My meaning, however, is not that the deductions that the astrologers of old made from the motions of the stars and planets were true, for these were mere figments of the imagination which had their origin with the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Chaldean priests, or rather stemmed from the idle conjectures of the Hindus and the superstitions of the Greeks, the Romans, and the other star worshippers.
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Sunday, September 27, 2020
have sown in their heart the seed of faith
Anyhow Shoghi Effendi hopes that with the help of Miss Root you have been able to approach such eminent persons and have sown in their heart the seed of faith.
(July 4, 1930)
(July 4, 1930)
(Dawn of a New Day by Shoghi
Effendi)
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
This is Bahaism - "It has no organization, no hierarchy, no ritual..."
Dissimulation, History, Independent Investigation of Truth
No comments
On September 3, 1912, an article in the Buffalo New York Enquirer titled "This is Baha'ism" stated “It has no organization, no hierarchy, no ritual, no fixed places of worship and times of meeting; in short, it is spirit and life. It does not seek to proselytize. You can be a Bahá’í without ceasing to be a Christian, a Jew or a Mohammedan.”
"One who has lost his voting rights is considered to be a Bahá’í but not one in good standing. The following restrictions and limitations apply to such a believer"
"…One who has lost his voting rights is considered to be a Bahá’í but not one in good standing. The following restrictions and limitations apply to such a believer:
He cannot attend Nineteen Day Feasts or other meetings for Bahá’ís only, including International Conferences, and therefore cannot take part in consultation on the affairs of the community.
He cannot contribute to the Bahá’í Fund.
He cannot receive newsletters and other bulletins whose circulation is restricted to Bahá’ís.
He cannot have a Bahá’í marriage ceremony and therefore is not able to marry a Bahá’í.
He may not have a Bahá’í pilgrimage.
Although he is free to teach the Faith on his own behalf, he should not be used as a teacher or speaker in programs sponsored by Bahá’ís.
He is debarred from participating in administrative matters, including the right to vote in Bahá’í elections.
He cannot hold office or be appointed to a committee.
He should not be given credentials (which imply that he is a Bahá’í in good standing)."
(From an attachment to a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Netherlands, December 9, 1985)
https://bahai.works/Lights_of_Guidance/Administrative_Rights,_Sanctions,_Dissimulation
"If in Iran they grant absolute liberty with no opposition against the Faith, it would not be of benefit to us."
I came across a quote today from Abdu'l-Baha in the memoirs of his private physician: Dr. Habib Muayyid. The quote is truly sickening and shows Abdu'l-Baha is willing to sacrifice his followers in Iran so that they can become a cause to propagate their cult:
"We desire neither absolute despotism, nor unbounded liberty. We are concerned with the spiritual teachings and matters pertaining to the world above. If in Iran they grant absolute liberty with no opposition against the Faith, it would not be of benefit to us. This is because in the path of the Blessed Beauty we must endure a myriad injuries, insults and indignities and sustain every manner of harm and persecution. If we were at ease like the others, then we would not be able to propagate the Cause or achieve anything of merit. Today, the Muslims are free, but what benefit appears from them? Nay, freedom makes people lazy."
(Eight years near Abdu'l-Baha: The Diary of Dr. Habib Mu'ayyad, Translated by Ahang Rabbani, p. 86)
http://bahai-library.com/rabbani_diary_habib_muayyad
Upon an examination of revisions in recent Bahá'í literature, it seems that the institution of the Guardian of the Cause of God has been the subject of the most widespread bowdlerization of texts.
