All formations within the universe have evolved over very long periods of time. The Sunnatullah (mechanics of the system) doesn’t work with a magic wand. What we call magic is an event that we fall short of understanding due to the inadequacy of our database. A miracle, on the other hand, is an occurrence that takes place via the forces that manifest from one’s essence. Istidraj works the same way, except the person is unaware of his essential reality and thus accredits his ego. But it’s the same system in effect.
The Quran constantly addresses those with an intellect and invites them to contemplate:
And We have certainly presented for the people in this Quran from every kind of example that they might contemplate (remember their forgotten reality)![1]
Will you still not use your reason?[2]
Why then do we still get so stuck on the literal meaning of the metaphors and symbols used in the Quran and Hadith, instead of realizing they are pointers to a deeper reality? And then we end up denying them because they don’t seem to make sense with their literal meaning? Or we pursue our lives as imitators, believing in something that we don’t really understand. Intellectual people are those who use their reason to try and decipher the meanings referenced by these metaphors instead of simply accepting them out of fear.
Analogous to the video I mentioned above let’s now zoom into the human body: When we zoom into the various organs that form our body we see that they are comprised of trillions of cells where each cell is composed of millions of molecules that are composed of millions of atoms which comprise an ocean of quarks… In respect to this plane (sama- heaven) the universe is an ocean of quarks, an endless limitless ocean of meanings, according to the perceiver… This is called the Dimension of Names, also referred to as the Immutable Archetypal Realities (al-A’yan al-Thabitah). It is the observation of the One, observing its meanings in itself at every instance… In reality it is the observation of the “multi dimensional single frame picture” a single reflection; the holographic reality denoted by the string theory... An ocean beyond matter and beyond meaning, a single point called the “instance” yet only a single instance, of which there is no other!
Look how the magnificent being, the Rasul of Allah (saw) explained this dimensional reality to us over 1400 years ago:
“The lowest heaven compared to the second heaven, is like a small ring thrown into a desert.
The second heaven in comparison to the third, is like a small ring thrown into a desert.
The third heaven compared to the fourth, is like a small ring thrown into a desert.
The fourth heaven compared to the fifth, is like a small ring thrown into a desert.
The fifth heaven compared to the sixth, is like a small ring thrown into a desert.
The sixth heaven compared to the seventh, is like a small ring thrown into a desert.
The seven heavens are in relation to the Kursi are like a ring thrown into a waterless desert. And the superiority of the ‘Arsh over the Kursi is like the superiority of the desert over that ring.”