Special Senses of the Soul In the Quran and Islam

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In the name of God the Merciful

Special Senses of the Soul

Quoted from the book (Man after Death) By Mohammed-Ali Hassan Al-Hilli

We said that the soul has special senses and organs just like the body, but they are ethereal; moreover, I say that the special senses of the soul have special names other than the names of the body senses:
e.g. the mouth of the body is called 'mouth', but the mouth of the soul is called فوه in Arabic, [Let us call it the 'spiritual mouth' in English];
and the eye of the body is called the 'eye', but the eye of the soul is called the 'sight';
and the ear of the body is called the 'ear', but the ear of the soul is called the 'hearing';
and the heart of the body is called the 'heart', but the heart of the soul is called فؤاد , [Let us call it the 'spiritual-heart' in English.]

God - be exalted – said in the Quran 32: 9

ثُمَّ سوّاهُ ونَفَخَ فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِهِ وجَعَلَ لَكمُ السّمْعَ والأبْصارَ والأفْئِدَةَ قَليلاً ما تَشْكُرُون

The explanation:
( Then He perfected [Adam], and breathed into him from His ghost[: Gabriel], and made for you[r souls] hearing, sight and '[spiritual] hearts'; yet a small number of you who thank God.)

The interpretation:
>> ( Then He perfected [Adam] ) means: He fashioned his body, and completed its creation.
>> (and breathed into him from His ghost[: Gabriel] ) means: The blowing or breathing was from Gabriel; for he is the Honest Ghost or Spirit.
>> (and made for you[r souls] hearing, sight and '[spiritual] hearts'.)

Consider, therefore, how God – be celebrated His praise – did not say: ' And made for you ears, eyes and hearts'; because He created him with complete organs; as it is indicated from His saying [in the beginning of this aya:]

ثُمَّ سوّاهُ

i.e. ( Then He perfected [Adam.] )

The exact meaning is: He made for his soul ears, eyes and a heart; just as did He make for his body; similarly when He created your bodies and formed the souls inside them, He made for the [souls] ears, eyes and hearts just as did He make for the bodies.

God - be exalted - said in the Quran 23: 78

وهُوَ الّذي أنشَأَ لَكُمُ السّمْعَ والأبْصارَ والأفْئدةَ ، قليلاً ما تَشْكُرُون

The explanation:
( And it is He Who has formed for you[r souls] hearing, sight and [spiritual] hearts: [but] small number of you who thank [God.] )

Therefore, His saying – be exalted - أنشَأَ لَكُمُ i.e. (has formed for you) means: He has formed for your souls; because the second person is the soul; because it is the true man, while the 'hearing' is the ear of the soul, the 'sight' is the eye of the soul, and what we term as the '[spiritual] heart' is the heart of the soul.

God - be exalted - said in the Quran 67: 23

قُلْ هُوَ الّذي أنْشَأَكُمْ وجَعَلَ لَكمُ السّمْعَ والأبْصارَ والأفْئِدَةَ قَليلاً ما تَشْكُرُون

The explanation:
( Say: "It is [God] Who has formed you, and assigned for you the hearing, sight and [spiritual] hearts: [but] small number of you who thank [God.] )

His saying – be exalted – أنْشَأَكُمْ i.e. (has formed you) means: He has formed your souls and made for them hearing, sight and [spiritual] hearts. The indication of that is that He – be exalted – said أنْشَأَكُمْ i.e. (has formed you), but He did not say: has created you; because the creation means the creation of the bodies, whereas the formation means compiling the soul from ethereal particles.

The Glorious Lord said also in the Quran 16: 78

واللهُ أخْرجَكم مِنْ بُطونِ أُمّهاتِكم لا تَعْلَمُونَ شَيْئاً ، وجَعَلَ لَكمُ السّمْعَ والأبْصارَ والأفْئِدَةَ لَعَلّكم تَشْكُرُون

The explanation:
( And God brought you forth [O people] from the wombs of your mothers when you knew nothing; and He assigned for you the hearing and eye-sights and [spiritual] hearts: that you be thankful [to God.] )

The interpretation:
>> ( And God brought you forth [O people] from the wombs of your mothers.) Their creation should have been perfect or complete: having eyes, ears and hearts; because the baby gets out of his mother's womb without any defect, then why does God - be exalted – say after his delivery :

و جَعَلَ لَكمُ السّمْعَ و الأبْصارَ و الأفْئِدَةَ

i.e. (and He assigned for you the hearing and eye-sights and [spiritual] hearts.) Therefore, He means by that the special senses of the soul.

The meaning will be like this:
After your getting out of the wombs of your mothers, He made for your souls: hearing, sight and [spiritual] hearts; that you may thank or show gratitude to your Lord.

The Glorious Lord said also in the Quran 46: 26

ولَقدْ مَكَنَاهُمْ فِيما إنْ مَكَنَاكم فيهِ وجَعَلْنا لَهُمْ سَمْعاً و أبْصاراً وأفْئدَةً ، فَما أغْنَى عَنْهُمْ سَمْعُهُمْ ولا أبْصارُهُمْ ولا أفْئدَتُهُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ

The explanation:
( And We had established them[4] [: the tribe of Aad: the people of Prophet Hood] in that wherein We have not established you [: Meccans], and We appointed for them hearing, and sight, and [spiritual] hearts, and yet their hearing, their sight and their [spiritual] hearts availed them nothing …)

Among the Quranic revelations, where the body organs are mentioned, are:
1. His saying – be exalted – in the Quran 22: 46

أفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا في الأرضِ فَتَكونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِها أو آذانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِها

The explanation:
( Have they not journeyed throughout the earth, so they might have hearts with which they understand, or ears with which they hear?)

