The dear Shaykh Ibn 'Ata’illah Al-Iskandari (RA) is the author of the Book - Kitab-u-Tanwir Fi Isqat-u-Tadbir (The Book of Illumination - In the Shedding of Self-Direction). He was a student and khalifah of the great Shaykh Abu-l-Hasan Ash-Shadhili (RA) … and in his humility he attributes his books to merely the teaching of his teacher, which is in and of itself a truth as well.
I have personally not seen or heard of such insight and reflection in any works other than the books of Imam Al-Ghazali and it was in this particular rendition that I not only realised that the key that unlocks the secrets of wisdom is adab, but also that through tassuwuf we can reach understandings that penetrate into the soul … and bring forth love …
This version of the story of the Creation of Adam (AS) brushes aside any dubious apocryphal rendition and shows us how the true story should be understood … So please give it ear and think deeply over each point … inshaAllah you too will see this Amazing Interpretation as the true one.
Section 1 - The Consequence of Tadbir with Allah (SWT)
Know that self-management and choice are a great danger and affliction.
We reflected upon the story of Adam (AS) and found that what caused him to eat of the forbidden tree was his tadbir for himself. Shaytan said to Adam and Hawa (AS), as is reported in the Qur’an: “Allah has forbidden you both the tree only because (by eating it) you would become like angels or of those who live forever” (Q7:20). So, Adam (AS) thought to himself that eternity with his Beloved is the highest aim, and his going from the human state to the angelic state of being, either because the angelic state is superior or because Adam (AS) thought that the angelic state is superior. So when he made this tadbir with himself, he went to the tree and ate from it. That was only out of of his own planning, whereas the desire of the Real was to cause him to descend to the earth by that action, and make him His Vicegerent (Khalifah) on it. It was a fall in form, but an ascent in meaning. For this reason Shaykh Abu Hasan (RA) said: “By Allah, Allah did not place Adam (AS) on earth to demean his status or make him deficient, but rather to perfect him.” And Adam (AS) still continues to ascend to Allah (SWT), one moment in the ascension of nearness and election, and one moment in the ascension of humility and lowliness, and in reality the latter is more complete.
Every believer must believe that the prophets and messengers do not move from a state except to a more perfect state. Understand from that what Allah (SWT) says: “And indeed the end is better than the beginning” (Q93:4). Ibn Atiyya commented: “In other words, the final state is better than the first.” If you know this, then know that the Real possesses the Will and the tadbir, and that His tadbir came before and willed that the earth would be occupied with the children of Adam (AS), and that they would be as He wills, “Some of them excelling, and others clear oppressors of themselves” (Q37:113).
Among that which His Wisdom decreed was that this intention must be completed and manifested in the visible world. So Allah (SWT) willed that his eating from the tree would cause his descent to earth, which would cause the manifestation of the degree of vicegerency, which He granted to him. Shaykh Abu-l-Hasan (RA) said, “The noblest of misdeeds was the one that bequeathed the Divine vicegerency and established the way of repentance for those after him until the Day of Rising.” Also, his descent to the earth was by the command of Decree of Allah (SWT) before the creation of of the heavens and the earth. Shaykh Abu-l-Hasan (RA) also said: “By Allah, Allah (SWT) indeed sent Adam (AS) down upon the earth before He created him, because He said: ‘I will place upon the earth a representative’” (Q2:30). Therefore, the eating of the tree, and his descent to earth, and Allah’s ennobling him through the vicegerency and leadership, are from the excellence of the tadbir of Allah for Adam (AS).
Sections 2 and 3 to follow inshaAllah
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