What does the covenant of nature mentioned in Nahjul-Balagha mean?

According to Ashura News, citing Mehr News Agency, finding the truth of the path of man in today's material world, where preoccupations and pleasures are trying to pull man towards themselves from all sides, and Western schools and sciences also define man from its mirror, is a difficult and difficult task. Knowing the right path helps man to set foot on it and place himself on the path of human salvation and happiness, and to reach higher levels of humanity by recognizing his ultimate goal. Religion and elders have put the knowledge of God before self-knowledge, as a famous narration from the Prophet (PBUH) says: "Whoever knows his own soul has known his Lord; whoever knows his own soul has known his God," and as mentioned in the Quran and in Surah Al-Ma'idah, «علیکم أنفسکم لا یضرّ کم من ضلّ إذا اهتدیتم؛ is an excerpt from the words of Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi. These guidelines, in expressing self-knowledge and man's relationship with himself, have addressed various aspects of this relationship and have explained it from an Islamic perspective. May these guidelines increase our insight and become a shining light on the path of guidance and happiness for us.

The root of all corruption, deviations and downfalls is negligence, and by using the verses of the Quran, narrations and rational credentials, we have come to the conclusion that the first attention that is necessary for man is attention to himself. Sometimes, due to factors and attractions, man's attention to outside himself becomes so intense that he forgets himself. After man notices that he is also a being, based on his very nature of seeking truth, he wants to know himself, what I am. We said that the rational people believe that the best form of knowledge is to know the four causes of the effect (matter, form, agent and end). We humans usually recognize our body, which is our material cause, after paying attention to our own existence, and we are even oblivious to our face, which is actually the human soul.[1] When we pay attention to our own face and soul, we automatically do not pay attention to the active and creating cause of this soul, and in the first place we also neglect the purpose of our existence for which we were created. This neglect causes deviations and distorted thinking and drags man to a low level, to the point where it makes him even lower than animals.

Now this question arises: although knowledge of the self is the very essence of the self and is not separated from the self, how is it possible for a man not to pay attention to himself? In response to this question, it must be said that the principle of "knowing" is different from "paying attention to what is known." Each of us has learned many sciences; For example, we all know that in Arabic literature, every subject is elevated, but we do not always pay attention to what we know. Therefore, paying attention to the self is different from knowing the self. We may have knowledge of our own self, whether it is direct knowledge or acquired knowledge, but we do not pay attention to it. Some do not accept this about direct knowledge, but as we have said in its place, this is also true about direct knowledge.

Unconscious Knowledge of God

It is stated in the Holy Quran that «وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّکَ مِن بَنِی آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّیَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَی أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتَ بِرَبِّکُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَی شَهِدْنَا »[2]. This has also been mentioned in many narrations, and some important jurisprudential and exegetical books have also mentioned a discussion about the world of the atom and the covenant. Even some narrations with reliable chains of transmission indicate that God took people as witnesses in the world, introduced Himself to them and said to them: “Are you not with your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we bear witness.” It is in these narrations that the essence of this knowledge remains, but no one remembers where and when God said this; فَثَبَتَتِ‌ الْمَعْرِفَةُ وَ نَسُوا الْمَوْقِف [3]. After all, the Quran says that this is the case. In the world, we have seen God and have testified that He is our Lord. God says in the wisdom of this process: “Lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Indeed, we were unaware of this.’” So that you may not say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were unaware of God.” God did this so that this knowledge would be firm in your hearts and that on the Day of Judgment you would not claim that we were heedless and did not pay any attention; or that you would not say that we knew that a god should be worshipped, but our fathers were polytheists and we learned from them. This happened so that there was no room for these excuses. This is an issue that many hadith scholars and hadith scholars have discussed and have discussed the meaning and manner of this completion of the argument.

