Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 220
Malf uza t - English translation of Urdu Volume 8 220 Moreover, this ghaib [unseen] includes Heaven, Hell, the Resurrection of bodies, and all those phenomena still behind the veil of the unseen. Now, in the initial stage, the believer has faith in them. However, the guidance is that he will be given a reward for this initial state of faith, and that is that his knowledge will move from the stage of ghaib [unseen] to the stage of shah u d [being present]. Then a time will come when he will become عارف عارف [ ‘ a rif —cognizant] of the things he used to have faith in though they were unseen. And those matters that had remained hidden until now come before him, and he sees them in the state of shah u d. Then he does not believe God to be unseen; instead, he sees Him, and His manifestation remains present before him. Therefore, after this ghaib , he is bestowed the stage of shah u d. As the stage of ‘irf a n [cognizance] is attained after i m a n [faith], he sees God Almighty in this very world. Moreover, if he had not been granted this rank, then the one fulfilling the condition of ِبْيَغْلاِب ِبْيَغْلاِب َنْوُنِمْؤُي َنْوُنِمْؤُي [ yu’ min u na bil-ghaibi —believing in the unseen] would not have been given any guidance and reward. It is as though the Holy Quran would not have served as a guide for him. However, this does not happen, and the guidance for him is that his faith is transported from the state of ghaib to the state of shah u d , and the evidence for this is: 1 ْنَم َناَك ْيِف ٖۤهِذٰه ىٰمْعَا َوُهَف يِف ِةَرِخٰاْلا ىٰمْعَا ْنَم َناَك ْيِف ٖۤهِذٰه ىٰمْعَا َوُهَف يِف ِةَرِخٰاْلا ىٰمْعَا Meaning that, he who is blind in this world shall also be raised blind in the realm of the Hereafter. By this blindness, it is meant that man fails to behold in this very world the manifestation of God Almighty and those things that come under the category of the unseen. And some portion of this blindness is found in the one who is at the stage of [believing 1. S u rah Ban i Isr a ’ i l, 17:73 [Publisher]