Word 47: The one who pays attention to the power of Tasarruf (changing something at will) for perfect humans in the matter of the universe will realize that miracles and extraordinary works are from the strength and power of their holy souls with God’s permission.
A perfect human is someone who has attained the status of a Wilayat. The position of a Wilayat represents closeness to God Almighty. Closeness to God does not mean physical closeness. When a person acquires manifestations of the divine Names (Asma ul-Husna) and the perfections of God, we say that he has reached the position of closeness to the supreme Truth, and we call these people perfect humans. A human is a creature that can potentially reach this position, but whenever he reaches this position, he is truly human. Before reaching this level, he was a talking animal. If he attains these perfections, he becomes a perfect human. A perfect human being is perfect in all levels of existence.
For example, even if someone has Islamic morals, such as not lying, backbiting, slandering, being kind, generous, forgiving, selfless, and so on, they cannot be considered a perfect human. Because such a person is perfect and correct in terms of morals, he is a good person and a believer. However, he still does not have those authorities at the humanity level, so being a perfect human is something special.
When a person reaches the level of perfection, sometimes extraordinary things are observed from him. That is, they do things that are contrary to the norms of the global system. Based on the role of this world, when a creature dies, his body rots and departs, never to be revived. Now, if someone comes along and revives this dead body, he has done an extraordinary job since his action was contrary to the rules of this world. In the case of “prophets”, we call this change of habit a miracle; in the case of “saints”, we say dignity (Keramat) or breaking the habit.
Prophet Salih (A) split the mountain, and a pregnant camel came out of it; the camel came out, and then the pregnant camel gave birth. Prophet Moses (A) split the sea, and the water went away, although it is customary that the water does not go away. But the sea split, the bottom of it dried up, and the children of Israel passed through. Prophet Muhammad (S) split the moon. Prophet Jesus (A) revived the dead, healed the blind, and healed incurable diseases. Many trusted narrations exist about dignities by our infallible Imams. Imam Sadiq (A) was on his way to Hajj when he noticed an elderly woman sitting on top of a cow, sobbing and wailing. The Imam inquired: “What happened?” The old woman responded, “This cow has provided me with food and sustenance for my life.” Now that the cow has died, I’m homeless and without money. Imam Sadiq (A) said a dhikr and pointed to the cow with his blessed foot, and the animal stood up. The old woman couldn’t take it, cried, and said, “O People, run; Jesus Christ has arrived.” Imam Sadiq (A) concealed himself among the crowd.
The question is: where do these originate from? How can a person have this power and strength? How could a person do such things?
These impacts are connected to the strength and intensity of existence that have been produced within the soul of a perfect human. As a consequence of adoration and austerity, the Nafs has developed enough power to conquer the outside world, that is, outside of its own body. We have some power over our bodies, such as moving our hands or feet, but we cannot influence objects outside of ourselves. A person whose Nafs gets stronger has the ability to affect others outside of his body, such as moving things by looking at them.
It is the strength of a person’s soul that influences them. Everyone has different strengths and power. “The Day when the people will be like scattered moths” (Al-Qari’a). According to Allameh Hassanzadeh, the majority of people will be like birds in a divine vision or Barzakh vision. They are not bad people since the bad ones will be like predator creatures. The remainder of the people are like sparrows since they have not attained any perfection, including knowledge, good deeds, or purity. It is because of the weakness of their souls that their inner appearance becomes like a sparrow.
Amir Al-Mu’minin Ali (A) said: “When the speech comes out of the human heart, it sits on the heart of the audience, and when it comes out of the tongue, it does not go beyond the ears”. Most people’s speeches do not influence because their soul lacks the power and strength to make them effective.
Non-believers say that Prophet Muhammad (S) is a sorcerer. Because the Prophet’s speech was so powerful that when someone heard a verse of the Quran, they were captivated and could no longer move away from him. That’s why they used to say to others that when you go to him, put your fingers in your ears since he will bewitch you. The effectiveness was due to the power and strength of Prophet Muhammad’s (S) soul. When The Holy Prophet (S) passed through an alley, whoever was sick in that alley was relieved of the pain.