Perhaps one aspect of this observation is that in rational language we say that the knowledge of the cause is inseparable from the effect. Man's knowledge of his own self is necessary for his existence and is inseparable from the knowledge of his cause. The self, in our imperfect interpretation, is a ray of an infinite sun that is fixed to him. It is impossible for him to know himself and not know him, but this knowledge that we have now, like some of our acquired knowledge, is an unconscious knowledge. We all know many things, but not all of them are in our minds now; we must pay attention and notice the form of the problem. This is also true in the knowledge of the presence. The principle of knowledge may be present, but it may be so vague and covered with dust that man does not pay attention to it and does not see it. Just as sometimes the knowledge of the acquired is such that man forgets it for a while, but by recalling signs and indications, the person remembers it. This is the same awareness and ignorance that we are talking about. If we had no knowledge at all, then remembering would have no meaning. Remembering means that something has happened, but we have not paid attention to it, and now that we have paid attention to it, we have remembered it. What is useful for us in life is conscious knowledge. Unconscious knowledge is a field that reaches awareness under certain circumstances, and in this case it consciously affects our behavior. Just as we humans have knowledge of God Almighty both in ourselves and according to our beliefs in the Holy Quran, narrations and rational reasons. This knowledge is inseparable from us, but we do not pay attention to it and our knowledge has not reached awareness.

Factors that are effective in forming awareness of God

The Holy Quran introduces two groups of factors that cause our unconscious knowledge of ourselves and of God Almighty to reach awareness. Sometimes a developmental event or an external incident causes us to pay attention to the knowledge we have of God. As long as a person is safe, his attention is more on material things and pleasures, but when danger arises, he concentrates and becomes focused. One of the examples that often happened in the past was sea voyages that were carried out by boat and wooden ships. It often happened that people were exposed to danger during these sea voyages due to storms, so that when they said that a certain ship had sunk, people were not surprised. This was because when people wanted to go on sea voyages, this danger was always in front of their eyes. It is similar in our time when we want to travel by plane. Sometimes they say, what will happen if these few tons of iron that are about to go into the air fall?! When a person notices this, he feels a sense of fear and awe. This is why often those who board the plane, even the flight attendants themselves, pray or recite dhikr. This is natural; because a person feels danger and in this state, human attention is drawn and causes the unconscious knowledge of a person to become conscious.

God says in verse 65 of Surah Al-Ankabut about this state: فَإِذَا رَکِبُوا فِی الْفُلْکِ دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِینَ لَهُ الدِّینَ فَلَمَّا نَجَّاهُمْ إِلَی الْبَرِّ إِذَا هُمْ یُشْرِکُون.When they board the ship, they pray, it means that they know God. How can a person call on someone who is not familiar with him? Even if he says that he does not know him and does not see him, he finally perceives a kind of familiarity and connection with him that he wants something from him. This external factor (the feeling of danger) causes a person to focus and his attention is drawn to his inner self and what is inside his essence. This is a formative factor. This is what happens to anyone when they feel in danger or are afflicted with a serious illness. Imagine someone who goes to the doctor because of a pain and is finally diagnosed with cancer. When such a person realizes that he has cancer, he becomes more alert and his condition is different from other times, he prays more and repents and makes wills.

The Quran also mentions other factors to transform our unconscious knowledge into awareness. The content of verse 42 of Surah An-Naam and verse 94 of Surah Al-A’raf is that God says: We sent no prophet to a people, but We afflicted their people with hardships. In order for the purpose of the prophets to advance and for people to pay attention and take the matter seriously, We brought hardships and calamities upon them so that they would find a state of supplication and lamentation and prepare themselves to pay attention to God. Then, in the related verse in Surah An'am, God complains about people: "And there are some who are so hardened that they do not remember Us or pray even in hardship! When their hearts become hardened, even if there is drought and famine, they seek artificial rain and do not remember God."

