The Entry Of The Soul Into Barzakh

The soul’s entry into Barzakh is in some ways similar to arriving in a new country and encountering a foreign culture; everything appears strange and intriguing. It is very disconcerting for the soul to observe the physical body - that it was long accustomed to - lie lifeless before it, while it itself remains healthy and vital in a new body. However, although it now occupies a new body, it cannot yet separate its identity from the lifeless corpse that remains before it. This fills it with both wonder and fear.1

In addition, the enhanced abilities of the imaginal body are initially very confusing for the soul; the new body is much lighter, suppler, and much more perceptive. The soul can now see and hear things that were imperceptible to it in the material world. The body has no sign of flesh and bones, or nerves or a brain, yet the soul can feel and see and hear and sense. Its perceptive organs are made of materials and systems completely unfamiliar to it. It is like a new-born child except that it has intelligence and is very aware of the world around it. A world that is so different from the one it has thus far experienced that it cannot fathom much of it at all.

The soul will soon become familiar with this new world but interestingly, at this stage, its bond with the previous, material realm is not yet severed. Although it no longer has access to eyes, ears and limbs to see, hear and touch, it still continues to think in material terms in those first moments. The phenomena that it encounters are seen and processed as we do in our dreams. However, this hazy sense of reality is different for different souls. The alertness and insight of souls is greater or lesser in proportion to their levels of purity.

Although the soul now resides in the imaginal body, it still retains a strong empathy and bond with its former material body. In fact, the soul’s awareness of events of the material world is made possible by this persistent relationship with its previous body. Perhaps that is why many souls witness all the stages of washing, shrouding and burial of the corpse.2

Burial

With the exception of the case of the sincere and purified servants of God, the burial of the body is one of the most difficult experiences that the soul undergoes as it enters the intermediate realm of Barzakh.

After the angels have transferred the soul into the imaginal world (‘alam al-mithal, Barzakh), and activated its new subtle body, the soul remains in its new form like a person in the middle of a vast desert, with no knowledge of his destination or resources. It is not aware of other souls because it has not yet been taken to the place where they reside. It is in a quarantine of sorts.

As we have mentioned, at this point its attention is still directed towards the realm it has just left and the place where the body - it used to occupy - is resting. It witnesses many of the events that the body goes through and follows the body wherever it is taken.

It is very difficult to understand the nature of the relationship of the soul to the body at this stage, however many traditions and reports inform us that the thought of the body being buried into the ground fills the soul with fear and anxiety. It sees the place of burial of the body as its new residence also. Although it knows that it has a place and position in the new world it has entered, the thought of being confined in this close space fills it with dread. We will discuss later the issue of time and space in the relationship of the inhabitants of the imaginal world with those still in the material world.

Every stage of the burial is distressing and frightening for the soul, but the most terrifying time is when the body is finally lowered into the ground and the soul witnesses the depths of the grave. As we have mentioned before, when the soul is separated from the body, it is aware of its identity and is completely conscious throughout. But when it thinks of itself, it still considers itself one with the body in the grave; in fact, it mistakenly imagines that it is still in the body and identifies completely with whatever is being done to it.

It is for this reason that the soul in the Barzakhi body imagines that the pain or pleasure that it is experiencing is actually being visited onto its former, material body. Therefore, it is frightened of being covered underground because it feels that it is being buried alive. At this time, it begins to realize the truth of what has happened; it realizes that they are truly preparing to send him to the next world.3 It is unable to do anything and helplessly accompanies the body, as if it is still attached to it.

The Squeezing In The Grave

When a person’s grave is filled with earth, it does not cover him, because his soul is already living in another dimension, and is viewing the grave from the imaginal world. Nevertheless, as the soil begins to pour down on his former body, he experiences an indescribable choking and crushing. It is of a severity that is proportional to that world, not this one. Once more he is unable to distinguish between his material body and his imaginal one and finally understands what people meant when they talked about the squeezing of the grave. Now he experiences a terrible bone-crushing compression that feels like his entire body is being squeezed through the eye of a needle. We do not know how this squeezing happens and what its purpose is, but very few people will be exempted from it, “There is no believer who will not experience the squeezing”.4

It is as if the squeezing is designed to wring out every last trace of impurity and pollution from the person. In fact, this process is of benefit to the believers whose righteous faith is mixed with traces of pollution from their wrongful thoughts and deeds, and is “an atonement for squandering God’s bounties”5 and wasting opportunities. However, for those whose entire beings are impure, the process results in nothing but excruciating suffering. The dead person does not know how long the squeezing will last and when it will end, but it consumes him completely, rendering him oblivious of what is happening in the world around him.

The Loneliness In The Grave

When the squeezing abates and his relatives and friends have long departed from the graveyard, the soul is overcome with a deep sense of isolation and loneliness in the imaginal world of the grave. He is no longer aware of the happenings of the material world, or of the angels or even the dead in other graves. The environment in the grave is unfamiliar and frightening. He has no idea how long he will remain trapped in this desolate chamber, nor does he know what will happen in the next moment.

It is at this point that the experiences of people vary. Those who held no belief in the afterlife are absolutely unable to understand how they are still alive in their own bodies after having died and been buried. Those who believed in an afterlife but had only a vague understanding of its reality are awestruck by the mysterious world that they have entered into.

The isolation of the grave affects everyone. They have witnessed strange and mysterious events and they do not know what other wonders to expect. They do not know whether they will move from this place. Have they been abandoned in this bleak chamber for eternity? Will God, with all His Majesty and Grandeur bother with this insignificant and worthless creature? It is at this moment that the faith of the believer and his intimate relationship and constant reliance on God give rise to a flame of hope, while the ingratitude and faithlessness of the disbeliever envelops him in the cold cloak of dread.

The Activation Of The Spiritual Memory

We have mentioned that even in our material world, human beings possess two bodies, a corporeal or material body and a spiritual or imaginal body. At the time of death, the soul disconnects from the material body and enters into the world of Barzakh clothed in its imaginal body. This body also possesses eyes and ears to see and hear the entities of the imaginal realm. However, the most important faculty that it possesses is the individual’s spiritual memory, which is installed in the imaginal body and preserves all that happens in the material world.

In Dunya, the access of the material body itself to its stored memories is limited; the memories themselves are subject to limitations of detail and furthermore, retrieval becomes erratic or impossible as the brain cells fail with age and illness. However, the accuracy of the spiritual memory, in comparison, is strikingly precise. No event in the individual’s entire life is forgotten; no scene, no deed, no word, no intent, no thought or influence remains except that every detail of it is indelibly etched in the spiritual memory. In fact, these memories are embedded into the soul, becoming a permanent part of it and giving it shape.

While the individual occupies the material body, he is unaware of the existence of the spiritual memory and has no access to it, except occasionally in an unconscious state. After death, this memory needs to be activated, but the individual must have the aid of an angel to accomplish this.

Ruman, The Angel Who Reminds

The arrival of Ruman - the angel who “enlivens graves and rouses the dead” (fattan al-qubur wa malakun munabbih) - brings the vigil in the grave to an end and transforms it into a solemn and ethereal scene.6 The imaginal grave begins to expand and becomes dazzlingly bright. A handsome and imposing angel enters the grave. The individual who has recently departed the world is yet unsure of the functions of the fascinating beings he has begun to see and does not know what they will want of him. Each new encounter is a source of increased trepidation. In some, this new arrival causes fear, in others apprehension and in some, relief and solace. The splendour of Ruman is beyond description; certainly no one like him could have been imagined in this world.

Every description of grandeur known to human beings could not do him justice. It would be like trying to compare the stars to earthly lights. It would seem that after having seen the angels of death the individual should have become somewhat familiar with the sight of angels; however, these angels are wondrous creatures, each is unique with its own imposing qualities. The arrival of Ruman confirms the fact that in spite of His Majesty, God has not forgotten this small creature that is waiting in his narrow grave.

The angel begins to speak and introduces himself as Ruman, the examiner in the grave. All understand his words because in this new world there is only one language. The various languages that were stored in the material memory of individuals all vanish, and everyone communicates in the innate language of the soul, which is already coded into the spiritual memory. This language has more to do with the exchange of concepts rather than words and phrases.

The Swedish Christian scholar, thinker and mystical philosopher, Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 – 1772) wrote a valuable work about life after death and claimed that the contents of his book were entirely based on his personal visions and observations of the afterworld.7 He has explained these visions in an eloquent and compelling style and the conviction and honesty in his words are evident.

According to his experience, the language of the people of Barzakh is such that single words communicate complex details; it would require several volumes in our current languages to achieve the same result. Information is transferred in an instant, while the same task would perhaps require hours of explanation in our world.8 This is achieved by the imparting of wisdom and information in a compressed form that can be deciphered and understood by the imaginal senses and mind. Furthermore, the language allows for a much more accurate and deeper transfer of thoughts and feelings.

In any case, the function of Ruman is to activate the spiritual memory of the individual in the grave. He does this by instructing the new arrival to write down the details of his life, “Write down every deed that you committed in the world, every good and evil that issued from you, everything that you should have done but did not – write it all down.” The individual does not know what writing means in that world, and remains still and confused. But Ruman teaches him how. Writing paper is not required here, because he will not be writing down words. Rather, he will be recording events, just as they occurred. It is as if he is reliving every moment of the past once more, more vividly and fully than before. It will seem surreal, but what he saw in three dimensions before will now come forth from his memory in all its multidimensional aspects, revealing every layer of the act. Indeed, it is an amazing night, this first night in the grave.

He will say, “I cannot mention everything, I am ashamed of writing my sinful deeds.” On hearing this Ruman will reply in a tone that will shake the individual to the core of his being, “You were not ashamed in front of the Lord of the universe, but you say that you are ashamed in front of me?”

The whole countenance of Ruman changes when he utters the words, “Lord of the universe”. His striking presence is transformed into a posture of humility, meekness and adoration. Then, he says flatly, “I will make you recollect everything. I am the angel who makes you relive your life.” Ruman forces him to focus and with his help, his spiritual memory awakens and every moment of his life, from his birth to the instant of his death, is arrayed before his eyes.

What he sees is not a picture from his memory; rather every moment is experienced again. Not only he relives his words and his deeds, he also recalls the thoughts and intent at the moment of acting - the delight, the sorrow, and the anticipation - and in short, he feels again every emotion that accompanied that particular deed. What a wondrous creature Ruman is, effortlessly drawing the deepest memories to the surface. And the individual writes down everything helplessly. He transfers his whole life into the book that Ruman has brought for him; he fills it, not with words and phrases, but with entire events.

The deeds he records are not in the form he has known in the world, rather, they assume forms that are more mysterious and cryptic. In fact, the deeds we produce in this world find existence in three states or three dimensions; the first has effects in this material world, the second has its effects in the imaginal world or Barzakh, and the third exists in the intellectual world in Qiyama or the Day of Judgement.

Every act that we do assumes a shape in all three worlds simultaneously. The effects in the material world can be witnessed by all but the other two forms are veiled behind the curtains of Barzakh and the Day of Judgement, and will only be witnessed and understood as these curtains are removed in time.9 Therefore, what is now becoming apparent to him and what he records in his book is the Barzakhi form of the actions he committed in the world. It is not the material form, nor is it yet the ultimate form which will be visible on the Day of Judgement.

