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Fusus al-Hikam
The Seals of Wisdom
by Shaykh al Akbar Muhi-d-Din Ibn al-'Arabi
Index of Chapters:
1. The Seal of Divine Wisdom in the Word of Adam
2. The Seal of Wisdom of the Breath of Angelic Inspiration
in the Word of Seth
3. The Seal of the Wisdom of the Breath of Divine Inspiration in the Word of Noah
4. The
Seal of the Wisdom of Purity in the Word of Idris
5. The Seal of the Wisdom of Being Lost in Love in the Wisdom of
Abraham
6. The Seal of the Wisdom of the Real in the Word of Issac
7. The Seal of the Wisdom of Elevation in
the Word of Ishmael
8. The Seal of the Wisdom of the Spirit in the Word of Jacob
9. The Seal of the Wisdom of
Light in the Word of Joseph
10. The Seal of the Wisdom of Divine Unity in the Word of Hud
11. The Seal of
the Wisdom of Revelation in the Word of Salih
12. The Seal of the Wisdom of the Heart in the Word of Jethro
13.
The Seal of the Wisdom of Power in the Word of Lot
14. The Seal of the Wisdom of the Decree in the Word of Ezra
15.
The Seal of the Wisdom of Prophethood in the Word of Jesus
16. The Seal of the Wisdom of Mercy in the Word of Solomon
17. The Seal of the Wisdom of Existence (Wujud) in the Word of David
18. The Seal of the Wisdom of the Breath
(Nafas) in the Word of Jonah
19. The Seal of the Wisdom of the Unseen in the Word of Job
20. The Seal of the
Wisdom of Majesty in the Word of John the Baptist
21. The Seal of the Wisdom of Possession in the Word of Zachariah
22.
The Seal of the Wisdom of Intimacy in the Word of Elijah
23. The Seal of the Wisdom of Ihsan in the Word of Luqman
24. The Seal of the Wisdom of the Imam in the Word of Aaron
25. The Seal of the Wisdom of Sublimity in the
Word of Moses
26. The Seal of the Wisdom of What One Turns to in the Word of Khalid
27. The Seal of the Unique
Wisdom in the Word of Muhammad
1) The Seal of Divine Wisdom
in the Word of Adam
When Allah - glory be to Him! - willed that the source of His most Beautiful Names - which are beyond enumeration
- be seen (or you can equally say that He willed His source to be seen), He willed that they be seen in a microcosmic being
which contained the entire matter, (1) endowed with existence, and through which His secret was manifested to Him. For how
a thing sees itself through itself is not the same as how it sees itself in something else which acts as a mirror for it.
So He manifests Himself to Himself in a form which is provided by the place in which He is seen. He would not appear thus
without the existence of this place and His manifestation (tajalli) to Himself in it.
Allah brought the entire universe
into existence through the existence of a form fashioned without a spirit (rûh), like an unpolished mirror. Part of the divine
decree is that He does not fashion a locus without it receiving a divine spirit, which is described as being "blown" (2) into
it. This is nothing other than the result of the predisposition of that fashioned form to receive the overflowing perpetual
tajalli which has never ceased and which will never cease. Then we must speak of the container (qâbil). The container comes
from nothing other than His most sacredly pure Overflowing. So the whole affair has its beginning from Him, and its end is
to Him, and "the whole affair will be returned to Him" (11:123) as it began from Him. Thus the command decreed the polishing
of the mirror of the universe. Adam was the very polishing of that mirror and the spirit of that form.
The angels are
some of the faculties of that form which is the form of the universe, which the Sufis designate in their technical vocabulary
as the Great Man (al-Insân al-Kabîr), for the angels are to it as the spiritual (rûhânî) and sensory faculties are to the
human organism. Each of these faculties is veiled by itself, and it sees nothing which is superior to its own essence, for
there is something in it which considers itself to be worthy of high rank and an elevated degree with Allah. It is like this
because it has an aspect of the divine synthesis (jam'îya). In it is something which derives from the divine side and something
which derives from the side of the reality of the realities. This organism carries these attributes as determined by the universal
nature which encompasses the containers of the universe from the most exalted to the basest. However, the intellect cannot
perceive this fact by means of logical investigation for this sort of perception only exists through divine unveiling
by which one recognises the basis of the forms of the universe which receive the spirits.
This being was called both
a human being (insân) and khalif. As for his humanness, it comes from the universality of his organism and his ability to
embrace all of the realities. He is in relation to Allah as the pupil, (3) being the instrument of vision, is to the eye.
This is why he is called "insân". It is by him that Allah beholds His creatures and has mercy on them. So he is a human being,
both in-time [in his body] and before-time [in his spirit], an eternal and after-time organism. He is the word which distinguishes
and unifies. The universe was completed by his existence. He is to the universe what the face of the seal is to the seal -
for that is the locus of the seal and thus the token with which the King places the seal on his treasures.
Allah named
him khalif for this reason, since man guards His creation as treasure is guarded with the seal. As long as the seal of the
King is on the treasure, no one dares to open it without his permission. He made him a khalif in respect of safeguarding the
universe, and it continues to be guarded as long as this Perfect Man is in it. Do you not see then, that when he disappears
and is removed from the treasury of this world, nothing that Allah stored in it will remain? Everything that was in it will
leave it, and all the parts will become confused, and everything will be transferred to the Next World. Then Man will be the
seal on the treasury of the Next World for endless time and after-time. All the Divine Names contained in in the divine form
(4) appear in this human organism. Thus it possesses the rank of containing and integrating this existence. It was by this
that Allah set up the proof against the angels, (5) so remember that! Allah admonishes you through others. Look at where that
originates and where it ends up. The angels did not realise what was implied by the organism of the khalif, nor did they realise
what the presence of the Truth demanded as 'ibâda (6) (worship). Each one only knows from Allah what his essence accords him.
The angels do not possess the universality of Adam, and they did not understand the Divine Names with which he has been favoured,
and by which he praises Allah and proclaims His purity. They only knew that Allah had names whose knowledge had not reached
them, so they could not praise Him nor proclaim His purity through them. What we mentioned overcame them and this state overpowered
them. They said about this organism, "Why put on it one who will cause corruption on it?" (2:30) This is only the argument
which they were voicing.
What they said regarding Adam is exactly the state they were with regard to Allah. Had it
not been that their nature was in accord with it, they would not have said what they said in respect of Adam, "and yet they
were not aware." If they had had true recognition of themselves, they would have had knowledge, and had they been in possession
of knowledge, they would have been protected and would not have resisted by belittling Adam and thus exceeding their claim
of what they possessed of His praise and glorification. Adam was in possession of Divine Names which the angels did not have,
so that their praise and glorification of Him was not the same as Adam's praise and glorification of Him. Allah describes
this to us so that we may ponder it and learn adab (7) with Allah, and so that we will not lay claim to what we have not realised
or possessed by pinning down. How can we allege something which is beyond us and of which we have no knowledge? We will only
be exposed. This divine instruction is part of Allah's discipline of those of His slaves who are well-mannered, trusting and
khalifs.
Let us return to the wisdom under discussion. Know that universal matters which have no existence in themselves
are without a doubt intelligible and known in the mind. They are hidden and continue in their invisible existence. These universal
matters have jurisdiction and effect on everything which has an individual existence. Indeed, they are the same thing and
nothing else, i.e. the sources of existent individual things, and they continue to be intelligible in themselves. They are
manifest in respect of the sources of existent things just as they are hidden in respect of their intelligibility. Each individual
existent thing depends on these universal matters which cannot be dislodged from the intellect, nor would their existence
be possible in the source once they ceased to be intelligible, whether that individual existent is in-time or out-of-time.