Censorship, Guardianship, Independent Investigation of Truth
No comments
Upon an examination of revisions in recent Bahá'í literature, it seems that the institution of the Guardian of the Cause of God has been the subject of the most widespread bowdlerization of texts. The office of the Guardian was first established by Abdu'l-Bahá in his Will and Testament. Shoghi Effendi, his eldest grandson, was named as the first in a succession of hereditary Guardians. The Guardian is the authoritative interpreter of the holy writings and the permanent head of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme administrative body which was referred to by Bahá'u'lláh in his Kitab-i-Aqdas. Through the Guardianship, the Cause of God is believed to be safeguarded from schism, because he is to be under the protection and infallible guidance of Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab. (67) However, the Bahá'í world was thrown into confusion when Shoghi Effendi died suddenly on November 4, 1957. He had left no Will or instructions, and he had named no successor. Since all of Bahá'u'lláh's living male descendents had been declared Covenant-breakers by Shoghi Effendi, the Hands of the Cause of God assumed authority over the entire Bahá'í community. The Hands were a group of leading Bahá'ís who had been chosen in accordance with Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and had been named "the Chief Stewards of Bahá'u'lláh's embryonic World Commonwealth" by Shoghi Effendi, shortly before his death. The Hands of the Cause moved the community in a direction which culminated in the election of the Universal House of Justice. This was accomplished with surprisingly little opposition or schism.
Changes in books written prior to 1957 indicate that the failure of what was to be a perpetual, divinely ordained and protected institution became a delicate subject with the Bahá'í Administration. But, it should be pointed out that, although there have been numerous revisions, there are still books which have not been changed at all. So, there does not appear to be a conspiracy or systematic program to eradicate the notion of a continuous Guardianship. However, the books which have been substantially reworked are popular introductions and histories, often used for propagating the Faith.
John Ferraby's All Things Made New is second only to Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era in the number of textual changes. The original edition, first published in 1957, was dedicated "To Shoghi Effendi: The First Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith." (69) In the 1987 edition the dedication is "To Shoghi Effendi: The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith," implying that there was to be only one Guardian. (70) Ferraby originally stated that, "Abdu'l-Bahá, in his turn, arranged that the Cause would still have a visible Centre after His passing, by providing for a succession of Guardians of the Cause of God to follow him." He then included over two hundred words from Abdu'l-Bahá's Will to explain the importance of the perpetual Guardianship and how successors are to be chosen. (71) This entire section has been rewritten in later editions, stating that Abdu'l-Bahá's Will only provided for "the possibility of a succession of Guardians..." And, the portions of Abdu'l-Bahá's Will have been replaced with the statement,"Although there could have been a series of Guardians, there is nowhere in the writings any promise or guarantee that the line of Guardians would not be broken but would endure forever." (72)
But, there were others who were also convinced that the institution of the Guardianship would continue. George Townshend, another Hand of the Cause, wrote that,"When it is written that 'the government shall be upon his shoulder' the reference can be to the Guardian only and the continuing 'forever' of his sovereignty can only be referred to the lineage of succeeding Guardians." (73) In later editions, Townshend's interpretation of this passage from the Biblical book of Isaiah which he said could only apply to the Guardian has been changed to refer to "the devolution by Bahá'u'lláh of supreme authority upon his divinely guided institutions..." (74) Shoghi Effendi's wife Ruhiyyih Rabbani was convinced that her husband was the first in a line of Guardians. In a book which is no longer in print, she argued that: "The principle of successorship, endowed with the right of Divine interpretation, is the very hub of the Cause into which its Doctrines and Laws fit like the spokes of a wheel - tear out the hub and you have to throw the whole thing away." (75)
Finally, it is important to consider Shoghi Effendi's understanding of the nature of the Guardianship. He was probably more familiar with his grandfather's Will than anyone and he is believed to have been endowed with divine inspiration to make authoritative interpretations of the Writings. (76) The original edition of The Selected Writings of Shoghi Effendi included numerous references to the institution of the Guardianship and its inspired origin, its perpetual nature, and its absolute centrality to the Covenant. This collection of his writings opened with a large extract from the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá which could best be summed up as an appeal to the believers to be "firm in the Covenant" and follow the divine guidance which can only be found in the Cause of God. In the 1975 edition most of the text of this appeal has been removed, except for two paragraphs which promised that the Twin Pillars of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice are under the guidance and protection of Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab. However, the phrase "...and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants" no longer appears at the end of the paragraph concerning the Guardian. (77) Two complete pages have been removed from the original edition without notation, including this explicit statement:
https://bahai-library.com/salisbury_critical_examination_literature
Changes in books written prior to 1957 indicate that the failure of what was to be a perpetual, divinely ordained and protected institution became a delicate subject with the Bahá'í Administration. But, it should be pointed out that, although there have been numerous revisions, there are still books which have not been changed at all. So, there does not appear to be a conspiracy or systematic program to eradicate the notion of a continuous Guardianship. However, the books which have been substantially reworked are popular introductions and histories, often used for propagating the Faith.
