The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 174
PREFACE FOOTNOTE 173 leave their posts and it never happens in the heavens that even a foot of space be seen empty. AUTHOR'S MARGIN NOTE The erroneous belief of Batālawi and the Shaikh of Delhi is that at times the heavens are completely with- out angels. In particular, during Lailatul Qadr, the heavens become like a house abandoned because all the angels and the Rüḥul-Qudus, descend upon the earth and remain upon the earth till the morning. But, alas! Sadly, Batālawi and the Shaikh of Delhi even in this scientific age hold on to the belief that there is nothing extraordi- nary about the heavens being empty to the extent of only a foot of space. Sometimes, through the descent of huge angels, the heavens become a desolate wil- derness for thousands of miles in which not even a single angel remains! Insofar as when the angel bearing six hundred (600) wings of pearls whose length runs from east to west—namely, Gabriel―— descends upon the earth with his entire being, then you can imagine the thousands of miles of heaven, or short of that, that would be left empty from the descent of such a colossal angel. To be styled Shaikh- ul-Kull [the Greatest Scholar] yet fail to understand the Prophet's aḥadīth is cause for pity and shame! AUTHOR'S MARGIN NOTE The descent of angels refers to a form of divine manifes- tation, whose clear impact is felt upon the hearts of the recipients of revela- tion. Often, the angels even become visible at such times by assuming a tangible form. If there is a delay in such a manifestation, it is said that the descent has been delayed. The permanent nearness of In short, as I have just explained, it should be borne in mind very carefully that it is not possible for the godly to be separated from the influences of the Holy Spirit even for a single moment, for the soul of their new life is the Holy Spirit itself; how, then, can they be separated from their soul? The separation which is found in the aḥadīth and in some indications in the Holy Quran, refers only to a particular manifestation [of the Holy Spirit is akin to the the Holy Spirit] which was delayed, on occasions, as deemed appropriate by the will of Allah. The word nuzul [descent] in the terminology of the Noble Quran fire that ever resides within stone-its manifestation resembles the striking of the rock, from which a spark is produced.