Ruman takes the book and hangs it around the owner’s neck. The book disappears, becoming a part of the individual; it is as if Ruman has inserted it into him, making it one with him. The effects of his entire life have been collected in one place and melded with his being. What he perceives now is not his personality at that particular moment but his personality spanning his entire lifetime handed to him in a compressed form. Before this, and before the activation of his spiritual memory, he could never have imagined the net effect of his entire lifetime of thoughts, words and deeds. It is for this reason that no one in this world can truly know himself or herself fully and in depth.

Ruman informs him that, “This is your book of existence and it shall remain closed inside you until the day that God brings mankind forth from their graves; and then the book will be opened.”10

For most people these words would be difficult to assimilate, because Ruman has caused the deceased to see for the first time the achievement of his life, which has hitherto remained hidden to him.

In fact, at this stage this is only the display of the Barzakhi aspect of his book, and the true reality of his existence - that is the Qiyamati aspect - has not yet been revealed to him. This book and its contents are still in a cocoon state awaiting the advent of the Day of Judgement when they will emerge in their final state. Only on that Day will the true worth of an individual’s existence be realized.

After accomplishing his role, Ruman departs, and the grave becomes lonely again. Once more its occupant waits, but this time the vigil is different. The one whose book was full of virtuous and worthy deeds is filled with an indescribable relief and peace. The beauty of his book of deeds suffuses his entire being. After his loneliness and anxiety, he is now aware of the company of a comforting presence. He notices a beautiful countenance and asks, “Who are you?” It says, “I am the embodiment of your good deeds.”11

However, for the one who was only reminded by Ruman of the vileness of his conduct, and whose book is full of evil, the grave now becomes a place of fear and dread. He becomes aware of the presence of a noxious and repulsive being, whose company adds to the terror of the narrow and dark confines of the grave.

The Prophet mentioned to Qays b. Malik in this regard, “Know that you have no choice, O Qays, except to be buried with a companion who is alive, while you are dead. If the companion is noble, then he will honour you, but if he is of evil character, then he will overpower you. He will only be resurrected with you and you will only come forth with him. You will not be questioned about anything other than him. Therefore, do not allow your companion to be anything but good, so that you may form a close bond with him, because if he is evil, you will not be repulsed by anything more than by him… And he is nothing other than the embodiment of your actions.” 12

Ranking Of Human Beings

After the summoning of the spiritual memory and the determination of the Barzakhi persona of human beings – which is formed from their deeds in the world – people are divided into three broad groups. The first is the group of those who led an exemplary life; any pollution that they may have had, has been cleansed by the process of death.

The second is the group of those who are completely impure and any virtue they possessed is lost in their impurity. The third is the group in the middle, with evil and virtue both present. Within this last group there is a great diversity of levels. This third group is left alone after their encounter with Ruman,13 and allowed to begin their Barzakhi life. Later we will talk about this group in some detail.

As for the first two groups, they have to pass another stage, and that is the questioning in the grave.

Questioning In The Grave

The fate of the people in the first two groups in Barzakh is quite different from those of the third group, who have been left alone. The first group, who were completely pure, are immediately admitted into the paradise of Barzakh and given the glad tidings of heaven in the hereafter as well. As a consequence, all fears and sorrows leave them. As for the second group, who are completely impure, they are led directly to the hell of Barzakh and are promised the torment of hell in the hereafter. Consequently, they are filled with remorse and despair.

The people in the third group will remain in a state between hope and fear until the Day of Judgement when their fate would be decided. When the Commander of the faithful (‘a) was asked about death he replied, “Death is one of three states: it is the receiving of good news of eternal bliss, or the bad news of eternal torment, or it is the sorrow and fear of one who does not know which group he belongs to.”14

Since the fate of the first two groups becomes clear at the first stage and on the first night, they move to a further stage, which is not experienced by the third group. This is the questioning in the grave. In fact, this is just a final stage to confirm their permanent abodes.

Therefore, most people – who make up the third group – do not experience the questioning in the grave. It has been narrated from Imam as-Sadiq (‘a) that he said; “Only the exemplary believers and the absolute disbelievers are questioned in the grave. All others are left alone.”15

The questioning in the grave, which is carried out by designated angels is actually a validation of the personalities of the people of the first and second groups so that they can be sent to their eternal abodes. In other words, everyone who enters into the world of Barzakh is met by angels who cater to their needs and who attempt to familiarize them with God and the afterworld and the new life of Barzakh, and to introduce them to a deeper understanding of reality.

Since the people of the middle group are yet unable to affirm or reject these truths, they are left alone until they have spent sufficient time in the world of Barzakh for their situation to become clearer. It is for this reason that this group does not experience the presence of the interrogating angels in the first instance.

Nakir And Munkar

The corrupt individuals used to mock these truths in Dunya, both by word and deed. They spent their days in self-serving and vain activities, making no attempt to understand the deeper reality of their existence. But now they are subjected to a difficult examination; this is because instead of submitting to the truth, they chose the path of obstinacy and resistance, thus manifesting their true personality.

For them nothing is more distressing and painful than their encounter with these two angels, whose terrifying appearance causes them to lose any remaining sense of composure and control. The angels petrify them when they suddenly materialize from the surrounding earth, appearing to cleave through the ground with their teeth.16 Their voices reverberate like thunder while their gaze is as piercing as lightning.17 In appearance these two angels are truly Nakir and Munkar, meaning “ugly” and “fearsome”, because the individuals’ inner pollution has distorted their perception – they see beauty as ugliness and vileness as pleasant.

The role of these angels is quite different from that of Ruman. They are not there to remind, rather they have come to both evaluate and validate that which Ruman has brought out so that the worthiness of the deceased individual can be assessed and an appropriate abode and provision be assigned to him in the world of the dead.

However, what does worthiness mean in this place and what are the parameters for assessing it? In the Dunya, their worth and status was directly linked to several factors; their wealth, their clothes, their houses and their cars. It was related to their social and political links, their friends and the persons they knew. It was related to their education, their qualifications, their manners, the books that they had read, the languages they knew and the amount of travelling they had done. However, here it is doubtful whether Nakir and Munkar would be impressed with these accomplishments. This is the realm of malakut of God and here everything is to do with Him, first and last. It is for this reason that they open their questioning by asking, “Who is your God?”

This question is not meant to distress the new arrival, rather its purpose is to gauge the level of their understanding so as to be able to evaluate accordingly. In reality, these angels are not actually frightening at all; it is the individual’s Satan-tinged soul and self-absorption that makes everything related to God appear frightening and bleak.

The poor soul searches into the depths of his being for an answer. Ruman is not present here to prompt him and he does not know how to reply. He did not worship God during his time in the previous world, nor did he bother to ask about Him. God was never relevant in his life and he did not feel any adverse effects as a result. But now everything has changed. In this world God is the only important reference and yet he cannot perceive any trace of Him anywhere. The explanations offered by the two angels are not helpful either. Their efforts only perplex him further. No matter how hard they try, he does not understand what they are saying.

His silence and incomprehension enrages the angels and with angry faces they ask him who his Prophet was and what religion did he follow and what Scripture did he read. However, he cannot recall any prophet or any religion or any scripture. Nakir and Munkar try to explain these things to him but he does not understand. They ask him about his priorities in the world, how he passed his days, how he earned his living and where he spent his wealth.18

In the course of their lengthy interrogation, they gradually expose the deepest features of his character. Every question forces him to face the unpleasant truth that is reflected within the Barzakhi manifestation of his actions. However, every time he tries to answer in a manner that is contrary to his true nature, desperately lying to justify his actions in this new world, he experiences a fiery response from Nakir and Munkar in the form of a whip of fire lashing across his face, turning his grave into a blazing inferno. These two angels cannot be deceived in the least and lying to them brings immediate and painful retribution. It is almost as if they know the individual better than he knows himself. In that world, lying yields no result except grief and chastisement.

In any case, they continue to inspect every aspect of his conduct in the world, prodding his conscious and unconscious memory to examine the intention behind every good and evil deed he performed during his life, until he becomes aware of every inner layer of his character. Alas, this revelation fills him with nothing but despondency and remorse.

What he worked for day and night in Dunya is totally useless and incompatible with what is of value and meaning in this Barzakhi phase of his life. He is shown once more his original human form; beautiful and pure and noble. It is as if these two angels have opened a window that overlooks paradise and he glimpses within it the beautiful vistas that were meant to be the eternal abodes of human beings. But soon these scenes are clouded over by the pollution that he has brought upon himself – seeing all this causes a burning remorse to suffuse his being. And then he experiences a deep sense of suffocation and darkness – it is as if Nakir and Munkar are causing the walls of the grave to close tightly over him.

Suddenly, within the depths of his being a window opens towards the fire of hell. He now experiences a terrible premonition about his future and this fills his entire being with terror. Nakir and Munkar create an opening between his grave and hell, through which he begins to immediately feel its burning heat and punishment.19

He wants to be rid of the company of these angels as soon as possible. He does not want to hear their constant attempts to teach him about God anymore. He realizes that the punishment is more compatible with his nature than the remembrance of God. When the angels see that this is the case, they withdraw, and leave him in the hell of his own creation. He who could not face the truth now turns his mind away from it and defiantly ventures into the hell of Barzakh, turning his back on God and heading off in the opposite direction.

He will look for others like him and try to get to know them. It is as if there is a strong rope drawing him inexorably forward. It seems as if he wants to break free from God, Who was calling him to Himself, and get away as far as he can. However, because the essence of human beings is based on the love of God, and the comfort of the heart only comes from His remembrance and proximity, every step he takes away only increases his misery, pain and frustration. His heart will not find peace with anyone else.

“Indeed God is not unjust to men in the least, but men are unjust to themselves.” (10:44)

His being forms a black cloud that veils him from God, blocking the light of His grace – the grace that is available everywhere and to everyone. And in this manner, these polluted souls enter the hell of Barzakh.

Bashir And Mubashsher

Let us now look at the pure souls. For them the two angels are not Nakir and Munkar, but Bashir and Mubashsher. In the words of Mufid, “The two angels who come to the believers are called Bashir and Mubashsher because they are messengers from God bringing the good news of eternal happiness and reward. These are not their names, but their titles, signifying the role that they perform.”20

Their appearance is not ugly and fearsome, but beautiful and friendly.21 Every question that they ask and every layer of his life that they expose to him is good news for him. He is able to reply confidently because the truth has saturated his heart and soul. There is nothing sweeter and more satisfying for him than witnessing the imaginal forms of the truths that he had learned and practised in his life as taught to him by God and mentioned in His Book and which the angels now recount before him. In fact, the angels reveal to him the deeper significances of his beliefs, which cannot be grasped by those who have not yet entered that world.

Their language is vastly different from the languages of mankind, each word transferring to the heart of the listener wisdom that could not be contained even within several volumes in the corporeal world. They unravel truths, which can only be comprehended in that world, as a result of which the deceased gains the deepest realization of the Majesty of God that he has yet experienced. And this greatly increases his eagerness to continue on the long journey ahead.

