The Fourth Stage of Human Development
This stage represents perfection, a stage that has yet to come. Its beginning is beyond the peak of the third stage, and one can only enter it by leaping from the summit of the previous stage.
We have discussed the four stages of human development. Regarding the first stage, we stated that its beginning lies in eternity (azal), where the human emerged in bodily form within inorganic matter, what we conventionally call "lifeless", and its end coincides with the emergence of organic matter onto the stage.
We also discussed the second stage, noting that its beginning marks the emergence of organic matter, what we conventionally call "alive", and its end is marked by the emergence of intellect (‘aql). From this, it becomes clear that there is a significant resemblance between the first and second stages: both are entirely physical stages, encompassing all levels of physicality, from a particle of water vapor to the most advanced mammals, excluding humans.
The fourth stage is distinguished from the third by the full entry of the sixth and seventh senses onto the stage. This represents a new degree of advancement, rendering human life fundamentally different from anything we have previously known. Thus, we can say that human development encompasses three primary phases: the stage of pure physicality, the stage of conflict between body and intellect, and the stage of harmony between body and intellect.
Life on this planet has evolved, to this point, within the framework of the first two stages. Initially, evolution was purely physical. Then, with the emergence of intellect, by Allah’s Grace and as a result of purely physical evolution, life transitioned into its second phase, a combined physical and intellectual evolution. This is the phase we are living in today, and I hope we are nearing its final days.
A time will soon come when evolution becomes purely intellectual, mirroring the initial phase of purely physical evolution that marked the beginning of life. As the mystics (sufis) say: "The end resembles the beginning, but it is not identical to it." Historians also say: "History repeats itself, but not in the same form." The Wisest of speakers says: “As We began the first creation, We will repeat it. That is a promise binding upon Us; indeed, We will do it.” (21:104)
And He, Blessed and Exalted, does not repeat it in the same way because one of the secrets of Divinity is that It does not stop, return, or repeat itself. Therefore, what remains is only what we have stated.
These three phases, pure physical evolution, combined physical-intellectual evolution, and pure intellectual evolution, can, in religious terminology, correspond to the three realms: the realm of Malakut (the heavenly kingdom), the realm of Barzakh (the intermediate stage), and the realm of Mulk (the Dominion stage). The Mulk is the domain of bodies, the Malakut is the domain of intellects, and the Barzakh is the intermediary realm, a transitional domain. It is the domain of current human being, which, as previously mentioned, we now inhabit at the twilight of its trajectory.
The realm of Malakut governs over the realms of Mulk and Barzakh, as they are subjugated to its dominion and perpetually in motion, seeking it, for they originated from it. The pinnacle of Malakut is with Allah, in the purity of His Essence. About this, He said: “So exalted is He in whose hand is the realm of all things, and to Him you will be returned” (36:83). This has already been alluded to earlier.
Allah created everything first by His Essence (dhat), and then through intermediaries, His names, attributes, and actions. His wisdom decreed that creation manifests into existence through three movements: the movement of knowledge, which encompasses all; the movement of will, which specifies; and the movement of capability, which brings forth into the tangible world.
In the Intermediary Realm (‘Alam al-Barzakh), He created using three names: the All-Knowing, the Ultimately-Willing, the Most Capable (al-‘Alim, al-Murid, al-Qadir). In the Realm of the Heavenly Kingdom (‘Alam al-Malakut), which lies above the Intermediary Realm, He created using three names: Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate (Allah, al-Rahman, al-Rahim). In the Realm of Dominion (‘Alam al-Mulk), which lies below the Intermediary Realm, He created using three names: the Creator, the Evolver, the Fashioner (al-Khaliq, al-Bari’, al-Musawwir).
The Creator (al-Khaliq) is He who encompasses His creation with knowledge. The Evolver (al-Bari’) is He who gave His creation its initial form. The Fashioner (al-Musawwir) is He who continuously reshapes the initial form into diverse forms, propelling them forward in their stages of evolution, where the latter seeks the perfection of the former. Regarding this, Allah says: “And We created you, then We shaped you, then We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate to Adam,’ so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was not of those who prostrated.” (7:11)
Here, “We created you” means “We encompassed you with knowledge of your beginnings and your ends.” “we fashioned you” refers to “We gave you an initial form,” which was as a particle of water vapor. As for “then We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate to Adam,’” it signifies “We subjugated the angels to serve humanity,” owing to the nobility of human creation over that of the angels. Allah’s use of the conjunction “then” is to indicate sequential order and temporal distance.
The angels prostrated, and Iblees also prostrated, but the angels did so willingly (ṭaw‘an), while Iblees did so unwillingly (karhan). Both groups, however, are equally subjugated to serve humanity: the angels from above, and Iblees and his progeny from below. Humanity’s oscillation between the two gives rise to correctness and error, both of which serve the purpose of human evolution toward perfection. It is through both correctness and error that the completeness of the human’s creation was realized from its inception.
Regarding this supreme design of establishing beginnings and ends and directing the journey between them, Allah says: “[He] who gave each thing its form and then guided [it].” (20:50), meaning God guided evolution in its ascending stages. He guided pure physical evolution through the general religion (al-deen al-‘aam). He guided the combined physical-intellectual evolution through the specific religion (al-deen al-khaas), the phase of faith (‘aqeedah). He guides pure intellectual evolution through the specific religion (al-deen al-khaas), the phase of [individualized] knowledge (‘ilm).
To further clarify the guidance of the specific religion in its two phases, of combined physical-intellectual evolution and pure intellectual evolution, we will now return to the discussion of the third stage of human development, as promised earlier. We will also revisit the fourth stage when the discussion pertains to pure intellectual evolution.
