1

The Tao of Islam

A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought

Sachiko Murata

Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992

 2

Introduction

Nowadays not too many people still think that Islam appeared when fierce Arab warriors
charged out of the desert on camels to slaughter Christians and convert the heathens by means of
the sword. But old ideas about the place of women in Islam have hardly changed. The most
difficult task I have faced in years of teaching Islam is how to provide an accurate account of the
role of women in face of the deep prejudices of not only my students but also my colleagues.
Several years ago I was asked to teach a course called "Feminine Spirituality in World
Religions." Given my training and background, it was natural for me to spend a good deal of
time focusing on the Far Eastern traditions and Islam. And given the background of the students,
it was natural for them to come into class convinced, on some level of their awareness, that
Eastern women, and especially Muslim women, are the most oppressed and downtrodden women
on earth, and that although Islam may have something interesting to say on some level, it
certainly has nothing to offer on the level of women's role in society. I found that the only way
to overcome the mental obstacles in my students was to take a backdoor approach. Hence I came
at Islam not from within a Western context, with all the presuppositions about sexuality and
gender roles that this implies, but from the East. My introductory text in this course has been,
and remains, the I Ching. Only if people can put aside their prejudices for a while and deal with
gender relationships on a supra-mundane level can they begin to grasp the principles that infuse a
worldview such as the Chinese or the Islamic.
The ultimate problem, when we speak of cross-cultural differences in the question of
relationships among men and women, is that in a very real sense we have been living in different
worlds. The cultural presuppositions of Westerners about what is important in life are
profoundly different from the traditional views of Muslims or Japanese. This does not mean that
we have to remain silent if we see injustice in another world, but it does mean that we should ask
ourselves if our cultural spectacles allow us to see correctly. It also means that we should ask
ourselves, granted that we are seeing correctly, if our analysis of the causes of the injustice is
accurate. Comparable social conditions in our own society, with its specific worldview, may call
for one solution, and in another society they may call for a different solution.
I offer no answers as to whether or not Muslim women are any more oppressed than
women elsewhere. What I do maintain, however, is that generally the role of women in
traditional Islam__not in any given Islamic society today__is consistent with the Islamic
worldview. In the countries today where Islam is the dominant religion, the situation may be
very different. It is probably fair to say that the principles that I have tried to bring out in the
present book are not put into practice anywhere on the face of the earth, since there are no longer
any integral Islamic societies.
Society in the contemporary Islamic world knows abuses like society anywhere else. But
we need to distinguish between abuses that arise from living in accordance with the Islamic
ideals and those that arise from breaking with those same ideals. In the former case, I would
maintain that the "abuses" are more apparent than real and go back to our inability to grasp the
principles that animate an alien civilization. In the latter case, the abuses are real.
How can abuses that do, in fact, exist be remedied? The prevalent approach seems to
require that Islamic societies should follow various Western solutions. But if there is one thing
that the Western solutions share in common, it is antipathy to the principles of gender
relationships that are set down in the Islamic intellectual tradition. This is as much to say that all
 3

Western suggestions for the reform of Islam involve changing the principles upon which Islam is
built. Islam has to be "brought into the twentieth century."
Another approach tries to revive the Islamic worldview and apply it as it is supposed to
be applied. This way is also fraught with difficulties, but at least it holds up hope that people
will remain faithful to their origins and roots and, what is far more important in the Islamic
perspective, faithful to what God wants from them. The difficulties inherent in this approach
appear in what is commonly called "Islamic fundamentalism." In most cases, the various
movements that the Western media lump into this category have as great an antipathy to the
Islamic intellectual tradition as the purely Western approaches.

The Intellectual Tradition in Islam

Before going any further, I need to state clearly what I mean by the Islamic "intellectual
tradition," since this is the key to what I have tried to do in the present book. I have in mind a
deep current in Islamic thought that goes back to the Koran and the Hadith. What differentiates
this tradition from the legalistic approach of the Sharia (Islamic law) is that its representatives
ask about the "why" of things, not simply the "how." In contrast, the jurists, who speak for the
Sharia, are largely concerned with telling people what they must do. They do not ask why such
things should be done, since they take for granted the Sharia's basic prescriptions. But no matter
how important the Sharia may be for Islamic society, it is built upon principles that transcend
itself (a fact of which the practitioners of the science known as usûl al-fiqh [the principles of
jurisprudence] have always been acutely aware). The intellectual tradition has been concerned
with exploring these principles in the deepest sense. Once the principles are brought out, they
can be applied in novel ways, without breaking the spirit or the letter of the Sharia. Without
knowledge of the principles, novel approaches can be advanced that observe the Sharia, but all
too often these break with its spirit.
The issues raised by the modern concern with the politics of gender cannot be addressed
through the Sharia, since the Sharia simply issues commandments. It does not tell us why a
woman receives less in inheriting from her parents than her brother does. If someone objects, the
answer of the jurists can only be that God has told us to do it this way. Nowadays, Muslim
apologists also bring forth all sorts of sociological considerations with a view to answering
certain Western-inspired objections. But this legal and sociological approach tells us nothing
about the deeper reasons for the Islamic worldview. It is the deeper reasons that the intellectual
tradition addresses.
Answers to the questions that naturally arise about gender relationships cannot be found
by posing them to those who are unfamiliar with the principles and roots of Islamic thought.
Throughout Islamic history, the jurists have been criticized by the great authorities of the
intellectual tradition__such as Ghazâlî__for their narrow-mindedness, lack of depth, and one-
dimensioned approach to the problems that people face as human beings. One of the most
unfortunate signs of the contemporary malaise of the Islamic world is that the intellectual
authorities have all but disappeared from the scene, while the jurists have a free hand to say what
they want. There are many reasons for this, not the least of them the fact that Westerners have
always considered "orthodox" Islam to lie in the Sharia, in spite of the fact that some Western
scholars have pointed out that the Sharia deals only with "orthopraxy," not "orthodoxy." The
"sound teachings" of Islam are the concern of people who are not primarily jurists, though
typically they are also experts in jurisprudence. Nor can "orthodoxy" be limited to the views of
the proponents of Kalâm (dogmatic theology). There are other ways to investigate the
 4

underlying teachings of Islam that have at least as much claim as Ash`arite Kalâm to
"orthodoxy." Moreover, Kalâm does not engage in speculation on the nature of reality in terms
that can be enlightening for the question of gender relationships. Its fundamental concern is to
shore up the authority of the Koran as a source of commandments. Ultimately, it has the Sharia
in view, not the nature of reality itself.
In the present work I have been concerned to study the works of those intellectual
authorities who have asked fundamental questions concerning the nature of gender within the
matrix of ultimate reality. Most of these authorities have been classified as "Sufis." This does
not mean that they are "mystics" in any pejorative sense of the term. What it does mean is that
they do not limit themselves to surface readings and superficial interpretations. I have also
looked at several representatives of the philosophical tradition, since the philosophers also ask
the right questions. Moreover, the line between philosophy and theoretical Sufism is often
exceedingly difficult to draw. Figures like Bâbâ Afdal Kâshânî, Suhrawardî al-Maqtûl, or Mullâ
Sadrâ use the language of philosophy but have the same vision of the inner world that infuses the
Sufi approach.
Throughout the research that led to the writing of this book, I was looking for answers to
questions that only these representatives of what might better be called the "sapiential tradition"
had the resources to deal with. What does gender signify in the worldview of Islam? How are
male and female related to the structure of the natural world? What are the theological roots of
gender distinctions? Is God primarily father, or mother, or both, or neither? What is it in the
nature of existence itself that manifests itself as sexual distinctions? Are these distinctions
essential to the nature of reality, or peripheral? Can we ignore gender distinctions? If so, in
what domains can we ignore them? If not, where and why must we observe them? What
happens if we decide that we do not like the perceived result of gender distinctiveness? To what
extent can we change observed gender relationships in order to build better human beings and
better societies?
These questions cannot be addressed on the level of the Sharia, which simply presents
human beings with a list of dos and don'ts. Nor can they be addressed by Kalâm, which is
locked into an approach that places God the King and Commander (a close associate of God the
Father) at the top of its concerns. But they can be addressed and are addressed by the sapiential
tradition, which is interested in the structure of reality as it presents itself to us.
A number of modern scholars have undertaken studies of the place of gender in the
Islamic consciousness, but normally they have employed psychological models in their
approach. This is fine and useful. But it hardly gives the Islamic tradition credit for being able
to analyze the human psyche in its own way. The Sufis would be the first to point out that
modern approaches to the human being are blind to most of reality. By the very nature of their
chosen disciplines, modern scholars cannot delve into the deeper levels of the psyche with which
the authorities of the sapiential tradition are concerned. Such scholars can provide us with
interesting interpretations of the "unconscious" forces at work in Muslims, but they throw no
direct light on the unconscious forces at work in their own psyches that have led them to pose the
questions they pose. Asking the great Muslim authorities what they have to say about all this
may have the advantage of providing us with an insight into the conscious and unconscious
minds of everyone concerned.
The Feminist Critique of Islam
This is not the place to review the feminist critique of Islamic society and thought found
in the writings of many contemporary authors, since I am not concerned directly with the same
 5

issues. But I would like to make as explicit as possible why I think that the present book has
something to say to this critique.
It seems to me that feminists who have criticized various aspects of Islam or Islamic
society base their positions upon a worldview radically alien to the Islamic worldview. Their
critique typically takes a moral stance. They ask for reform, whether explicitly or implicitly.
The reform they have in view is of the standard modern Western type. Among other things, this
means that there is an abstract ideal, thought up by us or by our leader, which has to be imposed
by overthrowing the old order. This reform is of the same lineage as the Western imperialism
that originally appeared in the East as Christian missionary activity. The white man's burden
gradually expanded its horizons__or reduced them, depending on how you look at it. Salvation
was no longer touted as present in Christianity, but in science and progress. The "orientalist"
perspective fits nicely, as many scholars have shown, into this blatantly triumphalistic approach
to non-Western societies. Here we have the masculine impulse toward domination run wild,
with catastrophic results for the world. Remember that unbridled technological expansion with
its concordant ecological ills__the rape of the earth__grew up directly out of this same impulse.
Many other reformist currents in Western thought have been infused with the same will
to do good for others, even if the others do not realize that good is being done for them. Certain
forms of feminism seem to fit into the same line of thinking. We see new variants on the old,
domineering, and negatively masculine attitude known as proselytism. In the Islamic world__or,
in the Japanese world, for that matter__its appeal has been heard only by those who have lost
touch with their own intellectual and spiritual universe. The spokespeople for the movement tell
us that the rest will follow, as soon as their consciousness is raised. But here we certainly cannot
be blamed for asking how we can tell the difference between up and down.
It is precisely at this point__in discerning the difference between up and down, right and
left, backward and forward, good and evil__that Islam has the right and even the duty to call its
own intellectual authorities to witness. And those of us living in the West and concerned with
the issues have the duty to ask the right questions. For these are profound issues, having the
most intimate bearing on what it means to be human. And that is the fundamental concern of the
Islamic tradition: What is a human being? Once that is established, we can ask why there are
two basic kinds of human being, male and female, and how the two interrelate. At this point, we
have the right to ask if the mode of their interrelationship in any given situation is a correct one.
And most importantly, we have to ask about the normative principles in terms of which we can
judge the correctness of the relationship.

The Background of the Present Book

This book has a long history, as long as my own interest in Islam. As an undergraduate
studying family law at Chiba University outside of Tokyo, I became fascinated__through a
curious set of circumstances__with what I heard about Islamic family law, which allows a man
to have four wives, while he is expected to maintain peace and harmony at the same time.
Eventually, after a year working in a law firm, my curiosity overcame me, especially when an
Iranian friend offered to arrange a scholarship for me at Tehran University. I went with the aim
of studying Islamic law, but first I had to learn Persian. I spent three years in course work and
then wrote a Ph.D. dissertation in Persian literature on the role of women in the Haft paykar, a
poetical work by Nizâmî (d. ca. 600/1204).
It did not take me long to realize that my preconceptions about the place of women in
Islamic society__preconceptions that the Japanese learned originally from Western sources__had
 6

nothing to do with the realities of Iranian society (this was long before the "Islamic" revolution).
In any case, I had no hesitations about entering the Faculty of Theology at Tehran University,
where I was the first non-Muslim to enroll in the program on jurisprudence (fiqh). Many of my
fellow classmates were mullas who had decided that they needed a degree to be successful in the
new order (here I say "fellow" advisedly, since I was the first woman in the program). I was
always treated with respect and courtesy by faculty and students. I had the opportunity of
studying Islamic law with some of the foremost authorities in the field. I remain especially
grateful to Professor Abu'l-Qâsim Gurjî, one of the most outstanding students of Ayatollah Khû'î,
who always displayed special care to make sure that I was not disadvantaged by the years of
study that most of my classmates had already put into the subject.
One of my best memories of those years is the time spent studying with my private tutor,
Sayyid Hasan Iftikhârzâda Sabziwârî, who wore the turban of the clerical class and was
thoroughly trained in the traditional method, though he was pursuing a Ph.D. in Islamic
philosophy at Tehran University. Well versed in the intellectual as well as juridical sciences, he
guided me through some of the most difficult texts of jurisprudence and "principles of
jurisprudence" (usûl al-fiqh). With his help and the general guidance of my professor, Toshihiko
Izutsu, I was able to translate the tenth/sixteenth century classic on principles of jurisprudence,
Ma`âlim al-usûl, into Japanese.1 Iftikhârzâda had a difficult time at first convincing his wife that
he really did have a Japanese woman as a student. His wife thought for sure that he was hiding
something with this outlandish story. He finally had to bring her over to visit me, making sure
first that my husband would be there as well.
In all the years of working with traditional scholars such as Gurjî, Iftikhârzâda, and
others, I never felt that I was being treated special because I was a woman. They debated the
issues with me as they would with their mulla colleagues. Sometimes they convinced me they
were right, and on occasion I would convince them that they were wrong. Most often we kept
our own views, while respecting the other. On the level of knowledge, gender was not an issue.
But when a man visited someone's house with his wife, certain rules had to be observed.
I finished an M.A. dissertation at the Faculty of Theology on the topic of temporary
marriage (mut`a) and its social relevance. The topic is a fascinating one, but this is not the place
to discuss it.2 I will only remark that I spent several years of studying the legal and social
ramifications of this institution. Generally Westerners to whom I mention the topic are
convinced that it is unacceptable in today's world or in any world, without questioning their own
presuppositions about marriage. In my mind, this is one of the areas in which Western
stereotypes prevent a sympathetic understanding of a practical and realistic social institution. In
fact mut`a prevents many of the social ills connected with what I would call de facto temporary
marriage in the West (either through casual or other non-legal relationships, or through serial
relationships made possible by divorce). Like any institution, mut`a has its own special abuses,
but these go back precisely to abuse, not to the institution as it is set down in the Sharia.

1OTES

Introduction
Published as Isuramu Hooriron Josetsu (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1985).
2 I published an English translation as Temporary Marriage in Islamic Law (London:
Muhammadi Trust, 1987).
 7

in Iran I began serious study of the sapiential tradition in addition to my juridical studies.
For years I sat in on Professor Izutsu's class on the Fusûs al-hikam of Ibn al-`Arabî. I also
attended a class that extended over several years given by Seyyed Hossein Nasr on the great
Persian classic of Ibn al-`Arabî's school, Sharh-i gulshan-i râz. One of my fondest memories of
those years rests with the luminous teaching of Jalâl al-Dîn Humâ'î, whose very presence was
enough to convince me that Islam has a profound and living spiritual tradition. When my studies
at the Faculty of Theology were cut short by the revolution, I came to America where I continued
my research in the intellectual tradition in earnest.
From my earliest contacts with the manifestations of classical Islamic civilization,
whether in art and architecture, poetry, legal teachings, mores, cooking, and overall worldview, I
felt that it held some deep kinship with my own Far Eastern background. By 1977 I had decided
to write a Ph.D. dissertation comparing Islamic and Confucian teachings on the family, but the
revolution brought this research to an end. During these same years, I was studying the I Ching
with Professor Izutsu, and I became familiar with the explicit philosophical underpinnings of
Chinese thought.
When I joined the faculty at Stony Brook in 1983, I was asked to teach the course called
"Feminine Spirituality in World Religions" mentioned above. For the first time I faced squarely
the problem of dealing with deep-seated prejudices not only in relation to Islam but especially in
relation to the question of the role of women. From the beginning I realized that I would have to
approach Islam with the help of a Far Eastern perspective, or else I would face complete defeat.
It was only natural that I would return to the I Ching when I was searching for a way to
conceptualize Islamic teachings on the feminine principle without doing violence to the original
texts. In fact I found that by the time we had finished studying the I Ching and Chinese
teachings on women in general, the students' defenses were down. I made my task much easier
by taking the approach that I do in this book: I looked at the principles involved in gender
relationships on the level of theology, cosmology, and psychology. At that time I had at my
disposal a relatively small number of texts, but these were sufficient for the few weeks I was able
to devote to Islam in class. Towards the end of the discussion, when we turned toward the ideal
role of women in society according to Islamic spiritual teachings, students had no difficulty
appreciating the fact that Islamic gender roles were neither haphazard nor motivated primarily by
political concerns.
I have written the present book on the basis of the approach employed in that class.
However, I should make clear that I do not consider my methodology "comparative." I am well
aware of the dangers implicit in comparative approaches that come to facile conclusions on the
basis of superficial resemblances. To compare two things, we need to deal with them on the
same level, but that is not my intention, nor could I do so if I wanted to. What I am trying to do
is to bring out certain salient features of Islamic thought by referring to certain principles drawn
from a non-Western tradition. By doing so I hope to avoid various presuppositions about the
nature of reality and especially about gender relationships found in most Western studies of
Islam. My hope has been that a relatively novel point of view might bring out something
important in Islamic thought that has been missed by the usual approaches.
From the outset, then, it should be clear that when I speak of the Tao or yin and yang, I
have in view a rather generalized understanding of these terms. I know that in actual fact, there
has been a great diversity of opinions on these matters in Chinese history. I do not push my
comparisons, because then I could no longer generalize on the Chinese side of things. In short,
 8

the view of the principles of Chinese thought presented here is my own, and many specialists
might disagree with it.

Chinese and Islamic Thought

Chinese cosmology describes the universe in terms of yin and yang, which can be
understood as the active and receptive or male and female principles of existence. Yin and yang
embrace each other in harmony, and their union produces the Ten Thousand Things, which is
everything that exists. The famous symbol of Tai Chi, the "Great Ultimate" or the Tao, portrays
yin and yang as constant movement and change. In any given phenomenon, the relationship
between yin and yang is constantly changing. Hence the whole universe changes moment by
moment, like a running river. "Change," or I, is the process whereby heaven and earth and
everything between them are created and re-created. Yin and yang are the principles of change
and the symbols for all movement in the universe. When the sun rises, the moon disappears.
When spring comes, winter goes. In the words of Confucius, "Like a running river, the whole
universe is flowing ceaselessly day and night." Existence means harmonious change on the basis
of the Tao. If harmony between yin and yang were to be lost, the universe would cease to flow
and nothing could exist.
These basic teachings of Chinese thought are familiar to most educated readers in the
West. Given the popularity of the I Ching and the omnipresence of the yin/yang symbol, few
people need to be told that Chinese thought is concerned with harmony, equilibrium, and balance
between two principles of existence. In contrast, Islamic cosmology is practically unknown,
since few scholars have devoted attention to the worldview behind Islamic institutions.
Much of Islamic cosmology is reminiscent of Chinese cosmology in that it is based upon
a complementarity or polarity of active and receptive principles. But the Muslim sages employ
terminology that is not so familiar. A bit more analysis is needed before the play of the two
principles can be brought out clearly. Moreover, thought that is specifically Islamic begins with
God, as does the practice that both precedes the thought and grows up organically out of it. The
first of the five "pillars" of Islamic practice is the declaration with the tongue that "There is no
god but God and Muhammad is His messenger." The first of the articles of faith is God. The
definition of the first and most fundamental of the three principles of Islam, tawhîd, "the
profession of Unity," is that "There is no god but God."
If duality is found in the cosmos, it must be connected somehow to the One who is
beyond all duality. "Before" the existence of the universe, there was nothing but the Creator.3
All Muslims agree that the existence of the universe depends upon this one Reality.
According to a hadith commonly cited by Sufis, the Prophet said "God was and there was
nothing with Him." The great authority on hadith, al-Bukhârî, gives us the version, "God was
and there was nothing other than He."4 In the "beginning" there was only God, but He was
totally nonmanifest. Nothing else existed to display the individual attributes and qualities found
in the undifferentiated One. The Chinese tradition tells us that before yin and yang came into
existence, there was Tai Chi or the "Great Ultimate," and it was totally undifferentiated.

3 I put "before" in quotation marks, since most authorities see this as a logical and ontological
relationship, not a temporal one.
4 Bad' al-khalq 1. Al-Bukhârî also gives us the variant, "God was, and nothing was before Him"
(Tawhîd 22). As Ibn al-`Arabî sometimes points out, in the case of God, the verb kân (was) has
no temporal significance, so it is equivalent to "is."
 9

Confucius is reported to have said, "There is Tai Chi in Change, Change generates the two
primary forces, the two primary forces generate the four images, and the four images generate
the eight trigrams."5
Here the "two primary forces" refers to what later is consistently called yin and yang.
But there are a number of opinions concerning the "four images." One view holds that these are
the four states of yin and yang, that is, great or old yin, great or old yang, small or young yin and
small or young yang. Another opinion holds that these are the four elements: metal, wood,
water, and fire. Still another maintains that these are the four seasons, and another that they are
softness, hardness, shade (yin), and brightness (yang). No matter which view is followed, the
"four images" represent the primal elements of existence, which bring forth change within the
realities of all things. They are permutations of yin and yang. On the next level, the "eight
trigrams" represent the primordial nature of existence and are symbolized by father, mother,
three sons, and three daughters.
Confucius says, "There are no greater primordial images [of things] than heaven and
earth. There is nothing that has more movement and change than the four seasons."6 Heaven
represents pure yang and earth represents pure yin. The four seasons represent the four elements:
metal is autumn, wood is spring, water is winter, and fire is summer.
In all of this there is a constant attention to the qualities possessed by different
phenomena. The most primordial quality is that of the Tao itself. From one point of view, that
quality is sheer oneness. From another point of view, it is a totally harmonious interrelationship
between two tendencies that we will refer to as yin and yang. Each of these two is but a face of
the Tao, and each merges and melds into the other. Yet a certain distinction can be drawn, and
that is the root of the distinction that can be drawn among the four seasons, the eight trigrams,
the sixty-four hexagrams, the Ten Thousand Things. The oneness of the Tao manifests itself on
every level in a specific mode that gives that level its peculiar qualities. Those qualities define
the identity of the level. All qualities go back to the two and the one. All qualities can be shown
to have interrelationships on some level, since they manifest the same principle. It is these
interrelationships and correspondences that are of particular interest to the cosmologist. Through
them one grasps the unity of the whole. Without them we are left with meaningless quantity and
multiplicity.

Theological Polarity
In Islamic terms, the world or cosmos (al-`âlam) can be defined as "everything other than
God" (mâ siwâ Allâh), without spatial or temporal qualifications. Especially in the later
intellectual tradition, nothing is discussed independently from its relationship (nisba) with God.
It is the relationship that sets up a perspective in terms of which right understanding can be
achieved. But there are always two fundamental relationships, radically different, yet polar,
since God is a single reality.
In one respect, God is infinitely beyond the cosmos. Here, the theological term is tanzîh,
which means "to declare God incomparable" with everything that exists. From this point of
view, God is completely inaccessible to His creatures and beyond their understanding. This is
the classical position of Kalâm. Many verses could be cited to show that the Koran takes this
point of view, such as "Glory be to God, the Lord of Inaccessibility, above everything that they

5 Ta Chuan 11.5. The translation is my own. Cf. Wilhelm, I Ching 318.

6 Ta Chuan 11.7. Cf. Wilhelm, I Ching 319.
 10

describe" (37:180), or, in simpler terms, "Nothing is like Him" (42:11). In this respect, God is an
impersonal reality far beyond human concerns. He is the God of a certain form of negative
theology.
Though the proponents of Kalâm have often been looked upon by Western scholars as the
representatives of "orthodox" Islam, this is to impose an inappropriate category upon Islamic
civilization, as many other scholars have pointed out. In fact, by and large the criteria for being
Muslim have been following the Sharia and acknowledging the truth of a certain basic creed.
Beyond that, a variety of positions concerning the details of the creed were possible, and none
could be said to be "orthodox" to the exclusion of the others. When we look at Islamic
intellectual history with this point in mind, we see, in fact, that there is no question of a
universally recognized "orthodox" school of thought, but rather a large number of schools that
debate among themselves concerning how the basic items of the creed are to be understood. The
result is a long and dynamic history of intellectual interaction.
However this may be, the point here is simply that dogmatic theologians with their
almost exclusive emphasis upon God's incomparability represented only a small number of
intellectuals who had relatively little influence on the community at large. Popular Islam, the
philosophical tradition, and the spiritual tradition represented by the great Sufis stressed, or at
least found ample room for, a second point of view that is clearly supported by many Koranic
verses. The God of the theologians, as Ibn al-`Arabî remarked, was a God whom no one could
possibly love, since He was too remote and incomprehensible.7 But the God of the Koran, the
Prophet, and the spiritual authorities is a God who is supremely lovable, since He is dominated
by concern for His creatures. As the Koran puts it, "He loves them, and they love Him" (5:54).
God's love for creation brings about love for God in the creatures. This God of compassion and
love can be grasped and understood. To use the theological term, He must be "declared similar"
(tashbîh) in some fashion to His creation. We can rightly conceive of Him in human attributes.
This is the point of view of God's immanence in all things, and it is clearly supported by such
Koranic verses as "Wherever you turn, there is the face of God" (2:115) and "We are nearer to
the human being than the jugular vein" (50:16). In this respect, God is a personal God.
These two basic theological perspectives form two poles between which Islamic thought
takes shape. The most sophisticated of the Muslim thinkers strike a delicate balance between the
two positions. Both negative and positive theology are needed to bring about a right
understanding of the Divine Reality. One can gain a certain grasp of the role these two
perspectives have played in Islam by seeing an analogy with the Confucian emphasis upon yang
and the Taoist stress upon yin. In other words, if asked whether the Tao itself is dominated by
yin or yang, a Confucianist would more likely answer yang, while a Taoist would more likely
say yin. In the same way, the experts in jurisprudence and Kalâm__that is, those Muslim
authorities who defend the outward and legalistic teachings of Islam__lay stress upon God's
incomparability. They insist that He is a wrathful God and warn constantly about hell and the
divine punishment. He is a distant, dominating, and powerful ruler whose commands must be
obeyed. His attributes are those of a strict and authoritarian father. In contrast, those authorities

7 "By God, were it not for the Shari`a brought by the divine report-giving, no one would know
God! If we had remained with our rational proofs__which, in the opinion of the rational
thinkers, establish knowledge of God's Essence, showing that 'He is not like this' and 'not like
that'__no created thing would ever have loved God." (al-Futûhât al-makkiyya II 326.12; quoted
in Chittick, The Sufi Path of Knowledge [hereafter SPK] 180.)
 11

who are more concerned with Islam's spiritual dimension constantly remind the community of
the prophetic saying, "God's mercy precedes His wrath." They maintain that mercy, love, and
gentleness are the overriding reality of existence and that these will win out in the end. God is
not primarily a stern and forbidding father, but a warm and loving mother.
Islamic thinking about God centers upon the divine names or attributes revealed in the
Koran, the so-called ninety-nine names of God. Each of the two basic perspectives,
incomparability and similarity, is associated with certain names or attributes. God's
incomparability calls to mind such names as Mighty, Inaccessible, Great, Majestic, Compeller,
Creator, Proud, High, King, Wrathful, Avenger, Slayer, Depriver, and Harmer. The tradition
calls these the names of majesty (jalâl), or severity (qahr), or justice (`adl), or wrath (ghadab). In
the present context, I would call them "yang names," since they place stress upon greatness,
power, control, and masculinity.
In contrast, God's similarity calls to mind such names as Beautiful, Near, Merciful,
Compassionate, Loving, Gentle, Forgiving, Pardoner, Life-giver, Enricher, and Bestower. These
are known as the names of beauty (jamâl), or gentleness (lutf), or bounty (fadl), or mercy
(rahma). They are "yin names," since they place stress on submitting to the wishes of others,
softness, acceptance, and receptivity.
By and large the external and legalistic approach to Islam places greater stress on the
yang names. While acknowledging the yin names, the legalists interpret them in ways that place
their significance in the background. In contrast, the sapiential authorities stress the yin names.
The idea that "God's mercy precedes His wrath"__or "God's yin characteristics predominate over
His yang characteristics"__pervades their approach to reality. The first approach stresses God's
incomparability, distance, and otherness. The second stresses His similarity, nearness, and
sameness.
The contrast between these two approaches to reality is reflected throughout Islamic
thought and society. Those who emphasize God's remoteness and distinction tend to dwell on
the world of multiplicity and difference. They stress the discreet reality of individuals, the
difference between the Creator and the creature, the distinctions among things, the reality of
these distinctions. In contrast, those who emphasize God's similarity, nearness, and "withness"
(ma`iyya, from the Koranic verse, "He is with you wherever you are" [57:4]) prefer to dwell on
the establishment of unity and interrelationship. Distinctions are relative and can be erased from
a different point of view. Reality lies not primarily in outwardness and separation but in
inwardness and sameness.
In trying to bring out the basic Taoist approach to reality, Roger T. Ames contrasts it with
the dominant modes of philosophical thinking in the West. His remarks provide us with a
slightly different way of encapsulating the contrast between the legalistic and sapiential
approaches to Islamic teachings. The contrast he sets up is especially instructive in that, by and
large, the general perception of Islam in the West would place Islamic thought in the Western
tradition, that is, in the first category that Ames describes. He explains that Taoism in particular
and Chinese thought in general avoid dualistic explanations and prefer looking at things in
"polar" terms.
The separateness implicit in dualistic explanations of relationships conduces to an
essentialistic interpretation of the world, a world of "things" characterized by discreteness,
finality, closedness, determinateness, independence, a world in which one thing is related to the
"other" extrinsically. By contrast, a polar explanation of relationships gives rise to a holographic
interpretation of the world, a world of "foci" characterized by interconnectedness,
 12

interdependence, openness, mutuality, indeterminateness, complementarity, correlativity,

coextensiveness, a world in which continuous foci are intrinsically related to each other.8
Both of these approaches are found in Islamic thought. But by and large, the proponents
of Kalâm and jurisprudence stress the first, while the sapiential authorities stress the second. For
the most part, the two perspectives have lived in peaceful coexistence, each acting as a check to
the possible excesses of the other. On the whole, the dualistic approach predominates in social
teachings, while the polar approach is stressed in spiritual teachings. Moreover, the sapiential
tradition accepts the first approach as the valid and even necessary starting point for the second.
Hence it uses the same language at the outset, which has led many scholars to miss the relational
and polar nature of the thinking. If I preserve the language of duality in many places, this is
simply to follow the texts themselves. But the reader will soon see that the duality is often set up
as a philosophical whipping boy. Until distinction is drawn, polarity cannot be brought out.
Until opposition is perceived, it cannot be overcome. The ultimate aim is always the
establishment of tawhîd, the unity and interrelatedness of all reality.

Signs of God
The Koran repeatedly affirms that all things are "signs" (âyât) of God, which is to say
that everything gives news of God's nature and reality. As a result, many Muslim thinkers, the
cosmologists in particular, see everything in the universe as a reflection of the divine names and
attributes. These names and attributes represent qualities, such as majesty, beauty, life,
knowledge, and so on. Hence the qualitative dimension of things__to the extent that it can be
differentiated from the dimension that is purely quantitative or "material" (in the sense of hylic,
or simply potential)__is of primary interest. In respect of similarity, the qualities of creation give
us news of the divine attributes, though in respect of incomparability, they announce that God is
totally other. To the extent that they display similarity and give us knowledge of ultimate
Reality, the signs of God establish qualitative analogies among created things. These analogies
provide the means of discerning relationships__often quite hidden relationships that make no
sense in terms of modern categories__among things and between the things and God.
In a famous saying, the Prophet explained why God created the cosmos: "God says, 'I
was a hidden treasure and I desired to be known. Therefore I created the creatures so that I
might be known.'"9 Hence the world is the locus in which the Hidden Treasure is known by the
creatures. Through the universe God comes to be known, and since there is nothing in the
universe but created things, it is the created things themselves that give news of the Hidden
Treasure. Many cosmologists employ terms like zuhûr (manifestation) and tajallî (self-
disclosure) to explain the relationship of the world to God. Through the cosmos, God discloses
Himself to His creatures. The creatures themselves are the manifestation of God's names and
attributes. Their qualities are ultimately God's qualities.