It is worth mentioning that perfection does not only belong to men. Prophet Muhammad (S) said: “A large number of men have attained perfection, but only four women have attained perfection: Asiya, the daughter of Muzahim, Pharaoh’s wife; Maryam, the daughter of Imran, Khadijah, the daughter of Khuwaylid, and Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad”. Therefore, in Quraysh, any woman who gave birth with difficulty and the midwife could not do anything else, they said: Bring Khadijah. When she came, the child would be born easily because of her graceful soul. Prophet Jesus (A) said: “And has made me blessed wherever I may be” (Maryam:31). Therefore, the strength of the Prophet’s soul can influence and affect the matter of the universe.
Reviving the souls of people is higher than reviving the dead body because a person’s body is revived for a short period. Still, if the souls of people become alive, they will reach eternal life and happiness. The following points are very crucial for understanding the validity of dignity and actions out of habit that is claimed by people.
First, There are a lot of claims in this path that people say I do such and such. Dears, don’t believe it until you see something from someone by your eyes. I have seen many of them that claim they are able to do such things, but they were liars.
Second, assuming that the party can possess and perform something non-ordinary, it is not a sign of real perfection, but it may be that his soul has become strong due to false austerity that he can do such things.
Sayyed Bahrul Uloom (Great Shia mystic) has a treatise called “Sir Wa Suluk Treatise,” in which he says: If you see someone doing “Tayul Arz” (the power to go anywhere at any moment in a very short period of time) or crossing through a wall, don’t consider that the person is a real Islamic mystic. Because the path from this level to real mysticism is rather long. There are various acts that, if repeated for forty days, would strengthen our spirit. However, this is not the ultimate objective or real perfection.
Just as a person becomes strong by exercising his body, there are a series of spiritual exercises that strengthen the soul. A strong soul can do many things, yet this does not imply that the individual is perfect or a true mystic. As a result, when you observe such actions, don’t think that they are true monotheists or have divine knowledge. Attar Nishaburi (a great mystic) said, “If you see someone walking on water, don’t think that he is higher than a real mystic because these virtues belong to the second level, which is related to the human soul, but mysticism is related to the seventh level. Maybe there are mystics who, because they are immersed in monotheism, do not know about the dignities at all, and maybe there are mystics who are able to do such things but do not perform any Tasarruf as they see God’s presence.
It is worth mentioning that there is a big difference between miracles brought by prophets and sorcery, which is called “Sihr” in Arabic. Sorcery is the control of people’s imaginations, and sorcerers can captivate their imaginations. People see things in their imagination while there is nothing outside. The Holy Quran, about the sorcerers of Pharaoh, stated: “He said, “You throw!” And when they threw, they beguiled the eyes of the people, and intimidated them, and produced a mighty magic” (Al-A’raf:116). “So Moses felt apprehensive within himself” (Ta-Ha:67).
Some people asked: What kind of magic was it that Prophet Moses (A) was terrified. Ibn Arabi said: The fear of Prophet Moses (A) strengthened sorcerers’ faith. The sorcerers thought that if Prophet Moses (A) was a sorcerer, he should not be afraid because sorcerers must know these are not real. “He said, “You throw.” And suddenly, their ropes and sticks appeared (imagined) to him, because of their magic, to be crawling swiftly” (Ta-Ha:66). They threw the sticks and ropes, then they looked like a real snake and a dragon for people. The verse of the Holy Quran uses “Yukhayel” for the appearance of the snakes. That is why Islamic philosophers and mystics use the “Khial” world or “Khial” power, which is the immaterial world where we see objects. “Khial” is extracted from the same root as “Yukhayel”.
We discussed that our perception, for example, seeing and hearing, is done by the power of imagination in the Khial world of our Nafs. This means that the Nafs creates immaterial objects within itself; based on the unity of perceived and perceiver, everything that is within Nafs becomes Nafs itself, and since the Nafs knows itself then it will know the perceived objects.
The difference between magic and miracles is that there is nothing physical in the world for sorcery; it is happening in our imagination.
