtlessly the greatest of needs - and the greatest servant will request from the Fulfiller of Needs in the name of all.

yet not then fulfil it or come to his aid? For Him to hear the most sublime prayer, but not accept it?

Yes; the kindness and facilitation clearly manifest with respect - for example - to the provision and rearing of animals weak and young, both indicate that the Owner of this universe acts therein with a Lordship of surpassing mercy. Now, is at all acceptable [a notion] that one who has such compassionate pity in Lordship would not accept the most beautiful prayer of the best of creation?

Here, I will explain this reality again, just as I have explained it in ‘The Nineteenth Word’.

O friend, listening to this alongside my own nafs! In the allegory we mentioned, a gathering was taking place upon an island. A noble lieutenant was delivering a speech; the reality to which this points to runs as follows:

Come! Let us abstract ourselves from present time, and journey in thought to the Age of Bliss, and in our mind’s eye to the Arabian Peninsula, so that we can visit the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām), and witness him as he fulfils his vocation of perfect servanthood.

Look; this person is the cause of the attainment of eternal happiness, and the means of arriving at it, through his messengership and guidance. He is likewise, through his servanthood and prayer, the cause of the very existence of that happiness, and the means of the creation of Paradise. Look now! This person is making a prayer of supreme importance, and engaging in the most sublime worship, all for the sake of endless happiness. It is almost as if this peninsula and indeed the earth in its entirety is joining in his supreme prayer, and supplicating. For just as it is the case that his servanthood contains that of the entirety of the nation that follows him, so too does it contain the secret of the servanthood of all of the prophets, by way of the secret of concordance. He makes this supreme prayer and supplication in such a vast group that it is as if the perfected and luminous of the children of Adam, from the time of Adam upon whom be peace to our time and even to the Day of Resurrection are following his example and saying ‘āmīn!’ to his prayer. (1)

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1. Yes - all of the prayers carried out by the Islamic ummah, and all of the [canonical] prayers, as well as the prayers for blessings that have been sent upon the Messenger up until now after his own supplications constitute a perpetual 'āmīn!' to and universal participation in his prayer - such that the each prayer for blessings is an 'āmīn!' to that prayer. The prayer of each individual from his ummah and their sending their greetings of peace upon him in each canonical prayer, and the prayer that those who follow the Shāfi’ī school [of Islamic Sacred Law] make for him after the second call to the Prayer [al-iqāma]; all this is a universal 'āmīn!' of great strength to his supplication concerning eternal happiness. This is what the Most Noble Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, asks in the name of all humanity: the eternity and endless happiness that all human beings hope for and request with all of their strength, in the language of the state of the innate disposition of humanity. The luminous of mankind following him say 'āmīn!' Is it at all possible that this prayer not be joined to an acceptance? 

Look! He is praying for a universal need to be realised - that of endless life. It is not only the people of the earth that are joining in his prayer and supplication; the inhabitants of the heavens are doing so, and indeed, all that is in existence. In the language of their states, they are saying ‘O! Yes our Lord, give him that which he is asking for! Accept his prayer! We too ask for the same!’ Then look; he is asking for endless happiness in a way that is brimming with melancholy, love, longing and beseechment, making the whole universe weep, and join in his prayer.

Look! Requesting this happiness for so great a purpose and aim, he makes a prayer that saves man and all creatures from the lowest of the low – from tumbling into absolute annihilation, the state of worthlessness, futility and purposelessness, and that raises him to the highest of the high – to true value and ever-enduring life, to lofty vocations, and the status of written messages of the Independent and Eternally Besought. Look! He supplicates in so lofty a state of weeping and asking for help, and in a state of begging for mercy, makes so sweet a prayer, that it is quite as if all beings, and the heavens and the Throne are made through him to hear, the ecstasy of their love incited and they are made to say ‘Āmīn! O Allāh Āmīn!’ to his prayer. And look: he asks for happiness and endless life from the All-Hearing and Generous Almighty, the All-Seeing and Compassionate

All-Knowing One Who witnesses, hears and accepts the most hidden desire and hidden prayer of even the most hidden living creature, and has mercy upon it.

Even if the request is only in the language of the state of that thing, He answers it. His bestowal and answering is brimming with such wisdom, insight and mercy that He leaves not the slightest room for any doubt that this training and this direction are those particular to One who is AllHearing and All-Seeing, One Generous and Compassionate. What does he ask for, the Pride of the Universe, blessings and peace be upon him, the source of honour of the species of man, the unique one of the universe and of time? He is standing upon the earth, having gathered all of the children of Adam behind him, with his hands raised, turned to the Most Sublime Throne, praying inside the reality of the servanthood of Aḥmad (ASW), which brings together an encapsulation of the servanthood of all men. Let us hearken to him!

Look! For himself and for his nation, he is asking for eternal happiness. He is asking for endless life, and Paradise. All this he asks, with all of the holy Divine names that manifest their beauty in the mirrors of all of the beings in existence. He asks for the intercession with those names; you see all this. Ever were the limitless factors necessitating the existence of the Hereafter not to be, nor the proofs of its existence, a single of his prayers would cause Paradise to be built; for the power of its Merciful Creator, creating it is as easy as the creation of spring. (Footnote) Yes; how could it be difficult

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Footnote: Yes; the manifestation of numberless, countless samples of miraculous wonders and examples of the Gathering and Resurrection upon the face of the earth, which is like a tiny page with respect to the Hereafter, and the writing down of the species of unique, harmoniously ordered works of art which are like three hundred thousand books upon that one page, and their being incorporated therein with perfect mastery and order; there can be no doubt that this is more difficult than building benign, harmoniously ordered Paradise, and than bringing it into existence in the vast Hereafter. Indeed, the following could be said: the degree to which creating the gardens of spring is more difficult than creating that Paradise is the same degree to which Paradise towers above the spring, and is indeed even more prone to stir wonderment.

for the Absolutely Almighty to create Paradise, Who in spring makes the surface of the earth into a gathering place, and brings hundreds of thousands of samples of the Resurrection into existence?

That is to say, just as his message caused this world of examination to be opened, and attained the secret of لَوْلَاكَ لَوْلَاكَ لَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْأَفْلَاكَ (1) so too did his servanthood cause the opening of the realm of happiness of the Hereafter.

Is it at all possible thus that artful beauty without deficiency, and the peerless comeliness of Lordship, the both of which have bewildered the intellects of all, and become manifested in the harmonious order of this world and in vast mercy, could accept such ugliness, harshness, randomness and chaos inherent in not answering that prayer? That is, to listen with careful concern to the least and most insignificant desires and voices and to fulfil and realise them, yet to not hear, understand or fulfil the most significant and necessary desires?

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1. ‘But for you, I would not have created the celestial sphere’

No, absolutely not! A thousand times far be it from Him to do such a thing! The like of this beauty could never uglify itself by accepting such ugliness. (Footnote)

That is, just as the Most Noble Messenger (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) opened the gate of this world through his messengership, so too does he open the gate of the Hereafter through his servanthood.