8 "Putting the Te Back into Taoism," in J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames (eds.), Nature in
Asian Traditions of Thought (Albany: SUNY Press, 1989) 120.
9 The saying is considered suspect by the specialists in the science of hadith, while the yang
authorities condemn it outright. For the representatives of the yin perspective, however, it is
true, since it epitomizes the metaphysical underpinnings of their position. They are not overly
concerned with whether or not the Prophet actually said it. As Ibn al-`Arabî remarks, it is "sound
on the basis of unveiling [i.e., mystical vision], but not established by way of transmission"
(quoted in SPK 391).
 13

We have already seen that the attributes of God are divided into two broad and
complementary categories, the yang and yin names. In the view of the cosmologists, these two
categories work in harmony to bring the cosmos into existence. As Rûmî puts it, referring to the
two kinds of names by their dominant quality, "Severity and gentleness were married, and a
world of good and evil was born from the two."10
Many theologians see a reference to the two kinds of divine names in the Koranic
expression the "two hands of God." They take this as a symbol for the relationship between
incomparability and similarity, or majesty and beauty. The Koran says that only human beings
among all creatures were created with both hands of God (38:76). This is read as an allusion to
the fact that, as the Prophet said, Adam was created in God's own form. Hence, human beings
manifest all the names of God, both the names of severity and the names of gentleness. In
contrast, the angels of mercy were created only with God's right hand, while the satans were
created only with His left hand. Only a human being represents an complete image of the Divine
Reality; every other thing offers an imperfect image that is dominated by one hand or the other.
Only humans were created through a perfect balance of both kinds of attributes.
Since the Reality of God disclosed through the cosmos can be described by opposite and
conflicting attributes, the cosmos itself can be seen as a vast collection of opposites. The two
hands of God are busy shaping all that exists. Hence mercy and wrath, severity and gentleness,
life giving and slaying, exalting and abasing, and all the rest of the contradictory attributes of
God are displayed in existence.
One way we perceive this constant interaction of the names is through change (haraka)
and transmutation (istihâla). Chuang Tzu could say, "The existence of things is like a galloping
horse. With every motion existence changes, at every second it is transformed."11 For their
part, the dominant school of Kalâm, the Ash`arites, said that nothing stands still in creation and
no phenomenon remains constant in its place for two successive moments. Everything is in
constant need of divine replenishment, since nothing exists on its own. Things can exist only if
God gives them existence. If God were to stop giving existence to the universe for an instant, it
would disappear. Hence, at each moment God re-creates the cosmos to prevent its annihilation.
The concept of the continual re-creation of the cosmos became a mainstay of Islamic
cosmological thinking. Many authorities interpreted this constant change and transmutation in
terms of the interplay of the diverse divine names. Thus, at each instant, the divine mercy and
gentleness create all things in the universe. In other words, at each instant God reaffirms His
similarity with things and His presence in the cosmos. But God is also incomparable and other.
Hence, just as His mercy creates, His wrath destroys. His unique and absolute reality displays
"jealousy" (ghayra): It does not allow any "others" (ghayr) to exist alongside it. At each instant,
the divine gentleness brings the world into existence, and at each instant the divine severity
destroys it.12 Every succeeding moment represents a new universe, similar to the preceding

10 Mathnawî II 2680 (quoted in Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love 101). Hereafter this book will
be referred to as SPL.
11 Chuang Tsu 17.6.
12 The wrath that demands the destruction of "others" is frequently connected to the attributes
of Oneness and Severity mentioned in a Koranic verse alluding to the Last Day: "Whose is the
Kingdom today? God's, the One, the Intensely Severe." (40:16). Thus the sixth/twelfth century
Sufi author Ahmad Sam`ânî talks of three divine attributes__power, oneness, and wisdom__that
demand respectively creation, destruction, and resurrection: "Bringing into existence [îjâd] at
 14

universe, but also different. Each new universe represents a new self-disclosure of God.
According to the cosmological axiom, "God's self-disclosure never repeats itself," since God is
infinite.13
The cosmos is a constantly shifting and changing pattern of relationships among God's
signs, which are the loci of manifestation for His names. The universe is created and maintained
through the activity of opposite divine attributes that display the activity of the single Principle.
Hence duality can be perceived at every level. However, if we look more closely, we should be
able to see the opposing forces not as absolutely opposed, but rather as complementary or polar.
Yin and yang are working together everywhere, producing transmutation and constant change.
The Koran quotes God as saying, "And of everything We created a pair" (51:40). Or
again, "God Himself created the pair, male and female" (53:45). All things in the universe are
paired with other things. Several of the pairs mentioned in the Koran take on special importance
as the fundamental principles of creation. These include the Pen (al-qalam) and the Tablet (al-
lawh), which are specifically Islamic symbols, and heaven and earth, which find deep parallels in
the Chinese tradition and elsewhere.
The Pen and the Tablet are mentioned in a few Koranic verses and some sayings of the
Prophet. Referring to itself, the Koran says, "Nay, but it is a glorious Koran, in a guarded tablet"
(85:22). Commentators explain this tablet as an invisible spiritual reality on which the
Koran__the eternal and uncreated word of God__is written. The Koran refers to the Pen in the
first verses that were revealed to the Prophet: "Read out! And thy Lord is the most generous,
who taught by the Pen, taught man what he knew not" (96:1-5). In another verse, God swears by
the Pen: "By the Pen and what they inscribe!" (68:1). These short and rather enigmatic verses
provided a great deal of food for meditation, especially since the Prophet himself added a certain
amount of interesting clarification. In some hadiths he said that the Pen was God's first creation,
while elsewhere he said that the first thing created by God was the Intellect (`aql). These are the
loci classici for the identification that the cosmologists make between the cosmic Pen and the
"First Intellect." All creatures are latent and undifferentiated in the Intellect's knowledge, just as
ink is present inside the Pen. Then, by means of the Intellect, God creates the whole universe.
The qualities connected with the term Pen are clearly of the yang type, while the term
Intellect adds a certain yin side to this same reality. The Muslim cosmologists, like the Chinese,
never see anything as exclusively active or exclusively receptive. Everything in the cosmos has
both yin and yang qualities. These can be discovered by investigating the various relationships
that things establish with other things. Thus, for example, the first spiritual being is called by the
name Pen because it has an active and masculine side to its nature. God created it as a means to

the beginning is required by power, destroying [i`dâm] in the middle is required by oneness, and
the return [i`âda] is required by wisdom. Through power He scattered the seed of creation in the
ground of wisdom. Many kinds of vegetation sprung up__some were sweet-smelling flowers,
others liver-scraping thorns. Then from the World of Oneness the wind of jealousy sprang up
and the storm of severity blew. He clothed the cosmos in the garment of nonexistence. With the
hand of severity He removed the collar of existence from the neck of the existent things and the
creatures." Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 4-5.
13 For a relatively detailed explanation of how the names of gentleness and the names of
severity interact in order to produce an ever-renewed creation, cf. Jâmî, Lawâ'ih: A Treatise on
Sufism 32-33. Jâmî's views are based firmly on those of Ibn al-`Arabî (cf. SPK, especially
Chapter 6).
 15

bring the rest of the cosmos into existence. Hence the Pen has a face turned toward the universe.
It writes upon the Tablet, and the cosmos comes to exist as the written words of God. In
contrast, this first spiritual reality is called intellect (`aql) at least partly because it has a receptive
and feminine side to its nature. Etymologically, `aql signifies tying, binding, and constricting.
The Intellect has a face turned toward God through which it contemplates God and receives
constant replenishment from His light. At the same time it constricts and limits the light through
its own finitude as a creature.
In order to bring the universe into existence, the Pen needs a place within which to write.
Without the Tablet, no duality could appear within spiritual existence, and without duality, there
could be no physical universe, which depends upon twos, threes, fours, ad infinitum. Just as the
Pen is called the First Intellect, so also the Tablet is called the Universal Soul. In relation to
God, the First Intellect is receptive, dark, and yin, but in relation to the Universal Soul, it is the
Pen: active, luminous, and yang. This principle has important repercussions in psychology,
where spirit and soul in the human being are seen to possess the same qualities as the First
Intellect and the Universal Soul.
Along with many other Muslim thinkers, Ibn al-`Arabî describes all the realities in the
cosmos as manifestations of different divine names. He finds the archetypes of the Pen and
Tablet in the Koranic verse, "God governs the affair and He differentiates the signs" (13:3). The
Pen manifests the divine name Governor, while the Tablet manifests the divine name
Differentiator. On a lower level of existence, the spirit manifests the name Governor in relation
to the body. The spirit, which is the principle of life and awareness, governs, controls, and
directs the body in the same way that the Pen governs, controls, and directs the Tablet. The body
in turn manifests the name Differentiator, since it displays the powers and qualities of the spirit's
single reality through its innumerable functions and activities.
Without the Tablet, the Pen could not write. The Tablet takes what is undifferentiated in
the Pen and manifests all its details. It allows for the articulation of the existential words of God
at a spiritual level of existence. This symbolism of the divine, creative words is central to
Islamic cosmological thinking, no doubt because a large number of Koranic verses allude to it.
One of the most often cited supports for the idea that all things are words of God is the verse,
"God's only word, when He desires a thing, is to say to it 'Be!' and it is" (16:40). Hence, say the
cosmologists, each creature is a unique expression of the divine word "Be!" The Pen writes out
these divine words on the Tablet, thus manifesting the spiritual essences of all things. The spirit
of each and every thing in the cosmos is brought into existence as a unique word on the Tablet.
Both Pen and Tablet, yang and yin, active and receptive, are necessary for the spiritual realities
of all things to come into actuality.
The Pen has two faces. With one face it looks at God, and with the other it looks at the
Tablet and everything below it. In the same way, the Tablet has two faces. With one face it
looks at the Pen, and with the other it looks at the worlds that lie below it. In relation to the Pen,
the Tablet is receptive and thereby manifests differentiation. But in relation to the cosmos, the
Tablet is active and manifests governing control. It becomes a yang reality. In Ibn al-`Arabî's
view, when we investigate the Tablet's relationship to the cosmos more carefully, we see both
creativity and receptivity, both governing and differentiating. Hence, when the Tablet is
discussed by its name "Universal Soul," it is said to have two faculties, the faculty of knowing,
through which it receives from the Intellect, and the faculty of acting or doing, through which it
exercises control. It knows the details of the existence of all things, since these are differentiated
 16

within itself. Since it knows these details, it governs the destiny of all things, since nothing
escapes from its knowledge. It acts by bestowing existence upon what it knows.
Pen and Tablet illustrate the workings of yang and yin within the spiritual or invisible
world. On a lower level of existence, the spiritual world interacts with the visible world. This
interaction is frequently described in terms of heaven and earth, a pair of terms constantly
employed in the Koran. The cosmologist Nasafî explains that the term heaven refers to
everything that stands above something else, while the term earth refers to everything that stands
below something else. Thus, the terms are relative and depend upon our point of view. That
which is called "earth" in respect to one thing may be called "heaven" in respect to another, just
as a single reality may be yang in relation to one thing and yin in relation to another.
Heaven acts through effusing light and existence, while earth is receptive toward these
effusions. However, the station of the earth has a certain priority over that of heaven. This is not
to suggest that one of them comes into existence first. For there is always a heaven and an earth,
an aboveness and a belowness, in creation.
Creation is that which is "other than God." Hence it is not one, God alone being one in
every respect. Since creation demands multiplicity by definition, it is a locus for separation and
deployment. When two things are present, one is above and one is below with respect to the
relationship established by certain qualities. If we take other qualities into account, the
relationship may be reversed. If earth is prior to heaven in a certain respect__even, one can say,
"above" heaven__this simply means that the sufficient reason for the existence of heaven is to
bestow upon the earth. Without an earth, heaven is meaningless. You cannot have an above
without a below__nor, of course, can you have a below without an above. If the earth were not
ready to receive effusion, there could be no heaven. Heaven and earth are defined in terms of
each other, since they are polar realities. Hence the existence of the earth is a precondition for
the manifestation of qualities that are concealed in heaven.
The heavenly realities are formless or spiritual, and the earth gives them bodily forms. In
the same way, the analogue of heaven within the human microcosm, the "spirit," can do nothing
without a body, which acts as its vehicle and instrument. Just as God created the universe to
manifest His own perfections__the Hidden Treasure__so also the spirit needs the body to bring
its own potentialities into actuality. As Rûmî puts it,
The spirit cannot function without the body,
and without the spirit, the body is withered and cold.
Your body is manifest and your spirit hidden:
These two put all the world's business in order.14
Nasafî divides all existent things into three kinds: Giver of effusion, receiver of effusion,
and product of the interrelationship between the two. "Heaven" is that which is above something
else and gives effusion to it. It may be a spiritual or a corporeal reality. "Earth" is that which is
below something else and receives effusion from it. It may belong either to the spiritual or the
corporeal world. The creatures are the children of heaven and earth, the product of their
interrelationship. Rûmî expresses this idea in verse:
In the view of intellect, heaven is the man
and earth the woman.
Whatever the one throws down,
the other nurtures.15

14 Rûmî, Mathnawî V 3423 (cf. SPL 29).

 17

In this context Confucius sounds like just another Muslim cosmologist:

Heaven is lofty and earth is low. . . . The creative directs the great beginning, and the
receptive completes all things.16

Cosmic Correspondences
Careful reading of the Koran and the Hadith shows that Islam's basic view of men and
women postulates a complementarity of functions. "And of everything We created a pair"
(Koran 51:40). Neither can be complete without the other. In Islamic cosmological thinking, the
universe is perceived as an equilibrium built on harmonious polar relationships between the pairs
that make up all things. Moreover, all outward phenomena are reflections of inward noumena
and ultimately of God. All multiplicity is reducible, in some way, to the One. All creatures of
the universe are nothing but God's signs. The pairs, male and female included, must therefore
tell us something about God's own Self.
One of the many cosmological sciences developed in classical Islamic civilization was
astrology or "the properties of the stars" (ahkâm al-nujûm). For most Muslim thinkers, the
object of this science was to bring out the manner in which heaven, along with the realities it
contains, exercises specific influences upon the earth. Astrological investigation takes the form
of discovering the qualitative correspondences between things in the upper world and the lower
world. For the more perspicacious, there is no question of any direct "influence" by the stars.
Rather, the relationships among heavenly bodies and between heaven and earth throw light on
corresponding or analogical relationships found in this world and in the soul. The key here is
analogy or correspondence. And this is established by the qualities that things manifest, all of
which ultimately go back to the One. In other words, different things, at different levels of
reality or in different times and places, manifest the same qualities of the Real (al-haqq).
Closely related to the type of analogical thinking found in astrology is the ta'wîl or
esoteric interpretation of the Koran practiced by many Sufis and also certain Shi`ite authorities.
The goal of ta'wîl was frequently to show how Koranic verses that speak of the cosmos or
recount stories of the prophets have a second level of interpretation pertaining to the inward
situation of the human individual. The microcosm "corresponds" to the macrocosm. On this
level, the Koran depicts the drama of the human soul in its relationship with God.
At first reading, ta'wîls may seem arbitrary. But this is not so if one takes into account
the analogical thinking out of which the tradition arises. The keys to ta'wîl can best be sought in
texts dealing with the correspondences between macrocosm and microcosm, texts that are often
deeply embedded in Greek learning. In such texts astrology is placed in this wider context of
analogical thinking.

Human Equilibrium
Cosmological thinking in Islam is intimately bound up with the Islamic worldview as a
whole. In no sense is it some sort of disinterested scientific investigation of the nature of things.
On the contrary, most cosmologists have been concerned with demonstrating the analogies
among all levels of existence in order to show that human beings play a unique role in the
universe as God's representatives or vicegerents (khalîfa). This in turn demands human
responsibility. The legalistic perspective tends to say that human beings must answer to God

15 Ibid. III 4404 (cf. SPL 163).

16 Ta Chuan 1.1,5. Cf. Wilhelm, I Ching 280, 281.
 18

because a slave has no right to disobey his master's commands. He is duty bound by the fact that
he is owned. In contrast, the sapiential perspective stresses noblesse oblige: As divine
representatives, human beings have no choice but to assume responsibility for themselves and
their surroundings. God's presence in the world and one's self must be recognized and
acknowledged, and then one must act as God would act, as God's representative must act.
Hence the sapiential tradition is constantly concerned with describing the human context
in a manner that highlights the similarity with God demanded by vicegerency. In order to do
this, it needs to illustrate how human qualities correspond to the divine qualities, and how the
qualitative relationships among the things of the cosmos place the human being at the pinnacle of
created existence, with a great burden of responsibility to match the honor. All creatures other
than human beings are good, since they are creatures of God, signs of God, loci of manifestation
for the qualities of God, and can be nothing other than what they are. Human beings may
possess a certain natural goodness as signs of God. But, in contrast to all other things, they also
may be evil if they fail to make proper use of the peculiar nobility given exclusively to them. To
be fully and properly human, human beings must actualize in themselves all the good qualities
naturally inherent in creation, but at the same time these must be utilized according to a
normative balance and harmony. Evil appears when people break this balance or work contrary
to the Tao of heaven and earth. Evil has no other entry into the world, since only human beings
have the freedom to choose it. This freedom gives them a unique nobility, centrality, and all-
comprehensiveness, but it also opens the door to abuse. The only creatures somewhat similar to
human beings in this respect are those beings created from fire and known as the "jinn," whose
special qualities will be discussed later. They are also free to say no to the Tao. The leader of
the evil jinn__as opposed to the good jinn who say yes__is Iblis or Satan.
All things in the universe reflect the names and attributes of God in diverse and
differentiated modes. In contrast, human beings bring all these qualities together. As a result,
they act as the mediating reality in existence, the place where God interacts with the cosmos in a
direct manner. For in God all these qualities are present in undifferentiated oneness, while in the
cosmos they are present in differentiated manyness. Only in human beings are they present in
both differentiated and undifferentiated mode.
Followers of Ibn al-`Arabî often refer to the human reality as the Great Isthmus-nature
(al-barzakhiyyat al-kubrâ). Like an isthmus (barzakh), human beings stand between the two
oceans__God and the cosmos. Because of the centrality and "all-comprehensiveness" (jam`iyya)
of the human situation, only human beings can upset the harmony and equilibrium that is
naturally established between God and the cosmos. Moreover, because of their mediating
situation, the fact of acting as God's representatives, only human beings can establish perfect
harmony and equilibrium between God and creation.
A cosmos without humans is inconceivable, since they alone act as a locus of
manifestation for God as such. Of course here we have in view not the human species as found
here on earth, but the qualities that are present in that species and may be found in analogous
species in other worlds: the qualities of centrality, all-comprehensiveness, isthmus-nature,
vicegerency. Only in "human beings" according to this definition is the image of God reflected
fully. Only in them is the Hidden Treasure displayed in its original variety and concentrated
brilliance, yet at the created level. Human beings are the pivot and axis of the cosmos, around
which all things turn. They must perform their function of mediating and establishing peace and
harmony among all things. Yet, paradoxically, precisely because they are images of God and
 19

share in His freedom, they are free to shirk their responsibility, break the harmony, and corrupt
the universe.
In short, the purpose of Islamic cosmological teachings is to express within the context of
the intellectual tradition the obligations of human existence. People are obliged by their very
nature to live in harmony with the Tao, or to "submit" (islâm) to the ways of heaven and earth in
order to establish harmony upon earth in general and within human society in particular. The
ultimate goal of the Islamic sapiential tradition is expressed nicely by Chuang Tzu with his
words, "Heaven and earth and I live together__all things and I are one."17
To review what has already been said, the one God is looked upon from two points of
view. In respect to God's distance and incomparability, human beings and all other creatures are
His absolute servants and must submit to His will. But in respect to His similarity and nearness,
human beings have another role to play. Since they were created in the divine form and with
God's two hands, they alone find in themselves all the qualities of God and creation. Hence they
alone can be God's vicegerents in the earth.
In gaining correct knowledge of God, one needs to combine the declaration of God's
incomparability with the understanding of His similarity. These are not empty concepts,
however. Each of them makes demands. Fully understanding them means that certain attitudes
are set up in the soul. These attitudes can be summed up by two key Koranic terms: servant
(`abd) and vicegerent (khalîfa). We have already suggested that Islam looks upon vicegerency as
the supreme human state, the goal of human life. But in order to represent God, a person must
first be worthy of the mission. God does not send any beggar out on His behalf. In fact, to speak
of vicegerency as the supreme human state is misleading unless one understands that
vicegerency is a perfect yang attitude toward the cosmos that has as its necessary and inseparable
complement a perfect yin attitude toward God. Servanthood and vicegerency are two sides of
the same coin. Moreover, servanthood has a certain priority over vicegerency, just as the
Intellect has a certain priority over the Pen. Though Intellect and Pen are identical, until the
Intellect takes from God, the Pen cannot write. So also, until human beings submit to the will of
God (islâm) and become His servants, they cannot be His proper representatives.
How we understand God and the human self depends on the point of view. Neither God
nor a human being has two essences. God is one, and the human being is one. But human
beings are like two-sided mirrors. One side reflects the qualities of servanthood as manifested in
all creation, and the other side reflects the qualities of Lordship as possessed by God. Human
beings are both lord and servant. As Ibn al-`Arabî puts it,
A human being is two transcriptions: an outward transcription and an inward
transcription. The outward transcription corresponds to the macrocosm in its totality, while the
inward transcription corresponds to God.18
The outward dimension of the human being is related to servanthood, the inward
dimension to lordship and vicegerency. The outward dimension reflects distance from God and
therefore brings to mind His incomparability. The inward dimension reflects nearness and is
connected to God's similarity. The two dimensions thus reflect the two hands of God through
which human beings were created.
The whole cosmos comes into existence through the marriage of the complementary
divine names, the names of beauty and majesty. The first group of names is connected more

17 Chuang Tsu 2.6.

18 Ibn al-`Arabî, Inshâ' al-dawâ'ir 21.
 20

closely to God's similarity, while the second group is connected to His incomparability. God's
double relationship with created things results in the polar structure of humans: spiritual and
corporeal, or formless and formal. The bodily dimension of reality is connected with the limiting
qualities of earth. These include hardness, heaviness, solidity, darkness, ignorance. God is
totally incomparable with such attributes. The spiritual dimension of created reality is connected
with the qualities of light. These include incorporeality, intangibility, luminosity, subtlety,
intelligence. These are closely connected to God's similarity. God is the Light of the heavens
and the earth, the Knower of all things, the Subtle. Only through sharing in His attributes can
human beings possess a spiritual dimension. The spirit is inherently nearer to God than the body,
and therefore relatively "similar" to Him.
But in the human being, the outward form or body is inseparable from the spirit. Spirit
and body together manifest all the divine names. The dark, earthly, ignorant side of human
nature is inconceivable without God's incomparability. In short, the original nature (fitra) of
human beings is the reflected image of the divine reality. Spiritual perfection is to realize one's
primordial and original nature, the divine reality latent in oneself.
This whole discussion cannot be epitomized better than by the words of Confucius: "One
yin and one yang. This is Tao. To inherit from the Tao is good. To actualize the Tao is the
primordial human nature."19

The Plan of the Book

My primary concern in this book is to bring out the type of thinking that has gone on
among those Muslim authorities who were concerned with the underlying nature of polar
relationships. In order to do this, it is not sufficient simply to say in general terms that the
Muslims said such and such or thought in this way or that. Their thinking needs to be presented
as nearly as possible in their own words so that we do not impose our thinking upon them. The
meaning of words is intimately related to the way in which the language is used and to the
context. The paraphrasing that is commonly done in books on the history of Islamic thought has
the effect of losing nuances of thought and expression that are every bit as important as the
"meaning" of the words.
All this has to do with what I call a "qualitative" approach. The "qualities" at issue are
normally present in the very form of the discourse, in the adjectives and verbs that are employed.
We cannot "go straight to the point" without missing the point. The more we can quote the
actual texts, the more it may be possible to find out what is really at issue for the Muslim
authorities themselves.
I pay great attention to consistency of translation. It is not merely a question of making
sure that the technical terminology of Islamic philosophy or Sufism is recognized as such and
preserved as key terms. In fact, the more I work with the texts, the more I realize that the
"peripheral" words are just as important as the "important" words. None of these texts was
written in a vacuum. The authors paid extremely close attention to the words they were
employing. The words have not only a technical meaning, but also a shade or tone that colors
and shapes the whole discussion. The texts I cite range over a period of about one thousand
years, though most pertain to a period of four hundred years. Several schools of thought are
represented here, yet they all used the same words. And they had in mind the usage of these

19 Ta Chuan 5.1-2.
 21

words in the Koran, the Hadith, and other schools of thought. As soon as we change the
translation to meet what seems to us to be a change of context, important correlations are lost to
sight. Yet it is my thesis that the central issue in Islamic thought is relationship or correlation. If
we lose the linguistic correlations, we will have a much more difficult time bringing out
conceptual correlations.
The book is structured in a way that I see as largely having been imposed on me by the
nature of the material. Islamic thought always begins with God. Tawhîd, or the statement,
"There is no god but God," is taken as the fundamental given by all Muslim thinkers. Hence it is
necessary to deal with "theology" at the outset. But by theology I do not mean Kalâm, since that
is a particular kind of dogmatic theology that is not very helpful in the investigation of the issues
with which I am concerned. I have in mind theology in the literal sense of the term: knowledge
of God. This is the primary concern not only of the proponents of Kalâm, but also of many Sufis
and most philosophers. And it is the "sapiential" approach of the latter two groups that opens up
the symbolic universe of Islamic discourse to the type of investigation that I have undertaken.
Before dealing with theology, however, I found it useful to say something more about
qualitative thinking and the overall structure of what I call the "Tao of Islam." Hence in the first
chapter I discuss the three great realities that make up this Tao: God, the cosmos, and the human
being. I show how the sapiential tradition has seen these three realities as being inseparable.
Each manifests the same "qualities" or attributes or characteristics, but in different modes. Each
can be seen as a replica of the Tao, with the two fundamental principles, yin and yang,
harmoniously present.
The rest of the book is concerned primarily with providing textual evidence for the claims
made in the introduction and Chapter 1. Hence it is divided into three sections: God, the
cosmos, and spiritual psychology, or metacosm, macrocosm, and microcosm. I employ the term
spiritual psychology in order to indicate that Islamic views on the microcosm are related to the
spiritual perfection of human beings, which is the central goal of Islam according to the
intellectual tradition with which I am concerned.
No attempt is made to make each of the three sections of the book deal exclusively with
the topic in question. Given the nature of the material, this is impossible without serious
distortion. The three major topics are interrelated on all sorts of levels, and the texts do not
discuss them in isolation.. The section headings merely delineate the major theme of each
section, but the other two themes necessarily come up as well.
The central issue, in my view, is theological in the broadest sense of the word. How
Islam pictures gender relationships depends upon its picture of the nature of reality. Absolute
reality (al-haqîqat al-mutlaqa) is God, whom the Koran often calls the Real (al-haqq). It is my
hope that this book has something to say to the ongoing theological debate over everything
implied in such terms as "God the Father" and "God the Mother," even if the issues are presented
here in exclusively Islamic terms.
This book has evolved considerably since I first conceived of it. After three years of
teaching "Feminine Spirituality in World Religions," I applied for a fellowship from the National
Endowment for the Humanities to write a book on "the feminine principle in Islam." I received
the fellowship and was able to devote the 1986-87 academic year to gathering most of the
material found in the book. I am deeply grateful to NEH for this help. The more I studied the
texts, however, the more it became clear to me that Islamic views on the feminine can in no way
be separated from Islamic views of the masculine. The work gradually evolved into an
investigation of gender relationships. But even this had to be mentioned in the subtitle, since
 22

such relationships represent only one example of a much broader phenomenon. This
phenomenon is a type of polar thinking that places relationships at center stage. The goal of this
thinking is to show how all things are interrelated within the context of the absolutely Real. In
other words, the goal is to establish unity (tawhîd), though this unity does not erase the effect of
polarity. Quite the contrary, establishing unity shows how polarity is itself the primary principle
through which unity manifests itself. Hence the final title of the work, The Tao of Islam, refers
to relational thinking in Islam and the fact that polarity expresses unity. Since male and female
make up one of the many relational pairs found in existence, the question of gender relationships
plays an important role in the study.
In its present form the book owes a good deal to my husband, William C. Chittick. Not
only have I made free use of his published and unpublished works, but years of collaboration and
discussion have helped shape my own ideas__and his__about the issues discussed. He has
checked the translations against the originals and devoted a good deal of time to editing the final
version of the book. I owe special gratitude to Professor Izutsu, who not only taught me Arabic
and then Ibn al-`Arabî's metaphysics, but who also gave me the key to understand Islamic
cosmogenesis in terms of the I Ching. The seed he planted in my mind years ago has finally
given fruit in this book.
 23

1. The Three Realities

In most of our texts, three basic realities are kept in view: God, the cosmos or
macrocosm, and the human being or microcosm. We can picture these as the three angles of a
triangle. What is particularly interesting is the relationships established among the angles. God
at the apex and source brings the two angles at the base into existence, since both macrocosm
and microcosm are derivative realities. Each angle can be studied in relation to one or both of
the other two angles.
The triangular picture is made more complex by the fact that each of the three realities
has two basic dimensions and can be pictured as a cross. The vertical axis represents one kind of
relationship, the horizontal axis another kind. At the apex, the vertical axis is set up by the
distinction between the Divine Essence and the divine attributes, while the horizontal axis
reflects the relationships between complementary divine names, such as Exalter and Abaser, or
Life-giver and Slayer. Parallel distinctions can be drawn in both microcosm and macrocosm.
"Heaven and earth" or "spirit and body" represent the vertical axis, while interrelationships
among realities at each level set up a number of horizontal axes. For the moment, it is important
to bring out this basic triangular structure of the whole of reality. Later chapters will deal with
internal and external relationships.

Signs of God
The most common terms in our texts for macrocosm and microcosm are the literal Arabic
translations of the Greek expressions: al-`âlam al-kabîr, the "large world," and al-`âlam al-
saghîr, the "small world." Often larger and smaller are used instead of large and small.
Sometimes primacy is given to the human being. Then the macrocosm becomes the "large
human being" (al-insân al-kabîr) and the microcosm the "small human being" (al-insân al-
saghîr).20 The term macrocosm is synonymous with world or cosmos, which is usually defined
as "everything other than God." When our authors use the term macrocosm instead of cosmos,
they do so in order to set up a contrast with the microcosm. The microcosm is the human
individual, who epitomizes all the qualities found in God and the macrocosm.
Many authors allude to the macrocosm and microcosm through the expression "the
horizons and the souls" (al-âfâq wa'l-anfus). This expression goes back to the Koranic verse,
"We shall show them Our signs upon the horizons and within their own souls, until it is clear to
them that He is the Real" (41:53). These "signs" (âyât) of God found both outside and inside
human beings are one of the basic recurring themes of the Koran. The Book employs the term
sign in singular or plural form 288 times in several closely related senses. A sign is any
phenomenon that gives news of God. It may be a prophet, a prophetic message, a prophetic
miracle, or simply the things of the natural world. It may pertain to the outer, macrocosmic

20 On occasion, the human being is seen as the greater reality because of a certain qualitative
superiority having to do with human vicegerency. Then the human being is the macrocosm and
the cosmos is the microcosm. For example, Sam`ânî (Rawh al-arwâh 180) writes, "Though the
human structure is small from the point of view of your sense of sight, in terms of the meanings,
elevations, treasures, and mysteries that are deposited within it, it is the greater cosmos [`âlam-i
akbar]."
 24

realm, or the inner, microcosmic realm. "In the earth there are signs for those having sure faith,
and in your souls. What, do you not see?" (51:21). In short, everything in the universe is a sign
of God.
Dozens of Koranic verses express the idea that all natural objects are God's signs. It is
important to grasp this idea as fundamental to Islamic thought, since it sets up relationships
between God and the cosmos in no uncertain terms. The verses where the term is employed
usually mention in addition the proper human response to God's signs: remembering,
understanding, seeing, having gratitude, reflecting, using the intellect, fearing God, and so on. I
cite a few examples to make this point completely clear:
It is He who has appointed for you the stars, that by them you might be guided in the
shadows of land and sea. We have distinguished the signs for a people who know. (6:97)
And the good land--its vegetation comes forth by the leave of its Lord. And the corrupt--
it comes forth but scantily. Even so We turn about the signs for a people who have gratitude.
(7:58)
In the alternation of night and day, and what God has created in the heavens and the
earth--surely there are signs for a godfearing people. (10:6)
And that which He has multiplied for you in the earth of diverse hues--surely in that is a
sign for a people who remember. (16:13)
Have they not regarded the birds, which are subjected in the air of heaven? Naught holds
them but God. Surely in that are signs for a people who have faith. (16:79)
And of His signs is that He shows you lightning, for fear and hope, and that He sends
down out of heaven water and revives the earth after it is dead. Surely in that are signs for a
people who have intellect. (30:24)
God takes the souls at the time of their death, and that which has not died, in its sleep.
He withholds that against which He has decreed death, but looses the other till a stated term.
Surely in that are signs for a people who reflect. (39:42)
When the Koran commands people to see all things as God's signs, it is encouraging them
to make use of a particular type of mental process that is not oriented toward objects, things, or
data. On the contrary, the Koran tells us that we must perceive things not so much for what they
are in themselves but for what they tell us of something beyond themselves. The things are
likenesses, similitudes, symbols. As Lane tells us in his classic Arabic dictionary, quoting an
ancient authority, the word âya "properly signifies any apparent thing inseparable from a thing
not equally apparent, so that when one perceives the former, he knows that he perceives the
other, which he cannot perceive by itself."21 God is invisible by definition. Yet, traces and
intimations of His awesome reality can be gleaned from all things, if only we meditate upon
them.
Attention to the signs of God encourages a sensitivity toward the unseen dimensions of
existence. The approach is hardly "scientific," since material and quantitative considerations are
of no intrinsic interest, unless they too become pointers to the One (as in the Pythagorean
approach of the Ikhwân al-Safâ'). This idea might be expressed by saying that the Koran
discourages "scientific" thought while encouraging "poetic" thought. It asks people to look at the
meaning and inner significance of things in relation to God. It warns them against imagining
that the significance of phenomena is limited to their form and appearance, or to their
relationships with other phenomena. Attention must be turned primarily toward those qualities

21 Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon 135.

 25

of existing things that tell us of the ultimate reality beyond the things. These qualities provide
intimations of God's modes of activity or of His own names and attributes.
In short, discussions of the significance of the phenomena found within microcosm and
macrocosm often have nothing to do with what we would call a "scientific evaluation" of the
human being and the world. The texts are concerned rather with a qualitative appraisal of
interrelationships between the realms of the visible (al-shahâda) and the unseen (al-ghayb). The
unseen is a domain that is not only inaccessible to the senses at this moment, but inaccessible to
them by definition, no matter what scientific instruments may be employed to search it out.
However, the unseen domain of the macrocosm is not inaccessible to the corresponding realms
in the microcosm. The human spirit may, under certain circumstances, perceive realities of the
unseen realm.
At times the terminology employed in the texts may remind us of a scientific approach.
There is frequent discussion of things in the world that can be observed, measured, and counted.
But as a general rule, Muslim thinkers were not primarily interested in the things themselves.
Rather, they were concerned with showing how the signs or attributes of God can be observed in
different creatures and various domains of existence. When the qualities found in the outside
world coincide with the qualities of the inside world, this is even more reason for pondering,
reflecting, and meditating upon God's signs.
Many if not most of the Muslim cosmologists studied the outside world in order to bring
out what we can learn about God from the qualities present in the visible universe. Few of the
Western scholars who have looked at cosmological texts have appreciated this approach. They
have been interested mainly in the "history of science," considering Islamic cosmology as a
primitive form of science. This may help explain why so few Muslim scholars have taken
Islamic cosmology seriously in the past century. It is usually dismissed as unscientific, or
symbolic at best, though few have attempted to investigate in what manner that symbolism might
be useful in the contemporary world. Most Muslim scholars, either because of a hereditary
literal-mindedness deriving from the juridical tradition or an acquired literal-mindedness
stemming from popular scientism, have not looked at cosmology in the way in which it has been
taught by the great theoreticians. The study of Islamic cosmology can gain a great deal if we
perceive it as built upon a world of images, of qualitative and not quantitative entities, of
correspondences and hidden analogies.
Certainly modern science tells us that phenomena are not what they appear to be, but its
methodology precludes taking help from anything beyond itself to enter into the unseen realms.
From the beginning Islamic cosmological thinking has been based on the idea that things are
pointers and not of any ultimate significance in themselves. Once we recognize that the qualities
that things manifest rather than the things in themselves are of primary interest, then we will be
able to perceive that Islamic cosmology presents us with a perspective that has no relationship
with the changing viewpoints of scientific cosmology. We are dealing with a scheme of
qualitative correspondences that depict the relative standing of God, the cosmos, and the human
being. Whether the earth goes round the sun or vice versa is irrelevant. "Up and down" or
"heaven and earth" are pairs of terms explicating a certain set of relationships that hold true
regardless of changes in "scientific truth."
In Kashf al-asrâr, a commentary on the Koran written in 520/ 1126, Rashîd al-Dîn
Maybudî takes the verse, "We shall show them Our signs upon the horizons and within their
souls," as an explicit command to meditate upon the qualities of existence. Though he does not
discuss the correspondences between microcosm and macrocosm as such, his qualitative
 26

evaluation is typical. He begins by comparing the human body to a tablet, a place wherein God
writes, an analogy that we often meet:
In this verse, God says: Why do you not look into yourself and meditate upon your own
structure? The Lord of the worlds has recorded many fine points of wisdom and realities of
handiwork with the pen of eternal gentleness upon the tablet of this structure. Upon it He has
inscribed various kinds of artistry and different varieties of ennoblement. He made the round
head--the tent of intellect and the meeting place of knowledge--into a monastery of the senses. If
anyone has considered this hollow structure, this compound person, to have any worth, he has
done so because of the person's intellect and knowledge. The worth of a human being lies in
intellect and his importance in knowledge, his perfection in intellect and his beauty in
knowledge.
God created the forehead of the human being like a bar of silver. He strung the two bows
of his eyebrows with pure musk. He poured the two dots of his eye's light into two cups of
darkness. He made a hundred thousand red roses grow up in the garden of his two cheeks. He
concealed thirty-two teeth like pearls in the oyster shell of his mouth. He sealed his mouth with
glistening agate. From the beginning of his lip to the end of his throat He created twenty-nine
waystations, making them the places of articulation for the twenty-nine letters. From his heart
He brought a king into existence, from his breast a royal parade ground, from his aspiration a
fleet-footed mount, from his thought a swift messenger. He created two taking hands and two
running feet.
All the aforementioned is but the robe of creation and the beauty of the outward realm.
Beyond this is the perfection and beauty of the inward realm. For a moment ponder the Lord's
subtleties and kindnesses and the traces of the divine solicitude and care that have arranged this
handful of earth. Look at the different kinds of honor and the special privileges of nearness that
He has placed within human beings. For He created the whole cosmos, but He looked not upon a
single creature with the eye of love, He sent not a single messenger to any existent thing, He sent
no message to any creature. When the turn of the children of Adam arrived, He pulled them up
through gentleness and caressed them through bounty and quarries of light. He made their
inmost mystery the place of His own glance, He sent them messengers, He set angels over them
as guardians, He placed the fire of love in their hearts, and He sent them continuous incitements
to yearning and motives for desire.
The purpose of all these words and allusions is to show that a human being is a handful of
earth. Whatever ennoblement and honor people have received derives from the gentleness and
care of the holy Lord. When He gives, He gives because of His own generosity, not because of
your worthiness. He gives because of His magnanimity, not because of your prostration. He
gives through His bounty, not because of your good works. He gives because He is Lord, not
because you are lord of the manor.22
The signs of God provide the means to know God, and this, for the sapiential tradition, is
the goal of human life. In the Koran, God says, "I created jinn and mankind only to worship Me"
(51:56). The Prophet's companion Ibn `Abbâs explains that the words "to worship Me" mean "to
know Me."23 For sapiential authorities, this knowledge of God depends upon knowledge of the
signs in oneself. These authors must have known that the alleged hadith, "He who knows his
own soul [or "himself"] knows his Lord," is not found in the standard works, but they frequently

22 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr VIII 545-46.

