The Tenth Word

The Tenth Word

On The Resurrection

O brother! Alongside my own nafs (my lower self), look you to this allegory and listen, should you wish to have the Resurrection and the Hereafter simply explained, in layman’s terms, and in a clear manner.

Two men journeyed one day to a paradisiacal land. (1)

They saw that all of the people there had left the doors of their homes, houses and shops open, without caring to guard them. All of their property and money was visible, without owner. Thus did one of the two men stretch out his hand towards anything that he fancied, stealing and plundering. Obeying his whims, he perpetrated every type of wrongdoing and shamelessness, and the people of the land did little to stop him. Yet his friend said to him:

‘What are you doing? You will be punished for this, and you will cause me problems to boot! These properties belong to the state! The people of this land, their families and children, are all either soldiers or officials, yet they are employed in these matters as civilians - this is why they are not interfering with what you are doing. But the authorities here are severe, and the king has phones and officials everywhere. Run thus to him, quickly, and apologise!’

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1. An allusion to this world 

Yet that fool insisted on being obstinant, and said ‘No - this property does not belong to the state! It obviously belongs to a charity, and has no owner. Anyone can freely dispose of it as they wish. I see no reason why one should not benefit from these beautiful things, and unless I see it with my own eyes, I will not believe it.’ He started to hold forth with a great number of sophistries, quite as if he was a philosopher, and a heated debate ensued between the two of them.

First, that fool said ‘Who is this king? I do not recognise him!’

His friend rebuked him, saying ‘a town cannot be without a mayor, a needle without a maker or an owner, nor a letter without a writer - you know this well.

How then could this land, which is of the utmost harmonious order, be without a ruler? How could riches as abundant as these - as if a train (Footnote) loaded with precious, artful things arrives hourly from the unseen and unloads in this place, and then goes on - be without owner?

How could all of these announcements and proclamations in every place, and the insignias, seals and stamps seen upon these goods, and these flags waving in every place be without an owner?

It seems that you have learnt something of the Latin script, and you are unable to read these Islamic writings –

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Footnote: An allusion to the annual cycle; yes, the spring is a wagon that comes from the unseen like a treasury of sustenance.

yet you do not bother to ask someone who knows them to explain them to you.

Come here, I will read the greatest of ordinances to you.’

But this fool turned to him and said ‘Let’s say “there is an owner.” What harm would my partial benefitting do, and what would it take away from his treasury? What is more, there seems not to be any prison nor arrest nor punishment here.’

His friend countered him. ‘O you! This land, beheld in front of our eyes, is just a field for manoeuvres [and training], and one of the king’s exhibitions of his strange and wonderful works of art. It is one of his guest houses, temporary and unstable. Do you not see that every day a new caravan arrives, and another disappears? They are continually loaded and emptied. As time passes, this land will be replaced with another. The inhabitants of this land will be moved to another, eternal land. There, they will all receive either retribution or recompense for what they used to do.’

Again did this traitorous fool resist, saying ‘I do not believe that! Is it at all possible that this land should be destroyed, and that all of its peoples migrate to another land?’

At this, his trustworthy friend said ‘seeing that you are so exceedingly obstinant and recalcitrant, come, I’ll show you, by way of ‘Twelve Illustrations’ from amongst innumerable proofs, that there exists a supreme court of justice, and a place of recompense and beneficence, as well as retribution and custody; and that a day is coming in which this land

will be totally and irrevocably emptied and destroyed, just as it is, to a certain extent, emptied every single day.’

The First Illustration

Is it at all possible that a kingdom - and especially one so great as this one - would not have a recompense for such obedient people as serve it so beautifully, as well as retribution for the rebellious?

There is as good as no recompense and retribution here; there must therefore be a supreme court of justice in another realm.

The Second Illustration

Look how things and states and events proceed in this place - how the best and most beautiful provision is distributed to all, even to the very poorest and weakest. The sick, who are without protector or carer, are looked after most beautifully. Herein are tremendously precious, glorious foods and fine plates, jewel encrusted decorations, embroidered clothes and spectacular banquets.

Look how all - apart from fools like yourself - meticulously fulfil their tasks. No one oversteps their mark even to the width of an atom. Even the greatest of all men fulfils his task with the greatest obedience and in humble fear and reverence. That is to say, the possessor of this kingdom must possess very great generosity and an extremely vast compassion.

