They exemplify the qualities of perfection, obedience, and dedication. They can take any form they like at any time and place. They carry unlimited miraculous powers through which they can reach anyone in the blink of an eye to help and to heal, to serve and to console, to love and to be loved.
Angels take any form they wish in the physical world. As crystal water takes the form of the cup in which it is poured, angels can take the form of any creation which they visit. They do not retain their full original form of light when they are sent to human beings: "Say: If there were in the earth angels walking secure, We had sent down for them from heaven an angel [without change] as messenger" (17:95). Angels can come as birds, as human beings, or as a form of light like a rainbow adorning the sky. They have a mind and a heart, but no will and no desire other than to serve and obey God. They are never too proud to obey Him.
Angels worship day and night without fatigue. They do not need to sleep, as their eyes never tire. They know no heedlessness. Their attention never wavers. Their food is glorification of God, their drink is to sanctify and to magnify Him. Their intimacy is in calling their Lord through hymning and singing His praise. Their enjoyment is to serve Him. They are devoid of any and all physiological restraints. They suffer no mood-changes.
Angels inhabit Paradise and the seven heavens. They worship more than human beings because they came before them and they have greater and more powerful faculties than they. They are more pious than human beings because they are innocent and unable to fall into mistakes or wrongdoings.
They never ask forgiveness for themselves but always for human beings. This shows us how much they care for us and to what extent God created them to look after us. God made them our guardians because a guardian is more perfect than the one he guards.
Angels are more knowledgeable than human beings. The teacher, again, is better than the student. Their knowledge is of two kinds: intellectual and traditional. "Intellectual" means here: "of the essence of reality" or "of the heart." "Traditional" means: "revealed and translated down from above."
Intellectual knowledge is a must, such as knowledge about God and His attributes. It is impossible for angels, the prophets, and pious people to fail to possess it. They have no excuse in failing to know it. The knowledge that is not obligatory is the way in which God has created the wonders of creation, such as knowledge of the Throne, of the Pen, of Paradise, Hell and Heavens. In addition there is the knowledge of the different kinds of angels, human beings, the inhabitants of the earth on the ground, under the ground, in the air, and under the sea. In the latter kind of knowledge angels are undoubtedly more versed than human beings. This is because they were created long before them: angels accompanied the entire process of creation of the universes as well as that of human beings.
They are also more familiar with that knowledge because of their God-given vision and hearing. But such knowledge is only attainable to those who have purified their heart and vision among human beings.
As for traditional knowledge, it is the prophetic knowledge that cannot be known by human beings without benefit of revelation. Only angels are able to bring that kind of knowledge to them. They were indeed the intermediary between God and human beings in that respect. Furthermore, it is possible that they are the continuous intermediaries of the events of the Last Day, after having been those of past and present events up to the Last Prophet, Muhammad, Peace be upon him.
They are knowledgeable in the traditions that particularly regard them and with which God has entrusted them. That is the reason why angels are far more knowledgeable than human beings and carry six kinds of perfect attributes:
They are messengers from the divine presence;
are noble in God's sight;
They have been empowered by God with a power rendering them capable of pure obedience;
are well-regarded and firmly established in the Divine Presence;
They are obeyed in the earthly world;
are trustworthy in receiving, keeping, and delivering the revelation.
The perfect state of human beings can no doubt never be achieved until the angelic power is linked with it. By God's permission, angels monopolize that angelic power which enlightens any human individual that connects with it.
The perfection of human beings, therefore, depends on the capacity to annihilate the human soul in the crucible of the angels. The conclusion of this process is described in the Koranic verse: "Thou soul in complete rest and satisfaction! Return unto thy Lord, accepted and accepting! Enter thou among my servants (angels), and enter thou my Garden!" (89:27-30)
According to that verse, God causes the spirit of human beings to enter the throng of the angels first, then Paradise. A condition of entering Paradise is to receive angelic greetings and revelation, at which time one enters it as a spirit endowed with angelic attributes. God then makes of such spirits messengers for His continuous creations; they are granted the happiness of living in Paradise and enjoying the sight of their Lord.
God made the greetings of angels necessary for human beings when their spirits enter into the angelic power. This is to elevate them to a higher state and produce for them a great happiness. Therefore, without the heavenly input of angels, the spirit of human beings cannot reach everlasting happiness.
The contribution of the angels to human happiness is derived from their perfection. Angels are free from any kind of anger, illusion, imagination, or delusion. This characteristic gives them the power to be in the divine presence and under God's divine light.
It is because of these shortcomings that human beings are prevented from being in the divine presence. Because perfection resides only in the state of reaching the divine presence, only angels can properly be said to have the attribute of perfection among created beings.
The spiritual dimensions of angels have different aspects.
The angel is a sublime luminescence.
His knowledge is perfect and complete because he knows the secret of the unseen and
is acquainted with the hidden secrets of creation.
His knowledge is real, active, and continuous.
The action of the angel is genuine because angels are committed to serve and their commitment is perfectly carried through.
Angels inhabit the seven moving planets, the polestar, and all the fixed stars of every other galaxy.
Orbits are like their bodies whose hearts are the planets.
The movements of these planets in their orbits is the principle of the changes on this planet earth.
The movements of angels in this universe has an influence on the states of human beings on this earth.
From the movements of these angels, by God's order, the connection is made between the movements of galaxies.
The transmission of signals even millions of light-years away from us affect the states of human nature.
The heavenly world thus always holds sway over the earthly world.
God created the sun from the angelic light. It allows this world to see everything of the material objects that were previously wrapped in darkness. Without that light of the sun nothing can be seen.
The latter always shines and reflects on the moon like a mirror so that it appears like a shining body. In the same way human beings, though they are inscribed by an angelic power, darken themselves through the oppression of their ego. Never theless, they are in a position to be always shining, and shining far more radiantly than the moon.
The moon possesses nothing of the light of the sun by itself; it only reflects at best. The main power belongs to the sun. Similarly, God has placed and organized in every orbit of the heavens, skies, galaxies, planets, and Paradises a creation differing from one orbit to another. They act like mirrors that reflect the light of the angels from the divine presence.
These celestial phenomena extend that angelic light, mirror-like, for the benefit of human beings and other creations. That light is "made subject" (musakhkhara) to whatever is needed by creation. That light is the source of the angelic power, the very angelic power itself. Indeed, it is the substance of goodness and benefits every place of creation.
As the angels move in the divine presence, their lights move in and upon the orbits which God created to be governed by them. Angelic powers affect the movements and contents of these orbits. Since these orbits reflect angelic lights upon earth, we see how human beings can in turn be affected by the movements of orbits in their lives. Angelic lights also affect feelings, moods, manners, and actions.
The elements and qualities of human beings and other created objects on earth vary according to their respective distances from the sources of angelic power. Hence we find differences between human beings, even though their bodies are similar. This is because they differ in respect to their connections with angels. The differences are not really in bodies but in the human beings' spiritual attributes and characteristics.
Human beings carry from childhood either the characteristics of goodness and holiness, or those of evil and wrongdoing. That is a very real picture of the spiritual "dress" of human beings and their hierarchies: one receives an angelic power while the other does not. This is what makes one better than the other, just as diamonds excel emeralds, which are better than sapphire, which is better than rubies.
All these are rare jewels but they vary in exellence. For all these jewels are more precious than gold. Gold is more precious than silver and silver is more precious than iron. The latter ends up as scrap while the others are always kept as valuable elements.
Light is better than darkness. The transparent is better than the opaque. The subtle is better than the dense. The enlightened person is better than the one in darkness. The beautiful is better than the ugly.
The one calling to goodness is better than the one calling to evil. The shy, courageous, generous, patient one is better than the one who carries hatred, enmity, darkness, evil, greed, and stinginess. All the above-mentioned characteristics depend on the nearness or farness of their respective bearers to the sources of angelic power.
Therefore, in this world the human spirit is a sign pointing dimly to the perfection of the higher world. It is like the light of the candle in relation to the light of the sun, or a small drop in relation to the ocean. Angelic light is the means of visibility of light on earth, both material and spiritual. We know about the sun from its rays.
Similarly, we know about God from the creations of the heavens and the earth, the perception of which is brought about by the shining of angelic light upon them and their expression through revelation by that light. There is no darkness for us deeper than the non-existence of angelic light. There is no light of God more expressive for us than the angelic light.
The appearance of each single thing is the result of this light, just as the existence of each thing proceeds from its existence. In this way God preserves creation through the light of the angels.
Human beings are themselves like a veil or eclipse of the angelic light. That is, they eclipse the angelic light which eclipses the light of God. Thus you can see the attributes of the Creator through His wonderful creations. This is the meaning of the Prophet's saying: "Think of the creations of God. Do not think of His essence."
