Al-Israa (The Night Journey)

85. “And they ask you about the spirit, say: ‘The spirit is of the command of my Lord, and you are not given of the knowledge but a little’.”

The Arabic term /rūh/ (spirit) has been mentioned 21 times in the Qur’an and used in certain cases. Anyway, man’s spirit is a complicated matter, unknown and a Divine blow which has got celestial dimensions, and only Allah knows it.

Imam Baqir (as) has commented upon the Arabic term /qalil/ in the sense of ‘few individuals’. That is, full knowledge has been only provided for only a select group of people and these are they who are exclusively aware of the soul.

Anyway, in this noble verse, pursuing previous verses, the Qur’an deals with some of the important questions of the pagans, or of the people of the Book, saying:

“And they ask you about the spirit, say: ‘The spirit is of the command of my Lord, and you are not given of the knowledge but a little’.”

Great commentators have been incessantly speaking about the commentaries of this verse, and we shall first deal with the meaning of ‘soul’, then its various forms of usage in the Qur’an and, afterwards, we shall deal with the comments of the verse and quotations in this regard.

1. The Arabic term /rūh/ (spirit), philologically signifies ‘breath’ and ‘running’. Some declare that this word and the Arabic term /rih/, meaning ‘wind’, are both derived from the same root.

If we find /rūh/ the spirit, which is an abstract and independent ‘gem’ called this way, it is because, from the viewpoint of mobility and creative form as well as its invisibility, it is like breath and wind. So much is for the meaning the word.

2. There are various usages for it in the Qur’an: At times, it refers to ‘the Holy Spirit’ who has assisted the prophets in their missions like, verse 253 of Surah Al-Baqarah, which says:

“And We made Jesus, son of Mary, clear Signs, and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit…”

At other times, it refers to the Divine spiritual power which reinforces and invigorates the believers, like verse 22 of Surah Al-Mujadalah, No. 58, which says:

“…these are they into whose hearts He has impressed the faith, and whom He has confirmed with a spirit from Himself…”

Occasionally, it has been named as the ‘exclusive angel of revelation’ and has been characterized as ‘Amin’ (truthful) as in the verses 193-194 of Surah Ash-Shu‘ara’, No. 26, saying:

“The Faithful spirit has descended with it,” “Upon your heart that you may be of the warners,”

At other times, it has been applied as one of the great angels of the ‘exclusive Divine angels’ or ‘a creature superior to the angels’, as in verse 4 of Surah Al-Qadr, No. 97, which says:

“The angels and the Spirit descend in it by the permission of their Lord for every affair.”

We also read in verse 38 of Surah An-Naba’, No. 78:

“The Day (on which) the Spirit and the angels shall stood arrayed…”

On the day of the resurrection, the spirits and the angels stand up alongside one another forming one queue.

On other occasions, it has been regarded as the Qur’an or the Divine revelation like in verse 52 of Surah Ash-Shur a, that says:

“And thus did we reveal to you; an inspired Book by our command…”

And, finally, we find its venue used as human spirit, as we read in verses concerning the creation of man, saying:

“Then He fashioned him in due proportion and breathed into him of His spirit.”1

And He also reiterates:

“So when I have completed him and I have breathed into him of My Spirit, fall you down, prostrating yourselves unto him.”2

3. The issue in question now is what is meant by ‘the spirit’ in the verse under discussion? Which spirit is it that a group of curious people have inquired about it and the Prophet (S) answered in response to them implying that the issue of spirit is among those which solely concern my Lord and you know but little about it.

Out of the totality of the existing references in the verse, as well as out of it, one can infer that those investigating ones were inquiring about the gist of the truth about human soul; this very splendid spirit which differentiates us from animals, and which is our utmost superior quality that causes our nobility, whence all our power and activities originate from, by the aid of which we turn the skies and the earth into our spheres of influence.

With its assistance, we tend to split the secrets of the sciences, delving into the core of the existence of all beings.

They sought to know what is this prodigy of the world of creation. And, as the soul is different in its structure with the matter which is subject to the principles governing the matter and its physical and chemical attributes, the Prophet (S) is commissioned to utter this concise and meaningful sentence:

“The spirit is of the command of my Lord.”

that is, its creation process is complicated and mysterious.

Then, to stop them being stunned, the verse continues saying:

“And they ask you about the spirit, say: ‘The spirit is of the command of my Lord, and you are not given of the knowledge but a little’.”

Thus, it is not at all surprising that you do not acquire the mysteries embodied in ‘spirit’, though they might be more intimate to you than all other things.

In the commentary of ‘Ayyashi, there are quotations from Imam Baqir (as) and Imam Sadiq (as) who commenting on /yas’alūnaka ‘an-ir-rūh/ said:

“One of Allah’s creatures is ‘Spirit’ that has got senses of vision, power, and force as well. The Lord locates the spirit in the hearts of the prophets and of the believers”3 .

In another quotation, one of the two great Imams has been quoted as saying:

“Spirit is of invisible world and emanates from Allah.”4

In numerous quotations from the Shiite and Sunni sources, we have it that the Quraysh pagans, getting this question from the savants of the People of the Book, wanted to put the Prophet (S) to the test thereby.

