Session: 29 July 1959

۲۹ جولائی ۱۹۵۹ء

The Meaning of Amr (امر کے معنی)

'Amr has also meanings of command — things also come — we take it to mean command.' All created things relate to the divine amr (command): they are ordered to their stations by divine will. The divine command precedes and encompasses all existence. Understanding the scope of amr helps the believer see the hand of divine governance in every event of life.

Eternal Precedence and Lateness (تقدیم تاخیر)

Relating to Allah in terms of sarmadi (eternal) — and relating to the 'alam al-arwah (world of spirits) as dahri (perpetual) — and relating to bodies (ajsam) as zamani (temporal) — 'We are undoubtedly eternal (sarmadi) — we are undoubtedly without beginning in terms of our own selfhood — We are not things — We have no essential being — some essential thing by the way of 'adam (non-existence) — like a thing of 'adam is not a thing — This is a literary manner of expression, not philosophy.' These distinctions address the profound question of how the eternal divine relates to the temporal creation.

Eyeniyyat and Ghayeriyyat (عینیت و غیریت)

The electricity company's proprietors have two conversations with us — 'eyniyyat and ghayeriyyat.' The real matter is that people say 'eyniyyat (identity)' — meaning Allah and the servant are not separate — 'ghayeriyyat' means Allah is the servant — separate — but they are looking at the two from two angles — both are in their own place correct — but wrongly applying eyniyyat to shar'i (legal) restrictions and limitations has been avoided — 'eyniyyat' — meaning Allah is the servant and the servant is separate from Allah — the divine attribute 'la 'ayn wa la ghayir' — this is the meaning — 'la 'ayn' means 'the attribute has no independent existence separate from the essence and does not mean that the attribute and essence have merged' — the 'intizan'at (extractions) are also 'la ghayir' — so the attributes remain outside — they are 'la ghayir wa la 'ayn' — his attributes are many — his essence is one and his attributes are many — the attribute is not a separate thing from the essence — wherever the essence is, the attributes will also come — (only in ahudiyya (absolute unity) will the attributes come — in ahudiyya is only dhaat (essence) — there the truth becomes only dhaat).

La ilaha and La ilaha illAllah (لا الہ اور اللہ)

The declaration 'La ilaha' — 'there is no deity' — is in itself a truth: it establishes that all supposed objects of worship are false. 'Illa Allah' — 'except Allah' — completes it with the affirmation of the one true God. Together, 'La ilaha illAllah' is the foundation of Islamic faith. 'La ilaha' by itself would be true if 'la ma'bud' (no deity worthy of worship) — if we take 'la ilaha illAllah' to mean 'the other is the object of worship and that other is not' — meaning the second is an attribute, it is not an independent thing — 'the meaning of La ilaha illAllah' — meaning there is nothing — 'and La ilaha illAllah' — 'and there is no Ism (name) of the essence, rather — it is — it is definitely not.'

Illa ilaha and Allah (الا الہ اور اللہ)

'Allah' — the meaning of 'ilah' is: the object of worship, the One in need of whom, and the meaning of Allah is a single essence that is the collective of attributes — 'la ilah' and 'Allah' — what is the difference? 'Ism al-sifat (name of attribute)' — 'that man' — 'That man' and 'shanna' — pointing toward the divine names, he said 'that man' — it is 'ism al-sifat' — another, specific (meaning: ism al-dhat — essence name) 'That man' — specificity can be preserved but it is not possible to become 'alim (scholar) of the specific name (meaning: ism al-khass cannot become a scholar).