23 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 214.16 (SPK 150).
 27

cite it, since it expresses in the most succinct way the goal of acquiring knowledge. The saying
is certainly supported by the Koranic verses that point to the signs within the microcosm as the
key to understanding. Maybudî provides a poetic explanation for the necessity of knowing the
signs in oneself while commenting on the Koranic verse, "And among His signs is that He
created you of dust. Then lo, you are mortals, all scattered abroad" (30:20):
God is saying, "O child of Adam! If you want to know the signs and banners of God's
Oneness and recognize the marks of His Singularity, open the eye of consideration and
intelligence, roam in the world of the soul, and gaze upon the root of your own creation.
"You were a handful of earth, a shadowy stem fixed in the darkness of your own
unknowing, bewildered in the darkness of attributes. Then the rain of lights began to fall from
the heaven of mysteries: 'He poured His light down upon them.'24 That earth turned into
jasmine and that stone became a pearl. That dense stem gained value through this subtle graft.
The earth became pure, the darkness became light.
"Yes, it is We who adorn and paint. We adorn whom We will with Our light. We adorn
the Garden with Our friends, We adorn Our friends with the heart, and we adorn the heart with
Our own light. We do this so that if they do not reach the pavilions of Our inaccessibility
through the carcass of their own misfortune, they will reach Us through the ray of the good
fortune of Our majesty's light."
A shaykh was asked, "What is the sign of that light?"
He replied, "Its sign is that through that light the servant knows God without finding
Him, loves Him without seeing Him, turns away from being occupied with and remembering
himself through being occupied with and remembering Him. He finds ease and rest in His lane,
he tells secrets to His friends and asks favors from them. By day he is busy with religion's work,
by night intoxicated with certainty's tidings. By day he dwells with creatures of good character,
by night with the Real, fixed in sincerity."25

Qualitative Correspondence
To say that all natural phenomena are the signs of God is to say that everything in
existence tells us something about God. The more common Koranic meaning of the word sign,
however, is not that of a natural phenomenon, but of a divine revelation. All the prophets, from
Adam down to Muhammad, were sent in order to manifest the signs of God, to deliver His
messages. The great message that begins Islam in the specific historical sense, the Koran, is a
collection of God's signs. The word employed for verse of the Koran is precisely this term sign.
The fact that the word sign means both natural phenomenon and divine revelation implies
that the knowledge that phenomena, whether macrocosmic or microcosmic, make available to
human beings corresponds to the knowledge given by the prophets in general and the Koran in
particular. This is one reason that Muslims have, by and large, seen no contradiction between
seeking knowledge of the natural world and receiving knowledge of the invisible world through
revelation. The greatest proof of God is the way things are. The natural order is so astonishing
that it can only be the result of God's own order.

24 Maybudî completes the text of the hadith to which he has been alluding: "God created the
creatures in darkness, then He poured His light down upon them." In the standard sources we
have a similar version: "God created His creatures in darkness, then cast to them something of
His light" (Tirmidhî, Imân 18; Ahmad II 176).
25 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr VII 455.
 28

The fundamental Koranic teachings about God are phrased in terms of His activities and
names. In other words, if the Koran tells us through linguistic signs what God does and who He
is, the whole of the cosmos says the same thing in a sign language aimed at "those who have
eyes." By its very existence, creation announces the divine attributes and acts. When the various
schools of the Islamic intellectual tradition attempt to summarize the Koran's teachings about the
nature of God's activities and His relationship to the world, they commonly do so by mentioning
and explaining God's names or attributes. Books on the "ninety-nine names of God" were
written by proponents of Kalâm, philosophers, and Sufis.26
For our purposes here, we can consider the term name (ism) of God synonymous with the
term attribute (sifa), though some theologians distinguish between the two. It is useful, however,
to draw a grammatical distinction between them, since a name is an adjective (serving as a
proper noun), while an attribute is an abstract noun. For example, God is called by the name
Merciful, while the corresponding attribute is mercy. His name is Just and His attribute is
justice.
When Muslim thinkers look upon the signs of God on the horizons and within their own
souls, they frequently express what they find in terms of divine attributes. For example, if we
look at the world, we find some things that are inanimate, some that are alive, and some that are
dead after having been alive. In the distinctions set up here we have signs of the divine attribute
life, which manifests itself in some creatures but not in others. As Maybudî remarks in typical
fashion in the passage quoted above, human beings--and all other things of this world--are but
handfuls of earth. They have nothing of their own. If people, in contrast to the dust in the street,
are alive, this life must derive from God's intervention. Human life can only come on loan from
the divine life. Moreover, if some people were once alive and are now dead, this must be
because they had their life on loan from God, who has now taken it back. Hence, by meditating
upon the quality of life, we understand that God is Alive (al-hayy), and that He is also the Life-
giver (al-muhyî) and the Slayer (al-mumît). Three of the "ninety-nine names of God" have thus
been established.
It would be possible, with the help of the numerous treatises that have been written on the
"names of God" and the views of various Koran commentators, Sufis, philosophers, and
proponents of Kalâm, to derive all the names of God from the macrocosmic and microcosmic
signs. But my purpose here is simply to show that it is characteristic for many if not most of the
great representatives of the Islamic intellectual tradition to perceive the qualities of things in
terms of their relationship to divine attributes. On this basis, the qualitative analogies that are
found among things in the cosmos and things in the soul, and between the soul and the world,
become a significant if not primary mode of knowledge, since these analogies tie all things back
to the Real.
As pointed out in the introduction, the mode of Koran commentary known as ta'wîl
(esoteric hermeneutics) depends in many of its forms upon qualitative analogies among things,
especially between the microcosm and the macrocosm. If one is not aware of the internal logic
of these analogies and correspondences, this mode of commentary appears arbitrary. But if one

26 It is remarkable that Western scholars have paid such little attention to the importance of the
divine names in Islamic thought. D. Gimaret points to this truly astonishing gap in Western
studies of Islam in the introduction to his groundbreaking work, Les noms divins en Islam. He
cites twenty-one commentaries on the divine names written before al-Ghazâlî. However, he
limits his own investigation mainly to works written by philologists and specialists in Kalâm.
 29

has a background in the cosmological literature dealing with the relationship between the signs in
the horizons and the signs in the souls, one will see that a work such as `Abd al-Razzâq
Kâshânî's Ta'wîl al-Qur'ân is embedded in this tradition and draws few analogies that could be
called original.
In order to introduce examples of this type of thinking, I provide below a few passages
setting up analogies between microcosm and macrocosm. I quote first from the Ikhwân al-Safâ'
or "Brethren of Purity," the famous sages of the fourth/tenth century who were thoroughly
influenced by Greek philosophical texts translated into Arabic, especially works on the
numerical symbolism of Pythagoras. In the following, from the treatise, "On the saying of the
sages that the human being is a microcosm," the Ikhwân al-Safâ' draw analogies between the
structure of the microcosm and various structures observable in the outward world. I repeat that
I quote this and other passages below merely to familiarize the reader with the type of thought
processes and analogies that infuse the tradition. The information as information is not the point.
What is important is the qualities perceived within phenomena and the type of relationships that
are then set up. Note that the authors themselves make explicit that they are looking for
likenesses (mithâlât) and similarities (tashbîhât), that is, relationships on a qualitative level.
They are not interested in the phenomena as such, but in the qualities that the phenomena
manifest.
The first sages considered this corporeal world with the vision of their eyes and witnessed
the manifest dimensions of affairs with the perception of their senses. Then they reflected upon
the states of the cosmos with their intellects, scrutinized the scope of the activity of its universal
individuals with their insights, and took cognizance of the varieties of the cosmos's individual
things with their deliberation. They did not find a single part of the cosmos more complete in
structure, more perfect in form, and more similar to the totality than the human being.
The human being is a totality brought together from a corporeal body and a spiritual soul.
Hence the sages found likenesses for all the existent things of the corporeal world in the
condition of his body's structure. These existent things include the wonderful compositions of
the world's celestial spheres, its different kinds of constellations, the movements of its planets,
the composition of its pillars and mothers, the diversity of its mineral substances, the various
kinds of plants, and the marvelous bodily frames of its animals.
The pillars (arkân) or mothers (ummahât) are the four elements, which combine to
produce the children (mawâlîd) or "the things that are born" (muwalladât), that is, the three
kingdoms: inanimate objects, plants, and animals.
Moreover, within the human soul and the permeation of the structure of the body by its
faculties they found similarities with the different kinds of spiritual creatures, such as the angels,
the jinn, the human beings, the satans, the souls of other animals, and the activity of their states
in the cosmos.
When these affairs became clear to them in the human form, they named this form a
"small world." Here we want to mention a few of these likenesses and similarities. . . .
As we said, the human being is a totality brought together from a dark body and a
spiritual soul. If one takes into account the state of the body and the marvels of the composition
of the organs and the modes of the conjunction of the articulations, the body resembles a house
prepared for an inhabitant. But when one takes into account the state of the soul, the wonders of
its controlling powers in the structure of the bodily frame, and its faculties' permeation of the
body's articulations, the soul resembles the inhabitant of the house along with his servants, wife,
and children.
 30

If one considers the human being in another respect, one finds that the structure of the
body with the diversity of the shapes of its organs and the variety of the composition of its
articulations is similar to the shop of an artisan. In respect of the permeation of the structure of
the bodily frame by the soul's faculties, its marvelous acts in the organs of the body, and the
various movements in the bodily articulations, the soul is similar to an artisan in his shop with
his disciples and apprentices, as we explained in the treatise on "The practical crafts."
In another respect, if one considers the structure of the human body in respect of the
multiplicity of the combinations of the strata of the bodily frame, the wonders of the composition
of the bodily articulations, the many diverse organs, the branching out of the veins and their
extension into the regions of the organs, the disparity of the containers in the depths of the body,
and the activity of the faculties of the soul, the human being resembles a city full of bazaars with
various crafts, as we explained in the treatise on "The composition of the body."
In another respect, when the human being is considered from the point of view of the
soul's governing control over the states of the body, its good management, and the permeation of
the structure of the body by its faculties and activities, then the human being resembles a king in
a city with his soldiers, servants, and retinue.
In another respect, if one considers the state of the body and its being engendered along
with the state of the soul and its configuration with the body, the body resembles the womb and
the soul resembles the embryo, as we explained in the treatise on "The configuration of the
particular soul and its emergence from potentiality into actuality."
In another respect, if one considers, one finds the body like a ship, the soul like the
captain, works like the goods of traders, this world like the ocean, death like the shore, the next
world like the city of the merchants, and God the king who gives recompense.
In another respect, if one considers, one finds the body like a horse, the soul like the
rider, this world like a racecourse, and works like the race.
In another respect, if one considers, one finds the soul like a farmer, the body like the
farm, works like seeds and produce, death like the reaping, and the next world like the threshing
floor, as we explained in the treatise on "The wisdom in death."27
Elsewhere in the same treatise, the Ikhwân al-Safâ' point out similarities between the
human body and the existent things of the visible world, where the four pillars or mothers
combine to produce the children. The correspondences between the great and small worlds
mentioned here have resonated down through the Islamic intellectual and poetical tradition to
recent times. It should be kept in mind that the four elements--earth, air, water, and fire--are
qualities rather than concrete substances. They are not identical with the substances that go by
these names in the visible world, since the elements are noncompound or "simple" (basît,
mufrad), which is to say that they are not found in the visible world, which is made totally of
compound things (murakkabât). Even when our authors do not state this explicitly, they discuss
the elements in order to bring out the qualities pertaining to the different elements that are found
in the compound things.
Below the moon there are four pillars. These are the mothers through whom the things
that are born--the animals, plants, and minerals--subsist. In the same way, within the structure of
the body are found four members that make up the whole of the body: the head, the breast, the
belly, and the area from the abdomen to the bottom of the feet. These four correspond to those
four. This is because the head corresponds to the element fire in respect of visual rays and

27 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il II 456-59.

 31

sensory movement. The breast corresponds to the element air because of the breath and the
breathing of air. The belly corresponds to the element water in respect of the moistures within it.
The area from the abdomen to the bottom of the feet corresponds to the element earth, because it
is established upon the earth, just as the other three are established above and around the earth.
These four pillars give rise to vapors from which winds, clouds, rain, animals, plants, and
minerals are engendered. In the same way the four members give rise to vapors in the human
body, like mucous from the nostrils, tears from the eyes, and saliva from the mouth, the winds
born in the belly, and the liquids that come out, like urine, excrement, and others.
The structure of the human body is like the earth, its bones are like the mountains, its
bones' marrow like the minerals, its abdomen like the ocean, its intestines like rivers, its veins
like streams, its flesh like the land, its hair like plants, the places where hair grows like good soil,
the places where it does not grow like briny earth, the face down to the feet like a flourishing
city, the back like a ruins, the front of the face like the east, behind the back like the west, the
right hand like the south, the left hand like the north, the breathing like the winds, the person's
speech like the thunder, his shouts like lightning, his laughter like daylight, his weeping like rain,
his despair and sorrow like the darkness of night, his sleep like death, his wakefulness like life,
the days of his youth like days of spring, the days of his young manhood like the days of
summer, the days of his maturity like the days of autumn, the days of his old age like the days of
winter.
His movements and acts are like the movements and turning of the planets, his birth and
his presence like ascendent constellations, his death and his absence like constellations that have
set. . . .
Just as the sun is the head of the planets in the celestial sphere, so also among men there
are kings and leaders. Just as the planets are connected to the sun and to each other, so also are
people connected to kings and to each other. Just as the planets turn away from the sun through
strength and increase of light, so also people turn away from kings through power to rule, robes
of honor, and high degrees.
Just as Mars is related to the sun, so is the head of the army related to the king. Just as
Mercury is related to the sun, so are scribes and viziers related to kings. Just as Jupiter is related
to the sun, so are judges and possessors of knowledge related to the kings. . . .
Just as the moon is related to the sun, so also are rebels related to kings. That is because
the moon takes light from the sun at the beginning of the month until it stands face to face with it
and resembles it in light, becoming similar to it in its condition. In the same way, rebels follow
the command of kings. Then they refuse to obey them and struggle against them in the kingdom.
In addition, the states of the moon are similar to the states of the things of this world, that
is, animals, plants, etc., since the moon begins increasing in light and perfection at the beginning
of the month until it becomes complete in the middle of the month. Then it starts to decrease and
dissolve and is effaced by the end of the month. In the same way, the states of the inhabitants of
this world increase in the beginning. They never cease growing and being configured until they
are complete and perfect. Then they begin to decline and decrease until they dissolve and come
to nothing.28
`Azîz al-Dîn Nasafî (d. ca. 695/1295) demonstrates the same type of analogical thinking
within the context of a simplified and more or less popularized version of the teachings of Ibn al-
`Arabî:

28 Ibid. 466-68.
 32

When the sperm drop falls into the womb, it represents the First Substance. When the
embryo has four strata, it represents the elements and the natures. When the members appear,
the outward members--like the head, the foot, the stomach, the private parts, and the foot--
represent the seven climes. The inward members--like the lungs, the brain, the kidney, the heart,
the gallbladder, the liver, and the spleen--represent the seven heavens.
The lungs are the first heaven and represent the sphere of the moon, since the moon is the
lungs of the macrocosm, the intermediary between the two worlds. There are many angels in this
sphere, while the angel who is in charge of temperate water and air is the leader of these angels.
The brain is the second heaven and represents the sphere of Mercury, since Mercury is
the brain of the macrocosm. There are many angels in this sphere, while the angel who is in
charge of learning to write, acquiring knowledge, and managing livelihood is the leader of these
angels. His name is Gabriel, and Gabriel is the secondary cause of the knowledge of the people
of the world.
The kidneys are the third heaven and represent the sphere of Venus, since Venus is the
kidney of the macrocosm. There are many angels in this sphere, and the angel who is in charge
of joy, happiness, and appetite is the leader of these angels.
The heart is the fourth heaven and represents the sphere of the sun, since the sun is the
heart of the macrocosm. There are many angels in this sphere, and the angel who is in charge of
life is the leader of these angels. His name is Seraphiel, and Seraphiel is the secondary cause of
the life of the inhabitants of the world.
The spleen is the fifth heaven and represents the sphere of Mars, since Mars is the spleen
of the macrocosm. There are many angels in this sphere, and the angel who is in charge of
severity, wrath, beating, and killing is the leader of these angels.
The liver is the sixth heaven and represents the sphere of Jupiter, since Jupiter is the liver
of the macrocosm. There are many angels in this sphere, and the angel who is in charge of
provision is the leader of these angels. His name is Michael, and he is the secondary cause of the
provision of the inhabitants of the world.
The gallbladder is the seventh heaven and represents the sphere of Saturn, for Saturn is
the gallbladder of the macrocosm. There are many angels in this sphere, and the angel who is in
charge of taking spirits [at death] is the leader of these angels. His name is Azrael, and he is the
secondary cause of the taking of the spirits of the inhabitants of the world.
The animal spirit is the Footstool and represents the sphere of the fixed stars, since the
sphere of the fixed stars is the Footstool of the macrocosm. There are many angels in this
sphere.
The psychic spirit is the Throne and represents the sphere of the spheres, since the sphere
of the spheres is the Throne of the macrocosm.
The intellect is the vicegerent of God.
As long as the bodily members do not grow and develop, they represent the minerals.
When they grow and develop, they represent plants. When sensation and volitional movement
appear, they represent animals.29

Qualitative Levels
Different things in the universe give news of God in diverse ways and various degrees.
God is Light, and "There is no light but Light." Nevertheless, the unreal light of others is

29 Nasafî, Insân-i kâmil 147-48.

 33

somehow similar to His light. Wherever the quality of luminosity is found, this is a trace of the
divine Light. A glowing ember manifests light, as does the sun. Neither of these is true light,
but all the same, the light of the sun is more intense and more real than the light of the ember.
Every divine attribute exhibits the same characteristic: It is found in varying degrees
throughout creation. When we consider the cosmos as a hierarchy of the differing intensities of a
specific attribute, we see that the hierarchy grows up out of the distinction between God and the
cosmos. God possesses the attribute fully. In and of itself the "other"--anything in the cosmos,
or the cosmos itself--has nothing of the attribute. If we can speak of the attribute as being
present in the cosmos, we do so inasmuch as the attribute is borrowed from God, much as light is
borrowed from the sun.
Take, for example, the distinction between Light (nûr) and darkness (zulma). God is
sheer and utter Light, with no admixture of darkness. Light is God, Being, Reality. In contrast,
darkness is utter nonexistence, utter unreality. The cosmos in itself is darkness, since "in itself"--
without God's support--it does not exist. But inasmuch as the cosmos may be said to exist and
act as a locus within which the signs of God are manifest, it is a mixture of light and darkness,
often called "brightness" (diyâ'). What is more, the cosmos manifests brightness on an indefinite
number of levels in every conceivable intensity. Each thing in the cosmos reflects light in a
different degree. There is a vast if not infinite hierarchy ranging from the least luminous created
thing to the most luminous. Hence, on the basis of the initial distinction between absolute light
and absolute darkness, we quickly reach a spectrum ranging from the brightest to the darkest.
And between the two absolutes, all qualities are relative. Each thing is bright in relation to
absolute darkness, or dark in relation to absolute Light.30
Many divine attributes can be analyzed in a similar way. Thus, for example, God is
absolute Power, while nothingness is absolute lack of power. The cosmos is the place of a
hierarchy ranging from the strongest to the weakest.
God is absolute Life, while nothingness is absolute death. The cosmos is a hierarchy
ranging from the weakest degree of life--or the most intense degree of existing death--to the most
intense degree of life, manifest in those angels who are everlasting. But of course, in the last
analysis, "Everything is perishing but His face" (28:88) or His reality, so everything is touched
by death except God Himself.
Gradation in the cosmos always has to do with qualitative distinctions. Different
qualities allow for different degrees. The most fundamental gradation is that of light or its
synonym, Being or existence (wujûd), and this is the hierarchy of existing worlds. We will
return to the question of ontological hierarchy later. Here I want to stress the different degrees in
which the things of the cosmos manifest various divine attributes.
The same basic attributes are found in the whole cosmos, and each thing by force of its
circumstances must manifest certain attributes in some mode. Hence analogies can be
established among outwardly disparate realities by the fact that they manifest the same qualities.
It is these qualitative analogies that form the fundamental subject matter of the sapiential
tradition with which we are concerned. Upon them is built the Tao of Islam.
It is important to grasp here that the same attributes are found (or concealed) in every
domain of existence. Distinctions among domains are related to the fact that different domains
reflect or manifest the divine attributes in different degrees. The Ikhwân al-Safâ' provide an
early and clear explanation of this principle:

30 For further elaborations on this theme, cf. SPK, chapter 1.

 34

Know, brother, that the attributes of God in which none of His creatures share and the
knowledge whereby nothing else is known are that He is Beginner, Deviser, Creator,
Engenderer, Powerful, Knowing, Alive, Existent, Originator, Eternal, and Active. Moreover, out
of His generosity toward existence, He gives these attributes to existence in an appropriate and
fitting way.
Hence He effuses upon the Intellect [the first creation] that it be beginner, effectuator,
alive, powerful, deviser, knowing, active, existence. Hence the Intellect acts as beginning for
that which appears from it. It is active while being the object of an act. It effectuates while
being effected and caused. It gives life to that which is below it just as life was given to it. It
exists through the existence of the acts that emerge from it.
The same thing can be said about the sharing of His attributes by the spiritual and
corporeal beings. These are particular attributes that are said metaphorically (maqâla majâziyya)
to belong to these beings. The attributes are connected (iqtirân) to them along with their
opposites, just as existence is connected with nonexistence, knowledge with ignorance, life with
death, power with incapacity, movement with rest, and light with darkness. All the existent
things described by these attributes are connected to their opposites, by which God is not
described. No, He is Creator of existence and nonexistence, so He alone possesses subsistence.
He brings knowledge and ignorance into existence, so He possesses knowledge exclusively.
So also is the existence of the acts and works of both the spiritual and the corporeal
creatures. These acts and works correspond to the deposits placed within them and the traces
effused upon them through the fact that some of them acquire from others. This is true to the
extent that He brings all of them into existence and gives life to them. Then He is not described
by the meaning of their attributes, nor are they worthy of sharing with Him in them. But they
possess degrees and stations. Each of them has an attribute through which it is greater than what
lies below it. Each possesses the excellence of this attribute exclusively. This attribute is an
existent thing that is not hidden from those who ponder. For example, take the attribute of power
in all animals, from a minnow to the human being. Every individual animal has a power
whereby it is distinguished from the others. The final stage is the power of the human being over
all of them, whether through a corporeal strength, or through a disposition of the soul.
Then there is the knowledge that is possessed exclusively by human beings whereby they
are distinguished from animals. All human beings share in this knowledge, but this is not an
equal sharing, rather a sharing of incomparability, separation, exaltation in ranks, and ranking in
degrees.31 The final stage is their gnosis of God, achieved by the prophet in his own time and
the sage in his time. It is effused upon them by the strength of the person's connection to that
upper world which is singled out for knowledge, a world that can rightly be the teacher of
everyone below it. And you should know that the human being who gives people knowledge of
what they need is the vicegerent of God among them, His trustee over them.
Then there is life, which is also shared by all animals, all those described by movement
from place to place. And every animal possesses movement and life. But they are not equal,
since they do not exist in a single state. Some of them have short lifespans, others long lifespans,
and others between the two. The one singled out for everlasting life is the one who passes from

31 The term ranking in degrees (al-tarâfu` fi'l-darajât) derives from the Koranic name of God,
rafî` al-darajât (40:15), the "Uplifter of degrees." I translate it with a view toward Ibn al-`Arabî's
later elaboration of the same doctrine, where the key term is tafâdul, or "ranking in degrees of
excellence" (cf. SPK 51-52).
 35

the form of humanity to the form of the angels, from what is below the sphere of the moon to
what is above it.
So also is the attribute of the spiritual beings and the angels. They also share in these
attributes in differing degrees. Each one of them has an apportioned part and a known limit.32

Human All-Comprehensiveness
Within the created world, human beings occupy a peculiar position not shared by any
other creature. The nature of this position is expressed in many ways, such as the "Trust"
accepted by humans but rejected by the heavens, the earth, and the mountains (33:72). In
seeking to explain the ontological and cosmological roots of this unique human situation, our
authors frequently contrast the manner in which qualities appear in the macrocosm and the
microcosm. Though they constantly speak of similarities and correspondences, these are not
seen to be matters of human convention or linguistic accidents. Rather, they are ontological
realities, much more deeply embedded in the structure of the universe than those quantitative
attributes that keep macrocosm and microcosm separate, such as temporal and spatial factors.
In the Sufi tradition, especially Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers, the qualitative analogy
between macrocosm and microcosm is established primarily in terms of the divine names. The
macrocosm is viewed as the locus of manifestation for all the names of God, but spread out in an
indefinitely vast expanse of time and space. God was a Hidden Treasure wanting to be known,
so He made the Treasure manifest. Every jewel in the infinite treasury was placed within the
domain of "otherness," which can be divided into two fundamental worlds, the unseen and the
visible. Or, if we want to be more careful about protecting the divine incomparability, we can
say that every jewel remained hidden in the Divine Treasure, but the infinite Light of God, by
shining through the jewels, spread the qualities of each jewel throughout the worlds. Jâmî (d.
898/1492) has this analogy in mind in the following quatrain. He explains his meaning in the
prose passage that follows:
The entities were all windows of colored glass
upon which fell the rays of Being's Sun.
In every window--red, yellow, blue--
the light appeared in the color of the window.
The light of God's Being--"And God's is the highest likeness" [16:60]--is like sensory
light, while the realities and immutable entities are like different colored pieces of glass. The
variegations of the self-manifestation of the Real within those realities and entities is like the
diverse colors.
The colors of light show themselves according to the colors of the glass, which is light's
veil. But in actual fact, light has no color. If the glass is clear and white, light appears within it
as clear and white. If the glass is dark and colored, light appears dark and colored. At the same
time, light in itself is one, simple, and all-encompassing. It has no color and no shape. In a
similar way, the light of the Real's Being has a self-manifestation with each reality and entity. If
that reality and entity should be near to simplicity, luminosity, and clarity--such as the entities of
disengaged intellects and souls--Being's light appears in that locus of manifestation in extreme
clarity, luminosity, and simplicity. If instead it is far from simplicity, like the entities of
corporeal things, then Being's light will appear dense, even though, in itself, it is neither dense
nor subtle.

32 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il IV 207-9.

 36

Hence it is He--exalted and holy is He--who is the true One, free of form, attribute, color,
and shape at the level of unity. And it is also He who manifests Himself within the multiple loci
of manifestation in diverse forms, in accordance with His names and attributes.33
Once the light of God brings about the manifestation of the jewels of the Hidden Treasure
within the cosmos, we can discern different levels of intensity in manifestation. The further we
move away from the Treasure itself, the closer we get to dispersion and darkness. The further
we ascend toward the Treasure, the closer we approach Unity and luminosity.
To return to the analogy of the jewels being brought out of the Hidden Treasure, one
might expand upon it as follows: The jewels are kept in a single infinite safe under lock and key.
As the Treasure is revealed, they are taken out in sacks to the spiritual world, the rubies in one
sack, the emeralds in another, the pearls in another. Then the sacks are opened and the jewels
are poured individually into the rest of the universe, where they mix together and are covered
with grime. Few indeed are those who recognize them for what they are. The analogy cannot do
justice to the actual situation, of course, since the jewels we know cannot occupy more than one
place at one time. But these jewels from the Hidden Treasure remain in safekeeping, while also
being distributed in sacks. They remain in the sacks, while also being scattered throughout the
visible universe.
The cosmos as a whole displays every jewel in the Treasure, but in a mode of indefinite
deployment. In other words, every divine name finds many loci of manifestation in the universe.
In contrast, the microcosm also contains every jewel, but here they are found in a mode of unity
and concentration. One might say that God placed in the human being one jewel from each sack.
Since all diamonds are fundamentally the same, by having one diamond in their makeup, human
beings have a kinship with all diamond entities.
Most commonly our texts explain this doctrine by expanding upon the idea of the divine
names, thus avoiding the drawbacks and limitations of concrete imagery. Each name represents
a quality. Each name can be analyzed in terms of its scope (sa`a), or the degree to which it is
reflected within the multiple phenomena of the universe. Some attributes are reflected in all
things, some in many things, some in a few things, some in only one species.
In short, the macrocosm manifests all the names of God, but in a differentiated mode.
The microcosm manifests all names, but in a relatively undifferentiated mode. On the divine
level, the undifferentiation of the names is represented by the Hidden Treasure, locked and
sealed. But we know that the jewels are in God, waiting to manifest their properties. It is this
level of reality that is designated by the name Allah, the "all-comprehensive name" (al-ism al-
jâmi`). This name refers both to God as such, without regard to the names, and to God as
possessing all the names. Each name refers to Allah. Each denotes the single Essence (al-dhât),
other than which there is no true reality. But each denotes that Essence in terms of a specific
relationship that the Essence assumes with created things. Only the name Allah denotes that
reality as embracing all relationships and non-relationships.
The cosmos as a whole manifests all these names. So also does the human being. Hence
Ibn al-`Arabî calls the human being the all-comprehensive engendered thing (al-kawn al-
jâmi`).34 That is why, our authors tell us, the Prophet said that Adam was created in the image

33 Jâmî, Naqd al-nusûs 71-72; Jâmî, Sharh-i rubâ`iyyât 53-54.

34 Cf. the first sentence of chapter 1 of the Fusûs al-hikam, a chapter that is dedicated to "the
Wisdom of the divine name Allah as embodied in the word Adam." Austin translates al-kawn al-
jâmi` as "all-inclusive object" (Ibn al-`Arabî, Ibn al'Arabi 50).
 37

or form (sûra) of "Allah," not any other divine name. All this is implied in the story of Adam's
creation in the Koran, where he is taught "all the names" (2:31).
But why was the human being created? This also is explained by the hadith of the
Hidden Treasure. God "wanted [or "loved"] to be known," and it is human beings alone who can
know God in His fullness, as comprehending all the names, since only they were created in the
form of the all-comprehensive name. God's love for the type of knowledge that can be
actualized only by human beings brought the world into existence. Jâmî speaks for the whole
sapiential tradition when he recounts the story of the creation of Adam from the Koran (2:30-34),
drawing a number of conclusions about the nature of human beings. The passage is from his
mathnawî, Silsilat al-dhahab. Each poetical section is preceded by a short summary in prose.
Explaining that the children of Adam do not know their own perfection and imperfection, since
they were not created for themselves. On the contrary, they were created for other than
themselves. He who created them created them only for Himself, not for them. He gave them
only what would be proper for them in order to belong to Him. Were they to know that they
were created for their Lord, they would know that God created the creatures in the most perfect
form....
People always believe
that they were created for themselves.
Whatever appears to them as appropriate,
they consider to be good and perfect,
But whatever they imagine as inappropriate,
they put into the category of imperfection.
But this belief is error itself,
since they were created for God.
The goal of their creation, whatever it might be,
cannot be surpassed.
In reality the human being's perfection is that
which is desired from his existence by God.
From the existence of the things God only wanted
the manifestation of His names or attributes.
No matter what appears in the courtyard of the cosmos,
the goal is manifesting the property of a name.
If we suppose that a thing did not come to exist,
how could the property of the name be shown?
That is why the Prophet addressed
his Companions long ago, saying,
"If there were to appear from you no work
within which there was the taint of sin,
God would create people of error
so that they might sin and err,
And then ask forgiveness for that sin,
making manifest the property of the Forgiver."35

35 The hadith is found in a number of different versions in Muslim and other standard sources.
One of the texts reads, "If you did not sin, God would take you away and bring a people who sin,
so that they would ask His forgiveness, and He would forgive them" (Muslim, Tawba 11).
 38

Here Jâmî voices one of the typically Islamic arguments in theodicy: Since God is
forgiving, sins must exist, or else there would be nothing to forgive. It is His quality of
forgiveness which, in the last analysis, brings about sinfulness. Ahmad Sam`ânî (d. 534/1140)
gives us a more poetical rendition of the same principle (even though he writes in prose) as
follows. He quotes God's hidden command to all things:
"O tree, put up your head next to Adam's throne! O appetite for the fruit, enter into
Adam's heart! O accursed one, let loose the reins of your whispering! O Eve, you show the
way! O Adam, don't eat the fruit, have self-restraint! O self-restraint, don't come near Adam!"
O God, God, what is all this? "We want to bring Adam down from the Throne of
indifference to the earth of need. We want to make manifest the secret of love."
"O servant, avoid disobedience and stay away from caprice! O caprice, you take his
reins! O world, you display yourself to him! O servant, you show self-restraint! O self-
restraint, don't come near him!"
O God, God, what is all this? "We want to make the servant plead with Us. We want to
make manifest Our attribute of forgiveness."36
Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers employ the same line of reasoning to argue for the
necessity of that which is. Everything depends upon God's names. And God's names are not
accidents, deducible by us because of the nature of phenomena. On the contrary, God's names--
revealed in that self-manifestation of God known as His Word, the Koran--designate the very
nature of Reality. It is we and phenomena that derive from the names, not the names that derive
from our speculation. Hence sin itself, which God defines through the Sharia, is brought about
by God's desire to show His mercy and forgiveness. As Ibn al-`Arabî writes,
The power of the form in which human beings were created demands that God threaten
them with punishment. But God's wisdom demands that the divine names be given their rights.
The names All-forgiver, Forgiver, and their sisters have properties only because of opposition to
the Sharia. If no one acted against the Sharia, these names would not receive their rights in this
abode.37
Jâmî continues his discussion of human all-comprehensiveness by explaining why the
angels objected to God's creation of Adam: Since they were limited in their configuration and
knew only some of the divine names, they could not grasp God's wisdom.

Explaining that the angels were not able to grasp this meaning. Hence they loosed the tongue of
criticism against Adam and gave witness that he would "do corruption in the earth and shed
blood" (2:30).
It was outside the plane of the angels
for them to comprehend this subtlety.
When Adam was honored with his robe,
they had to speak with arrogance and pretension:
"O God, we call Thee glorified,

36 Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 312.

37 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 530.25.
 39

we sing Thy praises, we put things in order.

"Why dost Thou stir up a form from water and clay,
one who will work corruption and shed much blood?
"Here in Thy threshold Thou hast the most excellent.
What is the wisdom in creating the less excellent?
"When you have a rose, what good are thorns and twigs?
When you have a phoenix, why do you need a fly?"
Then God taught Adam the names,
all of them--that is, the realities of things.
In the gnostic's view, the "names of God"
are nothing but the realities of all that exists.
God taught Adam each of these names,
He let him understand the attributes of His Essence.
Then He said to the angels,
"Tell Me about these names."
They all turned away from their own arrogance.
Each one admitted its own incapacity.
"We know nothing beyond what Thou hast taught,
we grasp nothing beyond what Thou hast given.
"Our creation is Thy handiwork,
our knowledge and vision are Thy mercy.
"Whatever Thou hast shown us, we know--
whatever lies beyond that, we know not."
Then for the second time He made this call,
now to Adam: "Tell Me the names,
"Those names through which you become manifest,
since you have knowledge of all their mysteries."
At the command of God, Adam spoke,
detailing those names, one by one,
For of everything
Adam is the whole, all else the part.
Everything in the parts is found in the whole,
but the part cannot encircle the whole.
No part has a perfect grasp of the whole,
but the whole knows the situation of every part.
When the whole comes to know itself
all the parts become the objects of its knowledge.
But if the part comes to know itself
it cannot know more than itself--
Even if it should gain knowledge of itself,
it will remain ignorant of the other parts.
Explaining that the child of Adam is the whole, while all other things are like parts:
What is a child of Adam? An all-comprehensive isthmus [barzakh],
the form of creation and the Real found within;
An undifferentiated transcription, announcing
the Essence of the Real and His ineffable attributes;
 40

Connected to the subtleties of the Invincibility,

comprising the realities of the Dominion;
His inward self drowned in the ocean of Oneness,
his outward self dry-lipped on the shore of separation.
Not a single attribute of God
escapes manifestation within his essence.
He is knowing, hearing, and seeing
speaking and desiring, alive and powerful.
So too of the realities of the cosmos,
each is found embodied within him,
Whether the celestial spheres or the elements,
the minerals, the plants, or the animals.
Written within him is the form of good and evil,
kneaded into him is the habit of devil and beast.
Were he not the mirror of the Abiding Face,
why did the angels prostrate themselves to him?
He is the reflection of the beauty of the Holy Presence.
If Iblis cannot fathom this, what does it matter?
Whatever was concealed in the Hidden Treasure
God made manifest in Adam.
His existence is the final cause
of the manifestation and appearance of creation,
For knowledge was the motive for creation,
and he is the outward locus for its perfection.38

Children of the Elements

Everything in the cosmos manifests the names and attributes of God, while the
macrocosm as a whole manifests the properties of all God's names. In the same way, everything
in the human being manifests God's names and attributes, while the individual human being as a
whole--at least in the case of those who are fully human and have become God's vicegerents--
manifests all God's names. Hence the difference between a human being and any other
individual creature goes back to human wholeness (or potentiality for such) and the partialness of
everything else.
One of the most common ways in which human wholeness is illustrated is by comparing
the human being to the other children of the elements: minerals, plants, and animals. In
minerals, we find few divine qualities, and those only through employing imagination and
metaphor. We can say that inanimate things show the effect of God's creativity and power, while
precious minerals, such as gold and diamonds, stand at the pinnacle of mineral possibilities,
since they manifest the divine qualities of light and beauty in the manner most appropriate to
inanimate existence.
In plants certain divine attributes are clearly reflected, such as life and power, while
others can be discerned without a great stretch of the imagination. For example, plants reflect
the divine attribute of knowledge, since they "know" how to find nourishment and light. Many
of them manifest God's bounty and generosity through their produce and fruit.