After Prophet Moses (A) was apprehended, God said: “We said, “Do not be afraid, you are the uppermost” (Ta-Ha:68). “Now throw down what is in your right hand—it will swallow what they have crafted. What they have crafted is only a magician’s trickery. But the magician will not succeed, no matter what he does” (Ta-Ha:69).
The important thing is that when the staff of Moses became a big snake, the sorcery of the sorcerers was invalidated first; that is, the people saw those snakes as sticks and ropes, and then the snake of Prophet Moses (A) swallowed them because if he had swallowed those sticks in the form of snakes, people would have said: “Well, Moses is a greater sorcerer than other sorcerers, and his magic swallowed the others’ sorceries”. Therefore, people first saw and understood that the magics of the sorcerers were invalid, and then they saw that the sticks and strings were swallowed by the snake of Prophet Moses (A).
Therefore, the first ones who believed after the miracle were Pharaoh’s magicians because they were skilled magicians themselves. They knew that magic does not work like this and only happens in the imagination of the other party. They knew that magic could not swallow sticks and ropes.
“And the magicians fell down prostrate. They said, “We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.” (70) He said, “Did you believe in him before I have given you permission? He must be your chief, who has taught you magic. I will cut off your hands and your feet on alternate sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of the palm-trees. Then you will know which of us is more severe in punishment, and more lasting.” (71) They said, “We will not prefer you to the proofs that have come to us, and Him who created us. So issue whatever judgment you wish to issue. You can only rule in this lowly life. (72) We have believed in our Lord, so that He may forgive us our sins, and the magic you have compelled us to practice. God is Better, and more Lasting” (Ta-Ha:70-73).
Most of the current magics that people do are fake and are only tricks by magicians, but there are a few sorceries that might be real, like we discussed above, but they are rare sorcerers that are still able to do things like that.
Someone asked: How to capture people’s imagination? There are some ways that you don’t need to learn because practicing witchcraft or sorcerers is forbidden in Islam; of course, learning it is not forbidden, but practicing it is forbidden, so it is recommended to avoid spending time learning it. To capture people’s imagination and show them some objects, the person must have strong power in his Nafs.
Do writing talismans (writing prayers or curses on a tabulation sheet) have an effect? “Yes, they are true. Writing letters and divine Names, with specific numbers, has an effect in this world; therefore, if someone knows it, they can perform some actions in this world. This is independent of the strength of their Nafs.
Our discussion was about the strength of the Nafs, or souls, in miracles and virtues. Miracles are due to the power of their soul, which can dominate and conquer the matter of the universe.
Of course, it should be remembered that the prophets did not perform miracles every day. It was rare for them to bring miracles. Many times, people ask them, “Why don’t you bring miracles for us?”
“And they said, “If only a miracle from his Lord was sent down to him.” Say, Miracles are only with God (not because of me or your desire), and I am only a clear warner” (Al-Ankabout:58). No miracle is revealed except by God’s permission.
“And when the disciples said, ‘O Jesus son of Mary, is your Lord able to bring down for us a feast from heaven?’ He said, Fear God, if you are believers” (Al-Ma’eida:112). “They said, We wish to eat from it, so that our hearts may be reassured, and know that you have told us the truth, and be among those who witness it” (Al-Ma’eida:113). “Jesus son of Mary said, “O God, our Lord, send down for us a table from heaven, to be a festival for us, for the first of us, and the last of us, and a sign from You; and provide for us; You are the Best of providers.” (114) God said, “I will send it down to you. But whoever among you disbelieves thereafter, I will punish him with a punishment the like of which I never punish any other being” (Al-Ma’eida-114:115).
A miracle is something contrary to the system of natural channels. God has given us the ability to acquire truths using our intellect. If a miracle is shown, no excuse will be accepted after that. There is no excuse for those who witness the miracle but do not accept it or who become hypocrites after believing. Because prophets or Awliya (saints) of God were so kind to people, they usually did not bring many miracles. They avoided bringing miracles as much as possible since once a miracle is witnessed, no excuses will be accepted.