John Ferraby's All Things Made New is second only to Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era in the number of textual changes. The original edition, first published in 1957, was dedicated "To Shoghi Effendi: The First Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith." (69) In the 1987 edition the dedication is "To Shoghi Effendi: The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith," implying that there was to be only one Guardian. (70) Ferraby originally stated that, "Abdu'l-Bahá, in his turn, arranged that the Cause would still have a visible Centre after His passing, by providing for a succession of Guardians of the Cause of God to follow him." He then included over two hundred words from Abdu'l-Bahá's Will to explain the importance of the perpetual Guardianship and how successors are to be chosen. (71) This entire section has been rewritten in later editions, stating that Abdu'l-Bahá's Will only provided for "the possibility of a succession of Guardians..." And, the portions of Abdu'l-Bahá's Will have been replaced with the statement,"Although there could have been a series of Guardians, there is nowhere in the writings any promise or guarantee that the line of Guardians would not be broken but would endure forever." (72)
But, there were others who were also convinced that the institution of the Guardianship would continue. George Townshend, another Hand of the Cause, wrote that,"When it is written that 'the government shall be upon his shoulder' the reference can be to the Guardian only and the continuing 'forever' of his sovereignty can only be referred to the lineage of succeeding Guardians." (73) In later editions, Townshend's interpretation of this passage from the Biblical book of Isaiah which he said could only apply to the Guardian has been changed to refer to "the devolution by Bahá'u'lláh of supreme authority upon his divinely guided institutions..." (74) Shoghi Effendi's wife Ruhiyyih Rabbani was convinced that her husband was the first in a line of Guardians. In a book which is no longer in print, she argued that: "The principle of successorship, endowed with the right of Divine interpretation, is the very hub of the Cause into which its Doctrines and Laws fit like the spokes of a wheel - tear out the hub and you have to throw the whole thing away." (75)
Finally, it is important to consider Shoghi Effendi's understanding of the nature of the Guardianship. He was probably more familiar with his grandfather's Will than anyone and he is believed to have been endowed with divine inspiration to make authoritative interpretations of the Writings. (76) The original edition of The Selected Writings of Shoghi Effendi included numerous references to the institution of the Guardianship and its inspired origin, its perpetual nature, and its absolute centrality to the Covenant. This collection of his writings opened with a large extract from the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá which could best be summed up as an appeal to the believers to be "firm in the Covenant" and follow the divine guidance which can only be found in the Cause of God. In the 1975 edition most of the text of this appeal has been removed, except for two paragraphs which promised that the Twin Pillars of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice are under the guidance and protection of Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab. However, the phrase "...and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants" no longer appears at the end of the paragraph concerning the Guardian. (77) Two complete pages have been removed from the original edition without notation, including this explicit statement:
Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as Abdu'l-Bahá has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. 'In all Divine Dispensations,' He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith in Persia, 'the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophet hood hath been his birthright.' Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperilled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. (78)-Vance Salisbury
https://bahai-library.com/salisbury_critical_examination_literature
Guardianship and the "future Guardians"
On February 8, 1934, Shoghi Effendi penned a work that would become the chapter titled "The Administrative Order" in his book World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, referring to "the deeds of its present and future Guardians" and noting "Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh would be mutilated..."
Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as 'Abdu’l-Bahá has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. “In all the Divine Dispensations,” He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith in Persia, “the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophethood hath been his birthright.” Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn.
Severed from the no less essential institution of the Universal House of Justice this same System of the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would be paralyzed in its action and would be powerless to fill in those gaps which the Author of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas has deliberately left in the body of His legislative and administrative ordinances.
“He is the Interpreter of the Word of God,” 'Abdu’l-Bahá, referring to the functions of the Guardian of the Faith, asserts, using in His Will the very term which He Himself had chosen when refuting the argument of the Covenant-breakers who had challenged His right to interpret the utterances of Bahá’u’lláh. “After him,” He adds, “will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants.” “The mighty stronghold,” He further explains, “shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God.” “It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghsán, the Afnán, the Hands of the Cause of God, to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God.”
Referring to both the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice we read these emphatic words: “The sacred and youthful Branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of the Exalted One (the Báb) (may my life be offered up for them both). Whatsoever they decide is of God.”
From these statements it is made indubitably clear and evident that the Guardian of the Faith has been made the Interpreter of the Word and that the Universal House of Justice has been invested with the function of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the teachings. The interpretation of the Guardian, functioning within his own sphere, is as authoritative and binding as the enactments of the International House of Justice, whose exclusive right and prerogative is to pronounce upon and deliver the final judgment on such laws and ordinances as Bahá’u’lláh has not expressly revealed. Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other. Neither will seek to curtail the specific and undoubted authority with which both have been divinely invested.
Though the Guardian of the Faith has been made the permanent head of so august a body he can never, even temporarily, assume the right of exclusive legislation. He cannot override the decision of the majority of his fellow-members, but is bound to insist upon a reconsideration by them of any enactment he conscientiously believes to conflict with the meaning and to depart from the spirit of Bahá’u’lláh’s revealed utterances. He interprets what has been specifically revealed, and cannot legislate except in his capacity as member of the Universal House of Justice. He is debarred from laying down independently the constitution that must govern the organized activities of his fellow-members, and from exercising his influence in a manner that would encroach upon the liberty of those whose sacred right is to elect the body of his collaborators.
It should be borne in mind that the institution of the Guardianship has been anticipated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in an allusion He made in a Tablet addressed, long before His own ascension, to three of His friends in Persia. To their question as to whether there would be any person to whom all the Bahá’ís would be called upon to turn after His ascension He made the following reply: “As to the question ye have asked me, know verily that this is a well-guarded secret. It is even as a gem concealed within its shell. That it will be revealed is predestined. The time will come when its light will appear, when its evidences will be made manifest, and its secrets unraveled.”
Vance Salisbury has chronicled a few of examples of Bahá'í books that have been edited after their authors' deaths...
John Ferraby served as the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles and was appointed a Hand of the Cause of God in 1957. Later that year he authored All Things Made New. From 1959 to 1963, he served as one of the nine Custodians at the Baháʼí World Centre in Haifa, Israel. Comparing the original 1957 edition of All Things Made New to the 1987 edition, among the numerous alterations, is the replacement of his dedication of the book to "The First Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith" to simply "The Guardian." Other references to "the Guardian" have been replaced with "the Universal House of Justice."
George Townshend) was an Irish Anglican clergyman who became a Baháʼí and in 1947, at the age of 70, renounced his orders to the Anglican Church. Townshend was one of the founding members of the Dublin Local Spiritual Assembly and in 1951 was designated by Shoghi Effendi as a Hand of the Cause of God. Townshend completed his own book, Christ and Baháʼu'lláh, which Shoghi Effendi called 'his crowning achievement' shortly before dying of Parkinson's disease in 1957, at the age of 81. Christ and Baháʼu'lláh is notable for the changes made from the original publication to subsequent editions published after the passing of Shoghi Effendi. For example, a statement about the "first and present Guardian" has been removed and a section discussing "the lineage of succeeding Guardians" has been replaced with a section discussing "divinely guided institutions" in general.