38 Jâmî, Silsilat al-dhahab 66-69.

 41

Animals have a still greater concentration of divine attributes, since they manifest in a
rather clear way the "four pillars of divinity": life, knowledge, desire, and power. Traces of
other attributes can also be found. But it is in the human being that the divine perfections begin
to manifest themselves in full abundance and with great intensity. All the divine attributes are
present, at least potentially, in all humans. And the degree to which these attributes can be
actualized can be guessed only by studying the lives of the greatest exemplars of the human race,
who, in the Islamic view, are the prophets and the friends of God. So also great heroes, kings,
artists, poets, statesmen--all manifest in more limited domains the extent to which the divine
qualities can be actualized.
The four children of the elements--minerals, plants, animals, and human beings--are
ranked in a natural hierarchy on the basis of the qualities that they can manifest. A clear
progression can be seen in most of these attributes by meditating upon the qualities present in the
ascending degrees of the children. Knowledge, for example, increases steadily through the
levels, and on the human level no limits to the degree of its actualization can be imagined.
In the early Muslim philosophical tradition, the ontological levels represented by the four
children are seldom discussed explicitly in terms of divine attributes, but rather in terms taken
over from Greek philosophy. In the following passage, I quote from the Ikhwân al-Safâ', who
look at the ascending levels of macrocosmic existence, all of which are repeated in the
microcosm, in terms of the qualities they manifest. An uninformed reader might see this
discussion as a primitive form of evolutionism, but that would be to mix the quantitative
approach of modern science with the qualitative approach of the Muslim sages. In fact, it is a
question of the progression and increasing intensity of qualities on different levels of
manifestation. This is a static, ever-present phenomenon, not one to be observed over vast
stretches of time.
The existent things below the sphere of the moon are of two kinds: simple and
compound. The simple things are the four pillars: fire, air, water, and earth. The compound
things are the things that are born from them, the engendered, corruptible things: animals, plants,
and minerals. The minerals are the first to be engendered, then plants, then animals, then the
human being. Each kind possesses a characteristic that it is the first to acquire. The
characteristic of the four pillars is the four natures--heat, cold, wetness, and dryness--and the
transmutation of some of them into others. The characteristic of plants is to take nourishment
and to grow. The characteristic of animals is sensation and movement. The characteristic of
human beings is rational speech (nutq), reflection (fikr), and deducing logical proofs. The
characteristic of the angels is that they never die.
Human beings may share the characteristics of all these kinds. Human beings have the
four natures, which accept transmutation and change like the four pillars. They undergo
generation and corruption like the minerals. They take nourishment and grow like the plants.
They sense and move like the animals. And it is possible that they will never die, like the angels,
as we explained in the "Treatise on Resurrection."39
The Sufi tradition usually formulates these same ideas in terms of divine names and
attributes. In the following passage, `Azîz al-Dîn Nasafî explains that the children of the
elements differ among themselves according to the degree in which they manifest the attributes
of the "spirit" (rûh). Spirit is the most common term our authors use for the direct reflection of
the divine Unity on the created level. The inherent qualities of the spirit include luminosity, life,

39 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il II 473.

 42

intelligence, desire, power, and the rest of the divine attributes. On its own level of existence,
the spirit brings together all the attributes of God into a unified, created whole. Then the
attributes of spirit are differentiated and projected into the visible world through the body.
Neither body nor spirit can achieve its full perfection without the other. In the last analysis, the
body is merely the manifestation of the invisible qualities of the spirit within the visible world.
Behind the four children stand four kinds of spirit, while the children manifest their qualities.
But in fact, the four kinds of spirit are a single spirit.
A things's constitution, literally its "mixture" (mizâj) of the four elements, allows the
spirit to manifest itself in different intensities. A constitution near to "equilibrium" (i`tidâl) is
able to bring together in a balanced way loci of manifestation for most or all the divine names. A
constitution far from equilibrium can manifest only a few of the names. Nasafî refers to the
names here in terms of what Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers sometimes call the "seven leaders,"
the seven principle names upon which the existence of the cosmos depends: life, knowledge,
desire, power, hearing, sight, and speech.
Constitutions are of two kinds: in equilibrium or not in equilibrium. The former kind is
not found below the sphere of the moon. . . . Constitutions that are not in equilibrium have no
more than three states: near to equilibrium, far from equilibrium, or intermediate between near
and far.
The mineral body and mineral spirit appear from that which is far from equilibrium. The
plant body and plant spirit appear from that which is intermediate. The animal body and animal
spirit appear from that which is near to equilibrium. The human being is one kind of animal.
O dervish! It is this animal spirit which, by means of training and nurturing, by learning
and repetition, and by spiritual struggle and invocations, rises up through the levels. At each
level it takes on another name. . . . The spirit is not more than one. The body is with the spirit
and the spirit with the body. The two are not separate.
O dervish! Each of the individual existent things has what is necessary for itself within
itself. The spirit does not come from someplace, nor does it go anyplace. The spirit is light, and
the cosmos is overflowing with this light. This light is the spirit of the cosmos, and this light
takes the cosmos to perfection and keeps it moving--through nature at the level of plants, through
volition at the level of animals, and through the intellect at the level of the human being. Thus a
poet has said,
Go, find an eye! Every speck of dust,
when you look, is a world-displaying cup.
O dervish! At one level this light is called "nature," at another level "spirit," at another
level "intellect," and at another level "Nondelimited Light." All creatures of the cosmos are
seeking this light. They seek for it outside of themselves, and the more they seek, the further
from it they move. . . .
In the first level, life, knowledge, desire, power, hearing, sight, and speech do not exist in
actuality. But as the levels ascend, gradually life, knowledge, desire, power, hearing, sight, and
speech come into actualized existence. Perfection lies where the thing appears. Moreover, there
is no doubt that the fruit is the subtlest and noblest level of a tree, and the fruit of the existent
things is the human being. The Greatest Electuary, the Highest Elixir, the World-displaying
Cup, and the Universe-displaying Mirror is the human being who possesses knowledge.
In other words, the light found in the spirit of the cosmos that is overflowing into the
cosmos does not have actualized knowledge, desire, and power. Then the light ascends through
the levels. As it does so, life, knowledge, desire, and power gradually come into actualized
 43

existence. That light is not separate from the locus of manifestation. It is related to it as cream is
related to milk.40

The Myth of Adam's Creation

Islamic thought puts human beings at center stage, but not human beings "objectively
considered," but rather "qualitatively recognized." Muslims should seek for knowledge in order
to know God, cosmos, and self. Ultimately, the highest knowledge lies in knowing ourselves,
since "He who knows his own soul, knows his Lord."41 Knowing one's own self means, among
other things, knowing what it means to be human. Hence the myth of Adam is a constant point
of reference in our texts. The question of its historicity is not brought up, since that is totally
irrelevant to the story's meaning. And the story's meaning is found in the qualities that are
ascribed to Adam and the other characters who are mentioned in the narrative.
Najm al-Dîn Râzî (d. 654/1256), the author of one of the great Persian prose classics of
Sufism, Mirsâd al-`ibâd,42 retells the story of Adam's creation with close attention to the
qualities that the tradition ascribes to human beings and other creatures. In so doing, he
expresses in abbreviated form many of the major topics that will be brought out in the course of
this book. He explains how the divine attributes become manifest within human beings and
illustrates the close relationship between the microcosm and the macrocosm. Like Jâmî in the
passage quoted above, he wants to clarify the meaning of the Koranic verses that refer to human
all-comprehensiveness and the fact that the most luminous of creatures, the angels, were unable
to fathom human nature.
At the beginning, Râzî looks at the two grand movements that our authors observe in the
macrocosm as a whole: the descent from the Origin (mabda') and the ascent to the Return
(ma`âd). The whole cosmos is frequently pictured as a circle made up of two arcs (qaws), the
Arc of Descent and the Arc of Ascent. The top of the circle corresponds to the First Intellect,
while the bottom corresponds to the corporeal human body. Human beings as human beings
begin ascending from the bottom point of the circle. If they reach the end of their journey, they
join with the Active Intellect, which is identical in a certain mode with the First Intellect.
God said, "I am about to create a mortal from clay" [38:71]. The Prophet said, narrating
the words of God, "I kneaded the clay of Adam with My two hands for forty days."43
You should know that when it was desired to fashion the human frame from the four
elements--water, fire, wind, and earth--these were not kept in the attribute of simplicity. Rather,

40 Nasafî, Zubdat al-haqâ'iq 324-25, 327.

41 I have tried to avoid inappropriate gender-specific language throughout this book, but
sometimes the demands of literal accuracy outweigh the concern for contemporary sensitivities.
The Arabic sentence here quoted has two masculine pronouns and two masculine verbs.
However, there is no implication that this saying, or similar instances of usages of the masculine
gender, excludes women. According to the ancient rules of Arabic grammar, the masculine
gender always takes precedence over the feminine. In chapter 6 we will see Ibn al-`Arabî come
to some interesting conclusions because of this rule.
42 This is one of a handful of texts relevant to our discussion available in good English
translation, and the reader will find in it a great deal of background material for the present work
(Cf. Râzî, The Path of God's Bondsmen, trans. H. Algar). If I depart from Algar's translation in
the passages I quote, it is in order to maintain terminological and stylistic consistency.
43 This hadith is often cited in Sufi sources, but it is not found in the standard hadith collections.
 44

they were carried down through the descending degrees. The first descending degree was that of
compoundness, for the element at the stage of simplicity is closer to the World of the Spirits, as
was explained. When it is desired to bring the element to the station of compoundness, it must
leave simplicity behind and advance to compoundness. Thereby it moves one descending degree
away from the World of the Spirits. When it comes to the vegetal station, it must pass beyond
the station of compoundness and inanimateness. Hence it falls one descending degree further
from the World of the Spirits. When it leaves the vegetal realm to join with the animal realm, it
goes down one more descending degree. When it reaches the human station from the animal
realm, it descends one more degree. There is no degree lower than the human person. This is
the "lowest of the low."
The "lowest of the low" is mentioned in the Koranic verse, "We created the human being
in the most beautiful stature, then We drove him down to the lowest of the low" (95:4-5). In
Râzî's interpretation, this "driving down" has to do with increasing multiplicity, dispersion, and
distance from the World of the Spirits. These qualities become more and more manifest during
the movement toward the outermost realm of existence, which in modern terms is called the
material world. Elements are noncompound and invisible, belonging to a subtle domain of
existence rather than the realm of density that can be seen. Minerals, plants, and animals display
increasing diversity and distance from the original oneness of the elements.
But this is only to speak of the visible world, called the "Kingdom" (mulk). When we
take the invisible world or the "Dominion" (malakût) into account, the picture is different.
Instead of a descent, an ascent is taking place. The elements themselves are nonmanifest, so the
divine attributes are totally hidden within them. Inanimate objects display practically none of the
luminous properties of the divine names. However, the "Dominion" or unseen dimension of
plants is clearly ruled by the divine attribute life, and this becomes manifest in growth and
reproduction. The "Dominion" of the animals adds to life such attributes as knowledge and
desire. In short, although there is a descent into multiplicity, a corresponding ascent takes place
through which creatures are able to manifest more and more of the divine names. This ascent
reaches its peak in the human being, or rather, in perfect human beings. Râzî continues his
discussion:
These words have to do with the elements, which, through changing states, go down
through the descending degrees that mark distance from the spirits. However, if you look at the
Dominion of inanimate objects, after passing through several levels it reaches the human level.
Hence, this is a question of ascending degrees, not descending degrees. At each station, the
Dominion moves closer to the spirits, not further from it. However, we were talking about the
form of the elements, which is the Kingdom, not the Dominion of the elements. . . . Thus it is
clear that the highest of the high is the human spirit, while the lowest of the low is the human
frame. . . .
My shaykh, the king of his age, Majd al-Dîn Baghdâdî, said in a collection of his
writings: "Glory be to Him who brought together the nearest of the near and the farthest of the
far through His power!"
The human frame belongs to the lowest of the low while the human spirit belongs to the
highest of the high. The wisdom in this is that human beings have to carry the burden of the
Trust--knowledge of God. Hence they have to possess the strength of both worlds to perfection.
For there is nothing in the two worlds that has their strength, that it might be able to carry the
burden of the Trust. They possess this strength through attributes, not through form.
 45

Since the human spirit pertains to the highest of the high, nothing in the World of the
Spirits can have its strength, whether angels, satans, or anything else. In the same way the
human soul pertains to the lowest of the low, so nothing in the World of the Souls can have its
strength, whether beasts, predators, or anything else. . . .
In the kneading of the clay of Adam, all the attributes of satans, predators, beasts, plants,
and inanimate objects were actualized. However, that clay was singled out for the attribution of
"My two hands." Hence each of these blameworthy attributes was a shell. Within each was
placed the pearl of a divine attribute. You know that the sun's gaze turns granite into a shell that
contains pearls, garnets, rubies, emeralds, turquoises, and agates.
Adam was singled out for "I kneaded the clay of Adam with My two hands" for the
period of "forty days," and according to one tradition, each day was equivalent to one thousand
years. Consider then--for which pearl was Adam's clay the shell? And this honoring of Adam
was before the spirit was blown into him. This was the good fortune of the bodily frame, which
was to be the palace of the vicegerent. For forty thousand years He labored through His own
Lordship. Who knows what treasures He prepared there?
This passage expresses, among other things, the great respect that Muslims in general
accord to God's creation. That human beings are made in the form of God extends to the bodily
frame. Earth, in spite of all its lowliness, has a tremendous rank in the eyes of God. Râzî deals
with this issue within one context, and in later passages we will see Ibn al-`Arabî and others
bringing out the divine roots of the fact that the earth, the body, and all yin realities are eminently
honorable. The general principle reverberates throughout Islamic thought and, of course, goes
back to the fact that on one level the Tao of Islam demands equal respect for yang and yin.
Râzî next provides some of the accounts that are given about God's sending the various
angels to gather the earth from which Adam would be molded. In spite of all the angelic
entreaty, the earth refused to come.
The first honor that was bestowed upon the earth was that it was called to God's Presence
by several messengers, but it pretended not to care. It said, "We know nothing of the mystery of
these words." . . . Yes, such is the rule: The more people deny love, the higher they rise once
they become lovers. Just wait, everything will be turned upside down.
For a while I denied love for the idols--
My denial threw me into days like this.
In this state, all the angels were biting the fingers of wonder with the teeth of
astonishment: "What kind of mystery is this? Lowly earth has been summoned to the Presence
of Inaccessibility with all this honor. In spite of its perfect lowliness and despicableness, the
earth keeps on pretending not to care and makes itself unapproachable. Nevertheless, the
Presence of Independence, Utter Freedom, and Perfect Jealousy does not leave it. He does not
summon anyone else in its place. He does not discuss this mystery with anyone else." . . .
The Divine Gentlenesses and Lordly Wisdom spoke softly into the inmost mystery of the
angels, "I know what you know not" [2:30]: "How should you know what business I have with
this handful of earth from eternity without beginning to eternity without end? . . . Be patient for
a few days while I show the handiwork of My power through this handful of earth. I will polish
the rust of creation's darkness from the face of the mirror of its original nature. You will see the
changing pictures of a chameleon in its mirror. The first picture will be that all will have to
prostrate themselves before it."
Then from the cloud of generosity the rain of love fell down on Adam's earth, making the
earth into clay. He made a heart of clay within clay with the hand of power.
 46

Love's dew made clay of Adam's earth,

throwing uproar and tumult into the world.
Love's lancet pierced the spirit's vein--
out fell a drop. They called it heart. . . .
According to some traditions, for forty thousand years the divine power, in accordance
with perfect wisdom, exercised its handiwork on the water and clay of Adam between Mecca and
Tâ'if. In his outward and inward dimensions the divine power set up mirrors corresponding to
the divine attributes. Each mirror was the locus of manifestation for one of the attributes of
Divinity. It is well known that one thousand and one mirrors corresponding to one thousand and
one attributes were employed. . . .
Strange to say, God's uncaused solicitude showed several thousand kindnesses and
tendernesses to the soul and heart of Adam in the Unseen and the Visible, but none of the angels
brought nigh were told the secret. None of them recognized Adam. One by one they passed by
Adam. They would say, "What strange picture is this that He is painting? What kind of
chameleon is He bringing out from behind the veil of the Unseen?"
Beneath his lips Adam was saying, "Though you do not know me, I know you. Just wait
till I lift my head from this sweet sleep. I will list your names one by one." For among the
pearls that had been buried within him was the knowledge of all the names: "And He taught
Adam all the names" [2:31].
Up until this point, Râzî has explained that human beings are set apart from all other
creatures because they are made in the divine form, comprehending all the attributes of God.
Now he turns to the great consequence of having been created in God's form: Everything found
in differentiated form in the macrocosm is found in an undifferentiated mode within the
microcosm. Râzî makes this point by telling how Iblis--Satan--attempted to discover Adam's
mystery. Note the qualities attributed to Iblis as soon as he appears: deceit and having only one
eye. The first quality is perhaps to be expected, the second is not so clear. It alludes to the fact
that Iblis--or the microcosmic equivalent, which is the lower soul, called "the soul that
commands to evil"--perceives only the "form" (sûra) of things, not their "meaning" (ma`nâ).
Iblis lacks the light of intellect (`aql), though he is clever and cunning, and hence he is unable to
perceive the signs of God for what they are. He sees the immediate context of things, but cannot
grasp the beginnings and ends of things. Rûmî often refers to Iblis as one eyed, as in the
following:
With both eyes, see the beginning and the end! Beware, be not one eyed, like the
accursed Iblis!44
Close your Iblis-like eye for a moment. After all, how long will you gaze upon form?
How long? How long?45
The reader will remember that Iblis was one of the jinn and not one of the angels, since
he is made of fire while they are made of light. However, his aeons of piety had brought him
into their proximity, so he mixed freely with them.
However much the angels examined Adam, they did not come to know what sort of all-
comprehensive reality he was. But Iblis the deceitful was once walking around Adam. Gazing
upon him with his one squint eye, he saw that Adam's mouth was open. He said, "Just wait.

44 Rûmî, Mathnawî IV 1709 (SPL 83).

45 Ibid. III 2300 (SPL 83).
 47

Now I have found a way to undo the knot of our problem. I will enter this hole and see what sort
of place this is."
When Iblis went in and traveled around Adam's make-up, he found it to be a small world.
He found there a representation of everything that he found in the large world. He found the
head like the heaven with seven strata. Just as the seven planets are in the seven heavens, so also
he found that in the seven strata of the head are seven human faculties: imagination, intuition,
reflection, memory, recollection, governing, and sensus communis. Just as there are angels in
the heaven, there were in the head the sense of sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Iblis found his
body to be like the earth: Just as in the earth are found trees, plants, flowing streams, and
mountains, so there are found corresponding things in the body. The longer hair, such as the hair
on the head, is like trees, while the shorter hair, such as the hair on the body, is like plants. There
are veins like running streams and bones like mountains.
Just as in the macrocosm there are four seasons--spring, autumn, summer, and winter--so
in Adam, who is the microcosm, there are the four natures: heat, cold, wetness, and dryness,
prepared within four things--yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood.
There is no need to continue with the details of Iblis's investigation, since the text is
readily available and in any case it is similar to the passage from the Ikhwân al-Safâ' quoted
above. It is sufficient for our purposes to recognize that the macrocosm/microcosm relationship
is common in Islamic thought and that it follows upon the idea that all qualities found in these
two worlds derive from the divine names. The conclusion of this section of the passage provides
a preview of the last chapter of this book, which is dedicated to the heart:
When Iblis had traveled the whole frame of Adam, he recognized the macrocosm in all
the traces that he saw. However, when he reached the heart, he found it to be like a pavilion. In
front of it, the breast was like the square erected before a royal palace. However much he tried
to find a way into the pavilion so that he could go into the heart, he was not able to. He said to
himself, "All that I have seen was easy. The difficult task is here. If I ever experience harm
from this person, it will probably be from this place. If God has some special business with this
frame or has prepared something within, it is probably in this place." With a hundred thousand
thoughts, he turned back from the door of the heart in despair.
Iblis reports to the angels that nothing is to be feared from this hollow person, who is like
the other animals, though there is one place that cannot be entered. The angels are not satisfied
with Iblis's explanation, and soon they hear from God that this being of water and clay is to be
His vicegerent. Their perplexity increases, but they prostrate themselves before Adam as
commanded. In the final section of the chapter, Râzî points to the tremendous station of the
human body, which corresponds to the macrocosm. But, he says, the real worth of the human
being derives from the divine spirit, which in truth lies outside microcosm and macrocosm and
rules over both.
All these honors pertained to Adam's frame, which is the microcosm in relation to the
macrocosm. But the Presence singled out his spirit for Himself, for He said, "I blew into him of
My own spirit" [15:29]. At the same time, this world, the next world, and everything within
them are but a microcosm in relation to the infinitude of the World of the Spirit. So look at what
honors he was given!
When the two--spirit and frame--are brought together in a special order, they move on to
their own perfection. Who knows what felicity and good fortune will be showered down on their
head? Wretched is the person who is deprived of his own perfection and looks upon himself
with the eye of disdain! He employs the preparedness [isti`dâd] of the human level, which is the
 48

noblest of existent things, in acquiring the objects of animal appetite, while animals are the
meanest of existent things! He fails to recognize his own worth!
You were brought up from the two worlds,
You were nurtured by many intermediaries.
The first in creation, the last to be enumerated
is you--take not yourself in play.46

Human Becoming
There are two fundamental differences between human beings and all other creatures.
The first is that human beings are totalities, while other creatures are parts of a whole. Human
beings manifest all the attributes of the macrocosm, while other creatures manifest some of those
attributes to the exclusion of others. Human beings are made in the form of God as such, while
other creatures are forms of various partial configurations of God's qualities.
The second fundamental difference is that other creatures have fixed courses from which
they never swerve, courses defined by the limited qualities that they manifest. In contrast,
human beings have no fixed nature since they manifest the whole. The whole is strictly
indefinable, since it is identical with "no thing," no specific quality or qualities. Hence human
beings, in contrast to other creatures, are mysteries. Their ultimate nature is unknown. They
must undergo a process whereby they become what they are to be. The possibilities open to a
given animal are defined grosso modo by its species, while the possibilities open to a human
being are defined precisely by their indefinability. All human beings begin with the same
unlimited potentiality since they are divine forms. The ultimate destiny of each is "limited" only
by the divine source of the form, which is to say that human beings are defined by the fact that
they open up to the Infinite.
The cosmos embraces "everything other than God," and every part of the cosmos has a
proper role to play. The overall configuration of the cosmos does not change, since it is always
"everything other than God," though the individual parts undergo ceaseless change. But all
things other than human beings, like the cosmos as a whole, sit in specific niches and cannot be
anything other than what they are. An elephant never turns into a frog. But human beings, even
if they have their own specific niches from "God's point of view," are always in the process of
development from their own points of view. A frog--an incomplete human being--can turn into a
prince, if kissed by the spirit. The cosmos cannot become more or less of a cosmos, and a
butterfly is always just that, even when it is a worm. But a human being can be more or less than
human. This is the mystery of the human situation, the fact that, although people are determined
by the Tao, yet they can upset the Tao. In Chinese terms, a "small human being" is not the same
as a "great human being." Both are human, yet their attributes are fundamentally different.
Moreover, each person undergoes transformations during his or her lifetime. One may cease
being a small human being and become a great human being.
When representatives of the Islamic intellectual tradition refer to "human beings,"
sometimes they have in mind what we would mean by the term today. But this is true only if
they are using the term loosely, in the sense that it can refer to any child of Adam and Eve. In
this meaning, no distinction is drawn between those who live up to the purpose of creation and

46 Râzî, Mirsâd al-`ibâd 65-82 (cf. Path of God's Bondsmen 94-109). This last poem is by
Firdawsî, the author of the Shâhnâma, the Iranian national epic. We will quote it again in its
own context in Chapter 4.
 49

those who do not. In the passage quoted above, Jâmî says, "In reality the human being's
perfection is that which is desired from his existence by God." On every level, the Islamic
tradition distinguishes between those who meet the expectations of God and those who do not, or
those who live up to the human role in existence and those who do not. For example, on the
most basic level of general belief, the Koran distinguishes between those who have faith and
those who do not: the "believers" and the "unbelievers." In all the perspectives of Islamic life
and thought, people are separated into groups according to the degree to which they fulfill the
purpose of life.
In the sapiential tradition, the goal of human life is frequently called "perfection" (kamâl).
This is identified first with the station of the prophets and second, in the more philosophical
perspective, with that of the great sages or, in the more Sufi approach, with the station of the
"friends" of God (awliyâ'). The most detailed and sophisticated exposition of the nature of this
supreme human station is found in the writings of Ibn al-`Arabî. His position, here as elsewhere,
has dominated the sapiential tradition down to modern times.47 It is Ibn al-`Arabî who makes
the term "perfect human being" (al-insân al-kâmil) central to this whole discussion. Those who
do not attain to perfection, he calls "animal human beings" (al-insân al-hayawân).
Human perfection is usually identified with the station of the vicegerents of God, the first
of whom was Adam, the object of God's words, "I am placing in the earth a vicegerent" (2:30).
As we have already seen, the particular eminence of the human being has to do with having been
taught all the names of God, or acting as a locus of manifestation for the name Allah. Hence Ibn
al-`Arabî declares that only this attribute of being a "form of God" defines a true human being.48
All human beings, as children of Adam, manifest the form of God. But few human
beings manifest it in its full actuality, harmony, and equilibrium. In effect, those who attain to
perfection bring the name Allah, and thereby all the names of God, from potentiality within
themselves to actuality in the cosmos. Those who fail to reach perfection actualize the qualities
of only some of the names. Thereby they join the animals and other non-human beings, who are
partial reflections of God.
The process of actualizing the names begins in the womb, where the unborn infant has
the possibility of developing all the perfections of human existence. But at the beginning of the
stay in the womb, the embryo does not manifest any more perfections of existence than an
inanimate object. In effect, the embryo begins as a mineral, as the lowest "child" of Nature. As
the embryo develops, it gradually assumes the perfections of the other children. It acquires the
powers of growth and assimilation connected to plants, then various faculties connected with
animals, such as sensation and volitional movement. When the infant is born, it is hardly more
than an animal. The rational soul--the distinguishing mark of being human in the ordinary sense
of the term--does not begin to manifest itself fully until around puberty. The human being
continues to actualize potentialities throughout his or her life, in varying degrees and intensities.
Those destined for perfection move even beyond the qualities usually referred to as human.
They actualize qualities associated with angelic beings, such as pure intelligence and acting only
according to the command of God. Ultimately they ascend beyond the angels and, like the
Prophet during his mi`râj (night journey) enter into the Divine Presence. Rûmî provides many
poetical accounts of this rise from the inanimate to the truly human. In typical fashion, he refers

47 For his views, cf. M. Chodkiewicz, Le Sceau des saints.

48 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 154.18 (SPK 276).
 50

to the passage from a lower state to a higher state as a "death," but a death that is really a birth
into a higher realm of existence.
I died from the mineral kingdom and became a plant; I died to vegetative nature and
attained to animality.
I died to animality and became a human being. So why should I fear? When did I ever
become less through dying?
Next time I will die to human nature, so that I may spread my wings and lift my head
among the angels. . . .
Once again, I will be sacrificed from angelic nature and become that which enters not the
imagination.49

The Cosmic and Human Books

Islamic texts frequently describe the universe as the book of God. This goes back to
many Koranic passages connected to writing, such as the already mentioned fact that the Koran
refers both to its own verses and to the phenomena of nature as "signs." Human beings are made
in God's form, and mastery of speech in all its dimensions is one of the outstanding and
exceptional attributes of both God and the human being. God's speech is observed in three basic
locations: the macrocosm, the microcosm, and the revealed books, the Koran in particular. The
Koran employs closely related imagery to explain its own genesis and that of created things: The
book is the spoken word of God, and the universe is the result of God's saying to the things "Be!"
Though from the point of view of God's incomparability we are forced to conclude that
we do not know what it means to ascribe "speech" to God, we can also take the point of view of
similarity. Since God is somehow similar to the creatures, a certain tentative validity will apply
to the comparison between human and divine speech. We can learn something about the way
God creates the world by investigating the way in which we produce language. The analogy
between people and God was not created in vain. It necessarily tells us something about the third
term, the macrocosm, and about the relationship of all three to the true Speaker.
Since the macrocosm can be compared to a book, it follows naturally that the same image
can be used for the microcosm. Thus, for example, Ibn al-`Arabî refers to both microcosm and
macrocosm as copies or transcriptions (nuskha) of everything found in the Divine Presence,
which is the original of both copies. "The cosmos is a divine transcription upon a form of the
Real."50 Human beings are "transcriptions of the Divine Presence,"51 since they were created
upon the form of God and reflect all the divine names. "The human being created upon the form

49 Rûmî, Mathnawî III 3901-3, 3905 (SPL 79). Rûmî's ideas have nothing to do with
evolutionism in a Darwinian sense, nor are they anything exceptional in the intellectual climate
of Islam. R.A. Nicholson pointed out long ago that Rûmî's evolutionary description of the
growth of the soul is deeply rooted in the Islamic philosophical tradition and paralleled by
Neoplatonic and Aristotelian teachings (Rûmî, Mathnawî VIII 214-16). But this has not
prevented many people from seeing in his teachings a kind of proto-Darwinism, as pointed out
by Schimmel (Triumphal Sun 329-32). Chittick has brought out rather clearly some of the
profound differences between "evolution" in the traditional Islamic sense and the Darwinian
sense in SPL 72-82.
50 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 390.35.
51 Ibid. 383.33. Cf. Hakîm, al-Mu`jam al-sûfî 1057-58.
 51

of the All-merciful is the perfect transcription."52

Both macrocosm and microcosm are transcriptions of the Divine Presence, so the two are
copies of each other. But since the human being is equivalent to the whole cosmos, each human
being is greater than any individual part of the cosmos. "The human being is the all-
comprehensive word and the transcription of the cosmos. Everything in the cosmos is a part of
the human being, while the human being is not a part of anything in the cosmos."53 It follows
that human beings are transcriptions of both God and the cosmos: "The human being is a noble
summary within which is gathered together the meaning of the macrocosm. God made him a
transcription comprehending everything in the macrocosm and all the names of the Divine
Presence."54
The macrocosm manifests all the names of God in the mode of indefinite deployment,
differentiation, and dispersion, while the microcosm displays them in the mode of unity,
undifferentiation, and concentration. Using the analogy of the book, Nasafî explains the
relationship between the small and large worlds as follows:
When God created the existent things, He called this the "cosmos" [`âlam], since the
existent things are a "mark" [`alâma] of His existence and His knowledge, desire, and power. O
dervish! The existent things are in one respect a mark, and in another respect a writing. In
respect of being a writing, God called the cosmos a "book." Then He said, "Whoever reads this
book will recognize Me and My knowledge, desire, and power."
At that time the readers were the angels. These readers were extremely tiny, while the
book was extremely large. The readers could not see the edges of the book or all of its pages,
since they were incapable of doing so. God saw this, and made a transcription of the cosmos,
writing a summary of this book. He called the first the macrocosm and the second the
microcosm, the first the large book and the second the small book. Whatever was in the large
book He wrote in the small book, without increase or decrease, so that whosoever reads the small
book will have read the large book.
Then God sent His vicegerent to this microcosm, the vicegerent of God being the
intellect. When the intellect sat as vicegerent in the microcosm, all the angels of the microcosm
prostrated themselves to it, save sensory intuition [wahm], which did not prostrate itself, refusing
to do so. In the same way, when Adam sat as vicegerent in the macrocosm, all the angels
prostrated themselves to Adam, save Iblis, who did not prostrate himself, refusing to do so.55
O dervish! In the microcosm, the intellect is God's vicegerent, while in the macrocosm
the intelligent human being is God's vicegerent. All the macrocosm is the domain of God, while
all the microcosm is the domain of God's vicegerent. When the intellect sat as vicegerent, it was
addressed as follows: "Intellect, know thyself and thy own attributes and acts in order to know
Me and My attributes and acts!"56

52 Ibid. IV 398.15.
53 Ibid. I 136.30 (Y 2,300.5).
54 Ibn al-`Arabî, Inshâ' al-dawâ'ir 45.
55 The identification of Iblis with wahm or "sensory intuition" will be discussed in some detail
in chapter 9.
56 Nasafî, Insân-i kâmil 142-43. Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers develop this symbolism
of letters and words in order to illustrate the complexity of relationships that must be considered
when God and the cosmos are taken into account. However, they are not concerned with
 52

establishing an exact system of correspondences or with being consistent. Attention is paid not
so much to the correspondences between, for example, certain creatures and certain words, but to
the relationships established between the various levels of linguistic expression, whether spoken
or written. Cf. D. Gril, "Les science des lettres," in Chodkiewicz, Les Illuminations de la
Mecque 385-487. For varying schemes by one of Ibn al-`Arabî's direct disciples, cf. Sadr al-Dîn
al-Qûnawî, al-Nafahât al-ilâhiyya 80-81; I`jâz al-bayân 85-86; Miftâh al-ghayb 271-74.
 53

2 Theology

2. Divine Duality

As soon as "God" is mentioned in the context of Islamic thought, the word can be
understood from two points of view. We can consider God as He is in Himself, in which case we
leave aside the cosmos, which is everything other than God. From this point of view, most Muslim
thinkers have come to the conclusion that God in Himself, the "Essence" (dhât) of God, cannot be
known. He is beyond our grasp. This comes down to the perspective of incomparability (tanzîh),
which was discussed in the introduction.
If we mention the cosmos in the same breath with God, then we have to take into account a
number of relationships that are established between God and the cosmos. These relationships are
given verbal expression by the divine names. In this respect we can either say that God is
completely different from His creatures, thereby once again declaring His incomparability, or we
can say that a certain similarity can be discerned. Or we can take both positions at once.
In short, to speak of God--and this is unavoidable in Islam, or rather inseparable from Islam-
-brings up at least two basic perspectives on the Divine Reality. Duality is inherent in speech and
rational thought. We affirm God's Unity--tawhîd--but in doing so we establish the reality of duality,
since it is we who speak. As the Hanbalî Sufi Khwâja `Abdallâh Ansârî (d. 481/1089) puts it,
 54

None has affirmed the Unity of the One,

since all who affirm it deny it.
The tawhîd of him who speaks of His description
is a loan, made null by the One.
His tawhîd of Himself is His tawhîd--
he who describes it has gone astray.57
There is something self-contradictory about a discourse that claims to establish the unity of
the Real. The Real in His Unity effaces all duality. By declaring His Unity we affirm duality
through being ourselves and speaking.
At the same time, it needs to be kept in mind that this "duality" never implies absolute
separation. What is at issue is polarity, or two complementary dimensions of a single reality. If we
use the term duality, it is because the texts commonly speak of two principles. Moreover, the more
mythic and unreflective expositions of Islamic principles often discuss things as if they were truly
different. In contrast, the sapiential tradition keeps the language of duality, but it understands
duality strictly in terms of interrelationships and polarity.

God and the Essence

Duality, in short, pertains to the nature of human discourse about God. To conceive of God
we have to grasp the limitations of our own conceptions, since, as the perspective of
incomparability maintains, "None knows God but God." Hence we have two Gods: the God of my
conception, and the real God, who is beyond my conception. The God of discourse pertains to my
conception. The other God is understood neither by you nor by me that we might talk about Him
meaningfully. No one explains this better than Ibn al-`Arabî, as, for example, in his discussion of
the "god of belief."58
The fact that God is unknowable follows from the basic assertion of tawhîd: "There is
nothing real but the Real." Given that God is absolutely and infinitely real while the cosmos and its
contents are only relatively real, the divine reality lies beyond the grasp of created reality. The
Absolute escapes the relative. "What does dust have to do with the Lord of lords?" asks the Arabic
proverb.
If we can indeed know something of God, this follows from the fact that the relatively real
is, after all, real in some mode. The mode in which it is real connects it to the absolutely Real. In
other words, we and the cosmos are related to God through the divine attributes that display their
traces and signs in cosmic existence. We cannot know God in Himself, only God inasmuch as He
reveals Himself through the cosmos.
Within the Taoist context, as soon as we name the Tao, we need to recognize the Tao
beyond names, the unnameable Tao that we cannot grasp. But the Tao that we are able to name
demands yin and yang, since they are inherent within its own nature. Hence we begin with a double
duality: first, the Tao that can be named and the Tao that cannot be named and second, the yin and
the yang that define the laws of the nameable Tao. So also in Islamic thought: The God who can
be discussed forces us to acknowledge the God beyond discussion. If we insist that God is One,
still, the God beyond discussion is One in an unknowable way, while the God of discussion is One
in a way open to understanding.

