The Minor, Intermediate and Major Days of Resurrection in form with respect to the Cosmic Dimension

a) The minor day
This title expresses the destruction of the physical world and the compound material forms contained therein and the return of all this to the world of simple corporeal elements. This is referred to by Allah when He says, `And when the mountains are made to pass away and when the camels are left untended and when the wild animals are made to go forth and when the seas are set on fire and when the souls are united.'
Some, however, consider that this title refers to the appearance of the Mahdi at the end of time when he comes to pass judgment over those living in his age. He is the Great Caliph of Allah and the Pole around which the whole world revolves; it is also by him that wilayah is sealed and all duties, divine codes of law, spiritual paths and religions are concluded; it is by him that the whole world returns to what it was before it was brought into existence; it is by him that the beginnings of creation are related to the Final Day and by him that the cycle of creation thus comes to an end. The following words of Allah attest to this: `And on the day when We will gather from every nation a party.' If Allah had meant the Greater Gathering, He would not have said, `a party from every nation;' rather He would say as He says elsewhere, `And We will. gather them and leave not one of them behind.'
Moreover, He has also said, `Say: The first and the last shall most surely be gathered for the appointed hour of a known day' and it is this `known' day which is different from the above: thus we know that this minor day of gathering is a part and not the whole, that is, not the Greater Day of Gathering. Some of the Shi'ahs believe, however, that this particular day of gathering is called the day of rajah ‑ returning to life after death ‑ and they take the above mentioned ayah as their evidence. We do not wish to linger on the topic and the reader should pursue the matter for himself in the appropriate places. Indeed a whole book devoted to this question has been written entitled Kitab al‑Rajah (The Book of the Return).

b) The intermediate day
This title expresses the return of the simple elements to the Universal Essence: the latter receives back all the forms of the world of material bodies, including the planets, the stars and the plant, mineral and animal kingdoms. This is affirmed in Allah's words, `On the day when We will scroll up heaven like the rolling up of a writing‑scroll; as We originated the first creآ­ation, (so) We shall reproduce it; a promise (binding on Us); surely We will bring it about' and in more detail in His words, `When the sun is covered and when the stars darken... and when the books are spread, and when the heaven has its covering removed, and when hell is kindled, and when the Garden is brought nigh.'
For some, however, this title expresses the transformation of the tangible material world into the interspace prior to the Final Day of Return, not to the world of absolute beginnings. For these people it refers to the time spent therein and the pain or pleasure which is experienced by the inhabitants of this interspace, in accordance with what they are due.
Thus some undergo the torment of the grave and some the blessings of the next world. This meaning is contained in the words of the Prophet, `The grave is either a meadow from amongst the meadows of the Garden or a pit from amongst the pits of the Fire' and also in Allah's words, `And most certainly We will make them taste of the nearer chastisement before the greater chastisement' and likewise His words, `and before them is a barrier (interspace) until the day they are raised.' It is in this world that they are gathered together to proceed to the vast plain of assembly, the arena of the Great Day of Resurrection. Indeed neither of these two aspects can be denied by those who consider this matter with care and clarity.