The horizons of his thoughts and comprehensions continue to expand, and the new arrival does not tire from listening to the illuminating murmur of the angels and learning from their great and wondrous wisdom.

Now that they have made him aware of every layer of his being and introduced him to a deeper cognizance of God, they open for the deceased a window to paradise through which the breeze of God’s mercy fills his grave with perfume and light and happiness. The angels enlarge his grave in proportion to his character and goodness until it resembles a garden from the garden of paradise. And in this way the pure souls enter the heaven of Barzakh. 22

The size of their new abode is different for everyone depending on their insight and cognizance of God. Of course, the expansiveness of their gardens is not in physical terms, just as “the grave” does not refer to the physical resting place; rather, the grave refers to the Barzakhi life of the believer and its expansiveness is in spiritual and imaginal terms.23

The newly arrived soul is wonderstruck and elated and does not know what to do or say next. He wonders whether it is possible to inform his friends and his community of how well God has dealt with him.24 However, the angels tell him that this will not be possible. He will need to remain in this place in peace until God brings the dead to life once again. He is automatically drawn towards the window that connects his grave to the eternal paradise beyond, and wants to experience the bounties that lie in wait, but the two angels gently tell him that this also is not possible. He must be patient and wait for all those who yet live to join him in this world and wait for the Day of resurrection. For him the sweetest anticipation is the coming of this Day and he prays with all his heart, “My Lord, bring about the Day of resurrection without delay.”

Meeting With Friends And Relatives

As he enters the paradise of Barzakh, the soul encounters his friends and relatives who had preceded him and is drawn to the group whose souls most closely match his own. Immediately on arrival, acquaintances gather around him, welcoming him and eagerly enquiring about mutual friends and he shares the news about each of them. If they find out that their relative or friend is still alive, they are delighted because they hope to be reunited with them after their death. But if he informs them that the person that they are asking about has already died, they are saddened because they realize that he has somehow been prevented from entering paradise.

It has been reported from Imam as-Sadiq (‘a) that, “Souls occupy forms that resemble human bodies and live in gardens of paradise; they recognize and communicate with one another. And when a new arrival joins them, they leave him alone for a while to recover after his difficult experience. Then they ask him about different individuals; if he says that they were alive when he died, they become hopeful that he may join them, but if he says that they had died, they cry out, “He has fallen, fallen.”25

The soul begins to explore the paradise of Barzakh. He meets with different groups of believers, finally attaching himself to the group with which he is most compatible. Imam Ali (‘a) said to a companion, “If the veil fell away from your eyes, you would see them congregated in small clusters.”26

He recognizes members of his own group from their outward appearance because in that world, one’s outward aspect is the mirror of one’s inner nature. As soon as he finds this group he experiences a deep affinity and attachment to them, as if he has known them all his life. He feels a greater love for them than he does for his own parents and siblings. It is at this point that he chooses his place in paradise.

“He says: All praise is due to God, Who has made good to us His promise, and He has made us inherit the land; so that we may abide in the garden wherever we please” (39:74)27

He feels completely at home here and cannot imagine better company to spend his days with. This feeling is because in Barzakh and the afterlife, the factor that causes attraction or repulsion between people is the similarity in their previous deeds and their inner characteristics, and these two qualities mould their outward features. It is for this reason that the members of these individual groups resemble one another, as if they are children of one father and mother.

In the same way, the soul that has entered the Barzakhi hell meets and gets to know its inmates. However, in hell there is no welcome, only hate and malevolence everybody tries to intimidate and subjugate everyone else. Here also the new arrival wanders amongst the different groups until he encounters one whose members match his own status. He attaches himself to this group even though every one of them is the enemy of the other.

The People Of The Middle State

As we stated previously, the people of the middle state do not experience the questioning of the grave or meet the angels who expose the soul’s true nature to itself. This is because their nature has not yet crystallized into pure good or pure evil and consequently, they are not entered into heaven or hell. They will inhabit a place between the two, and live a limited degree of life in Barzakh.

The level of their existence is proportional to the goodness or evil that they possess and can be a time of relative comfort and contentment or one of constant anxiety and dejection. In other words, those souls that are purer will be drawn towards the paradise of Barzakh and will begin to experience comfort and joy as a result. According to a report, Imam al-Baqir (‘a) said about these people that, “A passage will be created between their graves and the paradise that God has created in the west (that is, of the Barzakhi realm). Through this they will experience comfort and peace until the Day of Judgement when they will meet their Lord and account for their good and evil deeds. Thereafter, they will go to heaven or hell. These are the people whose fate depends on God’s decree.”28

And those who are more impure will similarly be attracted to the hell of Barzakh and its flames will burn them, “A passage will be created between their graves and the hell that God has created in the east (that is, the hell of the Barzakhi realm). Through this they will feel its scorching heat; smoke and scalding water will enter into their graves.”29 What these passages may mean and how they connect people to either hell or paradise shall remain unknown to all but those who experience it. This situation will persist until the Day of Judgement arrives and their ultimate fate is decided. They too meet and recognize the people who have arrived before them.

Emanuel Swedenborg, whom we have mentioned before as someone who frequently witnessed the realm of Barzakh in his visions, calls this place the “world of spirits”. He describes it as a valley between a maze of mountains. From this world, guarded doorways lead off to heaven and hell, but these entrances are only visible to those who are being prepared to pass through them.30

He says that after some time these groups enter the paradise of Barzakh or are driven towards the hell of Barzakh; but according to our traditions they remain in these valleys until the Day of Judgement, except for a very small group, which are the exception. What we have in the traditions is just that a passage or window is opened between the grave and the Barzakhi paradise or hell. It is possible that Swedenborg saw the same thing but described it as an entry into paradise or hell.

Swedenborg says that during this period the people of the middle state go through three stages; an outer life, an inner life and a period of preparation. The outer or exterior life may last from a few days to several months after death. At this time the soul lives in a manner similar to its life in Dunya. In our world, an individual normally masks his inner thoughts and intentions from others, and usually his outward actions do not reflect his real inner convictions.

In the Dunya he was so habituated to outwardly conforming to social norms and etiquettes that he ignored or was even unfamiliar of his inner nature, hardly thinking about what he really stood for. However, in Barzakh this dichotomy between inner and outer states cannot continue. Gradually and unwittingly, the soul is influenced by his true inner nature and is drawn towards other souls whose inner nature matches his own.

After a while, his movements, his expressions and even his outward appearance change to reflect his inner reality. What had always remained hidden during his life in the Dunya now becomes manifest. At this second stage, those who possessed an evil nature take on demon-like features and a window from the hell of Barzakh is opened into their abode.31

As for those whose inner nature was good, they must pass through a third stage before a window from the paradise of Barzakh is opened into their grave, and this is the stage of preparation. During this time the angels instruct them about the meaning of paradise and proximity to God and the blissful life in heaven, so that they are able to take delight when they have a small window opened into their grave from the paradise of Barzakh.

Such instruction is not possible for those who have been connected to the hell of Barzakh, because they would not understand these meanings as much as a camel could not pass through the eye of a needle. For the righteous, the transition from the outer to the inner life will be like awakening from sleep, or like walking into the light from the darkness. For the evil though, it will be exactly the opposite.

Furthermore, here every type of vice will create a particular effect on the soul and the imaginal body. For example,32 an individual who considered himself superior to everyone else, was immersed in self-love and always acted only in self-interest will find himself intensely dull-witted and in fact, insane. This is because self-love takes a person away from paradise, and the further one is from paradise, the more distant he is from intellect and wisdom.

There will be some who added deviousness to their self-love and used deceit and guile to raise their station in the eyes of people; these will be in the company of the vilest of creation and such will be their madness that they will even hatch plots to storm into heaven and try to lay it to waste!

Their insane behaviour will bring down on them severe punishment. It can be said that the lashes of punishment that are visited upon them are either due to their behaviour in Barzakh or their acts during their life in Dunya; in fact, there is no difference, because what he does in Barzakh is an echo of his deeds in Dunya. In any case, the punishment is designed to deter them from acting on their mad impulses.

Another group is that of religious authorities who used religion to further their own ambitions and arbitrarily forgave the sins of the people and claimed for themselves that position which belongs only to God. Such people, aside from insanity will also be immersed in a darkness that will cause them pain.

Those who attributed creation to a natural accident, and thus denied God’s role, will gather with like-minded individuals and will exhibit animal-like behaviour. If they encounter anyone who exhibits some power, they will begin to worship him. Swedenborg further states that he has even seen individuals who had been considered learned and wise scholars in the world reduced to this demeaning state.

It should be emphasized that the souls in Barzakh are much freer to act than they were formerly, because in the Dunya, an individual may not act according to his innermost desires for many reasons. His outward behaviour is not always freely chosen by his inner self. However, in the life of Barzakh these restrictions are absent and everyone’s behaviour is exactly according to their inner desires and inclinations, which were formed in Dunya. Here, admonition and education are not enough to stop the soul from acting out according to its real nature and the only thing that forestalls their satanic impulses is not the fear of punishment but the punishment itself.

From the foregoing we can conclude that every individual finds his place in Barzakh and lives a life according to his character and disposition. He seeks out like-minded companions for himself and settles in their company. The function of angels such as Ruman and Munkar and Nakir and Bashir and Mubashsher is merely to guide him to a place that is suitable for him and facilitate the path for him. The Qur’an says:

“I swear by the night when it draws a veil over everything,” (92:1)

“and the day when it shines in brightness,” (92:2)

“ and the creating of the male and the female; (92:3)

“Then as for him who shares his wealth, and is God-wary, (92:5)

“ and believes in the reward of the good (heaven),” (92:6)

“ We will soon prepare for him an easy passage.” (92:7)

“And as for him who is niggardly, and considers himself free from need (of God),” (92:8)

“and rejects the reward of the good (heaven),” (92:9)

“We will soon prepare for him a difficult passage.” (92:10)

Whatever we desired and loved in the Dunya will remain with us in the next world and it is these inclinations that will elevate or lower the station of our souls in Barzakh. And this attachment will be even stronger on the day of Judgement with the manifestation of the ultimate (Qiyamati) face of our deeds.

It is true that it is God who assigns each individual his particular station in Barzakh; however, it becomes clear from what we have mentioned above that these assignations are not made at whim. For instance, it would never happen that those who possess evil natures are placed in the stations of the righteous or that the righteous are transferred to a place of evil. In the same manner that a fish would die outside the water and land animals would perish when drowned in the water, evil individuals could not survive in the abodes of the righteous, and vice versa. And this is the actual meaning of the reward and punishment that is mentioned in the Divine books.

Just as the reward for taking a breath is life, and the consequence of not breathing is death, the reward for worshipping God is to live in His proximity while the consequence of turning away from Him is eternal sorrow and remorse.

The Barzakhi Countenance

One issue that is often mentioned is the resemblance in Barzakh between the physical features and the inner character of the individual; Swedenborg says that when the people of the middle state first enter Barzakh their features remain unchanged even in their new imaginal body.