The relationship of that which is in-time or out-of-time to this universal intelligible matter is the same. This universal
matter only has jurisdiction in individual existent things according to what the realities of these individual existent things
demand of it. It is like the relationship of knowledge to the knower, and life to the living. Life is an intelligible reality;
knowledge is an intelligible reality. Knowledge is as distinct from life as life is distinct from knowledge. So we say that
Allah has knowledge and life, and that He is the Living, the Knowing. We also say that the angel has life and knowledge, and
is living and knowing. We say that man has life and knowledge, and is living and knowing. The reality of knowledge is one
thing and the reality of life is another, and their relationship to the knowing and the living is the same relationship. We
say that the knowledge of Allah is in non-time and the knowledge of man is in-time. So look at the evaluation that this relationship
has brought about in this intelligible reality!
Examine this connection between individual intelligibles and stence
is necessary, rather, it is necessary by another, not by itself. As knowledge determines the one who participates in it
as he is called knowing so the one who is described by it can determine the knowledge. It is in-time in relation to
the one in-time and non-time in relation to the one in non-time. Each of the two is determining and determined. It is known
that these universal matters, even if they are intelligible, lack a source although they still have an authority. When they
are determined, since they are ascribed to an individual existent thing, they accept the principle in the existent sources
and do not accept distinction or fragmenting, for that is impossible for them. They themselves are in everything described
by them, as humanity is in every person of this particular species, without distinction or the numbering which affects individuals;
and it continues to be intelligible.
Now, as there is a connection between that which has an individual existence and
that which does not have one and it is a non-existent relationship so the connection of existents to each other
is easier to conceive because, in any case, there is a common factor between them which is individual existence. In the other,
there is no common factor, yet there is a connection despite the lack of a common factor. So it is stronger and more real
when there is a common factor. Without a doubt, the in-time establishes itself as being put into time and it needs something
in time to put it into time. It has no place in itself so it exists from something other-than-it, and it is linked to That
by the dependence of need. This dependence must be on That whose existence is necessary, which is independent in Its existence
by Itself without need. It is That which, by Its own essence, gives existence to the in-time which depends on It. Since the
existence of Its essence is necessary and what appears from It depends on It for its essence, it nevertheless depends on its
form for everything which is from a name or attribute, except for the essential necessity. That is not the property of it
in-time, even if its existence is neceesary, rather, it is necessary by another, not by itself.
Since the matter is
based on what we said about its manifestation in its form, Allah communicates to us knowledge of Himself through contemplation
of the in-time. He tells us that He shows us His signs in the in-time, (8) so we draw conclusions about Him through ourselves.
We do not describe Him with any quality without also possessing that quality, with the exception of that essential autonomy.
Since we know Him by ourselves and from ourselves, we attribute to Him all that we attribute to ourselves. For that reason,
divine communications came down on the tongues of our interpreters, (9) and so He described Himself to us through ourselves.
When we witness, He witnesses Himself. We are certainly numerous as individuals and species, yet we are based on a single
reality which unites us. So we certainly know that there are distinctions between individuals. If there were not, there would
be no multiplicity in the One.
Similarly we are described in all aspects by that by which He describes Himself, but
there must be a disinction and it is none other than our need of Him in our existence. Our existence depends on Him by virtue
of our possibility and He is independent of that which makes us dependent on Him. Because of this, one can apply before-timeness
and timelessness to Him which negates that firstness which is the opening to existence from non-existence. Although He is
the First, firstness is not ascribed to Him, and for this reason, He is called the Last. Had His firstness been the firstness
of the existence of determination, it would not have been valid for Him to be the Last of the determined because the possible
has no last - for possibilities are endless. So they have no last. Rather, He is the Last because "the whole affair will be
returned to Him" (11:123) after its attribution to us. So He is the Last in the source of His firstness and the First in the
source of His lastness.
Then know that Allah has described Himself as the Outawrdly Manifest and the Inwardly Hidden;
(10) He brought the universe into existence as a Visible world and an Unseen world so that we might know the Hidden by the
Unseen and the Manifest by the Visible. He described Himself with pleasure and wrath, and so He brought the world into existence
as a place of fear and hope so we fear His wrath and hope for His pleasure. He described Himself with majesty and beauty,
so He brought the universe into existence with awe and intimacy. It is the same for all that is connected with Him, may He
be exalted, and by which He calls Himself. He designates these pairs of attributes by the two hands (11) which He held out
in the creation of the Perfect Man. Man sums up all the realities of the universe and its individuals. So the universe is
seen and the Khalif is unseen. It is with this meaning that the Sultan veils himself, even as Allah is mentioned and described
as having with veils (12) of darkness, which are natural bodies, and luminous veils which are subtle spirits (arwâh). The
universe is composed of both the gross and the subtle.
The universe is its own veil on itself and cannot perceive the
Truth since it perceives itself. It is continuously in a veil which is not removed, since it knows that it is distinct from
its Creator by its need of Him. It has no portion of that essential necessity which belongs to the existence of Allah, so
it can never perceive Him. In this respect, Allah is never fully known by the knowledge of tasting and witnessing because
the in-time has no hold on that.
Allah only applied "between His two hands" to Adam as a mark of honour, and so He
said to Iblis, "What prevented you prostrating to what I created with My two Hands?" (38:76) That is none other than the union
in Adam of the two forms - the form of the universe and the form of the Real: (13) and they are the two hands of Allah. Iblis
is only a fragment of the universe and does not possess this comprehensive quality. It is because of this quality that Adam
was a khalif. Had he not had the form of the One who appointed him khalif, he would not have been khalif. If there were not
in him all that is in the world, and what his flocks, over whom he is khalif, demand of him because of their dependence on
him (and he must undertake all they need from him) he would not have been khalîf over them.
The khalifate
is only valid for the Perfect Man, whose exterior form comes from the realities of the universe and its forms, and whose inner
form is based on His form, may He be exalted! For that reason, Allah has said of him, "I am his hearing and his sight." (14)
He did not say, "his eye and his ear." So He differentiated between the two forms. It is the same for every existent in the
universe which appears according to what the reality of that existent demands of it. Nonetheless no one totally comprehends
what the khalif has. One only surpasses others by this comprehensiveness. If it were not for the diffusion of Allah into the
existents by the form, the universe would not have any existence. Similarly, were it not for these universal intelligible
realities, no principle would have appeared in individual existent things. From this reality the universe depends on Allah
for its existence. So all is in need, and nothing is independent.
This is the truth
and we have not spoken metaphorically.
If I speak of a something independent
without any need, you will know Who I mean by it.
The whole is tied to the
whole
and cannot be separated from it, so understand what I have said!
Now, you have learnt of the formation of
the body of Adam his outer form and the formation of his spirit, his inner form, so he is the Real and a created
being. Now you have learnt of the formation of his rank which is the comprehensiveness by virtue of which he is worthy of
the khalifate. Adam is the unique self from which the perfect human species was created according to His words, "O mankind,
be fearful of your Lord who created you from a single self, and created its mate from it, and disseminated many men and women
from the two of them." (4:1)
His words, "Be fearful of your Lord," mean to make of what has appeared from you a safeguard
for your Lord and make what is concealed of you, which is your Lord, a safeguard for yourselves. The matter consists of blame
and praise, so be His safeguard in the blame and your safeguard in the praise, so that you will be among those of knowledge
and adab. Then He showed him what He had placed in him, and He put that in His two hands - one handful contained the universe
and the other handful contained Adam and his descendants - and He showed them their ranks in Adam.
