HAFÎDHIYYAH – حفيظية

 

Being a preserver and protector. The attribute, the title and the haqiqah, which arise from the Name Al-Hafîdh.

 

“The Gate of Protection and Hafîdhiyyah,

the Manifestation of the Names of Hafîdh and Raqîb

Is it at all possible that hafîdhiyyah, which protects all things with the utmost order and balance, -things in the heavens and on the earth, on dry land and in the ocean, dry and wet, large and small, commonplace and exalted- and as it was, sifts their results by way of accounting - is it at all possible that hafîdhiyyah should permit the deeds and acts of man, man who has been given the lofty fitrah, the rank of supreme khalîfah, and the duty of bearing the Supreme Trust (Amanah), not to be protected, not to be passed through the sieve of accounting, not to be weighed in the balance of justice, not to be punished or rewarded fittingly, even though his acts and deeds closely pertain to universal rubûbiyyah? No, it is not in any way possible!

Yes, the One Who administers this universe preserves all things in order and balance. Order and balance are the manifestation of ‘ilm and hikmah, of irâdah and qoudrah. For we see that the substance of every created object with art is fashioned in a well-ordered and symmetrical fashion. Not only is each of the forms it changes throughout its life well-ordered, but the totality of these forms is also marked by the same orderliness. We see, too, that Hafîdh Zuljalâl preserves many forms of all things the life of which comes to an end when they have performed their duty and which depart from al-‘âlam ash-shahâdah, in the memories of men which are like a kind of alwâh al-mahfûdh and in a kind of mithâlî mirrors. He also writes a brief history of their life in their seed and result by embroideries. He causes all things to be permanent in outer and inner mirrors. For example: The memory of man, the fruit of the tree, the kernel of the fruit, the seed of the flower - these demonstrate the greatness in comprehending of the law of hafîdhiyyah.

Do you not see that all the flowers and fruits of the vast spring, the records of their deeds in an appropriate form, the laws of their formation, and the images of their forms, are all inscribed into the finite space of a minute seed and are there preserved? The following spring, their record of deeds is set forth, in a form of accounting appropriate to them, and another vast ‘âlam of spring is brought forth, with the utmost order and hikmah. This demonstrates with what powerful comprehensiveness hafîdhiyyah exercises itself. Considering that the results of such transient, commonplace, impermanent and insignificant things are preserved, is it at all possible that men's deeds, that yield important fruit in al-‘âlam al-ghayb, al-‘âlam al-âkhirah, and al-‘âlam al-arwâh, from the point of view of universal rubûbiyyah, is it at all possible that they should not be through guarding not be recorded as a matter of importance? No, by no means!

Yes, from this manner of the manifestation of hafîdhiyyah it can be deduced that Al-Mâlik of all creation devotes great care to the orderliness of all things that come to pass in His realm. He pays great attention to the duty of sovereignty and lavishes extreme care on the rubûbiyyah of sovereignty. To the degree, He records, or causes to be recorded, the pettiest of happenings, the smallest of services, and preserves in numerous things the form of everything that happens in His realm. This hafîdhiyyah indicates that an important register of deeds will be disclosed particularly subjected to a precise examination and weighing: the records of men's deeds will stand revealed.

Now is it at all possible that man should be ennobled with being khalîfah and Trust (Amanah), that, as a witness to the universality of the shuûn of rubûbiyyah, through proclaiming wahdâniyyah in the realm of multiplicity and thus act as a controller and witness by having some share in the tasbîh and ‘ibâdah of most beings - is it at all possible that he should do all of this and then go to his grave and sleep peacefully without ever being awakened? Without ever being asked concerning his deeds, small and great? That he should not go to the plain of resurrection and be tried at the Supreme Tribunal? No, by no means!

Or is it possible for man to flee and hide himself in annihilation, for him to enter the earth and conceal himself from that Qadîr Zuljalâl to Whose Power over all contingencies in the future, {The entirety of the past, extending from the present back to the creation of ‘âlam’s beginning, consists of occurrences. Every day, year and century that came into being are like a line, a page, a book, written by the pen of qadar; the hand of Qoudrah has inscribed His âyah’s miracles there with the utmost hikmah and order.

Similarly, time from the present until qiyâmah, Jannah and eternity, consists entirely of contingencies. That is, the past consists of occurrences, the future of contingencies. Now if these two chains of time are compared with each other, it will be seen to be true of a certainty that the Being That created yesterday and brought into being the creatures peculiar to it, is capable, too, of creating tomorrow together with its creatures. Again, there is no doubt that the beings and wonders of past time, that wondrous display, are the miracle works of a Qadîr Zuljalâl. They bear decisive witness that, that Qadîr is capable of creating all of the future and its contingencies and manifesting all of its wonders.

The one who creates an apple must of a certainty be able to create all the apples in the world and to bring the vast spring into being. Conversely, the one who cannot create a spring cannot create a single apple either, for the apple is made at the same workbench. But the one who makes an apple can make the spring. Each apple is an example in miniature of a tree, even of a garden or a universe. The apple seed that carries within itself the life-story of the huge tree is, from the point of view of artistry, such a miracle that the one who creates it thus is incapable of nothing. So too, the one that creates today is able also to create the day of qiyâmah, and it is only the one capable of creating the spring that is able, too, to create resurrection. The one who affixes all the ‘âlams of past time to the ribbon of time and displays them there in utmost hikmah and order is without a doubt capable of attaching other universes to the ribbon of the future, displaying them there and will display. In several of the Words, particularly the Twenty-Second Word, we proved with utter certainty that: "the one who cannot create everything cannot create anything, and the one who can fashion one thing, can fashion everything. Also, if the creation of everything is entrusted to a single being, the creation of all things becomes as easy as the creation of a single thing; thus facility arises. If, on the contrary, it is entrusted to numerous causes, and ascribed to multiplicity, the creation of a single thing becomes as difficult as the creation of everything and such difficulty arises as borders on impossibility." } the occurrences of past time -each a miracle of His qoudrah - bear witness, and Who visibly creates winter and spring, that, taken together, resemble resurrection? Since man is not called to account and judged fittingly while in this world, it follows that he must proceed to a Supreme Tribunal and a final felicity.” The Tenth Word-Seventh Haqiqah