Gradually however, as they manifest their true nature, their features and bodies begin to alter to resemble their inner realities. They transform into forms that are either fearsome or enchanting. This is because in that world no one can conceal their true nature for long and personalities are accurately reflected in facial features. In other words, their inner self is revealed.

He further states that the impulses and desires of human beings are of no consequence and do not have an impact on their features unless they have been acted upon in the Dunya. Therefore, only deeds, which arise from intention and deliberation, have any effect on the Barzakhi countenance of individuals. Desires that are not acted upon have no effect.33 This startling observation of Swedenborg is very much in line with Islamic tradition.

In addition, these scenes are widely reported in narrations and anecdotes. An example is that which the Prophet (S) saw on his night ascension (mi῾raj) when he passed through Barzakh. Amongst his reports from that part of his journey, he is quoted as saying:

“I passed by a group of people who had lips like those of a camel; their flesh was being cut away from their sides and fed into their mouths. I asked Jibra’il about them. He said that they were those who sought out the faults of others and spread scandal. Then I saw a group in whose mouths fire was being poured and which was coming out of their backs. I asked Jibra’il about them. He said that they were those who had unjustly consumed the inheritance of orphans; they consumed nothing but fire and soon they would enter hellfire. Then I saw a group of people whose bellies were so large that they could not stand up even when they tried to rise. I asked Jibra’il about them. He said that they were those who engaged in usury. Now they are unable to stand, like one driven by Satan into insanity (see Qur’an 2:275), and they have been placed in the ranks of the people of Pharaoh who are brought to the fire every morning and evening. They continually cry out “O Lord! When will the Day of Judgement come about?” Then I saw women who were hung up by their breasts. Jibra’il informed me that they were women who had committed adultery and then allowed their illegitimate offspring to inherit from their husbands.”34

In contrast, the believers are found in various levels of Barzakh with luminous faces and beautiful countenances, enjoying a life of comfort and peace. Those who died in the way of God and sacrificed their lives in His way, appear as if their faces have been created from pure light. They occupy the most elevated levels of Barzakh in its highest realms (almalakut al-a’la). About them God states in the Qur’an,

“Do not think of those who were slain in the way of God as dead. No! They are alive, receiving their sustenance beside their Lord.” (3:169)

In this same journey of mi῾raj the Prophet (S) traversed through several levels of the imaginal world on his way towards God’s proximity. He witnessed the stations of some of the righteous and virtuous believers. The Qur’an refers to the seven layers and aspects of this world as the “seven heavens” and the Prophet (S) too, when recounting his journey of mi’raj and his travels through the various layers of Barzakh, employed the same term, “Then we ascended to the fifth heaven (meaning the fifth layer of this world). There I saw an elderly man with piercing eyes with a nobility I had never seen before. He was surrounded by a huge multitude of his followers and I was amazed by their number. I asked Jibra’il about him and he informed that he was Aaron (Harun), the son of ‘Imran. I saluted him with a greeting of peace and he replied my greeting.”35 “Then we ascended to the seventh heaven. There I saw a man with brown hair and beard seated on a throne. I asked Jibra’il, “Who is this who has a favoured position at the doorway of the place of visitation of angels (bayt al-ma’mur) in the seventh heaven and in the proximity of God?” He replied, “This is your father Abraham and this will be your abode and the abode of the God-wary from your nation.”36

The Connection Between Barzakh And This Dunya

It is very difficult to understand and describe the life of Barzakh, because its dimensions and realities are completely different from our experiences in Dunya. As a result, whatever we say about it can only be a simile and approximation of that life. There is great diversity amongst the people of Barzakh and they differ between each other far more than people do in Dunya. Their food, diet, drink and clothing are different from one another and they all live in various stages of comfort or difficulty. In Barzakh, the human being has evolved into a new stage of life; his existence has expanded exponentially and he has come one step closer to the grand meeting with God. However, before that there is a long road yet to travel, and his capacity needs to grow before he can do so.

As we mentioned before, for everyone in that world – except a very select few – their abode is their own grave which is connected to a layer from the layers of Barzakh; this causes their grave to transform into a new home which may be an expansive or a constricted space, pleasant or loathsome, beautiful or ugly. However, what is the nature of the link between the realm of Barzakh and the space and time of this Dunya, and what do we mean when we talk of a connection between people’s graves in Dunya and their own Barzakh?

The meaning of this is beyond the comprehension of our ordinary minds. What we do know is that the Prophet (S) said, “Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the gardens of paradise.”37 From the scriptures and the teachings of God’s prophets (‘a) we can deduce that there is a type of correspondence (tanazur) between this world, the realm of Barzakh and the world of the hereafter (Akhira). Everything we see in this world has a corresponding counterpart in Barzakh that represents it. That counterpart does not need to be similar to the thing it represents, however there is a link between the two. Even abstract things like intentions, actions, emotions and moods have representations in Barzakh, which we cannot fathom.

As an example, the moon, the sun, mountains and skies do not exist in Barzakh and its inhabitants cannot see these objects anymore, because their access to the material world (except in the cases which we will mention later) has been cut off. However, there are things that exist in that realm that if they were to describe them for us, they would use the words moon, sun, mountains and skies. The reason for this is that whatever is in this world is material, and whatever exists in Barzakh is imaginal and consequently cannot be truly described to us.

However, they have a correspondence with material objects and can be matched to them. The sun and the moon that exist in the material world are pale and lifeless compared to the brilliance of their representations in the realm of Barzakh; the difference in the radiance of our sun compared to that of Barzakh is like night and day. In that world it illuminates those wonders in God’s creation that the sun of this world is not capable of doing.

In the same way, the eyes, ears, brain and body of everyone in Barzakh has a type of correspondence to their physical body but is not identical to it; the imaginal body can see and hear and reflect in a manner that cannot be imagined in this world. The Ka῾ba, Bayt al-Maqdas, Mina, ῾Arafat and Karbala and Mount Sinai all have their own correspondences in the realm of Barzakh. Therefore, when we say the abode of everyone is their grave, we are referring to a place that is the correspondence and representation of this grave in Barzakh; and when we say that the souls of the believers are transported to Wadi al-salam in Najaf and the souls of the disbelievers to Barahut in Yemen, we mean they go to the representations of these valleys in Barzakh. This matter is both amazing and hard to believe, yet deep and worthy of contemplation.

The Gardens Of Barzakh

The specific gardens of Barzakh that are within the graves of the pious are, as mentioned earlier, proportionate to the nature of the soul of the believers; they have been constructed by their actions and principles and are the result of their deeds. They vary in size, beauty and provisions but if we were to describe one of these gardens in general terms, we would say that it is enormous, with plants and trees which seem to have been painstakingly planted and looked after by expert hands. In the prime locations within this garden, there are palaces that we may imagine have been constructed of gold, emeralds and other precious gems. Each palace contains many halls and rooms, and the craftsmanship of its construction is beyond description. Its magnificence gives delight to both the eye and the spirit. It is pleasing to the eye because of the beauty of its design and colour, and pleasing to the spirit because it is a creation from the higher realms and a manifestation of the beauty of God; a beauty that is appreciated in the depths of the heart and soul in a mysterious manner, saturating the being with love and elation.

In the same manner as such opulence causes neglect of God in this world, in that realm it only increases the remembrance and cognizance of God. Every building has countless servants, whose charm and demeanour are exemplary; their entire purpose of existence is to serve their masters, because they have been created for them and due to their deeds. Of course, all these blessings befit the all-Generous Lord, and do not reduce from His limitless treasure in the slightest.

Although there is no issue of offspring and children here, nevertheless there is marriage and socialization, and love manifests itself in its purest and most beautiful form. It is an expression of that part of human nature that shows the true meaning of his attachment to both God and His creation.

There is no pain or fatigue in this place; everything is easy and accessible; travel and transfer is instantaneous a simple intention to travel by the individual finds him at his desired location. One might ask, what then is the difference between this garden and the gardens of paradise in the Akhira? It is as we said before; at this stage the universe is still developing and has not yet evolved into the perfect state. What is experienced in Barzakh is but a shadow of life in the Akhira; it is only a semblance of life, not real life itself.

In any case, the believers will eat and drink within these gardens and visit one another.38 However, their food and drink is quite different from ours; just as the measure of time for them is different. They have reached a stage of being that is higher than ours and their existence is stronger and more vital.

As for those who were ungrateful for God’s favours, they reside in pits within their graves; they receive food and clothing that befits their corrupt souls and they visit one another in the valley of Barahut. Every grave is a pit resembling the pits of hell, full of despair, misery, torment and fear. The inhabitants of these graves continually pray that the Day of Judgement does not arrive because then they will be transported to a life that will be even worse.39

The Landscape Of Barzakh

There is endless diversity within the life in Barzakh and no two groups, or even two people, have the same experience. Catering for this diversity and allocating the various lands of Barzakh is a complex process; as a result, we can really only gain a general idea of the geographical details of this vast realm.

The primary division in Barzakh is between the land of the virtuous, the land of the sleepwalkers, and the land of the evildoers; these are three different continents or three distinct realms that are completely unlike each other. It might be asked what relevance land and geography has in Barzakh. Land in Barzakh is to be thought of as an internal feature not an external one; its limits and geographical boundaries are not like those of this world.

Locational references there are defined by the inner nature of individuals. People are housed in various abodes depending on the direction that their soul is pointing towards. Those whose hearts are inclined to God are in a different place from those who turned their backs on God, even though they may be buried in one graveyard next to each other. Therefore, the limits and boundaries in Barzakh are actually the different orientations of human souls and nothing else. Visualizing the geography of such a realm is difficult for us because it so different from what we are used to; however, we must not think that everything that our material intellects cannot perceive cannot exist.

The Land Of The Virtuous

The land of the virtuous is itself divided into two areas; the Barzakh of the servants that God has brought close (muqarrabun) and the Barzakh of the righteous. The muqarrabun are those that in Dunya led lives that were completely and sincerely devoted to God. They divested themselves of every desire except Him and preferred Him over everything else. They exemplified the directive to, “love your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind.”40 They had no trace of selfishness, which restricts the ability to receive the ultimate mercy.

As a result, their hearts were suffused with the love for God and their souls became prepared to receive His special mercy. They were drawn close to His vicinity and became acquainted with His secrets; they removed every impediment that could prevent them from enjoying His grace. Their Barzakh is generated by an internal discernment, meaning that they receive God’s grace in the depths of their souls in a manner that is not possible for the rest of the inhabitants of Barzakh to perceive.

This grace, which swells in their souls, transforms their external life, giving it an indescribable beauty, grandeur and power; in fact, both in Barzakh as well as in Akhira, beauty, grandeur and power always flow from inner to external realities. The muqarrabun may be considered to be the elites among of the people of virtuous of Barzakh. Their wisdom and intellect, and their understanding of God’s secrets mean that nobody else could be compared with them.

