God has denied granting the knowledge to the vast majority. He says, 'I have only granted it to a select few'.
Therefore, the knowledge [of the soul] has been granted but for the common people, it is said [the soul] is simply the divine command.
So what is the soul?
The Reality of the Soul
When the companions of the Prophet (saw) asked, 'O Messenger of God, what is the reality of the soul?'
God revealed a verse through divine inspiration [upon the Prophet (saw)]
and it is mentioned in Surah Al-Isra
'Wa yas'aloonaka...'
'And they ask you...'
'anirrooh (about the soul)'
'qulir roohu min amri rabbee'
'O Messenger of God, tell them that the soul is the command of my Lord.'
'wa ma ooteetum minal 'ilmi illaa qaleelaa'
'And the knowledge of the soul has been granted to a select few individuals, not everyone'.
God says here that he is not going to give this information to everyone.
Now, what are we actually being told in this verse?
What we learn from it is that God told [Prophet Muhammad] to tell them that the soul is the divine command.
And then God said, 'Wa ma ooteetum minal 'ilmi illaa qaleelaa'
Then God said, 'Don't think the knowledge of the soul is confined to it being the divine command,
there are many people whom I have granted the knowledge of the soul but they are very few in number'.
Not everyone has been granted it.
God did not deny the fact that he has granted this knowledge to some.
'Wa ma ooteetum minal 'ilmi illaa qaleelaa (And we have not granted this knowledge, except to a few'.
There are plenty 'great' scholars who say that God has blatantly denied granting this knowledge to anyone.
No, that's not what it means. 'Illa qaleela' means 'for except a few'.
God has not said that he has not granted this knowledge to anyone.
God has denied granting the knowledge to the vast majority. He says, 'I have only granted it to a select few'.
Therefore, the knowledge [of the soul] has been granted but for the common people, it is said [the soul] is simply the divine command.
So what is the soul?
First of all, we learned from the Qur'an that it is the divine command.
And we are basically told that that's enough information for us, we don't require further knowledge.
That much was enough for us.
But then God also mentioned that he has granted the knowledge to some people.
And since God granted this Ilm e Ladunni to some people, it must have been transmitted spiritually from heart to heart.
So what does that Ilm e Ladunni say about the soul?
It says that the soul in your body is the breath of God.
When he inhales, your soul goes back (and you die).
You have never seen the Angel of Death seizing a person's soul.
Have you seen it?
It takes the soul out just like how you smoke a hookah.
When you smoke a hookah, you inhale the smoke from the pipe
and then you have to exhale it back out.
But he [the Angel of Death] doesn't exhale.
However, this breath of God is not like the breath of a human being.
Furthermore, the meaning behind the soul being the divine command
is that whatever God's purpose was for the creation of a soul
that command of God and the intentions behind it become the attributes of that soul.
For example, if God intended to create a soul for his love, then a soul that would only love God would come into existence.
If God wanted to create a soul for his wrath, such a soul would come into existence [whose only purpose would be to exhibit God's wrath].
This is what it means.
Now, what is the power of the soul?
The power of the soul is that it can become a manifestation of the 'jalwa' of God.
Now, what is a jalwa?
In English, it is called manifestation.
Those who know what projectors are -
you guys must have seen a projector, right?
A projector is a device that projects moving or still images on a blank wall or screen.
Does that make sense?
So, in common terms, being shown the moving or still images on a blank screen is called projection.
And in Spirituality, it is known as 'manifestation'.
So, in this case, the blank screen is your soul.
And the jalwa of God that is being projected on your soul is the manifestation.
Your soul is ...[the blank screen]
and the image of the Lord being projected on it
that is called manifestation.
And it is known as 'jalwa'.