So notice that here God - be exalted – called them the hearts and the ears, whereas there He called them the hearings and the [spiritual] hearts; because there He meant the ethereal special senses of the soul, whereas here He meant the material special senses of the body, and the meaning is: They are like the dead: having hearts which do not understand, and having ears that do not hear.
2. God - be exalted - said in the Quran 7: 179

ولقد ذَرَأْنا لِجَهَنّمَ كثيراً مِنَ الجِنِّ والإنْسِ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لا يَفْقَهُونَ بِها ولَهُم أعيُنٌ لا يُبْصِرُونَ بِها ولَهم آذانٌ لا يَسْمَعُونَ بِها أولئكَ كالأنعامِ بَلْ هُمْ أضَلّ أولئك هُمُ الغافِلون

The explanation:
(We have spread out, for Hell, a large number of the genie-kind [: demons] and of the mankind; they have hearts but understand not with them; they have eyes but see not with them; they have ears but hear not with them; they are like the cattle; indeed, they rather go more astray! Such are the heedless [of Our signs of revelation.] )

3. God - be exalted - said in the Quran 71: 7 , expressing Noah talking:

وإنّي كُلّما دَعَوْتُهُمْ لِتَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ جَعَلُوا أصابِعَهُمْ في آذانِهِمْ

The explanation:
(And whenever I call them [to believe], that You may forgive them [their sins], they thrust their fingers in their ears …etc.)

So He mentioned, here, the word آذان i.e. 'ears', and did not call them 'hearings' because He meant the material ears into which they thrust their fingers.

4. And He - be exalted – said in the Quran 5: 45

وكَتَبْنا عَلَيْهِمْ فيها أنّ النّفسَ بالنّفْسِ والعَيْنَ بِالعَيْنِ والأنْفَ بِالأنفِ والسِّنَّ بِالسِّنِّ والجُرُوحَ قِصاصٌ

The explanation:
(And We prescribed for the [Children of Israel] in the [Law: Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 19, to require] 'life for life, eye for eye, nose for nose, tooth for tooth, and the retaliation for wounds.' …)

Here, God - be exalted – called them: eyes and ears; and did not call them sight and hearing; because He meant the material organs of the body; because no defect may afflict the ethereal [organs and] special senses so that there would be any retaliation.

5. And God - be exalted - said in the Quran 33: 19

أشِحّةً علَيْكُمْ فَإذا جاءَ الخَوْفُ رَأَيْتَهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ إلَيْكَ تَدُورُ أعْيُنُهُمْ كَالّذي يُغْشَى عَلَيْهِ مِنَ المَوْتِ

The explanation:
(Being niggardly towards you[r help.] When fear [of the war] comes, you [Mohammed] see them looking at you [with pleading looks], their eyes rolling [from side to side] like one who swoons of death …etc.)

Here, God - be exalted – said تَدُورُ أعْيُنُهُمْ i.e. (their eyes rolling [from side to side] ), and He did not say: Their sights rolling [from side to side] ; because He meant their material eyes of the bodies.

6. God - be exalted - said in the Quran 41: 5

وقالوا قُلُوبُنا في أكِنّةٍ مِمّا تَدْعُونا إلَيْهِ وفي آذانِنا وَقْرٌ ومِنْ بَيْنِنا وبَيْنِكَ حِجابٌ ...إلخ

The explanation:
(And they say: 'Our hearts are inside shells, [concealed] from that to which you call us, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a barrier …etc.)

7. God - be exalted - said in the Quran, 2: 19

يَجْعَلُونَ أصابِعَهُمْ في آذانِهِم مِنَ الصّواعِقِ حَذَرّ المَوْتِ

The explanation:
(They thrust their fingers in their ears because of thunder-claps, for fear of death.)
So, here too, God called them the ears and did not call them the hearings; for He meant, by that, the body organs.

A Remark:

A man named "Di'lib" asked Imam Ali – peace be on him – "Have you ever seen your Lord?"
The Imam answered him: "The eye cannot see God, by the looking of the [eye-] sight …"

This is an indication that the sight is different from the eye; for the eye cannot see unless by the looking of the sight: the looking is that of the sight and not of the eye.

Explanation:

The names of the soul special senses and the body special senses are common for both [the body and the soul] – in the alive man – so that you can say: "John looks by his eyes", as can you say: "John sees by his sight"; also you can say that "John hears by his ears", as can you say that "John hears by his hearing".

Similarly, you can say that John has a good heart, or you can say that John has a good [spiritual] heart [: فؤاد in Arabic.] That is because the alive man has eyes and sights, has ears and hearings, and has a heart and a spiritual heart [i.e. ethereal heart.]

Therefore, these names are common in the alive man, but are of one type in the souls; so that we cannot say that the soul looks, but we can say that the soul sees [by his sight]; and we cannot say that the soul hears by his ear, but we can say that the soul hears by his hearing.

[N.B. These names may be more distinct in Arabic – the translator.]

The original Subject be found in this link

http://quran-ayat.com/man/#Special_Senses_of_the_Soul_