Wherever they go in Barzakh, their grandeur and pre-eminence are evident and their presence is constantly bathed in light and accompanied by splendour. This is because they have connected to God’s own splendour and beauty and light from the depths of their being and this continually nourishes them. However, it should never be imagined that all this grandeur makes them arrogant for even an instant; rather, it is because they have no pride that they are able to manifest such grandeur. Splendour and beauty and majesty belongs to God alone, and it is only when man walks on the hidden path towards Him, and adores Him, and strives to remove every trace of self-love and egoism from himself, that that beauty and majesty adorns his soul.

But the level of humbleness of the muqarrabun was something that the righteous, despite their goodness could not achieve. The righteous are those who lived pious and faithful lives; they worshipped God and were people of charity and good works and as a result they immediately found their way to the paradise of Barzakh. However, they could not achieve the high levels of inner sincerity, utter humility and constant remembrance of God that the muqarrabun possessed.

As a result, the cognizance of God as that of the muqarrabun did not enter their souls. Their love for God did not reach the completeness that it should have and their souls were consequently not prepared enough to fully receive the majesty and beauty of God. In the Dunya they were inclined to goodness and were grateful for God’s blessings, but they worshipped God due to faith and not out of love; they believed in Him but were not in love with Him, because they did not recognize Him properly; and there is a world of difference between faith and love. For this reason, although they enjoy a comfortable and immensely rich life in Barzakh, they are unable to connect to God’s grace through their hearts and souls because the path of love remained unopened by them. Consequently, they do not possess the inner receptiveness of the muqarrabun, or their detailed knowledge of the secrets of creation. They are the middle rank of the inhabitants of Barzakh.

These two areas, the Barzakh of the muqarrabun and the Barzakh of the righteous, are like two different countries and can be referred to as the land of the muqarrabun and the land of the righteous. The muqarrabun are free to come and go within the land of the righteous and when they come to that land, it resembles the majestic arrival of kings. However, the righteous cannot enter the land of the muqarrabun except in rare instances and with special permission. This is because entry into that land is beyond their capacity. The visits of the muqarrabun to the land of the righteous are always pleasant and memorable because such visits are always accompanied by an increase in the blessings and mercy of God.

As we mentioned, “land” in Barzakh refers to a place where the imaginal manifestation of an individual’s grave occurs. Depending on the closeness or remoteness of the person from the majesty and power of God, it can be a place of splendour and honour or a place of darkness and misery. What is apparent is that people do not constantly remain at the location of their graves, whether it is a garden and palace of paradise or a pit and torture chamber of hell. They possess homes there from which they visit other places and return when they desire solitude and rest. However, everyone can only travel within the boundaries of their own territory in Barzakh.

The land of the righteous is divided into different areas according to the type of virtue. However, this does not mean that people living in different areas cannot see one another and enjoy each other’s company. On special occasions the souls of the believers gather in locations that are more beautiful and grander than their own; here they socialize and converse and discuss any new bounty that they have received from God or a greater realization they have gained of Him.

When they hear of each other’s experiences, its sweetness brings them closer and strengthens their bonds further. Sometimes, they also get to meet and enjoy the company of the elite and close servants of God. Occasionally, these meetings take place in Wadi al-salam in Najaf, whose Barzakhi manifestation is one of the most magnificent gardens in the imaginal world41, and sometimes near the Dome of the Rock (qubbat al-sakhra) at Bayt al-Maqdas in Palestine.42

Perhaps they also meet the righteous from other religions every now and then. If we imagine them, we would see them gathered around each other busy in conversation, “There is no believer in the east or west of the world except that God transfers his soul to Wadi al-salam…it is as if I can see them at this moment sitting together in groups talking with one another.”43 However, we could never imagine what they are saying to each other, because their talk is not the idle chatter of the business of this world, rather it is about affairs that shall remain hidden from us until we die.

When we speak of the delights enjoyed by the inhabitants of the paradise of Barzakh it is natural for us, who have not yet stepped into that realm, to imagine that they will be similar to the pleasures that we enjoy in this world. This couldn’t be further from the truth because the delights of that world are spontaneously generated externally from within the soul of an individual and not from outside to inside. It is for this reason that we cannot really imagine them except by attempting to make comparisons with what we have experienced in our world.

Swedenborg claims that he was permitted in his visions to experience that type of delight. He goes on to say that there is no way to adequately describe these “pleasures of heavenly joy”. All he could say was that each experience was a unified effect of bliss that contained a “harmony of countless affections, all elements so beautifully arranged as to defy description”. He observed that, “the joy and delight seemed to be coming from my heart, spreading very subtly through all my inner fibres … and everything I perceived and felt around me was alive with bliss.” Next to these delights, “the joy of physical pleasures is like crude and irritating dust compared to a pure and gentle breeze.” The most interesting thing is that this pleasure can be transferred to others as well; whenever someone, out of love and affection, would try to convey his pleasure to his friends, “God caused a deeper and fuller pleasure to flow in its place.”44

However, despite living this happy life there is one prayer on everyone’s lips, “Our Lord! Bring about the Day of Judgement so that you can grant us that which You have promised.”45 The window that has been opened between their Barzakh and the paradise of the Akhira, and the breeze of Divine mercy and pleasure that blows into their luxurious graves captivates and intoxicates them and fills them with impatience. What they have and the type of life they lead is already beyond our imagination, but what they can sense through the window to paradise is something else again. It is an elevated level of existence that nothing in this world or the realm of Barzakh can compare with.

The Land Of The Sleepwalkers

At a lower level than the land of the righteous lies the territory of the people of the middle state. They are the ones who were neither completely righteous nor completely evil. Just as we mentioned before, Swedenborg calls this the land of souls; here we have named it the land of the sleepwalkers, because their level of existence compared to that of the righteous or the evildoers is like that of sleep compared to wakefulness.

These are people who were not very good or very evil either; some of them were unable to differentiate truth from falsehood in the Dunya because the criteria for righteous conduct was not known to them and no one corrected their mistakes.46 Or their faith was weak and despite their knowledge, they mixed good and sinful conduct; all these people live in this land.

Naturally, they do not belong to either the land of the righteous or the land of the evildoers in Barzakh, “They remain in their grave and do not leave it; in return for their good acts in the Dunya, a window is opened between their grave and the paradise of Barzakh, through which a pleasant and comforting breeze flows in.”47 We do not know what this window means and how it connects them to the pleasures of the paradise of Barzakh, but we are told that secure and peaceful, they enter into a relaxed slumber.

But if in the Dunya they were more inclined towards evil conduct, then a window is opened between their grave and the hell of Barzakh at Barahut, through which they feel a blistering and harsh wind blow into their lonely home. This state continues until the Day of Judgment arrives, when God makes known the fate of both groups. What is meant by “remaining in their grave” in the narration is that they live in the land of the souls and are unable to find the way into the paradise of Barzakh.

In this region of Barzakh life passes as in sleep; although their experience is much richer and opulent compared to the life of this world, but compared to the life of the righteous and their knowledge, freedom of movement and joy, they might as well be sleeping. Most of their experience of joy is confined to the material aspects of Barzakh, and has very little to do with its spiritual richness. In fact, they are quite unable to perceive or understand the experiences of the righteous.

The Window To Paradise

Swedenborg makes some observations about the type of connection that the righteous in Barzakh have with the paradise of Akhira which can be considered as the same thing as the window that has been opened into their graves from the paradise of Barzakh and which has been mentioned in Islamic traditions. He says that sometimes the righteous enter a peaceful state rather like sleep and during that time they witness paradise. When they wake up they are so full of wonder and amazement at what they saw that they couldn’t put the feeling and beauty of it into words.

Everything that exists there sparkles brilliantly as if it was made of gold and silver and precious gems; objects have amazing and stunning forms. However, he saw that the inhabitants of paradise did not take any particular delight in these objects, but were more engrossed in what they represented of Divine flashes of infinite wisdom that human language could not describe. They see delights there that could not be described even briefly, concepts that are outside the reach of our material minds. When they return to consciousness the memory of what they have seen is etched in their soul and fills them with great joy.

Sometimes their hearts are suffused with a strange and indescribable elation, which is reserved for the people of paradise, and sometimes they are taken to a state of innocence which they sense in the deepest layers of their soul. In this way they are made to realize the real joy and delight of the paradise of the hereafter and what kind of innocence and purity is required to enter into it.48

The Land Of The Evildoers

At a lower level than the land of the sleepwalkers lies the land of the evildoers. It is the abode of the disbelievers and the arrogant. They are those who only loved themselves and they know no other love, whether for God or for virtue. Their preoccupation with their own desires closed their path to gain any virtue and, because they are themselves devoid of any goodness, jealousy drives them to hate the virtues found in others.

They constantly strive to destroy all goodness but because God has confined them to the land of the evildoers and they are unable to do what they want; they are always restless with rage and bitterness. They harbour hate in their hearts for everything and everyone, especially God, Who is the source of all goodness. His mention and remembrance reminds them of their insignificance and they know they are powerless before Him. In Barzakh, power stems from the truth (Haqq), and truth is a reality that flows down from God. Whoever is more unified with this truth is more powerful and whoever is distant from it is weaker. Therefore, power here belongs to the righteous and the muqarrabun, and the arrogant inhabitants of the land of the evildoers are the weakest of all, despite all their bluster and rage.

The land of the evildoers is divided amongst its inhabitants according to their levels of evil and wickedness. Each area is associated with a particular vice; and there is a punishment, misery and stench that are unique to it. It is as if the inhabitants of this land are organized in different tribes with each immersed in the torment befitting its particular evil habit.

However, there is one trait here that is common to all, and that is that each person despises everyone else, and each tries to enslave the other and force them to serve him. This is an instinct that arises from their self-love. The only thing that controls the situation from getting out of hand is Divine retribution. The angels are constantly involved in the affairs of this land and whoever crosses the bounds in harassing anybody else is immediately subject to harsh punishment. However, the effect of this chastisement is short-lived and does not deter them for long from acting rebelliously once again; this is because bullying, meanness and cunning has become ingrained in their nature and controls them like the instincts in animals. In fact, they experience two types of punishment, one that they bring onto each other and the second that is visited on them by the angels when restraining them. There is no other way to control their viciousness except through punishment.

The inhabitants of the land of evildoers gather every night to try to overpower each other; they boast about themselves and humiliate one another. They want everyone to do what they want, and not only do they desire domination over every man, angel and creature in the land, they desire that God too, should act according to their wishes. Of course, since such desires are futile, these meetings and socializing serve nothing except to increase their rage and frustration, and when daybreaks they return beaten and disappointed back to their graves.

The location of their meetings is a desolate desert in Yemen, which is known as Barahut. The imaginal representation of this place in Barzakh is a scorching desert; in it dry winds blow which are more searing than the fire of Dunya.49 And its pools are filled with the most repulsive water.50 And the interesting thing is that the souls of the evildoers willingly rush to this place, imagining and hoping that they will be able to wrest some benefit from the other wretched ones in Barzakh, and force them to become their abject servants.

