The Seventh Flash

A CONCLUDING ADDENDUM

وَلَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ صِرَاطًا مُسْتَقٖيمًاAnd We would surely have guided them to a straight path. — The Qur’an 4:68

وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللّٰهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَاُولٰٓئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ اَنْعَمَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنَ النَّبِيّٖنَ وَالصِّدّٖيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَٓاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ اُولٰٓئِكَ رَفِيقًاWhoever obeys Allah and the Messenger will be with those upon whom Allah has bestowed His grace: the prophets, the siddīqīn, the martyrs, and the righteous. And what excellent companions they are!” — The Qur’an 4:69

Since these verses proclaim the same meanings concerning the ghaybThe unseen; that which is hidden from human perception and knowledge. as the verses at the end of SurahChapter of the Qur’an. al-Fath, we shall briefly treat them here in two points.

The First Point

Just as the Qur’an proclaims many truths through the implicit meanings of its verses, so too it proclaims many truths through its style, its manner of exposition, and the explicit meanings of its verses. Each of its verses contains numerous layers of meaning. Since the Qur’an comes from an all-encompassing knowledge, all of these meanings may be intended. It is not limited to one or two meanings, like human speech, which is the product of limited thought and personal will.

For this reason, countless truths of the Qur’anic verses have been explained by the mufassirīnScholars who interpret and explain the Qur’an; experts in Qur’anic exegesis (tafsīr)., while many other unexplained truths still remain. Moreover, besides the explicit meanings of the verses, much important knowledge is hidden in their letters and in their implicit indications.

The Second Point

With the words:

مِنَ النَّبِيّٖنَ وَ الصِّدّٖيقٖينَ وَ الشُّهَدَٓاءِ وَ الصَّالِحٖينَ وَ حَسُنَ اُولٰٓئِكَ رَفٖيقًاAmong the prophets, the siddīqīn, the martyrs, and the righteous. And what excellent companions they are!

the verse describes those who are upon the straight path and who are honoured with the blessings of Allah: namely, the ranks of the prophets, the caravan of the siddīqīnThe truthful believers distinguished by their unwavering faithfulness to Allah and His Messenger., the community of the shuhadāMartyrs who die for the faith and for the sake of Allah., and the class of the sālihīnThe righteous believers who live in obedience to Allah and perform good deeds. and tābiīnThe generation of Muslims who met and learned from the Sahābah (Companions of Prophet Muhammad), but did not meet the Prophet himself.. Moreover, after explicitly indicating the most perfect representative of these five groups in the Islamic world, namely the Prophet (saw)Sallallāhu alayhi wa sallam (Peace and blessings be upon him), it points to their leaders and foremost figures by mentioning their well-known qualities. Through a flash of miraculousness concerning the ghaybThe unseen; that which is hidden from human perception and knowledge., it also specifies, in one respect, the future positions of those leaders.

Indeed, the word:

مِنَ النَّبِيّٖنَAmong the prophets

refers to the Prophet Muhammad (saw)Sallallāhu alayhi wa sallam (Peace and blessings be upon him), while the word:

وَالصِّدّٖيقِينَand the siddīqīn

refers to Abū Bakr as-Siddīq (ra)The closest Companion of Prophet Muhammad (saw) and the first caliph after his death. He was given the title as-Siddīq, “the Most Truthful.”. It indicates that he would be the first after the Prophet (saw)Sallallāhu alayhi wa sallam (Peace and blessings be upon him), that he would be the first to succeed him as caliph, that he would be known within the Islamic community by the special title “as-siddīq“The Most Truthful”; a title given to Abū Bakr (ra), referring to his exceptional truthfulness and unwavering affirmation of Prophet Muhammad (saw).,” and that he would be recognized as the head of all the siddīqīnThe truthful believers distinguished by their unwavering faithfulness to Allah and His Messenger..