Malfuzat – Volume II — Page 259
259 It is not necessary for God Almighty to disclose to us the underlying facts in narratives. Just believe in them and leave the intricate details to God. In the case of fasting, the Arabs would ask about relevant details and many verses expound various aspects of this injunction. However, in the case of narratives, this is not necessary. For example, it is unnecessary for God Almighty to tell us about the appearance of the idols that belonged to the idolatrous opponents of Abraham as. To pursue such thoughts is disrespectful. In short, remember that it is improper for one to overdo an issue unnecessarily and raise absurd questions as to the de- tails of narratives related in the Quran. A human being cannot follow an instruc- tion until it is clear. Therefore, God Almighty states that He has made points of guidance simple, and in the same manner, Allah the Exalted has clearly explained that the dead do not return. If our opponents possess a sense of honesty and fear of God, when they relate the narrative of Ezra as , it is incumbent on them to not ignore those verses of the Holy Quran which state that the dead do not return. Now, I will come down a degree for the sake of argument and provide another response. I have already mentioned that as far as narratives are concerned, a gen- eral belief in them is sufficient. However, since instructions are meant to be acted upon in the practical sense, therefore it is necessary for one to understand them. Now, it is written that Ezra as remained ‘dead’ for a hundred years and the Arabic word used for this is amata. It should be known that one definition of amata (to cause to die) is anama as well, which means ‘to be put to sleep. ’ The word ‘death’ has also been used in the Holy Quran to describe a loss of strength in the facul- ties of growth and perception. In any case, we can also infer a meaning of sleep in this context, like the account of the Dwellers of the Cave. The difference between the account of the Dwellers of the Cave and that of Ezra as is that in the case of the Dwellers of the Cave, there was the dog, and in the case of Ezra as there is a donkey. The baser self is akin to both a dog and a donkey. God likened the Jews to a donkey and mentioned the dog in the context of Balaam. It is evident that the baser self does not let go of man. One who is unconscious will either be with ‘a dog’ or ‘a donkey’. Therefore, another aspect of this discussion is—as I have mentioned—that the Arabic word amata, which means ‘to cause to die’, is also defined as anama i. e. ‘to put to sleep. ’ And I accept that one hundred years aside, a person may well sleep for two hundred thousand years—my contention is that once the soul is taken by