Although they have themselves become used to their features and forms, if an outsider was to see these souls they would appear to be monstrous. The imaginal world is an amazing place. Every quality and trait, good or evil, assumes an external form. Envy gives rise to one form and altruism to another. Turning towards God illuminates a man’s face while turning away from Him darkens it. Hatred alters a man’s features one way and love in another. Therefore, one should not be surprised that the features of the people in the land of the evildoers more closely resemble savage animals than human beings. In addition, just as siblings look alike in Dunya, the features and habits of those in Barzakh whose evil natures were similar resemble each other as well.

According to Swedenborg’s visions, the features of the evildoers are generally frightful and resemble the faces of morbid corpses. Some faces are pitch-dark, some are fiery red, while others have faces distorted by large ulcers and sores. Others have no visible face, only some hair or bone in its place. In some others only the teeth show and nothing else.

Their bodies are equally misshapen and hideous. Their speech embodies rage and hatred and their tone is full of evil intent. In short, they all portray the image of their inner hell.51 Swedenborg also says that the people of this land remain in it willingly, and although they occasionally have access to the land of the righteous, they never travel there. This is because firstly, their own land is shrouded in a semi-darkness in which the light of truth does not enter.

The darkness of this land, which is only faintly lit by glowing coals, is a blessing for them because in its dimness they look almost human to each other. It is only when a ray of light from the higher realms illuminates them that their repulsive faces are revealed. Swedenborg believes that the darkness of this land is a gift of God’s mercy to these wretched people.52

Secondly, the land of the righteous appears as total darkness to them, because that land is illuminated by God’s light, and this light cannot be received by the inhabitants of the land of the evildoers; they are blind to it, just as they were blind to God’s truths in Dunya. As a consequence, they prefer to stay in their lonely caves.53

To gain a better picture of this community, we may imagine a place where every member is completely self-absorbed and is only interested in working with others if they can jointly visit harm on another group. At the same time as they work together, the heart of each is full of hate for his comrades. As soon as their objective is met and they overcome the weaker party, they turn on one another and quarrel to a point where they are ready to kill each other and feast on their bodies. And this is nothing more than the viciousness of their evil nature becoming manifest,

“Indeed the quarrelling of the people of the fire is the truth.” (38:64)

Because they are completely selfish, and because they were never grateful to God during their lives in Dunya, they have never learned appreciation. Although they may speak of justice, but in their hearts they have only scorn for justice, honesty, compassion and virtue. God’s light does not penetrate their hearts because any light is immediately distorted into self-love and thoughts of wrongdoing.

The Landscape Of Barahut

Barahut itself is divided into two areas: the land of darkness and the land of fire. Those who live in the land of darkness are the people who were under the influence of evildoers, while the people who live in the land of fire are those who were evil themselves and now their entire being has been transformed to pure evil. In the realm of Barzakh of Barahut, they live in different levels within underground caves and pits whose depths cannot be imagined.

Some of these caves are like the dens of wild animals while others are in the form of vertical or spiralling caverns of unknown depths. In some areas there are burnt ruins of houses and cities situated in deep valleys and dry, blistering deserts dotted with springs of hot and putrid water; all of this is a manifestation of the inner corruptness of the souls of those who live here. One might ask how these external realities reflect their inner state. The answer to this was discussed before, both from the traditions as well as the philosophy of Mulla Sadra.

In our material world we observe the effect of inner states on the external world too, but it is nothing compared to the same process in the imaginal world. As an example, in Dunya, no matter what they eat, people with a certain illness will find the taste bitter; or for someone whose vision is weak, everything appears dim, and to a depressed person, everything appears cheerless, and for a jealous person, the blessings of others cause resentment. These effects are intensified a hundred-fold in Barzakh and a thousand-fold in Akhira. What then will be the fate of the Godless people whose souls are shut to the most beautiful realities of the universe?

Swedenborg says that he witnessed that some of the districts of Barahut were full of brothels filled with filth and excrement, with women whose faces only add revulsion to adulterers.

The streets here are full of violence and hostility. Some areas are hidden by dark forests with unsightly trees, where hellish souls roam like wild beasts. When they are threatened by other souls they flee and hide in their underground caves.54

The Social Order In Barzakh

That most people in Barzakh live together in communities is beyond doubt. However, is there any social order that governs their lives? Is it possible for a group of free people with different inclinations and abilities to live together in one place, without there being any system to govern them? Or will the same system - used to regulate societies in Dunya - apply in Barzakh, which was each with its own rules based on diverse social ideologies?

As a rule, in every community where on one hand there is freedom, and on the other hand a difference of views and inclinations, some sort of social system must exist. Such a system is even found in the realm of angels. For example, all angels must follow the commands of Jibra’il, the angel who in the Qur’an is described as:

“…a noble messenger,” (81:19)

“Possessed of power and high rank with the Lord of the Dominion”. (81:20)

“He is obeyed (in the heavens) and faithful in trust” (81:21)

Usually, most of the angels are under the command of senior angels who in turn, take instructions from angels of a higher rank. For example, during his mi’raj, the Prophet (S) saw an angel who “had a group of seventy thousand angels under his command, each of whom was in charge of a further seventy thousand angels.”55 In short, in the social order of the angels, every angel has a designated and known position,

“There is not one of us (angels) but has his own assigned place” (37:164)

Therefore, in Barzakh too, a social system exists, and this system varies across its different regions. However, before we discuss these differences, we must define the meaning of a social system – a part of which is leadership and rule – in reference to Barzakh. Rulership in the Dunya is exercised in a variety of ways, but it is always based on power and authority.

This authority sometimes comes from military prowess, sometimes from a hereditary transfer that is acceptable to the subjects, and sometimes by the vote of the majority. This is actually the sort of social system that prevails in the land of the evildoers in Barzakh. Those who are more powerful and cunning gang together and subjugate weaker souls and make use of them in their personal fights and other corrupt objectives. We will discuss this again when we discuss the hell of the hereafter (Akhira), because that which transpires in Barzakh is nothing compared to what will be seen in the Akhira.

However, in the land of the muqarrabun, which is the domain of the prophets (‘a) and close servants (awliya), authority is only based on love. There, everyone is the recipient of God’s grace directly, and whoever has the capacity to receive the most grace is more beloved to the rest and obeyed in every matter by them.

In the land of the righteous the social order is more complex and follows a hierarchy of authority. Whoever possesses more knowledge and virtue naturally occupies a higher rank in authority, because his decisions conform better to the beauty of existence and contain more goodness and virtue.

As was indicated earlier, the realm of Barzakh has a representation in the realm of Akhira, therefore whatever happens in the paradise or hell of Barzakh is a pale shadow of what will occur in the Akhira and the higher realms; the only difference there will be the availability of the indescribable mercy of the all Merciful, which we will talk about later.

Therefore, it may be assumed that the hierarchy that exists in the paradise of the righteous in the Akhira is similar to that found in the paradise of Barzakh. About the hierarchy in the paradise of Akhira, the Prophet (S) has said, “Those who possess the knowledge of the Qur’an shall be administrators in paradise, and those who strived in God’s path shall be governors in paradise and the Prophets shall be leaders in paradise.”56 And this means each prophet will rule over a group of governors and administrators in the paradise of the righteous; therefore, the final authority in the paradise of the righteous is in the hands of the muqarrabun, who themselves are under a single authority in their own paradise.

It is very likely that a similar system will exist in Barzakh of the righteous also. However, those who run this social system will not be chosen due to their power, charisma or family; rather there will be total freedom of choice which will be based on the perception that that which comes from above is only goodness. In addition, following their guidance will result in greater delight, happiness and development of their souls. The term ‘urafa’ which has been used in the tradition above for those who possess knowledge of the Qur’an is the plural of ‘arif, which is used for a person who is responsible for the administration of a district in a large city. From this meaning we can conclude that the social framework of life in paradise will be based on a well-organized and orderly system.

These matters are confirmed by Swedenborg’s visions. He says that the population of the paradise of Barzakh is divided into communities of various sizes and although all the people in one community are involved in good activities, they are not similar in their wisdom. Therefore, there necessarily must be a form of government to maintain order. And this government is solely based on mutual love.57

Rulership there is not about control and command, but about serving out of love and concern for the welfare of the community. Since the rulers have more wisdom and understanding than the rest, they know how to apply the law according to God’s will to bring about the wellbeing of each individual.58

Children In Barzakh

Children in Barzakh59

Humans who die in childhood have one advantage and one disadvantage when compared to those who die after adulthood. Their advantage is that they are yet sinless and consequently their souls are completely open and prepared to receive everything that the angels want to teach them about God, His Lordship and His expansive mercy. Their soul has not been made defiant by egoism, arrogance and sinful conduct and its receptiveness to knowledge and wisdom is intact.

However, their disadvantage lies in the fact that they left this world before they could understand the truths and concepts that would ignite the cognizance of God in their hearts, and before they could pass through the various stages of life during which an individual experiences God’s mercy and grows to love Him. As a result, their initiation in Barzakh into the deeper realities of existence is possible only to a certain extent. Of course, the sinlessness of children is vastly different to the sinlessness that an adult manages to maintain. In the latter case, the soul is open and submissive and consequently receptive to God’s grace and mercy but also at the same time, it has also perfectly realized the truths and concepts that are to be learned in Dunya; this is because sinlessness in adulthood can only be achieved by those who ponder and reflect with knowledge and wisdom.

As we have seen, after death children cannot immediately enter the paradise of Barzakh. They are initially taken to a beautiful and comfortable location where they stay for a time receiving guidance from angels who are more loving towards them than their own mothers. Thereafter, they are taken to meet the people of paradise. This guidance has two functions. Firstly, it is to impart to the children the knowledge and understanding that is required to live in the paradise of Barzakh; secondly, it is to cleanse their souls of any false ideas and values that they may have received from their parents and society during their brief stay in Dunya.

This is because, contrary to the view of most people who believe that the paradise of Barzakh or that of Akhira is a collection of material blessings which can be granted to anyone, paradise is actually identical to an individual’s level of closeness to the Source of goodness and love and knowledge and wisdom and is different for every single person depending on the amount of goodness, love, knowledge and wisdom he has acquired. Material blessings are in fact external manifestations of these matters and expressions of God’s names and attributes through the human soul in the world external to it.

Depending on their receptiveness and their different levels of purity, after their period of training children enter either the land of the muqarrabun or that of the righteous. According to the visions of Swedenborg, the imaginal bodies of children when they first leave Dunya are identical to their material bodies, but gradually, as they develop mentally and the capacity of their souls is increased through the teaching of the angels, their bodies grow as well. That which nourishes their minds also nourishes their bodies, until they reach adolescence. However, their development stops at this stage and they never grow beyond the prime of youth.60

This is such because further development requires one to exercise their free will and act and react in the Dunya, which children did not get an opportunity to do. In addition, Swedenborg believes that because children who die in infancy have no recollection of Dunya, they imagine that they have been born in the imaginal world and display a complete dependency on God.61

The foregoing is a simplified idea of the destiny of children in Barzakh; otherwise, its details and the variation amongst individual children is much more complex than can be imagined by our material minds.

The People Of Barzakh And The Material World

Is our material world hidden to the people in Barzakh in the same manner as their realm is hidden to us, or can the dead see our world and be aware of events here? This is not an easy question to answer.