The spirits of human beings can be described as atoms inside the heavenly world and their bodies as the houses of their spirits. Now, the house has a state and the inhabitant of the house has a state distinct from the first state.
It is clear to us that the inhabitant is more honorable than the house, for the greatness of the house depends on its inhabitant. { What makes Kabbah is Muhammad {S}}
These human spirits are an actual part of the angelic spirits.
That is why the condition of entry into Paradise for the soul of a dying person is that it be accepted into the angelic realm first, as we have said. That is also why the human spirit is qualified to receive transmission from the angelic powers, as the satellite dish is made to receive transmission from the main station.
To the extent that these individuals are connected to the angelic powers, they become undoubtedly more and more important to other human beings on earth. However, human bodies remain a compound of many different elements mixed together. The bodies of angels, on the other hand, are only made of light from the divine presence.
It is important to know that this difference never goes away in the material world. That is why the angels prefer to support the spirits of the bodies of prophets. For the prophetic spirits have elevated their bodily receptacles to the point where they acquire all manners of gnosis and spiritual states.
These in turn enable them to become beacons of light spreading heavenly gifts and carrying God's message to His creation. All these relations between angels and prophets, saints and pious people, obtain by God's will and His permission.
Angels are honored because of their knowledge and status as inhabitants of Paradise and recipients of God's satisfaction. They always look at their Lord and seeing nothing but their Lord. As we said previously, the inhabitant is more important than the body it inhabits. This is evident in the fact that the Prophets are more precious than their mothers, although they inhabited their mothers' wombs.
The status goes to the prophets, not to their mothers, because of the prophets' greater connection to the angelic powers. As an illustration we may say that the spirit of Jesus is better than his mother's body, and similarly that the spirit of the Messenger of God (Muhammad) is better than his mother's body.
When God created creation, He said: "Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, the Beneficent; with Whom none can converse. On the day when the angels and the Spirit stand arrayed, they speak not, saving him whom the Beneficent alloweth and who speaketh right." (78:37-38) God shows in these words that the angels are from among His greatest creations.
They stand second to him and they are His messengers of revelation sent to His prophets. He has honored them by letting them reveal the astounding knowledge in two ways: spiritually and phenomenally. He reveals it spiritually by letting prophets bring such knowledge in heavenly books and thereby guide others to the faith and honorable manners characteristic of the servants of God.
He reveals it phenomenally by inspiring the hearts of humankind to investigate and discover the visible world and accumulate empirical data. Hence, they achieve the most sophisticated technology that can possibly be reached by them in every given century.
This opens another window into understanding the role of angels among human beings. Scientists are actually using the energies that radiate from the angels on this earth to build up technological knowledge. By use of angelic energy they achieve a perfect mode of living: educating, helping, and healing those in need.
Spiritual people use the angelic power as a path of discovery for different purposes. They use this power in the knowledge that it is special grant from God.
He gives them a sacred and noble trust that has the potential to govern countless bodies other than their own.
This ability is defined as " the angelic power in them." These spiritual people are known in Islamic spirituality as abdal: "changed ones."
They can move from one place to another in the blink of an eye. They can live at one and the same time in the first and the second place.
They can live in many other places as well and yet maintain the same appearance as their original self. This is called ubiquity.
Sufi scholar-saints such as these, also known as knower-saints or gnostics (`arif, pl. `arifun), have confirmed that there is another world between that of human bodies on earth and that of angels, and have called that world the imaginal world.
This imaginal world is more subtle than the earthly world and yet denser than the angelic world. This characteristic of the imaginal world allows the abdal to travel within that dimension in the way that we have mentioned.
The method used by these spiritual people can be described as a self-riddance of the trappings of gravity. Everything yearns for its origin and the body yearns for earth which is pulled by gravity.
The spirit, however, yearns to the heavenly realm which pulls upwards. These abdal were capable of balancing the opposite elements earth/heaven, or upward/downward, within themselves in such a way that the element earth which once dominated over the other is now dominated by the other and follows it.
The intellect dominates the conscience to the extent that some have said that the conscience is in the prison of the mind. If the intellect is of the destructive type, that person will use knowledge and self-discovery to hurt instead of to heal.
Laser beams can be used for destruction as well as healing, but they are the same rays in either case. If that intellect does not balance properly between right and wrong, then it will be using the knowledge it acquires in an inappropriate way. If, however, the conscience dominates and plays a greater role, it will at one point dominate over the mind and ensure that it is controlled by the yearning to do good.
That is best for himself and for humanity at large, for that person will be constantly motivated to use his knowledge to help and to serve others.
This is the case in the body that imprisons the spirit: the person who can balance the two poles within will be qualified as a wise one.
Further down the road, if that person can progress more in the heavenly direction, he can use his spirit to dominate the body and acquire those powers that cut through the fetters of gravity.
This enables him to use the spirit to move the mass of the body, not only his own but those of others as well. For such a spirit, when it connects with its angelic power, will become a form of energy and light.
These entities can move mass at higher speeds than the mind can conceive.
This is how these pious people known as saints or abdal were known to appear at any critical time and any place that they liked.
Thus, they help people and teach them. The ubiquitous appearances of one's person in many places are like reflected images of the same one body through the mirror of an angelic power.
This mirror produces thousands upon thousands of pictures at the same time, except that those pictures are every bit as real as the original which is being reflected. {similar to Facsimile machine}
God will create an angel called al-Natiq, " the Uttering Angel," out of His own dhikr (remembrance) of Himself for every one of these types of realized people.
That angel is instructed to inhabit the heart of the pious servant of God.
His duty is to continuously inform that servant of his duties and obligations in each twenty-four hour cycle, besides the known duties of worship.
This link of information establishes a further possibility for the saint of reaching other human beings through the power of his heart.
Furthermore, God will enable him to hear the minutest cell in his body.
The angel speaks to him and explains why God created it, what physical purpose it serves in the body, what can poison it, and what can heal it. Moreover, it will inform him how to heal himself from any disorder of his body, and enable him to heal others through his acquired angelic energy.
The saint's angelic power thus enables him to converse freely with every cell in his body as if he were speaking to another person sitting in the same room. This ability will open for him the understanding that the human body to which is joined an angelic power is greater and even less fathomable than this entire universe.
Indeed, each cell is a world unto itself. It is inhabited by all kinds of infinitesimally small spiritual laborers. Their function is to run the life support system of that cell. A factory needs all kinds of instruments and machines, labor and managers to keep it alive and protect it from any kind of error and destruction.
In the same way, scientifically speaking, the cell has its own defense system against any invader from outside: that protection is produced by the tiny angelic staff whom God created for that purpose.
As the saint becomes more and more perceptive in his inner hearing and speaking, he will concentrate his entire power. He then places it in his heart exclusively of any other focal point. This process can be compared to the concentration of light which does not burn if scattered over the paper, but burns if reassembled into one ray under a magnifying glass.
At that time the saint will be able to send that gathered angelic light out of his heart in order to reach any human being on this earth and any heavenly being above.
The continuous build-up of this angelic power in the saint's heart allows him to witness heavenly sights and acquire heavenly knowledge.
This continues until the day comes when an indescribable light appears in the horizon of his heart.
This light expands the heart to an infinitesimal degree. It removes from it all the remaining veils that up to this point prevented it from reaching the realities of the heavenly world.
Meanwhile, God orders the angels, each one in his state, duty, and position, to inform that pious individual of three things:
the reason of his creation,
his position in the divine scheme, and
his duty within creation.
Every single one of these angels will thereupon adorn that spiritual person. They will endow him with a kind of gift. At a certain point, he will himself become "dilated" which, in the language of mystics, means that he will be clad in a subtle body of light, the same light that characterizes angelic beings.
That body is not visibly transparent to other human beings. Nevertheless, they can feel the light that emanates from the saint's body and be attracted to him as a magnet attracts other elements.
When people are attracted to this Knower-saint, however, he must not show that he is different from others and pretend to be higher than them. He must be an instrument of this angelic power. Being proud puts him in the same category as Satan.
Although the latter possesed an angelic power he fell from heaven because of pride and that power was taken away from him. The saint must only use angelic power in a constructive way, for the happiness and benefit of human beings. He must do so without asking for anything in return from those he helps. Angels never ask anything for themselves, rather, they always ask for the sake of human beings.
Children have not been involved in the low desires that strip the heart of its angelic power. In fact, they are at the rank of saints although they themselves are unaware of it, much less their parents and relatives. The child that declares that he has visions and sights is telling the truth;
whereas the parent who hears the child's accounts sifts them through the grid of the mind and does not consider them factual. "I heard music," "an angel came to me," "people came and disappeared," "they brought me gifts," are frequent utterances of children who blurt out these statements as the event occurs. The child cannot control himself, however, the saint keeps all these events hidden from others.