He has superlatively great might, majestic honour, and dignity.

Now generosity requires the bestowal of gifts, and mercy cannot be without beneficence; glory necessitates jealousy, and honour and jealousy require that those who behave badly be disciplined. Yet of that which this mercy and this jealousy necessitate, not even one thousandth part becomes manifest. The oppressor remains in his might and the oppressed remains in his humiliation, and they depart from this world. That is to say, the matter must be postponed to a supreme court of justice.

The Third Illustration

Look at how things proceed with such lofty wisdom and harmonious order - how transactions are carried out with such true justice and balance. Now, the wisdom of the government necessitates treating with kindness and beneficence those refugees who take refuge under the wing of the protection of the kingdom. Justice requires the preservation of the rights of one’s subjects - this in order that the honour of the government be protected, and the greatness of the kingdom be safeguarded. Yet here, no more than one in a thousand measures befitting that wisdom and justice are effectuated. Most fools like yourself depart from this world without having received their punishment. The matter must then be postponed to a supreme court of justice.

The Fourth Illustration

Look; the limitless number of incomparable jewels in this exhibition, and the limitless types of nonpareil foods upon these tables indicate that the king of this land is limitlessly generous, and he possesses numberless treasuries overflowing.

Now, generosity and inexhaustible treasuries like these necessitate the existence of a banqueting hall that is perpetual, and wherein lies all that is desired. It requires further that those enjoying these banquets should go on doing so [eternally] in that house in order that they do not have to taste the pain of separation and extinction - for the end of pleasure is pain, just as the end of pain is pleasure.

Look then to these exhibitions; carefully scrutinise these announcements, and give ear to those town criers, who give form to and present the miracle-working king’s priceless works of art; they manifest his perfections, and make clear his peerless spiritual beauty. They mention the subtleties of his hidden beauty - that is to say, he must possess momentous, bewildering perfections and spiritual beauty.

The hidden, flawless perfection wishes to be announced by way of its admirers’ and appreciators’ saying mā shā’allāh.

The hidden, peerless beauty wishes to see and be seen. That is, it desires to see its beauty in two different ways. The first is for it to itself witness its beauty in multifarious mirrors, and the second is for it to witness its beauty by means of the witnessing of yearning observers and astonished admirers.

It desires both to see and to be seen, and it wants to perpetually witness, as well as to eternally cause others to witness.

Moreover, that perpetual beauty requires the eternal continuation of the existence of those yearning observers and admirers.

This is because perpetual beauty cannot be content with merely evanescent yearners. For the love of the observer condemned to extinction with no hope of return mutates into enmity when he envisages extinction - and his astonishment and reverence turn into contempt.

For man is the enemy of that which he does not understand, and that which his hands cannot reach. Yet all people quickly leave these guest houses and disappear. In the blink of an eye, they see a flash of that perfection and beauty; indeed, no more than a weak shadow thereof, and they then leave, before they have had their fill. They must then be going to go to a place of perpetual witnessing.

The Fifth Illustration

Look; through these matters, it becomes manifest that the peerless king has great compassion. For he helps all that have been afflicted by tribulation. He answers every question and every request. Look moreover; if he sees even the merest need from the merest of his subjects, he takes care of it with compassion. If the foot of a sheep in a shepherd’s flock should become even slightly hurt, he sends medicine or a veterinarian to him.

Come; let us journey to that island, for a great meeting is taking place there. All of the nobles and elders of the land have gathered together. Look; a most noble lieutenant, bearing the highest of decorations, reads out a petition. He asks certain things of his compassionate king. Believing and supporting this lieutenant, all of the inhabitants of the land say ‘yes, yes, we too want the same.’

Listen now; the beloved of the king says ‘O our king, you who raise and nurture us with your blessings. Show us the origins and the sources of the samples and shadows that you have already shown to us. Take us to the centre of your kingdom!

Do not let us be destroyed in these deserts - take us into your presence. Have mercy on us. Feed us there with the delicious blessings that you have let us taste here! Do not torment us with extinction, nor with distance from you. Do not leave forlorn and lost those obedient subjects, who are yearning for and grateful to you, and do not annihilate them.’

And much does he implore him - and you also hear this. Is it at all possible that this compassionate and mighty king, who conscientiously fulfils the merest need of the merest man, would not fulfil the most beautiful request of his most beloved, noble lieutenant?