The original edition of Shoghi Effendi's The Selected Writings of Shoghi Effendi, published in 1942, included numerous references to the institution of the Guardianship and its inspired origin, its perpetual nature, and its absolute centrality to the Covenant. This collection of his writings opened with a large extract from the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá which could best be summed up as an appeal to the believers to be "firm in the Covenant" and follow the divine guidance which can only be found in the Cause of God. In the 1975 edition, most of the text of this appeal has been removed, except for two paragraphs which promised that the Twin Pillars of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice are under the guidance and protection of Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab. However, the phrase "...and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants" no longer appears at the end of the paragraph concerning the Guardian. Two complete pages have been removed from the original edition without notation, including this explicit statement:
Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as Abdu'l-Bahá has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. 'In all Divine Dispensations,' He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith in Persia, 'the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophet hood hath been his birthright.' Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperilled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. (78)
Source : https://www.reddit.com/r/exbahai/comments/isnq3v/in_the_future_when_the_next_manifestation_appears/
"The world is in turmoil because it has rejected the Baha'i Faith" - Farzam Kamalabadi
"Humanity has encountered the revelation of Baha'u'llah. A good part of people have responded, such as Martha Root, who in the 20s and 30s went around the world four times and met fifty, sixty heads of states and met, if not millions, hundreds of thousands of people and did her part, whereas many others didn't. The world to some degree listened and to some degree didn't. The world is in turmoil because, collectively, it has either had the act of negative commission - that means he has rejected the Baha'i Faith because of their, what we call it, commitments to the old, fidelities to the old religions, and their own dogmas, and their own misunderstandings and superstitions, or just brushed it aside, so we call, act of omission. Or, we either went against it, persecuted it, or ignored it, very simply speaking. And the suffering of the world is only, only is because of that."
-Farzam Kamalabadi (From 1:03:56 onwards)
Monday, September 14, 2020
It is, however, not definite that it will be one thousand years; it may be 2,000, or 10,000, or 20,000 years!
He (Baha'u'llah) is the unique and peerless one till the next Manifestation. It is, however, not definite that it will be one thousand years; it may be 2,000, or 10,000, or 20,000 years; but it is definite that, for the coming one thousand years there will appear no Manifestation, for one thousand years there shall arise no sun. All the appearances will be beneath the shade of this Most Great Appearance; they will be as stars of guidance. All of them shall gather around this fountain of life; all of them will become illumined by the rays of this sun; all of them will receive a share and a portion from this great sea; all of them will become vivified by this soul-imparting breeze and all of them will be under the downpour of this rain.
-'Abdu'l Baha
http://starofthewest.info/viewer.erb?vol=09&page=82
Thursday, September 3, 2020
...these two cities (Jabulqa and Jabulsa) never existed, they could only be the superstitions of diseased brains.
“She (A Babi woman who was no less great and heroic than Táhirih herself) remained in Ṭihrán a long time receiving numerous visitors both men and women. She aroused the women by showing them the abject role which Islám assigned to them and she won them over to the new religion by showing them the freedom and respect which it would bestow upon them. Many domestic disputes followed, not always to the advantage and credit of the husband. These discussions might have continued at length, if Mírzá Áqá Khán-i-Núrí had not been appointed Sadr-i-‘Aẓam. The premier ordered Ḥájí Mullá Muḥammad Andirmání and Ḥájí Mullá ‘Alí Kiní to call on her in order to examine into her belief. They held seven conferences with her in which she argued with much feeling and affirmed that the Báb was the promised and expected Imám. Her adversaries called her attention to the fact that, in accordance with the prophecies, the promised Imám was to come from Jábulqá and Jábulsá. She retorted feelingly that those prophecies were false and forged by false traditionalists and, as these two cities never existed, they could only be the superstitions of diseased brains. She expounded the new doctrine, bringing out its truth, but always encountered the same argument of Jábulqá. Exasperated, she finally told them: ‘Your reasoning is that of an ignorant and stupid child; how long will you cling to these follies and lies? When will you lift your eyes towards the Sun of Truth?’ Shocked by such blasphemy, Ḥájí Mullá ‘Alí rose up and led his friend away saying, ‘Why prolong our discussion with an infidel?’ They returned home and wrote out the sentence which established her apostasy and her refusal to retract, and condemned her to death in the name of the Qur’án!” (A. L. M. Nicolas’ “Siyyid ‘Alí-Muḥammad dit le Báb,” pp. 446–447.)