57 Ansârî, Manâzil al-sâ'irîn 113.

58 Cf. SPK, chapter 19.
 55

When we leave aside the unknowable God and refer to the knowable God, we have the same
two perspectives: We know that our knowledge of God is deficient, which is to say that He is
incomparable. At the same time we know that we can know something about Him, which is to say
that He is similar. Hence we have incomparability and similarity on two different levels. The first
level establishes a distinction between God as absolutely unknowable in Himself and relatively
knowable through His attributes. The second level looks at the relatively knowable attributes and
then establishes a distinction between those attributes that declare Him different and those that
allow a certain similarity.
For many Muslim authorities, the difference between what can be known and what cannot
be known about God establishes the conceptual distinction between God and the Essence of God.
There is no ontological distinction, since ultimate reality, Being, is one. Here the Chinese tradition
provides us with parallel concepts in the distinction between the "Great Ultimate" and the "Chaos"
or "Non-ultimate." Islamic thought makes clear that we are not dealing here with two realities, but
with two different ways of looking at the relationship between God and the cosmos. In the first
sense, God creates a universe and can be known through it. In the second sense, the same God is
independent of the universe and has no need for it. He holds Himself back from His creatures not
because He is secretive or stingy, but because they are utterly different from Him and incapable of
embracing His reality. Rûmî alludes to this point in his famous line, "If you pour the ocean into a
cup, how much will it hold? One day's store."59
Strictly speaking, the Essence as Essence has no relationships with anyone or anything.
When we speak of relationships, we are discussing the Essence inasmuch as It is a God (ilâh). At
this level of "divinity" (ulûhiyya), there are two basic points of view from which relationships can
be discussed: From the first point of view, we discuss the relationships that God has with the
cosmos. Once these relationships are established, we see that God has names and attributes that in
some way conflict with other names and attributes. Then we have the second point of view, the
question of relationships among the divine names themselves. In practice, however, these two
perspectives are almost inseparable, since a divine attribute by nature sets up a relationship both
with the cosmos and with other attributes. Both kinds of relationships are frequently expressed in
terms that recall yin and yang.
The very term relationship or relation (nisba) is fundamental for Ibn al-`Arabî's school of
thought, and commonly employed in other perspectives. Ibn al-`Arabî uses it synonymously with
the Koranic name (ism) and the preferred term of the proponents of Kalâm, attribute (sifa).60
Relationships have to be taken into account as soon as we conceive of two realities. And the two
primary realities are God and the cosmos. As Ibn al-`Arabî puts it,
Once God has created the cosmos, we see that it possesses diverse levels and realities. Each
of these demands a specific relationship with the Real. . . . Examples of these intelligible qualities
include creation, provision, gain, loss, bringing into existence, specification, strengthening,
domination, severity, gentleness.61
Other schools of thought also employ the term relationship. Rûmî even employs the term in his
poetry. He is discussing the mystery of the perfected human heart that embraces God:
This heart has a thousand names and attributes. Each name
is another relationship, different from the others.

59 Rûmî, Mathnawî I 20 (cf. SPL 9).

60 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 289.4 (SPK 34).
61 Ibid. 441.31 (SPK 35)
 56

So also, in relation to you one person is a father,

but in relation to another he is a son or a brother.
The numerous names of God are relational, so toward
the unbeliever He is Invincible, toward us Merciful.
How many there are who are angels in relation to you
in your belief, but devils in relation to another!
Likewise your awareness is unveiled in relation to you,
but hidden in relation to others.62

Incomparability and Similarity

To speak of two, we have to make distinctions, and the first and most obvious distinction is
that between God and the cosmos. In any case, that is where we are and that is where we begin.
The fact that there is a cosmos suggests that there is something in the reality of God that brings the
cosmos into existence. The existence of the cosmos depends upon the Real. But various
dimensions or qualities of the cosmos depend upon specific divine attributes. As was illustrated in
the first chapter, the life of things in the cosmos derives from God's life, their knowledge from His
knowledge, their power from His power, their love from His love, and so on with all positive and
"good" qualities. That reality which possesses fully the sum total of all the qualities upon which the
cosmos depends is known as "God." But there are attributes of God to which the cosmos has no
direct connection. For example, God is "independent of the worlds" (3:97), but nothing in the
cosmos is independent of the worlds or of God.
The fundamental Koranic teaching about God is that He is one God, "There is no god but
He." The pictures drawn of this Koranic God vary according to period and school of thought, but
all Muslim thinkers draw heavily upon Koranic teachings as justification for their positions. If we
look at Islamic theology as a whole, we can see two basic emphases, both of them concerned with
demonstrating God's oneness. Though there is a good deal of anthropomorphic imagery in the
earliest period, the position that soon gains ascendancy in Kalâm or dogmatic theology is that of the
divine incomparability. All references to God's eyes, hands, feet, etc., in the Koran and the Hadith
were interpreted in a rational mode to exclude any similarity with what is designated by the same
names among human beings. Speaking in broad generalities, one can say that most early
philosophers took the same position.
Many of the Sufis were not so willing to dismiss Koranic references to God's hands and eyes
as figures of speech. Ibn al-`Arabî draws on many of his predecessors to formulate a clear doctrine
of similarity as a complement to the theological emphasis upon incomparability. For Ibn al-`Arabî
and his followers--which means for much of Islamic thought down to recent times--neither of these
positions can be exclusive. God is similar in His incomparability, and incomparable in His
similarity. Both positions must be maintained if perfect knowledge is to be achieved.63 Ibn al-
`Arabî's best known expression of this idea is a poem found in the third chapter of his Fusûs al-
hikam:
If you speak of incomparability, you delimit,
and if you speak of similarity, you define.
If you speak of both, you have hit the mark--
you are a leader and a lord in the gnostic sciences.

62 Rûmî, Dîwân 21880-84.

63 For details on Ibn al-`Arabî's position, cf. SPK, especially chapter 4.
 57

To see the relationship between incomparability and similarity in yin/yang terms, it is

necessary to investigate the qualitative implications of the theological positions. The easiest way to
do this is to show how those Koranic names of God that refer to a specific attribute of existence are
connected to one or both views.
On one level, all the divine names can be understood in terms of God's incomparability. The
Koran declares that "Nothing is like Him" (42:11), and this statement can be applied to any name of
God. If nothing is like Him, we have no way of understanding Him, since understanding depends
upon similarity and accessibility. God is omniscient and all-powerful, absolutely other than our
ignorance and weakness. Everything that can properly be said about God has to be negated from
the creatures. All of God's attributes belong to Him exclusively. If we use familiar words to refer
to the divine Reality, this simply illustrates our own limitations and the impossibility of expressing
the Unknowable in language.
From this perspective, all the divine names follow the incomparability established by the
first half of the Shahâda, "There is no god but God." For example, God is the Real (al-haqq). In
other words, "There is no real but the Real." Nothing is real but God; everything other than God is
unreal. The reality of a quality belongs strictly to God. If we apply the same quality to a created
thing, this at best is a metaphor. God is the Knowing or the Knower (al-`alîm). "There is none that
knows but the Knowing." Only God's knowledge is true knowledge, and what goes by that name in
our world is in fact ignorance. God is the Just (al-`adl). "There is none just but the Just." Divine
justice alone balances the scales; our version of justice is at best a pale imitation. In short, if we
look at the description of God provided by the Koran from the point of view of incomparability, we
see that "Everything is perishing but His face" (28:88) and everything other than God is unreal.
Though the Sufis, as remarked earlier, stress the divine similarity, they do so only after
having brought out the divine incomparability. They do not disagree with the proponents of Kalâm
concerning incomparability, they simply refuse to accept incomparability as the only valid point of
view. And when Sufis do speak of incomparability, they usually leave aside the dry, rationalistic
approach of Kalâm and discuss it in a poetical mode that reminds us of the divine goodness and
love. Take, for example, the following passage from Rawh al-arwâh by Ahmad Sam`ânî. He is
explaining the ultimate insignificance of ritual practices. He begins by quoting an Arabic sentence
that is probably a maxim handed down from a Sufi shaykh. "Moving the finger," "standing," and
"sitting" all allude to various parts of the ritual prayer (salât).
Chivalrous youth! "He who seeks nearness to the King by sitting in a corner of his room
moving his finger is mocking himself." The miserable wretch who stands or sits in the hut of his
own misery and thinks that, because of that standing and sitting, he is doing a favor to the King of
the age is the leader of the world's madmen. Placed next to the perfection of the divine beauty, all
the acts of obedience and worship, good works, deeds, sayings, and states issuing from the children
of Adam from the beginning of existence to the end of the age are the noise of an old woman's
spindle. Beware, think not that you are doing someone a favor! Through His generosity and
bounty, He called this handful of scattered and worthless dust to the court of His eternity. He
spread the carpet of bold expansiveness within the palace of guidance. Otherwise, how could this
meanest creature in existence and this speck of impure dust have the courage to place his foot on the
edge of the carpet of the King of kings?64
But the Koran also speaks of God's similarity and nearness. It does not limit itself to
providing a picture of divine incomparability and human insignificance. God is not only

64 Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 17.

 58

inaccessible and infinitely beyond the reach of miserable dust, He is also ever present with His
servants, for the divine mercy and generosity play a decisive role.
A simple calculation of the number of divine names that occur in the Koran shows that the
names that imply God's closeness to and concern for human beings, such as Merciful,
Compassionate, Kind, Generous, and Forgiving, far outnumber names that speak of Him in terms of
distance and transcendence. These names of proximity demand that God be concerned with the
intimate details of everyday human life. God is "with you wherever you are" (57:4). He is "nearer
to you than the jugular vein" (50:16). "Wherever you turn, there is the face of God" (2:115).
Islamic spirituality has been concerned with this perspective from earliest times. Especially in texts
that have to do with the intimate relationships between God and human beings--such as prayers and
supplications--appeals to God's kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and generosity have always played a
central role.65
To conceive of God as distant through His greatness, power, majesty, holiness, and so on is
to understand Him as the yang element in a yin/yang relationship. We have no effect upon Him,
while everything we are and everything we do derive from His activity. In contrast, to conceive of
Him as loving, near, generous, and forgiving is to understand Him as receptive to our wants and
needs. "When My servants ask you about Me--surely, I am near. I respond to the supplication of
the supplicator when he supplicates Me" (2:186). What is God's "response" other than His reaction
to our initiative? It is interesting to note that Ibn al-`Arabî--while pointing to the divine origin of all
receptivity in this world--brings this verse to prove that God Himself possesses the attribute of
reception.66 Likewise, he points out that God "responds to the supplication of the supplicator"
through the attributes of munificence and generosity.67 The names that demonstrate His giving and
loving nature show His receptivity toward human concerns.
It would not be difficult to classify most of the institutionalized forms of Islam in terms of
the stress they place upon incomparability or similarity.68 The Sharia emphasizes God's
overwhelming power and authority, the kingly and lordly aspects of the divine reality, the fact that
human beings must obey His will because of the negative consequences of His wrath. Receptivity
is not ignored--after all, the whole idea of reward and punishment depends upon God's reception of
our acts. But the warm and maternal dimensions of love, compassion, and mercy are not placed in
the forefront. For its part, Kalâm places stress upon incomparability, as noted above. Most of the
earlier Muslim philosophers also take this position, though once the school of Ibn al-`Arabî begins
to gain prominence, the philosophers tend to move toward a more balanced perspective, as
illustrated for example by Mullâ Sadrâ. Sufism emphasizes similarity, especially in its devotional
and popular dimensions.
In short, the views of God found in the Koran, the Hadith, and the major expressions of
Islamic thought can be understood as a spectrum running from incomparability to similarity and
including all sorts of intermediate positions. If incomparability is pushed too far, the result will be
ta`tîl, the heretical idea that God is totally disconnected from the world. If similarity is pushed too
far, this can lead to incarnationism (hulûl) or unificationism (ittihâd), the view that God and the

65 Cf. W. Chittick's introduction to the eighth-century book of supplications by `Alî ibn al-Husayn,
the great grandson of the Prophet (The Psalms of Islam: al-Sahîfat al-sajjâdiyya).
66 SPK 38.
67 Ibid. 64.
68 Chittick has given a rough outline of how this might be done in his introduction to the Psalms of
Islam.
 59

human being are one. Both extremes have appeared on occasion and have been roundly condemned
by the community at large.
But even those Muslims who place great stress upon similarity normally give priority to
incomparability. They do this in order to prevent deviation from Islamic norms and rejection by the
Muslim community. Moreover, the Sufis are the first to point out that human beings must take into
account the limitations that rule over all created things. Because of these limitations, the divine
reality takes precedence over the relative reality of created things. In order to see things as they are,
human beings must first grasp their own weakness and incapacity, the nothingness of the relatively
real in face of the absolutely real. Then the mode in which the relatively real manifests the
absolutely real can be brought out. In practice, this means that those dimensions of Islam that stress
incomparability take precedence over those that stress similarity. Since the Sharia stresses
incomparability and is concerned with showing God's greatness and human insignificance,
observance of the Sharia is the foundation upon which the path to God is built. Following God's
commands and submitting to the divine will open up human beings to God's mercy, kindness, and
generosity. First people observe the rules of the king's court; then only are they shown into his
presence.
The Koran describes desirable human attributes in terms that help clarify the nature of the
human response to incomparability and similarity. From the point of view that places stress upon
incomparability, the dominant human qualities are yin: The human being is a servant or slave
(`abd). The most desirable human quality is "submission" (islâm) to God's will, which manifests
itself as observance of His Sharia. This picture of the human situation clearly depends upon a lord
or king who gives commands. Heaven rules over earth. Human beings have to follow the law in
order to show the respect that the king deserves. At the same time, of course, humans have the
freedom to upset the equilibrium between heaven and earth by refusing to obey heaven's commands.
From the perspective that stresses similarity, the Koran depicts the human being as God's
vicegerent (khalîfa) who was taught the names of all things. This is the human being as form of
God. The fact that human beings have been taught the names of all things shows that they possess
the attributes of all things within themselves. And these attributes are none other than the attributes
of God, or the "signs" of God's names. Here a yang element in human nature is brought out, since
human beings stand in God's stead as rulers over the cosmos. They are still yin in relation to God,
but a desirable and good yang relationship to the cosmos is made explicit. Since people carry
within themselves the divine Trust, they have the power to exalt or debase, to preserve or destroy.
The divine attributes are actively at work through human beings.
The fact that human beings are God's servants is the basic teaching of Islam, accepted by
everyone. "I have not created jinn and men except to serve Me" (51:56) says God. Everyone must
follow the Sharia, no questions asked, no disputes accepted. This is a safe and sure road. But the
idea that human beings should also be God's vicegerents has been looked upon askance by some
authorities, especially those who speak from the viewpoint of Kalâm and jurisprudence. Although
everyone agrees that human beings are God's servants, they do not agree that humans are or can be
His "vicegerents." Nor is there any agreement as to what is meant by the hadith--is it really a
hadith?--"God created Adam in His own form." That God is yang and human beings are yin is
accepted universally. But that human beings may be yang as God's representatives is sometimes
viewed with suspicion. And the suspicion is justified, for this point of view opens the door to self-
aggrandizement and psychological--not to mention social--disorder. What is to prevent those who
see themselves as yang from considering themselves yang in relation to God? Thereby the right
order is reversed. People corrupt themselves and those upon whom they have influence. This is a
 60

theme that comes out clearly in a good deal of Sufi psychology, some of which we will meet later
on. It helps explain why Ibn al-`Arabî makes servanthood the highest human quality. Perfect
servanthood demands perfect effacement before that which truly is. To claim the slightest degree of
lordship, as Ibn al-`Arabî would say, is to place oneself in an exceedingly dangerous situation.
However this may be, the yin and yang of human existence can be seen in relation to the
attributes of vicegerency and servanthood. Every positive human quality can be seen as the
response to a divine quality. Human beings are defined vis a vis the divine. As servants, they bow
before God's attributes. God is king, they are slaves. God is merciful, they are objects of mercy.
God is great, they are small. God is yang, they are yin. But as vicegerents, human beings manifest
the divine qualities and dominate over the cosmos, which is yin in relation to their yang. They are
kings and lords, the cosmos is servant and slave. They are merciful, the beings of the cosmos are
receptive to their merciful activity. They are great and powerful, the cosmos is small and weak.
They are vengeful, other people suffer the effects of their vengeance. "Have you not seen how God
has subjected to you everything in the heavens and the earth?" asks the Koran (31:20).
Servanthood goes back to the divine incomparability, the fact that human beings are nothing
in face of God. Vicegerency goes back to the divine similarity, the fact that human beings manifest
nothing but the attributes of God. The totality of human beings as divine forms makes them lords
over all partial reflections of the Real.

Complementary Names
Muslim thinkers classify the names of God according to many different schemes.
Commonly they differentiate among names pertaining to God's Essence, those that pertain to His
attributes, and those that pertain to His acts. Though the principles by which the classification is
undertaken differ among different authorities and even in different works of the same author, the
following, which derives from one of Ibn al-`Arabî's schemes, is sufficient for present purposes:
Names of the Essence designate God as He is in Himself. They are names that cannot properly be
applied to anything other than God. An example is the name Allah. Names of the attributes give
news about God's intrinsic reality, though they have no necessary connection with the created
things. Examples are Alive, Knowing, Desiring, Powerful, Speaking, Hearing, and Seeing. The
opposites of these names cannot be applied to God. Names of acts refer to God's relationships with
creaturely things. In cases where the relationship varies according to the characteristics of the other
term of the relationship, the opposites of these names can also be applied to God. Examples of
these pairs of opposites are Merciful and Wrathful, Gentle and Severe, Beautiful and Majestic,
Guider and Misguider, Exalter and Abaser, Forgiver and Avenger, Benefiter and Harmer, Life-giver
and Slayer, Expander and Contractor.
Some names may be classified in more than one category, depending on how they are
defined or considered. Hence a name of an act may also be viewed as a name of an attribute or
even a name of the Essence. For example, Merciful, considered as a name of an act, has an
opposite, which is Wrathful. But a sound hadith tells us that "God's mercy precedes His wrath,"
while the Koran states that God's mercy embraces all things, not just some things. Hence that which
is an object of wrath may be in fact, on a deeper level, an object of mercy. In other words, mercy is
more fundamental to the divine reality than wrath. Every wrathful act of God is in fact merciful,
just as a father's anger toward his child may be based upon love. Rûmî expresses this idea by
referring to the maternal side of the yin attributes, and then pointing out that the father is also
"maternal," but in a hidden way:
Even if the mother is all mercy,
 61

observe God's mercy in the father's severity.69

In the case of God, there is no question of suggesting that His wrath and severity "may be"
based upon love, since mercy is one of God's essential attributes, often identified, as we will see in a
Chapter 7, with the Divine Being Itself. Hence Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers distinguish between
the fundamental mercy of God, called the mercy of the All-merciful (al-rahmân), and the secondary
mercy of God, called the mercy of the All-compassionate (al-rahîm). The first permeates all things,
while the second may be held back. The second manifests itself most clearly in paradise. Wrath,
which is manifest most clearly in hell, can be understood as the opposite of this second kind of
mercy. The first kind of mercy has no opposite. It transcends and encompasses wrath. It is present
in both paradise and hell.
The relationship between contrasting names of acts is especially interesting from the point of
view of our discussion. As mentioned in the introduction, these names are frequently divided into
two categories known as the names of mercy and wrath, or gentleness and severity, or beauty and
majesty, or bounty and justice. The contrast between these two groups is constantly kept in view by
our authors. When God establishes a relationship with creatures in terms of either group, specific
results are found in the cosmos. In brief, names of beauty demand that God be near to creatures and
that they feel intimacy (uns) with Him. Names of majesty demand that He be far from them and
that they feel awe (hayba) of Him. The first category of names pertains more to the receptive or yin
side, since they are connected with such "feminine" qualities as love, beauty, and compassion. In
contrast, the second category pertains more to the dominating, controlling, and forceful side of
things, the yang dimension. Both sides are essential to existence, and neither side can be
completely separated from the other. Beauty has its majesty, and majesty has its beauty. Wrath is
certainly merciful, while mercy may not always be free from wrath. A smaller mercy now may
prevent a greater mercy later.
At first sight, complementary attributes pertain to a horizontal relationship. Life-giver and
Slayer, Forgiver and Avenger, Exalter and Abaser are all sets of divine names that come in the
standard lists. Each pair has to do with opposite conditions found in the cosmos: Some things are
alive, and they die; others are dead, and they come to life. Some people are forgiven in this life
only to suffer vengeance in the next, while others suffer vengeance here and reap the benefits of
forgiveness in paradise. Some are high, some are low, but relationships are fluid. What goes up
must come down, and, in the divine scheme, what goes down through servanthood will certainly go
up through vicegerency.
Since the creatures are ranked in degrees according to the intensity of the divine qualities
reflected within them, there is both a "horizontal" qualitative relationship among creatures of the
same world or domain, and a vertical relationship according to different worlds or domains. For
example, bodily things may be large and small, high and low, bright and dark, right and left, and
these qualities may reflect divine qualities only dimly. Human beings have internal dimensions that
go far beyond the corporeal. When humans are taken into account, the horizontal relationships
involve many attributes that are explicitly divine. The attributes of acts, when reflected within
human beings, set up polar relationships, either within an individual or between individuals: People
may be merciful and wrathful, forgiving and vengeful, generous and just, gentle and severe. As
human attributes, these can change quickly into their opposites, depending on circumstances. There
can be no question of absolutes here, since we are dealing with relationships.

69 Rûmî, Dîwân 12409 (cf. Schimmel, Triumphal Sun 128).

 62

Some relationships among human beings involve the names of attributes, those names
whose opposites may not be ascribed to God. Thus we have knowledge and ignorance. But of
course there is neither absolute knowledge nor absolute ignorance in any human being, so what is
really being discussed is two different degrees of knowledge: more knowledge and less. So also,
we can speak of powerful and weak, but we are really discussing two different degrees of power.
All the names of attributes can be examined in similar terms.
When we look at vertical relationships, we have in view different levels of existence of
different worlds, whether in the macrocosm or the microcosm. The basic distinction here is
between spirits and bodies. Qualitatively speaking, spirits are luminous, bodies are dark (less
luminous); spirits are high, bodies are low (less high); spirits have knowledge, bodies are ignorant
(have less knowledge). Discussion of worlds always calls to mind hierarchical relationships. To
say "world of the spirits" is to say luminous, alive, high, subtle, knowledgeable, etc. But discussion
of the spiritual world establishes these qualities in the relative sense of being "more so" than the
creatures that are corporeal and stand on a lower level of existence. If corporeal things are dark,
dead, low, dense, and ignorant, they are not so absolutely, only in relation to the spiritual things
with which they are implicitly contrasted when the term corporeal is used.
To use an attribute in describing something is to conjure up a relationship. It is these
relationships that must be grasped if we are to achieve a coherent picture of the Islamic cosmos and
the human place within it. Theoretical discussion of these relationships can be drawn out
indefinitely. But it will be much more useful for our purposes to see how some of the Muslim
authorities envisage these relationships in order to describe the cosmos and the goal of human life.
We will return to this task in the next chapter. First a few more words must be said about the
fundamental dualities of existence.

God and His Vassal

In the intellectual tradition, to say cosmos is to say God, since the cosmos is "everything
other than God." Even for Islam in general, it makes no sense to speak of the cosmos without
speaking of God. God is the foundation for all meaningful thought, all conceptualization that can
have a positive effect upon human becoming. Moreover, it is impossible to discuss God in positive
terms without discussing the cosmos, since these "positive terms" are precisely the divine names
understood in terms of similarity. Even names of incomparability can only be understood through
knowledge acquired by existing in the cosmos.
This inseparability of God and the cosmos leads Ibn al-`Arabî to differentiate between two
fundamental meanings in the word God (Allâh). God in Himself--the Essence--is incomparable and
therefore not the object of positive knowledge. He is "independent of the worlds." In contrast, God
as named by the divine names demands the relationships established between Himself and the
cosmos. Considered from this second point of view, God demands a servant in respect to which He
is a God. Making use of the relationships inherent in the Arabic language, Ibn al-`Arabî sets up a
polarity between the word god (ilâh) and the past participle of the same word, the godded over
(ma'lûh), which we can translate as "divine thrall." He commonly refers to other examples of the
same grammatical relationship, such as Lord (rabb) and vassal (marbûb), or Creator (khâliq) and
creature (makhlûq). Given Arabic's triliteral system of verbal roots, the very existence of the one
word makes the existence of the other word necessary. In the same way, the very existence of one
side of the polar relationship makes the other side necessary. There can be no vassal without a lord,
no divine thrall without a God, no creature without a creator, no object of knowledge (ma`lûm)
without a knower (`âlim), and so on. By the same token, without these loci in which the divine
 63

activity becomes manifest, the divine names have no meaning. In short, unless we have the Divine
Essence Itself in view, to speak of God is to speak of a relationship between the Real (al-haqq) and
the creature (al-khalq).
The primary relationship between God and the divine thrall is that of heaven and earth, or
spirit and soul, or yang and yin. God is great, high, bright, creative, while the creature is small, low,
dark, and receptive. From this point of view, God is yang and the cosmos is yin. As Ibn al-`Arabî
expresses it,
That which exercises effects [mu'aththir] in every respect, in every state, and in every
presence is God, while that which receives effects in every respect, in every state, and in every
presence is the cosmos.70
There can be no cosmos without this yang/yin relationship. Both yin and yang are equally
necessary for the Ten Thousand Things to appear:
No result can occur--that is, nothing can come into existence--except between two things:
the divine power and the possible thing's reception of activity. Were one of these two realities
lacking, no entity would become manifest for the cosmos.71
But Ibn al-`Arabî does not neglect the logic of relationships. The vassal depends for its
existence on the Lord. So also the Lord depends for its existence on the vassal. The influence goes
both ways. Just as yang acts and yin receives, so also yin through its receptivity acts upon yang and
yang through its activity upon yin receives yin's activity. The yin/yang symbol indicates this
interrelationship with the white dot on the black side and the black dot on the white side. There can
be no absolutes when the two sides depend on each other. God needs the vassal if He is to be a
God, and the vassal needs God if it is to be a vassal.
Ibn al-`Arabî caused a bit of scandal among some of the more exoterically minded scholars
when he developed this correlativity in some detail. But this basic insight was present before him
and continued to permeate the sapiential perspective. It is simply the logic of similarity, which
demands that each side resemble the other. If the world is similar to God, then God must in some
way be similar to the world. Ibn al-`Arabî expresses some of these ideas as follows:
Were the Essence to be stripped of these relationships, It would not be a god. Our entities
occasioned these relationships, so through the fact that we are divine thralls we make Him a god.
He is not known until we are known.72
Since the cosmos has no subsistence except through God, and since the attribute of Divinity
has no subsistence except through the cosmos, each of the two is the provision (rizq) of the other. . .
.
We are His provision,
since He feeds upon our existence,
just as He is the provision
of engendered things, without doubt.
He preserves us in engendered existence
and we preserve the fact that He
is a god. In these words
there is no lie.73

70 Ibn al-`Arabî, Fusûs al-hikam 183 (cf. Ibn Al'Arabi 231).

71 Idem, Futûhât II 486.7.
72 Idem, Fusûs al-hikam 81 (cf. Ibn Al'Arabi 92).
73 Idem, Futûhât III 363 (quoted in SPK 61) .
 64

It was such poetical expressions of these ideas that must have raised the most eyebrows.
Other verses make the same point:
Establish me, that I may establish You as a God--
Negate not the "me," lest You disappear.74
The spirit of the Great Existence
is this small existence.
If not for it, He would not say,
"I am the Great, the Powerful."75
He praises me, and I praise Him,
He worships me, and I worship Him.76
In short, since the vassal makes the Lord a Lord, the Lord is acted upon by the vassal.
Hence God is yin and the servant is yang. This mutual yin/yang relationship is set up already in the
nameable Tao. It is only the unnameable Tao, the Essence Itself, which is "independent of the
worlds." God as utterly and absolutely incomparable is not acted upon by anything, since there are
no "others" to do the acting.

The One and the Two

To say God is to say cosmos, and vice versa. To speak of servants or vassals is to speak of
Lord. According to a mathematical symbolism well known to our authors, to say one is to say two,
and to say two is to say one. Each demands the other. The concept of God demands
incomparability and similarity, the cosmos, polar names. The cosmos in turn demands hierarchy
and the reduction of the dispersed qualities to their purest, incomparable, formless Essence. As
soon as we accept the principle of similarity, duality is demanded by Unity and Unity by duality.
Ibn al-`Arabî provides many formulations that distinguish between the Absolute Unity of the
Divine Essence and the relative unity of the Divinity that embraces the polar names. Thus he
contrasts the "Unity of the One" (ahadiyyat al-ahad) and the "Unity of Manyness" (ahadiyyat al-
kathra): "In respect of His Self, God possesses the Unity of the One, but in respect of His names,
He possesses the Unity of Manyness."77 In speaking of the unknowable Essence, beyond all
relationships, Ibn al-`Arabî often cites the prophetic saying, "God is, and nothing is with Him":
The Real alone is singled out for Unity. This is the Unity of the Essence, not the Unity of
Manyness, which is the unity of the names. For the unity of the names makes the One two, since
God, in respect of His Essence, "is, and nothing is with Him." Hence, nothing makes His Unity two
but the unity of creation. Thereby the quality of making two [shaf`] becomes manifest.
Nothing enters engendered existence save doubling.
Look--the Lord comes to be from the vassal!78
Muslim discussions of the cosmos begin with two, God and the world. But in the cosmos
itself, there are two principles, variously named. The qualitative evaluation of numbers by the
Pythagoreans found many supporters in Islam, since the Muslims saw therein a clear expression of
the necessities inherent in the concept of God and the cosmos. It should be kept in mind that in

74 Ibid. IV 40.35.
75 Ibid. I 118.4 (Y 2,221.11).
76 Idem, Fusûs al-hikam 83 (cf. Ibn Al'Arabi 95).
77 Idem, Futûhât III 465.3 (cf. SPK 337-38).
78 Ibid. IV 276.33.
 65

such discussions, "one" is not considered a number, any more than the Lord is thought of as a
vassal. But to say one is to say two, three, and so on, ad infinitum, since one is one-half of two,
one-third of three, and so forth. The dualities inherent in this approach are fundamental, since they
are already implicit in one, the source of number, and explicit in two, the first of the numbers. Two
corresponds to the first creation, the prototype of everything in created existence. God is one and
only one, but everything other than God is two or more. The Ikhwân al-Safâ' make this point
succinctly while reminding us of the three Koranic verses that speak of "two of every kind," such as
God's command to Noah concerning what to place in the Ark: "Carry in it two of every kind"
(11:40).
Everything below God is "two of every kind," since He is the One, the Unique, the
Everlasting, "who did not give birth and was not born" [112:3].79
The qualitative relationship between one and the numbers is summarized by the Ikhwân in
describing the position of Pythagoras. In brief, since God is one and everything other than God is
incomparable with Him, everything else must be two or more. But since all things are also similar
to God in some manner, they partake of a certain oneness.
The nature of existent things accords with the nature of numbers. If a person comes to know
the numbers, their properties, nature, genera, species, and characteristics, he will then be able to
know the quantity of the genera and species of existent things, the wisdom in their quantities as they
are now, and why they are not more or less.
God originates the cause of existent things and creates and devises the creatures. He is truly
one in every respect. Hence wisdom does not allow that all things should be a single thing in every
respect, nor that they should be different in every respect. On the contrary, it is necessary that all
things be one through matter and many in form. In addition, wisdom does not allow that all things
be dual, triple, quadruple, quintuple, sextuple, or such like. On the contrary, the wisest way and
soundest arrangement is that they be as they are now in terms of numbers and measures. This is the
utmost wisdom and the sound arrangement. In other words, some things are dual, some are triple,
quadruple, quintuple, sextuple, etc., ad infinitum.80
Our interest here is in duality, even though all the other numerical relationships grow out of
duality. But that is precisely the point. Yin/yang gives rise to the Ten Thousand Things by means
of intermediate principles, which are represented in the I Ching by the eight trigrams and the sixty-
four hexagrams. In all cases, yin/yang lies at the root, and this fundamental duality in turn
manifests the Tao.
In another treatise, the Ikhwân al-Safâ' expand on the relationship between the many and the
one while listing the things in the cosmos that manifest the qualities of numbers. The passage is
worth quoting in its entirety, since it mentions all the dualities with which we will be concerned,
along with many more that we will have no space to cover. The primacy of duality comes out
clearly in the simple numerical dominance of dual principles over everything else.
When God originated the existent things and devised the creatures, He arranged them in
existence and put them into a hierarchy like the levels of the numbers emerging from one. Thereby
their manyness provides evidence for His Unity, while their hierarchy and arrangement provide
evidence for the sound order of His wisdom in His handiwork. And thereby their relationship to
Him who is their creator and originator will be like the relationship of the numbers to the one which

79 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Jâmi`at al-jâmi`a 79.

80 Idem, Rasâ'il III 179.
 66

is before two and which is the root and origin of number, as we explained in the treatise on
arithmetic.
The explanation of this is as follows: God is truly one in every respect and meaning, so it is
not permissible that any created and originated thing be truly one. On the contrary, it is necessary
that it be a one that is multiple, dual, and paired. For God first began through a single act with a
single object of that act, united in its own activity. This was the cause of causes. It was not one in
reality. No, within it there was a certain duality. Hence it has been said that He brought into
existence and originated dual and paired things, and He made them the principles of the existent
things, the roots of the engendered things.
That is why philosophers and sages spoke about matter and form. Some of them spoke
about light and darkness, while others spoke about substance and accident, good and evil,
affirmation and negation, confirmation and deprivation, spiritual and corporeal, Tablet and Pen,
effusion and intellect, love and subdual, motion and rest, existence and nonexistence, soul and
spirit, generation and corruption, this world and the next world, cause and effect, origin and return,
or seizure and extension.81
In an analogous manner, many natural things are found to be paired or opposite, like the
moving and the resting, the manifest and the nonmanifest, the high and the low, the exterior and the
interior, the subtle and the dense, the hot and the cold, the wet and the dry, the increasing and the
decreasing, the inanimate and the growing, the speaking and the silent, the male and the female.
"Two of every kind" [11:40].
The constantly changing states of the existent things--the animals and the plants--are found
to be similar: life and death, sleep and wakefulness, sickness and health, pain and pleasure, misery
and bliss, happiness and grief, sorrow and joy, well-being and corruption, harm and benefit, good
and evil, felicity and misfortune, retreat and advance.
So also are the properties of affairs established by the convention of the Sharia: command
and prohibition, promise and threat, awakening desire and instilling fear, obedience and
disobedience, praise and blame, punishment and reward, lawful and unlawful, injunctions and
rulings, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, truthfulness and falsehood, truth and error.
So also are all dual, paired, opposite affairs. In short, "Two of every kind."
Know, my brother, that since wisdom did not allow that all existent affairs should be dual
and paired, God made some of them triple, some quadruple, quintuple, sextuple, septuple, etc., as
far as they reach. We shall mention a few of them after this chapter, God willing.
And know, my brother, that all existent things are of two kinds, no less and no more: the
universal and the particular, nothing else.82
The relationships among the numbers correspond to the relationships among the realities
that structure the cosmos. The Ikhwân enumerate the basic levels of the macrocosm--employing
many terms that we will discuss in later chapters--as follows:
The relationship of the existent things to God is like the relationship of the numbers to one.
The Intellect is like two, the Soul like three, Prime Matter like four, Nature like five, the Body like
six, the celestial sphere like seven, the pillars [the four elements] like eight, and the children [the
three kingdoms] like nine.83

81 Many of these dualities are explained below in chapter 5 (pp. 000).

82 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il III 201-2.
83 Ibid. II 461-62.
 67

Examples of conceptual pairs in Muslim thinking could be multiplied indefinitely. While

explaining the meaning of the hadith, "God has seventy thousand veils of light and darkness," Najm
al-Dîn Râzî sums up the general picture:
The seventy thousand worlds are all included in two worlds, which are called here "light"
and "darkness." These are the Dominion [malakût] and the Kingdom [mulk]. They are also called
the unseen [ghayb] and the visible [shahâda], the corporeal [jismânî] and the spiritual [rûhânî], the
next world and this world. All these pairs are the same. Only the expressions differ.84

The Creation of the Many

At the stage of the Great Ultimate yin and yang are united and cannot manifest their separate
properties. In the Islamic view, God is named by all His names "before" the creation of the
universe. Our authors often point out that here the term before has a logical rather than temporal
significance. At this stage the names are only virtualities. Within God they cannot be distinguished
from each other, since each is identical with Him. He Himself is Alive, Knowing, Desiring,
Powerful, and so on. Each name refers to the same Being, the same Reality, without any
multiplicity.
As yin and yang begin to manifest their separate properties, they generate the Ten Thousand
Things. Thus the Tao reveals itself in all things through yin and yang. Likewise, when God wanted
to distinguish among the names and bring out their specific properties, He created the universe and
the creatures so that the names and attributes could have "loci of manifestation" (mazhar) for their
own individual qualities. If we look at the Real in Himself without taking into consideration His
relationship with the cosmos, He is not a "Lord," since there are no vassals. He can only be a "God"
in virtue of the divine thrall.
Muslim cosmologists often describe the reason for creation in terms of the famous hadîth
qudsî mentioned above. David is said to have asked God, "Why didst Thou create the creatures?"
He replied, "I was a hidden treasure and I wanted [literally "loved"] to be known. Hence I created
the creatures so that I might be known." Considered as the Essence, God was a Hidden Treasure, a
closed and locked chest of jewels. These "jewels" are the perfections of existence represented by
the divine names and attributes. "I was a Hidden Treasure" means that I was Alive, Knowing,
Desiring, Powerful, Hearing, Seeing, Merciful, Forgiving, and so on, but all these names were
nonmanifest. Without a cosmos, the names are indistinguishable. In Myself, every name is the
same as every other. The Alive is identical with the Hearing and the Desiring, the Forgiving is
identical with the Avenger, the Merciful is the same as the Wrathful. Ibn al-`Arabî and his
followers frequently bring out the unity of the Essence in spite of the many names by comparing It
to the human soul:
"And in your souls--what, do you not see?" [51:21]. There is nothing but a rational soul, but
it is intelligent, reflecting, imagining, remembering, form-giving, nutritive, growth-producing.85
"I wanted to be known." In other words, since I possessed all these perfections within
Myself, I wanted them to be displayed outwardly so that others could see them as well. In order for
these names to be known, there has to be multiplicity, since no name is different from any other
name at the level of absolute Oneness. Through multiplicity, each name can manifest its own
properties as distinct from the properties of the other names.

84 Râzî, Mirsâd 211 (cf. Path of God's Bondsmen 304).

85 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 459.25 (SPK 84).
 68

"Hence I created the creatures that I might be known." The creatures are the receptacles,
places, or loci within which God's names are displayed. Without them the Treasure would remain
eternally hidden.
Many of our authors discuss the hadith of the Hidden Treasure in terms of the fundamental
separation that must take place between mercy and wrath, gentleness and severity, beauty and
majesty. In the first passage quoted below, Sam`ânî alludes to the Hidden Treasure, while in the
next two Rûmî is quite explicit:
O dervish! He has a gentleness and a severity to perfection, a majesty and a beauty to
perfection. He wanted to distribute these treasures. On one person's head He placed the crown of
gentleness in the garden of bounty. On another person's liver He placed the brand of severity in the
prison of justice. He melts one in the fire of majesty, He caresses another in the light of beauty.86
God says, "I was a Hidden Treasure, so I wanted to be known." In other words, "I created
the whole of the universe, and the goal in all of it is to make Myself manifest, sometimes through
gentleness and sometimes through severity." God is not the kind of king for whom a single herald
would be sufficient. If all the atoms of the universe were His heralds, they would be incapable of
making Him known adequately.87
"I was a Hidden Treasure, so I wanted to be known": "I was a treasure, concealed behind
the curtain of the Unseen, hidden in the retreat of No-place. I wanted My beauty and majesty to be
known through the veils of existence. I wanted everyone to see what sort of Water of Life and
Alchemy of Happiness I am."88
Jâmî versifies the hadith of the Hidden Treasure as follows:
David said to the manifesting God,
"O Thou who art free of poverty and need,
What is the wisdom of creating the creatures?
This is a mystery no creature understands."
He said, "I was a treasure, full of jewels,
hidden from the discerning eye of every jeweler.
"I Myself saw in Myself all those jewels
without the intermediary of any locus of manifestation.
"I wanted to take all those hidden jewels
and show them outside My own Essence,
"So that outside this sitting place of mystery
their properties may become distinguished.
"All may thereby find a route to existence,
all may become aware of self and other.
"I created a few discerning jewelers
so that they might uncover those jewels
"And make manifest the jewel of beauty,
that the bazaar of love might become busy.
"With it they will adorn the faces of the beautiful
and increase the love of the lovers."
The names, hidden in the Essence, could be seen

86 Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 17.

87 Rûmî, Fîhi mâ fîhi 176 (cf. SPL 48).
88 Idem, Majâlis-i sab`a 29 (cf. SPL 71).
 69

only through the manifestation of the things.

The names had a hidden beauty,
but they rested in the levels of possibility.
With one unveiled glance, that hidden Beauty
became manifest in the loci of possibility.
Every auspicious beauty and perfection
scattered throughout the cosmos --
Consider it a ray of that perfection and beauty,
a differentiation of the level of undifferentiation.
See, for example, the attribute of knowledge,
disclosing itself in the loci of the ulama:
It is the knowledge of God that has appeared
but within the levels of delimitation.89

The Differentiation of the Undifferentiated

The names of God are identical with God Himself. When God said, "I was a Hidden
Treasure," the names were latent within Him. They represent all the qualities possessed by
Absolute Reality. But in the Real Himself, the names are not distinct from the Real. Only when the
cosmos appears do the names display their distinct characteristics. In God the names are
undifferentiated (ijmâl), while in the cosmos the properties of the names appear in differentiated
form (tafsîl). But undifferentiation and differentiation are already found within the Divine Reality.
When Ibn al-`Arabî calls God the "One/Many" (al-wâhid al-kathîr), he means that God is One in
His Essence and many in the relationships that He has with the cosmos, relationships denoted by the
names. Ibn al-`Arabî's followers commonly refer to this distinction by employing the terms
ahadiyya (Exclusive Unity) and wâhidiyya (Inclusive Unity). Exclusive Unity refers to the reality
of God in Himself, without regard to the cosmos, while Inclusive Unity refers to God envisaged as
the source of the cosmos.
Differentiation becomes actualized in the cosmos, but its principle is found in Reality Itself,
which is Sheer Being (al-wujûd al-mahd). In a cosmological context, Ibn al-`Arabî frequently
discusses the relationship between undifferentiation and differentiation in terms of the two divine
names, the Governor (al-mudabbir) and the Differentiator (al-mufassil), names that are alluded to by
the Koranic verse, "He governs the affair, He differentiates the signs" (13:2). Governing is a yang
quality of domination and control. Differentiating is a yin quality of receiving and displaying what
has been received. Ibn al-`Arabî identifies governing with God's determining the measure (taqdîr)
of things before their creation. Each thing has specific qualities determined by the divine names
that define it. In other words, each thing is defined by the reality of Being Itself. As Ibn al-`Arabî
says, "The Real described Himself as 'Governing the affair' only so that we might know that He
does nothing except what is required by the wisdom of Being."90 Differentiation is then equivalent
to God's bestowal of existence upon the things.91 It is the movement from oneness in the Hidden
Treasure to manyness in the cosmos. Through existence, the things come into the engendered
universe and manifest the qualities that they have borrowed from God. In the words of Ibn al-
`Arabî,

89 Jâmî, Silsilat al-dhahab 69-70.

90 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 163.19.
91 Ibid. 296.11.
 70

The property of the Governor of affairs is that He makes affairs firm within the Presence of
All-comprehensiveness and Witnessing and gives them that of which they are worthy. This all
takes place before they come into existence in their entities.... Once He has made them firm, as we
said, the Differentiator takes them. This name pertains exclusively to the ontological levels. The
Differentiator sends down each engendered thing and affair into its own level and station. This
name is like the master of ceremonies at a king's banquet.92
Ibn al-`Arabî sometimes refers to the Governor and Differentiator as the first two "names of
the cosmos" (asmâ' al-`âlam), or the first divine names that demand the existence of the cosmos.
Hence they are the "leaders" (imâm) of the other names.93 The two together give birth to the
"mothers of the names," the seven basic divine names: Alive, Knowing, Desiring, Powerful,
Speaking, Generous, and Just. Hence these seven mothers are the daughters (banât) of Governor
and Differentiator.94
Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers often use the term differentiation in a slightly different sense.
We just saw that the Governor is God inasmuch as He determines the measure of the immutable
entities. The Governor is Being inasmuch as It possesses certain immutable qualities that must
become manifest according to specific configurations determined by Being's own reality. In an
analogous way, colorless light determines within itself the properties of all the colors before they
become manifest through the appropriate conditions. The colors are innate to the very nature of
light. And at the level of the nonmanifest divine names or the latent colors, all realities are one,
since they have no existence other than the Light of the Real.
In contrast, the work of the Differentiator is to bestow existence upon the entities, allow the
colors to become manifest individually, bring the jewels out from the Hidden Treasure. In the Real,
all things are one, but in manifestation, each entity has its own specific existence. Each color has its
own special locus, each jewel a unique setting. In other words, through the Differentiator,
multiplicity is actualized.
When we say that the Differentiator pertains to the domain of manyness, we can quickly
grasp another closely related sense of the term differentiation. This sense comes to the fore when
the term is contrasted with its opposite, undifferentiation. In the One, the things are
undifferentiated, while in the cosmos they are differentiated. At each level of existence, a parallel
relationship can be discerned. The higher level is undifferentiated in relation to the lower level.
Undifferentiation and differentiation are often considered synonymous with the terms all-
comprehensiveness (jam`) and dispersion (farq or tafriqa). As in similar pairs, the relationship is
taken into account, not any absolute value attached to either side. What is differentiated from one
point of view may be undifferentiated from another point of view. Undifferentiation is basically
yang, while differentiation displays yin qualities. Undifferentiation is the higher, more powerful,
more luminous, and prior dimension of reality. But it is able to manifest itself only through
differentiation, which is lower, weaker, darker, and receptive toward its activity. However, any
level that we can envisage may be described as yang from one point of view and yin from another
point of view. In the following, Sa`îd al-Dîn Farghânî (d. 695/1296) describes the whole cosmos--
that is, all the levels of God's self-disclosure--in terms of this yang/yin relationship, showing that at
each level the perspective can be changed so that yang becomes yin. Farghânî was a disciple of Ibn
al-`Arabî's stepson, Sadr al-Dîn Qûnawî (d. 673/1274) and the author of a major commentary on the

92 Ibid. 171.8.
93 Ibid. I 100.30 (Y 2,128.10), 100.25 (Y 2,127.15).
94 Ibid. 100.15 (Y 2,126.11).
 71

poetry of the Egyptian Ibn al-Fârid (d. 632/1235). Qûnawî and Farghânî bring the teachings of Ibn
al-`Arabî to an early peak in terms of sophisticated technical terminology.
Farghânî's discussion has in view the two "arcs" mentioned in the previous chapter: The
first is the Arc of Descent, through which the universe gradually enters into multiplicity until it
reaches the point of greatest differentiation in the human being. The second is the Arc of Ascent,
through which human beings complete the circle. The movement goes from oneness to manyness
and back to oneness. But Farghânî shows in the following that at each level of the movement we
are dealing with a reality that has two aspects or "faces" (wajh). One face is closer to oneness, the
other to manyness. One face is relatively undifferentiated, the other relatively differentiated. Each
level is both yin and yang. But it is yin in one respect and yang in another respect. Everything
depends upon the relationship that we have in view. Farghânî begins by speaking of the self-
disclosure (tajallî) of the Real, the radiation of Being's Light. Even if some of the terms employed
are unclear, that is not really important for the present discussion.95 What should be completely
clear is that the representatives of the sapiential tradition often describe the relationship between
God and the cosmos as a set of interconnecting yang/yin relationships. The fundamental yang/yin
differentiation between the absolutely Real and the relatively real repeats itself on many
intermediate levels. Through each intermediary, the relationship between God and the world
becomes subtler and more complex.
Self-disclosure descends and passes through the divine and engendered levels by means of
undifferentiation and differentiation. Or, you can call the two "all-comprehensiveness" and
"dispersion."
We have shown that the First Entification and Self-disclosure possesses true oneness, all-
comprehensiveness, and undifferentiation. But this undifferentiation and all-comprehensiveness is
relatively differentiated, for within it are contained the modes of Inclusive Unity.
This relative differentiation of the First Entification can be considered as all-comprehensive
and undifferentiated. Then it is identical with the Second, Unitary Entification and Self-disclosure.
This all-comprehensiveness and undifferentiation of the Second Entification also possesses a
dispersion and differentiation. It is the manyness of the objects of God's knowledge and the relative
manyness made manifest through the divine names.
The all-comprehensiveness of this dispersion and the undifferentiation of this differentiation
is the reality and existence of the Supreme Pen.
The differentiation and dispersion of the Pen is the reality of the Guarded Tablet along with
the spirits, angels, and spiritualities that it comprises.
The all-comprehensiveness of this dispersion and the undifferentiation of its differentiation
is the Dust Entity.
Its dispersion and differentiation is the Throne, the Footstool, and all the imaginal forms.
The all-comprehensiveness and undifferentiation of these is the Greatest Element.
The dispersion and differentiation of the Greatest Element is the pillars, the heavens, and the
children, with all the forms of their genera, species, and some of their individuals.
The true all-comprehensiveness and ultimate undifferentiation of this dispersion and
differentiation is the form of Adam.

95 Farghânî's scheme follows Ibn al-`Arabî's teachings rather closely. For a set of diagrams taken
from Ibn al-`Arabî's works that help clarify the nature of the relationships Farghânî is discussing, cf.
Chittick, "Ibn `Arabî and His School" 75-79.
 72

His dispersion and differentiation, in respect of universals, is that which his meaning and
form comprehend, which is the realities of the vicegerents and the perfect human beings. This
includes every prophet and messenger. Or rather, each prophet and messenger is an all-
comprehensiveness and an undifferentiation for the dispersion of those of his people who are under
his scope, whether they accept him or reject him.
The form of the all-comprehensiveness of all, the all-comprehensive unity of their universal
dispersion, and the true undifferentiation of their differentiation--whether those of them who follow
or those who are followed--is only the most perfect, Muhammadan form and his most all-
comprehensive reality and meaning (God bless him and give him peace!).
The dispersion of this all-comprehensive unity is the realities of the vicegerents, perfect
human beings, Poles, and Substitutes, as well as those in this Muhammadan community who enter
under the sway of each.96
Here again we meet the idea that the specific reality of human beings has to do with the fact
that they comprehend all conceivable realities, divine and human. In the view of Ibn al-`Arabî and
his followers, the existence of human beings is demanded by the nature of reality itself. Certain
possibilities of God's self-disclosure could not be made manifest without Adam and his children.
Hence the "fall" of Adam is not necessarily a negative affair. Ibn al-`Arabî points out that God said
to the angels, "I am placing within the earth a vicegerent" (2:30) long before Adam "fell" into the
earth. Adam was clearly being created to serve God on the earth, not in the Garden. Hence, Ibn al-
`Arabî remarks, Adam's fall was the means whereby God bestowed honor upon him, making him
His own representative. In contrast, Iblis was made to fall because of his disgrace.97 This
perspective is by no means unique to Ibn al-`Arabî. Many authors saw Adam's disobedience as a
felix culpa. Sam`ânî often refers to this perspective in Rawh al-arwâh. For example, he points out
that human beings were created for God, not for paradise. When Adam ate the forbidden fruit--the
"wheat"--he was simply expressing his desire to busy himself with his Beloved. Adam's jealousy
(ghayra) did not allow him to look at anything "other" (ghayr) than God.
By God the Tremendous! They placed the worth of paradise on Adam's palm. There was
no bride more beautiful than paradise among all the existent things. It had such a beautiful face and
such a perfect adornment! But the ruling power of Adam's aspiration entered from the world of the
Unseen Jealousy. He weighed the worth of paradise with his hand and its value in the scales.
Paradise began to shout, "I cannot put up with this brazen man!"
O chivalrous youth! If tomorrow you go to paradise and you look at it from the corner of
your heart's eye, in truth, in truth, you will have fallen short of Adam's aspiration. Something that
your father sold for a grain of wheat--why would you want to settle down there?98
O dervish! You should not believe that Adam was brought out of paradise for eating some
wheat. God wanted to bring him out. He did not break any commandments. God's commandments
remained pure of being broken. Tomorrow, He will bring a thousand thousand people who
committed great sins into paradise. Should He take Adam out of paradise for one small act of
disobedience?99

96 Farghânî, Muntahâ al-madârik I 82-83.

97 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 232.3 (Y 3,405.5).
98 Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 90.
99 Ibid. 151; cf. 206. This marvelous work repeatedly comes back to the myth of Adam, providing
many fascinating perspectives on the Islamic view of human nature.
 73

In continuing the passage quoted above, Farghânî treats the fall as the entrance of human
beings into the world of differentiation. The fall had to occur so that the Hidden Treasure could
become completely manifest. The Garden was a domain in which people lived in relative
undifferentiation, so the possibilities inherent in their existence could not become manifest. The
root meaning of the Arabic word for Garden, janna, is concealment, since, Farghânî tells us, the
perfections of creation were concealed therein.
Since Adam was the possessor of a descent and a fall, he had to be a locus of manifestation
comprehending all the divine names that become entified in the Second Level of the descent of the
nonmanifest ontological self-disclosure. Thereby God could actualize His name-derived perfection,
which is conditional upon differentiation and multiplicity. Hence Adam was an all-comprehensive
root. He was an all-comprehensiveness that comprised the dispersion of all the human forms,
through which the quality of "lastness" became entified. For it has been reported that the human
being was the last existent thing to be created. That is why he was commanded to fall from the
Garden. For in the Garden is the meaning of the concealment of everything and the
undifferentiation of all the parts and differentiated details.
Adam was "taught the names" [2:31]. These are entified in the Second Level, which is the
level of the Real as Manifest. This level excludes the knowledge of the names of the Essence. The
names of the Essence are the concomitants of the First Level--which is the level of the Real as
Nonmanifest. These "names of the Essence" are the true objects named by the names that were
taught to Adam, but their knowledge is possessed exclusively by the Muhammadan Presence.100
By entering into this world, human beings become the supreme yin reality, since they bring
about the ultimate differentiation of all the divine names. The Hidden Treasure cannot be
completely known until it is totally manifest. Its total manifestation depends upon the outward
existence of all sorts of qualities that pertain exclusively to human beings, such as generosity and
justice. Moreover, many of the divine names--the possibilities latent in the very nature of Being--
cannot become manifest until the worst imaginable evils are displayed in existence. Neither
vengeance nor forgiveness have meaning outside of sin, and neither can achieve its full splendor
without the deepest depths of moral depravity. All this takes place in the midst of relationships
between the absolutely Real and the relatively real.

Being and Knowledge

Undifferentiation can be distinguished from differentiation by the fact that the first is closer
to unity and the second to multiplicity. The first is dominated by a relative oneness and the second
by a relative manyness. The relatively one is yang and the relatively many yin. The many make
manifest the qualities of the one just as earth displays the nonmanifest virtues of heaven. Farghânî
states the principle succinctly: "Activity [fâ`iliyya] pertains to oneness, and receptivity [qâbiliyya]
pertains to manyness."101
If we look back to the deepest root of oneness and undifferentiation, we reach the absolutely
nondelimited and nonentified Reality, which is one in every respect. This is "Sheer Being" (al-
wujûd al-mahd), to which reference was made earlier in this chapter.
In Islamic thought, wujûd (Being or existence) is contrasted with mâhiyya (quiddity or
"whatness"). The latter is frequently employed as a synonym for such terms as reality (haqîqa),
entity (`ayn), thing (shay'), and object of divine knowledge (ma`lûm). Different authors draw a

100 Farghânî, Muntahâ al-madârik I 83.

101 Ibid. II 3.
 74

range of distinctions among the terms. What is clear is that wujûd in itself is strictly indefinable and
unknowable. Delimitation and definition of any sort belong specifically to the quiddity, not to
wujûd. The quiddity of the thing can be known, but not the wujûd that allows it to be present in our
experience or knowledge. Or, from a slightly different point of view, we can only know wujûd
inasmuch as it is determined and defined by a thing. We cannot know wujûd as such, only
inasmuch as its qualities are manifested by the things. In other words, we know wujûd through the
realities inasmuch as they exist, or inasmuch as they manifest wujûd.
Wujûd is sometimes described as that which is nonmanifest in itself while making other
things manifest. It is identical with "light," which is invisible in itself while allowing us to see other
things. What we call "visible light" is but a dim reverberation of true, invisible light. We are able
to see it because it is thoroughly mixed with darkness. Even on the physical level, the brighter the
light, the more difficult it is to see. And there is no theoretical limit to light's brightness. In the
same way, what we call wujûd (existence) is in fact the existing things, which are but dim
reverberations of true wujûd (Being).
The fundamental movement in the cosmos from undifferentiation to differentiation can be
taken back to the movement from Being, which is absolutely undifferentiated, to existence, which is
a name applied to all the differentiated things that reflect Being. Existence in this sense is a
synonym for cosmos. The word also indicates that something is found within the cosmos, as when
we say that a cat exists. If we ignore all particular, defined existences, then we are left with Being,
which is indefinable and unknowable. It is identical with the divine Essence.
"Existence" then is the sum total of the created things. Or, use of the word indicates that a
certain created thing is found. Since the created thing is found, it is delimited and defined by the
conditions within which it is found. This delimitation and definition mean that it is not pure
existence, but existence in certain distinct modes that exclude the possibility of simultaneous
existence in other distinct modes. Hence the existent thing is other than Being as such, which
knows no limits or constraints. The thing is a mixture of existence in certain modes and
nonexistence in other modes. To speak of "Sheer Being" is to indicate that the absolutely Real, in
contrast to everything else, has no admixture of nonexistence. It is nothing but light, while
everything else is light mixed with darkness.
In Itself, Being is absolutely undifferentiated. Farghânî sometimes expresses this idea by
saying that Being is one, while everything else is two or more. Hence he employs the famous term
wahdat al-wujûd, the Oneness of Being, to allude to the absolute nonentification and
undifferentiation of the Essence.102 He then finds the principle of all differentiation in the divine
knowledge. God, according to the Koran and the almost unanimous opinion of Muslim thinkers,
knows all things, particulars as well as universals.103 And He knows them for all eternity
concurrent with His knowledge of Himself. In other words, knowledge and awareness are qualities
inherent within Being, and Being knows every reality that becomes manifest through Its own
reality. Light embraces consciously every degree of light and darkness.
Hence Farghânî sees existence ruled by twin principles: The Oneness of Being and the
Manyness of Knowledge (kathrat al-`ilm). He is providing an explanation for what Ibn al-`Arabî

102 Farghânî's use of the term wahdat al-wujûd does not coincide with the definition given to it by
all members of Ibn al-`Arabî's school. Cf. Chittick, "Rûmî and Wahdat al-Wujûd."
103 The opponents of the philosophers frequently accuse them of denying God's knowledge of the
particulars, thus contradicting the explicit text of the Koran. Many supporters of the philosophers
say that the opponents are misreading and misinterpreting the philosophical position.
 75

means when he calls God the One/Many. God is not many in existence, only in the sense that His
knowledge has many objects, for God knows all things.
Frequently our authors compare God's knowledge to human awareness: One person does
not become many persons because he or she knows many things. In the same way, God's Being and
Knowledge are identical. As Farghânî puts it, "Both the Oneness of Being and the Manyness of
Knowledge through its objects are attributes of the Essence in respect of Its nondelimitation and
nonentification."104 There is no ontological plurality at the level of the absolutely Real. Even at
the level of the relatively real, to speak of ontological plurality is either to misunderstand the actual
situation or to use language in a metaphorical and inexact manner, in order to make oneself
understood. In fact, there is only one Being, just as there is only one light. The multiplicity of
existing things does not contradict the Oneness of Being any more than the multiplicity of colors
and shapes contradicts the oneness of light.105
Sheer Being is one, which is to say that it is absolutely undifferentiated. Knowledge has
many objects, so it is relatively differentiated. From this point of view, Being is yang and the divine
knowledge is yin. Together they are the Tao. The fruit of their relationship is the cosmos.
In respect of the fact that the Oneness of Being and the Manyness of Knowledge are
identical, the Real is known as the Unity of All-comprehensiveness (ahadiyyat al-jam`). In respect
of the fact that the two are discernible from each other and interrelate, the Real is known as the
divinity or the Station of All-comprehensiveness (maqâm al-jam`). In Ibn al-`Arabî's school, these
different designations are said to refer to "levels" (martaba) or "presences" (hadra), which can be
distinguished in theory and through their effects in the cosmos, but which have no ontological
distinction. Farghânî writes,
Before the level of Divinity we have the level of the Unity of All-Comprehensiveness,
where the Oneness of Being and the Manyness of Knowledge are identical with each other. . . .
Within this Presence, oneness and manyness, Being and Knowledge, entification and
nonentification are all identical with each other and with the Essence, without any kind of
separation or distinction.106
Being is one in every respect, while each thing in the cosmos can be understood to be a
quiddity that has been irradiated with the light of Being. The specific thing is itself, and it exists by
virtue of the ray of Being, just as the color red is a specific reality, while it exists by virtue of light.
In order for the thing to come into existence, it must be receptive to the ray of Being. Hence Being
is yang, since Its activity brings the thing into existence. The thing is yin, since its receptivity
allows it to come into existence.
In some passages, Farghânî clarifies this discussion by reminding us that Being has certain
inherent qualities, and these are designated by the divine names. Hence activity (fi`l) and effectivity
(ta'thîr) belong to Being and the names. Reception (qabûl) and receiving activity (infi`âl) pertain to
knowledge and the realities of the objects known by it. These objects are the possible things

104 Farghânî, Mashâriq al-darârî 345.

105 Farghânî's formulation is by no means original. He is simply building on the teachings of
Qûnawî and Ibn al-`Arabî. Cf. Chittick, "Rûmî and Wahdat al-Wujûd," where Farghânî's teachings
on the Oneness of Being and the Manyness of Knowledge are situated within the development of
Ibn al-`Arabî's school. I cite Farghânî here in preference to other figures because he is particularly
explicit in bringing out the active and receptive qualities found in the two sides.
106 Farghânî, Mashâriq al-darârî 344.
 76

(mumkinât), which have no claim on existence. Until existence is given to them, they remain
nonexistent objects of God's knowledge.107
At the level of the Divinity or the Station of All-comprehensiveness, there is no existing
cosmos. But God is One and knows all things. Hence we can speak of the Oneness of Being and
the Manyness of Knowledge without regard to the cosmos. In other words, yang and yin are
inherent to the reality of God. In respect of Being, He is yang and in respect of knowledge He is
yin. Farghânî makes this point while commenting on the following verse of the great poet Ibn al-
Fârid, who is speaking for the Muhammadan Reality, which is identical with the Divinity in this
respect:
It [the Essence] was bounteous
while no preparedness took its effusion.
It was prepared to give
before any readiness to receive.
In other words, at the beginning of the business of bringing the cosmos into existence,
nothing but the two aforementioned realities were entified within My Essence: the Oneness of
Being and the Manyness of Knowledge through its objects. There was nothing else to be found.
What then had the preparedness to receive, acquire, and seek the ontological aid? Hence in respect
of its Oneness of Being My own Essence bestowed aid. It effused and was active. But in respect of
the manyness of knowledge through its objects, My own Essence was prepared for and receptive to
that effusion and aid. Hence the business of giving existence to the cosmos and making it manifest
was completed through the undifferentiated and differentiated forms of Myself.108
The undifferentiated form of God is Being, while the differentiated form of God is His
knowledge. Within His knowledge are found all objects of knowledge. He knows all things for all
eternity, so all realities, all quiddities are found within His knowledge. As Ibn al-`Arabî puts it,
The Real's knowledge of Himself is identical with His knowledge of the cosmos. . . . His
Self never ceases to exist, so His knowledge never cease to exist. And His knowledge of Himself is
His knowledge of the cosmos, so His knowledge of the cosmos never ceases to exist. Hence He
knows the cosmos in its state of nonexistence. He gives it existence according to its form in His
knowledge.109
In all this, activity is ascribed to the One Being and receptivity to the objects of knowledge.
These two are yang and yin within the divine Reality Itself. But the logical relationship here is
"vertical," since Being precedes knowledge. It is possible for a thing to be without knowing
anything, but it is not possible for a thing to know something without being. Hence knowledge is a
quality possessed by Being, while the objects of knowledge are the concomitants of Being. In other
words, Being pertains to the divine name Allah, which denotes absolute Reality as such.
Knowledge is an attribute of Allah that follows upon Allah's reality. Hence, in the typical listing of
the divine names, the Alive is given priority over the Knowing, since a thing cannot have
knowledge if it is not alive. In the words of Ibn al-`Arabî,
Life is a precondition for the attribution of every relationship to God, whether knowledge,
desire, power, speech, hearing, seeing, or perception. If the relationship of life were removed from

107 Idem, Muntahâ al-madârik I 47.

108 Idem, Mashâriq al-darârî 349 (cf. Arberry, The Poem of the Way 44, lines 1282-85).
109 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 90.23 (Y 2,78.5; cf. SPK 84).
 77

Him, all these relationships would be removed as well. . . . For the God [al-ilâh] cannot be
conceived of without these relationships.110

Majesty and Beauty

We began this chapter by showing how the very idea of God demands that we conceive of
Him as He is in Himself (the Essence) and as we relate to Him (the Divinity). To distinguish
between these two is to declare God's incomparability and His similarity. This leads to the fact that
certain divine names are associated with the two sides. The names of Majesty have a close
relationship with incomparability, while those of Beauty are more closely related to similarity. But
God's names can be considered distinct from one other only in relation to created things. In God
Himself they are identical with God. Hence, to speak of the divine names is to speak of God and
creation, which is the most basic of yang/yin distinctions. This difference between God and the
cosmos led us to connect all oneness and undifferentiation with yang and all manyness and
differentiation with yin. Finally we came back to Being and knowledge, which are the roots of
Oneness and manyness in the Real.
In the process of discussing these basic relationships, the distinction between the two groups
of divine names known as those of majesty and beauty, or severity and gentleness, has come up on a
number of occasions. This distinction needs further explanation, since it is a fundamental theme
that permeates the Koran and the Hadith and sets the tone for all the discussions with which we are
concerned. We will meet it repeatedly in coming chapters.
While declaring God's incomparability and asserting His similarity represent two extremes
in Islamic thought, most authors of the sapiential tradition try to strike a balance between the two.
In general incomparability is associated with qualities such as majesty (jalâl), severity (qahr), wrath
(ghadab), justice (`adl), anger (sakht), distance (bu`d), vengeance (intiqâm), invincibility (jabarût),
inaccessibility (`izza), holiness (qudus), magnificence (kibriyâ'), and so on. In the spiritual
psychology developed by the Sufis, the human response to such divine qualities is designated by
terms such as awe (hayba), fear (khawf), and contraction (qabd). In the same way, similarity is
associated with beauty (jamâl), gentleness (lutf), mercy (rahma), bounty (fadl), good-pleasure
(ridâ), nearness (qurb), forgiveness (maghfira), pardon (`afw), love (mahabba), etc. In spiritual
psychology, the human response is intimacy (uns), hope (rajâ'), and expansion (bast). This is the
rough scheme that is reflected throughout Islamic thought, though many variations and
permutations can be found, since relationships change according to perspective. Thus, for example,
Ibn al-`Arabî often follows the majority opinion by associating awe with majesty and intimacy with
beauty, but in many passages he reverses the relationship, providing in the process a much subtler
evaluation of the connection between God and human beings.111
As suggested earlier, the human qualities associated with the recognition of God as Majestic
and Severe are the qualities of the servant (`abd). On the most basic level, the servant submits to
the divine will because that is the proper attitude of the vassal before the lord, or of earth before
heaven. Even people who think that they are not submitting do so in fact, since, as our poets tell us,
the dust mote can do nothing else before the sun. But this second sort of submission brings no
profit, since it is compulsory rather than voluntary. In short, the relationship between God and

110 Idem, II 107.26.

111 See, for example, the passage from the Futûhât translated into English in Chodkiewicz et al.,
Les Illuminations de la Mecque 97-98. Cf. the passage from Ibn al-`Arabî's Kitâb al-jalâl wa'l-
jamâl translated in ibid. 506-7, and in Ibn `Arabî, "On Majesty and Beauty" 7-8.
 78

servant suggests a distance and opposition that are not overcome: The Real is high and the unreal is
low, the Real is Majestic and the unreal is awe-stricken, the Real is Lord and the unreal is vassal,
the Real is Magnificent and the unreal is trifling.112
The human qualities associated with the actualization of God's similarity are of a different
sort, since they allude to the elimination of distance and difference. The vicegerent of the King
represents the King by making use of His prerogatives. It goes without saying that the vicegerent
has already submitted to the King. No king appoints a rebel as his representative. Once having
submitted, the servant is given a robe of honor. The robe comes from the king, and the vicegerent
wears it in his name.
The attributes of the vicegerent have to be viewed from two points of view. If we look at
the vicegerent vis-à-vis the king, the vicegerent is the king's servant, and so he is a yin reality. But
if we look at him in relationship to his charge, which is the cosmos, then he reflects the king's yang
attributes. He displays the names of majesty and severity because the king is a ruler. Ibn al-`Arabî
frequently refers to this double relationship, as in the following passage:
At root the servant was created only to belong to God and to be a servant perpetually. He
was not created to be a lord. So when God clothes him in the robe of mastership and commands
him to appear in it, he appears as a servant in himself and a master in the view of the observer. This
is the ornament of his Lord, the robe He has placed upon him.113
If we look at the vicegerent in relation to the king, what distinguishes him or her from other
servants is nearness to the king. God relates with this servant predominately in terms of the names
of mercy and beauty.
Again, these relationships are not hard and fast. As pointed out above, mercy may be hidden
in wrath and vice versa. Here I simply want to bring out the general stress of our texts and the fact
that the issue of relationships is central to the type of thinking that goes on. In certain branches of
Islamic learning, such as jurisprudence and Kalâm, emphasis is placed on the quality of human
distance from God and the resulting necessity of fear, awe, and submission. In other branches of
Islamic lore, especially Sufism, stress is placed upon the quality of nearness after distance, or
nearness along with distance. God is seen as primarily near and secondarily far. The goal of
submission and servanthood is to reestablish the right relationships so that distance and nearness
can play their proper roles. As Ibn al-`Arabî puts it, although "He is with you wherever you are"
(57:4), it is not true that we are with Him wherever He is. That is the goal. He is always near, but
we have to establish nearness.114
From a slightly different point of view, servanthood is juxtaposed not with vicegerency but
with love. Distance and incomparability demand awe, while nearness and similarity demand
intimacy. Intimacy is togetherness and union, and this is achieved through love. God's love is
primary, the servant's love secondary. The Sufis read the Koranic verse "He loves them and they
love Him" (5:54) as expressing the actual ontological relationship. Human love can be born only
from divine love.115
As soon as we begin talking of love, then we talk of separation and union. Within love
itself, the two relationships--distance and nearness--are present. Though love is a quality connected
primarily with God's beauty and gentleness, it also demands majesty and severity. Rûmî is the

112 Cf. SPK 312ff.

113 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 136.8 (SPK 323).
114 Cf. SPK 364-66.
115 Cf. SPL 195ff.
 79

mouthpiece par excellence for the dialogue between gentleness and severity that takes place within
the context of the servant's love for God. And since the whole universe is a servant infused with
love, everything within it reflects the interplay between these two attributes. All the pairs and
opposites found in creation mirror God's beauty and majesty. Annemarie Schimmel expresses
Rûmî's view:
God's twofold aspects are revealed in everything on earth: He is the Merciful and the
Wrathful; His is jamâl, Beauty beyond all beauties, and jalâl, Majesty transcending all majesties.116
The accompanying table lists the qualitative correlations found throughout Rûmî's poetry.
Ahmad Sam`ânî contrasts servanthood and love by meditating on the implications of the
Covenant of Alast. Before bringing human beings into this world, God said to them, "Am I not
(alast) your Lord?" They all replied, "Yes, we give witness" (7:172). This covenant sets up a
number of relationships. Note how Sam`ânî associates love with inwardness and spirit, and
servanthood with outwardness and body. The spirit is high and near to God, worthy to love Him.
The body is low and far from God, worthy to serve Him. Sam`ânî has God address bodies and
spirits, telling them their own proper qualities. Finally the author turns to a meditation upon a verse
of the Fâtiha, the opening chapter of the Koran that is recited in each cycle of the daily prayers:
"Thee alone we serve and Thee alone we ask for help" (1:4). Service or worship (`ibâda) is the
attribute of the servant who obeys the commands of the king. Asking for help is the attribute of the
supplicant who goes to the king's door and seeks entrance into his

116 Schimmel, Triumphal Sun 231. Cf. ibid. 231-34.

 80

Table 2.1
 81

court. The point of some of the correspondences drawn below may be obscure. This is partly due
to the fact that the original is in rhymed prose, so that there is a correlation set up in the words
themselves that adds weight to the argument in Persian.
On the Day of "Am I not your Lord" a table of love was set up. Through the property of
gentleness, they sat you down at the table and gave you a lawful bite from the covenant of the
majesty of Lordship. With the hand of "Yes," you placed that bite in love's mouth. There is no bite
more appetizing than the bite of tawhîd in the mouth of love.
Beware, beware! Do not throw away this bite with the casting of dislike. If you do, you
will remain forever in the affliction [balâ'] of your "Yes" [balâ].
The first shoot planted in the garden of your hearing was the shoot of Lordship. He watered
it with gentleness until it sent down roots. Then the branch of being faithful grew up. "Those who
are faithful to their covenants when they engage in a covenant" [2:177]. The leaf of good-pleasure
grew. "God is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him" [5:119]. The blossom of praise
and laudation bloomed. "Those who praise God in every state." The fruit of union and encounter
set. "Faces on that day radiant, gazing at their Lord" [75:22-23]. He recorded the Covenant of
Lordship on the tablets of the spirits with the ink of succor and the pen of the eternal gentleness.
"Those--He has written in their hearts faith and confirmed them with a spirit from Him" [58:22].
To the bodily frames, He spoke of Lordship. To the spirits, He spoke of love. O frames, I
am God! O hearts, I am the lover!
O frames, you belong to Me! O hearts, I belong to you!
O frames, toil! For that is what Lordship requires from servanthood. O hearts, rejoice!
Have joy in Me and sing My remembrance [dhikr]. For that is what is demanded by unqualified
love.
O frames, stay within the realities of struggle! O hearts, stay within the gardens of
witnessing!
O frames, occupy yourselves with ascetic discipline! O hearts, dwell in the rosegardens of
beginningless gentleness!
O frames, keep on questioning! O hearts, keep on receiving gifts!
O frames, express your need [niyâz]! O hearts, pretend to be disdainful [nâz]!
O frames, activity belong to you! O hearts, pain belongs to you!
Since pain is something from which modern civilization teaches us to flee, it perhaps needs
to be remarked here that this is the pain of separation, the pain that increases the fire of love. Rûmî,
the spokesman for love, is also the champion of pain in the heart. As he puts it,
Pain is an alchemy that renovates--where is indifference when pain intervenes?
Beware, do not sigh coldly in your indifference! Seek pain! Seek pain, pain, pain!117
Hence Sam`ânî is telling us that the body has to be busy with the obligations of servanthood,
such as prayer, fasting, and good works. But the heart has to busy itself with reflecting on its own
situation, its own indifference, its own distance from the Beloved. It must be rejuvenated and
transmuted through the pain of love. Sam`ânî continues:
O frames, do not let go of obedience! O hearts, obey only Me!
O frames, occupy yourself with suffering! O hearts, sit on top of the treasure!
O frames, be like the knocker on a door! O hearts, ascend beyond the Glorious Throne!

