The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 334
Seal of the Prophets - Volume I 334 اَنْزَل َ اللّٰه ُ عَلی ٰ رَسُوْل ِ اللّٰه ِ صَلَّی اللّٰه ُ عَلَیْه ِ وَسَلَّم َ وَفَخْذُہ ٗ عَلی ٰ فَخْذِی ْ فَثَقُلَت ْ عَلَی َّ حَتّٰی ُ خِفْت ُ اَن ْ قَرَض َ فَخْذِی ْ ثُم َّ سُرِی َ عَنْه Meaning, “On one occasion, the thigh of the Holy Prophet sa was upon my thigh, and a state of revelation overtook him. During this time, the thigh of the Holy Prophet sa felt so heavy that I began to fear that my thigh might break under its pressure. Then this state of the Holy Prophet sa passed. ” 1 From this, it is apparent that when revelation is sent down, since the spiritual senses are greatly strengthened, for this reason, the physical faculties of man are generally suspended, and the body is left in the state of a lifeless being. At this instance, the elucidation of a doubt is also necessary, which tends to give way in the hearts of various unacquainted and simple-minded people that how is it that God speaks? In other words, does God speak a language? In this regard, it should be remembered that the powers of every being are expressed as per its qualities and attributes. Since the being of Allāh the Exalted is extraordinarily sublime, immaterial, infinite, and most hidden, He cannot be fathomed at all as per the circumstances of man, who is material, formed and limited. Hence, it would be very ignorant to think that since man requires a piece of flesh to speak, so does God. The fact of the matter is that just as God employs the rest of his infinite powers, He speaks in the same way, but without a physical tongue. He listens as well, but without physical ears and sees, but without physical eyes. No doubt, it is not above the comprehension of man to perceive His being, but indeed, it is above the comprehension of man to understand the depths of His being. Just look at the record-player, does it also have a tongue by which it speaks, like human beings? Therefore, when such a prominent difference exists between creatures and trivial objects, then how ignorant of a deed is it to examine a Creator and Master, the First and the Last, Eternal and Everlasting, Sublime, Infinite, and Omnipotent Being such as God, upon the precepts of man. Compilation of the Qur’ān The actual discussion on the compilation of the Qur’ān shall be taken 1 Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābut-Tafsīr, Bābu “Lā Yastawil-Qā‘idūna minal-Mu’minīn. . . . . . ” , Ḥadīth No. 4592