Opening of the Door of Spirituality

"According to the will of God, as a result of the remembrance of Ism-i azam in the heart, the door of spirituality opened to the Holy Prophet and revelation began to come down to his heart. The spirituality of the Prophet had numerous forms and many stages." [Source: The Qur'an and Spirituality, page 21]

The First Stage of Spirituality

"In the beginning of the spirituality of the Prophet, in the sense of the spirituality of the Qur'an, used to appear an extremely luminous and bright world, the waves of whose light sometimes used to be unbearable. In the beautiful and attractive but silent pictures and scenes of this world of spiritual epiphanies, there used to always appear an ever-new beautiful change. In short, the wondrous and marvellous things of this luminous world were beyond the scope of description. But you may wonder that all this, in reality, was nothing but a colorful and beautiful reflection of this material world, which used to appear so bright and attractive in the luminous mirror of the Prophet. In other words, this is an example of this external and material world in his spirituality." [Source: The Qur'an and Spirituality, page 22]

The Second Stage of Spirituality

"(In the second stage) when the time came, Jibril, Mikail, Israfil and Izrail, the four Archangels, came and they practically demonstrated their respective work and as a result, came all other angels and souls, and the personal world of Prophet was changed entirely. That is to say that, the spirituality of the Prophet before this was this world (duniya), and now it became the next (akhirat), for it (spirituality) contains both this world and the next." [Source: The Qur'an and Spirituality, pages 22-23]

The Forms of the Second Stage of Spirituality

"(In the second stage of spirituality) in the blessed personality of the Holy Prophet, the spirit and the spirituality of the Wise Qur'an was in the form of allusions, similitudes, spiritual and luminous writings and the perfect words, in addition to the angelic and sacred voices. In other words, at this stage the Holy Qur'an was such a spiritual universe where everything was enriched with the wealth of the intellect and soul and illumined with the light of knowledge and wisdom. That is to say that, all realities of the universe and existents were automatically speaking and the signs of the external world (afaq) and the internal world (anfus) were revealing themselves to him." [Source: The Qur'an and Spirituality, page 23]

The Third Stage of Spirituality

"With respect to revelation, as mentioned in the Holy Qur'an (42:51), spirituality is divided into three major parts: First, it is the general revelation (wahy-i am) which comes through Jibril and other angels; then is the speech of God, which is heard from behind the veil; and finally there is the special allusion (wahy-i khas) which happens through the supreme vision (didar) of God." [Source: The Qur'an and Spirituality, page 22]

Results of the Three Stages of Spirituality

"In the first of three stages of the spirituality of the Qur'an, i.e., the spirituality of the Prophet, revelation used to come to the Prophet through the Holy Spirit; in the second, which was related to the Prophet's ascent (miraj) of spirituality, God was speaking to the Prophet from behind a veil, and in the third, which was the final stage of spirituality, the special allusion without any veil was made to him. Thus the Wise Qur'an is an outcome and collection of the teachings of these three stages of revelation. That is, the Qur'an contains verses revealed through Jibril, the commandments given to him from behind a veil and the wisdoms given to him through a special allusion without any veil." [Source: The Qur'an and Spirituality, pages 24-25]

The Qur'an is a Spirit and a Light & an Everlasting Miracle

"...The Qur'an, in reality, was revealed to the Prophet in the form of a living spirituality. This spirituality is still preserved intact in its own position, for the spirit and spirituality of the Qur'an are an everlasting miracle. According the verse (42:52) when it is true that the Qur'an is a spirit and a light, then this means that each Qur'anic verse is full of the meanings and purports of the spirit and spirituality." [Source: The Qur'an and Spirituality, page 18]

The Qur'an is a Spirit and a Light in the True Manifest Imam

"God says that the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet's heart from the world of command, in the form of a living spirit and a perfect light, and also says that the Prophet guides on the straight path (42:52). Now it is not correct to believe that God has taken the spirit and light of the Qur'an back to Himself. This it is true to say that, after the Prophet, that Qur'anic spirit and light exist and continue in the chain of the true holy Imams, so that there may not be any defect in the system of Divine Guidance." [Source: The Qur'an and Spirituality, page 29]

The Recognition of the Qur'an in the Personal World

"The observation of the cosmic and individual secrets, in the illumination of the Divine light, is possible only when a mu'min's spiritual eye opens as a result of his obedience to God, the Prophet, and Sahib-i amr (the one who holds the Divine command). On this occasion, he observes all possible things in the non-spatial state, not far away, but in the very spirituality of his own spirit. It should be remembered that this very wondrous event itself is the spirituality of Qur'an also, as well as the recognition of the spirit and light." [Source: The Qur'an and Spirituality, page 17]