AL-‘ÂLAM AL-BAQÂ - العالم البقاء

 

Literally: ‘Âlam is a world. A realm. A universe. A class of beings. A state or period of life. A condition or circumstance of life. The generality of mankind. The public.

Literally: Baqâ is enduring. Abiding. Remaining. A being permanent. Perpetual. Eternal. Permanency. Being Bâqî. Eternity.

As a term of ‘Ilm al-Kalâm: Baqâ is an attribute of Allah, whose existence is enduring.

Al-‘âlam al-baqâ is the eternal ‘âlam.

 

“The results of some of the matters of îmân look to this restricted and narrow ‘âlam, while others look to al-‘âlam of the âkhirah, which is broad and absolute. In order to give the appropriate effect of either encouraging or restraining, some Noble Hadiths about the fadhîlah and rewards of actions are in an eloquent style, and some unwary people have supposed them to be exaggerated. However, since they are all pure haqq and haqiqah, there is no exaggeration or overstatement in them.

For instance, there is this Hadith which has confused the mind of the unfair more than any.

لَوْ وُزِنَتِ الدُّنْيَا عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ جَنَاحَ بَعُوضَةٍ مَا شَرِبَ الْكَافِرُ مِنْهَا جُرْعَةَ مَاءٍ

Its noble meaning is: "If the world had as much value as a fly's wing for Janâb-i Haqq, the kâfirs would not have had so much as a mouthful of water from it." The haqiqah of it is this: the phrase عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ 1 refers to al-‘âlam al-baqâ. Yes, since a nûr from al-‘âlam al-baqâ to the extent of a fly's wing is everlasting, it is greater than a temporary nûr that fills the face of the earth. That means it is not to say that the huge world is equal to a fly's wing, but that everyone's private world which is situated within their short lives, is not equal to an everlasting Ilahî faydh and bounty to the extent of a fly's wing from al-‘âlam al-baqâ.

Furthermore, the world has two faces, indeed, three faces. One is the mirror to Janâb-i Haqq's Names, another looks to the âkhirah and is its arable field, and the third looks to transience and non-existence. This is the world of the people of dhalâlah, which is not in accordance with the things that please Allah that we know. That is to say, it infers not that the vast world, which is the mirrors to Al-Asmâ Al-Husnâ, and is the letters of As-Samad, and is the tillage of the âkhirah, but that the world of those who perform ‘ibâdah to the world, which is opposed to the âkhirah and is the source of all wrongs and spring of calamities, is not worth one everlasting particle which will be given to the people of îmân in al-‘âlam of âkhirah. Thus, how can the way it is understood by the unfair people of ilhâd be compared with this most true and serious haqiqah? What has the meaning, which those people of ilhâd supposed to be the most exaggerated and overstated to do with this?” The Words (355-356 )