In ancient times, there was a pure and simple-hearted mystic. One day, he entered a city, and there he saw a pigeon lying dead on the ground. Its chicks were calling from the nest on the tree, and were hungry. With God’s permission, he worshiped and blew, and the pigeon came to life and jumped. When the people of the city saw this incident, they gathered around him, called him one of the Awliya (saints) of God, and called his work a miracle. Despite the mystic’s objections, they joined him as followers and disciples. They demonstrated their allegiance and faith in him. One day, the mystic was walking in the city square, and a group of his disciples came with him. Suddenly, he stood in the middle of the square and started to urinate. They saw the mystic’s work, thought that he was crazy, and gradually dispersed until there was no one left with him. The mystic, who had done this to test the loyalty of the people, said: “O God, what kind of believers are people? People who trusted me with a “Kish” (blowing) left me with a “Jish” (urination)”.
Allameh Seyyed Ali Ghazi is considered one of the most famous mystics in the Shia religion. In 1285 A.H., he was born and spent his life studying religion and self-cultivation in the vicinity of Amir al-Mu’minan Ali’s (A) shrine. Many divine instructions and virtues (Keramat) have been narrated from him through famous scholars. One of the most prominent of them is the story told by Allameh Tehrani. He said, “Several of our comrades and friends from Najaf have narrated from one of the scholars and masters of the Najaf religious center that he used to say, “I heard many unbelievable things from Allameh Ali Agha Ghazi. I was in doubt, and I was saying to myself, are these stories that have been quoted true or not? One day, I went to Kufa mosque to pray. (Mr. Ali Ghazi was also very interested in the mosques of Kufa and Sahle). I met him outside the mosque; we talked for a while and sat down on the side of the mosque’s qibla to relieve fatigue. While we were talking, suddenly, a big snake came out of a hole, crawled in front of us, and moved parallel to the wall of the mosque. As soon as the snake came in front of us, I felt a strange fear. Mr. Ghazi, who understood this, pointed to the snake and said: “Die by God’s permission”. Then, I immediately saw that the snake immediately dried up in its place! After this incident, without paying attention, he continued the conversation we had together. Then we got up and went inside the mosque. Mr. Ghazi first prayed two rakats in the middle of the mosque and then went to another room. I was also busy performing some of the mosque’s rituals, and I was thinking of going to Najaf after. Among the actions, I suddenly remembered the incident, and I was thinking to myself whether what Mr. Ghazi did was real or was an illusion, like the sorcerers do. And I said to myself, is it good to go and see if the snake is dead or has it come back to life and run away? This thought put a lot of pressure on me until I finished the prayers and immediately went outside the mosque in the same place where we were sitting. I saw the dried snake still lying on the ground! I moved it with a stick, and I saw that there was no movement at all!? I was very upset and ashamed. I went back to the mosque to pray a few more prayers, but I couldn’t, and this thought filled my entire being that if these things were true, then why do we never pay attention to them? Mr. Ghazi was in his room for some time and was engaged in worship; then, when he came out and left the mosque, I also left. Suddenly, I saw myself in front of him. Agha Sayad Ali Ghazi smiled at me and said: “Okay, my dear; You tested it, right?!”.
The question is why these actions from prophets are called “miracles,” but the actions from Awliya are not. Instead, these are called “Keramat” (virtues or divine dignities). What is the difference?
A “miracle” is a challenge for people and is accompanied by the claim of prophethood. Prophets claim that I did this miracle, and no one can do what I have done. For example, “O people, I bring the dead back to life and no one can do it, and this is a sign that I am the Prophet and messenger of God, and this is a miracle”. But in “Keramat” (dignity or virtue), the Awliya do not claim anything. They do not want to prove anything to the people. They don’t say that, “O people, see this dignity of mine. No one can bring this dignity”. Most of the time, they hide it from people. The other thing is that they don’t claim to be prophets. This is the difference; otherwise, the action is the same.
The summary is that those whose souls get stronger heal the sick. If your Nafs builds strength and you pray over a sick person, they will recover. The strength and purity of the human spirit can impact the surrounding world. Sometimes, it works fast, and sometimes, it doesn’t; maybe it will get better in an hour or a day due to your prayers. Some people’s souls are strong, but they are unaware of it. But politeness dictates that if a person finds strength in himself, he should not take possession because we are under God’s rule. It is God’s rule, and he knows what to do.
