The Physical, Moral and Spiritual States of Man (part 2)

The Third source: The Soul at Rest

The third source which should be described as the beginning of the spiritual state of man is called by the Holy Quran Nafsi Mutma’innah, that is to say, the soul at rest, as is said:

   (3)

That is, O soul at rest that has found comfort in God return to thy Lord, thou well pleased with Him and He well pleased with thee. Now join My chosen servants and enter into My garden.

This is the stage when the soul of a person  being delivered from all weaknesses is filled with spiritual powers and establishes a relationship with God Almighty without Whose support it cannot exist. As water flowing down from a height, on account of its volume  and the absence of any obstruction, rushes with great force, in the same way the soul at rest flows towards God. That is indicated by the divine direction to the soul that has found comfort in God to return to its Lord. It undergoes  a great transformation in this very life and is bestowed  a paradise while still in this world. As this verse indicates in its direction to such a soul to return to its Lord, it is nourished by its Lord and its love of God becomes its nurture, and it drinks at this fountain of life and is thus delivered from death. This is indicated at another place in the Holy Quran where it is said:

(4)

That is, he who purifies his soul of earthly passions shall be saved and shall not suffer ruin, but he who is overcome by his earthly passions should despair of life.

In short, these three states may be called the natural, moral and spiritual states of man. As the natural urges of man become very dangerous when they are roused and often destroy the moral and spiritual qualities, they are described in God’s Holy Book  as the self that incites to evil. It may be asked what is the attitude of the Holy Quran towards the natural state of man, what guidance does it furnish concerning it and how does it seek to control it? The answer is that according to the Holy Quran the natural state of man  has a very strong relationship with his moral and spiritual states, so much so that even a person’s manner of eating and drinking affects his moral and spiritual states. If the natural state of a person is subjected to the control of the directions of divine law it becomes his moral state and deeply affects his spirituality, as is said that whatever falls into a salt mine is converted into salt. That is why the Holy Quran has laid stress on physical cleanliness and postures, and their regulation in relation to all worship and inner purity and spiritual humility. Reflection confirms that physical conditions deeply affect the soul. For instance, when our eyes are filled with tears, even if the tears are artificially induced, the heart is immediately affected and becomes sorrowful. In the same way, when we begin to laugh, even if the laughter is artificially induced, the heart begins to feel cheerful.  It has  also  been observed  that  physical prostration in prayer induces humility in the soul. As a contrast when we draw ourselves up physically and strut  about  with our neck  raised  and  our breast pushed forward,  this  attitude  induces  a mood of arrogance and vain glory. These instances establish clearly that physical conditions certainly affect spiritual conditions.

Experience also shows that different types of food affect the intellect and the mind in different ways. For instance, careful observation would disclose that  people  who refrain  altogether  from eating meat gradually suffer a decline  of the faculty of bravery; they lose courage and thus suffer the loss of a divinely  bestowed praiseworthy faculty. This is reinforced by the evidence of the divine law of nature that the herbivorous animals do not possess the  same degree of courage  as do carnivorous ones. The same applies to birds.  Thus there is no doubt that morals are affected by food. Conversely those who are given to a diet consisting mainly of meat and eat very little of greens suffer a decline of meekness and humility.  Those who adopt the middle course develop both types of moral qualities. That is why God Almighty has said in the Holy Quran:

(5)

That is to say, eat meat and other foods but do not eat anything to excess, lest your moral state be adversely affected and your health might suffer.

As the soul is affected by physical conduct, in the same way sometimes the soul affects the body. For instance, when a person experiences sorrow his eyes become wet, and a person who feels happy, smiles. All our natural actions like eating, drinking, sleeping, waking, moving about, resting, bathing etc., affect our spiritual  condition. Our physical structure  is  related intimately to our total humanity. If a certain part of the brain is injured, memory is immediately lost. An injury to another part of the brain causes loss of consciousness. Poisonous air affects the body and through it the mind, and the whole inner system, to which the moral impulses are related, is impaired and the unfortunate victim passes out quickly like a madman.

Thus physical injuries disclose that there is a mysterious relationship between the soul and the body which is beyond the ken of man. Reflection shows that the body is the mother of the soul. The soul does not descend from outside into the womb of a pregnant woman. It is a light that is inherent in the  sperm which  begins to shine  forth with the development  of  the  foetus.  The  Word of  God Almighty  conveys to us that the soul becomes manifest from the framework that is prepared in the womb from the sperm, as is said in the Holy Quran:

(6)  

This means that God bestows a new creation on the body that is prepared in the womb and that new creation is called the soul. Greatly blessed is God Who has no equal as a creator.