As a rule, the entities of the realm of Barzakh are correspondents of the entities of this world. As we have already mentioned, representations of the sky and the earth, mountains and valleys, rivers and oceans, space and time and distances, all exist in Barzakh just as they do in this world; however, just as man occupies an imaginal body in Barzakh, everything else there is similarly in an imaginal state also. That is, although they exist, they are non-material in nature. Being immaterial actually adds to their colour, radiance and richness and elevates them to a higher level of existence.

In truth, what we see in this world is a pale expression of what exists in the imaginal world. As long as the human being occupies a material body, he cannot see objects in the imaginal world, except if his soul is extraordinarily strong, or his soul disconnects from the body and enters an imaginal body. Conversely, when the soul moves into the imaginal world, the material fades before its eyes and it remains unaware of the lives of the living, except if the soul is extraordinarily strong, or for some reason its connection to the material world is not completely severed.

In addition, the soul’s means to view the material world was through the physical senses of the material body; with the disintegration of the material body and its sensory organs, the soul’s connection with the world of matter is cut off and its means of perceiving it disappears. Therefore, we can say that in normal circumstances the dead are unaware of the goings-on in our world; it is hidden to them, but not as completely as the realm of Barzakh is hidden from the eyes of the living.

For the friends of God who are called the awliya, there is no question of a veil between Barzakh and Dunya; they can see whatever they choose and whenever they choose. Their knowledge was far superior to the knowledge of the ordinary man in Dunya, and they could often even see the realm of Barzakh; similarly, in that world also, their knowledge is a level apart from the rest of the dead and they are aware of whatever happens in the Dunya. Of course, the understanding of the dead in Barzakh should not be compared to the understanding of the living; their knowledge encompasses dimensions of space and time that cannot be imagined by those who still live in this world. They no longer need material eyes and ears to see and hear things of this world because their knowledge is now obtained through higher means.

As for the ordinary people, depending on the level they occupy in Barzakh, on special occasions they can perceive some of the events of this world; this is similar to the glimpses that some of the living have about the next world. These events are usually to do with the souls themselves or their family members who are still alive. For some souls this perception and knowledge may only come once a year, for some, every month, and for others every week or even every day. This interval varies according to “the status of the dead person.”62

According to some narrations, this awareness and witnessing normally occurs at midday (zuhr) and, “when the believers see their living relatives doing acts of goodness they become happy and thank God; and when the disbelievers see their living relatives doing acts of goodness they are filled with regret.”63 However, the sinful conduct of relatives is usually hidden from the eyes of the dead, and the souls are not able to see it. Sometimes the connection is so strong that some souls in Barzakh gain permission to influence and guide their relatives on important and decisive matters by coming in their dreams.

Another method by which the people of Barzakh can connect with this world is when the relatives visit their graves. At such times the dead usually sense the presence of their relatives, and are happy to see them and it increases their love for them, “Visit your deceased, because they are pleased when you do so.”64 And, “I swear by God that they are aware of your presence and are gladdened by it and your visit increases their love for you.”65 They are also affected when their relatives pray for them and seek forgiveness for them, or do a good deed on their behalf and in their memory.

If this prayer or good act is done with a sincere intention and reaches fruition, it is like a gift that is presented by the living to the dead, “Those who have died become happy when someone prays for mercy and forgiveness for them, just as the living are happy when they receive gifts.”66 It seems that these matters have a great impact on the quality of their lives in the realm of Barzakh, and sometimes it can transform the narrow and dark confines of their graves into wideness and light67 and earn their appreciation and gratitude. Of course, the effects of the prayers and good acts of the living for the dead are to do with their life in the realm of Barzakh; however, the Day of Judgement is another matter entirely, and one that we will discuss in due course.

The People Of Barzakh And The World Of Angels

Entry in to the world of Barzakh is actually entry into the world of the angels too. Although the greatest angels cannot be seen here, nonetheless, there is still a bewildering variety of angels whose numbers are simply beyond count. The angels are wondrous creatures and Barzakh itself is a wondrous place. In this strange place human beings and angels can understand each other’s speech, because here only one language exists and that is an unspoken inner (fitri) language that has been embedded in the imaginal memory of both human beings and angels. This language is a direct expression of the inner nature of individuals that reflects perfectly their perceptions, emotions and intentions. It is for this reason that there is no possibility of lying or duplicity here, and if someone tries to express something contrary to his or her inner feelings and thoughts, it becomes immediately evident to the listener.

However, what is more amazing is that although the language in Barzakh is instinctive and everyone has the ability to speak and hear, there are many human beings here who are deaf and mute; in fact, many more than that existed in the Dunya. This deafness and dumbness is because the thoughts that run in the minds of this group are so conflicting with reality that they cannot be expressed. As a result, they appear as mutes or that which comes from their minds sounds like the senseless raving of a lunatic. And neither is it possible to make them understand anything because their minds have lost the ability to receive information; for this reason, they are unable to communicate themselves and cannot hear what others say. And since their minds are confused and the hearts dark, they cannot perceive the radiant realities around them, and so they are blind as well.

“...And We shall gather them on the Day of Judgment, prone on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf....” (17:97)

The angels are creatures who are highly intelligent and very sensitive at the same time. Their lives, thoughts and devotions are exclusively dedicated to God. If you were to praise them in their presence they would turn away in annoyance because they consider every goodness and beauty as being due to God; their happiness lies in His remembrance and glorification rather than in their own excellences. To them, paying attention to themselves is limiting while paying attention to God is to turn to unlimited beauty and glory. When they encounter people of evil inclination they are deeply distressed and try to distance themselves from them as soon as possible. However, if they are commanded to spend time with them they assume a manner that fills the evil with foreboding.

We mentioned earlier how the evil perceived the appearance of Munkar and Nakir and the angel of death as fearsome indeed. The angels who shall be assigned to hell are likewise, “harsh and severe” (66:6), because their task is to control vicious criminals. As we said, the features of every creature in that world manifest their inner state, and because the angels feel nothing but aversion and distaste for these evildoers, they cannot mask these feelings from their faces. Of course, this is how we analyse them from afar and God knows best.

There are more angels than the entirety of other creatures and God has not created any creature more numerous than the angels.68 Their types, ranks and functions are likewise more varied than the rest of creation; basically, one can say that no two angels are similar. On the whole, the angels can be divided into two groups: the angels of the dominion (malakut) and the angels of the exalted assembly (mala’ ala’la). Mala’ al-a’la is a Qur’anic term69 and refers to a group of high-ranking angels.

In some narrations they are referred to as the angels of the realm of Compelling Power (jabarut). These angels are closest to God and their knowledge, power, beauty, and proximity to God cannot be compared to the angels of malakut. That which this exalted assembly of angels understands and receives from God can never be perceived by the other angels. The angels who attend to the dead in the realm of Barzakh are the angels of malakut, and they exist in countless different forms. Of course, those whose faith has penetrated into the depth of their souls are able to harness this strength and see the angels of jabarut as well. This is because faith serves the heart in the same manner that eyes serve the head; and the stronger and more ingrained this faith is, the further it can see into the depths of God’s kingdom, and can even perceive the throne (‘arsh) of God itself.

Angels do not marry or have offspring. Each is created separately, and this creation continues endlessly as God creates more angels at every moment; the procedure of this creation is unknown to us however. Angels do not require nourishment and are sustained by a breeze that blows from the ῾arsh70; they possess non-material eyes and ears and tremendous intelligence.71 An angel is defined by the work it does, just as in that world people are defined by the deeds that they have performed. All the angels who perform a specific task belong to the same tribe72 and their features resemble one another, although just like human beings, they can be told apart. Since the work they carry out is always pure goodness, their faces are also beautiful; and since the good acts they carry out are different, their faces are also different from one another.

The beauty of the angels cannot be described to the people in our world; in fact, Imam Ali (‘a) has said that some angels are such that even if all the jinn and mankind assembled together, they would not be able to describe their grandeur and the beauty of their features.73

Of course, as we have mentioned before, features in that world are quite different from those in our world; in that world every feeling, emotion and inner reality is reflected in the face of every human being and angel and radiates from it and gives it shape. No one there can display a face that is different from their inner reality; the more beautiful they are on the inside, the more beautiful their features appear, and the uglier they are on the inside, the uglier their features appear. It is for this reason that,

“The guilty will be recognized by their marks...” (55:41)

Because beauty belongs only to God, the beauty of the angels and human beings is a reflection of His beauty, while ugliness is a manifestation of the ugliness of the human souls and other sentient creatures such as the jinn and Shaytan.

The tribes of the angels vary in size. Some consist of hundreds of thousands of angels while others do not exceed a few hundred. The members of every group worship together and stand in congregation to glorify God,

“There is not one of us (angels) but has his own assigned place” (37:164)

“and indeed, we stand in rows for prayers” (37:165)

Occasionally, legions of angels who number in the millions, will come to the senior angels such as Jibra’il, Mika’il or Israfil and act on their behalf and under their direction, just as flanks of an army obey their commander. Perhaps this is the meaning of the Qur’anic phrase ‘wings or flanks of the angels’:

“All praise is due to God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth; Who made the angels messengers having two, three or four flanks…” (35:1)

To make this discussion more complete, it will be beneficial to refer to parts of the tradition of mi’raj that talk of the meeting of the Prophet (S) with some of the angels:

“Jibra’il went up to heaven of Dunya and I also ascended with him. An angel named Isma’il was in charge there and his instructions were to stop any eavesdropping, about which God has said in the Qur’an, “Except such (jinn) who try to snatch (some words), but they are pursued by a flame of piercing brightness” (37:10). Seventy thousand angels stood watch under his command, each with a further seventy thousand angels under him. He asked Jibra’il, “Who is this person with you?” Jibra’il replied, “This is Muhammad.” He asked, “Has Muhammad been appointed to his mission already?” Jibra’il replied, “Yes.” At this time he opened the door74 and greeted me with a salutation of peace; I returned his greeting and prayed for his forgiveness, and he prayed for mine in turn, and said, “Welcome O righteous brother and O righteous messenger!” Thereafter, angels came forward to welcome me until I entered the heaven of this world. Every angel who met me along the way was smiling in delight, and in this manner we reached a huge angel. He was a creature bigger than any I had ever seen before; he had a stern face and a fearsome appearance. He welcomed me like the rest and prayed for me, but he did not smile and I did not observe in him the happiness and delight of the other angels. I asked Jibra’il, “Who is this angel? Truly he is intimidating!” He replied, “You should be intimidated; we are all afraid of him. This is Malik, the angel in charge of hell who has never smiled all his life….”

