Allah The Exalted — Page 131
All a h the Exalted 1 3 is apart from everything and is at a station which is be- yond the beyond. [Chashma-e-Ma‘rifat, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, Vol. 23, pp. 276-277] Another objection which is sometimes raised is that it appears from the Holy Qur’ a n that on the Day of Judge- ment eight angels will bear aloft the ‘ Arsh , from which it is concluded that in this world four angels bear the ‘ Arsh aloft. Here a question arises that God Almighty is above having His Throne borne up by anyone. The answer is as you have just heard that the ‘ Arsh is nothing material which can be borne up or is capable of being borne up. The station of transcendence and Holiness is ‘ Arsh and that is why it is described as uncreated. A material object cannot be outside the creation of God. Whatever has been stated with regard to the ‘ Arsh is by way of meta- phor. A reasonable person can understand that this objection is baseless. The truth is that when God Almighty withdraws to the station where His attribute of transcendence covers all His other attributes and makes Him beyond of beyond and hidden of hidden, which station, in the idiom of the Holy Qur’ a n, is called ‘ Arsh , then God rises above hu- man reason and reason cannot reach Him. Then four of His attributes which have been named four angels which have been manifested in the world, disclose His hidden Being. The first of these is His Rub u biyyat through which He perfects man physically and spiritually. The manifesta- tion of the body and soul is in consequence of the demand of Rub u biyyat. In the same way Divine revela- tion and the manifestation of extraordinary signs are in consequence of the demand of Rub u biyyat.