Then Allah informed
me in my inner heart (sirr) of what He placed in this Imam, the great progenitor. I have put in this book some of what was
allotted to me but not all of what I realised. A book could not contain that and not even the present existent universe could
contain it. I have put some of what I have witnessed in this book, as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, defined it. It was the divine wisdom in the word of Adam, that is, this chapter.
Then there is the wisdom
of the breath of angelic inspiration in the word of Shith (Seth), the wisdom of divine inspiration in the word of Nuh (Noah),
the wisdom of purity in the word of Idris, the wisdom of being lost in love in the word of Ibrahim (Abraham), the wisdom of
truth in the word of Ishaq (Isaac), the wisdom of the elevation of the word in the name of Isma'il (Ishmael), the wisdom of
the spirit in the word of Yusuf (Joseph), the wisdom of unity in the word of Hud, the wisdom of revelation in the word of
Salih, the wisdom of the heart in the word of Shu'ayb, the wisdom of the power of the word of Lut (Lot), the wisdom of the
decree in the word of 'Uzayr (Ezra), the wisdom of prophethood in the word of 'Isa (Jesus), the wisdom of mercy in the word
of Sulayman (Solomon), the wisdom of existence in the word of Da'ud (David), the wisdom of the soul in the word of Yunus (Jonah),
the wisdom of the unseen in the word of Ayyub (Job), the wisdom of majesty in the word of Yahya (John the Baptist), the wisdom
of possession in the word of Zakariya (Zachariah), the wisdom of intimacy in the word of Ilyas (Elias), the wisdom of benevolence
in the word of Luqman, the wisdom of the Imam in the word of Harun (Aaron), the wisdom of sublimity in the word of Musa (Moses),
the wisdom of what one turns to in the word of Khalid, and the wisdom of uniqueness in the seal of Muhammad.
There
is a seal for each wisdom. So I have condensed these wisdoms according to what is established in the Mother of the Book, and
I complied with what was written out for me, and stopped at what was set as a limit for me. Even if I had desired to do more
than that, I would not have been able to do so. Indeed, the Presence forbids that, and Allah is the One who grants success.
There is no Lord but Him.
Notes to Chapter 1:
1. al-Insân al-Kâmil, the Perfect Man.
2. Nafkh, Qur'an 32:9, etc.
3.
Insan, as well as meaning human being, also means the pupil of the eye.
4. The form chosen by Allah for the human being.
5. Qur'an 2:30-33.
6. 'Ibada: All the acts of worship: giving, praying, fasting, etc..
7. Adab: Manners. Here
meaning the much deeper quality of spiritual manners, that is a courtesy engendered in the ritual acts of worship, the prostrations
of the prayer, the fast, and giving gifts to the needy. Such a quality is imbued with awareness that you are the dependent,
and the Real is the independent. You are poor, He is rich.
8. Qur'an 41:53, "We will show them Our signs on the horizons
and in themselves..."
9. i.e. the Prophets.
10. Qur'an: 57:3.
11. Qur'an 38:75, "What I created with My two hands."
12. Hadith: "Allah has 70,000 veils of light and darkness. If they were to be removed, the splendour of His face would
consume."
13. Hadith: "Allah created Adam on His form."
14. ref. to hadith qudsî via Abu Hurayra, "My slave does not
draw near Me with anything I love more than what I have made obligatory for him. My slave continues to draw near me with superogatory
actions until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand with which
he strikes, and his foot with which he walks." (Sahih al-Bukhari, 81:38:2)
2) The Seal of Wisdom of the Breath of Angelic Inspiration
in
the Word of Shith (Seth) Know that the gifts and favours which appear in phenomenal being through human
beings or without them fall into two categories: the gifts of the Essence and the gifts of the Divine Names. These two categories
are distinct among the people of tasting according to whether as they come from a specific request for a specific thing, from
a general request, or without any request. This applies whether they are gifts of the Essence or gifts of the Divine Names.
They are specific when someone says, "O Lord, give me such-and-such a thing," and specifies something which occurs to him.
They are general when someone says, "Give me what You know is good for all my parts, subtle and gross," without specifying
it. The askers fall into two groups - one group makes the request from a natural impulse to hasten its attainment,
"for man is impetuous;" (17:11) and the other group asks because they know that there are matters with Allah which, in the
foreknowledge of Allah, are only obtained after a request. They say, "Perhaps what I ask of Him is something of that sort."
Their request takes into consideration this possibility. They do not know what is in the knowledge of Allah, nor what their
capacity to receive will grant them. This is because it is one of the most difficult things to know capacity at any moment,
for it refers to the capacity of the individual at that time. Furthermore, had he not been disposed by his capacity to make
the request, he would not have made that particular request. The goal of the people of presence, (2) who do not possess
such a knowledge, is to know it in the moment in which they find themselves. They know by their state of presence what Allah
has given them in that moment. and they only receive it by their predisposition for it. They are of two sorts: one group knows
their predisposition from what they have already received, and the other group knows what they are going to receive based
on their predisposition. This latter group has the most perfect recognition of predisposition. Among this group are
those who make a request, neither to hasten it nor for the possibilities of favour, but rather to comply with the command
of Allah when He says, "Call on Me and I will answer you." (40:60) This sort of person is the pure slave and when he asks,
his aspiration (himma) is not attached to what he asks for, be it specific or not, rather his aspiration is merely in or not,
rather his aspiration is merely in obedience to his Lord's command. When his state requires, he asks for slavehood, and when
it requires entrustment [to Allah] and silence, he is silent. So Ayyub and others were tried, and they did not ask Allah to
remove their affliction from them. Then at another moment, their state required that they ask that it be removed, and Allah
removed it from them. The immediate granting of a request, or its deferment, depends on the decree which has been determined
for it by Allah. If the request coincides with the moment, the answer comes quickly, and if the moment is deferred - either
in this world or the next, the answer is also deferred except for the answer from Allah which is, "At your service" (3) -
so understand this well! As for the second category, it is received without making a request, and by "without request"
we mean verbal expression of it. In actuality, there must always be a request - be it articulated, or by a state, or from
a predisposition. Similarly, unrestricted praise only takes place through verbal expression. The state determines the meaning,
for that which induces you to praise Allah is determined for you by a Name of Action (4) or a Name of Disconnection. (5) In
the case of the predisposition of the slave, its possessor is not conscious of it, but he is aware of his state because he
knows both what his motive is and the state itself. Predisposition is the most hidden form of making requests. That
which prevents some people from asking is their knowledge that Allah has predetermined their destiny, so they have prepared
themselves to receive whatever comes from Him, and they have withdrawn from their selves and their desires. Among these
people are those who know that the knowledge which Allah has of them in all their states is their basic constitution in the
state of their permanent source-form from before existence. They know that Allah will only give them what their source allows
them according to Allah's knowledge of it when they were in their permanent source-forms. Thus these people know that Allah
knows the way they will obtain anything. There is no higher, nor more unveiled group among the People of Allah than
this group, who understand on the secret of the Decree. They, in turn, fall into two sorts: those who know it in general and
those who know it in particular. Those who know it in particular are higher and nearer perfection than those who know it in
general. Such a person knows what is in the knowledge of Allah for him - be it by Allah informing him of the knowledge his
own source has accorded to Him, or be it by direct unveiling to him from his permanent source-form whose unfolding states
are endless. So he, in his knowledge of himself, is in the position of having Allah's knowledge of him, because it is derived
from the same source. In respect of the slave, concern from Allah is predestined for him, and it is constituted by the sum
of the states of his source which the possessor of this unveiling perceives when Allah allows him to perceive it, i.e. the
states of his source. When Allah informs him of the states of his permanent source-form upon which the form of his existence
depends, it is not in the capacity of the creature in this state to perceive what Allah perceives of his permanent source-form
upon which the form of his existence depends, it is not in the capacity of the creature in this state to perceive what Allah
perceives of these permanent sources in the state of their non-existence, since they are but essential relations without any
form. In this respect, we say that divine concern precedes the slave's need because of this equivalence in the communication
of knowledge. In this way Allah speaks so that we will know, and it is an expression which is completely specific -
not as is imagined by those who do not drink from this source. The goal of disconnection is to make that in-timeness in knowledge
belong to Knowledge. It is the highest aspect of this question which the mutakallim (6) can comprehend with his intellect
- unless he considers knowledge to be distinct from the Essence. If he does this, he ascribes relativity to knowledge, and
not to the Essence, and because of this, he sets himself apart from the realised ones among the People of Allah, who are endowed
with unveiling and real existence. Let us return to those gifts which are either the gifts proceding from the Essence
or the Names. As for the favours, gifts and graces of the Essence, they only come by means of divine tajalli. (7) Tajalli
only comes from the Essence by means of the form of the predisposition of the one to whom the tajalli is made. It never occurs
otherwise. The one who receives the tajalli will only see his own form in the mirror of the Real. He will not see see the
Real, for it is not possible to see Him. At the same time, he knows that he sees only his own form. It is the same as a mirror
in the Visible world inasmuch as you see forms in it or your own form but do not see the mirror. At the same time, however,
you know that you see the forms, or your own form, only by virtue of the mirror. Allah manifests that as a model (8) appropriate
to the tajalli of His Essence, so that the one receiving the tajalli knows that he does not see Him. There is no model nearer
or more appropriate to vision and tajalli than this. When you see a form in a mirror, try to see the body of the mirror as
well - you will never see it. It is true that some people who perceive this say that the reflected form is imposed between
the vision of the seer and the mirror. This is the most that it is possible to say, and the matter is as we have mentioned.
