The Twenty-ninth Word
- The permanence of the spirit and angels,
- The Resurrection and the afterlife
I seek refuge in God from Satan, the accursed.
In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.
The Angels and the Spirit descend in (the Night of Power) by the leave of their Lord. (97:4)
Say: “The Spirit is of my Lord’s Command.” (17:85)
[NOTE: This treatise consists of an Introduction and two chapters of Aims.]
Introduction
The existence of heavenly beings, which the shari’a calls angels and other spiritual beings is as evident as that of humanity and animals. As explained in the First Step of the 15th Word, reality and universal wisdom require that like the earth, the heavens should have conscious or intelligent inhabitants particular to themselves. For the earth, despite its small size and apparent insignificance when compared with the heavens, is continually filled with and emptied of conscious beings. This indicates that the heavens, which resemble decorated castles with awe inspiring towers, are filled with living beings, the light of the existence’s light, and conscious, intelligent beings who are the light of living creatures. These beings, just like jinn and humanity, are observers of this palace of the world, students and readers of this book of the universe, and heralds of the Lord’s Sovereignty. Through their comprehensive and universal worship, they represent the glorifications of the creatures of universal nature or identity.
The nature of the universe requires the existence of these beings, for its finely adorned art works, meaningful decorations, and purposeful, delicate embroideries demand sentient beings to reflect upon, as well as praise and commend, them in full appreciation. Just as a beauty needs a lover and food is given to the hungry, so the food provided for souls and hearts through this infinite beauty of art is first of all related to the existence of angels and other spirit beings. The universe’s infinite beauty and majesty calls for a response that must be of an infinite duty of reflection and worship. Since jinn and humanity can fulfill only a miniscule part of this duty, there must be countless varieties of angels and spirit beings to fill this universal mosque of existence with rows arranged in worship of the Creator.
Indeed, there is a band or species of spirit beings and angels in every corner of the universe, each performing its own specific duty of servanthood. Based on certain Prophetic Traditions and the wisdom in the universe’s order, it can be said that some mobile lifeless bodies from planets to raindrops provide vehicles for some species of angels. They mount them by God’s leave and travel through the material world, representing their glorifications.
Furthermore, certain types of living bodies provide vehicles for some species of souls or spirit beings. For example, a Tradition says that the souls of the people of Paradise enter the “green birds” of Paradise in the Intermediate World of the grave and travel around Paradise in them. Such birds, even some flies, belong to these groups of living bodies. Souls enter them by God’s command, observe creation’s wonders through their senses, and glorify the Creator on their behalf. Like reality, Divine Wisdom also require this. For just as the All-Wise Originator breathes life into gross clay and muddy water, which have little to do with the spirit, and thereby produces numerous conscious beings, so does He create certain types of intelligent beings from light and darkness, and other subtle substances (e.g., air and electricity), as they are more appropriate for the creation of the spirit and life.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi