“Either the entreaty of the intercessors Shall liberate him from the retribution and punishment, Or if, by intercession, the door of liberation does not open, The most merciful of the merciful shall bestow salvation.”
When they come out of hell, they wash themselves clean of smoke in the _Kawser_.[526] There are eight gradations, or steps, in heaven; and every man, according to his knowledge and conduct, shares a place in them, and enjoys eternal beatitude. The highest of blessings is the sight of God, the Almighty, whom the good behold as the moon of fourteen nights. This is upon the authority of the lord Mulána Abd-ul rahmen Jami.[527] It is written in an esteemed book, that there are in hell eight steps, in which men are placed according to the estimation of their sins.
Here is a short account of what I have learned from the speeches of intelligent men of the right faith. It is contained in their books that the first being created was the spirit of Muhammed.
To this allusion is made in the words quoted from the Koran. Then all the spirits of mankind were brought forth; these, before being united with bodies, remained four thousand years in the vicinity of the grace of the most high God:
“God created the souls four thousand years before the bodies.”
The heavens are understood to be the heavenly bodies of the sphere which is over our heads, and this has seven circles; the earth is the cover of the tortoise which is beneath our feet. There are seven earths:
“Who created seven heavens and earths like them.”
In each earth there are creatures, and amcng these creatures propagating inhabitants. The width of each earth is five hundred journeys of travel. The compartments of heaven are round; but in the middle of the circle is the tent of majesty; and in each sphere is an order of angels occupied with the worship and adoration of the divinity; one troop standing somewhat erect; another multitude inclined (with their hands on their knees); a number prostrated, with the forehead touching the ground; others sitting; some carry the throne of God; and every angel has a place and a post determined, which he cannot leave.
From sphere to sphere there is a distance to be traversed in five hundred years of travelling; in each heaven is one of the seven planets, all the other stars are in the first heaven, which is the next to the world of mankind.