We have clarified this in the The Makkan Revelations. If you wish to taste this, then experience the limit beyond which
there is no higher limit possible in respect of the creature. Neither aspire to, nor tire yourself out in trying to go beyond
this degree, for in principle, there is only pure non-existence after it. Thus Allah is your mirror in which you see
yourself, and you are His mirror in which He sees His Names. His Names are not other than Himself, as you know. The matter
is confusing. One of us implied ignorance of the matter as part of knowledge and said, "The incapacity to achieve perception
is perception." (9) Some of us know but do not express it in this way, even though it is the highest of words. Knowledge does
not give incapacity to know as the first one said, but rather knowledge gives him the same silence which incapacity gives.
This is the highest level of those who have knowledge of Allah. This knowledge only belongs to the Seal of the Messengers
and the Seal of the Awliyâ'. The Messengers and Prophets only see it from the niche of the Messenger who is the Seal. The
awliyâ' only see it from the niche of the walî who is the Seal. Even the Messengers only see it to the extent that they see
it from the niche of the Seal of the Awliya', for Message and Prophethood - by which I mean the Prophethood of bringing the
Sharî'a and its message - ceases, but wilâya never ceases. Thus the Messengers, imuch as they are awliya', see what we have
mentioned only from the niche of the Seal of the Awliya'. How could it be different for other awliyâ'? Although the Seal of
the Awliyâ' is subject to the judgement which the Seal of the Messengers brought through the Sharî;a, that does not diminish
his station nor does it detract from what we have said, for something which is lower from one point of view can be higher
from another. Confirmation of this occurred in the history of our Sharî'a in the excellence of the judgement of 'Umar regarding
the prisoners of Badr (10) and their treatment, and in the story of fertilization of the date-palms. (11) It is not necessary
that the perfect have precedence in everything and in every rank. The Rijâl (12) regard precedence as being in the degrees
of knowledge of Allah. Here is their goal. As for the things which are in-time, they do not attach their thoughts to them,
so realise what we have mentioned! Al-Khidr said to Musa, "I have knowledge which Allah has taught me, and which you
do not know, and you have knowledge which Allah has taught you and which I do not know." (13) It is like the Prophet,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in relation to a brick wall which was complete except for one brick, (14) and the
Prophet was that one brick although he himself only saw the place for the single brick. The Seal of the Awliyâ' must also
have this sort of vision. He sees the same as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw, but he
sees a place for two bricks in the wall, and that the bricks are made of gold and silver. He sees that there are two bricks
missing in the wall, and he sees that they are a silver brick and a gold brick. He must see himself as being disposed by nature
to fill the place of these two bricks. The Seal of the Awliyâ' is these two bricks by which the wall is completed. The necessary
reason for which he sees himself as two bricks is that he follows the Shari'a of the Seal of the Messengers outwardly - which
is the place of the silver brick. This means the outward Sharî'a with all that pertains to it of ordinances which are taken
from Allah by the secret, according to the outward form which conforms to the secret because he sees the matter for what it
really is. He must see the matter in this manner, for it is the place of the golden brick in the inwardly hidden. It is taken
from the source from which the angel brought it, the same angel who brought the revelation to the Mesengers. If you have understood
what I have alluded to, then you have indeed acquired useful knowledge! All the Prophets, from Adam to the last of
the Prophets, take their light from the niche of the Seal of the Prophets, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Even though
the existence of his clay was deferred, the last Prophet was nevertheless present in his reality, according to his statement,
"I was a Prophet when Adam was between water and clay." (15) Every other Prophet only became a Prophet by being described
by divine qualities inasmuch as Allah is described as the Praiseworthy Wali.(16) The Seal of the Messengers, in respect
to his wilâya, is connected to the Seal of the Awliyâ' in the same way in which Prophets and Messengers are connected to it.
He is a walî, Messenger, and Prophet. The Seal of the Awliyâ' is a walî and the heir who takes directly from the source, contemplating
the ranks. He is the most beautiful of the beauties of the Seal of the Messengers, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, the overseer of the community, and the master of the sons of Adam by reason of opening the door of intercession.
He specified a particular state which is not universal. (17) In this special state, he has precedence over the Divine Names.
So the All-Merciful only mediates with the Avenger for the people of affliction through the intercession of the mediators.
Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, obtained mastery in this special station. Whoever understands the ranks
and the stations does not find this discourse difficult. As for the gifts of the Names, know that Allah bestows mercy
on His creation which is wholly from the names. Either it is a pure mercy, like the excellence of the provision which they
have in this world or on the Day of Rising which is bestowed by that name, the Merciful, and so is a gift of mercy, or it
is a mixed mercy like the taking of a disagreeable remedy which is followed by relief - it is still a divine gift. Divine
gifts can only possibly be given through the intermediary of the guardians of the Names. Sometimes Allah gives it to the slave
by means of the All-Merciful, and so the gift is pure from any adulteration which would be contrary to the nature of the moment,
otherwise he would not receive the object and what would resemble it. Sometimes He gives by means of the the Boundless, so
it is general - or by the Wise, so He looks at what is fitter at the moment, or by the Giving, who gives what is good without
those who receive it having to compensate for it by gratitude or deed. He gives by the Compeller, and so He looks at the environment
and what is necessary to it. He gives by the Forgiving and so He looks to the environment and what is happening to the individual.
If he is in a state which merits punishment, He veils him from it, and if he is in a state which does not merit punishment,
He protects him from a state which would merit it. He is "protected from wrong action", "safeguarded", and other descriptions
of that sort. The Giver is Allah in the sense that He is the Treasurer of all that is in His treasury, and Allah only brings
forth from it according to a predestined decree through the intermediary of a name particular to that matter. So He gives
everything its created form (18) according to the name, the Just, and its brothers. The Names of Allah are endless
because they are known by what comes from them, and what comes from them is endless, even though they can be traced back to
the limited roots which are the matrices of the Names or the presences of the Names. In reality, there is but one of the Names
or the presences of the Names. In reality, there is but One Reality which assumes all these relations and aspects which are
designated by the Divine Names. The Reality grants that each of the Names, which manifest themselves without end, has a reality
by which it is distinguished from another Name. It is that reality by which it is distinguished which is the Name itself -
not that which it shares. It is the same with the gifts - every gift is distinct from another by personal nature, although
they come from a single source. It is evident that this one is not that one. That is because the Names are distinct. Because
of its boundlessness, in the Divine Presence there is nothing at all which repeats itself. This is the truth which is determined. This
was the knowledge of Shith, peace be upon him, and its spirit aids every spirit which discusses the like of this, except for
the spirit of the Seal who receives replenishing knowledge directly from Allah, not from any spirit. No, rather it is from
his spirit that his substance flows to all spirits, although he may not perceive that of himself at the time when his elemental
body existed. However, in respect to his reality and his rank, he knows all of that essentially, just as he is ignorant of
the composition of the elements (of his body). So he has knowledge and is ignorant, and he is capable of being described by
contrary attributes even as the Origin admits of description with opposites such as the Majestic and the Beautiful, the Outward
and the Inward, the Last and the First - and they are the same, and not other than Him. Therefore, he knows and does not know,
and he perceives and does not perceive, and he sees and does not see. It is by this knowledge that Shith received his name
because it means "the gift". In His hand is the key to the gifts in their various types and relationships So Allah gave him
to Adam, and he was the first gift, and He only gave it from Himself. This was the knowledge of Shith, peace be upon
him, and its spirit aids every spirit which discusses the like of this, except for the spirit of the Seal who receives replenishing
knowledge directly from Allah, not from any spirit. No, rather it is from his spirit that his substance flows to all spirits,
although he may not perceive that of himself at the time when his elemental body existed. However, in respect to his reality
and his rank, he knows all of that essentially, just as he is ignorant of the composition of the elements (of his body). So
he has knowledge and is ignorant, and he is capable of being described by contrary attributes even as the Origin admits of
description with opposites such as the Majestic and the Beautiful, the Outer and the Inner, the Last and the First - and they
are the same, and not other than Him. Therefore, he knows and does not know, and he perceives and does not perceive, and he
sees and does not see. It is by this knowledge that Shith received his name because it means "the gift". In His hand is the
key to the gifts in their various types and relationships So Allah gave him to Adam, and he was the first gift, and He only
gave it from Himself. All gifts in phenomenal being are manifested in this fashion - so no one receives anything from
Allah and no-one receives anything which does not come from himself. Not everyone recognises this. Only a few of the people
of Allah know it. When you see one who recognises that, rely on him, for that one is the source of the purest purity and the
elite of the elite of the Men of Allah. Whenever a person of unveiling sees a form which communicates to him gnosis which
he did not have and which he had not been able to grasp before, that form is from his own source, no other. From the tree
of himself he gathers the fruits of his cultivation, as his outer form opposite the reflected body is nothing other than himself,
even though the place of the presence in which he sees the form of himself presents him with an aspect of the reality of that
presence through transformation. The large appears small in the small mirror and tall in the tall, and the moving as movement.
It can reverse its form from a special presence, and it can reflect things exactly as they appear, so the right side of the
viewer is his right side, while the right side can be on the left. This is generally the normal state in mirrors, and it is
a break in the norm when the right side is seen as the right and inversion occurs. All this is from the gifts of the reality
of the Presence in which it is manifested and which we have compared to the mirror. Whoever recognises his predisposition,
recognises what he will receive. Not everyone who knows what he will receive, knows his predisposition, unless he knows it
after receiving it, and this one knows it in a general way. Some people who are weak of intellect think that since it confirmed
with them that Allah does what He wills, they deem it admissible that He could contradict wisdom and what the matter is in
itself. (19) Because of this, some of them go so far as to deny the possibility and affirm that which is necessary by essence
and by other. The man who has achieved realisation, however, admits the possibility and knows its presence and knows what
is possible and how it is possible, since in its source it is necessarily existent because of something other-than-it. From
where is the name of other, which determines its necessity, valid for it? No one knows this distinction except those with
particular knowledge of Allah. It is in the footsteps of Shith that the last of this human species will be born, and
he will carry his secrets. There will none of this species born after him, so he will be the Seal of the Begotten. A sister
will be born with him, and she will emerge before him, and he will follow her with his head at her feet. He will be born in
China, and he will speak the language of his country. Sterility will spread in men and women, so there will be much cohabitation
without conception. He will call people to Allah, but will not be answered. When Allah takes him and the believers of his
time, those who remain will be like beasts, not knowing what is lawful (halâl) from what is unlawful (harâm). They will act
according to their natural instincts with lust, devoid of reason and law. Upon them the Last Hour will occur.
Notes to to Chapter 2:
1. Nafth, to puff, blow
or spit, hence inspiration. Hadith, "He (Jibril) inspired or put (nafatha) into my heart..." Hence poetry is called the nafth
of Shaytan.
2. The people of the presence are those who see everything as coming to them from Allah and everything as
effected by Allah.
3. Labbayk.
4. Like the Giving, the Provider.
5. Tanzih, making Allah free of any connection
to His creation. Names like the Absolutely Pure (al-Quddûs).
6. The people of words - theologians and philosophers. They
are unable to enter the realm of reflection and meditation that is the Sufic domain, and thus some of them oppose the Sufic
teaching - mistaking the doctrine's meanings since they cannot intellectually identify them with a specific set of physical
practices and direct inner experience.
7. A manifestation by which something is made clear and unobscured, as the bride
is displayed to the husband or the rust removed from a sword or mirror so that it shines. The tajalli is the unveiling of
a spiritual reality in the realm of vision. It is a direct-seeing into the nature of existence, a showing forth of the secrets
of the One in the celestial and terrestial realms.
8. Mithâl, a Qur'anic term which indicates learning not by logical
but by analogical method. It is simply the ACCESS to the parable and not the parable or any idea that the "metaphor" equals
its interpretation. It has no specificity. Mithal is grasped "on the wing" so to speak. It cannot be explored or analysed
or extended. That is to say it must not be approached rationally but emphathetically with direct and clear seeing-into.
9.
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq.
10. After Badr, Abu Bakr asked the Prophet to either forgive or allow the prisoners to be ransomed.
'Umar said that they should be killed. Eventually, the Muslims reached a consensus that the captives should be ransomed and
they were. Later the verse was revealed, "It is not for a Prophet to take captives..." (8:67)
11. When the Prophet had
been asked about whether palm-trees should be pollinated and then later said, "You have the best knowledge of these things
of your world."
12. Rijal (sing. rajul): The men. Meaning the men of gnosis and illumination. Those who know - that is
- who know how-it-is, and not the veiled fantasy experience of so-called ordinary sensory perception which is, as we now know,
in direct contradiction to the physical reality of matter according to high-energy physics.
13. cf. Qur'an 18:65.
14.
Hadith in al-Bukhari (2815) and Muslim.
15. Hadith in at-Tirmidhi and Musnad Ibn Hanbal.
16. Qur'an 42:28, "It is
He who sends down abundant rain after they have lost all hope, and He unfolds His mercy; He is the Praiseworthy, the Wali."
17. He only can open the door of intercession because it is a a special gift to him alone.
18. Qur'an 20:50: "Our
Lord is He who gives each thing its created form and then guides it."
19. i.e. they permit that He do the impossible,
like making existence non-existence or non-existence existence.