In actual fact, this beloved’s request is also the request of the entire population. It is also something that the king is pleased with, and that constitutes a necessary entailment of his mercy and justice. It is very easy for the king to fulfil this, and is not at all heavy for him. It is not as difficult for him as was the creation of the temporary public park in this guest house. Since he expended such great wealth in making these public gardens that are only in use for five or six days, in order that his samples might be seen, and in establishing this land, there can be no doubt that in the centre of his kingdom he will open such public gardens - wherein he will display his true treasuries, perfections and works of art - as will startle minds.

That is to say, these people, existing in this place of testing, are not forlorn; rather, palaces of happiness - or dungeons - await them.

The Sixth Illustration

Come now and look. These wonderful trains, planes, pieces of equipment, depositories, exhibitions and operations all indicate that behind the veil lies a great kingdom. (Footnote)

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Footnote: For instance, just as in this time, after a vast army has obeyed the command of ‘take up your weapons and fix your bayonets!’ in accordance with the norms of warfare, in a training ground the entirety of which resembles a thorny oak grove and just as the encampment of a magnificent army resembles, on every single Eid day during an official military parade, an ornamented garden in which many-hued flowers have been opened after following the command 'clothe yourselves in your garments and put on your decorations', so too do a group of unconscious plants that constitute one of the limitless soldiers of the King of Beginningless Eternity like the angels, jinn, human beings and animals within the arena of the face of the earth, receive the Divine command 'take up your weapons and equipment for defence!' with the command 'Be and it is' in the warfare of the preservation of life. The entirety of the earth resembles the encampment of a magnificent army the soldiers of which have assembled their bayonets when the assembly of all thorny trees and plants therein have fixed their bayonets. And since each week and day of spring is like an eid for one or another of the groups of plants, wherein in order to exhibit the beautiful gifts that their King bestowed upon them, each group displays the inlaid adornments with which He has dressed them, in the form of an official parade before the gaze of the witnessing of the King of Beginningless Eternity and His causing them to be witnessed [by others]; and this is the state that they exhibit, and it is as if all trees and plants listen to and obey the lordly command 'wear the ornaments of Lordly artistry, and the decorations of the Divine disposition that are the flowers and the fruits, and open the flowers!' The face of the earth on a sublime day of Eid also resembles a military camp shining and glittering with coloured uniforms and inlaid decorations in an official parade befitting of kings. There can be no doubt that such wise, harmoniously ordered preparations and decorations as these expound and manifest to all such as are not blind that they all take place by the command of an Almighty King, and a Wise Ruler of endless wisdom.

A kingdom like this demands subjects that are worthy of it. In actual fact, as you can see, all the subjects have gathered together in the guest house of this world - a guest house that is filled and emptied again every single day. The subjects have all gathered together in this testing ground to engage in training exercises. The testing ground itself is replaced every single hour. All of the subjects stop and behold the exemplars of the king’s precious benefactions, and the wonders of his priceless works of art for only a few minutes in this exhibition, in order to contemplate therein.

The exhibition itself is transformed every minute, and he who leaves it does not return, and he who comes to it leaves it.

Now, this state and that situation certainly indicate that lying behind this guest house, training ground and exhibitions, there exist perpetual palaces, and ever-continuing dwelling places, and gardens and treasuries, filled with the pure, lofty originals of these samples and images.

Thus, all struggle here is for the sake of attaining them.

He puts his subjects to work here, and gives them their wages there; thus will each individual have a happiness there that suits his particular capacity.

The Seventh Illustration

Come; let us roam together. Let us look at what is happening amongst these inhabitants of the city. Look! In every place, in every corner, numerous cameras have been placed and photographs are being taken. Look, everywhere a great number of scribes are sitting down writing; they are recording all things. Even the paltriest of activities and the merest of incidents are being documented.

Look! Upon this soaring mountain, a huge camera (Footnote) - reserved for the king alone - has been set up. Everything that takes place in every place is being photographed. This means that the king must have ordered that all of the incidents and activities taking place in his land be recorded and documented. His Highness commands that every event taking place be recorded, and gets copies made of them.

