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Subtleties and Allusions

1) Advising the Truth

Advising about religion has been the practice of all prophets. Therefore, recommending religion and mutual advising of truth are considered part of religious programs and among the duties of a committed person. The Noble Qur’an has counted it as one of the pillars of saving humanity from loss:

“By Time, Indeed, mankind is in loss, Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience”(332).

One who escapes loss and attains salvation is the one who, in terms of belief, has faith, and in terms of action, performs righteous deeds. Then, these two main pillars and qualities that pertain to oneself should also be conveyed to others. In other words, the same truth that one has realized and the righteous deeds that one performs should be recommended to others. Therefore, in

“… gently removing his soul.”

Corresponding to those two “personal pillars,” there are also two “social pillars” that are among the characteristics of the people of salvation and their responsibilities. That is, “advising each other to truth” corresponds to “believed,” and “advising each other to patience” corresponds to “did righteous deeds.” This is because the essence and pinnacle of righteous deeds is patience: “The head of obedience to God is patience and contentment with God…”(333), “Patience is the head of faith,” “Patience is to faith as the head is to the body…”(334). Patience is the root of all divine commandments, as the believing person exercises patience in abstaining from sin, during calamities, and in obedience: “Patience is of three types: patience during calamity, patience in obedience, and patience against disobedience…”(335).

It is worth noting that mutual advising (tawāṣī) is different from favoritism and acting based on relationships. Distinguishing between cases of acting on relationships and cases of advising to truth and patience is the straight path that is thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword(336). Sometimes, a person must, for the sake of advising to truth, spend and sacrifice the honor that God Almighty has given them to solve others’ problems. However, one should never prioritize their own falsehood over another’s truth based on improper bias.

2) Death in Different Beings

“Life” and “death” each have a comprehensive concept that encompasses multiple instances in terms of different types of beings, namely inanimate objects, plants, animals, humans, angels, and beings of the intellectual realm. In the Noble Qur’an, “death” is mentioned in some of these beings as follows: “And God has sent down rain from the sky and given life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness”(337), “Indeed, God is the cleaver of grain and date seeds. He brings the living out of the dead…”(338), “Every soul will taste death”(339).

To explain, the death of everything is in accordance with its existential aspect; if a being is composed of elements and composed of matter and form, its death is the dissolution of the composition and the opposition of the synthesis, and with the disappearance of its compositional form, it disintegrates and perishes. However, if a being is inherently free from material elements, but is material in the realm of action_—in such a way that it does not perform any action without matterthe death of such an abstract being is the cessation of its connection with its object. In this case, that object disintegrates, and the abstract thing itself, although existing, is deprived of performing actions, because such a being is dependent on matter in the realm of action, and with the cessation of the connection, that matter which is the object perishes. And if a being is purely abstract and free from connection with matter in both its essence and action, such a being does not have death in the conventional sense. Of course, for it, a death like the death of death itself and the death of Azrael and the likewhich may return to manifestation and concealment—_can be assumed.

The final investigation of this matter is referred to the appropriate context.

It is worth mentioning that a simple and abstract being can attain the “station of annihilation” (maqām-i fanā). And after that, it possesses a vegetative soul. The state of annihilation, which is voluntary death (mawt ikhtiyārī), not natural, is when a being does not pay attention to itself and is not preoccupied with managing its own identity, while the essence of its existence is preserved. As the poet Attar wrote:(340)

O you whose existence is mixed with non-existence, Your joy is mixed with pain, Until you are turned upside down for a while, How can you become aware of your own existence? How long will you think? Become selfless like me, For a moment, think about your true self!