An intermediary state of knowledge exists between that of children and knower-saints which may be called a "premature sainthood." In that state many people experience visitations and sights and sounds which may be few and far in-between, or on the contrary frequent. These happenings seem discontinuous and even perhaps incoherent, like someone being addressed in a foreign language and struggling to understand.
The reason is that those experiencing them have not achieved the state of purity that permits them to converse fluently with their angelic power. Like children, they cannot help revealing these experiences as soon as they occur or shortly thereafter in ways that may or may not make sense to them or to others.
The happiness that these retellers of angelic visitations feel in telling others of their experiences is like the happiness of a child who receive candy. A child will become happy with its candy and forget about a diamond. Nevertheless the goal remains the diamond. It is important for persons to always re-direct themselves towards that goal: the continuous connection of their heart with angelic power at every moment of their life.
Each human spirit evolves from the point when it was present and testified before God on the Day of promises, to the reality of earthly life then to the life of the grave then to eternal life. This evolution consists in changes from one image to another.
The garment the spirit takes in the fourth month of its life in the womb is kept until death{ 4 Hijab Rahma Subhan Rafi al Ala}. Another dress is put on in the grave, which also deteriorates. Finally, the spirit puts on the body of the hereafter. This body changes to an angelic body at the time it enters among the angels, as we have already mentioned in relation to the Koranic verse "Enter thou My servants."
That angelic body will keep on changing, continuously and forever, from one excellent dress to one even more excellent, according to God's infinite creation of the levels of Paradise. Each dress of paradise, when worn, opens a new level. When one sees this new level, he desires to attain it. He puts on this new garment by divine permission. And a resurrection from one level of Paradise to the next continues ad infinitum. This astonishing phenomenon shows the great extent of God's power of creation.
In every period of evolution from one dress to another prior to Paradise the individual can understand his surroundings and in what state he is. He will be living in that very state and experiencing it but he cannot understand the other states. A person is virtually imprisoned in the state he is in and cannot see any other state.
On the other hand, the individual who reaches the full state of sainthood can understand everything from beginning to end.
That is what differentiates the ordinary individual from the saint.
A saint has already acquired the subtle body of light which enables him to see the past, present and future in one brief moment.
Indeed, he can attain the knowledge of the souls from the moment they stood in the divine presence to the day they came to this world, entered the grave, were resurrected and stood before God again, and entered Paradise.
This reality is expressed in the following prophetic tradition in which one of the Companions of the Prophet was asked by the latter to give those present a glimpse of his angelic vision:
Harith ibn La`man said: "Once I went to the Prophet and he asked me in what state I spent the day. I replied : "As a true believer." Then the Prophet asked me the state of my faith. I replied: "I see the throne of God and the people of Paradise helping each other, and the people of hell lamenting in hell. I see in front of me eight heavens and seven hells as clear as idol-worshipers see their idols. I can recognize each individual just like a miller can recognize wheat from barley. That is, who is to go to paradise, and who is to be found in hell. In front of me people are like fish and ants. Shall I stay silent or continue?" The Prophet told me to stop and say no more." [Abu Hanifah, "al-Fiqh al-Akbar"].
"When God wants to manifest Himself, He looks at His creation. His first attention goes to human beings because they resemble him. Those who resemble Him the most among them, are the saints; hence the Prophet said of them: 'They remind you of God.' We angels may speak to prophets alone, except for saints."
"We also pity you because human beings are unwilling to open themselves to attract the angelic power by which they reach the state of heavenly knowledge that is their inheritance. That makes us appear in your human form in varying shapes and degrees of light, in different places and to different ages of human life, to remind you that you have been honored with an angelic power and a divine likeness.
Keep the likeness! Use the angelic power! It shall elevate you to that luminous station without which God said: 'Verily, those for whom God did not appoint light, they will never inherit light!' (24:40) and He said: 'Light upon light!' (24:35)
declaring that the light of the heart's vision must be connected with the light of angelic power, ensuring success and guidance to all human beings. That light shall then appear over the entire human realm like a rising sun and a rising moon over all of creation, without ever setting. The light of this power, at that time, will make every individual like a moon, that is, a heavenly body that will reflect the original light for the rest of creation.
By this light, this world will be preserved, the love of nature will rule the earth, and everyone will live in peace and love, swimming in the ocean of angelic beauty and harmony."
The angel spoke this, then he gave me the angelic greeting of peace and left.
Belief in the Angels
34:40: "And on the day when He will gather them all together, He will say unto the angels: Did these worship you?"
43:53: "Why, then, have armlets of gold not been set upon him, or angels sent along with him?"
It is said that the word "angel"
comes from the Latin "angelus," which is borrowed from the Greek "angelos."
In Arabic the word is "malak" or "malaak," plural "malaa'ikat."
The Arabic root verb "alaka," which means "to give a message," confirms the angel's etymological connection to the function of Messenger of God in the semitic languages.
The existence of angels is one of the pillars of belief in most religious traditions and that is the case in Islam also. God mentions the angels in the Holy Koran in more than ninety different places.
They also occupy prominent places in the narrations of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, and the many accounts of saints and the pious men and women of the recent past and present. The following pages are an all-too-brief selection of some of the accounts and explanations that have reached us from those three sources.
The Koran says (2:285): "The Messenger believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him from his Lord and so do the believers. Each one believeth in God and His angels and His scriptures and His messengers - We make no distinction between any of His messengers - and they say: We hear, and we obey. Grant us Thy forgiveness, our Lord. Unto Thee is the journeying." God thus orders every person to believe in His angels as an obligation parallel to that of believing in Himself, His Books, and His Messengers.
The Angels of Koran
4:166: "But God Himself testifieth concerning that which He hath revealed unto thee; in His knowledge hath He revealed it; and the Angels also testify. And God is sufficient witness."
God has created a tree in the seventh heaven, on each leaf of which is found one letter of the Holy Koran. Every leaf is a throne carved from a precious stone, and every letter is represented by an angel sitting on that throne. Every angel is the key to a different endless ocean of knowledge, which has no beginning and no end. In every ocean there is a complete universe with its own unique creation. The diver into these oceans is the Archangel Gabriel. It was he who brought to the Prophet the pearls of those oceans when he appeared to him and said three times: "Read!" To this command the Prophet, Peace be upon him, each time answered: "What am I to read?" and Gabriel said:
Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth,Createth man from a clot.Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous,Who teacheth by the pen,Teacheth man that which he knew not. (96:1-5)
At that time the Archangel brought to the Prophet two green pieces of cloth from heaven, one of which was decorated with all kinds of precious stones from the earth, and the other with precious elements from heaven.
He opened the first cloth and told the Prophet to sit on it, and he handed him the second one and told him to open it.
When he opened it, he received the Holy Koran with words of light, and the secret of that tree in the seventh Heaven was revealed to him.
Whoever reads the Holy Koran with sincerity and piety is enabled to enter these oceans of knowledge and light.
The Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, saw a tablet made of rare pearls under the Throne of God and another tablet of emerald.
Upon the first was the first chapter, Surat al-Fatihat, which consists of seven verses, and upon the second the entire Koran. He asked the Archangel Gabriel, "What is the reward of one who reads the Fatiha?"
Gabriel said, "The seven doors of hell will be closed for him, and the seven doors of paradise will be opened for him."
The Prophet said: "What is the reward of the one who recites the whole Koran?" Gabriel replied: "For every letter that he reads God will create an angel that will plant a tree for him in paradise."
Then the Prophet saw a triple light radiating in three directions, and he asked what it was. Gabriel said: "One of them is the light of the Verse of the Throne (2:255), the second is the Chapter Ya Seen" (Chapter 36), and the third is the Chapter of Oneness (Chapter 112).
The Prophet asked: "What is the reward of one who reads the Verse of the Throne?" Gabriel replied: "God said: It is My attribute, and whoever recites it shall look at Me on Judgment Day without veil."
The Prophet then asked: "What is the reward for one who reads the Chapter Ya Seen The answer came from God: "It consists of eighty verses, and whoever reads it will receive eighty mercies: twenty angels will bring him twenty mercies in his life, twenty more angels will bring him twenty mercies at his death, twenty more, twenty mercies in his grave, and twenty others, twenty mercies on Judgment Day."
The Prophet said: "What is the reward for reading the Chapter of Oneness?" The answer came: "The angels will give him to drink from the four heavenly rivers that are mentioned in the Holy Koran: the river of pure crystal water, the river of milk, the river of wine, and the river of honey."
The Angel That Carries the Whale That Carries Creation
3: 190-191: "Lo! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the difference of night and day are signs of His sovereignty for those possessed of understanding, such as remember God, standing, sitting, and reclining, and consider the creation of the heavens and the earth, and say: Our Lord! Thou createdst not this in vain."
In the beginning God Almighty in His majesty created a huge jewel of green peridot.
No one but He knows its size.