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Footnote: A portion of the meanings indicated by this illustration have been expounded in 'the Seventh Reality', but here it means that the indication and reality of the king's personal, vast camera is the Preserved Tablet. Its existence has been proven in 'the Twenty-sixth Word' as follows 'just as little identity cards notify of the existence of an immense record of all identity cards, and short documents notify of the existence of a great logbook, and a small spray of water notifies one of the existence of a great spring of water, so too does man's faculty of memory, and the fruits of trees and the kernels and seeds of fruits like little identity cards - and with the same significance as little preserved tablets, in the form of little dots running from the same pen that wrote upon the great Preserved Tablet - so too must they notify of, point to, and prove the existence of the Supreme Memory and the Greater Record, the Sublime Preserved Tablet; indeed, they reveal it to acute intellects.

This careful recording and documentation must be taking place for the sake of holding all accountable for what they have done.

Now, is it at all possible that a preserving ruler who never overlooks even the most trivial activities of the least of his subjects would fail to record the most important activities of his greatest subjects, that he would not hold them accountable, and that he would not recompense them, nor retaliate? Now, it is the case that it is those greatest subjects in particular who commit actions that offend his glory and jealousy, and which it is a necessary entailment of his compassion to totally reject. Yet he does not punish them here; his judgement must then be postponed to a supreme court of justice.

The Eighth Illustration

Come! Let me read the ordinances issuing from him. Now look; he is restating his promise over and over again, and he is threatening most severely, saying,

‘I will take you to the centre of my kingdom, and I will make the obedient happy and the rebellious imprisoned. I will destroy that transient place, and establish a new land, comprising perpetual palaces and permanent prisons.’

Now, everything that he had promised is very easy for him to realise.

It is furthermore of the most crucial importance to his subjects. Breaking his promise, however, is totally incompatible with the glory of his power.

Thus look, O idiot! You assent to your false imaginings, and your raving mind, and your deceptive lower self.

Yet you repudiate one who is by no means in any need of breaking his promise, nor can he be forced to do so. One for whom breaking a promise would under no circumstances befit his glory and honour, one to the truthfulness of whom all visible circumstances testify.

[Should you repudiate him] you deserve a severe punishment indeed! Your similitude is that of a traveller who closes his eyes against the light of the sun, and looks to his imagination. His imaginal intellect wishes to light up the terrifying road with the light of its own lamp, like a firefly.

Since he has promised, he will fulfil his promise. Faithfulness is very easy for him - and indeed it is absolutely necessary for him, for us, and for all things, as well as for his kingdom.

Thus, there exists a supreme court of justice, and a most sublime felicity.

The Ninth Illustration

Come now, let us look at the heads (Footnote) of these departments and groups; each of them possesses a personal telephone enabling them to contact the king directly.

Some even stand before him in his presence. Look at what they say. They all report congruently that that king

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Footnote: The meanings established by this illustration will be revealed in 'the Eighth Reality'. For instance: the heads of departments in this example are an allusion to the prophets and saints. The telephone is the lordly relationship that extends from the heart, which is the mirror of revelation and the locus wherein inspiration becomes manifest. The heart acts thus as the receiver and earphone of that telephone.

has prepared a magnificent, extraordinary abode that will constitute both recompense and retribution. His promise is strong, and his threat severe.

His glory and majesty thus in no way assent to the ignobility of breaking a promise.

The fact of the matter is that these reporters report, in such great numbers that they reach the level of unanimous testimony, and in such agreement that they have the strength of consensus, that ‘the locus and centre of this sublime kingdom - some of the effects of which are plain for all to witness - exists in another, faraway land. The buildings in this testing-ground are only temporary. Later, they will be transformed into perpetual palaces. These places are also to be replaced.’

For this sublime, perpetual kingdom for which there is no extinction, the sublimity of which is understood through its visible effects, cannot be founded and based upon such evanescent, non-perpetual, unstable, unimportant, changing, unenduring, deficient, imperfect things as these.

It must then be built upon things befitting to it, perpetual, stable, continuing, enduring, perfected and magnificent. There is then another realm; and the journey to the centre [of the kingdom] will surely be realised.

The Tenth Illustration

Come, for today is the king’s spring festival. (Footnote) Transformations will take place. Strange and marvellous matters will become manifest. On this beautiful day, of this spring, let us go to this green moor, decorated with pretty flowers, and have a look around.

Now look, inhabitants of this land are also on their way here. Look again, something quite magical is taking place. All of a sudden, those buildings have been destroyed. It has been transformed into a new mold.

Look at this, it is a miracle! The buildings that had been in total ruins have suddenly been constructed again here, and it is as if this desolate desert has been transformed into a civilised city. Look! Like a cinema screen, every hour presents a new world, and takes on a new form.