They were told that in case Muhammad provided them with a great deal of information in this connection, this would be the reason for his dishonesty. Hence, the Prophet’s (S) concise and meaningful statement was surprising and miraculous for them.

However, in quotations received through Ahl-ul-Bayt (as) regarding the commentary of the above verse, we note that ‘spirit’ has been considered as a created being introduced as superior to Gabriel and Michael, who has always remained with the Prophet (S) and the Imams, and who has kept them all, in their godly line, from every kind of deviation.

These quotations not only are not incompatible with the comments which we made about the verse, but they are also consistent with them in their entirety, since man’s spirit has got a specific hierarchy.

That phase of the spirit which is found in prophets and in Imams, is surely an extraordinarily elevated stage, one of the consequences of which, is its infallibility and state of ‘flawlessness’ from deviations and sin as well as its full cognition state and its extraordinary state of knowledge. It is certain that such a phase of spirit excels all angelic stages, including those of Gabriel and Michael.

The Authenticity and Independence of the Spirit

The issue of the spirit and its structural forms along with its mysterious specifications has always been the focus of attention of the scientists since the recorded human history was begun, and every scientist has tried his share to delve and explore, as far as he can the mysterious environment of the spirit.

It is just for this very reason that the views expressed by men of knowledge are so widespread and various. Probably, our present knowledge, and even the knowledge of the future generations, for the recognition of the entire secrets of the mysterious nature of soul prove to be insufficient, though our spirit is in closer contact with us than anything else in this world.

However, we must not be caught by surprise, when we are incapable to understand the depth of this miracle of creation which is beyond matter, for the basic substance of the soul varies tremendously with whatever we have ever been associated with and got used to in this world.

This state of the spirit must not hinder us to explore its landscape by our sharp insight of our intellect, becoming aware of its underlying general principles and orders which are governing it.

The most important principle which must be recognized here is the issue of authenticity and independence of ‘spirit’ as against opposition raised by the materialistic schools which regard the spirit as something of material, considering it to be of the properties of the brain matter and the nerve cells, beyond which they believe in nothing to exist.

Our focus of discussion in here centers about this very issue, for all discussion of the ‘survival of the spirit’ and the issue of absolute abstraction or ‘purgatory abstraction’ relies heavily on it.

Before entering this discussion, however, we must point out to the fact that the interdependence of the spirit on the body as some have believed, is not a kind of interdependence like that of the introduction or, for instance, of the blowing of the wind into a bag pipe.

Contrarily, it is some kind of relationship and interdependence based on the administration and control of the spirit over the body and its domination and governance, that some have resembled it to the interdependence of ‘meaning’ to the utterance.

Certainly, this issue will best be clearly explained in the discussion of ‘the independence of the soul’. Now, we shall turn to our principal discourse.

There is no doubt as to the fact that man is different from stone and wood which are lacking in spirit, for, we well feel different with respect to the inanimate objects, even with plants. We understand, imagine, decide, determine, love, hate, etc.

However, plants and stones lack in all these aspects in this form. Thus, there is an original difference between them, and us which is that of possessing human soul. Neither the materialists nor any other factions deny or reject the principle of the existence of the ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’, and, it is for this reason that all consider psychology and psychoanalysis as a positive science.

Although both of these two sciences are in their infancy, they are those branches of knowledge which are pursued by professors and researchers at great world universities. As we shall see ‘the soul’ and the ‘spirit’ are not, in fact, separate from each other; but they are different phases of the same reality.

As far as the issue involved is that of the relationship of the spirit with the body and their mutual interdependence, we call it the ‘soul’, and, while, spiritual phenomena are being discussed away from the body, we tend to call it the ‘spirit’.

Briefly speaking, no one rejects the fact that there exists an entity which is called the ‘spirit’ and the ‘soul’ within us.

It now remains to be seen that the all-encompassing conflicts between the materialists, on the one hand, and the metaphysicians and spiritualists, on the other hand, are being waged in which domain?

The answer is that the theologians and the philosophers who are metaphysician believe that in addition to the substances which form the body of man, there is another entity or gem hidden in him which is not made of the matter, though man’s body is under its direct impact.

In other words, the spirit is a metaphysical entity, the structural form and activity of which is other than the structure and activity of the material world. It is true that it is constantly in contact with the material world, but it is not ‘matter’ or properly of matter.

On the opposite side, the materialist philosophers are aligned who say: We do not know of any independent being different from matter under the name of the spirit or under any other name; whatever exists is this material body or its physical or chemical effects.

We possess a system called the brain or nerve system which does an important part of our essential activities for us and which perform their functions like other bodily systems, acting under material laws.

Certainly, scientists reject this line of reasoning which is propounded by the material philosophers, declaring it is null and void. For further information, refer to Tafsir-Nemūnah, vol. 12, under the same verse.

To conclude this statement, the word /rūh/ (spirit) has been repeated 21 times in the Qur’an, and the reality of the ‘spirit’ is beyond the understanding of man’s knowledge which lies as one of the Divine secrets. Man’s knowledge, with respect to it, is limited and very minimal.