graves. Thou art naught but a warner” (35:22, 23). The context shows that by “those in the graves” are meant those whom death has overtaken spiritually, whom the Holy Prophet would warn but they would not listen. On another occasion, where those in the graves are mentioned, the words convey a double significance, referring to the spiritual awakening brought about by the Holy Prophet as well as to the new life in the Resurrection; “And thou seest the earth barren, but when We send down thereon water, it stirs and swells and brings forth a beautiful growth of every kind. This is because Allāh, He is the Truth, and He gives life to the dead and He is possessor of power over all things, and the Hour is coming, there is no doubt about it; and Allāh will raise up those who are in the graves” (22:5-7). The first part of this passage, describing the giving of life to dead soil by means of rain, shows that the second part refers to the giving of spiritual life by means of Divine revelation, a comparison between rain and revelation being of frequent occurrence in the Holy Qur’ān. “The Hour” here, as in so many other places, refers to the doom of the opponents of the Holy Prophet, and “the dead” and “those in the graves” are evidently the spiritually dead. But, though speaking primarily of the spiritual resurrection, there is also a reference to the great Resurrection of the dead. In fact, not only here but in many other places in the Holy Qur’ān, the spiritual resurrection, to be brought about by the Holy Prophet, and the greater Resurrection of the dead are mentioned together, the one being as it were an evidence of the other,7 because an awakening to spiritual life shows the existence of a higher life, the development of which is the real aim of the greater resurrection. This is the first great argument running throughout the pages of the Holy Qur’ān as to the truth of the greater resurrection. The spiritual resurrection brought about by the Holy Prophet, the awakening to a spiritual life, makes the higher life an experience of humanity, and thus clears the way for a development of that life in a higher sphere, above the limitations of this material world.
That the whole of creation on this earth is for the service of man, and that human life has some great aim and purpose to fulfill, is
7 This is specially the case when the giving of life to the dead earth, by means of rain, is spoken of as an evidence of the Resurrection. In such cases, both the spiritual resurrection and the greater resurrection are meant, the one in fact being evidence of the other. That the spiritual resurrection serves as an argument for the greater resurrection is clearly pointed out in the following verses: “Nay! I swear by the Day of Resurrection. Nay! I swear by the self-accusing spirit” (75:1, 2). Now here the spiritual resurrection is spoken of as an evidence of the greater Resurrection, and what is really meant is that the spiritual resurrection to be brought about by the Holy Prophet (such being the significance of qiyāma here) shall serve as an evidence of the greater resurrection which is implied. And the fact that it is the spiritual resurrection that is produced as an evidence is made clear by mentioning along with it the self-accusing spirit which is the first stage of the growth of spiritual life in man, because it is when the inner self of man accuses him of wrong-doing that his struggle against evil is begun in earnest, which struggle is the first indication of the growth of spiritual life; but when evil is done without the inner voice asserting itself, it is a sign that the man is spiritually dead. The self-accusing spirit is the lower stage of the growth of a spiritual life, the higher stage being called “the spirit at rest” or al-nafs al-muṭma’inna, which enters into paradise even in this life (89:27-30).