عَلَيْهِ صَلَوَاتُ الرَّحْمٰنِ مِلْئَ الدُّنْيَا وَ دَارِ الْجِنَانِ اَللّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ عَلٰي عَبْدِكَ وَ رَسُولِكَ ذٰلِكَ الْحَب۪يبِ الَّذ۪ي هُوَ سَيِّدُ الْكَوْنَيْنِ وَ فَخْرُ الْعَالَمَيْنِ وَ حَيَاتُ الدَّارَيْنِ وَ وَس۪يلَةُ السَّعَادَتَيْنِ وَ ذُوالْجَنَاحَيْنِ وَ رَسُولُكَ الثَّقَلَيْنِ وَ عَلٰٓي اٰلِه۪ وَ صَحْبِه۪ٓ اَجْمَع۪ينَ وَ عَلٰٓي اِخْوَانِه۪ مِنَ النَّبِيّ۪نَ وَ الْمُرْسَل۪ينَ اٰم۪ينَ

Blessings of the Merciful be upon him, blessings that fill this world and Paradise. O Allāh, send blessings upon your slave and messenger, that beloved who is the master of the two worlds and the pride of the two worlds, the life of the two realms, the means of the two happinesses, the possessor of the two wings, and the messenger to men and jinn; and upon all of his family and companions, and his brothers from amongst the prophets and messengers. Amīn.

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Footnote: Yes; the transformation of essences is by consensus impossible, and the most extreme of impossibilities with respect to the transformation of essences is an opposite transforming into its opposite; and the most severe impossibility by a thousand degrees, which is self-evident, in the transformation of opposites, is an opposite being the opposite of its being, whilst remaining characterised by its [original] quiddity, like absolute beauty's being, for example, absolute ugliness whilst being true beauty.

The beauty of Lordship in our example, witnessed and proven as it is, would thus be ugliness itself, despite remaining characterised by the beauty of Lordship - this is the most striking of all of the examples of impossibilites and absurdities in this world.

The Sixth Reality

The gate of sublimity and eternality

Being a manifestation of the Names al-Jalīl (The August) and al-Bāqī (The Ever-Abiding)

Is it at all possible for the sublimity of Lordship that subjugates and directs all existing beings from suns and trees to the smallest particle as if they were obedient soldiers, to stop at wretched, transient creatures that live out a temporary life in the guest house of this world, and to not bring into existence a realm of eternal, endless, ever-abiding sublimity, and a sphere of endless, lofty Lordship?

Yes; the sublime activities like the changing of seasons that are witnessed in this universe; the sublime, aircraft-like movement of the planets; the astonishing subjugations, like that of the earth’s having been made a cradle for mankind, and the sun a lamp for all creatures; the vast transformations like the bringing back to life and adornment of the dead, dry earth; all this indicates that behind the veil, the like of this sublime Lordship is in control, and rules with a glorious Rulership. Now, a kingdom of Lordship like this one requires subjects that are befitting to it, and loci of manifestation appropriate to it.

Yet you can see that those of his subjects and slaves with the most significant and most all-encompassing quiddities have been temporarily gathered together in a wretched state in the guest house of this world, that is filled and then emptied every day. Every subject stays temporarily in this sphere of testing, so that the service and actions in which they have engaged can be appraised.

That very sphere is itself replaced hourly; and all of those subjects stay for a matter of mere moments within that exhibition in order to view, for the sake of trade, samples of the precious benefactions and the extraordinary works of art of the Majestic Artful Maker through the exhibits of the marketplace of this world. Then, they disappear; and every minute, that exhibition is replaced. Those who have gone do not come back, and those coming are already on their way out. Now this state of affairs conclusively points to the existence of perpetual palaces and ever-continuing dwelling places behind this guest house, testing-ground and exhibition, that are the location and locus of manifestation of the eternal kingdom, as well as gardens and treasuries filled with the purest and loftiest originals of the samples and forms that we behold in this world. That is, all of the striving that takes place here must thus be for the sake of these things; He causes us to work here, and remunerates us there.

There, each will attain a happiness according to his capacity; as long as he has not already wasted and lost that capacity. Yes; it is quite impossible that the like of this eternal kingdom would stop at these evanescent, wretched transients.

Look at this reality with the binoculars of this illustration:

You journey down a road and see that off the road there is a lodge. It has been built by a great individual, for all of the guests who come to him. He has spent millions of gold coins decorating it, all for the sake of the enjoyment of his guests, and so that they reflect, for a single night, on the arts

and ornamentation to be found therein. Yet the guests spend only very little time looking very little at only a small number of those decorations, and spend only a very short time tasting something of those blessings. They go on without having satisfied themselves. However, each guest captures photographs of things existing in the lodge with their own camera. Similarly, the employees of that great individual carefully record everything that they do, being greatly concerned with the way the guests are acting.

You also see that everyday, the owner of the lodge destroys most of those precious decorations, and puts up new ones for incoming new guests. After you have seen all this, can there possibly be any doubt left in your mind that this owner, who has constructed this lodge in this way, possesses very lofty, perpetual dwellings, and inexhaustible, very precious treasuries, and continuous, very vast generosity? Thus, through the hospitality that he shows in the lodge, he kindles the desire of his guests for the blessings that are with him, and arouses their craving for the gifts that he has prepared for them.

If you carefully and soberly scrutinise and reflect upon the states of the guest house of this world, just as in the illustration, you will understand ‘nine foundations’.

The First Foundation: You will understand that this world, like that lodge, does not exist for itself, and that it is impossible it could have taken on its present state by itself. It is rather a guest house that was established with wisdom, and which is filled and emptied by the convoy of creatures that come to stay therein, and their journeying on therefrom.

The Second Foundation: You will also understand that those staying in this lodge are guests; and that their Generous Lord is inviting them to the Abode of Peace.

The Third Foundation: You will understand that the ornaments of this world are not merely there for the sake of revelling and strolling about in them. For though they may give pleasure for a time, the pain caused by being separated from them is there the majority of the time. They give you a taste and arouse your desire for them, but they never satiate you. For either their lifespan is too short, or your lifespan is too short. They are not sufficient therefore for you to become satiated. Thus, these precious short-lived ornaments exist only to serve as lessons, and in order to prompt gratitude; (Footnote1) and to induce yearning for their perpetual originals - and for other, surpassingly elevated purposes.

The Fourth Foundation: You will furthermore understand that the ornaments of this world (Footnote2) are like images and

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Footnote1: Yes; it being the case that the duration of all things is small and their lifespan short, despite the value and precise craftsmanship of singular loftiness and beauty contained within them, these things must be samples, effectively images of other things; and since it is evidently the case that these samples and images draw the attention of customers to their originals and wellsprings, there can therefore be no doubt that it would be reasonable to say that these types of ornaments in this world are samples of the bounties of Paradise that have been prepared through His mercy, by the Merciful and Compassionate, for His slaves whom He loves; nay, that is in actual fact what they are.