Cities of Imaginal world
Independent Investigation of Truth, Shaykh Ahmad
No comments
Cities of Imaginal world
In the Hikmat al-ishraqi, Suhrawardi mentions several cities of the imaginal world, all which belong to the eighth domain. They are Jabilqa (Jabulqa), Jabirsa (Jabursa) and Hurqalya, the cities which are “nowhere”. According to Suhrawardi ,in the last one, wonders exist. As he states: “And there are eight domains therein, Jabilqa, Jabirsa and Hurqalya, the substance of wonder. For Suhrawardi, Hurqalya represents the archetypes of the heavenly bodies whose harmonious functioning produces a sublime music that only those who are discoverers and seekers of truth can hear. In fact, the beauty of the wonder of Hurqalya which those who have purified themselves can only experience through the inner senses, represents the sacred world of the Sufis whose journey has reached its climax. Suhrawardi analogizes statue of this perfect man with God since both the Sufis master and God can create archetypes, a state of being Suhrawardi calls “Be (kun), referring to the Quranic verse in which God creates the world by saying, “Be” and it was (Kathleen, 1972).
And the brothers in purity have a special status in that they are able to create archetypes that are self dependent, and that state is named “Be”. Suhrawardi concludes by saying that the outward beauties, shapes and forms of this world their ontological roots in the mundus imaginalis, a world which is real but accessible only to few. Nowhere land, therefore, is the place which transcends the world of forms,, time and apace. It is a land only reached by the seeker of truth who has suffered on the path and whose psyche has been opened to be unseen.
Yaser Salari, Critical Viewpoint toward Shaykhiyya - Concerning the Coincidence of Hurqalya and the Imaginal World.
http://www.jofamericanscience.org/journals/am-sci/am0705/120_5519am0705_864_870.pdf
In the Hikmat al-ishraqi, Suhrawardi mentions several cities of the imaginal world, all which belong to the eighth domain. They are Jabilqa (Jabulqa), Jabirsa (Jabursa) and Hurqalya, the cities which are “nowhere”. According to Suhrawardi ,in the last one, wonders exist. As he states: “And there are eight domains therein, Jabilqa, Jabirsa and Hurqalya, the substance of wonder. For Suhrawardi, Hurqalya represents the archetypes of the heavenly bodies whose harmonious functioning produces a sublime music that only those who are discoverers and seekers of truth can hear. In fact, the beauty of the wonder of Hurqalya which those who have purified themselves can only experience through the inner senses, represents the sacred world of the Sufis whose journey has reached its climax. Suhrawardi analogizes statue of this perfect man with God since both the Sufis master and God can create archetypes, a state of being Suhrawardi calls “Be (kun), referring to the Quranic verse in which God creates the world by saying, “Be” and it was (Kathleen, 1972).
And the brothers in purity have a special status in that they are able to create archetypes that are self dependent, and that state is named “Be”. Suhrawardi concludes by saying that the outward beauties, shapes and forms of this world their ontological roots in the mundus imaginalis, a world which is real but accessible only to few. Nowhere land, therefore, is the place which transcends the world of forms,, time and apace. It is a land only reached by the seeker of truth who has suffered on the path and whose psyche has been opened to be unseen.
Yaser Salari, Critical Viewpoint toward Shaykhiyya - Concerning the Coincidence of Hurqalya and the Imaginal World.
http://www.jofamericanscience.org/journals/am-sci/am0705/120_5519am0705_864_870.pdf