18 - SURAH AL KAHFI
AL KAHFI
The Place Of Refuge(The Peaceful State Of Mind We Take Shelter In)
SUMMARY
#looking_at_oneself
Allah has directly bestowed upon His servant the divine scripture, known as Al Kitab, containing the inherent script, the natural prescribed script from your Rabb / Lord. Through these revelations, Allah revealed the knowledge based on facts and does not make any distortion from it. Such revelation imparts directly from your Rabb / Lord without going through your conditioned mind. As such, we must give our rational thinking to receive profound understanding, enabling us to embark on a transformative journey through corrective actions.
By seeking refuge in Al Kitab, individuals can reform their souls and strive for spiritual growth. Ultimately, in the aakhirah (ending), the soul will dissolve its individualistic earthly existence upon undergoing this transformative process and establishing the truth that Allah neither creates, gives birth, nor produces, and neither is Allah created, given birth to, nor produced.
Allah has made the lower consciousness an adornment to test which servant excels in deeds. We seek refuge in Al Kitab, the best sanctuary, and construct the optimal path to refuge, as exemplified by the companions of the Kahfi. During the zenith of your spiritual journey, find solace in the serene state of mind provided by the "kahfi"—a secure haven from harm. Upon entering this retreat, Allah will shield your perception from external distractions. Subsequently, Allah will fortify your heart, drawing your inclination towards attentively listening to the revealed scripture, Al Kitab. As a result, clarity will dawn upon you, enabling discernment of the right path. It is imperative to act upon the inspirations received thereafter.
The education of the mukmin commences with Allah providing evidence, directly from our Rabb and through our own mentation. Which of these two constitutes the superior educational system? Allah then fortifies the mukmin with the pull of affection within their hearts and establishes that there is no reality except Allah—the fundamental, irreducible absolute reality. Allah further illustrates the two education systems (knowledge derived from personal mentation and knowledge directly inspired by our Rabb) by narrating the tale of Musa and Khidr. Musa represents one acquainted with the truth (formulated independently through personal mentation), while Khidr symbolizes one whose Lord is always in his presence, indicating continuous awareness of his Lord and direct inspiration in education.
Knowledge obtained from personal mentation involves thinking, analyzing, and synthesizing information to generate insights, ideas, and understanding by our left brain. It employs cognitive processes like perception, memory, attention, and reasoning to reflect on past experiences and learn from them. Ladunni, or knowledge inspired directly by our Rabb, refers to understanding instinctively what is inspired to our right brain without the need for conscious reasoning. Allah described in this surah that ladunni is combined with mentation, but mentation is employed to rationalize and reinforce understanding after receiving inspiration from the Rabb.
In the fable's conclusion, Musa is depicted as lacking patience, signifying that personal mentation tends to hastily conclude the interpretation of reality. Therefore, it is crucial to engage mentation after receiving the interpretation from our Rabb. Mentation is utilized for development, learning, self-reflection, and maturation in understanding the interpretation provided. Dzul Qarnain possesses both systems combined.
Allah further describes the amalgamation of the two education systems (mental perception and ladunni) through another fable of Dzul Qarnain, the possessor of both systems. This fable illustrates how understanding from the combination of the two systems fosters advanced maturity, strength, higher intellect, and the ability to harmonize intense anxiety arising from mischievous activities.
Those who trust in Allah's educational systems and engage in corrective deeds for transformation will inherit the jannah—hidden gardens of firdaus, abundant and limitless in knowledge. They will dwell eternally in it, and the oceans of knowledge have no boundaries of exhaustion. Conversely, those who reject these systems see their deeds rendered worthless, and their reward is the jahannam—a dark hole of ignorance where knowledge stagnates.