Footnote2: Yes; the existence of all things has a great number of purposes, and the life thereof a great number of outcomes; and this is not limited to what the people of misguidance imagine, to purposes oriented [contiues on the following page] 

[continuation of ‘Footnote 2’ of previous page] towards this world and their own selves, such that futility and the absence of any wisdom are able to enter into them; rather, the purposes of the existence of all things and the outcomes of their lives are of three types:

The first and most elevated is oriented towards their Artful Maker, and it lies in all things' exhibiting the unique, miraculous adornments that the Artful Maker attached to them in front of the eyes of the Beginninglessly Eternal Witnesser in what resembles an official parade, such that even for that thing to live merely for a passing moment suffices that gaze; indeed, it is sufficed by the hidden innate capability within each thing, in potentia, that is equivalent to an intention. The subtle works of art that quickly leave existence, and the seeds and kernels that are miracles of creativity, and those that have not entered the domain of existence in not having yet sprouted, fully fulfil this purpose, and no futility or absurdity descends upon them. Thus, the first purpose of all things is their exhibiting, through their lives and existences, the miracles of the power of their Artful Maker and the effects of His art before the gaze of the Majestic King. The second category of purposes of existence and outcomes of life is oriented towards conscious beings. That is, each thing is like a written message from the Majestic Artful Maker, gushing with realities, and like a surpassingly elegantly subtle poem, a word pulsating with wisdoms, that He exhibits before the gaze of angels, jinn, animals and men, inviting them to observe and reflect on it. That is, each thing is a locus of observation and reflection abounding with moral lessons, before conscious beings looking onto it.

The third category of purposes of existence and outcomes of life is oriented towards the thing itself. These are the individual purposes, like pleasure, enjoyment and survival, and living a comfortable life. For example, the purpose of a servant working steering at the helm of one of the king's great ships is to ensure that one percent of that purpose returns to himself and his small fee, whereas ninety nine [contiues on the following page]

samples of the blessings that are, by the mercy of the Merciful, saved in Paradise for the people of faith.

The Fifth Foundation: You will also understand that these transient works of art are not for transience’s sake; they were not created in order to appear for only a short period,

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[continuation of ‘Footnote’ of previous page] percent of that vocation returns to the king. In the same way, if the purpose directed towards each thing itself and towards its life in this world constitutes one percent, then the purpose oriented towards their Artful Maker surely constitutes ninety nine percent [thereof]. The secret [enabling] reconciliation between wisdom and prudence on the one hand and magnanimity and generosity on the other - and especially absolute generosity - that would appear to lie in contradiction one to the other because of the fact of the multiplicity of different purposes, is that magnanimity and generosity dominate from the perspective of a particular purpose by way of the manifestation of the name 'the Magnanimous', and fruits and seeds become countlessly multiplied in terms of that single purpose, indicating and manifesting absolute generosity. Yet from the perspective of the aggregate of purposes wisdom is dominant, and the name 'the Wise' becomes manifest. Thus are there as many purposes in a single fruit as there are fruits on a tree, in their each splitting into the three categories that we have explained; and each of these purposes point to endless wisdom and prudence, absolute wisdom and absolute magnanimity and generosity, that appear contradictory, also becoming reconciled. For example, one of the purposes of an army is to provide safety and security, and in accordance with this purpose as many soldiers exist as are required, a very great number indeed. Yet that number is barely sufficient to protect borders, wage war upon enemies, and other similar tasks.

The number is thus carefully balanced in perfect wisdom, and the wisdom of the government becomes reconciled with its might. It is thus possible to say that there are neither more nor fewer soldiers than required. [‘Footnote’ ends here.]

die and be annihilated. Rather, they were created to come together in existence for a while in order to adopt the state required of them, have their pictures captured, their perceptions recorded, the meanings known, and their outcomes preserved. This is so that, for example, perpetual scenes for the people of endless eternity can be woven, and so that they can serve as the location of other purposes within the world of ever-abidingness.

You will understand that all things were created to abide eternally - not to disappear. The disappearance of their forms is merely the end of their vocation and their being released therefrom. Things transient are only so from one perspective, yet they abide forever from a number of different perspectives. Look at this flower, for example, which is one of power’s words; for a short while, it smiles and gazes at us, then hides immediately behind the veil of transience.

It disappears, just as does the word that leaves your mouth. Yet it deposits thousands other like it within [man’s sense of] hearing, and it causes as many of their meanings to abide in hearkening minds as there are minds that have heard them. For they only depart after they have fulfilled their task, which is that of expressing a meaning, but after having impressed their outer form upon the memories of all who have seen them, and after leaving their immaterial quiddity within every seed. It is as if every memory and every seed is a photographic image, serving to preserve its beauty, and the abode for its perpetuation. Now, if artful creatures possessing the simplest mode of life are like this, what about man’s relationship with eternity - for he possesses the loftiest mode of life, and possesses an eternal spirit?

The fact of the laws governing the creation - laws that each resemble spirits to a certain extent - of every single flowering, fruit-giving, plant in the vast plant world, along with their images, eternalised and preserved in perfect order in particle-like seeds despite [constantly] facing turbulent upheavals, makes clear the extent to which man’s spirit is [indelibly] connected to eternity, a spirit which is a conscious, luminous law issuing from the realm of Divine command possessing a lofty, all-embracing quiddity, and which has been dressed in external existence.

The Sixth Foundation: You will understand that man has not been given free rein, and has not been left futilely unrestrained to graze wheresoever he wills. Rather, the images of all of his deeds are taken and recorded, and the outcomes of all of his actions are preserved so that he can be taken to account for them.

The Seventh Foundation: You will understand that the death of the beautiful creatures of the world of summer and spring, and their disappearance in the autumn does not constitute their termination, but is rather a release (Footnote) after having

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Footnote: Yes; the fruits, flowers and leaves at the end of the branches of trees that constitute one of the depositories of the nourishment and provision of mercy, must depart due to old age and the termination of their duties, such that the door not be closed against those who will come after them. If this were not to be the case, they would become a barrier against the reach of mercy in serving its brothers, and would, in the disappearance of their youth, become humiliated and destitute.

In this way, the spring is a fruit-giving tree resembling the Resurrection, and the human kingdom in every century is a tree abounding and overflowing with lessons; and the earth is a tree of power that is the gathering place of wonders - and even the universe itself is an amazing tree whose fruits are sent to the market of the Hereafter.

finished their tasks, and an emptying of place so that space can be made for incoming creatures in the next spring, in order that the new officials be able to settle in and begin their work. It is a readying and preparation of the place in anticipation of the coming of these creatures. For conscious beings, it constitutes glorifying awakenings from the heedlessness that causes them to forget their vocations, and from the drunkenness that causes them to forget to have gratitude.

The Eighth Foundation: You will moreover understand that the Eternal Artful Maker of this transient world possesses another, ever-abiding world unto which he drives his servants, and for which he is enkindling their yearning.

The Ninth Foundation: You will understand that this Merciful One is going to honour those elect of his servants in that world, and will bless them with hospitality and outpourings of blessings that eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, and that have never even occurred to man’s heart. In this do we believe!

The Seventh Reality

The gate of protection and preservation

Being a manifestation of the Names al-Ḥafīẓ (The Preserver) and al-Raqīb (The Overseer).

Is it at all possible for a preservation that preserves all things in perfect order and balance, whether wet, dry, great or small, run-of-the-mill or lofty, in the heavens and upon

the earth, land and sea, who sieves out their outcomes in a way that resembles accounting, to not preserve the deeds and actions of man, who possesses a sublime nature, and whose level is that of the supreme al-khilāfah (vicegerency), and whose immense vocation is that of carrying the greatest trust, deeds and actions related to universal Lordship? That they not be sieved out with accounting’s sieve?