Legislative Factors Effective in Knowing God

The two factors mentioned are, in philosophical terms, developmental matters that cause our knowledge of God to rise from ignorance to awareness, but God did not stop there. The basis of the mission of the prophets is also for this attention. At least one of the greatest goals of the prophets is to revive innate knowledge and for man to become attentive and emerge from heedlessness. One of the most common names and goals mentioned for the revelation of the Quran is dhikr, dhikr, and dhikr; even the Prophet himself, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family, has been referred to as “dhikr”:  «…قَدْ أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ إِلَیْکُمْ ذِکْرًا * رَّسُولًا یَتْلُو عَلَیْکُمْ آیَاتِ اللَّهِ …»[[4] “Rasula” is a substitute for “dhikr” and this means that the dhikr that We sent to you was the same messenger. In Surah Al-Qamar, the phrase “And indeed We have made the Qur’an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember” is repeated several times. In the ninth verse of Surah Al-Hijr, the Qur’an is also interpreted as “remembering” and it says:  «وَلَقَدْ یَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّکْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّکِرٍ». Prophets and revelation through prophets make man understand.

We humans are busy with our material lives and are unaware of the fact that there is a God, why we were created, and where we should go. Should someone come and tell us where we are? Remember who created you! This is the work of the prophets. The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) is quoted in the first sermon of Nahj al-Balagha as saying:  «…قَدْ أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ إِلَیْکُمْ ذِکْرًا * رَّسُولًا یَتْلُو عَلَیْکُمْ آیَاتِ اللَّهِ …»God sent the prophets one after another to compel you to fulfill your covenant. You had a covenant with God in your nature to worship only Him, why did you forget?! «وَلَقَدْ یَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّکْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّکِرٍ» Just as dust sometimes covers the surface of a mirror and nothing is visible in it, the intellect of humans is also buried under the desires and lusts of the flesh. The prophets have come to bring this dead body out of the dust and awaken it and make it alive. This interpretation also confirms the same point that we may even have rational matters but be unaware of them. The prophets come and remind you to use your intellect. It is not that you do not have intellect and do not understand yourself; rather, you do not pay attention, you must use your intellect. Verse 179 of Surah Al-A’raf also indicates the same thing and says: وَوَاتَر إِلَیْهِمْ أَنْبِیَاءَهُ لِیَسْتَأْدُوهُمْ مِیثَاقَ فِطْرَتِهِ؛ ; They have reason but do not use it.

Attention to the Resurrection; The Engine of Movement

From what has been stated, we have concluded that God makes humans aware of His nature in two ways, one is creational and the other is legislative. Now the question arises as to what these factors make us pay attention to? It is clear that the first is attention to the innate covenant and attention to God, but this alone is not enough and only solves part of the problem. We all understand that there is a God and if we use our reason correctly, we understand that we must worship Him. We understand that our happiness also lies in obeying Him, but all of this is of the type of knowledge and understanding and also requires a driving factor. For example, it is like a car that does not run only with lights and also needs an engine. Another factor must be added to our knowledge so that we can use this knowledge and find motivation. Therefore, we must have motivation to obey God. This obedience is not obedience in one or two matters, it is obedience that encompasses the whole of human life.

God Almighty, out of His great kindness and mercy, has placed within us a factor that does not leave us calm and sets us in motion. This factor is that man knows that every action he takes here has a reckoning. If he does something according to God's commands, he will have eternal happiness, and if he does something against His command, he will have misery and punishment. If man does not believe in this reckoning, knowledge of God is not a strong factor for his movement and at most it is sufficient for an outward respect. It has been clarified in the Holy Quran that the factor that causes this movement and the absence of which leads man to his downfall is attention to the Day of Judgment and the Day of Reckoning. In verse 26 of Surah S, God addresses Prophet David:وَیُذَکِّرُوهُمْ‌ مَنْسِیَ‌ نِعْمَتِهِ‌ وَ یَحْتَجُّوا عَلَیْهِمْ بِالتَّبْلِیغِ وَ یُثِیرُوا لَهُمْ دَفَائِنَ الْعُقُولThe punishment of the Day of Judgment is because those who knew the Day of Judgment and did not even deny it, forget it and in other words, have no motivation to act. A person gains motivation to act when he knows that all his actions are accounted for and that they will pull the hair out of his hair. In this case, a person concentrates his attention so that he does not slip and fall. This attention is also the work of the prophets.

