Section Noor, part 2

Recap: Nothing is preventing the light of the universe to emanate.  Whatever light comes from any being is pointing to its Source of Existence.  That is, it is witnessing that their Creator is the One who created them.  Each being has its own unique existence, and relates to other beings, as its constituent parts, with endless nested layers.  For example, a cell, an atom, and its particle are all intertwined and interrelated but each of these parts emanate their Creator’s light both as an individual unit and a whole unit.  Similarly, everything at every stage is emanating light from its Creator.  Therefore, our responsibility is to observe the universe closely and pay attention to how everything in each layer independently and together with its composite parts are all perfectly arranged.  

• The Creator of the universe speaks and His Speech conveys similar messages: “if you want to know Me, then look at My work, the universe”.

ٱلزُّجَاجَةُ كَأَنَّهَا كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّىٌّ يُوقَدُ مِن شَجَرَةٍ مُّبَـٰرَكَةٍ زَيْتُونَةٍ لَّا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلَا غَرْبِيَّةٍ

24:35 “A glass like a glittering star, fueled from a blessed olive tree from neither east not west,”

Does the “glass” cover the light if the lamp is radiating light?

• No, the glass is radiating light, like its constituent parts. 

Can the glass be a source of “Light”?

• Glass does not produce light, but only covers it.  The glass is a means through which we can see the light.
• Every being needs to be understood in such a way that it is emanating and radiating light pointing to its Creator rather than preventing it.
• Materialist minded people are fixated with the idea that matter is the real being, emanating light, thus the quality of the matter belongs to itself.  However, this verse under study says the opposite i.e. the light emanating from the matter points to something else and thus illuminating the reality of what they truly are.

How can we relate this verse to the heavens and earth?

• This verse relates to everything in the universe.
• Each layer in the universe is functioning independently as a lamp. Example, the eye is a layer of your body, which is a layer of your face, and the eye pupil is a layer to various particles… It is mind blowing if we interact with creation with this awareness.  Just as each brick of a monument is functioning in its own unique way, similarly, each brick of our human body and the universe also functions in a similar fashion emitting light.  
• We cannot really comprehend how creation is happening?
• Think about some obvious happenings?  How can beings in the universe change at every moment by themselves? It is so interesting!  Why don’t we appreciate this creation?  How can one reduce this universe to random happenings?  
• How can people deny these deliberate acts of creation as pointing and emanating from the same source of Existence?
• We cannot even count the galaxies and stars because everything is continuously brought into existence simultaneously.  Some people who are called “prophets” give the idea of a possibility of something not of this universe. We must confirm this by examining the universe by questioning whether these things have any qualities to create the result.
• Everything must be a deliberate set up by a Conscious Being.  Think of the universe as a maze game, consciously designed, where you try to discover the correct path by following the various paths presented to get to the destination.  Similarly, the order of the universe is also a conscious design that we are following to find the best way to discover new layers of creation.  Human beings use their free will to conclude whether this perfect layer upon layer creation can be attributed to “unconscious activities of matter, or not.

What does “fuel of the olive tree” represent?

• It refers to the source of the light that is emanated in all beings.  Everything reflects certain qualities pointing not to itself or something of this universe, rather pointing to something not of the nature of this universe.

What does “from neither east nor west” mean?

• In terms of the qualities of this universe, it is not something of the nature of this universe.  Who is manifesting Itself through emanating these lights?  That is, we cannot find the Source of existence or fuel of the olive tree in this universe.
• Belief in God which can be referred to as an Absolute being because we cannot describe it in created terms.  That is how the Quran describes it.  Not only belief in God but all articles of belief have the same qualities, i.e. they cannot be from this universe.  
• Example, human beings are lamps.  We have some qualities within ourselves in the form of human feelings and spirit, which radiate light, demonstrating that they are giving the light pointing to their Source of Existence.  The Source of Existence of my feelings must be the One who has these qualities that will satisfy my feelings.  My feelings are created in such a way that they are yearning for eternal satisfaction.  This requires a creation where the requirements of all our human feelings and expectations are satisfied.  Don’t you want to be permanently happy and youthful where you do not have to labor to follow a set of principles to achieve results?  Don’t you want an existence where you do not have to deal with paying bills and working to make a living?!  Don’t you desire an existence where there is no injustice happening?!  Don’t you want an existence where you can just entertain your life in a comfortable way?  All this requires a creation where the requirements of the human spirit must be satisfied.  This life radiates who can satisfy these feelings and expectations.  Belief in the hereafter is also neither from “east or west” i.e. not from this universe, rather it is only the One who created this universe, and my feelings in it that must satisfy those feelings by creating another type of existence which is called the next creation, “the Hereafter.”  

– For example, isn’t our stomach digesting itself? 

• • No.  Through its working, the stomach is demonstrating how it’s being made, always changing in its existence.  That is amazing!  Every moment, not only we are changing, but also our organs are changing.  The way our organs are changed in their existence continuously emanating light demonstrates that something is continuously changing their creation.
  • Yes, I need to be created, and I know that I am changing, I am growing. We are not changing by ourselves, rather we are subject to change!