Have a careful look at this; within such complicated, fast-moving, numerous and real screens, is a masterful harmonious order, such that everything is most precisely put in its proper place.

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Footnote: You will see the symbolism of this illustration in the 'Ninth Reality'. The spring festival, for example, is an allusion to the season of spring. The flowery green moor is the surface of the earth in spring. The changing screens and scenes are an allusion to the different strata of created beings in spring, and the different groups of works of art in summer, and the foods that are the pivot of animal and human provision, replaced and renewed, all the way from the beginning of spring to the end of summer, with perfect mercy by the Majestic, Almighty Artful Maker, the Beautiful, Wise Originator; and He sends them successively each after the other.

Even imaginary cinema screens cannot be as harmoniously ordered as this. Millions of master-magicians would not be able to produce these works of art. That is, this king, who does not appear to us, must have a great many sublime miracles.

O fool! You say ‘How could this vast land be destroyed and then built anew in another place?’

Yet you now see that every single hour a great number of revolutions and replacements are taking place, which are just like the replacement of that land - which your reason did not accept.

From these instances of assembling and separation, and from these circumstances, it is understood that there is another purpose within this manifest fast-moving assembly and separation, and this building and demolition.

For the sake of a mere hour of assembly, as much wealth is expended as is usually spent in ten years.

This means that they are not all intended for their own sakes, but are rather mere exemplars and copies.

His Highness carried out all of this miraculously, in order that the images of all these things be taken, and so that they all be gathered together; so that the outcomes of all things be preserved, and recorded.

In the training and testing ground, everything that occurred was preserved and recorded. That is to say, in the greater place of Resurrection, this measure will be carried on in this manner, and all of these matters will be on show

forever in a great exhibition. That is, these temporary, unstable states and circumstances will yield fixed forms and enduring fruits. These celebrations are then all for the sake of a supreme felicity, and a supreme court of justice; and for lofty purposes that are beyond our knowledge.

The Eleventh Illustration

Come, O obstinant friend! Let us board a plane or a train, journeying either east or west, that is, going into either the past or the future.

Let us see what kinds of miracles His miracle-working Highness is manifesting in those other places.

Now look, consider the wonders like the dwellings, training-grounds, and the exhibitions we have seen before in every place. They were each of them different from one another, both in craftsmanship and form.

Yet think carefully about this; in those unsteady dwellings, those non-perpetual training-grounds, and those unenduring exhibitions, harmonious order of so bright a wisdom, indications of so apparent a solicitude, signs of so lofty a justice and fruits of so vast a mercy are all seen.

Anyone who has not completely lost his insight will be able to perceive for certain that it is quite impossible that there could be any wisdom more perfect than that wisdom, or any solicitude more beautiful than that solicitude, or any mercy more all-embracing than that mercy, or any justice loftier than that justice - any greater cannot even be imagined.

Now if, as you imagine, there were in this land no perpetual dwellings, lofty places, fixed stations, enduring abodes, established inhabitants and happy subjects through which these realities became manifest, nor did they exist anywhere else, we would be forced to deny the very existence of this wisdom, that is right in front of our eyes. We would have to deny this solicitude that we witness, this mercy that we behold, and this justice, the signs and indications of which are so very strong. With the same level of imbecility that it would take to deny the existence of the sun although we see its light at high noon, we would have to deny them all.

We would also have to accept the notion that the one who carries out all the wise operations, generous actions and compassionate benefactions that we see, must be - far, far be it from him - a foolish joker, and a ruthless tyrant. This entails the transformation of the natures of things into their contraries, and this is impossible, by the consensus of all masters of the rational sciences, except for the imbecilic Sophists, who anyway deny the existence of everything.

There exist thus realms other than these, in which lies the supreme court of justice and the highest court of judgement, and the abode of ultimate generosity wherein this mercy, wisdom, solicitude and justice become fully manifest.

The Twelfth Illustration

Come, we are to return now. We are going to meet the heads and officers of these communities.

We will look at their equipment in order to see whether it has been given to them for the sake merely of living out their short life-spans in that training-ground - or in order

to enable them to win a long life of felicity in another land? We cannot look at every single one of them, nor at all of the pieces of equipment, but we will look at the identity card and archives of a particular officer as an example.

