but he had been accorded a Trust that was connected to the whole universe and had been given a light that would change the colour of the universe. Moreover, since he had with him the key to open the door leading to eternal happiness, God Almighty bestowed on him the attribute of “seeing and hearing all things” so that he might demonstrate the world-embracing comprehensive wisdom of the Trust, light, and key – wisdom and purposes which encompassed the whole universe and embraced all creatures.
This profound truth contains four Principles.
The First: Why was the Ascension necessary?
The Second: What was the reality of the Ascension?
The Third: What was the wisdom and purpose of the Ascension?
The Fourth: What are the fruits and benefits of the Ascension?
First Principle
The reason for the Ascension’s necessity
It is said, for example, that Almighty God is closer to him than his jugular vein.1 He is closer to everything than anything else. He is free of and beyond corporeality and space. However, all the saints are able to converse with Him in their hearts, so why was the Saint, Muhammad (PBUH), successful in holding an inward conversation with God that any saint may do in his heart, only after and as a result of a long journey like the Ascension?
The Answer: We shall make this profound mystery easier to understand by means of two comparisons. Consider these two comparisons from the Twelfth Word, which are about the mystery of the Qur’an’s miraculousness and the mystery of the Ascension.
First Comparison: A king has two sorts of interviewing, conversation, and discussion at his disposal, and two modes of address and favour. The first is to converse with a common subject about a particular matter and special need by means of a private telephone. The second, under the title of august sovereignty, in the name of supreme kingship, with the dignity of universal rule, and with the aim of publishing and promulgating his commands, is to converse and speak through an envoy connected to those matters or by means of a high official related to those commands. It is also to speak through an illustrious edict that proclaims his majesty.
Thus, And God’s is the highest similitude,2 like this comparison, the
Qur’an, 50:16.
Qur’an, 16:60.