That his actions not be weighed upon justice’s balance? That man not be recompensed nor meet a punishment that corresponds to his actions?

No, absolutely not!

Yes; the one that directs the universe preserves all things according to an order and a balance. Now, both order and balance are themselves a manifestation of knowledge and wisdom and volition and predestination. For we see that the body of every artful being is created according to absolute order and balance. Moreover, its changing of form throughout its life is harmoniously ordered, and so too is its overall form masterfully ordered.

For we all witness the way in which the Majestic Preserver preserves a great number of the images of all things, the lifespan and vocation of which have ended, and which have departed from this witnessed world, within memories, which are like unto preserved tablets, like archetypal mirrors. (Footnote) He inscribes and writes the majority of their life-stories in their seeds and outcomes, and causes them to endure within inner and outer mirrors.

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Footnote: See the footnote to the seventh illustration. (p.11)

For example: The memory of a human being, the fruits of a tree, the kernel of a fruit and the seeds of a flower all indicate the sublimity of the all-encompassing nature of the law of preservation.

Do you not see that all flowering, fruit-giving beings in the vast spring, and the scrolls particular to them of their actions, and the laws governing their creation, formation and the samples of their forms, are all written and preserved within only a limited number of tiny seeds? The following spring, in spreading open the scrolls of their actions within the account particular to them, with perfect wisdom and order He forms another vast world of spring, thereby revealing the extent to which preservation has become manifest in such powerfully all-encompassing fashion.

Now, if such preservation takes place within such temporary, run-of-the-mill, transient, trivial things as these, is it conceivable that as part of preservation’s supervision, the actions of man would not be carefully recorded - actions that bear important fruit in the unseen world, the world of the Hereafter, the world of spirits and in universal Lordship? No, absolutely not!

Yes; it is understood from this preservation being manifested in this way that the Owner of all beings in existence is deeply concerned to monitor and preserve everything that takes place in His kingdom. Furthermore, in His rulership, He possesses maximal sensitivity. He has care and concern in the kingdom of His Lordship to such a degree that He records, and causes His officials to record, the most minor event and the smallest service. Within diverse things, He

preserves the images of everything that occurs in His kingdom.

Now, this preservation points to the fact that a momentous accounting book of actions is going to be opened, recording especially the great deeds and pivotal actions of man. For with respect to quiddity, he is the greatest, noblest and most honoured of creatures, and thus, his great deeds and significant actions are to be subjected to an important taking to account and balance, and the scroll of his deeds is to be spread open.

Now, is it at all possible that man be honoured with the khilāfah and the trust, and be made to ascend to the degree of lieutenant and witnesser by his becoming interposed into the worship and glorification of most existent beings, due to his proclamation, within the realms of multiplicity, of Allāh’s unity through his witnessing of the universal activities of Lordship - and for him to then enter his grave and lie in repose without being awoken? Without being asked about all that he has done, big and small, and without journeying to the Resurrection to behold the Supreme Court of Justice? No, absolutely not!

And how could man possibly depart to non-existence, thereby fleeing from the Majestic Almighty One whose past actions - miracles of His power - testify that He is able to create all of the possible beings that are going to come into existence in the future? (Footnote) He that brings into existence

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Footnote: Yes; past time - that begins at the present moment and extends back to the beginning of the creation of the world - is made up of events and occurrences, and every day, year and age that ever came into existence is a line and page and book calligraphed with the pen [continues on the following page] 

[continuation of ‘Footnote’ of previous page] of predestination; and the hand of power has written therein the miracles of His signs in perfect wisdom and harmonious order. As for future time, that begins from the present moment and extends on to the Resurrection and on to Paradise and on to endless eternity; it is made up of possibilities. That is, the past is events, and the future is possible beings. Now, if we were to place the chain of these two tenses of time facing one another - there is no doubt whatsoever that the One Who created yesterday and brought the beings particular to it into existence is also capable of creating tomorrow along with its [particular] creatures; and there is also no doubt that the existent beings and miracles of this past time which constitutes the sphere of wonders, comprise miracles of the Almighty Possessor of Majesty, and that they conclusively testify that that Almighty One is able to bring the entirety of the future into existence, and to bring all possible beings into existence, and to manifest all of His wonders.

Yes; just as the one who would create a single apple must necessarily be able to create every apple in the world, and able also to create the entire spring; and just as the one unable to create the whole spring is also unable to create a single apple, for that apple is woven upon that workbench, and thus the one able to create an apple must be able to create the spring. For a single apple is a miniaturised exemplar of a tree and indeed of a garden - and indeed of the universe. It is a miracle of art in that the apple’s seeds bear the entire life-history of the vast tree. Thus, the One Who creates it upon this form must not be powerless to create anything whatsoever, and moreover; the One who creates this day is able to create the Doomsday, and the One who created the spring must be able to create the Day of Resurrection.

The One who attaches all of the worlds of the past upon the ribbon of time with perfect wisdom and order and who reveals them, must indubitably be able to attach other universes upon the ribbon of the future and reveal them; indeed He will actually do so.

In many of the 'Words', especially 'The Twenty-second Word', we have conclusively proved that 'whomsoever is not able to create everything cannot create anything, and whomsoever is able to create a single thing must be able to create everything. Then, if the creation of all things is assigned to One, creating all things becomes as easy as the creation of a single thing; yet if it is to be assigned to numerous causes and to multiplicity, then the creation of a single thing becomes as difficult and problematic as creating everything, to the degree of impossibility. [‘Footnote’ ends here]

the winter and the spring, both of which resemble the Resurrection to a vast extent - how could man flee from Him, and go into the earth and conceal himself? Since he is not taken to account befittingly in this world, he must therefore be going to a Supreme Court of Justice, and ultimate felicity.

The Eighth Reality

The gate of promise and threat

Being a manifestation of the Names al-Jamīl (The Beautiful) and al-Jalīl (The August)

Is it at all possible that the Artful Maker of these works of art, the Absolutely All-Knowing and Absolutely Almighty, would not honour His Divine promise and threat - the both of which have been repeatedly mentioned, and which all of the prophets have given news of by unanimous testimony, and which all of the sincere ones and saints have testified to by consensus - thereby manifesting - far be they from Him - powerlessness and ignorance? This bearing in mind that the matters concerning which He has promised and threatened do not constitute any strain upon His power, and are indeed greatly easy for Him to realise. As easy, indeed, as

next spring bringing back the innumerable number of the existent beings of last spring; some exactly as they were, (Footnote1) and some with a likeness of what went before. (Footnote2)

Fulfilment of one’s promise is most necessary for us, for all things, for Him, and for the kingdom of Lordship. And breaking one’s promise is completely irreconcilable with the glory of omnipotence, and the all-encompassing nature of His knowledge; for breaking one’s promise springs from either ignorance or powerlessness.

