﴿ وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَٰهِۦمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِى كَيْفَ تُحْىِ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ ۖ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن ۖ قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِى ۖ قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةًۭ مِّنَ ٱلطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ ثُمَّ ٱجْعَلْ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ جَبَلٍۢ مِّنْهُنَّ جُزْءًۭا ثُمَّ ٱدْعُهُنَّ يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًۭا ۚ وَٱعْلَمْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌۭ ﴾

“And, lo, Abraham said: "O my Sustainer! Show me how Thou givest life unto the dead!" Said He: "Hast thou, then, no faith?" (Abraham) answered: "Yea, but [let me see it] so that my heart may be set fully at rest." Said He: "Take, then, four birds and teach them to obey thee; then place them separately on every hill [around thee]; then summon them: they will come flying to thee. And know that God is almighty, wise."”

When Abraham said to his Lord, “Show me how Thou givest life to the dead.” He said, “Dost thou not have faith?” He said, “Yes indeed, but that my heart may be serene.”... And know that God is exalted, wise. In the language of unveiling and in keeping with the tasting of the lords of the realities, this verse has another intimation and explanation. They say that Abraham was yearning for the Real's speech and burning for His address. His burning had reached the limit, the army of his patience had been put to flight, and the fire of his love was shooting up flames. He said, “O Lord, show me how you bring the dead to life.” He said, “O Abraham, dost thou not have faith? Do you not have faith that I bring the dead to life?” He said, “I do, but my heart has been thrown into turmoil by the wish to hear Your speech and by burning passion for Your address. I want You to talk.” Dost thou not have faith? “The goal was exactly that You would talk and ease would enter my heart.” My ease is Your message and my feet are in Your snare. The story is told that a man had fallen for a young woman and wanted to speak with her, but she would not talk and was unwilling to do so. The afflicted man became helplessly captivated by her, hoping to speak with her. He knew that she had a liking for jewels. He went and gave everything he had for one precious gem. He went and placed a stone in front of her in order to break the gem. The object of his passion did not have the capacity to put up with breaking. She said, “Poor man, what are you doing?” He said, “I am doing it so that you will say, 'What are you doing?'” No rest or ease remains in my heart- call me names if you have no message. It has been said that with these words Abraham was asking for the life of the heart and the serenity of the secret core. He knew that as long as a heart is not alive, serenity will not come down into it, and as long as serenity has not come down into it, he would not have reached the final goal of the recognizers. The final goal of the recognizers is the repose of intimacy, the witnessing of the heart, and the constancy of love; the tongue in remembering, the heart in secret whispering, the spirit in joy; the tongue in remembrance, the heart in reflection, the spirit with love; the tongue as spokesman, the heart with explication, and the spirit in face-to-face vision. It was said, “O Abraham, life is found in death and subsistence in annihilation, so go and kill four birds outwardly as We command in order to show reverence for Our command and to make manifest your servanthood.” Inwardly He is telling him to obey these commands: “Hang the peacock of finery on the gal- lows: Take no ease in the blessings of this world or the finery of this world. “Don't be held back by nightingale and peacock- with this you have only calls, with that only color. “Kill the crow of avarice: Be not avaricious for that which does not remain and quickly comes to an end. “Why are you passionate for the companion who took Alexander's life? Why are you in love with the loveless by whom Darius lost his kingdom? [DS 53] “Break the rooster of appetite: Let no appetite enter your heart lest you be held back from Me. “If you come from the field of appetite to the portico of intellect, you'll see yourself like Saturn in the seventh sphere. [DS 705] “Kill the vulture of wishes: Do not stretch out wishes and do not fix your heart on this life of play and diversion. Then you may reach the goodly life [16:97]. O Abraham, the goodly life is what you want: the heart's life and the secret core's serenity!” It has been said that by asking this question, Abraham was seeking vision, just as Moses did. Abraham asked for vision by intimation, not explicitly. Hence the answer was also by intimation, that is, His words, “God is exalted: O Abraham, I heard your asking and I know what you desire, but know that in reality God is exalted. Finding Him is exalted and seeing Him is exalted.” Moses asked explicitly, not through intimation, so he heard the answer explicitly: “Thou shalt not see Me” [7:143]. It has also been said that when Abraham said, “O Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life,” a call came to his secret core: “You also, show Me how you bring the living Ishmael to death.