The Realization of God

The Realization of God

1991 3 March 12 The Realization of God (356) Say: I am no prodigy among the apostles; nor do I know what will be done with me or you. I follow only what is revealed to me, and my only duty is to give plain warning. (Qur’an 46:9).

There is a hadith which expresses the same disavowal of superior knowledge. In the course of a conversation, the Prophet once said ‘By God, I do not know, even although I am a messenger of God, what will be done with me, and what will be done with you. (Al-Tafsir al- Mazhari, vol. 8. p.396).

What is expressed in the hadith is an exhortation to accept human servitude to God as the prime necessity. That is, man, being God’s servant, should always show humility, even if he is a messenger of God, rather than make announcements about the fate awaiting mankind in the hereafter.

Doubtless, God has made it known that He will bless his messengers and the true believers. But when a servant of God, who has realized God, gives thought to the fact that he is all-powerless and God is all-powerful, and that his fate in the hereafter rests entirely in the hands of God, then, in spite of his conviction of God’s blessing, he starts trembling. The thought of God’s greatness leaves him shivering in awe of Him.

On the one hand, he is wholly convinced of God’s blessings, but, on the other, he fears God’s chastisement. This state of affairs makes him stand exactly half-way between hope and fear, from the psychological viewpoint.

The truth is that the words, “I do not know what will be done with me, and what will be done with you”, convey the highest state of realization. The higher the realization of God, the more the feeling of God’s greatness will keep increasing. It is sentiments such as these that are expressed by those who have achieved true realization of God.

A man who had incurred the displeasure of Caliph Umar was brought before him. The Caliph said to him, “I am angry with you, but because I go in fear of God, 1 shall not strike you.”