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The Meaning of Six Days in Which God Created the Heavens and Earth

Publication Type  Article
Year of Publication  Submitted
Authors  Al-Shiraz, Al-Muayyad-Fid-din
Original Publication  Read and Know
Publisher  Shia Ismailia Association for Tanzania
Key Words  heaven; earth; haqiqat; tariqat; creation


The Meaning of Six Days in Which God Created the Heavens and Earth

O Momins, may God guide you to the right path and may He make your abode in the place where you will not hear a useless or a sinful talk.

I have told you that the thick earthly body will not rise to the skies. A belief of this kind cannot stand the test of reason. It is only the spirit which will rise and which does rise even when our body lies here during our stay in this world. It has the potential power of rising and it is not outside its province to rise in reality.

In short, the soul which belongs to the higher regions by acquiring the powers of flight, will fly back to its original abode and the body which by nature belongs to the lower region will go back to its low level.

The only way in which this power to soar upward can be acquired is to learn the particular names of God through the Imams who prescribe different names of 'naqsh' for different individuals, according to the peculiar 'naqsh' of their souls. Through them and them alone the human soul is being prepared to reach the stage about which God says "O peaceful soul come back to your Lord satisfied. Join my devotees and enter my 'jannat'."

As long as our heavens continue to be what they are and our earth continues to be what it is, it is not possible for a human being to assume a form of an imperishable eternal nature. It is for these reasons that God has promised that He would change the present earth and heavens in order that the human being living between the two should assume a form fit for a perpetual life. The Holy Quran says, "The day when the earth and the heavens will change into something different from what they are." This proves to us that on the Day of Resurrection the earth and heavens will not be the material bodies of this world. If they will not be what they are how can the creatures living between them have the defective forms and bodies of this world? This can be understood only by those who have well developed hearts or who have listened to the words of the Imam with the presence of mind.

You have heard what I have told you about the verse, "We have created heavens and earth and whatever is between the two." You have followed the lines of my argument and my criticism of the belief of those who stick to the literal meaning of these verses. I have made it clear to you that the day begins with the sun-rise and ends with the sun-set and night begins with the sun-set and ends with the sun-rise. If there is no sun and no heavens how can we talk of days and nights, and the period of the six days? The commentators have got stuck up in the matter and they have disposed off the verse by making an assertive statement that the period consisted of six days. This is their own imagination.

There are others who say things which are still much worse. They say that the six days refer to the six days of the 'akhrat ' and that each day is equivalent to one thousand years of our world.

I have already pointed out to you that to stand in need of a particular period for making something is indication of the limitation of powers. God's power is unlimited. He says, "Our command is one order (which is carried out) within the twinkling of an eye." Other verses of the Holy Quran show to us that a companion of Soloman who was his pupil and who had acquired the knowledge from him brought the throne of "Bilqees" to Soloman within the twinkling of his eye. In continuation of the story of Soloman in the Holy Quran the companion of Solomon says, "I shall bring it to you before your eye turn back from looking at a thing."

If this is the magnitude of power exercised by one of the creatures of God what difficulty is there for God, the best of Creators, to experience in the creation of the heavens and earth within the twinkling of an eye? Those who know this and still believe that God took six days to create heavens and earth prove against themselves that they have no idea of the God-hood of God, whom they pretend to worship and hence they cannot understand the meaning of His words "Six Days."

We, with all our human weakness are gifted with a thinking power which travels from the East to the West and makes a survey of what is under the earth and what is above the skies without the least difficulty. This is a well-known affair. No one can deny it. If this is the case with us why should it be difficult for us to understand the super power of the Creator of heavens and earth? If those who stick to the literal meaning of the Holy Quran were to refer the matter to the Prophet and the spiritual heads, the Imams, who are the true interpreter their difficulties would be solved.

The heavens and earth do not mean the heavens and earth with which we are familiar and the days do not mean the days in the sense in which we understand them. They refer to the different ranks of the 'Natiqs' who are in charge of the 'taweel' which moulds our intellects and souls into new forms.

In some of our 'majlis' I have pointed out to you that from the physical point of view heavens surround the human being but from the point of view of spiritual development through knowledge, human beings surround these bodies.

In short, just as our souls surround the heavens, the Noor of the Imam surrounds our souls and is the Heaven of heavens on Whom alone we look for nutrition for our spirits.

May God make you profit by their philosophy and may He give you the moral strength to thank them for this.

NOTE: According to other writers on Ismailism Heaven stands for Haqiqat and Earth stand for Tariqat. The six Days stand for the six cycles of the Natiqs namely; Adam, Noaha, Ebrahim, Moses, Christ, and Mohammad.

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