When God created the heavens and the earth, He
established His presence in two domains; the domain of creation and the
domain of commandment. As God says in the Quran:
"Your Lord indeed is The One God, Who created the heavens and
the earth in six periods, then he established his presence over the throne.
He causes the night to cover the day following it in swift pursuit and (He
created) the sun and the moon, and the stars subservient through His
commandment. Lo! for Him is the creation and the commandment. Bounteous is
The One God the Lord of the worlds” Surah Al-A’raf [The Heights] 7:54
The domain of creation spans from the East to the West
and is commonly referred in these volumes as the horizontal dimension. The
domain of commandment spans from the heavens to the earth and is referred to
as the vertical dimension.
When God created human being and made him His
vicegerent on this earth, He gave him four entities; a faculty of hearing, a
faculty of sight, a Soul that belongs to the domain of creation and a Spirit
that belongs to the domain of commandment and He also gave him a heart that
is connected to all four as a moderator.
Each being exists within its own space (Sadar) along
these entities and expansion of the heart gives a being more exposure in
that dimension. The domains of commandment and creation are not mutually
exclusive but are different from each other and the human being is required
to bring a harmony between the two without bias towards one or the other. If
he succeeds in doing so, he is considered to have fulfilled the purpose of
his creation as a being who faithfully reflects all the qualities of his
creator and hence being a true vicegerent (khalifa) of his creator.
This series of volumes is about expansions of the heart
and the means to attain expansion and the benefits that follow.
As for the means and ends of expansion, the first mean
is ‘tranquility’ that expands the heart horizontally in the domain of
creation and increases a being in life. The second mean is ‘peace’ that
expands the heart vertically in the domain of commandment and increases a
being in light.
Expansion of the heart is mentioned by God in the Quran few times. Reference
is made to the following verses in the Quran which are about the horizontal
expansion:
“Have we not expanded your heart for you and as a result we took your
heavy load off you that was weighing on your back and then we raised up your
remembrance for you” Surah Ash-sharh [The Expansion] (94:1-5)
The above verse is referring to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the
next verse relates how Prophet Moses (Peace be upon him) asked God for
expansion of heart in a similar way:
He [Moses] said: “O my Lord expand my heart for me and make easy my
command for me and untie my tongue so they fully comprehend my speech”
Surah Taha (20:25)
And the vertical expansion is also mentioned in the Quran in the following
verses:
"And whomsoever Allah wills to guide, his heart He expands wide with
willingness towards self-submission [Tasleem]; and whomsoever He wills to go
astray, his heart He causes to be tight and constricted, as if he is
climbing into the space" Surah Al An’am [The Cattle] (6:125)
"And whomsoever Allah expands his heart for self-submission, will soon get a
light from his Lord" Surah Az Zumur [The Crowds] (39:22)
When peace is in our heart the immediate effect is that our heart expands
vertically and this vertical expansion gives us an opening into the world of
commandment while tranquility (sukoon) produces a different effect. When it
enters our hearts, it causes our hearts to expand not vertically but
horizontally giving us an opening unto the world of creation. Each time we
experience any of these two kinds of expansions, some of the following
results will follow:
1. A deep feeling of safety and security and the total absence of fear:
horizontal expansion
2. The complete absence of any form of grief and a deep feeling of
contentment: vertical expansion
3. An overwhelming feeling of compassion and love for all creation without
discrimination: horizontal expansion
4. A sense of detachment from everything as part of witnessing supremacy of
God above all things: vertical expansion
| Expansions is a series of
writings on Islamic spirituality by Imam Fode Drame. He is Imam of Zawiyah Foundation;
a study and learning center in Vancouver, Canada.
He is a scholar of Quran and follows the centuries old tradition of explaining the Quran through the Quran. |