117 Rûmî, Mathnawî VI 4303-4 (cf. SPL 206-12).

 82

O frames, give the body on credit! O hearts, buy and sell only for cash! Do you not see that
when there is talk of the frame, promises are made? "[But as for him who feared the Station of his
Lord] and forbade the soul its caprice, surely paradise shall be the refuge" [79:41]. But when there
is talk of the heart, there is talk of ready cash. "I sit with him who remembers Me."118 "I am with
My servant's opinion of Me."119 "He is with you wherever you are" [57:4]. O dervish! The
paradise of separation is found in the paradise of union. But the paradise of union is not found in
the paradise of separation.
O frames, you have a path to walk on [madhhab]! O hearts, you have a spring to drink from
[mashrab]!120
O frames, occupy yourself with ritual prayer and fasting! O hearts, busy yourself with secret
whispering, supplication, pain, and melting!
O frames, travel through "Thee alone we serve"! O hearts, gaze through "Thee alone we ask
for help"!
"Thee alone we serve" because we belong to Thee. "Thee alone we ask for help" because
we exist through Thee.
"Thee alone we serve," remaining faithful to servanthood. "Thee alone we ask for help,"
gazing upon the pure goodness of Lordship.
"Thee alone we serve" because we are servants at Thy door. "Thee alone we ask for help"
because we number among those Thou lovest.
"Thee alone we serve" because we are attendants. "Thee alone we ask for help" because we
are lovers, and it is appropriate [for the Beloved] to extend a hand to the intoxicated lover.
"Thee alone we serve" negating belief in predestination. "Thee alone we ask for help"
rejecting belief in free will.
"Thee alone we serve" through our effort. "Thee alone we ask for help" so that Thou wilt
preserve us in our covenant.
"Thee alone we serve" is to bind the belt of diligence on the waist of truthfulness. "Thee
alone we ask for help" is to ask for the effusion of the bounty of His Being's generosity. It is a
necessary precondition that you bring your own diligence and lay it before His generosity. Perhaps

118 Ghazâlî ascribes this saying to Ka`b al-Ahbâr (d. 32/652), to whom the early Muslims were
indebted for much of their knowledge of Judaism. The full text is as follows: "Moses said, 'O Lord,
art Thou near that I should whisper to Thee? Or art Thou far that I should call out to Thee?' He
replied, 'I sit with him who remembers Me.' Moses said, 'What if we should be in a situation such
that we consider Thee too great to be remembered, such as impurity or the privy?' He said,
'Remember Me in every situation.'" Ghazâlî, Ihyâ' `ulûm al-dîn II.5.3 (141-42).
119 This is a sound hadîth qudsî. Cf. Graham, Divine Word and Prophetic Word 127, 130.
120 The term madhhab commonly designates the school of the Sharia that one follows, while
mashrab commonly designates a person's intellectual persuasion. The Sufis find the locus classicus
for the latter term in Koran 2:60, which tells how Moses struck the rock with his staff and twelve
springs gushed forth: "Now the people knew their drinking places." People have a great variety of
"drinking places," because of the great variety of capacities or preparedness. In Sufi technical
terminology, shurb (drinking) stands between dhawq (tasting), which is the beginning of a
waystation of spiritual growth, and rî (quenching), which is the full actualization of that waystation
(cf. SPK 220). The subject of Rûzbihân Baqlî's work Mashrab al-arwâh, "The drinking place of the
spirits," from which I quote below, is the different stages and modes of spiritual realization.
 83

the rays of His generosity's sun will shine upon your diligence. Then your diligence can become
worthy of the presence of His majesty.
"Thee alone we serve" through the majesty of Thy command. "Thee alone we ask for help"
through the perfection of Thy bounty.
"Thee alone we serve" because of the mightiness of Thy command. "Thee alone we ask for
help" because of the treasury of Thy bounty.
"Thee alone we serve" arises from the lane of dutiful attendance. "Thee alone we ask for
help" arises from the lane of aspiration.
When the servant says, "Thee alone we serve," the Real says, "Accept whatever he has
brought." When the servant says, "Thee alone we ask for help," He says, "Give him whatever he
wants."121
In their more theoretical works, the Sufis developed a complicated science of spiritual
psychology by analyzing the nature of the possible and desirable relationships between human
beings and God. As in the passage just quoted, close attention is paid to Koranic verses that refer to
these relationships. In these theoretical works, reference is made to the different modalities of
relationship as "stations" (maqâmât) and "states" (ahwâl). Both stations and states are inner
qualities that are acquired on the path to God. The two are differentiated by the fact that stations are
permanent and earned, while states are transitory and given as divine gifts. One of the most famous
and basic presentations of the stations is Manâzil al-sâ'irîn by Khwâja `Abdallâh Ansârî. He
describes ten categories of waystations, each of which has ten qualities. Each quality is then further
subdivided into three levels. Ansârî provides Koranic texts that mention each quality explicitly or
implicitly. There are dozens of important works of this sort, and they all deserve to be studied from
the point of view of the yin/yang relationships established by the qualities discussed.
In Mashrab al-arwâh, a discussion of one thousand waystations of the travelers on the path
to God, Rûzbihân Baqlî (d. 606/1209) provides numerous passages relating various human and
divine attributes in terms of the standard associations. In the following he juxtaposes majesty and
beauty:
The unveiling of beauty is the place where spirits are plundered through passionate
affection, yearning, and love. Through it the gnostic is given the ability to travel through the
attributes and to remain constant in the vision of eternity and subsistence. The gnostic says, "The
station of the witnessing of beauty demands intoxication, ecstasy, and turmoil."
The vision of majesty is the station in which the elect are overcome by fear, dread,
veneration, and reverence. The gnostic says, "The vision of majesty distracts the spirits and upsets
the bodies."122
Najm al-Dîn Kubrâ (d. 618/1221) describes how the attributes of majesty and beauty affect
the soul. He explains why majestic attributes pertain more to the outward, bodily realm, while
beautiful attributes have an affinity with the inward, spiritual realm. He also points explicitly to the
feminine quality of the beautiful attributes and the masculine quality of the majestic attributes. As
noted above, contraction (qabd) is a response to yang qualities and expansion (bast) to yin qualities.
The "others" are those who have not yet achieved worthiness to know God's mysteries, those who
remain separate from Him. God keeps the mysteries from the "other" (ghayr) out of "jealousy"
(ghayra), and the gnostics follow suit.

121 Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 154-55.

122 Rûzbihân, Mashrab al-arwâh 262.
 84

When God's elect servants gain knowledge of His stores and hidden treasures and recognize
that these will keep on increasing forever without being exhausted, they become joyful in what they
have and begin seeking increase. They cling fast to dignity and avoid showing anything, out of
jealousy and fear lest the mysteries become manifest to the "others." The attributes of invincibility
and magnificence cover them over, while they conceal the attributes of mercy and beauty. Hence
they undergo contraction in their bodies, as if they were bound in chains, because of the intensity of
the dignity, the patient waiting, and the reminder. But they undergo expansion in their hearts and
spirits, just as cotton expands with the blowing of the wind.
Someone may ask why attributes of awe and invincibility should cover them while they
conceal attributes of beauty, bounty, and mercy. We would reply: Because beauty, bounty, and
mercy are beautiful and attractive women. Since they are free and curtained ladies, they remain
concealed behind the veil lest the "others" be tempted by them.123
Someone may ask why attributes of awe and invincibility are not desired. We would reply:
They are desired, but the "others" will see their forms, not their meanings. Their forms are
terrifying--like snakes, lions, scorpions, and serpents. The "others" avoid things like this, not
desiring them, in contrast to the attributes of beauty. Hence in their forms, attributes of beauty are
related to attributes of majesty just as women are related to men. But in respect of their meanings,
the relationship is opposite.124
What exactly Kubrâ means by this last sentence is not clear. Perhaps he has in mind the
"Taoist" idea--which we will meet in detail in Chapter 6--that the yin dimension of reality
determines the nature of things more profoundly than the yang dimension. In the outward domain,
majesty rules over beauty, but in the inward domain, yin rules over yang.

Awe and Intimacy

Sufi texts discuss many pairs of human qualities that come to exist because of differing
human relationships with the divine. We have already mentioned fear and hope, contraction and
expansion, and intimacy and awe. Other commonly discussed pairs are concentration and
dispersion, presence and absence, intoxication and sobriety, obliteration and affirmation, concealing
and disclosure, variegation and stability.125 By investigating any of these pairs we can bring out
basic Muslim attitudes toward divine/human relationships. I want to look more closely at intimacy
and awe, which are commonly juxtaposed, as stated above, with beauty and majesty.
Abû Bakr al-Kalâbâdhî (d. 380/990) provides an early definition of intimacy in al-Ta`arruf li
madhhab al-tasawwuf. Explanations from the important Persian commentary on this work, Sharh-i
ta`arruf by Abû Ibrâhîm Mustamlî Bukhârî (d. 434/1042-43), are added in brackets:
{Kalâbâdhî placed the chapter on intimacy after the chapter on remembrance [dhikr]
because, as we said, a person remembers God in the measure that he witnesses Him. The more one
witnesses God, the more one remembers. When witnessing increases greatly, it yields intimacy.
Do you not see in the visible world that the more a person is something's companion, the more he
becomes intimate with it, so much so that he sees the intimacy equal to love? Just as the lover

123 Rûmî, among others, also refers to the self-disclosures of God's beauty and gentleness to the
soul as beautiful women and brides. Cf. SPL 288ff.
124 Kubrâ, Die Fawâ'ih al-Gamâl 44-45.
125 For a wide selection of early texts on many of these contrasting pairs, cf. J. Nurbakhsh, Sufism
II-IV.
 85

suffers pain through separation from the beloved, so also the person who is intimate with something
suffers pain by being separated from it. . . .
{It sometimes happens that a person fears something. If he sees that thing, his liver melts
and the life is frightened out of him. But gradually he gains courage and hides his fear. Little by
little, he gains intimacy with that affliction. Finally he becomes so intimate with the affliction,
which used to frighten the life out of him, that separation from it would be the death of him. That
affliction becomes the food of those who suffer it to such an extent that blessing becomes an
affliction for them. They suffer from blessing the way others suffer from affliction. These are
examples from common experience.
{It has been said that when Moses was taken to meet his Lord, He commanded him to throw
down his staff. Then it became a serpent. This was done so that he would become intimate with
affliction and not fear the trickery of Pharoah's sorcerers. Al-Dahhâk says that Moses had a
thousand miracles in his staff. . . . The staff that was for Pharoah an affliction was for Moses an
intimate. It has also been said that when Muhammad was taken on the ascent [mi`râj], the wisdom
in that was for him to see the affliction of the Resurrection and the chastisement of hell. Thereby he
became intimate with affliction and chastisement. At the Resurrection, when everyone is struck by
fear, he will be secure. Then all the people at the Resurrection will say, "Oh, my soul!" But he will
say, "Oh, my community!"126 . . .}
Al-Junayd was asked about intimacy. He replied, "It is the removal of shyness while awe is
still there." The "removal of shyness" means that hope should dominate over fear.
Dhu'l-Nûn was asked about intimacy. He replied, "It is the lover's bold expansiveness
[inbisât]127 toward the Beloved." Its meaning is expressed in the words of God's Friend
[Abraham]: "Show me how Thou bringest the dead to life" [2:262]. {The root of this is that the
more love increases, the more God's kind caresses increase. The more kind caresses increase, the
more intimacy is achieved. Bold expansiveness occurs in the measure of intimacy. Do you not see
that if Abraham had not possessed the station of friendship, he would not have been so boldly
expansive with God? No one has the courage to show such bold expansiveness to his Lord. The
dead will come to life at the Resurrection. But since Abraham had gained the station of friendship,
he was bold. He asked God to show him immediately what the creatures will see tomorrow at the
Resurrection. Asking for something before its proper time is bold expansiveness. If a person has
not achieved the beginnings of intimacy and love, he will not be boldly expansive. Then Kalâbâdhî
brings another example:}

126 There is an allusion here to a sound hadith in which the Prophet describes the Day of
Resurrection when God gives him the power of intercession. He speaks for many, and those in
whose hearts is found a barleycorn of faith are delivered from hell. But he keeps on exclaiming,
"My community, my community," and removes more and more from the Fire (cf. Robson, Mishkat
al-masabih 1181-83). According to the Sufi Abû `Alî al-Daqqâq (d. ca. 405/1015), no one
possesses the character trait of chivalry (futuwwa) to perfection except the Prophet. "For on the
Day of Resurrection, everyone will say, 'My soul, my soul!' But he will say, 'My community, my
community!'" (al-Qushayrî, Risâla 471).
127 Bukhârî translates this into Persian as gustâkhî, and Arberry renders it as "boldness." I choose
"bold expansiveness" to call attention to the connection with bast or "expansion," which is one of
the technical terms (contrasted with contraction, qabd) employed to indicate the servant's proper
relationship with the names of gentleness and beauty.
 86

Likewise, this bold expansiveness of intimacy is expressed in the words of Moses: "Show
me, that I might gaze upon Thee" [7:143]. {Moses wanted to see God, but the vision of God has
been promised for the Resurrection. However, since he had found intimacy, he asked to have
immediately what had been deferred for later. . . . }
God's words, "Thou shalt not see Me" [7:143] are a kind of an excuse, meaning, "You
cannot." {God wants to say: I do not forbid you to see Me because it is not permitted or proper.
On the contrary, I forbid it because in your present attribute you do not have the ability to see Me;
or, because this place where you have asked for vision is not the place of vision; or, it is not the time
for vision.
{The proof of these words is that Moses' people had asked for the same thing, but they
received burning as their share.128 It was not their place to show bold expansiveness. But Moses
received an excuse, since it was his place to be boldly expansive. . . . }
Ibrâhîm al-Mâristânî was asked about intimacy. He replied, "It is the heart's joy in the
Beloved."
Shiblî was asked about intimacy and He replied, "It is that you become alienated from
yourself." {When the servant gains intimacy with God, he becomes alienated [wahsha] from
everything other than God. But the nearest thing to himself is himself. That is why Shiblî says that
he must become alienated from himself. When he is alienated from the nearest person, then it is
obvious that he is not intimate with anyone. The meaning of "becoming alienated from oneself" is
that in his own self he should have no bold expansiveness toward the Beloved. He should have no
desire either to attract gain or to repel loss. He should be so joyful in intimacy and so absent from
himself that if the Beloved should forbid bestowal, he will not ask why. And if He should decide on
affliction, he will not ask why He decided on that. For if he were to attend to these things, he would
be busy with something other than the Beloved. To the extent that the lover is busy with other than
the Beloved, he is separate from the Beloved. . . . }
Dhu'l-Nûn said, "The lowest station of intimacy is that though the person is thrown into the
Fire, that does not make him absent from Him with whom he is intimate."
One of the Sufis said, "Intimacy means that he should be so familiar with formulae of
remembrance that he remains absent from the vision of others."129
By the time of Hujwîrî (d. ca. 465/1072)--the author of one of the first major Sufi works in
Persian, the Kashf al-mahjûb--the contrasting qualities associated with intimacy and awe were
clearly established. Note that he discusses two main opinions concerning the two attributes. The
first set of opinions is close to the view of the proponents of Kalâm, since it stresses God's
incomparability, distance, and majesty. In this perspective, the preferred human attribute is awe,
while intimacy is inferior, since it can be established only with creatures. The second group of
opinions stresses God's similarity to human beings and the primacy of His beauty over His majesty.
In this perspective, intimacy is superior. The word witness (shâhid) employed toward the beginning
of the passage is a Sufi technical term that refers to the face of God that the traveler perceives in his
or her heart. Ibn al-`Arabî defines it as "the trace that witnessing leaves in the heart of the
witnesser."130

128 Allusion to Koran 2:55: "And when you said, 'Moses, we will not have faith in you till we see
God openly'; and the thunderbolt took you while you were beholding."
129 Kalâbâdhî, al-Ta`arruf 106-7; Bukhârî, Sharh-i ta`arruf III 162-64. Cf. A.J. Arberry, The
Doctrine of the Sufis 108-9.
130 SPK 227. Cf. SPL 288-93.
 87

Intimacy and awe are two states experienced by the dervishes who travel on the path to the
Real. They are as follows: When the Real discloses Himself to the heart of the servant through the
witness of majesty, his share in that is awe. When He discloses Himself to the servant's heart
through the witness of beauty, his share in that is intimacy. The people of awe are weary in His
majesty, while the people of intimacy revel in His beauty. There is a difference between a heart that
is burning in the fire of love because of His majesty and a heart that is radiant in the light of
witnessing because of His beauty.
Some of the shaykhs have said that awe is the degree of the gnostics, while intimacy is the
degree of the disciples. The more a person steps into the Presence of the Real and declares the
incomparability of His qualities, the more the authority of awe dominates over his heart and the
more his nature flees from intimacy. For a person can become familiar only with his own kind.
Since kinship and similarity between the servant and the Real are impossible, there can be no
intimacy with Him. In the same way, He cannot be intimate with the creatures.
If intimacy is possible, it is possible with His remembrance [dhikr]. But His remembrance is
other than He, since it is the attribute of the servant. And in love, if one gains ease with the other,
this proves that one has spoken falsely and is making claims and imagining things. . . . It is related
that Shiblî said, "For a long time I imagined that I was reveling in love for the Real and had
intimacy with witnessing Him. Now I know that people can have intimacy only with their own
kind."
Another group maintains that awe is the companion of chastisement, separation, and
punishment, while intimacy is the result of union and mercy. Therefore God preserves His friends
from awe and similar qualities and makes them the companion of intimacy. For without doubt love
demands intimacy. Just as there cannot be love between two of the same kind, so also there cannot
be intimacy. My shaykh used to say, "I wonder at those who say that intimacy with the Real is
impossible, when He has said, 'When My servants ask thee about Me--surely, I am near' [2:186].
'Surely, My servants' [15:42]. 'Say to My servants' [17:53]. 'O My servants, today no fear is on
you, neither do you sorrow' [43:68]."
Without doubt a servant who sees this bounty will love Him, and when he loves Him, he
will become intimate with Him. For awe toward a beloved is to be far apart, while intimacy is to be
one. It is a human attribute to become intimate with the one who bestows blessings. The Real has
given us so many blessings, and we have knowledge of that. It is impossible for us to speak of awe.
As for me, `Alî ibn `Uthmân al-Jullâbî, I say that both groups are correct with all their
differences. The authority of awe rules over the soul and its caprice. It annihilates our mortal
nature. But the authority of intimacy rules over the inmost mystery and nurtures knowledge.
Hence, through disclosing Himself in majesty, the Real annihilates the souls of His friends.
Through disclosing Himself in beauty, He causes their inmost mysteries to subsist. Hence, those
who were people of annihilation placed awe first, while those who are the masters of subsistence
preferred intimacy.131
Here we see Hujwîrî making a distinction parallel to those made later by Sam`ânî: Awe is
the proper attitude for the soul, while intimacy is the proper attitude for the spirit or inmost mystery.
When contrasted with spirit, the soul (nafs) represents the lower, dark, descending, and ignorant
tendency in the human being, while the spirit represents the higher, luminous, ascending, and
intelligent dimension. Since the soul is dark and low, it is distant from God. Hence it is associated
with the names of majesty and severity. Since the spirit is luminous and high, it is near to God.

131 Hujwîrî, Kashf al-mahjûb 490-92. Cf. R. A. Nicholson, The Kashf al-Mahjúb 376-77.
 88

Hence it is associated with the names of beauty and gentleness. We will meet these contrasts
repeatedly in coming chapters.
Many more descriptions of intimacy and awe could be cited.132 Instead I will quote only
one more text, by Najm al-Dîn Kubrâ. He is describing the perfection of the spiritual master, the
shaykh, who flies with the "two wings" of beauty and majesty.
Through these two wings, the shaykh deviates from the straight path and also goes straight. .
. . Sometimes the attributes of beauty disclose themselves to him, that is, bounty, mercy,
gentleness, and generosity. Then he is immersed in intimacy. Sometimes the attributes of majesty
disclose themselves to him, that is, power, tremendousness, magnificence, inaccessibility,
chastisement, and intense assault. Then he is immersed in awe. Sometimes the attributes mix, so he
witnesses both intimacy and awe. The attributes mix only when the Divine Essence discloses Itself,
since the Essence is the Mother of the attributes, bringing all of them together.133

Social Implications of Divine Duality

It may be useful at this point to summarize the present chapter and draw some preliminary
conclusions concerning the divine-human relationship as pictured in the Islamic sapiential tradition.
All of Islam begins with the assertion of God's Unity (tawhîd), an assertion that is expressed in the
formula, "There is no god but God." But from the outset we are faced with the distinction between
God and the cosmos, since God's oneness is asserted by His creatures. This in turn allows us to
speak of God's utter difference and distance from the cosmos (incomparability), demanded by the
fact that He is Real and the cosmos is unreal. It also allows us to speak of a certain similarity and
nearness to the cosmos, demanded by the fact that the cosmos is in fact here. If it were utterly
unreal, it would not exist. Since it has a semblance of reality, that semblance can come only from
the Real. On this basis it is possible to speak meaningfully about relationships between God and the
cosmos. These relationships are known as the divine names or attributes.
God is the primary reality, while the cosmos has a certain derivative reality. Hence God
controls the cosmos utterly. God is yang and the cosmos is yin.
But God controls the cosmos in two basic modes, in accordance with the two basic
relationships that can be discerned between Him and it: incomparability and similarity. The first
relationship is associated with the names of majesty and severity, the second with the names of
beauty and gentleness. From this point of view, God is both yang and yin.
The general perspective of the Sharia and Kalâm stresses God as yang. God is Majestic and
Severe. In response, human beings must cower and tremble. In other words, they have to submit
(islâm) to God's will and become His servants.
The general perspective of Islamic spirituality, especially certain forms of Sufism, stresses
God as yin. "God's mercy precedes His wrath." He created the universe out of mercy and love. His
only concern in doing so was to serve our welfare.
If God is primarily yin for many Sufis, why do they not refer to God as "She"? First,
sometimes they do, as we will see in chapter 6. Second, from a certain very important point of
view, the yin nature of God is situated on a lower level, within a greater yang. God is yang in
relation to the cosmos because of ontological priority. Then, within the context of God's utter
control of the universe--a universe that properly speaking possesses nothing of its own to control--

132 Cf. Nurbakhsh, Sufism III 61-90, for many examples of definitions and descriptions from
important Sufi texts.
133 Kubrâ, Die Fawâ'ih al-Gamâl 46.
 89

God shows Himself as both yang and yin. Third, God's "feminine" nature entails certain dangers
for human beings. If they were to count on it alone and ignore the "masculine" side of the divine
character, they would most likely fall into the fire of hell--that is, distance from God. This point is
fundamental to the Islamic perspective and needs some clarification.
As our authors tells us, God's love, mercy, kindness, gentleness, bounty, and beauty breed
intimacy. Intimacy is characterized by "bold expansiveness," the feeling that we can say to our
beloved anything we want to say and do in the beloved's presence anything we want to do. In
contrast, God's wrath, severity, justice, majesty, greatness, tremendousness, and magnificence give
rise to awe. When we stand in awe of the king, we are very careful to do things just right. We
observe all the customs of the court, all the rules of courtesy and good manners (adab).
The first principle of the relationship between God and the cosmos is that realness
(haqqiyya) belongs to God, while the creatures are derivative realities. God created the cosmos to
make the Hidden Treasure manifest. Only after that can He be known by the creatures, who
themselves are part of the Hidden Treasure. Until the cosmos exists, there can be no "others," no
knowledge by others, and no enjoyment of mercy and love by others. Once God creates the cosmos
out of love and mercy, He is concerned to nurture knowledge of Himself in the others, since all
reality and bliss lie in the Real, the Blissful. As long as the others remain veiled from the Real, they
are in danger of dissipating the blessings that have been given to them. Through prophecy God
reminds the "others" of the Real.
The greatest veil preventing human beings from seeing the Real is themselves. Instinctively
they place themselves at center stage. The first and fundamental goal of prophecy is to deliver
people from depending upon their own selves, since these selves have no intrinsic reality. In order
for people to be delivered from relying on a false reality, they must recognize that the truly Real is
utterly different from themselves. True reality belong to God alone. They must seek for this God
far from themselves, lest they attribute reality to the "other," that is, themselves. This distant God
who is utterly Real and effaces our reality is King, Majestic, Incomparable, Inaccessible. In relation
to Him we can only be servants. Again, the goal is to establish the right relationship between the
Real and the unreal, or between the inherently Real and the conventionally real, or between God
and creation.
This is the perspective of submission and servanthood. It demands observance of the Sharia.
It also demands recognizing God as the supreme Yang, the overarching Authority. This perspective
sees society as a framework for setting up the right relationships with God. It demands rules and
regulations, good manners, and awe. There is no bold expansiveness here, only timid contraction.
Human beings must know their own place and stick to it.
As we have seen, the tradition connects this dimension to the body and the soul, the lower
dimensions of the human reality. The body and "the soul that commands to evil" keep us distant
from God. Yet these dimensions of reality appear as truly real to most people. The soul must be
transformed from its "normal" state of commanding to evil to the "normative" state of being at
peace with God. This is the topic of part 4 of this work.
In the Islamic perspective, submission to God (islâm) is the first step for every human being.
It is the sine qua non of human existence.134 Through it one maintains good behavior. It is the
safe road that leads to the king's court. And one must always stay in awe of the Infinite King.

134 Though Muslims commonly understand this to mean that everyone should follow the historical
religion of Islam, Koranic usage identifies islâm as the attribute of a number of pre-Islamic prophets
and the apostles of Jesus.
 90

The Sufis, who speak for Islamic spirituality, say nothing different, but they also bring out
the complementary perspective: Awe may be primary from a certain point of view, but intimacy
can also be achieved. And once it is achieved, it is found to be more inherently real than awe. Sufis
place great stress upon the gentle and merciful names of God. They constantly quote and comment
on the sound hadith, "God's mercy precedes His wrath." They cite the vicegerency of Adam and the
fact that the prophets manifest God's attributes on earth. They emphasize love more than service
and worship. Ibn al-`Arabî, who paid more attention to the nuances of word usage than perhaps
anyone else in Islamic history, points out that the external orientation of Kalâm stresses God's
incomparability so much that it negates the possibility of love between human beings and God.135
Most Sufis stress love for God as the primary means of reaching God. Love demands
intimacy, just as it demands similarity. One of intimacy's implications is "bold expansiveness."
This leads to a side of Sufism that has constantly been remarked upon by Muslims and non-
Muslims, that is, its tendency toward antinomianism. For the most part, this has not involved an
actual disregard for the rules and regulations of the Sharia. But it has involved, on occasion, rather
outlandish manifestations of "bold expansiveness."
For example, the phenomenon of "ecstatic utterances" (shathiyyât) was well known,
especially in early Sufism.136 Sayings such as al-Hallâj's "I am the Real" or Abû Yazîd's "There is
nothing in my cloak but God" fall into this category. Sufis like Rûzbihân Baqlî wrote major
treatises collecting and explaining these sayings. Ulama seeking to defend God's incomparability
and the sanctity of the Sharia seized upon such sayings to prove that the Sufis were blasphemers and
unbelievers. The place of these ecstatic utterances in Islamic thought can be understood when they
are correlated with God's similarity, mercy, and gentleness. "She" is so kind and gentle that She
does not take Her lovers to task for their boldness. As Sufis often remark, the Sharia is not
applicable to madmen, nor to those who are intoxicated. The Koran itself says, "Do not approach
the ritual prayer while you are drunk. Wait until you know what you are saying" (4:43). The bold
expansiveness of intimacy wipes away self-awareness and allows no room for knowing what you
are saying.
As everyone knows, Islam set up a social order from the outset, in contrast, for example, to
Christianity. Islamic social teachings are so basic to the religion that still today many people,
including Muslims, are completely unaware of Islam's spiritual dimensions. The social order
demands rules and regulations, fear of the king, respect for the police, acknowledgement of
authority. It has to be set up on the basis of God's majesty and severity. It pays primary attention to
the external realm, the realm of the body and the desires of the lower soul, the realm where God is
distant from the world.
In contrast, Islamic spiritual teachings allow for intimacy, love, boldness, ecstatic
expressions, and intoxication in the Beloved. All these are qualities that pertain to nearness to God.
They are actualized within the spirit, the heart, the inmost mystery--not on the level of the lower
soul. But this inner spirituality can be built only on the foundation of the outer realm, which
includes the body and the Sharia. In other words, spirituality itself cannot govern society.
Government is yang business, the realm of the Sharia. When spirituality gets too close to the social
realm, bold expansiveness and antinomianism are the result, which the Muslim legal authorities
rightly condemn.

135 Cf. Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 326.12 (SPK 180).

136 Cf. Ernst, Words of Ecstasy in Sufism.
 91

In short, on the social level, Islam affirms the primacy of God as King, Majestic, Lord,
Ruler. It establishes a theological patriarchy even if Muslim theologians refuse to apply the word
father (or mother) to God. God is yang, while the world, human beings, and society are yin.
Thereby order is established and maintained. Awe and distance are the ruling qualities.
On the spiritual level, the picture is different. In this domain many Muslim authorities
affirm the primacy of God as Merciful, Beautiful, Gentle, Loving. Here they establish a spiritual
matriarchy, though again such terms are not employed. God is yin and human beings are yang.
Human spiritual aspiration is accepted and welcomed by God. Intimacy and nearness are the ruling
qualities. This helps explain why one can easily find positive evaluations of women and the
feminine dimension of things in Sufism.137
God's wrath and severity govern that which is distant from God, while His mercy and
gentleness take under their wing that which is near. Distance is the realm of duality, multiplicity,
differentiation, distinction, discernment, right and wrong, commands and prohibitions, good and
evil, the Sharia. Nearness is the realm of unity, oneness, undifferentiation, sameness, loss of
distinctions, union with God. These latter qualities coalesce with the divine mercy, kindness,
gentleness, and love.
To the extent that human beings dwell in the world of multiplicity, they must acknowledge
their receptivity and subservience to the domain of oneness. Submission to God's will and the
Sharia are incumbent upon them. To the extent that they dwell in the world of unity, they are yang
and God is yin, since God welcomes them into His loving arms, serving their every desire. The
spirit is not so much submitted to God as one with God. This is the goal of Islamic spirituality.
And this perspective places the divine mercy and compassion, the divine yin, at the pinnacle of
values.
Again, this primacy of yin cannot function on the social level, since it undermines the
authority of the law. If we take in isolation the Koranic statement, "Despair not of God's mercy--
surely God forgives all sins" (39:53), then we can throw the Sharia out the window. In the Islamic
perspective, the revealed law prevents society from degenerating into chaos. One gains liberty not
by overthrowing hierarchy and constraints, but by finding liberty in its true abode, the spiritual
realm. Freedom--lack of limitation and constraint, bold expansiveness--is achieved only by moving
toward God, not by rebelling against Him and moving away.
A number of hadiths allude to the dangers of stressing God's yin qualities. For example, the
Prophet is reported to have said to his companion Ma`âdh, "He who meets God not associating
anything with Him will enter the Garden." Ma`âdh said, "Shall I give this good news to the
people?" The Prophet replied, "No. I fear that they will rely upon it."138 A similar hadith has
`Umar--whom the tradition represents as incarnating the stern qualities of the Sharia--object to the
Prophet for saying something similar. "You must not do that," says `Umar, "for I am afraid the
people will rely upon it. Let them go on doing good deeds." The Prophet replied, "Let them."139
`Attâr (d. 618/1221) makes the same point more explicitly in an anecdote he tells about the
great Sufi shaykh, Abu'l-Hasan Kharraqânî (d. 425/1033):

137 See especially the fine summary of Sufi teachings and the role of women in Sufism by
Annemarie Schimmel, "The Feminine Element in Sufism," in her Mystical Dimensions of Islam
426-35. Cf. Elias, "Female and Feminine in Islamic Mysticism."
138 Bukhârî, `Ilm 49 (cf. Robson, Mishkat 10-11).
139 Muslim, Imân 52 (cf. Robson, Mishkat 13-14).
 92

It is related that one night the Shaykh was busy with prayer. He heard a voice saying,
"Beware, Abu'l-Hasan! Do you want me to tell people what I know about you so that they will
stone you to death?"
The Shaykh replied, "O God the Creator! Do You want me to tell the people what I know
about Your mercy and what I see of Your generosity? Then no one will prostrate himself to You."
A voice came, "You keep quiet, and so will I."140
Sufism is concerned with "maintaining the secret" (hifz al-sirr) for more reasons than one.
The secret of God's mercy threatens the plain fact of His wrath. If "She" came out of the closet,
"He" would be overthrown. But then She could not be found, for it is He who shows the way to Her
door.

140 `Attâr, Tadhkirat al-awliyâ' 672.