Attention to the Resurrection; the Engine of Movement

From what has been stated, we have come to the conclusion that God makes humans aware of His nature in two ways, one is creational and the other is legislative. Now the question arises as to what these factors make us pay attention to? It is clear that the first is attention to the innate covenant and attention to God, but this alone is not enough and only solves part of the problem. We all understand that there is a God and if we use our reason correctly, we understand that we must worship Him. We understand that our happiness also lies in obeying Him, but all of this is of the type of knowledge and understanding and also requires a driving factor. For example, it is like a car that does not run only with lights and requires an engine. Another factor must be added to our knowledge so that we can use this knowledge and find motivation. Therefore, we must have motivation to obey God. This obedience is not obedience in one or two matters, it is obedience that encompasses the whole of human life.

God Almighty, out of His great kindness and mercy, has placed within us a factor that does not leave us calm and moves us. This factor is that man knows that every action he takes here has a reckoning. If he does something according to God's commands, he will have eternal happiness, and if he does it against His command, he will have misery and torment. If man does not believe in this reckoning, knowledge of God is not a strong factor for his movement and at most it is sufficient for an outward respect. It is stated in the Holy Quran that the factor that causes this movement and the absence of which leads man to his downfall is attention to the Day of Judgment and the Day of Reckoning. God says in verse 26 of Surah S to Prophet David:یَا دَاوُودُ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَاکَ خَلِیفَةً فِی الْأَرْضِ فَاحْکُم بَیْنَ النَّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا تَتَّبِعِ الْهَوَی فَیُضِلَّکَ عَن سَبِیلِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ الَّذِینَ یَضِلُّونَ عَن سَبِیلِ اللَّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِیدٌ بِمَا نَسُوا یَوْمَ الْحِسَابِ؛ The torment of the Day of Reckoning is because those who knew the Day of Reckoning and did not even deny it, but forgot it, and in other words, they have no motivation to act. A person becomes motivated to act when he knows that all his actions are accounted for and that they are pulling the wool over his eyes. In this case, a person concentrates his attention so that he does not slip and fall. This attention is also the work of the prophets.

The necessity of paying attention to the origin and the resurrection

In many verses of the Quran, faith in God and faith in the Day of Judgment are mentioned together;لَقَدْ کَانَ لَکُمْ فِی رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن کَانَ یَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْیَوْمَ الْآخِرَ [5] When faith in the origin and the resurrection are together, it has an effect on a person; otherwise, for many people, faith in God alone is not a strong factor for movement. Of course, there are very rare people who have special talents and high aspirations, and when they recognize God, their driving force is love and they do not seek reward or reward at all; As the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) says: I have not worshipped You out of fear of Your Fire and no longing for Your Paradise, but I have seen You worthy of worship, so I have worshipped You. For the vast majority of people, if there is no fear of the Day of Judgment and no hope for the reward of the Hereafter, many things will be closed.

Therefore, the most important consideration is the attention to the active cause and the final cause. We must pay attention to where we want to go and what kind of place this place is. We must know that the most important feature there is calculation;  الْیَوْمَ‌ عَمَلٌ‌ وَلَا حِسَابَ‌ وَإِنَّ غَداً حِسَابٌ وَلَا عَمَل.[6] The better we understand these two issues, the better our happy life will be designed and its foundations will be firmer, and the more we neglect this feature, the further we will be from happiness. Of course, when a person realizes that there is another world and that there is a reckoning, a book, and a heaven and a hell, the question arises: What should I do to reach there and how can I reach the prophets themselves? This is the third issue. These three issues are the principles of religion that we are taught. If a person wants to achieve human perfection, he must solve these three issues: Who created me; What was created for, and how should I behave to achieve that goal?

[1]. Here, the meaning of the form is not the form in contrast to the body; rather, the form means the actuality of a being, and the human form is in fact the human soul.

[2]. Al-A’raf, 172.

[3]. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 5, 237.

[4]. Divorce, 9-10.

[5]. Ahzab, 21.

[6]. Al-Kafi, vol. 8, p. 58.