Question 155: What is the meaning of His, the Exalted, words: {By the Fig and the Olive * And the (mount) Tur of Sinai * And this safe town * We have certainly created man in the best of stature * Then We return him to the lowest of the low * Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds, for they will have a reward unfailing * So what yet causes you to deny the judgment? * Is not Allah the most judicious of judges?} [Surah 95 At-Teen (The Fig)]
The Answer: In the name of Allah, The Most Benevolent, The Most Merciful
All praise due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. May the blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis.
{By the Fig}: is Fatima (PBUH). {And the Olive}: is Ali (PBUH), and he is who almost glows even if untouched by fire {whose oil almost glows even if untouched by fire. Light upon light} [Surat An-Nur (The Light) 24:35]
{And the (mount) Tur of Sinai}: The Valley of Al-Salam in Al-Najaf, for that Tur Sinai was moved by the angels to Al-Najaf.
{And this safe town}: The Messenger of Allah Muhammad (PBUH & His Family).
{We have certainly created man in the best of stature}: The first creation is the reality of the human-being if he rises to the highest of the high, and the second creation is the reality of the human-being if he drops himself to the lowest of the low. And the first is the Mind or Muhammad (PBUH & his Family), and the second is Ignorance or The Second one, and both of them are human, and for that reason He, the Exalted, said: {We have created man in the best of stature * Then We return him to the lowest of the low }, meaning, we created the human being, thus we made the highest ranks of rising for Man, and the lowest ranks of declining also for Man.
Abu Abdillah (PBUH) said: (Verily, Allah created the Mind, and it is the first creation from the spirituals on the right of the throne from His light. So He said to it: Go away, so it went away. Then He said to it: Come forth, so it came forth. So Allah, the Exalted, the Almighty, said: I have created you a great creation and favored you over all my creation. and he said: Then He created Ignorance, from the brine dark sea. So He told it: Go away, so it went away. Then He said to it: Come forth, but it did not come forth. So He said to it: you have had too much pride, thus He cursed it) [1]
The one taught the close angels is (the first Mind), and he is Muhammad (PBUH & his Family), and he is a human being [2]. And the one degraded Iblees (may Allah curse him) and seduced him is also a human, and he is The Second, or Ignorance. And this is Iblees’ (may Allah curse him) saying: {[Iblees] said, “My Lord, by what you have put me in error with, I will surely make [disobedience] attractive to them on earth, and I will mislead them all} [Surat Al Hijr 15:39], meaning by he who you seduced me with.
{So what yet causes you to deny the judgment? * Is not Allah the most judicious of judges?}
It remains that the Fig and the Olive in the time of Imam Al Mahdi (PBUH) have other truths/meanings. And the safe town is Imam Al Mahdi (PBUH). He, the Exalted, said: {And a tree that grows out of Mount Sinai which produces oil and relish for those who eat} [Surat Al Mu’menoun 23:20]
and He, the Exalted, said {Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a shining star lit from a blessed tree, and Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things} [Surat Al Nur 24:35]
Thus, the Olive, and the tree that comes out from Mount Sinai, and produces oil, and the Olive which is neither of the east nor of the west, all indicate to one person, and that is the first Mahdi in the time of the appearance of Imam Al Mahdi (PBUH). For he (the first Mahdi) is the Olive in the verse we just mentioned, and he is the tree that comes out from Mount Sinai (meaning Al Najaf), as was narrated by the Prince of Believers and Al Sadiq (PBUT) [3]
For the angels moved the Mount [to another place] after the incident of its lifting and it has not been returned to its place {And when We shook the mountain over them as if it were a covering overhead, and they thought that it was going to fall down upon them: Take hold of what We have given you with firmness, and be mindful of what is in it, so that you that you may fear Allah } [Surat Al’Araf 7:171], they thought it was going to fall down upon them, but it did not return back to its place, and did not fall upon them, rather, it was moved [to another place].
And its food is oil { produces oil}, meaning its knowledge is heavy on people, and people cannot handle it (a secret within a secret), (and difficult and [complicated/difficult to understand]), as was stated by them (PBUT).
