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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Risalah Al- Wilayah:vicegerency (a Treatise On Islamic Mysticism and Spiritual Wayfaring) Chapter 3: Connecting to the metaphysical realm and the secrets of the unseen are not restricted to the Prophets, but are possible for all There is no doubt among the followers of Divine religions that the prophets (a.s.) have connections with the supernatural realm and knowledge of hidden matters in accordance to their different levels.

However, is this status theirs alone and exclusive to them as a Divine gift? Or it is not restricted to them and it is possible for others to have it as well? In other words: Is this matter something specifically for them and cannot be found with anyone else in this world until after death, or is it something that can be acquired? It is the second point that is correct.

We say: This is because the relation between this realm and the realm beyond it is a relationship of cause and effect and perfection and deficiency, and this is what we call the relation of the outward (al-zahir) and the inward (al-batin) . As the outward is witnessed by necessity and witnessing the outward cannot be without witnessing the inward because its existence [the outward] is one dimension of the existence of the inward and is medium in relation to it.

Therefore the inward is also actually witnessed when witnessing the outward. Moreover, as the outward is the limit of the inward and its entification*(the action of giving objective existence to something)* , then if a human was to disregard the limit by forgetting it through the performance of acts and spiritual exercises, he will certainly witness the inner, and this is the point we have desired to establish.

Explanation: The attachment of the soul*(nafs)* to the body and its uniting with it is what leads the self to concede that it is the very body itself. What the body witnesses through the senses it considers as separate in existence from its soul. This is because it sees what it is seeing as separate from the body (and thus separate from itself since it identifies with the body).

Being fixated on the level of the body necessarily results in the soul’s forgetfulness of its own level which is higher than the level of the body. This level of the soul is the imaginal level and other levels higher than that.