Then the Lord trained His gaze onto that jewel and looked on it with a glance of awe.
Under the influence of God's gaze, this jewel became liquid and began to undulate.
It turned into a sea and began to boil and churn and was moved from its depths.
As it boiled, it began to evaporate, and steam rose up from it.
This vapor continued to rise, and below it remained a thickening, coagulated, precious mass.
From the layers of vapor the Lord of the worlds created the seven heavens, and from the remaining primordial mass he created seven layers which He then made into the seven earths.
The thickness of each of the layers of heaven and earth was five hundred thousand light-years, and as for the space separating each of them from the next only God knows it as He said:
"Have not the unbelievers then beheld that the heavens and the earth were a mass all sown up, and then we unstitched them and of water fashioned every living thing? Will they not believe?" (21:30)
After creating the heavens and the earth, God created a great angel.
Between his eyebrows there is a distance of five hundred light-years.
He has two wings decorated with great constellations. They spread their lights like flickering fires over his majestic shoulders.
One wing represents the East, the other the West. The angel was ordered to bend down his neck.
With both his arms he lifted up the whole of creation spanning the East and the West.
He carried this burden until he came to rest right beneath the divine Throne. There he will remain until Judgment Day.
When he lifted his burden, the angel saw that his feet remained suspended in mid-air. God then ordered the angels to bring from the highest Paradise a stone of red ruby.
This heavenly rock was placed beneath the angel's feet so that he found a place for his feet.
Now this red ruby remained suspended in mid-air.
So the Lord brought an enormous ox which had seventy-thousand legs from Paradise.
This ox { Taurus}was so huge that its horns reached from the highest heaven to the foot of the divine Throne.
It was immeasurably greater in size than the angel carrying the heavens and the earth.
The angels placed the red ruby stone between the horns of the ox where it was firmly grounded; except there was nothing to support the feet of the ox.
God, therefore, fashioned a dome-shaped vessel; its breadth was a distance of seven hundred thousand light-years.
The angels placed this vessel beneath the feet of the ox.
The ox now stood firm. But the vessel was left hanging in the air. From the perfection of
His divine power, God created a whale by the name of Lutia.
He then ordered the angels to place the vessel on its back, and the angels obeyed.
By the will of God, the vessel stood fast. Now only the whale remained in the air.
So God created an angel more beautiful than the new crescent moon. Half of it is fire and half snow. Its constant prayer is: "By the Lord who has made this fire cohabit in peace with this snow, may God bless and forgive His human beings."
Thus God made the angel that carries the universes stand on top of the red ruby, placed on top of the ox that rested on the dome-shaped vessel that sat on the whale Lutia who swam in the palm of the angel of opposites like a ring lost in the midst of a great desert.
Angels and the Creation of Adam
2:31-33: "And He taught Adam all the names, then showed them to the angels, saying: Inform Me of the names of these, if ye are truthful. They said: Be glorified! We have no knowledge save what Thou hast taught us. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower, the Wise. He said: O Adam! Inform them of their names..."
2:34: "And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever."
7:11: "And We created you, then fashioned you, then told the angels: Fall ye prostrate before Adam! And they fell prostrate, all save Iblis, who was not of those who make prostration."
15:28-31: "And remember when thy Lord said unto the angels:
Lo! I am creating a mortal out of potter's clay of black mud altered. So, when I have made him and breathed into him of My spirit, do ye fall down, prostrating yourselves unto him. So the angels fell prostrate, all of them together save Iblis. He refused to be among the prostrate."
17:61: "And when We said unto the angels: Fall down prostrate before Adam and they fell prostrate all save Iblis, he said: Shall I fall prostrate before that which Thou hast created of clay?"
18:50: "And remember when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam and they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He was of the Jinn, so he rebelled against his Lord's command."
20:116: "And when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, they fell prostrate all save Iblis; he refused."
38:71-73: "When thy Lord said unto the angels: lo! I am about to create a mortal out of mire, and when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, then fall down before him prostrate, the angels fell down prostrate, every one."
God taught Adam the names of everything in creation: the inner nature and the outer, qualities and quantities, and the secret of all existence. It is by virtue of this knowledge that He elevated him to a state of purity and perfected him to reach the divine knowledge from which angels derive the nectar of their own knowledge. God thus enabled Adam to teach and inform the angels, although he was created after them.
These verses point to the essence of the human condition, whereby human beings can reach a station where they command angelic power.
They teach us that angels can take the form of human beings, and that human beings can purify themselves to the point of carrying angelic attributes.
God has placed the angels at the service of His beloved creation, and caused them to appear to mankind and help them. This is symbolized by their prostration to Adam. It was Adam whom God chose as His viceroy on earth and not the angels. "And had We willed We could have set among you angels to be viceroys in the earth" (43:60). Many stories illustrate this angelic service to humankind in the following pages.
It is related that when Adam approached death he assembled his children and he told them that he desired to taste of the fruit of Paradise again. All his children went in search of such fruit. The angels knew that Adam was going to die. They received his children with heavenly shrouds in their hands and water from the rivers of Paradise for Adam's final ablution. Adam's children were surprised. "How did you know that our father was ill?"
The angels replied: "What are you looking for?" The children answered that their father was sick and that he desired a fruit of Paradise. "Perhaps that will heal him," they said. The angels told them: "O children of Adam! Paradise was created for you. We are but the caretakers of that place for you. How can the owners ask permission from the caretakers? But if you wish to enter it again, you have to come back to the divine presence and reclaim your angelic reality as before." "How can we do that?" asked the children of Adam.
The angels replied: "You have to long earnestly to meet your Lord, and he will teach you the way back to Him." "And then?" asked the children of Adam. The angels said, "Then, you have to enter through the door of death."
Adam died, the angels came down and buried him themselves, showing his children the manner of this ritual and teaching it to them for the first time. After that, the sun and the moon were eclipsed for seven days and seven nights.
Noah's Angelic Light
23:24: "But the chieftains of his (Noah's) folk, who disbelieved, said: This is only a mortal like you who would make himself superior to you. Had God willed, He surely could have sent down angels. We heard not of this in the case of our fathers of old."
Noah was born with the light of prophets on his forehead. God created that light before Adam and He caused it to pass from one generation of prophets to the next until the Seal of Prophets, Muhammad.
After he received the prophecy Noah preached for nine hundred years. The angelic light in him shone forth and even the animals and stones were praising God when they saw him.
Yet Noah's people were so stubborn that he succeeded in calling only eighty persons to the true faith, among them three of his sons.
In the end Noah was fed up and he asked God to be relieved from the task of constantly calling in vain. God accepted Noah's request and decided to send the Great Flood as a trial for human beings. When the command came for Noah to build the ark, he asked for instructions and God sent him Gabriel to teach him how to build it.
Gabriel ordered the angels of safety to collect the best timber for a ship to resist the Waters of Wrath.
The angels brought Noah a pile of wood and timber from the cedar-trees of Lebanon which were later used to build the Temple of Solomon.
They placed the wood in front him. The pile was so great that from whatever point of Noah's country one looked at it, that pile always seemed to cover the sky above one's head. Noah took one splinter of that pile and from it began to build a huge ark.
Never before had a ship been built in that country.
Noah's country did not meet the sea or any other great body of water.
His people scoffed at him, saying: "A ship in the middle of a plain!" and: "How should there be a flood in this country which hasn't even seen rain in so many years?"
Gabriel instructed Noah how to piece together the hull of the ship with one hundred and twenty-four thousand planks.
On each of these planks was inscribed the name of one of the one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets who were to appear from the beginning of creation to the end of times, starting with Adam.
God created an angel to safeguard and insure the soundness of each plank even after it had been incorporated into the ship. This was done to show that God protects his creation with his beloved ones among the angels and the prophets.
God places within creation itself the causes and effects of salvation and the road to Paradise. God saves His beloved servants time and again with the arks of salvation brought by the angels. In times of disasters, plights, wars, famines, and great depressions, angels never fail until today to bring help and relief for those who ask. The following story illustrates this.
Abraham's Honored Guests
51:24: "Hath the story of Abraham's honored guests reached thee (O Muhammad)?"
Abraham's nickname was: "Father of guests" because he was so hospitable. Because of his great hospitality, God always sent him an angel to keep company with him, so that Abraham would not have to sit and eat alone.
One time God sent Abraham three angels to bring him news of a son, although he and his wife were quite old. It is said that the three angels who visited Abraham are called "honored" because Abraham, the Intimate Friend of God, served them himself.
It is also said that they are called this because the guest of an honorable person is himself honorable.
God blessed the lands of the entire Middle East with great angelic presence and light.
He caused all the prophets and saints who are mentioned in His revealed Scriptures and traditions to be born there.
God made them visit and bless the various locations that He caused to bathe in perpetual angelic light, such as Mecca, Madina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Sinai, Yemen, and the mountains of the Lebanon.
