Fazl-e-Umar — Page 264
Fazle Umar 264 and pervade his dreams. Information is actively sought and analysed. In the second phase when the paths of previously independent ideas intersect, the result is something new, not predictable from our knowledge of the special laws governing each system in isolation. There is something of the ‘flash of insight’ idea of creativity here. It is the angels of God that sow the seed and one becomes suddenly conscious of a previously unconscious idea. Hence, one of the many functions of angels is not only to teach religious knowledge but also secular knowledge even to individuals who are atheists. Authentic cases of revelation are also reported outside the domain of religion where highly complex infor- mation was conveyed through revelation to scientists and inventors such as Thomas Edison, Elias Howe and Fredrich August Kekule. Thomas Edison had numerous “Eureka!” moments as when he discovered the phonograph. Edison simply loved the challenge of inventing. He was always looking for solutions to problems. Great ideas frequently popped into his head like lightning bolts out of the blue. Angels excited and stimulated his mind with knowledge, knowledge that he relished and savoured. Angels help everything attain its desired goal to its fullest extent and therefore, prophets of God and saints are taught religious knowledge because they have an affinity for the Divine. Hadhrat Musleh Mau’ood [ra] explained that angels reveal messages in a strange way. Angels influence man just as the mind of one person can activate another person’s mind and direct it to think in accordance with his command. Ideas of one person can be transmitted to another person’s mind without the employment of any material medium. Hence, when angels descend with knowledge, it does not descend upon the conscious mind but instead; the messages excite the subconscious machinery. This is so that one can recall the messages with some concentration and thought as the subconscious mind is a more permanent storage than the conscious mind. Angels sometimes lodge information deep in the subconscious mind. Circum-