The Eighth Phrase

وَهُوَ حَىٌّ لاَ يَمُوتُ That is, His life is constant; it is azalî and eternal. Death and annihilation, non-existence and transience cannot befall Him because life belongs to His essence. Something that belongs to the essence cannot be transitory. Yes, the One Who is azalî is indeed eternal. One Who is permanent and uncreated (Qadîm) is certainly eternal. One Who is Al-Wâjib Al-Wujûd is certainly perpetual. Yes, such a life that all the existences with all their nûrs are its shadow. How can non-existence taint it? Yes, it is such a life that its title and requirement are a wâjib existence; indeed, non-existence and annihilation cannot taint it in any aspect. Yes, such a life that all lives continuously come into existence through its manifestation, and all proven haqiqahs of the universe rely on it and constantly exist through it; indeed, annihilation and transience cannot taint it in any way. Yes, such a life that a single flash of its manifestation gives wahdah to the multiple things subjected to annihilation and fade, makes them a place of manifestation of eternity, saves them from dissolution, preserves their existence and honours them with a kind of permanency. That is to say, life gives wahdah to multiple things and makes them permanent. If life departs, they disperse and go into annihilation. Certainly, annihilation and transience cannot approach such a wâjib life, a single manifestation of which is the infinite flashes of infinite lives.

Decisive witnesses for this haqiqah are the transience and annihilation of the universe. That is to say, just as beings indicate and testify to the life of that Undying Hayy and to the necessary existence of that Life (Hayât) through their existence and lives, {Note: Against Nimrod, about giving life and death, Hazrat Ibrâhîm Alayhissalâm changing the subject to the rise and set of the sun was a change from a particular action of giving life and death to a universal action of giving life and death; this changing the subject is progress. It is not rising to the clear proof by abandoning the hidden one, as some mufassîrîn have said, but instead demonstrating the most brilliant and extensive scope of that proof.} in the same way, they indicate and testify to the perpetuity and eternity of that Life (Hayât) through their deaths and their fade. For after beings have dissapeared, others following after them, manifesting life like them and taking their places demonstrate that there is a constant Living Being Who continuously renews the manifestation of life. Just as the bubbles shine on the surface of a flowing river under the sun and disappear. Groups after groups of bubbles come, shine and extinguish by displaying the same sparkling. Through this state of sparkling and extinction, they indicate the continuance of an elevated and constant sun. In the same way, the change and alternation of life and death in these moving beings testify to the continuance and perpetualness of a Hayy, Who is Bâqî.

Yes, these beings are mirrors. As darkness is the mirror to the nûr, and however intense the darkness is, to that degree it will display the brilliance of the nûr, so these beings are mirrors in many respects in terms of being opposites. For example, just as beings are mirrors to the qoudrah of As-Sâni’ through their impotence, and to His riches through their poverty, so are they mirrors to His eternity through their transitoriness. Yes, the poor states of the face of the earth and the trees on its face in winter and their glittering wealth and riches in spring certainly are mirrors to the qoudrah and rahmah of an Absolute Qadîr and an Absolute Ghanî. It is as though all beings offer du‘â like ‘Uways al-Qarâni through the language of their beings and say:

“Yâ Ilahanâ! You are our Rabb! Because we are ‘abds; we are unable to perform tarbiyyah on our nafs. It means that the One Who performs tarbiyyah on us; it is You! And it is You Who is Al-Khâliq! Because we are creatures, we are being made. And it is You Who is Ar-Razzâq! Because we are in need of rizq, we have no power to reach it! It means that the One Who creates us and bestows on us our rizq is You! And it is You Who is Al-Mâlik! Because we are a totally owned property; someone other than us has the power of disposal over us. It means that it is You Who is our Mâlik! And You are ‘Aziz! You possess dignity and grandeur! As for us, we look to our baseness and see that, on us, there are manifestations of a mightiness. It means that we are mirrors to Your mightiness. And it is You Who is Absolute Ghanî! Because we are poor. But a wealth that our poverty has no power to reach is bestowed on us. It means that it is You Who is rich, the One Who gives is You. And You are Hayy Who is Bâqî! Because we are dying, and in our dying and in our being resurrected, we see the manifestation of a perpetual giver of life! And You are Bâqî! Because we see Your continuation and perpetualness in our transience and perishment! And the One Who responds to us, answers us and gives gifts to us is You! Because all beings, we are always crying out and requesting, entreating, and imploring by tongue and with our language of being. Our desires are brought about, and our aims are given. It means that the One Who answers us is You!... And so on.”

Like an ‘Uways al-Qarâni, all beings, universal and particular, each of them has a duty of being mirror in the form of a ma’nawî du‘â. All proclaim the qoudrah and perfection of Allah through their impotence, poverty and deficiency.