The Qur’an and Philosophy

Moreover, it is a sacred book revealed from the Ism-i Azam, surveying the entire realm encompassed by the Arsh. For this reason, the title Kalāmullāh — the Word of Allah — is given to the Qur'an with complete justice.

The other words of Allah, by contrast, appear through particular and limited titles, arising from the manifestation of a specific divine name and through a particular mode of His providence, lordship, sovereignty, and mercy. In terms of universality and particularity, these words differ greatly in rank. Most ilhāmāt (divine inspirations) belong to this category, though they themselves vary greatly in degree.

For example:

The simplest and most limited form of inspiration is that granted to animals.
Then comes the inspiration of ordinary people.
Next is the inspiration of ordinary angels.
After that comes the inspiration granted to the awliyā.
Finally comes the inspiration of the great angels.

Because of these distinctions, a walī who receives direct communication through the heart says:

حَدَّثَنِى قَلْبِى عَنْ رَبِّى

He does not say, "My heart has informed me about the Lord of all the worlds." Likewise, he says, "My heart is the mirror and throne of my Lord." He does not say, "It is the throne of the Lord of all the worlds."

This is because each person can receive the divine address only according to the measure of his own capacity and in proportion to the lifting of the seventy thousand veils.

Indeed, just as a sovereign's decree, issued in the majesty of his sovereign authority, is infinitely more exalted than a private conversation with an ordinary subject, and just as the light of the sun shining in the heavens is incomparably more powerful than the light reflected in a mirror, so too does the Qur'an stand incomparably above every other word and every other book.

After the Qur'an come the Holy Books and Heavenly Scriptures, each sharing in this excellence according to its own rank and degree. Yet even if all the beautiful words ever spoken by mankind and the jinn, which do not originate from the Qur'an, were gathered together, they could never attain or rival the sacred station of the Qur'an.

If you wish to understand how the Qur'an proceeds from the Ism-i Azam and reflects the highest manifestations of all the divine names, then consider the majestic, universal, and all-encompassing expressions of the following verses, beginning with Āyat al-Kursī.