O denier! Are you aware of the crime you foolishly commit by way of your denial and disbelief? You assent to your false illusion, your raving mind and your deceptive self, and call the lie to one who is in no way at all compelled to break and be unfaithful [to His promise]. One for whom breaking a promise is not at all befitting to His might and majesty. One to whose truthfulness and trueness all things and actions beheld in this world testify. Despite your limited, tiny size, you perpetrate a crime of limitless vastness. You must then deserve a vast and endless punishment. It has been related that a single tooth of certain of the people of Hell will be the size of mountains, corresponding to the vastness of their crimes. Your likeness is that of a traveller; he closes his eyes against the light of the sun, and looks upon the imagination ongoing within his head, hoping that he will be able to illuminate the terrifying road for himself with the head-torch of his firefly-like mind. Now since Allāh (Exalted is He) -

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Footnote1: For instance, the roots of trees and grasses.

Footnote2: For instance, leaves and fruits.

the truth-speaking words of Whom are these very existing beings, and the speaking, truthful signs of Whom are these events taking place in the universe - has made a promise, there is no question that He will realise His promise. He will open a Supreme Court of Justice, and confer ultimate felicity.

* A page from the Ninth Reality of the original manuscript of the Tenth Word

The Ninth Reality

The gate of bringing to life and causing to die

Being a manifestation of the Names al-Ḥayy (The Living), al-Qayyūm (The Self-subsistent Sustainer), al-Muḥyī (The Giver of Life) and al-Mumīt (The Giver of Death)

Is it at all possible for one Almighty and Compassionate, and one All-Knowing and Wise, who gave life to the vast, tremendous earth after its dryness and death, and manifested His power through this bringing to life with the resurrection and dispersal of multifarious creatures exceeding threehundred thousand species - the resurrection of each one of which, that of man for example, is in itself extraordinary; Who showed the all-encompassing nature of His knowledge by way of the limitless differentiation and separation that takes place within that resurrection and dispersal, and within the intermixing and overlapping therein; Who turned the gaze of all of His servants to endless happiness by promising the Resurrection of mankind through all of His heavenly ordinances; Who manifested the sublimity of His Lordship by making all existents hand in hand, interdependent and shoulder to shoulder, turning them about within the sphere of His command and volition; who makes each one of them a supporter to the other, and subject to the other.

And Who manifested just how much importance He gave to man through making him the most all-embracing fruit of the tree of the universe, and the gentlest, and the most extremely delicate, the most supplicant and one whose wishes are the best received, by addressing him directly and subjugating to him all things.

Is it at all possible, for the like of that One Who is Almighty, Compassionate, All-Knowing and Wise, to not bring about the Resurrection? To not initiate the Resurrection? To be unable to do so? To not bring man back to life? To be unable to do so? To be unable to open a Supreme Court of Justice? To not create Paradise or Hell? Far be it from Him, and absolutely not!

Yes; in every age and every year and every day upon the face of this constricted, temporary world the Glorious Disposer of this world brings into being a very great number of samples and signs of the Greater Resurrection and of the sphere of the Resurrection.

For example: In the resurrection of the spring, we see that He gathers and disperses more than three-hundred thousand species of animal and plant both great and small over the course of five or six days. He brings to life and restores the roots of all trees and plants, and certain animals exactly as they are.

He brings into being the rest of them in a homogenous form which is indistinguishable. Although little seeds - which differ one from the other only very slightly - are to a great extent intermixed with one another, they are sent out at great speed, scope and ease perfectly differentiated and individuated, in perfect, harmonious order and balance within either six days or six weeks.

Could anything be difficult for the one who does all this? Could He be unable to create the heavens and earth in Six Days? Or be unable to gather all of mankind with a single call? Far be it from Him to be unable to do so...

It is to be wondered; were there to be a miracle-working writer who could write out, upon a single page and within a single hour, three hundred thousand books the letters of which had been erased or distorted, without them becoming confused and without a single mistake being made nor any omission - all being written together in a most beautiful form, and someone were to say to you: ‘This same writer will now write, from memory and in a single minute, that book of yours he himself authored that fell into the water.’ Would you be able to bring yourself to say ‘No! He can’t do that - I don’t believe you?’

Although you see a miracle-wielding king having mountains demolished, countries transformed, and seas turned into land by a mere nod, all in order to show his capacity, or as a lesson, or for pleasure, and [although] you then see that a vast boulder has tumbled down into the valley and closed up the road upon which are travelling people that he has invited to his private banquet, preventing them from crossing; were someone to say to you ‘Despite how big it is, the king is going, with a mere nod, to have this boulder lifted out of the way, or broken into pieces - he will not leave his guests stranded on the road, ’ would you say ‘He will not lift it out of the way’ or ‘He will not be able to lift it out of the way?’

Or were someone to put together a vast army from scratch in a single day, and someone were to say to you ‘with a single trumpet blast, this person brings back together the battalions, the soldiers of which had dispersed for rest. The battalions are then ordered according to his wishes.’ Were you to say ‘I don’t believe it!’ you can well see how you would have acted foolishly.

If you have been able to understand these three illustrations, then look: In front of our eyes, the Beginningless Inscriber turns the white page of winter, and opens the green page of spring and summer. Upon the page of the face of the earth, He most beautifully writes more than three-hundred thousand species with the pen of power and destiny. He writes them all together so that they overlap, yet without their becoming jumbled, or without anything counteracting anything else. Never does He make a mistake, nor does he confuse, although all that He writes differs in form and shape.

Now, could it really be said, of the Wise Preserver Who inserts and preserves the blueprint of the spirit of the greatest tree within the tiniest speck-like seed: ‘how could He possibly preserve the spirits of the dead’?

And could it really be said of the Almighty, who turns about the earth like a pebble in a slingshot: ‘how could He possibly remove this earth from the path of his guests journeying to the Hereafter?’, or ‘how will He destroy it?’

Moreover, the Majestic Essence- Who brought, anew and from nothingness, the armies of all living creatures into being, and recorded and incorporated, in perfect order, the particles within the battallion of bodies of all living creatures with the command ‘Be! And it is...’ - could one really say, of Him: ‘how could He possibly gather, with a single call, all of the fundamental particles and original constituents of the body, each of which became acquainted with one another by flocking together under the system of the battallion-like body?’

After all, you can see with your own eyes how very many inscriptions He makes, that are samples, examples and signs of the Resurrection. Like the resurrection of this very spring, in every revolution of the earth’s rotation. In each of its ages. In the alternation of night and day. Even in the existentiation and elimination of clouds in the sky. Indeed, were you to imagine yourself existing a thousand years ago, and you compared the two wings of time, past and future, you would see as many samples of the Resurrection and instances of the Doomsday as there are ages and days.

You would then recognise the stupidity involved in your denying the reality of the bodily Resurrection, deeming it to be far from reason and implausible despite the fact of your witnessing such a great number of samples and instances thereof.

Look at what the Most Sublime Ordinance says about this reality that we have mentioned:

فَانْظُرْ اِلٰٓي اٰثَارِ رَحْمَتِ اللّٰهِ كَيْفَ يُحْيِي الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَٓا اِنَّ ذٰلِكَ لَمُحْيِي الْمَوْتٰي وَهُوَ عَلٰي كُلِّ شَئٍ قَد۪يرٌ (1)

The upshot: There is nothing that could prevent the Resurrection happening; and everything in existence makes its occurrence necessary.