God brought Abraham to Syria and called it: "The land which we have blessed for the benefit of the worlds" (21:72).
Then God ordered the angel of the shade to descend and make Abraham's stay a comfortable one. The angel of the shade came down and caused a huge garden to sprout instantly in the midst of the fire. A green meadow appeared in the midst of which there was a pleasant pond filled with fish and swans from Paradise.
Their scales and feathers shone like silk and reflected all the colors of creation. Servants were attending Abraham, who was found under the cool shade of a willow-tree surrounded with delicious fruits and dainty dishes, and the angels engaged him in a divine conversation, during which they revealed to him the secrets of their stations and the powers God had endowed them with, giving him everything. At that time those who were outside looking in, began to wish that they, too, would be thrown into that fire with Abraham.
Even his father, who previously disbelieved in him, said: "O Abraham, what a wonderful Lord your Lord is!" And his mother actually went into the fire escorted by the angels, hugged Abraham and came back out without being harmed. No-one else could approach it without feeling an intense scorching heat.
The fire burnt uncontrollably for forty days. But Abraham's garden only increased in verdure and kept expanding with the constant visitations and blessings of the angels. At that time, Abraham's fire was the most blessed spot on the entire surface of the earth, as God looked upon it with the highest favor. He ordered all the angels of creation to pay at least one visit to His Friend Abraham.
Jonah's Angelic Whale
37:139-144: "And lo! Jonah verily was of those sent to warn when he fled unto the laden ship, and then drew lots and was of those rejected; and the whale swallowed him while he was blameworthy; and had he not been one of those who glorify God he would have tarried in its belly till the day when they are raised."
God sent Jonah to the people of Nineveh in Iraq.
He called them to God's message but they refused to listen to him.
He was calling them night and day to no avail. Instead they harmed him and cursed him at every turn. This lasted for a long time.
Jonah was unable to bear this situation any longer. He began to threaten them: "I am going to ask my Lord to send you a severe punishment which has never been seen before; to destroy your cities and burn your gardens; to make you barren and end your line." He then left them.
Slowly, his people began to feel the approach of punishment in their daily life. They began to realize that they had made a big mistake.
God is the Most Merciful; for at every moment in this world he will show His greatness and cause people to observe Him through many signs. He will do this by sending angels in order to direct the sincere, and, indeed, anyone who asks for guidance, to the light of happiness in life.
God sent the people of Jonah the angels of Mercy and the angels of Safety in order to inspire their hearts to do good, and guide them to safety through the destruction that was descending on their heads.
Abraham was protected from Nimrod's fire by the intervention of the angel of snow and the angel of peace. In the immense heat of this great fire where he had been thrown, surrounded by great destruction from above, from below, and from every side, Abraham was saved and protected. This was a message from God to tell His people: "I can save whomever I wish from any harm, whenever I like, no matter how bad their situation is."
Jonah was angrily moving away from his people. They regretted what they had done to their prophet. Men, women, children, old people, and even the animals, both tame and wild, were heard and seen crying out, each in his own particular language. It was a tremendous event, and everyone asked for mercy and for the angels' intercession.
God Most Merciful, Most Powerful, and Most Beneficent took away the destruction and saved them through his angels from this great havoc. Meantime, Jonah boarded a ship and took to sea. A big storm broke, and the ship was being torn apart and about to sink. The crew decided to draw lots and throw out one passenger as an expiation for the sin which was bringing death upon their heads. When they drew Jonah's lot, they loathed to throw him because he was the prophet, so they drew lots again. Every time, however, his lot kept coming out.
In the end Jonah threw himself over board, and a great green whale came from the bottom of the ocean and swallowed him.
An angel appeared before the whale and instructed her not to crush Jonah but to keep him safe in her stomach.
At that moment Jonah spoke to the angel and asked for his advice, saying: "Give me the glad tidings from your Lord.
How did God teach you the knowledge of the Unseen?"
"Because I don't commit sin," said the angel.
Jonah said: "Advise me." The angel replied: "Be patient and not full of anger, for you are full of anger against your nation right now.
Be a person who gives benefit, not harm -- for you were praying your Lord to destroy your people for harming you.
Don't be happy with your pride and arrogance.
Don't humiliate your nation with their sins, because you also have mistakes."
Inside the stomach of the green whale, Jonah went into prostration and said: "O God, I prostrated for you in a place where no-one before has prostrated.
O God, you have drowned me in the oceans of hope, and
caused me to forget the day of my death.
O Lord, you are the possessor of my heart and of my secret.
I am the drowned one, so catch me by the hand and save me.
Relieve me with Your perfection and inspire me with Your love!
Let the angels of mercy reach down to me and pull me,
O You who accept the prayers of the needy in the darkness of punishment.
O the unveiler and remover of difficulties and harm,
here I am coming to You and adoring You. Do not keep me from Your presence. Forgive me."
God ordered the angel to move the whale through the farthest oceans of the world and take her to the saltiest, or most concentrated and deepest depths of the seas.
There Jonah began to hear the praising of all whales, all fish, all corals and all creatures of the depths. Nothing remained except they praised God and lauded Him, and Jonah was praising Him also.
The angel inspired Jonah to say: "O God, Most Exalted, no-one can thank You nor worship You as You deserve to be thanked and worshipped. You know the secrets and the deepest knowledge, You unveil everything hidden from Your servants, You know every slight matter in this world and the next, and accept the prayer from every creation, forgive me and accept me in Your presence as Your humble servant."
God revealed to Jonah the following: "And mention the Lord of the Whale Dhul-Nun, when he went off in anger and deemed that We had no power over him, but he cried out in the darkness, saying: There is no God save Thee. Be Thou glorified! Lo! I have been a wrongdoer. Then We heard his prayer and saved him from the anguish. Thus We save believers" (21:87-88).
Then God ordered the whale to throw Jonah out onto the sea-shore, and ordered the angel to tell Jonah: "This is God's mercy. He can send it on anyone He likes, even in the midst of the greatest destruction and the surest death, far from any help." Thus did God save Jonah, and the following story illustrates how God saves His people from the grip of destruction even against the greatest odds.
Angel of the Torah
2:248: "And their Prophet said unto them: Lo! the token of his kingdom is that there shall come unto you the ark wherein is peace of reassurance from your Lord, and a remnant of that which the house of Moses and the house of Aaron left behind, the angels bearing it. Lo! herein shall be a token for you if in truth ye are believers."
This verse shows the miraculous power of angels and their superlative ability to act upon the physical realm.
They carried the Ark of the Covenant in front of Saul's army and the relics which the family of Moses and Aaron left behind.
Angels were carrying the Ark of the Covenant because it was very important for humanity.
It contained one of the heavenly Books, the Torah, in its original form. When God ordered Moses to write the Torah, He said: "O Moses! you have to write it on tablets of gold."
When Moses asked where he would find such a metal, God sent him the Archangel Gabriel and ninety-nine other angels.
Each one represented an attribute of God and they taught Moses one hundred and twenty-four thousand words.
With every word Moses was elevated to a higher level.
At every level Moses saw light coming to him from the Divine Presence and dressing him, until he reached a state of purity similar to the transparency of crystal water.
This caused every on-looker at Moses to see nothing but light.
At that moment, Gabriel ordered the ninety-nine angels to adorn him with the attributes and powers that each was carrying.
Moses wore a veil to cover the intense light which emanated from him and caused others to faint if they looked at him.
Then Gabriel poured into Moses' heart the heavenly knowledge meant to be consigned in the tablets.
He taught him the chemistry of gold.
Moses in turn taught his sister one-third of this chemistry,
Joshua another third, and Saul the last third.
Then he wrote the Torah on the gold he manufactured. All the while the angels stood by him and taught him how to write and adorn that heavenly book.
Then God created a four-winged angel and ordered him to keep company with Moses and be the guardian of the Ark.
Mary's Virgin Angels
3:42: "And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! God hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above all the women of creation."
The "Virgin Angels" were created from the Word of God, carrying His Light and appearing to the Virgin of virgins, Mary.
They informed her that she had been chosen to carry a great message for humanity.
They were her guardian angels.
They were wearing crowns of pearls and rubies on their head.
The Virgin Mary's eyes were drawn to these pearls and emeralds without her will.
This enabled her to see that this world, with all its magnitude, disappeared into one of these jewels as a ring disappears in an ocean.
This vision elevated her to a state where she reached a knowledge which dwarfed all the knowledges of this world, enabling her to carry in her womb the secret of Jesus, which is a Word from God.
God has prepared and guarded Mary through these two messengers for her to carry the light which the Archangel Gabriel would bestow upon her at a later time.
She was chosen among all the women of the world for her sincerity and piety and to carry a baby without the agency of a man.