Then I met an angel that God had created in an extraordinary fashion. Half his body was made of fire and the other half of ice;75 neither did the fire melt the ice nor did the ice extinguish the fire. The angel was calling out in a loud voice, “All praise belongs to the One who has held back the heat of this fire from melting the ice and kept this ice from extinguishing the fire! O God, Who has kept a balance between fire and ice! Make the hearts of Your believers compassionate towards one another.” I asked Jibra’il, “Who is this?” He replied, “It is a type of angel that God has assigned to all corners of the heavens and around the earth. He is the greatest well-wisher for the believers; from the day he was created he prays for them by continually invoking God with the same words that you hear.” Then I saw two angels who were supplicating together; one was saying. “O God! Increase the wealth of every one who spends in charity”, while the other was saying, “O God, take away the wealth of every miser…”

Then we passed by a group of angels whose form and features defy description.76 Every part of their bodies was engaged in the praise and glorification of God, each with a different melody. Their voices were raised in praise and in weeping out of awe of God. I asked Jibra’il about them. He said, “They have been created just like this. None of them have ever spoken to the angel next to them, and they have never raised their heads out of fear and awe of God and have never looked down either.” I greeted them with a salutation of peace. Without looking at me they replied with a slight nod. Jibra’il said to them, “This is Muhammad, the messenger of mercy; he is a Prophet of God whom He has sent to guide His servants. He is the last of the Prophets and the best of them. Will you not speak with him?” Because they heard this from Jibra’il, they came towards me and greeted me warmly and prayed for goodness for me and my nation…

Then we ascended to the second heaven…it was full of angels who were overcome with complete humility and awe before God and their faces were beyond description. Every one of them was engaged in glorifying and praising God, each in a unique manner and voice… In the third heaven also there were angels who were cloaked in humility and awe just as in the first and second heavens. Once more Jibra᾽il introduced me as he had earlier and they likewise greeted me in the same manner as the other angels had…

Then we ascended to the fourth heaven. Just as in the other heavens, this too was also full of humble angels who prayed for goodness for me and my nation.” And this was his experience in the fifth, sixth and seventh heavens also.77

• 1. Mulla Sadra explains this phenomenon in this way, “After the soul leaves the physical body it still maintains a weak connection to it, because forms and figures are retained in its memory. This is due to the fact that when the soul separates from the body it takes with it the imaginal faculty which is the source of particular perceptions and it can employ this to perceive physical forms.” (Mulla Sadra, al-Mabda῾ wa’l Ma῾ad, p. 474)

  Therefore, after death the soul perceives material entities like its former body through the faculty of imagination. At the same time, it can perceive beings from the afterlife who do not reside in the material realm. When the soul leaves the body as a person dies, it is cognizant of its independent existence and of its perceptive ability. It views its own existence within its faculty of imagination, but imagines itself as one with the body that has been put in the grave. As a result, it initially imagines that the punishments and rewards experienced in Barzakh are actually being administered to its former physical body.

• 2. Refer to the previous footnote.
• 3. This is what is referred to in traditions as the “terror of the time of vision (of the grave’s depth)” (hawl al-mattla’) (See Saduq,’Ilal al-Sharaya’, 1/306.
• 4. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 6/221, quoting Imam al-Sadiq (‘a).
• 5. Saduq, Thawab al-A’mal, p. 190.
• 6. In Shi’i traditions there are allusions to Ruman in very general terms. For example, Imam Sajjad (‘a) has mentioned him in one of his supplications in Sahifat al-Sajjadiyya. What has been mentioned here is from Sunni sources. (Ref: Bihar al-Anwar, 56:234).
• 7. Some excerpts from his work are mentioned in this section, especially when they conform to the Qur’an and traditions. For further information, see: Emanuel Swedenborg, Heaven and its Wonders and Hell: From Things Heard and Seen, Philadelphia: Lippincott company, 1892.
• 8. Swedenborg, p. 239, 240.
• 9. Tehrani, Muhamad Husain Husaini, Ma’ad Shinasi, 4:26.
• 10. Abdallah b. Salam narrates: I asked the Prophet (S) about the first angel to appear in front of the deceased before Munkar and Nakir. He replied, “It is an angel whose face is as radiant as the sun, whose name is Ruman. He enters the grave and commands the deceased to write down all his deeds, the good and the bad. The deceased asks, “With what shall I write? Where are the pen and the ink?” He will reply, “Your saliva is your ink and your forefinger is your pen.” He will ask, “On what shall I write, for I have no paper?” He will be told, “Your shroud is your paper, so write!” So he begins to record his good deeds, but becomes embarrassed to write his bad deeds. The angel says to him, “O sinner! You were not ashamed when you committed these acts in front of your Creator, and you are ashamed now?” And the angel lifts a club to strike him. The deceased pleads, “Do not punish me, I will write it down!” And he records on it everything he ever did, good and bad. Then the angel commands him to close the record and seal it. He asks, “How shall I seal my record when I have no seal?” The angel instructs him to seal it with his fingernail, and then hangs the record on his neck, where it shall remain until the Day of Judgement. This is as God has stated in the Qur’an,

  “And We have made every man’s actions to cling to his neck, and We will bring forth to him on the resurrection day a book which he will find wide open.” Surah al-Isra’ (17:13).

  (Madani, Syed Ali Khan, Riyad al-Salikin fi Sharh Sahifatu Sayyid al-Sajidin, 2/66,67).

• 11. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 8/209, quoting the Prophet (S).
• 12. Saduq, al-Khisal, p. 114
• 13. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/235.
• 14. Saduq, Ma’ani al-Akhbar, p. 288.
• 15. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/235.
• 16. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 6/225.
• 17. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar.
• 18. You will be first asked about the God that you worshipped, then about the Messenger sent to you, and the religion you lived by and the Book that you followed, and about the Imam who was your authority. Thereafter, you will be asked about how you spent the years of your life, and how you earned your wealth and where you spent it. (Majlisi, quoting the Prophet (S), Bihar al-Anwar, 6/221, from Saduq who quotes Imam Zain al-’Abidin (‘a).
• 19. He will see a door from heaven open into his grave through which its bounties are visible. Munkar and Nakir will say to him, “Look at what you denied yourself.” Thereafter, a door from hell will open into his grave through which its punishment will be felt, and the deceased individual will cry out, “Lord, do not bring about the Day of Judgement, Lord do not bring about the Day of Judgement.” (Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 6/176). Similar traditions are found in Sunni sources, for example, see a lengthy tradition of Bara’ ibn ‘Azib from the Prophet (S) (al-Tabarani, al-Ahadith al-Tiwal, p. 65-67, trad. 25).
• 20. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 6/280.
• 21. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 1/65. Abu Basir narrates that he asked Imam as-Sadiq (‘a), “May I be your ransom, is their appearance the same to both the believers and the disbelievers?” The Imam (‘a) said, “No.”
• 22. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 6/275, quoting the Prophet (S): “The grave is either a garden from the gardens of paradise or a pit from the pits of hellfire.”
• 23. Saduq, Amali, p. 365.
• 24. “Rejoicing in what God has bestowed upon them of His bounty, and desiring to share the good tidings with those who have not yet joined them…” (Al-‘Imran, 3:170).

  This has been mentioned in the traditions also, for example, “His grave is expanded by seventy cubits on all sides and it is filled with a brilliant light. Then he is told, “Sleep!” He asks, “Can I go back and inform my family about these blessings?” (Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 5/276, quoting the Prophet (S).

• 25. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/244, reporting from Imam as-Sadiq (‘a).
• 26. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/243.
• 27. Although this verse is about the eternal paradise of Akhira, it is nonetheless quite relevant to the paradise of Barzakh also.
• 28. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/247, reporting from Imam al-Baqir (‘a).
• 29. Kulayni, al-Kafi.
• 30. Swedenborg, Section 429.
• 31. According to Swedenborg, they enter into the hell of Barzakh.
• 32. These examples are from the visions of Swedenborg. (Swedenborg, passage 508).
• 33. Swedenborg, passage 475.
• 34. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 18/324.
• 35. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 18/325.
• 36. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 18/326.
• 37. Saduq, Ma’ani al-Akhbar, p. 267.
• 38. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/244, quoting Imam al-Sadiq (‘a).
• 39. Kulayni, al-Kafi, p. 245.
• 40. Gospel of Luke, 10:27.
• 41. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/243 quoting Imam Ali (‘a): “Indeed Wadi As-Salam is part of the Garden of Eden.”
• 42. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 6/286.
• 43. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/243 quoting Imam al-Sadiq (‘a).
• 44. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, section 413.
• 45. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/244, quoting from Imam al-Sadiq (‘a).
• 46. In religious terms these people are known as “mustad’af”, meaning weak or vulnerable.
• 47. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3:246, quoting from Imam al-Sadiq (‘a).
• 48. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, sections 411 and 412.
• 49. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/247, quoting from Imam al-Baqir (‘a).
• 50. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/246, quoting from Imam al-Sadiq (‘a).
• 51. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, section 553.
• 52. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, section 553.
• 53. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, section 584.
• 54. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, section 586.
• 55. Qummi, Tafsir ‘Ali b. Ibrahim, p. 371.
• 56. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 2/606. This narration, with slight variation in words has been reported in many sources, both Shi’i and Sunni, for example: Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-’Ummal, trad. 2288-2290; Qadi Nu’man al-Misri, Da’a’im al Islam, 1:343; Saduq, al-Khisal, p. 28; Mawla Muhammad Salih Mazandarani, Sharh Usul al-Kafi, 11:30 has mentioned other ranks in addition to these three.
• 57. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, section 213.
• 58. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, section 217.
• 59. Most Christian theologians are of the opinion that only Christian children who have been baptized will be admitted to paradise. A minority of Muslim theologians believe that children will follow their parents in paradise or hell. Shi’a theologians consider this view to be against God’s Justice (‘adala) and believe that all children without exception will be in paradise.
• 60. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, section 340.
• 61. Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell, section 345.
• 62. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/230. Ishaq b. ‘Ammar says that I asked Imam al-Kazim (‘a), “Does the dead person visit his relatives?” He replied, “Yes.” I asked, “How often?” He said, “Every Friday, or every month, or every year, depending on his status.”.
• 63. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/230.
• 64. Kulayni, al-Kafi, 3/229, quoting Imam Ali (‘a) .
• 65. Hurr al-Amili, Wasa’il al-Shi‘a, 2/878 quoting Imam al-Sadiq (‘a).
• 66. Hurr al-Amili, Wasa’il al-Shi’a, 2/878 quoting Imam al-Sadiq (‘a).
• 67. Hurr al-Amili, Wasa’il al-Shi’a, 2/655 quoting Imam al-Sadiq (‘a).
• 68. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 56/175.
• 69. Refer to Surah Sad 38:69.
• 70. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 56/174. This phrase is metaphorical of course, and its meaning is not clear for us.
• 71. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, p.175.
• 72. Refer to Surah as-Saffat, 37:164. Many traditions talk about the tribes of the angels also.
• 73. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 56/178.
• 74. As we have mentioned previously, the seven heavens are all dimensions of the realm of malakut; “opening the door” here means granting permission to enter the dimension that the Prophet (S) was allowed access to during the mi’raj.
• 75. Of course, these substances are not made of material, but imaginal components. And as mentioned in other reports, there is a large number of this type of angel. See Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, 56/174.
• 76. The words of the tradition are, “God made them the way He desired and shaped their features the way He desired.”
• 77. Qummi, Tafsir of ‘Ali b. Ibrahim, p.369 – 374.