Yes; He it is Who causes the death of this vast earth - a gathering place of wonders - and brings it to life, as if He is killing and bringing to life a commonplace animal. He it is

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1. Look then to the effects of Allāh’s Mercy, how he brings the earth to life after its death. That certainly is the Raiser of the dead, and He has power over all things. (Qur’ān: al-Rūm, 30:50) 

Who made it a pleasant cradle, a beautiful ship for man and animal, Who made the sun a radiant lamp and a heater for them in this guest house. He it is Who made the planets planes for the angels.

Such sublime, eternal Lordship and magnificent, allencompassing Rulership is not built upon the things of the evanescent, transient, unsettled, insignificant, changing, impermanent, deficient, imperfect affairs of the world, nor will they stop at them. There must exist therefore another realm and kingdom befitting to them, perpetual, stable, magnificent, that will never face extinction.

He employs us for the sake of that realm; and He invites us thereto. All people possessing bright spirits testify that He will transfer us to that place, as do all of the spiritual poles of illuminated hearts, and all those endowed with luminous intellects, who have broken through the exterior and reached reality therewith. Those who were honoured with closeness to the Divine presence. They report this to us all agreeing that He has readied a reward and a recompense. Again and again, they convey to us that He has made a very strong promise and a threat that is most severe.

Breaking a promise is a form of ignobility and self-abasement, neither of which can even approach His Sacred Majesty. Failing to realise a threat stems from either forgiveness or powerlessness. The fact of the matter is that disbelief is an absolute crime (Footnote) that does not deserve to be forgiven.

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Footnote: Yes; since disbelief constitutes an insult to the entire universe and to all creatures in its degrading the value of existent beings and in its accusing them of futility; and since it is a negation all of the Divine names in its denial of the manifestation of the Divine names upon the mirrors of existent beings; and since it calls the lie to all creatures in its rejecting the testimonies of all existent beings to Divine unity; for these reasons does it totally corrupt human potential such that he becomes incapable of receiving any goodness. It is immense oppression in that it constitutes an impingement on the rights of all creatures, and of all of the Divine names. Thus, protecting these rights and the fact that the disbelieving soul becomes incapable of doing good deeds entails that disbelief never be forgiven. 'Surely ascribing partners is immense oppression' conveys this meaning. (Qur’ān: al-Luqmān, 31:13)

As for the Absolutely Almighty - He is Holy and Transcendent above powerlessness. The testifiers and reporters are all in perfect agreement about the basis for the [conclusion to this] issue, despite the fact that they have diverse ways, methods and schools of thought.

In terms of plentitude they reach the degree of unanimous testimony, and in quality, they are at the degree of scholarly consensus; and with respect to status, each one of them is a guiding star for mankind, the eye of a congregation, and the beloved hero of a people. With respect to importance, they are the people who are specialised in this issue, and who are qualified to establish truths therein. After all, two specialists in a science or craft take precedence over thousands of non-specialists, and two people affirming a report take precedence over thousands negating it. For example - if two men report that the crescent of Ramadan has appeared, they throw thereby the denial of even thousands of deniers into nullity.

The upshot: There cannot be a more truthful report, a more powerful case or a reality more manifest in this world. There is no doubt thus that this world is a field under cultivation. The place of Resurrection is a granary and a harvest, and Paradise and the Hell are two depositories.

The Tenth Reality

The gate of wisdom, solicitude, mercy and justice

Being a manifestation of the Names al-Ḥakīm (The Wise), al-Karīm, (The Generous), al-‘Ādil, (The Just) and alRaḥīm (The Compassionate)

Is it at all possible that within the sphere of His kingdom or the world of His worldly dominion and His Divine kingdom, that the Majestic Owner of the Kingdom - Who has in this ephemeral guest house of the world, this testing ground of no permanence, and in this unstable exhibition of the earth manifested the effects of a wisdom so dazzling, and the effects of so obvious a solicitude, and of so compelling a justice, and of such an expansive mercy - would not have perpetual dwellings, ever-remaining dwellers, ever-abiding seats, and enduring creatures, such that the realities of the wisdom, solicitude, justice and compassion that are manifest would be relegated to nothingness?

Is it at all possible that the Wise would make man of all creatures a being universally addressed, and an all-embracing mirror of Him; that He would cause him to taste all that His treasuries of mercy contain, introducing all of this to him, and then causing him to appraise it all; that He would make Himself known, with all of His Names,

to man, loving him and endearing him to others - but that He would then not send this poor human being to a perpetual kingdom nor invite him to a realm of perpetual happiness, nor gladden him?

And furthermore, is it at all reasonable that He would burden every single being, even those as small as seeds, with vocations as great as a tree, bind as many wisdoms to them as its flowers, and ornament them with as many benefits as its fruits, and for only a seed-sized purpose to then be attached to these vocations, wisdoms and benefits, purposes oriented only towards this world? For Him to make their only purpose survival in this world, which is in of itself not as small as even a mustard seed? Is it really intelligible that He would have not made these beings seeds of the meaning-world, and a field for the Hereafter under cultivation, so that they bear the fruit of their true and worthy purposes? To leave these momentous celebrations in vain, without purpose and futile, and not reorient their faces towards the meaning-world, the world of the Hereafter, so that He reveals their original purposes and the fruits befitting them?

Is it at all possible that He would in this do all of these things which are contrary to truth, and give the impression of being characterised by attributes that are the antitheses of the Wise, Generous, Just and Compassionate that are His true, essential attributes - absolutely not, and far be it from Him! - thereby repudiating the realities of all created beings that point to His wisdom, generosity, justice and compassion? Rebuffing the testimonies of all artful beings to Him? And invalidating the proofs of all creatures?

Is it at all possible for the intellect to assent to the possibility of His loading duties on man’s head and the senses and functions contained therein, which are as numerous as the hairs upon his head, yet for him to be given only a worldly reward, which amounts to something about as valuable as a single hair? For this would entail His acting futilely, in a manner inconsistent with His true justice and contrary to true wisdom.

Moreover, is it at all possible that He would adorn every single being, and indeed each of their parts and members - such as the tongue - each of His works of art - with wisdoms and benefits as great in number as the yield and fruits that He fastened to a single tree, the fact of His being Absolutely Wise thereby becoming established; and then simply leave, not bestowing eternality, nor the meeting with Him, nor endless happiness, which are the most sublime of wisdoms, the most important of benefits, and the most necessary of yields, which make wisdom wisdom, blessings blessings and compassion compassion and constitute both the wellspring and the purpose of all wisdoms, blessings, compassion and benefits? For He would thereby be devaluing all of His actions such that they were of absolute futility. It would be as if He were likening Himself to someone who builds a palace, making thousands of inscriptions in every single of its stones, in every part of it thousands of ornaments, and in every one of its rooms thousands of precious tools and pieces of equipment; yet he then fails to put a roof on the palace. Everything therein becomes thus rotten and pointlessly wrecked and destroyed. Far be this from Him, and absolutely not!

Now, from the Absolute Good comes the good, and from the Absolutely Beautiful comes beauty; and futility comes not from the Absolutely Wise.

Yes; any who in thought goes aboard history and journeys towards the past will see as many dead dwellings, training-grounds, exhibitions and worlds as there are years, that are just like the realm of this world, the testing ground and exhibition of all things that we see and behold in this time. Now although they will differ to one another with respect to form and quality, their order and artistry are similar, as is their evincing the power and wisdom of the Artful Maker.

