Vision: The Window of the Heart
Vision is the window of the heart to the senses, and these senses are one of the pillars of knowledge. Through sight, man observes the wonders of creation and the benefits of things, learning from them what is useful and what is harmful. Vision also has another benefit beyond direct knowledge: it allows man to see perceptible realities that can be used for analogy, gaining new knowledge he had not previously encountered.
Extracting Ideas
When the scenes of the universe and the kinds of creatures settle in the intellect through vision, the mind can extract from them countless results and insights. Scholars have defined thought as "the movement of the intellect from the perceptibles to the intelligibles."
Thus, man receives through it sciences and knowledge that have improved his life and granted him prosperity. But this noble benefit is not the greatest function of the intellect; there is a higher and greater benefit: to use these observations as evidence for religious knowledge, and to discern its truth or falsehood.
Meanings Are Not Perceived by Vision
Not all knowledge is perceived by sight; meanings and values are only grasped by the intellect. Yet vision has another function regarding values: it helps in distinguishing them by their source. One can see in the outward state of the bearer of values signs of his truthfulness and the quality of what he carries, then reflect on the fate of those who lived by such values and the fruits of their conduct. After that, these results are transferred to the intellect, which carries out criticism and evaluation.
Types of Values and Their Sources
Heavenly Values (القيم السماوية)
Exalted values reach humanity only through two ways; the first is through the Messengers (الرسل), the bearers of righteous values, whose truth is supported by signs and proofs. These values derive their strength from being from Allah, the Creator of mankind. They are free from error, protected from delusion and desire. For this reason, they are called Heavenly Values (القيم السماوية).
Earthly Values (القيم الأرضية)
The second category is the philosophers (الفلاسفة), the bearers of earthly values, who claim that the source of knowledge is the intellect alone, without attributing it to any infallibility or power beyond the perceptible. Thus, the sources of human knowledge are two: Messengers (الرسل) and Philosophers (الفلاسفة); Messengers bring heavenly values, while philosophers bring abstract rational values.
The Mixed Approach
Some people attempt to combine both approaches, thinking they will gain the best of both sides, but in the end, they satisfy neither. In reality, this group is closer to the second (the philosophers), because their path is chosen purely by intellect, relying on selection rather than revelation.
The Role of Vision
Philosophers do not claim infallibility or reception from an infallible source, and therefore they do not need to prove the truth of what they present. In fact, the idea of infallibility and absolute trust is rejected in their system; for them, doubt is the supreme value sought by the philosopher. As for the Messengers (الرسل), they claim truth and infallibility, and they present evidence and proofs for it.
Here comes the role of vision: it examines the proofs of the Messengers and the signs they brought, and transfers these observations to the intellect, which then reflects and reasons, reaching the decisive conclusion: The Messenger is truthful.