3) The Seal of the Wisdom of the Breath of Divine Inspiration
(1)
In the Word of Nuh (Noah)
Know that disconnection (tanzîh) among
the people of realities in respect to Allah is the same as limitation and qualification, so the one who disconnects is either
ignorant or ill-mannered if he only applies disconnection to Him and believes that about Him. (2) When the believer who follows
the Sharî'a disconnects and stops at that, and does not see anything else, he displays ill manners and slanders Allah and
the Messengers - may the blessings of Allah be upon them! - although he is not aware of it. He imagines that he has reached
the target and yet he has missed it, so he is like the one who believes in part and rejects part. (3)
One especially
knows that when the language of the various Sharî'as speaks about Allah as they do, they speak to the common people in the
first sense, and to the elite in every sense which can be understood from the various aspects of that expression in any language
in the usage of that language.
Allah manifests Himself in a special way in every creature. He is the Outwardly Manifest
in every graspable sense, and He is the Inwardly Hidden from every understanding except the understanding of the one who says
that the universe is His form (4) and His He-ness (huwiyya), and it is the name, the Outwardly Manifest. Since He is, by meaning,
the spirit of whatever is outwardly manifest, He is also the Inwardly Hidden. His relation to whatever is manifested of the
forms of the world is the relation of the governing spirit to the form. The definition of man, for example, includes both
his inward and outward; and it is the same with every definable thing. Allah is defined in every definition, yet the forms
of the universe are not held back and He is not contained by them. One only knows the limits of each of their forms according
to what is attained by each knower of his form. For that reason, one cannot know the definition of Allah, for one would only
know His definition by knowing the definition of every form. This is impossible to attain, so the definition of Allah is impossible.
Similarly, whoever connects without disconnection has given limits to Allah and does not know Him. Whoever combines connection
and disconnection in his gnosis, and describes Allah with both aspects in general - because it is impossible to conceive in
detail because we lack the ability to encompass all the forms which the universe contains - has known Him in general and not
in particular, as he knows himself generally and not in particular. For that reason, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, linked knowledge (ma'rifa) of Allah to knowledge of oneself and said, "Whoever knows himself knows his Lord."
Allah says, "We will show them Our signs on the horizons (what is outside of you) and in themselves (what is your source)
until it is clear to them (the contemplators) that it is the Truth," (41:53) inasmuch as you are His form and He is your spirit.
You are to Him as your body-form is to you, and He is to you as the spirit which governs the body.
The definition contains
your inwardness and outwardness, for the form remains when the spirit which governs it departs, and it is no longer man, but
one can speak of it as resembling the form of man. There is no difference between it and the form made of wood or stone, upon
which the name of man is only applied by metaphor and not by reality. Allah cannot vanish from the forms of the universe,
as His definition of His divinity is by reality, not metaphor, as the definition of man applies only so long as he is alive.
As the exterior of the form of man praises both his spirit, and the self governed by it, with his tongue, similarly Allah
made the forms of the universe which glorify His praise, but we do not understand their glorifying. (5) We do not embrace
all forms in the universe. All are tongues of Allah uttering the praise of Allah and for that reason He said, "Praise be to
Allah, the Lord of all the worlds," (1:1) i.e. all types of praise refer to Him. He is the Praiser and the One praised.
If
you speak of disconnection, you limit Him,
and if you speak of connection, you define Him.
If you speak of the two
together,
then you are free of error
and you are an Imam and a master in knowledges of gnosis.
He who affirms
duality, falls into shirk, and whoever speaks of uniqueness is a unifier. (6) Take care lest you be a dualist by connection,
and take care lest you be a isolator by disconnection.
You are not Him, rather you are Him
and you see Him in the
source of thing,
absolute and limited at the same time.
Allah says, "There is nothing like Him," and so He disconnects,
"and He is the Hearing, the Seeing," (42:11) so He connects. Allah says, "There is nothing like Him," so He connects and doubles
it, (7) and "He is the Hearing, the Seeing." Then He uses disconnection and makes Himself Unique.
If Nuh had combined
these two calls for his people, they would have answered him. He called them openly (71:8), and he called them secretly (71:9).
Then he said to them, "Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Truly He is Endlessly Forgiving." (71:10) He said, "I have called my
people night and in the day, but my calling has only made them more evasive" (71:5-6) because they knew what they had to do
in answering his call.
So the knowledge of those who know Allah is what Nuh indicated in respect to his people by praising
them through blame. He knew that they would not answer his call because of the furqân (8) it contained. The command is the
Qur'an, not the Furqân. Whoever is established in the Qur'an does not incline to the Furqân. Even if the Furqân is in the
Qur'an, the Qur'an contains the Furqân but the Furqân does not contain the Qur'an. For this reason, no one was favoured by
the QurÕan except Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and this community which is the "best community ever
to be produced before mankind." (3:110)
So "there is nothing like Him" unified several matters in one single matter.
If Nuh had articulated something like of this âyat, his people would have responded to him, because it contains connection
and disconnection in a single âyat, rather in half an âyat.
Nuh, peace be upon him, peace be upon him, called on his
people at night in respect to their intellects and spirituality (rûhânîyya), which are unseen; and by day he called on them
in respect to their outer forms and arrival. In his call, he did not unify with anything, like "there is nothing like Him."
So their inward had a distaste for this separation, and it increased them in evasion. Then he said of himself that he called
upon them that He might forgive them, not that He be unveiled to them. They understood that from him. That is why "they put
their fingers in their ears and wrapped themselves in their clothes," (71:7) and this is the form of veiling to which he called
them. So they answered his call by action, not by saying, "At your service."
There is both the confirmation of likeness
and its negation in "There is nothing like Him." For this reason, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said
of himself, "I have been given all the words." (9) Muhammad, peace be upon him, did not call on his people by night and day,
but rather he called upon them by night in the day and by day in the night. Nuh said in his wisdom to his people, "He will
send heaven down on you in abundant rain," (71:11) which is intellectual gnosis in meanings and metaphorical speculation,
and "He will reinforce you with wealth," i.e. by what comes to you from Him.
Thus it is your wealth in which you have
seen your form. So whoever among you imagines that he has seen Him, does not have gnosis, and whoever of you knows that he
has seen himself, he is the gnostic. For this reason people are divided into those who know Allah and those who do not know.
"And sons" is what results from their logical speculation while the knowledge of the business (to which Nuh called them) is
based upon contemplation which is far from the results of thought. Their trade did not profit them, (10) so what they had
in their hands, which they only imagined they possessed, vanished from them.
The kingdom belongs to the people of Muhammad,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for Allah says "Give of that to which He has made you successors." (11) (57:7) For
the people of Nuh it is, "Do not take anyone besides Me as a guardian." (17:2) The kingdom was confirmed for the people of
Muhammad, and the guardianship in it belongs to Allah. The people of Muhammad are the khalîfs in it. The kingdom belongs to
Allah and He is their guardian, and that is the kingdom of being appointed khalif. For this reason, Allah is the "King of
the kingdom" (12) as at-Tirmidhi says. "They have hatched a mighty plotting," (71:22) because calling to Allah is the plotting
of the the One called; since He does not lack the beginning, He is called to the end, so they call to Allah. This is the source
of devising according to inner sight. Nuh said, "The affair belongs entirely to Him," so they answered Him with plotting as
He called them.
