The Guiding Light — Page 347
S u rah al-Baqarah, Verse 255-258 347 man of unrighteous conduct. So ask not of Me that of which thou hast no knowledge. I advise thee lest thou become one of the ignorant (11:47). This verse beautifully illustrates the philosophy of ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) In a moment of great uneasiness of mind Noah as interceded for his son with God but forgot to ask for His permission, whereupon God reminded him that though the boy was his son in the physical sense, he was not one in the true spiritual sense and was therefore not entitled to ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) which has its basis in spiritual kinship. Having briefly explained the nature and conditions of ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) , we now come to the question: How many forms of ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) are there? A study of the relevant Qur’ a nic verses and of the attendant facts reveals that ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) is of three kinds: - (1) Firstly, there is the verbal ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) which has been interpreted as “intercession. ” In this form of ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) a holy person actually prays to God on the basis of his special connection with Him that a