• Why don’t I notice these obvious changes?  Why am I not aware of continuous motion that I am subject to in this universe?  We are being indoctrinated with the language that we use which block us from pondering over the reality of how light is being emanated in objects from a Conscious Being, not of the nature of this universe.  For example, it is snowing.  What does “it” refer to?  We may call an event to be “snowing” and this snow is being created.  Instead, we must realize that a different creation is taking place at every moment.  In Islamic civilization, “it” is referred to as Mercy of the Creator being manifested. Think about these matters seriously!   Try to realize what is actually happening in creation!!
• Where are we missing in our Truth?  We should develop ourselves in such a way that we should know why we choose to believe in that which we believe in (God, Angels, Prophets, Resurrection).

Can we say that “It is our intellect thinking?”  Why?

• We are just obeying the way that things are created and asking the result to be created.  This continuous act of creation is essential for considering the Creator to be an Absolute Being.  Otherwise, God is the One who created the universe and left it alone, all this work in the universe attributed to the things themselves. We must pay attention to the continuous creation only possible by the Creator being Absolute.

• When I am asking for the result to be created, I am using my free will to request for the results to be created.  We are just pointing by choosing for the creation of what we need, petitioning the Creator.  

• Everything works in a harmonious way and is well connected with the rest of the universe.  

• We are just witnessing one moment of creation at a given time.  For example, when we stare at a river, we don’t see still water but a running river.  Are you seeing the same water at each second?  No.  Similarly, the universe is like running water and we only see one slice of it, which is this moment.  That is how the nature of the creation of this universe is taking place, where no moments are alike.

• When it comes to us, we have a quality of memory which recalls the past and envisions the future.  If you are created tomorrow, then you will see a different creation, which may look like what you recall seeing from yesterday or the year before but never the same.

• We expand our life with the quality of memory and the ability to visualize, rather in reality, we are only seeing an instant of a moment.  That is why it is impossible to explain this world as a random happening.  How do you explain the constant change taking place in this universe?

• Hence, our stomach and intellectual quality are created anew every day.  We think that I am getting old, that is why the memory is getting weak, rather the memory is created anew as weaker than before after a certain age.  All this is happening finely that we do not realize such change, and we misappropriate the decay or deterioration to things themselves or the event of aging.  This is what happens when I look at the universe superficially.  Again, memory is created anew in a different form.  That is why we need to understand that no moment is the same but perfectly orderly creation keeps its consistency.  In other words, we cannot imagine the One who is realizing this.   It is impossible to imagine which kind of being is the Creator of the universe.  However, it must be something that we must yearn to see the reality of, knowing that here it is not possible because everything is a veil here.  That is why we cannot liken it to anything of what we have seen in the universe.  When the quality of memory is changing, the cell in my brain is newly created. And, it is impossible to say that this change is accidental or happening on its own.  The universe is a beautiful light pointing to its Creator and the qualities of its Creator.  
• Every layer of creation is independently renewed.  The existence of my eyes is also given a new existence at every moment, for example.

يَكَادُ زَيْتُهَا يُضِىٓءُ وَلَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ 

24:35 “Whose oil almost gives light even when no fire touches it.”

For example, a table made out of wood can exhibit fire, heat, and light. True, when fire touches the wood, it becomes fire.  It is not the physical light but the light that we are seeing in the existence of each being in the universe. Each being does not need another being to give it light.  The act of creation is subtle, not needing anything else to manifest its qualities.

Is there any need of “fire” for the lamp of the beings to “light” what qualities manifest in them?

• Do we need “any cause” to give light, and “this cause” causes the light to emanate?  No, everything is light.  That is, the Creator is manifesting His qualities in such a way that we cannot see any reason in the universe which causes the light to emanate.  For example, you are light means that the qualities manifested in your being point to the Qualities of the Creator of the universe.  My existence is automatically emitting light for those who want to see beyond the physical body structure.  To manifest the qualities, each being does not need a reflector to manifest the qualities, rather it automatically is emitting light from the Source of its existence.  We are taught cause & effect relationship, which does not mean that the cause is creating the effect.

Do you need “fire” to use your consciousness, feelings, spirit, intellect, or even stomach?

• You automatically use it, and everything is functioning at the same time (the stomach, feelings, consciousness, free will…). The way creation is taking place is mind blowing, and it is impossible to explain it in simple words.  I am created anew now, and in my creation you see light.  Everything is emanating light, in a nested way, that is why the verse will go on saying: “light upon light”.

If there is no need to create on my end, what is our “free will” doing, then?