Within those unstable dwellings, those non-perpetual training grounds and those impermanent exhibitions, he will likewise see harmonious orderings of so dazzling a wisdom, and the signs of so manifest a solicitude, and the indications of so compelling a justice, and the fruits of so vast a mercy, that he will know for certain - assuming he is not totally devoid of insight - that there could not be a wisdom more perfect than that wisdom, or a solicitude more beautiful than that the effects of which are witnessed. He will furthermore know that there exists no justice more exalted than that the signs of which are beheld by all, nor can a mercy even be imagined that is more all-embracing than that mercy the fruits of which are seen.

If, to hypothesize the impossible, the Eternal King who directs and disposes of these matters and transforms and replaces these guests and guest houses, does not possess perpetual dwellings, lofty places, fixed stations, enduring habitations, established inhabitants and happy servants within

the sphere of His kingdom, the negation of the realities of wisdom, justice, solicitude and mercy becomes necessary, realities that constitute four spiritual elements as powerful and all-embracing as energy, and the all-embracingness of light, air, water and earth. It necessitates denying their manifest, observed existence, which is as apparent as that of those elements.

For it is plain to see that this transient world and all therein cannot serve as a comprehensive locus of the manifestation of the realities of these matters. Thus, were there not to exist, in another realm, another place that could serve as a comprehensive locus of the manifestation of the realities of those matters, the denial of this wisdom within everything present before the eyes of all would become necessary, as would the denial of the solicitude that we all behold continually in ourselves and in most things and the denial of the justice (Footnote) the exceedingly powerful signs of which show

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Footnote: Yes; there are two types of justice, one positive, and the other negative. The positive thereof is the giving [specific] rights to all those entitled to them and this type of justice self-evidently encompasses this world. This is because - as has been established in the 'Third Reality' of this epistle - the Majestic Originator is witnessed as giving all that all beings ask of Him in the languages of their capacities, innate needs and desperate needs according to a precise balance, and to particular measures and quantities - He gives each thing the rights necessary to its existence and life. The existence of this type of justice is thus as conclusively established as that of existence and life.

The second type is negative, and it is the disciplining of oppressors - that is, He gives their due right by sending down retribution and punishment upon them. Although this type does not become fully manifest in this world, there exist countless indications and signs that tell of this reality - thus for example, the disciplining blows and lashes of punishment that have been sent down starting with ‘Ād and Thamūd's people, and ending with the recalcitrant peoples of this age, explicate with conclusive insight the lofty, elevated supervision of Divine justice.

themselves and are witnessed by all, and the denial of the mercy that we behold in all places. One would be forced to deny all of this, such that one would be of the same level of insanity as one who denies the existence of the sun while he can actually see its light flooding the day.

Likewise, we would have to accept the notion that the one who carries out all the wise measures, generous actions and compassionate benefactions that we see in the universe, must be - far, far be it from Him that he be so - a foolish joker, and a ruthless tyrant. This entails the transformation of the essences of things into their contraries, and this is the most impossible of impossibilities. Even the cretinous Sophists, who deny the existence of all things including themselves, are unable to easily go near imagining this notion.

The upshot: There is no relationship whatsoever between what we witness in this world of life’s activities, vast resurrections, death’s rapid separations, great confluences, swift divisions, immense ceremonies and sublime [Divine] manifestations and what we know of such of their particular fruits and insignificant, temporary purposes as belong to this temporary world. As this is the case, making a relationship between them is like attaching wisdoms and purposes as vast as a great mountain to a tiny stone, or indeed the imposition of a particular, temporary purpose as small as a tiny stone upon a great mountain, as if it were a tiny stone.

This can never be in harmony with intellect or wisdom of any sort; and thus does the fact of the total non-being of any proportional relationship between existent beings with their wordly purposes and these activities constitute a definitive testimony that the faces of these existing beings are oriented towards the world of meaning, and that it is there that they bear fruits befitting them. [It is a testimony to the fact that] that their eyes are fixed upon the holy Names, and that their purposes look towards that world. Their essences and seeds are beneath the earth, but the ears of their grain open and become manifest in the world of imaginal representations (‘ālam al-mithāl). Man sows seeds here, and is cultivated according to his capacity; then in the Hereafter he harvests.

Yes; were you to look at the faces of these things which are oriented towards the Divine names and the world of the Hereafter you would see that each seed - each a miracle of power - contains great purposes like a tree, and that every flower - each a word of [Divine] wisdom (Footnote) - contains as many meanings as there are flowers on a tree - and that every fruit - each a marvellous work of art and a metered poem of mercy - possesses as many wisdoms as the fruits of a tree. The fact of its being provision and nourishment for us constitutes only a single of the thousands of those wisdoms.

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Footnote: Question: Why are most of the examples given those of flowers, kernels and fruits? The Answer: For they are the most rare and precious, and most wonderful, most subtle miracles of Divine power, and naturalists, philosophers and the people of misguidance have drowned in 'nature' due to their having not read the delicate writing that the pen of predestination and power has calligraphed upon it - thus have they fallen into the swamp of 'nature'.

It fulfils its task and expresses its meaning, and it passes away - then is it buried in our bellies.

In another place, these transient things bear eternal fruits and leave ever-abiding images. By way of another face do they express meanings of endlessness, and glorify with eternal litanies. A human being is not a true human being unless he looks to such of its faces as are facing this facet, and finds a path from the transient to the ever-abiding.

Thus do these beings, that alternate between life and death and that assemble and separate, have another purpose.

Comparisons are incontestable: these states indeed resemble those that were composed and arranged for the sake of imitation and representation. For just as it takes vast expenditure for the short assemblies and separations necessary to take the pictures that will be gathered together so that they can be shown continuously in the cinema to become realised, so too is one of the purposes behind living out a short individual and social life in this world the capturing and gathering together of images, and the preservation of the outcomes of man’s actions, in order that he be taken to account in a great meeting place, presented in a supreme exhibition, and so that he manifests his capacity to receive ultimate happiness. This reality is clarified by the blessed saying of the Prophet (‘alayhisṣalātu wassalām) ‘this world is a tillage for the Hereafter.’

Since this world exists and contains wisdom, solicitude, mercy and justice as manifested in the actions of Allāh, it absolutely must be the case that the Hereafter exists likewise; and since all that is in this world has a dimension that is facing that world, the journey [we are all on] must thus be to there. Denying the existence of the Hereafter means

denying this world and all therein. Thus, just as death and the grave await man, so too do Paradise and Hell longingly lie in wait.