Abu Abdillah (PBUH) said: (Verily our matter is a secret within a secret, and a secret safeguarded with a secret, and secret which does not benefit except a secret, and a secret upon a secret, and a secret masked with a secret) [4]
and Abu Ja’afar (PBUH) said: (Verily, this matter of ours is safeguarded masked by the covenant, whoever violates it Allah humiliates him) [5]
and Abu Abdillah (PBUH) said: (Verily, this matter of ours is safeguarded masked by the covenant, whoever violates it Allah humiliates him) [6]
and Abu Abdillah (PBUH) said: (Verily our matter is the truth, and the truth of the truth, and it is the apparent, and the inner of the inner, and it is the secret, and the secret of the secret, and the the secret of the safeguarded, and a secret masked with the secret) [7]
And he is the Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, its oil almost glows, for he is from the Mahdis, and is considered to be from the Imams (PBUT) other times. And there are traditions that have been narrated on their (PBUT) authority that count the Imams to be twelve from the descendants of Ali and Fatima, meaning, they counted the first Mahdi to be from the Imams (PBUT), and [this is] in their words (PBUT). And here are some of the traditions:
Abu Ja’afar (PBUH) said: (The twelve Imams from the family of Muhammad (PBUT) are all begotten from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH & his Family), and from the descendants of Ali, and the Messenger of Allah and Ali (PBUH) are the fathers) [8]
And on the authority of Abu Ja’afar (PBUH), that Jabir Ibn Abdullah Al Ansari said: (I entered upon Fatima (PBUH) and between their hands was a board in which were the names of the vicegerents from her descendants, so I counted twelve, their last is Al Qa’im (The Riser), three of them are Muhammad, and three of them are Ali) [9]
and Abu Ja’afar (PBUH) said: (Verily, Allah sent Muhammad (PBUH & his Family) to Jinn and Man, and made after him twelve vicegerents, some of them preceded and some of them remained, and each vicegerent practiced a Sunnah. And the vicegerents who came after Muhammad (PBUH & his Family) are on the Sunnah of the vicegerents of Jesus and they were twelve, and the Prince of the Believers (PBUH) was on the Sunnah of Christ) [10]
And on the authority of Zirara, he said: I heard Abu Ja’afar (PBUH) saying: (We are twelve Imams, from them are Hassan and Hussein, afterwards [come] the Imams from the descendants of Al Hussein (PBUH) ) [11]
and Abu Ja’afar (PBUH) said: (The Messenger of Allah (PBUH & his Family) said: I, and twelve from my descendants, and you Ali, are the button of Earth, meaning its pegs and its mountains. By us Allah has cemented the Earth [in order for it ] not to melt with its people. For if the twelve from my descendants go away the Earth shall melt with its people and they shall not be saved) [12]
and Abu Ja’afar (PBUH) said: (The Messenger of Allah (PBUH & his Family) said: From my descendants are twelve chiefs, chosen, Mohadathon [those who speak and know the meanings of the traditions/knowledge of Muhammad (PBUH & his Family)] and Mofahamon [those who understand and make understood the traditions/knowledge of Muhammad (PBUH & his Family)], the last of them is Al-Qa’im (The Riser), he shall fill it with justice as it was filled with injustice) [13]
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[1] Bihar Al Anwar: volume 1, page 97
[2] Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH & his Family) said to me: (O Salman, Allah has created me from the best of His light, and He called me so I obeyed Him, and He created Ali from my light, and He called him so he obeyed Him, and He created Fatima from the light of Ali, so He called her so she obeyed Him. And He created Al Hassan from me, Ali and Fatima, and He called him so he obeyed Him, and He created Al Hussein from me, Ali and Fatima, and He called him so he obeyed Him) Dala’il Al Imama by Muhammad ibn Jarir Al Tabari (Al Sh’ii): page 448
[3]in Bihar Al Anwar: volume 31, page 219, on the authority of Abu Abdullah (PBUH) that he said: (Al-Ghari is a part of the mountain on which Allah talked with Moses) . And in Bihar Al-Anwar, volume 75, page 205, also on the authority of Abu Ja’afar (PBUH) that he said: (it was in the will of the Prince of the Believers (PBUH) “take me out to the upper part, so if your feet take you to the right place and you were met with wind, then bury me, and it is the entry of Tur Sinai (Mount of Sinai)” and so they did).
[4] Basa’ir Al Daragat/Mohammad ibn Al Hassan Al Saffar: page 47
[5] Basa’ir Al Daragat: page 48
[6] Basa’ir Al Daragat: page 48
[7] Basa’ir Al Daragat: page 48
[8] Al Kafi: volume 1, page 531, hadith 7
[9] Al Kafi: volume 1, page 532, hadith 9
[10] Al Kafi: volume 1, page 532, hadith 10
[11] Al Kafi: volume 1, page 533, hadith 16
[12] Al Kafi: volume 1, page 534, hadith 17
[13] Al Kafi: volume 1, page 534, hadith 18
First Mahdi : Yamani : Ahmed Alhasan 