c) The major day
This title expresses the return of the forms of the spiritual worlds, that is, the return of the various intellects and souls to the First Essence, from which all these realities and forms were originally created by Allah. This is affirmed in the words of the Prophet, `The first thing to be created by Allah was the Essence; He then looked upon it and it dissolved in awe of Him, such that half of it became water and half and of it became fire; from this water Allah created the souls and from the fire the bodies ... .'
However, with respect to the language of unveilings and the way of those of spiritual tasting, this title refers to the material from which Allah opened up all the forms of the world: this material is sometimes called the primeval motes or particles and sometimes the major elements. The wisdom of this meaning is contained in Allah's words, `As We originated the first creation, (so) We shall reproduce it; a promise (binding on Us); surely We will bring it about.' Also, according to those of unveilings and tasting, it refers to the bringing into being of the form of the hereafter from that essential material, such that this continues uninterrupted and unchanged for eternity: this is expressed in Allah's words, `remaining there for ever.'
A likeness of this is the likeness of a lump of wax which may appear in different shapes ‑ either of its own volition (as happens in the case of the growth point of the seed) or from other‑than‑itself (as in the case of outside influence from Allah, or the angels, or any of the various forces which manifest in nature). Then follows the disapآ­pearance of all these forms and the return to their previous state of receptivity and their appearance in corresponding forms in the worlds of the hereafter and the abodes of the Garden and the Fire. The truth of this is attested by the resurrection of man to the same physical form and with the same limbs as he possessed before his death: this is mentioned in Allah's words, `Yea! We are able to make complete his very fingertips' and various other ayat.
We have already mentioned the belief of the people of the external law, from amongst the scholastic theologians (mutakalliآ­mun), who affirm that the individual or partial forms are the original forms and deny the possibility of the annihilation of anything in existence under any circumstances. They believe that this annihilation is rather a term for a change from one from to another. As rational proof, they maintain that existence, being existent cannot ever be non‑existent, and that non‑exisآ­tence, being non‑existent, can never become existence and that the bringing into existence or non‑existence can only be applied to possible things ‑ and this only in respect to an alteration of form or change of one form into another. They believe in the necessity of the return of all creation to the hereafter and the return is to the forms that they previously possessed which will continue in this manner in the Garden and the Fire; and Allah is more Knowing and more Wise and He it is Who says the truth and guides to the correct path.

v) The minor, intermediate and major days of resurrection in spirit with respect to the cosmic dimension

a) The minor day
This title expresses the return of the individual souls or selves to the Universal Soul such that they ascend towards it. This is stated in Allah's words, `O soul that art at rest! Return to your Lord, well pleased (with Him), well pleasing (Him), so enter among My servants, and enter into My garden' and also His words, `And when souls are united.' This joining of the souls is the arrival of the individual souls at the Universal Soul‑ from which they originally came, in the same way as Eve came origآ­inally from Adam. This is referred to in Allah's words, `O people! Be careful of (your duty to) your Lord, who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind) and spread from these two, many men and women.' Adam and Eve are counted as two separate forms; it is they who are our father and mother. They are also counted as two separate spiritual entities, since they are also our mother and father in the realm of reality and truth. The validity of this is affirmed by the application of the word fathers (in Arabic) to the planets and the celestial forms and the word mothers (in Arabic) to the various elements and terrestrial forms. Shaykh Muhyi‑al‑Din has indicated this in a verse from his Futuhat (at the beginning of the eleventh chapter): I am the son of the fathers of the purified spirits And of the mothers of the elemental souls.
These souls are an expression, in the first instance, of the celestial souls and thereafter of the angelic, jinn, elemental, mineral; animal and finally the human souls; from another aspect the human souls are the principal and most noble of the souls. Moreover each of these divisions may be further subdivided; an example (from among others too numerous to mention) is that of the human soul which may be classified into the commanding, reآ­proaching, inspired and contented self (and other classifications besides).
All the various souls of the world together with the inhabitants of this world are charged with duties. This, however, is a separate subject and it would not be suitable to include it here; indeed the words of Allah are sufficient, `And there is not a single thing but glorifies Him with His praise.' It is clear that whatever has been commanded to praise the Creator is of necessity charged with a specific duty. The import of the above ayah must be fully understood, for it includes the praise of the stones and the earth and not just the souls and the selves; and Allah is more Knowing and more Wise ‑ He it is Who says the truth and guides to the correct path.