The Eleventh Reality

The gate of humanity

Being a manifestation of the Name al-Ḥaqq (the Real)

Is it at all possible that Allāh (Exalted is He), the Rightfully Worshipped, would of all the worlds make man of His absolute Lordship and His universal Lordship the most significant and greatest servant, and the most reflective of the addressees of His glorifying address; the most all-embracing mirror of the manifestation of His Names; the most beautiful miracle of power; [the creature] who possesses the degree of احسن تقویم, ‘the best of forms’ and who has attained to the manifestation of the Supreme name, and the manifestation of the degree of the Supreme name that exists within every name; a precise thinker, the possessor of the greatest number of criteria and tools by which to appraise and know the contents of the treasuries of His mercy; that He would make him of all creatures the most in need of His limitless blessings, the one who most suffers from transience, and the most intensely yearning to live on forever; the subtlest and most precious; the most destitute and needy of all animals; with respect to the life of this world, the most pained and wretched of all creatures; that He would create him with the loftiest and most elevated of forms and quiddities with regard to capacity, yet then not send him to the endless realm for which he is ready and for which he so yearns and which he is suited to, the reality of humanity being thereby annulled,

and He thereby engaging in a form of oppression that totally contravenes His veracity and which is, from the viewpoint of truth, repellent?

Is it really conceivable that the Rightful Ruler and Absolutely Compassionate would have bestowed upon man a capacity by which he became able to carry the Greatest Trust, that even the earth, the heavens and mountains shrunk from - that is, he is, by way of his tiny, particularised scales and his humble arts, able to measure and know the all-encompassing attributes of his Creator, His universal activities, and His endless manifestations; that He would make man the gentlest, most delicate, one whose wishes are most acceptable, the most powerless and most destitute of creatures, despite having made him in some sense the official responsible for the organisation of all of the animal and plant creatures of the earth, and having made it so that he has a role in determining the way in which they glorify and worship [Allāh]; that He would made him a miniaturised example of the Divine operations in the universe; that He would make him to proclaim, by words and actions, the glorified Lordship inhering in the universe, preferring him to the angels and conferring the position of al-khilāfah [vicegerency] upon him; yet that He would then not give him the endless happiness that constitutes the aim and purpose of all of [man’s] vocations, their [proper] outcome and their fruit? [Is it at all possible] that He would cast him, of all creatures, into the most humiliated of pits, and make him the most wretched, the most helpless, the most afflicted, and the most sorrowful? That He would make his intellect, which is the most blessed, luminous gift of His wisdom and a means to

happiness, into the most ominous and dark instrument of torture for that helpless creature, He thereby engaging in a form of oppression totally opposed to His absolute wisdom, and in total contradiction to His absolute mercy? Far be it from Him, and absolutely not!

The upshot: In the allegory, we looked at the officer’s identity card and registry book, and we saw that his rank, vocation, salary, the directives governing his activity and his apparatuses all displayed and revealed to us that this officer was not working for the sake of this temporary trainingground, but was rather going to travel to the permanent kingdom for the sake of which he was working. The subtle spiritual centres within the identity of man’s heart, the senses within the registry book of his mind and the faculties inhering in his innate capacity are all facing fully and congruently towards endless happiness; and it is for this that they have each been bestowed upon us and prepared for us. The people of verification and mystical unveiling have all agreed upon this.

For example: Were it to be said to the imaginative faculty, which is a servant and photographic instrument of the intellect, ‘a million years of life will be conferred on you in which you will have ownership of and rule over this world, yet you will then be consigned to nothingness’ it is beyond doubt that instead of being relieved, it would moan and lament, unless delusion were to deceive it and the lower self to interfere. Thus is it the case that even the very greatest of things transient cannot ever satisfy even the least of the faculties of man. It is because of his capacity that the hopes of man extend into endless eternity, and that his thought encompasses the whole universe, and that his desires stretch out right unto the many varieties of the future happiness

[that he anticipates]. All of this indicates that man has been created for eternity, and that he will move away to eternity - and that this world is [merely] a guest house for him, and a waiting room for his Hereafter.

The Twelfth Reality

The gate of messengership and revelation

Being a manifestation of bismillāhi al-raḥmāni al-raḥīm (in the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate).

Is it at all possible that the feeble imaginings that possess not even the strength of the wing of a fly could close the road to the Hereafter and the gate of Paradise that were both opened by the Most Noble Messenger (ASW), with all his strength, a strength that rests upon the strength of his one thousand verified miracles? That messenger, the words and speech of whom were supported by all of the rest of the prophets, also resting [for the truth of their claims] on their miracles? The truth of whose mission all of the saints testified to, resting upon their mystical unveilings and miracles? The truthfulness of whom all of the sincere friends bore witness to, resting upon their realisations - [those saints and sincere friends, the unveilings and realisations of whom] were opened up for them by the Wise Qur’ān, which is inimitably miraculous in forty different ways, and by all of its conclusive demonstrations, resting upon thousands of its conclusively established verses?

It is understood from the realities previously mentioned that the question of the Resurrection is in fact a firmly established reality, that even a power able to remove the sphere of the earth from its place and then obliterate it would not be able to undermine.

For the Allāh (Exalted is He) establishes this reality, through the necessary entailments of the entirety of His Names and His attributes. The Most Noble Messenger , confirms it with all of his miracles and proofs. The Wise Qur’ān, with all of its realities and verses, establishes its reality. Indeed, this universe [itself] bears witness to it, with all of its cosmological signs and wise activities. Now is it at all possible for doubts and whisperings from Satan that possess not even the strength of a single hair to shake this lofty, firm reality, that is as lofty and as firm as a mountain, and to remove it from its place, after all beings in existence - apart from the disbelievers - have concurred about the truth of the Resurrection, in agreement with the Necessary Being? Far be it from Him, and absolutely not!

Do not imagine that proofs for the Resurrection are limited to the twelve realities that we have mentioned. No, rather, it is the case that just as the Wise Qur’ān teaches us the twelve aforementioned realities, so too does it point to thousands of perspectives, each of which constitutes a powerful sign indicating that our Creator is going to transport us from this transient abode to a realm that is ever-abiding.

Likewise, do not imagine that such Divine names as entail the Resurrection are limited to only those we have mentioned, that is, ‘The Wise’, ‘The Generous’, ‘The Compassionate’, ‘The Just’, and ‘The Preserver’. No, rather, all of the Divine names that become manifest in the course of the direction of the universe entail the Hereafter. Rather, they necessitate it.

And indeed do not imagine that the cosmological signs in the universe pointing to the Resurrection are limited to

those that we mentioned - no. Rather, most beings have facets and qualities that are like curtains that open to the right and to the left, such that one of its two sides testifies to the Artful Maker, and the other indicates the Resurrection.

For example:

Just as the beautiful artistry evinced in man, who is on ‘the best of forms’, points to the Artful Maker, the notion of his passing out of existence after only a short time despite his all-embracing capacity, on ‘the best of forms’, points to the Resurrection. If one were to look at a particular facet but with two glances differing from one another, one would see that all things in fact point simultaneously to the Artful Maker and the Resurrection.

A further example:

If one carefully scrutinises a particular quiddity or other, one finds that wisdom’s arrangement, solicitude’s ornamentation, justice’s balance and mercy’s kindness are all manifest within it. One sees that it indicates that it has issued from the hand of the power of the Wise, Generous, Just and Compassionate Artful Maker. In the same way, if one carefully looks to the power and limitlessness of the Names and Attributes, as well as the triviality of transient beings with their short lives, beings that are [in fact] manifestations of those Names and Attributes, the Hereafter will come into view. Thus, in the language of their states, do all things recite, and prompt [others] to recite, ‘I believe in Allāh and the Last Day.’