The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 546
AN ADDENDUM MY LIFE, ANCESTORS, AND BRETHREN IN FAITH 545 in Him from head to toe. I became an essence without a peel and, in addition to that, I became an oil without any impurity or seed. I was separated from my soul in such a way that I became some- thing that was no longer visible, or I became like a drop of water which returned to the sea and the sea enclosed it and it became hidden under the waves of the ocean. So, in this condition, I did not know who I was before. The Divine Essence penetrated deep into the very roots of: being. I felt that my being had been made to disappear altogether and Allah put all my organs to His service and He became their Supreme Master. It had been done with such a power that is beyond imagina- tion. And after being caught like this—I felt that I no longer existed. my I started to believe that my organs were not actually mine, rather they were Allah's. Moreover, I started to believe that my being had been annihilated and had left my skeleton. At this point there was no one to quarrel, to be equal, or to resist like an occupant. My God has entered into my whole being. My entire anger, entire tolerance, entire sweet- ness, entire bitterness, entire activity or inactivity—all of them were devoted to Him, and I became empty of my being. When I was in this state I was saying that I wanted to create a new heaven and a new earth. I wanted a whole new system. Thus, the sky and earth were created spiritually where there was yet no difference nor any order. So I separated them and rearranged them according to the will of Allah. It seemed as if I was capable of creating them. Furthermore, while I was in the same state, I created a sky for this world and I said that I would decorate it with stars. Then I said that I would create man from dust, after which my attention was driven to a revelation and the following words were put: in my mouth: أَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَسْتَخْلِفَ فَخَلَقْتُ أدَمَ. إِنَّا خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيْمٍ وَكُنَّا كَذَالِكَ خَالِقِيْنَ. I decided to appoint a khalifah [vicegerent] from Myself so I created this Adam. Then we created man in the best mould and in the same way We create.