She was asking God from her first day in existence to be a virgin in body and a virgin in soul.
The Four Archangels in Charge of Earth
42:5: "Almost might the heavens above be rent asunder while the angels hymn the praise of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those on the earth. Lo! God is the Forgiver, the Merciful."
53:26: "And how many angels are in the heavens whose intercession availeth not save after God giveth leave to whom He chooseth and accepteth!"
83:20-21: "A written record, attested by those who are brought near unto their Lord."
There are four angels and their innumerable retinues in charge of this world.
The first is Gabriel and his armies. He is in charge of soldier-angels and revelation. Gabriel insures victory and is responsible for the extinction of nations: human, animal, vegetal, or others, when God wills it.
The second is Michael and his armies, in charge of rain and vegetation. He conveys sustenance to nurture mankind.
The third is `Azra'il the angel of death and his assistants. They are in charge of seizing the souls of those who die.
The fourth is Israfil and his assistants, in charge of the Hour of the Day of Judgment. When the earth has passed away God will order these angels to bring forth their scrolls and they will bring them. Then God will order them to open the Book of Life. They will then find that their scrolls are the same as it.
Gabriel, the Servant
66:4: "And if ye aid one another against him (Muhammad), then lo! God, even He, is his protecting Friend, and Gabriel and the righteous among the believers; and furthermore the angels are his helpers."
2:98: "Who is an enemy to God, and His angels, and His Messengers, and Gabriel, and Michael! Then, lo! God Himself is an enemy to the disbelievers."
The Soldier-Angels
3:124-125: "And when thou (Muhammad) didst say unto the believers: Is it not sufficient for you that your Lord should support you with three thousand angels sent down to your help? Nay, but if ye persevere, and keep from evil, and the enemy attack you suddenly, your Lord will help you with five thousand angels sweeping on."
9:40: "Then God caused His piece of reassurance to descend upon him (the Prophet) and supported him with hosts ye cannot see."
37:173: "And that Our host, they verily would be the victors."
48: 4,7: "To God belong the soldiers of heaven and earth, and God is Knower, Wise."
67:20: "Who is he that will be an army unto you to help you instead of the Beneficent?"
74:31: "And none but your Lord knows the number of His soldiers."
These verses have two explanations, external and internal. In support of the righteous people who followed the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him, God has ordered three thousand of the angels created from the light of the attribute "al-Jalil," "The Majestic," to descend and protect the believers against terror and devils.
These angels were "sent down," in other words, came down from the Seventh Heaven which is the highest heaven. The second verse shows that God has sent the angels carrying signs of special significance which were visible to the believers.
These signs were crowns of gold on their head, which represent the richest and most precious state, as these angels came from the most precious state of perfection in the first heaven.
Through the light of their crowns these angels were able to strike dead whomever came in front of them. At the occurrence of that event in the battle of Badr, believers were given the power to see those angels and to believe in their support by direct sight.
The internal meaning of these verses, which very few believers experience, is based on the fact that in the Holy Koran God has ninety-nine names and attributes, whereas in the Bible He has nine hundred and one, and in the Torah, two thousand.
In the first of these two verses God mentions that these angels have been sent down from the highest heaven which is in the highest state of perfection near the divine presence.
Each angel was carrying one attribute of the three thousand attributes that exist in the three Holy Books.
This means that holy support came from all three heavenly books and was given to the believers and their Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him.
The symbol here is that of the unity of religion and the oneness of faith. It enabled those believers to understand that Islam accepted Jesus and Moses and the Books that they brought.
The second verse defines a firm reality that egoistic devils cannot reach you as long as you are aware of God's presence in your heart.
This presence elevates you to a state of perfection comprising five different levels. Each level consists of one thousand different layers or states, and each layer is represented by one of the five thousand angels mentioned.
When you ascend from one level to another, you will be dressed with the power of the angel of that level.
Each level increases your heart's power twofold so as to embrace all the power and knowledge of that level.
This increased light provides the key to the next level, and so forth from the first to the last of the five thousand levels.
At that time, you will be a light from God's Light and a deputy among His angels on earth, shining like a sun on a bright day.
The Angels of the Throne
39:75: "And thou (O Muhammad) seest the angels thronging round the Throne, hymning the praises of their Lord. And they are judged aright. And it is said: Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds!"
69:17: "And the angels will be on the sides thereof, and eight will uphold the throne of their Lord that day, above them."
God has created the divine Throne with light from His light.
The greatness of the Throne is such that, besides it, all the seven heavens and the seven earths are like a tiny mustard-seed in the midst of a great desert.
When God wanted to show the greatness of the Throne, He created an angel by the name of Harquaeel.
This angel has eighteen thousand wings. Delighting in his many wings, this angel was taken by the desire to appraise the size of the divine Throne.
God said to that angel: "O Harquaeel, I know that you have an ambition to see the greatness of My divine Throne, so I am granting you another eighteen thousand wings, and allowing you to fly with all your might roundabout My divine Throne.
Harquaeel deployed his wings and flew for three thousand light-years until he grew tired, even though angels do not get tired, and had to rest. Again, the divine command came, saying to him: "Harquaeel, fly on!" A second time, the angel deployed his wings and flew on for another three thousand light-years. Again, he grew tired and had to stop.
A third time the command came to him to fly more. And a third time he deployed his wings. He flew on another three thousand light-years until he stopped again, dazed by the great distance which not even his wings allowed him to encompass.
Harquaeel spoke to His Lord:
- "O my Lord and Creator, tell me how many times now I have circled Your Throne?" The Lord of heavens and earth and all creation answered: "O Harquaeel! you have been flying for nine thousand light-years, but you have not reached even one pillar of the base of the Throne!" Harquaeel felt shame and repented of his desire to measure the greatness of his Lord's creation and to know the extent of His secrets. God then spoke to him and said: "O Harquaeel! if I had ordered you to fly incessantly up until the Day of resurrection, you would still not be able to reach the knowledge of the first pillar of the divine Throne. No-one can know the unknowable except by My favor and My grant."
God has created eight angels to carry the divine Throne. These angels are immensely powerful and awesome.
Each has a sevenfold aspect: one face in front, one face in back, one face on the right, one face on the left, one face facing up, one face facing down, and one face at the centerpoint or heart connecting all six faces.
This face is the most radiant and powerful. It is the receptacle and source of angelic energy.
These seven faces correspond to the seven heavens and the seven earths.
In the court of the Almighty, these angels have been granted immense honor.
They are from among the very first angels to be created.
The first of the eight angels has a human form
and is constantly praying on behalf of the human race, saying:
"O Lord! give ample provision to mankind, and look upon them with kindness and favor."
The second angel is shaped like a lion, and his prayer is: "O Lord! give their provision to each animal from among the beasts of prey."
The third angel is shaped like an ox and he intercedes on behalf of domestic animals and the pasturing beasts. He prays that their provision never be lacking and that they might be at ease.
The fourth angel has the form of an eagle and he prays for the benefit of the birds and all winged creatures.
The fifth angel is shaped like the sun and his light shines upon the planet earth.
He prays for the benefit of the human race, animals, and nature, so that they may enjoy the energy that he is sending.
The sixth angel is shaped like a tree whose leaves represent everything which God has created. He prays for all these leaves that they flourish by receiving the nectar of God's praise.
The seventh angel has the shape of a constellation. He is the source and the center of all the others. He turns to God and receives His light.
God placed the greatness of the divine Throne on the shoulders of these angels.
Their heads are underneath the Throne and their feet reach below the seven earths.
Although angels never tire, the burden of the Throne of the Almighty became too heavy for them.
They were too weak to bear it. God then inspired them to praise Him in a certain way: "Glory to You, our Lord, and utmost praise! May Your Name be blessed, and Your Might, and Your Power! There is no god other than You." Then the Throne grew light on their shoulders.
God has commanded the entire host of angels in the heavens to come forward daily and give their praise to the Throne-bearers.
They perform their task of praise in two shifts: one group salutes them in the morning, the other in the evening.
God has ordered them to ask forgiveness on behalf of mankind. Their tears are like rivers. From every drop God creates still more angels to praise Him and to ask forgiveness for human beings until the Day of Judgment.
The angels of the Throne always bow their heads. They cannot raise up their eyes lest the light that comes from the Throne annihilate them. When the angel Harqaeel saw the greatness of the Throne and of its carriers, he recited:
Can any sustain the Almighty? A servant may carry body and soul. But to carry God's Throne -- Who can grasp its Reality, Its vastness? What eye sees the whole? On no other way does eye see and word comprehend Except when God says: "Above His Throne exists Mercy without end." Eight are its pillars, Known by non but their Lord. Muhammad stands first in order by right, Then Ridwan, Malik, Adam columned and bright Stand arrayed in rank by his side. Over Gabriel, Michael, and Israfil Does Abraham preside: Eight veiled in darkness Envision the sight: How the pillars stand hid In the might of their height.
