Question:
Is Prophet Elias the same person who drank from the spring of eternal life together with Sayyidina Khider a.s.? We know much about Sayyidina Khider after he drank from the spring but not about Sayyidina Elias.
Can someone please enlighten me about Sayyidina Elias’s life after he drank from the spring with Khider.
Answer:
The close association between Sayydina al-Khidr and Sayyidina Ilyas – peace be upon them – persisted in the popular imagination long after the events at the Spring of Life. In Ottoman times, the names of these prophets were conjoined in the name of the Spring festival of Hidrellez, and it was believed that the two met every year during the rites of the Pilgrimage.
According to Hajjah Anne – may Allah sanctify her secret! – there are four prophets still alive: two on Earth, al-Khidr and Ilyas, and two in Heaven, Idris and `Isa, peace be upon them all. This teaching, and the relation of how the two on Earth prayed to receive the Fatiha from the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), are from the Sohbats of Hajja Anne from 2004. She continues:
“…Muhammad (s) gave them Fatiha and they were content. They raised their hands to ask Allah to take them in death now that their prayer had been answered. But the Prophet Muhammad (s) put his hand over their mouths and asked them to stay. He said his ummah is so weak they need all the help they can get. So Ilyas (a.s.) became protector over the sea (bahr) and Khidr (a.s.) over the earth (barra).”
The Shaykh al-akbar Muhyiddin Ibn `Arabi – may Allah sanctify his secret – identifies the four ever-living prophets as the Awtad or “Stakes” at the summit of the saintly hierarchy. More specifically, Idris is the Pole (Qutb) of the cosmos, and assisting him are the two Imams, Ilyas and `Isa, peace be upon them. All the saints of the Muhammadan Community who serve in these positions during their holy lives in this world are therefore deputies of these prophets. Shaykh Muhyiddin reveals more concerning the Awtad, including their initiatory names and their duties, and how their positions correspond to the corners of the Holy House. Here it is relevant to consider that the Imam of the Left is known as the “Sword of the Pole” with responsibility over the well-being of the world, whereas the Imam of the Right is concerned solely with the World of the Spirits.
It is therefore possible to identify an “Eliatic Function” at work in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the Gospel of Matthew, for example, Jesus mentions Ilyas – peace be upon them – in the context of the apocalypse: “Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.” This “function” that prepares the return of `Isa may therefore be compared with the anticipated role of the Lord of Time al-Mahdi – peace be upon him – described in the Traditions. The great European Hermeticist known as Paracelsus foretold the appearance of “Elias Artista” in terms likewise comparable to those contained in these eschatological Traditions. To consider the perspective of Hermeticism is far from frivolous here, given that Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani recently explained mysteries relating to the Pole and the Imamayn in terms explicitly Hermetic on this very forum (see the post entitled “role of qutb?”).
In his role as helper, Sayyidina Ilyas – peace be upon him – appears in accounts of the heroic saints of Islam, as in the Saltukname, and his help is not restricted to the sea. For the myriad expressions of the “Eliatic function” in the context of the Hermetic symbolism of the greatest novel of the Last Days, see Alchemy in Middle-earth.
And Allah and His Prophet and His Knowers know best!
Mahmoud Shelton