The people of Muhammad came and knew what the call to Allah was in respect of its He-ness, rather what
it is in respect to His Names. Allah says, "The day those who are godfearing are gathered to the All-Merciful." (13) So He
used the "particle of the end" (ilâ - to) and joined it to that Name, and we recognise that the universe is under the care
of a Divine Name which requires them to be among the "godfearing". The reality of taqwâ (14) is that man avoids ascribing
blessings, perfections and praiseworthy attributes to himself or to others, except for Allah. He fears Allah through His acts
and attributes. These things are evils from the spring of possibilities. They said in their plotting, "Do not abandon your
gods. Do not abandon Wadd or Suwa' or Yaghuth or Ya'uq or Nasr." (71:22) Then they abandoned them ignorant of the Truth according
to what they left of the idols. Allah has an aspect in every worshipped thing. Whoever recognises it, recognises, and whoever
is ignorant of it is ignorant among the people of Muhammad. Your Lord decreed that you should worship only Him that
is the judgement of your Lord.
The one who possesses knowledge knows who the slave is and in what form he is manifested
as far as he is a slave. Separation and multiplicity are like the limbs of the sensory form and like faculties of meaning
(15) of the spiritual form. He only worships Allah in every worshipped object. The lowest one is the one who imagines that
godness is contained in it. Were it not for this illusion, stones and other things would not have been worshipped. This is
why He said, "Say: Name them!" (13:33) If they had named them, they would have named stone, tree, or star. If they had been
asked, "Who do you worship?" they would have replied, "God". They would not say "Allah" or "the god".
The highest knower
does not use this imagination, (16) but rather he says that this is a divine tajalli which one must exalt, and he does not
restrict himself. The lowest one is the one possessed of fantasy: "We only worship them so that they bring us neared to Allah."
(39:3) The highest knower says, "Your god is One God, so submit to Him," (22:34) wherever He is manifest, "and give good news
to the humble-hearted" who humble the fire of their nature. They spoke to it (the fire), and did not say "nature". "They have
misguided many people," (71:24) i.e. they perplexed many in the multiplicity of the One by aspects and relations. "Do not
increase not the wrongdoers" because their selves are from the totality of the chosen ones who inherited the Book and they
are the first of the three, (17) which precedes the ambivalent and the outdoer, "in anything but misguidance", except in the
perplexity of the man of Muhammad who says, "Increase me in perplexity." (18) "Every time it shines on them, they walk in
it. When the darkness comes over them, they stop." (2:20) So the perplexed one turns about, and the circular movement is about
the axis which he does not leave.
The one who has a stretched-out path is inclined to leave the goal, seeking what
the possessor of imagination has in it, and his end is that imagination. He has "from" and "to" and what is between them.
The one who has a circular movement has no beginning, "from", which clings to him, and no end, "to", is judged of him. Thus
he has the most perfect existence. He "is given all the words" (19) and wisdoms. "And because of their errors" which is that
which is recorded for them, "they were drowned" in the seas of the knowledge of Allah which is perplexity among the men of
Muhammad. When the seas were heated up, (20) "they were put into a fire" in the source of water, "and they found no one to
help them besides Allah." (71:25) Allah is the source of their helpers, and so they were destroyed in it for time without
end. If He had brought them out to the shore, the shore of nature, He would have brought them down from this high degree.
All belongs to Allah and is by Allah, rather it is Allah.
Nuh said, "My Lord!" and he did not say, "My God," for the
Lord has immutability, and "God" differs according to the Names. So "every day He is engaged in some affair." (55:29) By Lord,
he meant something with an immutable quality. "Do not leave upon the earth" and he called on them to go into its Muhammadan
interior. "If you let down a rope, it would fall on Allah," (21) "to Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the
earth." When you are buried in it, you are in it and it is your container, and "We will return you into it and We will bring
you forth from it again," (20:55) by the difference of existence. "...of the unbelievers" who wrap themselves in their garments
and put their fingers in their ears, seeking veiling because he called on them that He might forgive them. Forgiveness is
the veiling of wrong actions, "not even one" so that the benefit will become universal like the call. "If You leave any,"
i.e. if You call them and then leave them, "they will misguide Your slaves," i.e. confuse them and so bring them out of their
service to what they have of the secrets of lordship. They will think themselves lords after they were slaves in themselves.
Thus they are slaves and lords. "They will spawn nothing" i.e. they will not have any result or manifest anything except their
being shameless that is, the manifestation of what veils the unbelievers is that they were veiled from what appeared
after their manifestation. They manifested that which veils, so they were veiled after their appearance.
The thinker
is confused and does not recognise the goal of the shameless in shamelessness, (22) or the unbeliever in his disbelief, yet
the person is but one. "My Lord, forgive me," i.e. veil me and that which concerns me so that my rank and station are unknown,
as the rank of Allah are unknown in His statement, "They do measure Allah with His true measure"; (23) "and my parents" of
whom I am a result, and they are the intellect and nature; "and all who enter my house," i.e. my heart, "as believers" believing
in what it contains of divine reports, and it is what their selves occasioned, "And all the believers, men (the intellects)
and women (the selves)."
"Do not increase the wrongdoers (dhâlimîn)" who are from the darkness (dhulumât), the people
of the unseen, hiding behind the veils of darkness, "except in ruin" i.e. in destruction. Thus, they do not recognise themselves
because they see the Face of Allah outside of them. Among the men of Muhammad, "All things are passing except His Face." (28:88)
Ruin is destruction. Whoever wishes to understand the secrets of Nuh must rise into the sphere of Nuh. (24) It is in our book,
at-Tanazzulat al-Mawsuliyya.
Notes to to Chapter 3:
1. Subbûh, name applied to Allah, the All-Perfect, disconnected
from imperfections.
2. If he does not go on to include tashbih, connection.
3. cf. Qur'an 4:149: "Those who reject
Allah and His Messengers and desire to make division between Allah and His Messengers, saying, 'We believe in some and reject
some.'"
4. By manifesting His attributes and Essence since everything is a proof and indication of Him.
5. Ref. to
Qur'an 17:44, "There is nothing which does not glorify Him with praise, but you do not understand their glorification."
6.
In this case, ignorant of the multiplicity of His Names and Attributes.
7. "Like Him" = "ka-mithlihi", the word "like"
occurs twice: "ka" and "mithl", so like negates like, like a double negative.
8. Furqan: One of the names of the Qur'an,
meaning a "discrimination" that which separates or distiguishes. Here presented as an opposite in a dyad: Qur'an/furqan, that
is, discrimination/gathering.
9. Hadith in al-Bukhari and Muslim.
10. Reference to Qur'an, 2:16, "Those are the people
who have sold guidance for misguidance. Their trade has brought no profit. They are not guided."
11. Khalifs.
12.
Since He answers His slave who is the "kingdom". Technical term used by al-Hakim at-Tirmidhi and Abu Madyan, discussed by
Ibn al-'Arabi in the Futuhat al-Makkiyya, Chapter 24, vol. I, p. 182.
13. ref. Qur'an 19:85.
14. Fearfulness of Allah
which is reflected in one's behaviour.
15. Meaning. Meaning does not carry the ordinary connotative significance that
it has in the science of semantics. In the Sufic science meaning is not allied, but inseparable from the experience of the
recognition of meaning. In other words, it is not a "thing" which can be apprehended with the qualities of thingness. It is
a mode of experiencing which takes places in a zone of awareness that is in itself a realm of the inward reality cognised
in the waking state. Meaning/sensory, ma'na/hiss.
16. Khayal: An important term. Khayal means imagination, but in the
special technical language of Ibn al-'Arabi the khayal contains an outer and inner meaning. Its outer (not inner) meaning
is imagining in the ordinary sense of a "tangible reality" which is experienced mentally yet remans unreal, that is, untouchable
and non-physical. Its inner meaning, however, is that faculty by
which we solidify the objects - which are according to
unveiling basically "not-there" - spatiality itself. There is much resistance to this in "rational" and programmed intellects
as there is of the hand to the rock in "common sense" experience. The rock is there, it does not budge. There is, it must
not be forgotten, a threshold situation where this is not so, for if the subject were brain-damaged, subjected to a hallucinogen,
or hypnotic trance, then the object would experientially melt away. That is still not the same as seeing in which things are
seen as-they-as in one unified field without differentiation, while altert within that condition of experiencing. And this
state brings with it wisdom beyond the recognition of how-it-is at that moment - in other words a new understanding is established
by the experience.