Mulla Rumi (Mulawi) narrates a story in the book of Masnavi of a man who was looking for Awliya of God for a very long time until he saw seven people by the sea. The story is very detailed; however, in summary, he realized that they were Awliya of God, and therefore, he followed them. One of them stopped to pray, and the others stood behind him to pray. He also did the same and prayed with them. Suddenly, he saw that a ship was sinking in the sea, so he did a “Tasarruf” (changing at will) action and saved the ship from sinking. The prayer was over. The Imam of prayer said, “Which one of you did this? Which one of you didn’t let it sink?” The man said, “I did.” The master said, “Why did you do this?” Then they disappeared from him.
After spending some time with them, his inner sight opened, and his Nafs became stronger. He noticed that a ship was sinking into the sea, and because he had the strength to stop it, he utilized it to save the passengers on board. But what’s important to remember is how it’s related to him. Is it not evident to God himself that the ship is sinking? Doesn’t He have a divine destiny over the entire world?
“Tasarruf” is a form of impoliteness in the presence of God, except for those places where the Awliya get permission from God. It is indicated to them that you should take care of it only this time and that this action must be done through you; otherwise, they will not do it.
I have narrated the story of obtaining the power of “Ism A’zam” (The Great Name) when a student was begging his master to give me the power of the Great Name. The master used to say, “I will teach you, but not now because you have to gain knowledge and be ready. One day, at the gate of the city, the student saw an old man carrying a load of wood on his back. The gatekeeper of the city did not open the door, and he said, “I will open the door at 7:00 in the morning when the sun shines. The old man said, “Please, this is heavy. It is difficult to put it down and pick it up again; please let me go inside the city. If I stand, my back hurts”. No matter how much he begged, the gatekeeper did not open the door. The old man begged more, but the guard got angry and kicked the old man in the chest, and the old man fell to the ground with a load of wood. No one dared to say anything to the soldier. The student was very offended and went to the master and said, “Sir, you did not give me the Great Name, and today I witnessed such a scene. If you had given me the power, I would have cremated that soldier there”. The master said that this old man you are talking about did not look like this. Wasn’t he like this?” and he listed a few attributes of the old man. The student said, “Yes, it was the same look as you say”. The master said, “This old man was my master, from whom I learned the Great Name. He knew what to do better than you if he wanted to use his power”.
A servant of God has been given the power of “Tasaruf” (changing at will). This is not that someone comes and says in his ear that now you can change something because you can, but because of the perfection he finds, he gains the power of possession, and such permission is given to him. Like when you can move your hand, you will see what you can do outside of yourself.
A friend narrates, “A couple visited Allameh numerous times since they were unable to have children. They begged Allameh Hassanzadeh, “Please do something; we definitely want a child; may God bless us with one.” Allameh dodged, eventually saying, “I pray for you, and God willing, it will be fixed.” They returned to him multiple times, each time asking him to pray that God would grant them a child. One of the Allameh’s sons, who excels in a number of disciplines, instructs them, saying, “Do this, and you will have children.” They went, and God granted them a kid. After a time, the couple returned to Allameh’s residence to thank him. They stated that your son was being kind and gave us instructions, which we followed, and God blessed us with a kid”. Later, Allameh contacted his son and furiously said, “Why did you do this? I could do it myself. What does it have to do with you that you interfered? This child makes the couple’s life miserable. God knows what is good or bad for people. You must not interfere”.
The true mystic, who is in possession, rarely interferes. He prays for people and asks God for blessings. They know that this is interference in God’s kingdom, and God knows what is good for people, except few cases in which a true mystic knows God wants the action to happen through them. Of course, we have a certain amount of possession power. We have control over our eyes, ears, hands, and feet. But possession over the matter of the universe is something special, and this will be the time when the human Nafs becomes strong. Hopefully, we will reach these authorities after becoming complete and real human beings. Otherwise, these powers will destroy imperfect people.
Muhammad Mahdi Me’marian
All praise is to God to the extent that He deserves it.