The affirmation that a new creation is manifested from the body is a mystery that reveals the reality of the soul and points to the strong relationship between the soul and the body. We are also instructed   thereby   that   the   same  philosophy underlies      the     physical     acts    and     words    and movements when they are manifested in the cause of God, that is to say, all these sincere actions are charged with a soul as the sperm is charged with a soul. As the framework of those actions is developed, the soul with which  they are charged begins to shine and when that framework becomes complete the soul inside it shines forth in its full manifestation and discloses its spiritual aspect. At that stage those actions become fully alive. This means that when the framework of actions is completed, something shines forth from it suddenly like a flash of lightning. This is the stage concerning which God Almighty says in the Holy Quran:

(7)

That is, when I have completed his framework and have set right  all his manifestations  of glory and have breathed into him My spirit, then fall down in prostration all of you, on his account. This verse indicates that when the framework of actions is completed,  a soul shines forth in it, which God attributes to Himself inasmuch as that framework is completed at the cost of worldly life. Thus the divine light which is dim in the beginning suddenly shines forth, so that on the beholding of this divine manifestation, it becomes incumbent  on everyone to fall into prostration and to be drawn to that Light. Everyone perceiving that light falls into prostration and is naturally drawn to it, except Iblis who loves darkness.

z:THere it would be useful to mention that the human foetus shows signs of life almost four months and ten days after its conception, that is, at the intermedial stage of its existence in the womb. The same laws of nature that cause the foetus to evolve from the vegetative to the animal state are also operative in spiritual birth. In other words, just as a foetus spends half the span of its existence in the privacy of the womb and then starts showing signs of animation and life, the same condition obtains in the birth of spiritual life as well.

The better part of a person’s life, before the onset of senility, can be measured at approximately eighty years, half of which is forty. Here the number forty correlates with the first four months the foetus spends  in the  womb prior to  its  first  physical movements. Experience tells us that when man has lived half of his productive life—the first forty years which bear a strong likeness to the first four months of a foetus’ existence—his soul awakens and shows nascent signs of spiritual life, provided he is blessed with a pure disposition.

 It is no secret that before he is forty a man’s life is mostly  obscured by ignorance. The  first seven or eight years of his existence are passed in infancy, and the following twenty-five or so years are mostly spent in the pursuit of learning or frittered away on libertine pleasures. Afterwards, he is married or is otherwise beguiled into chasing wealth and honour and exceeds all bounds in doing  so. At this stage, even if man turns towards God his quest is somewhat tainted with material desires. His prayers are mostly for worldly gains and his cries and supplications are sullied by worldly desires. Thus, what little faith he has in the hereafter is offset by the fact that death appears only as a distant possibility. Just as when  a dam bursts its banks and destroys whatever lies in its path, so does the flood of carnal passions imperil human life. In this state, how can he ever believe in the subtleties of the hereafter? Instead, he mocks and derides religion  and parades his own dry logic and sophistry. Of course, if he is good by nature, he may believe in God, but does so without full faith and sincerity and that too is conditional upon his own success. If his desires are fulfilled he turns to God, if not, he turns to Satan. In short, youth is a critical period of one’s life and without Divine grace one might well land in the pit of hell. The fact is that this part of one’s life is the root of all evil. It is at this time that one contracts most physical ailments and some unmentionable  diseases.  The mistakes made in the callowness of youth often cause man to turn away from the True and Immutable God. Thus, at this age he fears God but little  and  is  driven  by  carnal passion and dominated  by his baser self. He pays little heed to the advice of others and suffers the consequences of this age for the remainder of his life.

As man approaches forty, he starts shedding the vagaries of his youth and ruefully looks back at many of his follies from which his counsellors had failed to dissuade him. The ebullience of his youth naturally begins to subside, for his physical condition  declines with advancing age. The rebellious blood is no longer there, nor is  there any more  physical vitality  and recklessness of youth. The time of deterioration and decay approaches fast.

At this stage, he also witnesses the passing away of his elders and even the untimely  death of younger people whose loss leaves him stricken with grief. His parents too are  probably  no more  and the world begins to betray its transience in a number of ways. It is as if God places before him a mirror and says,

‘Look, this is the reality of life of which you are so fond.’ It is then that he recalls his past mistakes with regret and undergoes a radical transformation ushering in a new life, provided he is well-meaning by nature   and   is   one   of  those   whom God  has summoned.  It is  in this  context  that  Allah,  the

Almighty, says:  

(8)

That is, we enjoined on man [saying to him:] “Be good to your parents. You should realize what agony your mother suffered for you! During your pregnancy she suffered pain for a long period of time and with pain she brought  you forth. For thirty months she remained in discomfort during gestation and breast- feeding you. Again, He says that when  a good  person reaches forty and matures he recalls Divine exhortations and says, ‘My Lord, let me be grateful for the favours You have bestowed on me and on my parents and grant me the opportunity  to do such good  works as may please You, and make my seed righteous for me. That is to say, if I failed in my duty to my parents, let not my children do the same. If ever I strayed from the right path, let them not follow suit. My Lord, I repent and turn to You and am of those who submit.’

Thus, God has made it clear that the fortieth year is a blessing for those who are righteous and it is then that the spirit of truth awakens in them. Most of

God’s Prophets were raised in the fortieth year of their lives. For instance, our Lord and Master, the Holy Prophetsa was also raised for the reformation of mankind in his fortieth year. z:T

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(3). And you, O soul at peace! Return to your Lord well pleased with Him and He well pleased with you. So enter you among My chosen servants, And enter you My Garden. (The Holy Quran, al-Fajr 89:28-31)