Angels and Material Energy
25:7: "Why bringest thou not angels unto us, if thou art of the truthful?"
15:7-8: "Why bringest thou not angels unto us, if thou art of the truthful? We send not down the angels save with the Fact, and in that case the disbelievers would not be tolerated."
17:92: "(We will not put faith in thee till) Thou cause the heaven to fall upon us piecemeal, as thou hast pretended, or bring God and the angels as a warrant."
25:21-22: "And those who look not for a meeting with Us say: Why are angels not sent down unto us and why do we not see our Lord? Assuredly they think too highly of themselves and are scornful with great pride. On the day when they behold the angels, on that day there will be no good tidings for the guilty; and they will cry: A forbidding ban!"
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The unbelievers refuse to believe in God, His angels, and His revelations. They only believe in material things.
To them, belief in what one sees and the material is more practical.
Such practical-minded people are blind to the reality for which God has given children, prophets, saints, and believers eyes and power to see.
To those the power is given to feel and to see the angelic beings that reside among us and to visualize these spiritual things.
When we see such matters with believing eyes, we become receivers clearly catching the images sent by the spiritual emissaries.
We visualize them as real, not false, pictures in our daily lives.
Energy is a form of angelic power.
Human beings have been granted the permission to use it. As we can develop the intruments to use these energies with greater sophistication, we can achieve more and more visible powers in the material world.
The energy that is used to light a lamp, convey sound to a loudspeaker, see images on a television, run a car, launch a satellite, keep us warm in winter and cool in summer, is all the same.
Only the instruments change.
Similarly, angelic energy changes from one person to another.
The source is one and the same.
When human beings elevate themselves to higher states of purity, they can use this energy to be more powerful and visible to others as servants of God, and they themselves become messengers of this angelic power.
Angels and their power are not sent down to satisfy the whim or curiosity of unbelievers.
They are sent to bring inspiration to God's servants, to execute His decrees, to help people in their daily lives and resolve their problems.
They raise and protect children through their childhood in order to bring all human beings to the highest level they can reach in the divine presence.
Angels and their angelic powers do not help tyrants and oppressors dominate this world.
Instead, they look for soft-hearted people to direct them and instruct them on how to keep this world orderly and pure from spiritual and material pollutions.
They disconnect their energies from anyone who tries to harm nature, animals, or human beings, or exploit them for selfish purposes.
The angelic source of power rests on three hundred and sixty pillars.
Each pillar can contain the entire visible universe.
The distance between one pillar and the next is five hundred thousand of God's years, and "One day in the sight of God is like one thousand of your years" (32:5).
God has created for this angelic power one million six hundred thousand heads.
Each head has one million six hundred thousand faces.
Each face is bigger than this universe by one million six hundred thousand times, and
each face has one million six hundred thousand mouths.
Each mouth contains one million six hundred thousand tongues.
Each tongue praises God with one million six hundred thousand different languages.
For each praise, God creates one million six hundred thousand angels.
All these angels shall say on the Judgment Day:
"O God! give the reward of our praises to Your believing servants among human beings."
The Angels of Dhikr (Remembrance)
16:49: "And unto God maketh prostration whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth of living creatures, and the angels also, and they are not proud."
41:30: "Lo! Those who say: our Lord is God, and afterwards are upright, the angels descend upon them, saying: fear not nor grieve, but hear good tidings of the paradise which ye are promised."
The Prophet Muhammad showed his companions the unlimited worship of creation by allowing them to hear the praise to God of stones, animals, and trees. All of creation constantly praises God and makes prostration to Him. Human beings are raised to a most honorable level by being listed the angels. That is why the angels shower special blessings on human beings who remember their Creator, and God boasts to his angels about them with the words: "Look at My servants who leave their pleasures despite themselves in order to worship Me."
The Prophet said that God created special angels who roam the earth to find people engaged in His dhikr (Remembrance).
When the angels find such a group reciting His praises and chanting His names, they call each other and encompass that group in layer upon layer of angels until they reach the nearest heaven, the distance of which is in God's knowledge.
Then God asks His angels: "What are my servants doing?" He asks not because He does not know, but because He wants the answer to be spoken outloud for us to know it.
The angels answer: "They are praising You and magnifying Your name, and glorifying You, and reciting Your beautiful Attributes!"
God then asks: "Have My servants seen Me?" When the angels answer: "No," God asks: "What kind of praise would they make if they actually see Me?"
The angels answer: "O our Lord! If they see you, they are not going to be able to stop worshipping You, praising You, and declaring their love for You."
God then asks: "What are My servants asking?" The angels reply: "They are asking for Your Paradise."
/em>Here are the angels of sleep and dream, and the angels of provision, and the angels of vegetations, and the spirit-angels, and the cherubim, and the seraphim, and those brought near,
and the angels of the mountains, and Raphael, and these are the angels of tree-leaves, and the angels of the planet earth, and those of the stars, and the moon, and the sun, and the galaxies..."
Then the saint began to speak in a language that no-one could understand, until he finally asked the angel of death to take his soul in order to reach his Creator and be placed there as an angelic power. He died with open eyes suffused with light.
The Angels of Dreams and Premonitions
"The good dream is one forthysixth part of prophecy" (Tradition of the Prophet).
God has created specific angels that display visions and sounds to the sleeper. These pictures take a physical shape that can be sensed within the dream of individuals. Every dream fits the dreamer. This is proven by the fact that a sleeper in a place where there are many non-sleepers, sees what no-one else sees at the same time. That is because each person has his or her own individual angel in charge of sending the information contained in their dreams.
Thus dreams may be real, confirming what might happen in the future of that individual, except that he is seeing it happen beforehand. On the other hand, the dream may refer to a specific item of knowledge, phenomenal or spiritual, concerning the dreamer in his daily life. In either case it may be good tidings or a warning.
Abu Bakr Bin Furq was writing on the subject of dreams that warn us about a future event and their relation to the angelic realm. He fell asleep one Tuesday night in the year 1165. He saw an angel approach him clad in a beautiful, subtle body of light. The angel said to him: "God has created us and He has created you.
It is He Who causes you to live and to die; He Who resurrects you and brings you to Paradise; He Who connects you with your soul after death. Everything that we receive in heaven is from him, and everything that you receive on earth is from Him." The angel disappeared and the sleeper woke up. He wrote: "I knew at once that the angel had provided me with all the knowledge I needed to complete my work. When I finished writing, my book on angels and dreams numbered six hundred pages."
The Angels of Tree-Leaves
6:59: "Not a leaf falleth but He knoweth it, not a grain amid the darkness of the earth, naught of wet or dry but it is noted in a clear record."
God created from among the angels a group other than the recording angels. They are in charge of every seed in the earth and every leaf that falls to the ground, and everything in nature, both wet and dry, green and dead.
They also oversee the events of human and other beings that enter into the realm of uninhabited nature.
If a human being is somewhere without help, he should say: "O invisible servants of God, support me with your help! And may God's mercy be with you."{3x madad yaa rijaal-Allah a`eenoona bi-`awnillaah wa kun `awnan lanaa billaah `asa nahda bi-fadlillaah.} Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: "I went on pilgrimage five times, and on three of these five times I was on foot. Once I lost my way in the desert, so I kept repeating: 'O servants of God, guide me to the right way!' and I found my way not long after that." If one utters this prayer sincerely, the angels will guide him and protect him from the harms of travel and the hostility of rebel spirits.
The angels of nature fall under the authority of the Archangel Michael, and they have under them angelic legions and hosts constantly asking for forgiveness on behalf of human beings.
Their intercession is according to the infinite numbers of the species and genera of nature they oversee.
They ask intercession from the Lord and Creator of everything great and small.
Even tree-leaves cause forgiveness of human beings, and the Lord of creation blesses human beings through them.
A famous saint had purified himself to the extent that he could hear the intercession of the angels of tree-leaves and of all nature, and he began to recite with them:
Praise be to the God of creation, The Lord of everything, Who created before the sky was hoisted and the earth flattened, Before the mountains were erected and the springs made to burst forth, Before the oceans were contained and the rivers tamed, Before the sun was set alight and the moon and the stars, Who wrote in the Book of His knowledge the name Of every single rain-drop, of every leaf and seed, Who owns whatever descends from the sky And ascends from the earth, And whatever grows under it, And has entrusted it to His servants, The loyal, unwavering, tireless angels.
Israfil, Archangel of the Trumpet-blast
21:103: "The Supreme Horror will not grieve them, and the angels will welcome them, saying: This is your Day which ye were promised."
25:25: "A day when the heavens with the clouds will be rent asunder and the angels will be sent down, a great descent."
47:27: "Then how will it be with them when the angels gather them, smiting their faces and their backs!"