17. Ref to Qur'an 35:32, "...but some of them wrong themselves, some are ambivalent, and some outdo
each other in good."
18. Hayra: Bewilderment. A Key term. Hayra is not a negative situation - it is the condition in which
the seeker finds every intellectual channel blocked, every pathway of reason clashing against the other in contradiction so
that it induces in the seeker a state of intensity. This intensity by virtue of its inner tension creates a condition we call
hayra. It is a collapse of separation - a kind of "white hole" - which results in gatheredness. That is, the hayra creates
a new condition which is its result and that result is a breakthrough into an illumination of the Real.
19. Meaning the
Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who was given all the words.
20. By the oven (from which the
water gushed out of the earth in the Flood.)
21. Hadith.
22. The manifestation of lordship.
23. 6:91, 22:84, 39:67.
24. The Sphere of the Sun.
4: The Seal of the Wisdom of Sanctification (Quddûs)
in the Word of Idris
Elevation has two references - one of place and one of rank. Elevation of place is "We raised him up to
a high place," (19:57) and the highest of places is that upon which the mill of the world of the spheres revolves. It is the
sphere of the sun and in it is the station of the spirituality of Idris, peace be upon him! There are seven heavens under
it and seven heavens above it, and it is the fifteenth. That which is above it is the red heaven, i.e. Mars, the heaven of
Jupiter, Saturn, the heaven of fixed stars, the Starless Heaven and the heaven of the constellations, the heaven of the Kursi
and the heaven of the 'Arsh. That which is below it is the heaven of Venus, Mercury, the Moon, the circle of ether, the circle
of air, the circle of water, and the circle of earth. It is is the axis of the heavens, and it is a "high place".
As
for the elevation of rank, it is for us, the people of Muhammad. Allah said, "When you are uppermost and Allah is with you"
(47:35) in this height. He exalts Himself above place, not above rank. When the selves of those among us who do deeds are
afraid, He follows the mention of "being with" with His words, "He would not cheat you of your deeds." The deed demands place
and knowledge demands rank. So He joined the two heights for us - elevation of place by deed and elevation of rank by knowledge.
Then to disconnect the association of being with, He said, "Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High," (87:1) above this
association in meaning.
It is one of the most wondrous of matters that man is the highest of existent things - I mean
the Perfect Man, and elevation is only attributed to him by subordination either to place or rank which is a degree. So he
is not high by his essence, he is high by the height of place and the height of rank, for these possess height. Height of
place is like the All-Merciful settling on the throne, (1) and it is the highest of places. Height of rank is "All things
are passing except His Face," (28:88) and "the whole affair will be returned to Him," (11:123) and nothing has existence along
with Allah.
When Allah said, "We raised him up to a high place," He made high an adjective for place. Since your Lord
said to the angels, "I am putting a khalif in the earth," (2:30) this is height of rank. He said about the angels, "Were you
overcome by arrogance, or are you one of the exalted?" (38:75) so He gave elevation to the angels. If the angels had possessed
that elevation by simple virtue of the fact that they are angels, then all the angels would have been included in this elevation.
It was not common to them in the definition of angel. We recognise that this is elevation of rank with Allah. It is the same
for the khalifs of the people. If their elevation with the khalifate had been an elevation by essence, every man would have
it. It is not general and so we know that that elevation is by rank.
One of His names is the High. Over whom, when there
is nothing except Him? So He is the High by His Essence. Is He is High over that which is particular, when there is no He
except Him? His elevation is by virtue of Himself, and He, in respect to existence, is the source of existents. Those in-time
things which He calls high in themselves are not other than Him. He was the High when there was no height of relativity because
the source-forms in non-existence had not smelt the scent of existence. They remain in their state in spite of the multiplicity
of forms in existents, but the source is the same from the whole in the whole. The existence of multiplicity lies in the names
which are the relationships, and they are non-existent matters. There is only the source which is the Essence. He is High
through Himself, not by any ascription to another. From this standpoint, there is no height of relative relation in the universe,
but the aspects of existence which are distinct. The height of relativity exists in the one Source in respect of the many
aspects. For that reason, you say of Him, Him and not Him, and you and not you.
Al-Kharraz, (2) may Allah have mercy
on him, who is one of the aspects of Allah and one of His tongues with which He speaks of Himself, said that one only has
gnosis by joining opposites together in respect of Him. "He is the First and the Last, the Outwardly Manifest and the Inwardly
Hidden." (57:3) He is the source of what appears and the source of what is hidden in the state of its manifestation. There
is none who sees Him other than Him and there is none who is hidden from Him. So He is manifest to Himself and hidden from
Himself. He is called Abu Sa'id al-Kharraz and other than that from the names of things in-time.
The Hidden says "No"
while the Manifest says, "Me," and the Manifest says, "No" while the Hidden says, "Me". This is found in every opposite, yet
the speaker is one, and he is the same as the hearer in the statement of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
about what their selves say, (3) for they speak and hear what they say, and know what their selves say. The source is but
one, even if the judgements are different. There is no way that anyone can be ignorant of this sort of thing. Every man knows
from himself, and it is the form of the Real.
So things are mixed and numbers appear by the one in the known ranks.
Thus "one" brought number into existence, and number divides the One. The principle of number only appeared through the numbered.
Part of the numbered is non-existent, and part is existent. The thing is non-existent in relation to the senses while it is
existent in relation to the intellect. There must be number and numbered. That must grow from one and it grows because of
it. Every rank of the numbers has one reality like 9, for example, and 10 and down to 2, and upwards without end, and its
reality is not a sum.
A name is not perceived by the addition of ones. 2 is one reality, and 3 is one reality, and
so on until the end of these ranks. Even though the source [of numbers] is one, the source of one of them is not the source
of the others. Addition encompasses them all, and it speaks of them from them and judges them by them. Twenty ranks (4) appeared
in this statement, so composition entered into them. You will continue to affirm the source of what you deny in itself. Whoever
recognises what we have related of the numbers, and that negation is the same as their affirmation, knows that the Real, who
is disconnected by disconnection, is creature by connection, even though the creature is distinct from the Creator. The matter
is the creature/Creator and it is the Creator/creature. That is from one source, rather is is the One source and it is many
sources. Look at what you see!
Ibrahim¹s son told him, "My father, do what you are ordered." (37:102) The child is
the same as his father, so he only saw himself sacrificing himself, "and He ransomed him with an immense sacrifice." (5) That
which was manifested as a ram was manifested in the form of a human, and manifested in the form of a son. Rather, it is by
the principle of the son being the same as the father. "He created from (one self) his mate." (4:1) He (6) married his own
self, and from him are both his companion and his child. The matter is one in number. It is the same for nature and what is
manifested from it. We do not see it diminishing by what appears from it nor increasing by the lack of what other than it
manifests. That which is manifested is not other than it, nor is it the same as what is manifested according to the variety
of forms in principle. This one is cold and dry, and that one is hot and dry. They are joined by dryness, and distinct by
another quality. The common source is nature, and the world of nature is composed of forms in one mirror. Rather, it is one
form in different mirrors.
There is only bewilderment (hayra) by the dispersal of perspectives. Whoever knows what
we have said is not bewildered. If he
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