Upon this identity card the rank of this officer, his salary and his vocation are all recorded, as well as a detailing of that which is required of him, and the rules governing his activity.

Look; this rank has not been conferred on him for a mere day or two - no, it is for a very long time indeed.

The date on which he receives that salary from the special treasury is also written upon his identity card; this despite the fact that that date refers to a time faraway in the future, indeed after this training-ground is set to be closed down. That vocation has not been created for the sake of this temporary training-ground; it has been given to him in order to enable him to acquire perpetual happiness in close proximity to the king.

All of the things that are required of him cannot all be required for the sake of a life made up of only a few days in this guest house, but they could be required for the sake of a long, happy life.

Those rules governing his activity fully reveal that the owner of this identification card is a candidate for the journey to another place, and is working for the sake of another world.

Look, these logbooks detail the responsibilities of this officer, and well as how his equipment is used.

Yet if there is no lofty perpetual place, and all that exists is this training-ground alone, these precise archives and this masterfully designed card have absolutely no meaning.

This revered official, honoured commander and respected leader will fall into a pit lower than that of even the general populace. Of all people, he will be the most wretched, helpless, abased, troubled, poverty-stricken and weakest.

Based on this, draw your own conclusions [about other aspects of our allegory]. Anything that you carefully scrutinise, bears witness to the fact that behind this transience there lies ever-abidingness.

Thus, O friend! This temporary land is like unto a sowing field.

It is the sphere of instruction and training. It is a market.

There is no doubt that after it will come a supreme court of justice, and ultimate felicity. If you deny this fact, you will necessarily also be forced to deny the existence of all of the officials’ identity cards, archives, equipment and rules. Indeed, you will have to deny the existence of the harmonious order of this land, and even the government itself. You will have to deny the existence of all of the operations that have been enacted. In which case, it will not be possible for it to be said of you that you are a human being or that you are conscious. You will become more mindless than the Sophists themselves.

Please do not by any means assume that the proofs indicating that this land will be transformed are limited only to those mentioned in these twelve illustrations!

There are in fact a limitless and countless number of signs and proofs indicating that this unstable, changing land will be changed to a stable land that will never pass away. There exist a limitless and countless number of indications and signs that those inhabitants will be moved from these transient guest houses to the perpetual seat of the kingdom.

Come, so that I can show you a proof stronger than any one of the twelve illustrations. Look, the most noble lieutenant who we saw before on the island, the possessor of the very highest of decorations, is making an announcement to the huge group of people now visible in the distance.

Let us go and listen to him. Look, this luminous, most noble lieutenant is speaking to the inhabitants of the land of the supreme ordinance suspended in the lofty realms. He is saying ‘Ready yourselves! You will soon journey to another, perpetual land, This land of ours is like a dungeon in comparison to it. If you listen well to this decree, and then obey its dictates, you will be moved to the seat of our king’s kingdom, and you will attain His mercy and benefactions; and if you rebel, and refuse to listen to it, you will be moved to terrifying dungeons.’

You too see that within this supreme decree is a miraculous seal that cannot be imitated in any way whatsoever. All people other than fools like yourself know for sure that this decree is that of the king.

They know for certain that this illuminated, most noble lieutenant possesses decorations and a status such that all people, apart from those blind like yourself, can know for

sure that this man is a most truthful transmitter of the commands of the king.

Is it at all possible that the transformation and replacement of this land that the most noble lieutenant claims [takes place], and of which he gives us news by means of this supreme ordinance, could, in all its strength, possibly be objected to?

No, absolutely not! It cannot be objected to, unless we are to deny everything around us that we see.

Thus, O friend! It is your turn now. Say whatever you wish to say!’

‘What can I possibly say! What can be said against this! Can the existence of the sun at high-noon be doubted?

I can only say (al-ḥamdu lillāh) a hundred thousand thanks to Him for that I have been finally saved from domination by delusion and caprice, and freed from the fetters of the nafs (my lower self) and my whims, and from perpetual imprisonment and dungeons!

I now believe that these complex, unstable guest houses are not the only world, and that there exists a world of felicity in close proximity to His Highness. We are all candidates to go there!’

This allegory has now reached its end - an allusion to the Resurrection and the Hereafter. Relying upon the Divine granting of success, let us now move on to the most high reality of the matter. We will explain ‘Twelve Realities’, that all support one another, along with an ‘Introduction’ corresponding to the ‘Twelve Illustrations’ that we have just expounded.