b) The intermediate day
This title expresses the return of the individual spirits to the Universal Greater Spirit: this return takes place by their spiritual ascent towards this Spirit, while remaining connected to the body which they use and direct. The Greater Spirit is mentioned in the hadith: `The first thing created by Allah was the spirit.' And Allah says: `And when I fashioned him and blew into him of My spirit.' It is also linked to Allah by relationship of possesآ­sion when He says, `My slave,' `My abode,' `My earth' and `My sky'; but this link does not imply either separation or connecآ­tion ‑ may He be exalted above this. It has also been narrated that Allah created the spirits many thousands of years before the bodies: one hadith of the Prophet reports that `Allah created my spirit and that of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib a thousand thousand years before He created creation.' Likewise, it has been narrated that the spirits are like mustered armies: those that come to know each other unite in harmony and those that have no knowledge of each other separate in discord.
The subject of these spirits is a vast one, and it is not fitting that we continue it here in a work of this nature. The reader is urged to pursue the matter in the appropriate texts. We would simply add here that the whole world is like one person, as is indicated in words of the gnostics, `The world is the Great Man and the relationship of all beings to him is like the relationship of the limbs and bodily organs to man himself;' as the gnostics say, `Man is a microcosm.' Man is entrusted with duties as are all his limbs and physical capacities. Allah refers to this when He says, `And He did not create you or raise you up but as one soul' and also His words, `Certainly the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of men' and His words,’ (So He said to the heaven and the earth): Come both, willingly or unwillingly.'
If these duties had not been taught and imposed upon man at all, then it would not have been right to command, forbid, or censure him. The following words of Allah serve as a final reply to any questions that one may raise about this matter: `And there is no animal that walks upon the earth nor bird that flies with two wings but (they are) creatures like yourselves; We have not neglected anything in the Book, then to their Lord they shall be gathered;' and Allah is more Knowing and more Wise.

c) The major day
This title expresses the return of all the intellects, by way of an ascent, to the First Intellect referred to by the Prophet in his words, `The first thing created by Allah was the intellect; He then said to it: "Come forward" and it came forward; He then said to it, "Go back" and it went back; He then said, "By My power and My majesty I have not created a more noble creation than you; by you I give, by you I take, by you I reward and by you I punish ... ." '
It is evident that there are various intellects and because of their number there exist differences between them. Most scholars from amongst the philosophers affirm that Allah is One in all respects and that from this One there issues another one and it is this which is the First Intellect. From this intellect issues another intellect and another soul together with a celestial sphere composed of a form and an essence: in this way (the chain) continues to the last celestial sphere (or planet). I mean by this that these philosophers have established the existence of an intelآ­lect, a soul, a form and an essence for each of these spheres; this also applies to the angels for they are the lords of the intellects, and likewise to the jinn and mankind, according to some.
According to the scholars of this particular science, every being possesses an intellectual perception in accordance with its own particular capacity. One may call this inspiration, perspicacity, intuitive awareness, revelation, or simply knowledge or, indeed, by any other name one wishes ‑ for what is being referred to is one thing's perception of other things. It is for this reason that the subject of the intellect has been classified in four divisions: the essential intellect, the acquired intellect, the intellect of action (or the potential intellect) and the inferring intellect. The intellect possesses various names in Arabic, among them words meaning `core,' `acumen,' `discernment' and `mind.' This supports the view that some kind of correlation must exist between the cosmic and the individual dimensions.
In the light of the above, it may be shown that anything which may be assumed to exist with respect to the lesser man should (in this context) also be assumed to exist with respect to the Great Man himself. Indeed the whole of our commentary throughout this book (with respect to the three different aspects of resurrection) is based on the application of this principle. Thus, just as life, death and resurrection, both in the realm of form and that of inner meaning, are true for the lesser man so they are also true for the Great Man.
Just as death, both literal and figurative, is a cause of happiness for the lesser man, both in this world and the next, so the destruction and death of the Great Man is also a cause of his happiness and his eternal life; his abiding is for ever and it is in the form which he has attained in the previous world; his death is his exit from the abode of annihilation to the abode of continuing forever, from the abode of darkness and obscurity to the abode of light and radiance. It is for this reason that the gnostic `All, when struck by Ibn Muljam al‑Muradi said, `By the Lord of the Ka'bah I have gained vicآ­tory;' it is for this reason too that he also said: `By Allah, surely the‑son of Abu Talib is more intimate with death than the child with the breast of its mother.' Allah too addressing the slaves says, `Then invoke death if you are truthful' for He knows that death results in their happiness and brings about arrival at their own perfection.
If one wishes, one may also consider the three days of resurآ­rection, in the literal and figurative sense with respect to the cosmic dimension, as the return of the world of action, namely the world of Lordship, to the world of the Names and Attributes, namely the world of Divinity, and the return of the world of divinity to the world of the Essence and the Presence of Solitude. If we consider the matter in this way, then it is also accords with the above‑mentioned classification; in this way all aspects are given their due consideration ‑ as is indicated by the following verse: Our terms are various but Your beauty is One And everything is indicating that very beauty.