The universe of man

Man is the meeting point between the celestial and the earthly realms. He has a unique position in this world that is not given to any other species. When he looks towards the horizon, he sees with two eyes: the eye of sight and the eye of insight, the eye of the material body and the eye of the immaterial soul, the eye of phenomenality and the eye of fundamental reality.

And what is he meant to see? The Tawhid of Allah – la ilaha illallah – that ‘there is no GOD but Allah‘ written upon and across and through creation, pointing towards negation (of what cannot be) and then followed by affirmation (of what is).

The eyes of man

With the eye of sight, man observes the actions of Allah in the cosmos and with the eye of insight he witnesses the Real manifesting His Names and Attributes through all things. With the eye of the earthly sphere, he sees creation, the existential reality of being and non-being, of deficiency and temporality. And with the eye of the heavenly soul, he learns to negate the attributes of creation and affirms transcendence, perfection and eternality of He Who is other than His creation and has absolute dominion over them.

Open your eyes

Man has two eyes, but sometimes there is some blindness in one or both eyes. In a world set up perfectly imperfectly in order that the light could be distinguised from the shadow, we need both these eyes to function properly. And in the contrast of perfection and imperfection, it reveals to us apparent opposites and their counterparts, and the subtle subtleties of similarities and differences, and when we go beyond them, we gain a glimpse at seeing the One true reality of Al-Haqq (The Real). As Divine Speech informs:

“There is no god but Him, the creator of everything.” [An-Anam:6:102]
“That is because Allah is the Real.” [Luqman:31:30]

So with the outward eye we come to know the cosmos and with the inward eye we come to affirm that ‘there is no God but Allah’, the One, the First without a beginning, the Last without an end, the Eternally Living, Self-Subsisting, the Infinitely Majestic, Outwardly Manifest and Inwardly Hidden, the Possessor of Might and Power, and utterly Sublime. In the words of Ata’illah:

“The Cosmos is all darkness. It is illumined only by the manifestation of the Real in it. He who sees the Cosmos and does not contemplate Him in it or by it or before it or after it is in need of light and is veiled from the sun of gnosis by the clouds of created things.” [Hikam: 14]

The one who learns how to see with both eyes is like the one who peers through the curtain of reality and discovers a treasure trove filled with the deepest secrets of oneself, of life and afterlife and the Oneness and Uniqueness of the REAL. As Divine Speech informs:

“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is a witness over everything?” [Al-Fussilat: 41:53]

So let us prepare, perfect and protect our eyes to see upon the horizon the true spectacle hidden in plain sight.