What Is the Necessity of the Existence of the First Creation or the First Manifestation of God?

We are naturally curious about our origin, ancestry, and roots. Contrary to popular belief, this origin and root relate both to our worldly relationships and to the stages of our creation. Conventional thinking often considers our creation independently, making no mention of the connection between our creation and the first creation. Consequently, we do not see a relationship between our own creation and the first manifestation of God. While according to various traditions, God first created the Muhammadan Light (PBUH) [1] or the most perfect example (Mathal A’la), which is the highest example of His existential perfections. He then proceeded to create the rest of beings from this light. The most perfect example, also referred to as the caliph of God, the Spirit, the Tablet, or the Pen, is no different from God’s existential perfections. The only difference lies in the fact that God is the Creator, while the essence of the most perfect example is dependent on and subsists in the essence of God [2].

The creation of both believers and disbelievers involves the most perfect example, and God has created all of us from the light of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Perhaps the only reason and justification for the gathering of people from various religions and ideologies around the axis of the Imam during the Arbaeen Walk is the commonality in the truth of their existence. In other words, all these individuals perceive the Imam as a perfect example of themselves and are drawn to him.

In this lesson, we will explain the first manifestation or the first creation and express the necessity of the most perfect example. The relationship between us as humans and the first manifestation of God is a topic that we will delve into in detail in future lessons.

Other Names for the First Creation

While various names are attributed to the first creation in narrations, examining them indicates that these names represent different manifestations of a truth that is interpreted as the Muhammadan Truth. The Prophet (PBUH) states in a hadith, “The first creation of God was my light” [3]. The inherent nature of light is to illuminate, it is self-manifest, and everything is manifested through it. Therefore, the light of the Prophet and the Muhammadan Truth are the revealers of other beings and manifestations of God.

Intellect

God, through this light or Muhammadan Truth, administers all the planning and calculations of the universe and everything beyond it. Therefore, another name for the first creation is the intellect [4].

Spirit (Ruh)

The Spirit is the source of life; the life of all God’s creations is dependent on this light or truth, and everything has been manifested in its existence. Therefore, the first manifestation or the first creation of God is sometimes referred to as the Spirit.

Pen (Qalam)

The pen is anything that can be used to bring something into existence. Since God has created beings, words, or everything except Himself through this light and truth, the Muhammadan Truth is also referred as the Pen [5]. The lowest and most basic form of a word is the letters we write on paper. However, the word also has higher manifestations, which are divine creations. Each divine creation is a manifestation of God, and God reveals His names, power, life, and attributes to us through these creations. God always speaks to us with these words and constantly creates these words and all beings with the Pen.

The Necessity of the Existence of the Most Perfect Example

If you remember, we previously discussed the definition and characteristics of existence in detail. We mentioned that we are essentially in love with the essence of God, meaning “Huwa.” Huwa is the infinite existence that is one, has no beginning or end, and nothing goes outside of him, so he does not need anything. In other words, He is absolutely self-sufficient. Huwa is the same infinite being one rank before Allah, and when He manifests Himself with His names and attributes, He takes the name of Allah.

The point here is that as a material being, we do not have the ability to directly connect with the Infinite Being. We do not understand what infinite knowledge or absolute power means. The absolute being remains beyond our comprehension and connection until it manifests Himself. In other words, He must first present Himself in a form that we can understand before we can establish a connection with Him.

This is similar to energy, which remains intangible to us until it is manifested in a specific form. While all beings are the manifestations of Allah, each has a limited capacity to reflect God’s names. Only the perfect human, the complete manifestation of Allah’s names and attributes, holds the capacity to guide us toward Allah. The infinite being must manifest Himself in the form of a perfect human being as an embodiment, an example, and a role model so that we can have a correct understanding of it. Therefore, Allah, in His first manifestation, gathered the most complete and best example of His names and attributes in one person and called him the most perfect example or the caliph of Allah. The difference is that Allah has an essence, while the existence of the most perfect example is dependent on the existence of Allah.

In fact, the only difference between Allah and the most perfect examples is that Allah is the creator and they are the created being. This means that although they are dependent on Allah in their essence, they do not differ in existential perfections from Allah and have actualized all the perfections of Allah in themselves. Therefore, the existence of the first creation, the most perfect example, or the caliph of Allah, as the highest example and role model regarding the names and attributes of God is necessary for our similarity to and connecting with Allah.

In this article, we examined the essence of the first manifestation of God, namely the most perfect example, and the necessity of his existence. We stated that the first creation is the truth of the Muhammadan Light (PBUH), also referred to as the Spirit, the caliph of God, the Pen, the Tablet, the most perfect example, etc. As material beings, we do not have the ability to connect with the Absolute Infinite Being. Therefore, Allah must manifest Himself in a form for us to have the ability to identify and connect with Him. In His first manifestation, God created a being that resembled Himself in names, attributes, and existential perfections, yet does not have an independent essence. This being is called the most perfect example or caliph of Allah and serves as a means and role model for our similarity to Allah, who is also referred to as the perfect human.

Were you aware of your relationship with the first creation and the reason for its existence?

References

[1]. Prophet Muhammad: “The first of what Allah(azwj) Created was my Noor (Light).” Bihar Al-Anwar, vol. 1; The Book of Intellect, Knowledge, and Ignorance, S. 1, Ch. 2, H. 7.

[2]. “There is no difference between You (i.e. Allah) and them (i.e. Ahl al-Bayt) except that they are Your servants.” Al-Sayyid Radi al-Din ‘Ali b. Musa b. Tawus, Iqbal Al-A’amal, vol. 2.

[3]. Bihar Al-Anwar, vol. 1; The Book of Intellect, Knowledge, and Ignorance, S. 1, Ch. 2, H. 7.

[4]. “The first of what Allah Created was the intellect.” Bihar Al-Anwar, vol. 1; The Book of Intellect, Knowledge, and Ignorance, S. 1, Ch. 2, H 8.

[5]. “The first thing Allah created was the Pen.” Kanz al-῾Ummal fi Sunan al-Aqwal wa’l Af῾al, Muttaqi al-Hindi, ῾Ali ibn Hisam al-Din, Beiruit: Mu’assasat al-Risala.