After God created the Throne He created the Trumpet (sur) and hung it on the Throne.
Then He said: "Be!" and the angel Israfil was.
He ordered him to take up the Trumpet which is like a white pearl and transparent like glass.
He made holes in the Trumpet according to the number of every spirit and angel created in creation without duplication.
In the middle of the Trumpet there is an opening bigger than the sky and the earth put together.
Israfil is able to stop that opening from top to bottom by placing his mouth over it.
The length of this Trumpet is seventy thousand light-years and
its body is divided into seven trunks.
God said to Israfil: "I order you to blow this Trumpet when I shall tell you."
Israfil stands at the base of the Throne and awaits God's order.
He is so near to God that, another in the West, one encompasses the seven earths, and the fourth wing is on his head to protect his eyes from the light of God.
One day the Prophet was sitting with Gabriel, and the sky opened. Gabriel humbled himself and appeared to fall to the ground as if prostrating, and an immense angel dressed in white appeared before the Prophet and said: "" "O Muhammad! God sends you greetings and salutations and gives you the choice between being an angel-prophet or a servant-prophet. The Happiest time of my life is when my Lord calls me: 'O My servant!' O servant of God! I choose to be a servant-prophet." And Gabriel revealed: "God chooseth from the angels messengers, and also from mankind. Lo! God is Hearer, Seer" (22:75).
Then the angel disappeared. The Prophet asked Gabriel: "Who was that angel?"
Gabriel said: "That was Israfil. Since the day God created him, he has not raised his eyes from the ground for fear of his Lord.
Between him and God there are seven veils of light and if he were to pass only one of them he would be annihilated.
The Preserved Tablet whereupon the destinies of mankind are written lies before him.
Whenever God allows for something to exist in heaven or on earth that Tablet is raised up and he reads it.
If a task falls within the sphere of the angel of death, He orders him to perform it.
If in my sphere He orders me to do it, and
If in Michael's sphere He orders him in the same manner.
I did not think that Israfil would come down to earth before the Day of Judgment and that is why I was afraid!"
On the Day of Judgment God will order Israfil to blow that Trumpet.
Upon the first sounding of the Trumpet all bad things are lifted and taken away from the earth.
Wrongdoings and all that is related to it will disappear.
The heavenly books will shine in every place.
Angels will appear and reveal the places where they have been kept in their pristine state.
The memory of heavenly teachings will become fresh again in people's minds. All manner of good character, dignity, honor, mercy, and blessings will be brought over all the earth and become the norm.
Angels will feel welcome to walk upon the earth for the first time.
No-one will have power to do any harm in the world.
Belief in God and knowledge of spiritual things will become the daily conversation of everyone young and old.
Angelic light will increase upon the earth to such a degree that everything sad will become happy, everything bad will become good, everything poor will become rich, and everything ugly will become beautiful.
Upon the second sounding of the trumpet,
all beings in the heavens and on earth will enter a state of perplexity and become afraid.
They will fall down on their faces and faint believing the Day of Judgment has dawned upon them. This is described in the Koran, 39:68: "And the trumpet is blown , and all who are in the heavens and on the earth swoon away, save him whom God willeth.
Then it is blown a second time, and behold them standing waiting!" The sound of that trumpet will be so awesome and terrifying that all beings will lose consciousness. The earth will begin to roll and heave, the stars will fall from the heavens, the light will disappear, the sun and the moon will lose their light, and all will be plunged into abysmal darkness.
The mountains will jump from their places and turn to dust, and rise as clouds over the earth.
The water of the oceans will dry up.
Just as wind carries away chaff, so creation will be blown away by those cataclysmal storms.
The good people will be covered with garments of light and mercy which the angels will bring down in waves.
The angels will smite all wrongdoings and shameful actions and they will disappear like dust that must be removed from furnishings in a huge palace.
They will bring light and smile on those who believed in them like parents smile on their children, as reassurance on that day. For on Judgment Day there is no-one who will not need the support of reassurance.
Upon the third sounding of the Trumpet
God will dress and adorn all human beings with angelic power and send them into the throng of His servants. There they will inhabit that divine indescribable light that enables them to reach the everlasting life of Paradise.
The Angels Who Bring Peace in the Last Days
2:210: "Will they wait until God comes to them in canopies of clouds, with angels in His train and the question is thus settled?"
In the last days, evil will be eradicated from the surface of the earth. Peace will be shining everywhere. It is related that at the end of times Jesus will reappear and descend upon the White Minaret at Damascus, both his hands resting upon the shoulders of two angels.
He will be wearing two garments lightly dyes with saffron.
be welcomes by a descendant of the prophet Muhammad who will be waiting for him with forty thousand angels, together with the believers who will be waiting for a divine rescue.
They will pray together and ask God to open for them a support to destroy tyranny and oppression, and to spread peace and love and happiness.
God sent the angel Gabriel who related the message to Jesus, son of Mary, and to Mehdi, the grandson of the Prophet (s).
The message will be: "God gave you the permission to use divine light for uplifting all humanity towards heaven and overcoming evil and oppression.
They will then meet the Anti-Christ and his armies at the Last gate near Jerusalem.
A series of great battles will ensue at the end of which Jesus will kill the Anti-Christ, who is the enemy of good.
God will then make Jesus the son of Mary, and Mehdi the descendant of the Prophet, the rulers of the world in the peace that follows the Great War at the end of times.
Jesus will marry at that time, raise children, die, and be buried in Madina near the Prophet Muhammad, in the space left vacant for him there. Peace be upon them and upon the angels!
"Do not think that I have forgotten you, O angels! Verily, even though the gulf is great between us, I still love you, and my letters to you will never stop. My love for you will never change. My emotions are like a spring falling into your oceans. I have left the distractions of my self to turn to you. Your world has taken over mine, and shines over it. I shall praise our Lord with your words, not mine, With your sincerity, not mine, With your fragrance and light, not mine. O God, keep the radiance of Your angels Ever shining on me!"
Michael, Elder Archangel
13:13: "The thunder hymneth His praise and so do the angels for awe of Him. He launcheth the thunder-bolts and smiteth with them whom He will while they dispute in doubt concerning God, and He is mighty in wrath."
God has created the Archangel Michael and put him in charge of nature, rain, snow, thunder, lightning, wind, and clouds.
God has appointed a complete creation of angels to assist him and placed them under his command. These angels are countless and no-one other than God knows their number.
God has given Michael power to see the entire span of the created universes at once, with no interference of other universes.
He knows at all times where he has to send rain, wind, snow, and clouds without effort on his part.
The angels who assist him range in size from the hugest size imaginable to man to that of the smallest species living on this earth.
They fill the entire atmosphere of every star and planet in every universe. Their praise to God can be heard by the other angels, by prophets, by saints, and by young children.
Michael is the angel of mercy which is another name for rain in Arabic.
He is created from the light of God's attribute al-Rahman, "the Merciful."
He was never seen smiling after hell was created. He was created before Gabriel.
Once upon a time, Gabriel and Michael visited the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him. The latter had a toothstick in hand which he immediately handed to Gabriel, the angel who constantly brought him Revelation. Gabriel said: "O Muhammad! give it to the elder angel."
The Prophet gave it to Michael.
The Prophet said: "God gave me two celestial assistants to help me deliver my Message: Gabriel and Michael." He used always to send for Gabriel and Michael concerning matters important to human beings.
The caller to prayer (muezzin) in the heavens is Gabriel and the prayer-leader (imam) is Michael.
God created a house for Himself in Paradise (al-Bayt al-Ma`mur) to which the angels make pilgrimage every day five times.
There, five prayer-services are held and every service is heralded by Gabriel and led by Michael.
The angels all come with their lights and ornaments, their jewels and fragrances, chanting and praising God with their heavenly music.
Some people on earth, especially children, are able to hear their voices. This sound gives them indescribable pleasure.
Every angel chants and praises in a different language without clash or disharmony. All are pleading to God for mercy for human beings and asking Him to elevate the state of people so that they can hear and see these daily ceremonies.
To reward the angels for their praise, for the sincerity of their intercession, and to show them the great extent of His mercy, God at every moment showers His mercy on human beings.
Until the time of the Prophet Noah the House of God existed on the face of the earth. People came from all over the world to walk ceremoniously around it the way pilgrims walk around the Ka`ba in Mecca today.
When God set His face on sending the flood to drown the entire world, He ordered His angels to transport the Heavenly House up into the fourth heaven.
It stands there until now with the angels walking continually around in solemn state
. It was transformed into a Palace of Paradise.
Its only remnant on earth is the Black Stone in the Holy Kaaba: it used to be white like the Palace it came from but has been clouded over blackened by the sins of mankind.
It has been left on earth for the sake of remembrance. All who kiss it, it is as if they are kissing the right hand of God on earth