• We are created with the ability to learn from the past (the memory records the previous creation, and we are set free to learn from the past; also, we have the vision for the future).  By giving me the free will, it is as if my Creator is asking, “what do you want Me to create for you the next moment?”  When I exercise my free choice, I obey the orderly creation, which does not change.  As a result of this, following the order, I am communicating with my Creator rightly, because I cannot change His orderly creation.  I am just given the free will to choose, and the next creation is created as I have chosen.   The order is created in such a way that I just choose what I want to be created.  We are choosing but we never create.  We just utilize the qualities by choosing from the options which are given to us.

Comment: How does the Creator know what I am going to choose?

The One who gives existence to the options is the Creator of the whole universe, and we cannot think of this Creator in terms of this world. He must have Absolute Knowledge and through His Absolute Knowledge, He must know the past and the future, which is according to me.  He knows what I am going to choose, and He creates according to my choice.  My free will is not pre-ordained, but the One who creates the free will knows it.  For example, I will choose to eat an apple, and my Creator creates the act of eating the apple.  Do you choose because He knows it, or He knows what you are going to choose and creates the result after you have exercised your choice freely?  Thinking that if God knows what I am going to choose with His Absolute Knowledge, then I am choosing according to His Knowledge. This reasoning is not applicable, because you are not choosing according to what He decides. He decides according to what you are going to choose.

• God decides according to my choice, but He knows it in Eternity.

Example: the train will come at 5:00 pm.  Does the train come because you know it?  No. But we know when it will come  because the organizers have chosen the time for the arrival of the train. That is why we learn that the train will come at 5:00 pm.  We are given the freedom to choose. We choose freely by following the orderly creation and  the Creator knows according to our choice. After we choose, and then He creates the result of my choice. We do choose because He knows what I am going to choose. If I had chosen another option given to me in orderly creation, God would know it according to whatever the option I choose. This is true that we cannot choose whatever we want. For example, we cannot choose to stop the moon rotating. We can only choose from among the given options within the orderly creation. We are responsible only with these options. We are not responsible for the rotation of the moon. But if we have chosen to cut a fruit tree in my garden, we are responsible for the result when it is created dead and not given the fruit anymore. We will be responsible for not having the fruit. We cannot complain about God for not giving us the fruit anymore. 

Example: you took a sip of water.  Are you free not to take that sip?  Yes.  Is God deciding on your choice?  No.

We must question the Source of Existence of every layer.  We must go stage by stage, notice that everything is continuously being changed.  Unfortunately, the misunderstandings in our explanations occur because we take this orderly creation as a standard for happening on its own.  Once we understand ourselves, and experience existence under the guidance of these verses, it becomes easy to see light.

What is our responsibility in this world?

Comment: To accept that I have a Creator when I choose. I should not claim that when I choose from among the options given to me, I am the creator of the result of my choice.

The acceptability comes after we conclude that I must have a Creator, and there is a purpose in my existence.  What is the purpose of my existence?  Firstly, I must realize that my responsibility is to investigate this creation, and what qualities are emanating here, and what these qualities refer to and what does it mean for me?  Then you can realize that you have an Absolute Creator, which is impossible to be described as He has nothing to do with the nature of this universe as He is my Creator and the Creator of the universe. Then, what can be the purpose of my existence?  The answer can only come from the Creator of my existence.  The universe emanates that I have a Creator, the universe does not answer, why am I created? Why is it created?   There must be a purpose in the existence of my perfectly arranged feelings in harmony with the universe, what can it be?

Example: A child is born and raised in a university setting as his parents are living and working there.  The child grows and doesn’t know what students are doing by going to the classes. After certain years he wonders and asks what these people are doing in this university?  The buildings do not tell him that they are classes and the people are students, some of them are teachers, in the rooms there are teachings going on. Someone must tell him that if he wants to be a student and be educated, then he  also must go to class.  That is how we must ask the questions of why we exist and what we are supposed to do here. We need the Creator’s guidance when it comes to answering our existential questions of what am I doing here and what am I supposed to do here?  Only when we have the questions does guidance from the Creator come with what to do with my human feelings and how to use my qualities and reasoning in a certain way.  If I do not have the question even some people shout that “in these buildings some important teachings are going on, come on join us!” I would not take notice of it and I would not even understand what “teachings” means. 

We receive the application of this guidance through Prophetic mission i.e. Revelation transferred to us from a human being.  I need a verbal speech which comes through a human being, because the universe does not speak in a human language.  God must send His speech to a person who could bear the human experiences of the universe, so I can learn from and apply to my life accordingly.  

The first stage is “belief”, then we must apply the content of this belief in our lives which is called “doing good actions” in the second stage conforming to that belief.  Without establishing the first stage, the second stage cannot be practiced efficiently.  Our responsibility is to take care of our free will and search for why I am here in such a wonderful creation. I should investigate the news from my Creator, why am I created?  Then, look for guidance from the Creator.  We must be thankful for how we receive guidance, i.e. only the Prophets say that we brought news from God, no philosophers or human beings can claim that.  The Prophetic message perfectly matches the news from the universe.  The universe is the criteria to understand what the revelation points to i.e. creation points to its Creator.

 

Tags: Al-Noor, Noor Series