93
 94

3. The Two Hands of God

In the previous chapter we had in view a basic yang/yin relationship between God and creation,
or the One and the many, or Being and the potential manyness present in God's knowledge. In other
words, we looked at the yang/yin relationship mainly on a vertical axis, extending from the Essence
down to the world. But "horizontal" relationships of a yin/yang type also play an important role in
Islamic thought, even though the horizontality is usually reduced to verticality under closer inspection.
In this chapter I turn to a more detailed analysis of intra-divine relationships, including the horizontal.
The qualities associated with incomparability and similarity, or wrath and mercy, are frequently
discussed as polar opposites or contraries. God's relationship with the cosmos is described in two
apparently conflicting ways. It is easy for us to see wrath as the opposite of mercy, and at first glance
the two seem to have little in common. But the two attributes refer to a single Essence. Both denote the
same reality, and hence in the last analysis they are identical. Ibn al-`Arabî for one is quite explicit in
drawing out the fact that the divine names denote two basic realities: a specific quality in relation to the
things of this world, and a single supreme reality that is not different from any other reality.141 For
example, the name Wrathful denotes God's anger in respect to certain created things, an anger that has to
be clearly differentiated from mercy, since wrath manifests itself in realities such as hell, while mercy
becomes manifest in realities such as paradise. At the same time, the name Wrathful also denotes God
as such, the Essence that is beyond all names and includes all names, for "There is none wrathful but
God." Hence it is not distinct from any other name.
The more carefully our authors attend to the divine side of the names, the more attention they
pay to the sameness of the names, rather than their difference. When polar names are at issue,
complementarity and reciprocity are emphasized. An interesting series of texts that bear directly on this
question is found in the works of Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers. These texts explain a Koranic passage
found in the story of God's creation of Adam. God commands Iblis to prostrate himself, and Iblis
refuses to do so. God says to Iblis, "What prevented you from prostrating yourself before him whom I
created with My own two hands?" (38:75). The earliest commentaries on this passage are concerned
mainly to emphasize incomparability: God's "two hands" are not at all like human hands. Some early
authorities maintain that there is no special significance in the fact that the hands are two. But Ibn al-
`Arabî and his followers were intensely interested in every nuance of the Koranic text. They took
seriously the dogma that this is the very Word of God. In their view, there is no reason for God to waste
words. When He says something, He does so with one or more specific purposes in view. In respect of
His incomparability, it is impossible to know what He means. But in respect of His similarity, He is
teaching what can be known about Himself. Hence there must be some significance to the "two hands,"
especially since the expression is not a common one in the Koran. In brief, they understand the "two
hands" to indicate a polar relationship in God Himself. That He should create Adam with these two
hands indicates that He employed this polarity to bring the microcosm into existence. The microcosm
itself, made in the image of God, must have "two hands" in the same qualitative sense that God has
them, not only physically. And so also must the macrocosm, which is the microcosm's mirror image.
The more the verse of the two hands is meditated upon, the more it raises questions that could
fairly be asked of those who are experts in the Koranic text: What is a "hand" of God? Why do other
verses mention God's hand in the singular, while still others speak of His "hands" in the plural? Why is

141Chapter 3. The Two Hands of God Cf. SPK, chapter 2, the section on "The Two Denotations of the
Names" (pp. 36-37).
 95

Adam singled out for the only Koranic mention of creation by "two hands"? (One other verse speaks of
God's two hands using the same word yad: "His two hands are outspread; He expends how He will"
[5:64], but it has no immediate connection with creativity.) Does God have right and left hands as we
do? What is the meaning of the hadith that tells us that "both hands of God are right hands"? In what
follows my primary concern is not necessarily to answer these questions or to analyze in detail the
meaning of God's "two hands," but to illustrate how Muslim thinkers describe polar relationships.

Right and Left

Though the Koran seldom makes reference to God's two hands using the dual form of the word
yad, it does allude to the right and left hands of both God and human beings employing other
terminology, and it ascribes significantly different qualities to the two sides. The word yamîn, meaning
right side or right hand, is employed in the Koran twenty-four times. The Arabic language employs
words from the same to indicate good luck or good fortune, and the Koran uses some of them in this
meaning. It uses the word shimâl, left side or left hand, eleven times. This term also means ill luck or
misfortune.
As is to be expected from the implications of the words, the Koran associates different qualities
with right and left. In brief, the right hand is connected with good fortune and felicity, the left with the
opposite qualities. The eschatological significance of the terms is especially clear in the expressions
"Companions of the Right" and "Companions of the Left." These are the inhabitants of paradise and
hell. A few Koranic verses can help demonstrate the qualities connected to right and left:
The Companions of the Right (O Companions of the Right!) amidst thornless lote-trees and
serried acacias, and spreading shade and outpoured waters, and fruits abounding. . . . The Companions
of the Left (O Companions of the Left!) amidst burning winds and boiling water and the shadow of a
smoking blaze neither cool, neither goodly. . . . (56:27-43)
On that day you shall be exposed, not one secret of yours concealed. Then as for him who is
given his book in his right hand, . . . he shall be in a pleasing life in a lofty Garden. . . . But as for him
who is given his book in his left hand, he shall say, "Would that I not been given my book . . . ". "Take
him, and fetter him, then roast him in Hell." (69:19-26).
On the day when We shall call all men to their leaders, and whoso is given his book in his right
hand--those shall read their book, and they shall not be wronged a single date-thread. (17:71)
Another significant use of the term right is in the expression "right side of the mountain," from
whence Moses was called by God (19:52, 20:80, 28:30).
The hadith literature makes many significant references to right and left, and these have had a
deep impact upon the way Muslims evaluate these two directions. In brief, the right is associated with
cleanliness, purity, and blessedness, while the left is connected with their opposites. Following the
Sunna of the Prophet, Muslims begin significant acts with the right hand or right foot. They put on their
right shoe first and enter a house or a mosque with the right foot. For acts connected with impurity, such
as cleaning oneself after going to the toilet, they employ the left hand. They enter a toilet with the left
foot. Traditionally they eat with the right hand and are shocked if anyone picks up food with the left
hand. Left-handedness is strongly discouraged.
The qualitative significance of the terms left and right is suggested by Koranic commentaries on
the expression Companions of the Right and Left. Maybudî tells us that the earliest commentators had
four basic opinions concerning the expression "Companions of the Right," all of them closely related:
1. At the Resurrection, the Companions of the Right will be taken to the right side into the
Garden, while the Companions of the Left will be taken to the left side into the Fire.
 96

2. Ibn `Abbâs says that the Companions of the Right were taken out of the right side of Adam
when God extracted his seed from his loins (cf. 7:172), while the Companions of the Left were taken out
from Adam's left side. Reference is made to the two groups in a hadith, "God created Adam and struck
him with His right hand. His seed came out on the right hand white like silver and on the left hand black
like coals. God said, 'These are for the Garden, and it is no concern of Mine. These are for the Fire, and
it is no concern of Mine.'"142
3. Al-Dahhâk says that at the Resurrection the Companions of the Right will be given their books
in their right hands, while the Companions of the Left will be given their books in their left hands.
4. Al-Hasan and al-Rabî` say that the Companions of the Right are those who were "auspicious"
(mayâmîn) and blessed toward themselves and lived their lives in obedience to God, while the
Companions of the Left were "inauspicious" (mashâ'îm) toward themselves and lived their lives in acts
of disobedience.143
The theologian Fakhr al-Dîn Râzî (d. 606/1209) adds another reason: The Companions of the
Right are those who will see their light on their right hands, as indicated in Koran 57:12: "On the day
when you see the believers, men and women, their light running before them and on their right hands.
'Good tidings for you today! Gardens underneath which rivers flow. . .'".144
The Koran refers explicitly to the right hand of God in a single verse: "The earth altogether shall
be His handful (qabda) on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens shall be rolled up in His right hand"
(39:67). The latter half of the verse recalls 21:104: "On the day when We shall roll up heaven as a scroll
is rolled for the writings...". The Prophet is reported to have said, "God will grasp the heavens in His
right hand, while the earths will be in His other hand. Then He will shake them."145 For the most part,
early Koran commentators offer no explanations for the nature of the two hands mentioned or alluded to
in these verses. Sadr al-Dîn Qûnawî provides interesting explanations in the context of commenting on
various hadiths. We will return to one of his explanations below and another in chapter 7. Both confirm
the picture that we have drawn to this point: Right is associated with the auspicious and blessed, and
these in turn are connected to spirituality and that which comes from God. Left is associated with the
inauspicious and that which is distant from God.
These associations help explain the sense of the hadith alluded to above concerning the fact that
God has "two right hands." In it, the Prophet describes how God created Adam, then held out His two
hands to him, while both were closed, telling him to choose one. Adam replies, "I choose the right hand
of the Lord, though both hands of my Lord are right and blessed."146 If one of God's hands were "left,"
it would be inauspicious. But since "God's mercy precedes His wrath," even wrath is in fact a mercy.
God's "left" is in truth right. As Ibn al-`Arabî puts it, "God has two blessed, open hands. In other

142 The hadith is found, without the expression "it is no concern of Mine" (lâ ubâlî) in Tirmidhî,
Mâlik's al-Muwatta', and Abû Dâwûd (cf. Graham, Divine Word 161-62). The expression "It is no
concern of Mine" is mentioned here by Maybudî and often cited by Ibn al-`Arabî. This longer version
of the hadith is found in Hakîm Tirmidhî's collection, Nawâdir al-usûl (cf. Farghânî, Mashâriq al-darârî
632).
143 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr IX 442.
144 Râzî, al-Tafsîr al-kabîr VIII 65. Râzî also tells us that there are medical reasons for the distinction
made between right and left having to do with the makeup of the human body.
145 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr VIII 435.
146 Tirmidhî, Tafsîr sûra 113,3.
 97

words, within them is mercy. So nothing of chastisement is connected to them."147 Moreover, it would
clearly be bad manners to say that one of God's hands is inauspicious. Did not the Prophet say, "The
good, all of it, is in Thy two hands, while evil does not go back to Thee"?148 As Sadr al-Dîn Qûnawî
remarks,
As for the prophetic sayings that both of God's hands are right and blessed, this is true out of
courtesy [adab]. It is also true when we verify the matter in respect of the attribution of the two hands to
Him, though not in respect of their effect in that which comes into existence through them.149
In other words, in respect to Himself, God had two right hands, since everything He creates is
part of His plan. But in respect to us, one of God's two hands is a left hand, since it is connected to
misfortune and the Fire.
Many of the implications of the terms right and left are summed up by Maybudî in his discussion
of Koran 50:17-18: "When the two angels meet together, sitting one on the right, and one on the left,
not a word he utters, but by him is an observer ready." These are the angels that write down a person's
good and evil deeds:
It is reported that the two angels given charge of the servant sit like the servant. The one on the
right writes his good deeds, while the one on the left writes his evil deeds. When the servant sleeps, one
stands above his pillow, while the other watches over him from his feet. When the servant walks, one
goes before him and ones goes behind, both of them defending him from harm.
It is said that the angel of good deeds is changed each day, another angel being sent. The
wisdom in this is that tomorrow he will have many witnesses for his acts of obedience and good deeds.
But the angel of evil deeds is not changed, so that only that angel will know his defects.
The equivalent of this in the Koran is found in the verse, "O My servants who have been
immoderate against yourselves, despair not of God's mercy--surely God forgives all sins" [39:53]. In
saying "who have been immoderate" God sums everything up. He keeps the lid on and does not go into
details. He says: O Gabriel, you deliver the revelation, for "they have been immoderate," and there is
no need for you to know what they have done. O Muhammad, you recite the revelation, for "they have
been immoderate," and there is no need for you to know what they have done. Generous Lord,
compassionate King! He did not want Gabriel to know the sins of the servants and the Messenger to
recite their acts of disobedience. . . .
"Not a word he utters, but by him is an observer ready." The angel on the right is the angel of
bounty, the angel on the left the angel of justice. Just as bounty [fadl] rules over justice [`adl], so also
the right-hand angel rules over the left-hand angel. O angel on the right hand! You be the commander.
Write down ten good deeds for every good deed he performs. O angel on the left hand! You be the
follower. Write down nothing except what the angel on the right hand tells you to write. When the
servant commits an act of disobedience, the angel on the right hand says, "Wait seven days before you
write it down. Perhaps he will offer an excuse and repent."
What is all this? It is the result of a single decree that God issued in eternity without beginning:
"My mercy precedes My wrath."150

The Views of Koran Commentators

147 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 430.22.

148 Muslim, Musâfirîn 201; Nasâ'î, Iftitâh 17.
149 Qûnawî, Sharh al-hadîth, no. 21.
150 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr IX 284.
 98

Some of the earliest suggestions as to the nature of God's "two hands" through which Adam was
created are found in the Shi`ite hadith literature. According to the eighth Imam, `Alî al-Ridâ (d.
203/818), the two hands refer to strength (quwwa) and power (qudra), two basically synonymous
terms.151 When asked about this verse, the fifth Imam, Muhammad al-Bâqir (d. ca. 117/735), is
reported to have said,
In the speech of the Arabs, "hand" means strength [quwwa] and blessing [ni`ma]. The Koran
says, "Remember Our servant David, the man of might [literally "the possessor of hands"]" [38:17].
"And heaven, We built it with might ["hands"]" [51:47]. He says, "He confirmed them ["gave them a
hand"] with a spirit from Him" [58:22]. It is said, "So-and-so has many hands with me," that is, he has
shown me bounties and beneficence. Or, "He has shown me a white hand," that is, blessing.152
The early Koran commentators paid little attention to the questions posed above concerning the
significance of the verse of the two hands. In Latâ'if al-ishârât, the famous Sufi and theologian Abu'l-
Qâsim Qushayrî (d. 465/1072) writes that the verse indicates that "what God deposited in Adam is not
found with anyone else, so [God's] special favor (khusûsiyya) becomes manifest within him."153
The Shi`ite commentator Tabrisî (d. 548/1153-54) holds that God mentions two hands in order to
stress the ascription of Adam's creation to Himself. He says that several authorities have interpreted it to
mean "I undertook his creation by Myself" and that it is similar in meaning to the passage, "of that
which Our own hands [plural] wrought" (36:71). Hence it is structurally analogous to the verse "The
face of Thy Lord remains" (55:27), where "face" adds nothing to the basic meaning, which is, "Thy Lord
remains." Tabrisî also mentions that some have interpreted the two hands to refer to power and cites
three lines of poetry to show that the Arabs use the expression to mean power and strength.154
Maybudî suggests that the meaning is that God singled Adam out for creation with two hands to
"honor" (karâma) him among all creatures.155 Fakhr al-Dîn Râzî devotes most of his discussion of this
verse in his "Great Commentary" to proving that God cannot be compounded of bodily parts. He
mentions the three received interpretations of "hand" as power, blessing, or emphasis, but he carefully
provides arguments against each without being able to explain why the term should be dual, admitting in
the end, with the expression, "And God knows best," that the passage has left him puzzled.156
Baydâwî (d. ca. 700/1300) says that the two hands emphasize God's power and the fact that He
created Adam without any intermediary, such as father or mother; or it alludes to the diverse activities
involved in Adam's creation.157

Fingers and Feet

Before continuing this discussion of God's two hands, it may be useful to mention various
interpretations of God's fingers and feet. A hadith tells us that "The hearts of all the children of Adam
are like a single heart between two fingers of the All-merciful. He turns it wherever He desires. O God,

151 Sadûq, al-Tawhîd 154.

152 Ibid. 153.
153 Qushayrî, Latâ'if al-ishârât V 263.
154 Tabrisî, Majma` al-bayân VIII 485-86.
155 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr VIII 369.
156 Râzî, al-Tafsîr al-kabîr VII 221-22.
157 Baydâwî, Anwâr al-tanzîl 606.
 99

O Turner of hearts, turn our hearts toward obeying Thee."158 Other hadiths make similar points, and
we will return to some of their implications in chapter 10. Here I cite a single text by Sam`ânî that refers
to the two fingers as God's bounty and justice, that is, His mercy and wrath or His gentleness and
severity:
The Lord of Inaccessibility created the Throne and placed it upon the shoulders of the angels
brought nigh. He created Paradise and gave it to [the angel] Ridwân. He created hell and gave it to [the
angel] Mâlik. When He created the heart of the believer, Ridwân said, "Give it to me, for within it is
found the nectar of intimacy and the wine of holiness." Mâlik said, "Give it to me, for within it is found
the flames of yearning and the fire of passion." The angels brought nigh said, "Give it to us, for it is the
elevated throne of love and the wide plain of kindness." Others said, "Give it to us, for it is an adorned
heaven, its passing thoughts like shooting stars."
The Lord of Inaccessibility dismissed them all and said, "The hearts are between two of the
fingers of the All-merciful." What is meant by this is bounty and justice. Sometimes the breeze of
bounty blows over the heart, and it springs up joyfully. Sometimes the burning wind of severity storms
against it, and it melts. It is perplexed between the two attributes, senseless between the two states.159
According to Koran 10:2, those who have faith will have a qadam sidq with their Lord. The
literal meaning of qadam is foot, while the word's root carries the sense of advancement and moving
forward. The term sidq means truth, truthfulness, firmness, hardness, strength. Translators of the Koran
have rendered this passage in a variety of ways: "They have a sure footing with their Lord" (Pickthall,
Arberry). "There is an advance of sincerity gone before them with their Lord" (Palmer). "For them is
advancement in excellence with their Lord" (Muhammad Ali). "Their endeavors shall be rewarded by
their Lord" (Dawood). Some of these translations try to bring out the literal sense, while others try to
bring out the implied meaning, following explanations provided by commentators. Neither the
translators nor most commentators have the boldness of Ibn al-`Arabî, who takes the literal sense of the
expression seriously. According to his understanding, the verse can be translated "foot of truthfulness."
Moreover, he interprets this as the foot of God, not the foot of the people who have faith. This accords
with his constant attempts to "give things their rights" and therefore to ascribe priority to the Real.
This is not to suggest that Ibn al-`Arabî understands the verse to mean that God has a physical
foot, simply that the qualities summed up by the term foot are divine qualities. He tells us that the "foot"
refers to fixity or firmness or immutability (thubût). Thus it alludes to the immutable entity of the
servant, which is forever fixed in God's knowledge. In Istilâhât al-sûfiyya ("The Technical Terms of the
Sufis"), Ibn al-`Arabî defines "foot" as follows:
The foot is that which belongs immutably to the servant in God's knowledge of him. God says,
"They have a foot of truthfulness." In other words, they have a previous solicitude of their Lord toward
them in the knowledge of God.160
In another passage he says that the Foot of Truthfulness alludes to something that God has let
His servants know about before He gives it to them. Then He gives it to them, and He is truthful in His
promise.161

158 Muslim, Qadar 17.

159 Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 180-81.
160 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 129.7 (Y 13,167.8).
161 Ibid. III 76.31.
 100

In many passages Ibn al-`Arabî juxtaposes this "foot of truthfulness" with the foot of God
mentioned in several versions of a hadith where "foot" is clearly the intended meaning--though the
hadith obviously needs explanation. One of these versions reads as follows:
People will be thrown into the Fire continuously and it will keep on saying "Are there any
more?" [50:30] until the Lord of the worlds places His foot within it. Then parts of it will shrink off into
other parts, and it will say, "Enough, enough!"162
Ibn al-`Arabî quotes a version of the hadith that puts the name "Invincible" (al-jabbâr) in place of
"Lord of the worlds." Thereby he connects the Fire with one of the names of majesty and severity. In
his view, these two feet of God--the foot of truthfulness and the foot of the Invincible--allude
respectively to mercy and wrath, since they are connected to the Garden and the Fire. The Foot of
Truthfulness establishes and fixes the people of paradise in their gardens, while the Foot of Invincibility
establishes the people of Gehenna in their places.163
God ascribed the foot to the Invincible, since this name pertains to tremendousness [`azama], and
the Fire exists through tremendousness, while the Garden exists through generosity [karam].164
God lets down His two feet on the "Footstool" (kursî), which is mentioned in Koran 2:254 and is
understood to lie below God's Throne (`arsh). The Koran says that "The All-merciful sat upon the
Throne" (20:5). Hence, Ibn al-`Arabî tells us, the Throne knows nothing of wrath. Mercy and wrath
appear as distinct qualities only within the Footstool. The Foot of Truthfulness is pure mercy, while the
Foot of Invincibility is mercy mixed with wrath.165
In one passage, Ibn al-`Arabî connects the two feet to God's two handfuls and to a series of
contrasting attributes. He states that the complementary activity of the two feet brings the universe into
existence. Without them, there would be no differentiation. Without differentiation, there could be no
creation. Here Ibn al-`Arabî also explains why God throws one handful into the Fire, another into the
Garden, and then says, "It is no concern of Mine."
The Fire is an abode of majesty, invincibility, and awe, while the Garden is an abode of beauty,
intimacy, and the gentle divine descent. These two feet are the "two handfuls." One of them is for the
Fire, and "it is no concern of His." The other is for the Garden, and "it is no concern of His." He is
unconcerned since both handfuls go back to mercy in the end. . ..
Through the two feet God gives wealth and poverty, through them "He makes to die and makes
to live" [53:44], through them He fills with inhabitants and empties of inhabitants, through them "He
creates the pair, male and female" [53:45], through them He abases and exalts, gives and withholds,
harms and benefits. Were it not for these two, nothing would happen in the cosmos.
Were it not for the two feet, no one in the cosmos would associate others with God [shirk]. For
the two feet share properties in the cosmos. Each of them has both an abode in which it exercises
governing control and certain people over whom it exercises governing control as God wills. . . .
God's great solicitude toward the cosmos is that He sits upon the Throne that encompasses the
cosmos through His name All-merciful. "To Him will be returned the whole affair" [11:123]. That is
why He is the "most merciful of those who have mercy" [7:151]. Were it not for His mercy, those in the
cosmos who have mercy would have no mercy. His mercy precedes all.

162 Bukhârî, Tawhîd 7. Other versions are found in Bukhârî, Muslim, Tirmidhî, and Ahmad (cf. SPK
412n4).
163 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 281.23.
164 Ibid. III 76.33.
165 Ibid. 432.15.
 101

The two feet consist of the polarity of the divine names, such as the First and the Last, the
Manifest and the Nonmanifest. Then the like of this becomes manifest from the feet in the cosmos: the
world of the unseen and the world of the visible, majesty and beauty, nearness and distance, awe and
intimacy, gathering and dispersion, curtaining and disclosure, absence and presence, contraction and
expansion, this world and the next world, the Garden and the Fire.166
In another passage, Ibn al-`Arabî provides a similar explanation of the meaning of God's two
feet:
Through the act of these two feet, there became manifest within the cosmos "two of every kind"
[11:40], by the ordainment of the Inaccessible. This goes back to the existence of Nature's two active
principles, the two faculties of the Soul, the two faces of the Intellect, the two letters of the divine word
"Be!" and the two divine attributes in "Nothing is like Him"--which is one attribute--and "He is the
Hearing, the Seeing" [42:11], which is the other attribute. Those who declare His incomparability do so
on the basis of "Nothing is like Him." Those who declare His similarity do so on the basis of "He is the
Hearing, the Seeing." Here there is an Unseen and a visible. The Unseen is incomparability, and the
visible is similarity.167
The correspondences that Ibn al-`Arabî mentions here can be summarized in Table 2. Note that
these distinctions are by no means absolute, since the root of all qualities is the One Reality. Hence each
term of a pair is somehow found in the other term, like the white and black dots in the yin/yang symbol.
The least one can say is that the one side demands the other side by its very reality, since the two terms
are inseparable in conception and existence.
Ibn al-`Arabî does not explicitly place the qualities on the two sides, so the classification offered
in the table can surely be modified from other points of view. For example, from one point of view this
world is manifest while the next world is nonmanifest. From another point of view--reflected in the
table--this world pertains to God's name Nonmanifest, since God is not manifest here. In contrast, God
is manifest in the next world, especially at the Resurrection, where, the Koran tells us, everyone will
meet Him.
In several passages, Ibn al-`Arabî connects the two feet to the division of the single divine word
into two kinds of word through revelation: rulings (hukm) and reports (khabar). Through rulings God
gives commands and prohibitions, while through reports He gives news about unseen things, such as
Himself, the prophets of the past, and the next world.168 Farghânî refers to the two feet briefly in a
similar context. He says that the divine command (amr) is one, in accordance with the Koranic verse,
"Our command is but one word, like

166 Ibid. 463.13 (cf. SPK 361).

167 Ibid. II 439.21 (cf. SPK 360).
168 SPK 172.
 102

Table 2
The Two Feet of God
According to Ibn al-`Arabî in the Futûhât

Foot of the Invincible Foot of Truthfulness

Fire Garden
tremendousness generosity
mercy mixed with wrath pure mercy
majesty beauty
invincibility gentle divine descent
awe intimacy
giving poverty giving wealth
giving death giving life
emptying of inhabitants filling with inhabitants
male female
abasing exalting
withholding giving
harming benefiting
associating others with God [tawhîd]
First Last
Nonmanifest Manifest
unseen visible
distance nearness
dispersion gathering
curtaining disclosure
absence presence
contraction expansion
this world next world
coldness heat [Nature's active principles]
action knowledge [Soul's faculties]
toward God toward cosmos [Intellect's faces]
incomparability similarity
 103

the blink of an eye" (54:50). However, when it reaches the Footstool, the one command becomes
divided into commands (amr) and prohibitions (nahy), following the two feet. Commands preserve the
effects of oneness in the descent from the Footstool into this world. Prohibitions preserve the effect of
oneness in the ascending return from the reality of manyness to the reality of oneness.
The affairs of the two engendered worlds are built upon these two properties: descent and ascent.
These two properties go back to those two roots: oneness and manyness. The goal of creation is
achieved through these two kinds: command and prohibition. That is why these have been referred to as
the "two feet" upon which the person stands.169

The Two Hands in the Futûhât al-makkiyya

We return to the Koranic verse in which God says to Iblis, "What prevented you from prostrating
yourself before him whom I created with My own two hands?" (38:75). Ibn al-`Arabî frequently
discusses the significance of this verse. He agrees with those commentators who see the verse as
signaling a special rank for Adam.
From the first existent thing down to the last of the children--the animals--God did not combine
both His hands in anything He created except the human being, that is, in the human being's earthly and
bodily configurations. He created everything else either by divine command or with one hand.170
The creation of every created thing in the cosmos is attributed to a hand of God. God says, "Of
that which Our hands wrought" [36:71], employing the plural form of hand. Every creative hand in the
cosmos is His hand, a hand within His kingdom and under His control. Hence all of creation belongs to
God. "Verily, His are the creation and the command" [7:54]. The hadith literature has mentioned that
God planted the tree of Tûbâ with His hand and created the Garden of Eden with His hand. Here the
singular form of hand is employed. God uses the dual form only in the case of the creation of Adam,
who is the perfect human being.171
In the above passage Ibn al-`Arabî does not tell us what these two hands are, but he does suggest
that they are special, or, as he writes elsewhere, that they were attributed to Adam "to give him
eminence (tashrîf) over everyone else."172 He expands upon the theme of "giving eminence" in several
places.
God said, "What prevented you from prostrating yourself before him whom I created with My
two hands?" Thereby He gave Adam eminence. The context shows that He "touched" [mubâshara] His
creature with His two hands--in the manner befitting His majesty.173 That is why he called him a
"mortal" [bashar]. "Hand" means power, and there is no eminence in that for the one to whom it is
given. Hand also means blessing, and this is the same, since God's blessings and power embrace all

169 Farghânî, Muntahâ al-madârik I 58-59.

170 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 122.11 (Y 2,237.14).
171 Ibid. III 295.
172 Ibid. 294.
173 Ibn al-`Arabî frequently adds this phrase to passages which speak of God's "similarity" in order to
remind his readers that even in His similarity God remains incomparable. They should not imagine that
an ordinary, literal reading can do justice to the text.
 104

existent things. Hence there must be something other than these two attributes that can be understood
from "two hands." This something must be a quality possessed only by Adam.174
In some passages, Ibn al-`Arabî implies that the two hands refer to two kinds of names that
Adam was taught, or the fact that he was given knowledge of all things, both the divine and the created.
The divine form belongs rightly to Adam only because He was created with the two hands.
Hence all the realities of the cosmos were brought together within him. And the cosmos demands the
divine names. Hence the divine names were brought together within him. That is why Adam was
singled out for the knowledge of "the names, all of them" [2:31], that is, all the names that turn their
attention toward the cosmos. But God did not give this knowledge to the angels, though they are the
higher, nobler world. God says, "He taught Adam the names, all of them." He did not say, "some of
them."175
If you like, the attribute of Adam is the Divine Presence. If you like, it is the fact that he brings
together all the divine names. Or, if you like, it is the words of the Prophet, "God created Adam in His
own form." This is Adam's attribute. God brought together His two hands in creating him, so we know
that He gave him the attribute of perfection. Hence He created him perfect and all-comprehensive,
which is why he receives all the divine names. He brings together the whole cosmos in respect of its
realities. He is an independent world, but everything else is a part of the cosmos.176
When God wanted the perfection of this human configuration, He combined in it His two hands,
gave it all the realities of the cosmos, and disclosed Himself to it in all the names. Hence it gained the
divine form and the form of engendered existence.177
When Ibn al-`Arabî considers the specific significance of the two hands, he sometimes maintains
that they refer to incomparability and similarity, since these two perspectives define the dual nature of
the human relationship to God. In other passages, he looks at the divine attributes that are connected
with incomparability and similarity and cites them as the significance of the hands. In other words, he
pays attention to the individual attributes that manifest these two fundamental dimensions of the
human/divine relationship, attributes such as majesty and distance on one side and beauty and nearness
on the other.
When the servants of the Real witness Him, they see Him as possessing two relationships, that of
incomparability, and that of descent to the imagination through a kind of similarity.
The relationship of incomparability is His self-disclosure in "Nothing is like Him" [42:11]. The
other relationship is His self-disclosure in the Prophet's words, "Worship God as if you see Him." . . . It
is also mentioned in God's words, "Whithersoever you turn, there is the Face of God" [2:115]--"there"
being an adverb of place, while the "Face" of God is His Essence and Reality. This other relationship is
also mentioned in all the hadiths and verses that have come with words, along with their meanings, that
apply to created things. . . .
It has been reported concerning the human configuration that "God created Adam in His own
form." In the Koran God says that He created him "with His two hands," since He wanted to point out
his eminence. This is shown by the context, since He tells Iblis about it after Iblis claims eminence over
Adam through his own configuration. God says, "What prevented you from prostrating yourself before
him whom I created with My two hands?" Here "hands" cannot mean power, because of the dual. Nor

174 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 70. Cf. ibid. 3, where the same point is made (quoted in SPK 278).
175 Ibid. I 263.
176 Ibid. II 67.17.
177 Ibid. 468.10.
 105

can it mean that one hand is blessing and the other is power, since that is true of every existent thing.
There would be no eminence for Adam according to that interpretation, and this would contradict the
fact that His words point out Adam's eminence.
Hence it was these two relationships--the relationship of incomparability and that of similarity--
that turned their attentiveness toward the creation of the human being.178
Ibn al-`Arabî sometimes comments on the two "handfuls" to which reference is made in the
Koranic verse cited earlier: "The earth altogether shall be His handful on the Day of Resurrection, and
the heavens shall be rolled up in His right hand" (39:67). It is helpful to know that the verbal form of
the same word "handful" means to grasp, while the gerund qabd becomes a technical term in Sufi
psychology that we have already met, a term that is normally translated as "contraction." As was
pointed out in the previous chapter, the opposite of contraction is expansion (bast). Contraction is
connected to awe and to the human relationship with the names of majesty. In contrast, expansion is
connected to intimacy and to the human relationship with the names of beauty. The two words are
employed together as verbs in a single Koranic verse: "God contracts, and He expands, and to Him you
shall be returned" (2:245). Partly on the basis of this verse, God is called by the two divine names
Expander and Contractor. The first is a name of beauty, the second a name of majesty. All this is not
without relevance to the type of relationship that is envisaged if the earth is "God's handful." The
implication of the word's literal meaning is that the earth is contracted and constrained. Hence it stands
in awe of the names of majesty. But the heavens, the same verse tells us, are "rolled up in His right
hand," and by definition the right hand is blessed. Hence, if the right handful is to be the opposite of the
left handful, it must be associated with expansion and the names of beauty, even if it is a "handful." So
it should not be surprising that Ibn al-`Arabî calls the two handfuls the "two worlds, that is, the world of
felicity and the world of wretchedness."179 Felicity is the attribute of the people of paradise, while
wretchedness is the quality of the people of hell. This conclusion follows directly upon the hadith of the
two handfuls and God's lack of concern for them. As Ibn al-`Arabî remarks,
God brought the cosmos out as two handfuls. He brought two waystations into existence for
them. He said, "These are for the Garden, and it is no concern of Mine. These are for the Fire, and it is
no concern of Mine." No protester protested to Him at this point, since nothing existed beside Him. So
everything is under the control of His names. One handful is under the names of His affliction [balâ'],
and the other handful is under the names of His bounties [âlâ'].180
The cosmos comes into existence through the mixture of the two handfuls. Without yin and
yang, nothing could exist.
He brought the cosmos into existence to make manifest the authority of His names. For power
without an object of power, generosity without bestowal, a provider without someone provided for, a
helper without anyone helped, and a compassionate one without any object of compassion would be
realities devoid of any effects.
In this world God mixed the cosmos. He mixed the two handfuls into dough, then He separated
individuals out from it. Hence this entered into that, and that entered into this--from each handful into
its sister--and the situation became confused. It is here that those who have knowledge become ranked
in degrees by extracting the loathsome from the good and the good from the loathsome. The ultimate
end is deliverance from the mixture and the distinguishing of the two handfuls. Then the one handful

178 Ibid. II 3-4 (cf. SPK 277-78).

179 Ibid. III 75.14.
180 Ibid. I 37.30 (Y 1,169.12).
 106

will be alone in its world, and the other in its world. Thus God says, "God will distinguish the
loathsome from the good, and place the loathsome one upon another, and so heap them up altogether,
and put them in Gehenna" [8:37].181

The Fusûs al-hikam

In the first chapter of his most famous and influential work, the Fusûs al-hikam, Ibn al-`Arabî
offers a slightly different interpretation of the meaning of the "two hands." He points to the polar
attributes of God, then says that God created the perfect human being as comprising both sets of
attributes.
God described Himself as manifest and nonmanifest. He brought the cosmos into existence as a
world of the unseen and a world of the visible, so that we might perceive the nonmanifest through our
unseen dimension and the manifest through our visible dimension. He described Himself through good
pleasure and wrath, so He brought the cosmos into existence possessing fear and hope: We fear His
wrath and we hope for His good pleasure.182 He described Himself as beautiful and possessing
majesty, so He brought us into existence having awe and intimacy.183 And so it goes with everything
which is attributed to Him and by which He is named.
God called these two attributes the "two hands" through which He turned toward creating the
perfect human being, who brings together the realities and individuals of the cosmos. Hence the cosmos
is visible, while the vicegerent is unseen....
God brought His two hands together in Adam only to give him eminence. That is why He said to
Iblis, "What prevented you from prostrating yourself before him whom I created with My two hands?"
This refers only to the fact that he brings together the two forms, the form of the cosmos and the form of
the Real, and these are the two hands of the Real. But Iblis was a part of the cosmos. He had not
actualized this all-comprehensiveness. That is why Adam was a vicegerent, for if he had not had the
form of both Him who made him vicegerent and that over which he had been given charge, he would not
have been a vicegerent.184
The contrasting sets of divine attributexs mentioned in this passage are shown in Table 3. Note
that in the early part of this passage Ibn al-`Arabî mentions explicitly three sets of names--(1)
Nonmanifest and Manifest, (2) the Possessor of Wrath and of Good-pleasure (ridâ), and (3) the Majestic
and the Beautiful--as displaying the properties of the two hands. In the later part of the passage he gives
a rather different interpretation of the two hands by calling them (4) the form of the cosmos and the form
of the Real. In the first three cases, the hands refer to polar attributes possessed by God Himself. In the
last case, they refer to God and everything other than God. In short, Ibn al-`Arabî envisages four sets of
relationships. These can be explained as follows:

181 Ibid. 120.13 (Y 2,229.9).

182 I read "we fear"--rather than "it fears" as in the `Afîfî edition--following the alternative reading
given in this edition and more particularly in the texts of the commentators Jandî, Kâshânî, and Qaysarî.
183 As pointed out in the previous chapter, intimacy is the human response to God's beauty, while awe
responds to His majesty. The major commentators on the Fusûs such as Jandî, Kâshânî, and Qaysarî
read the present passage as making this connection. But in doing so they ignore the reversed word order
here and the fact that in some of his works, Ibn al-`Arabî provides a different analysis of the nature of
these attributes by reversing the usual relationships. Cf. the sources mentioned in chapter 2, note 55.
184 Ibn al-`Arabî, Fusûs al-hikam 54-55 (cf. Ibn al'Arabi 55-56).
 107

In the first three cases, the two hands refer to both a vertical and a horizontal relationship within
God. With a little meditation these two relationships are reducible to the basic polarity, that of
incomparability and similarity. The two names Nonmanifest and Manifest clearly correspond to
incomparability and similarity, since it is precisely the fact that God is absolutely nonmanifest that
prevents us from having knowledge of Him and comparing Him to anything else. And it is His attribute
of being Manifest--"Whithersoever you turn, there is the Face of God" (2:115)--that allows us to declare
Him similar to all things. Here we have a vertical axis within God, stretching from the names inasmuch
as they manifest Him to the Essence inasmuch as It is eternally Unknown.
The next two sets of divine attributes can be read either as indicating vertical or horizontal
relationships. What is more, the vertical relationship is reversible, depending on the point of view. Both
sets refer to the two categories of complementary names that we have already discussed: severity and
gentleness, or majesty and beauty. As a horizontal relationship, the two names indicate that God's yin
and yang attributes work harmoniously together. He creates the universe with the two hands of majesty
and beauty, thereby keeping it perfectly in balance. As a vertical relationship, the two can be seen first
as representing the severity of distance and incomparability as opposed to the gentleness of nearness and
similarity. In this sense, the yang names stand beyond the yin names, and this is the "Confucian"
perspective alluded to in chapter 1.
 108

Table 3
The Two Hands According to the Fusûs

Qualities of God
manifest nonmanifest
good pleasure wrath
beauty majesty
form of cosmos form of Real

Qualities of the Cosmos and the Human Being

visible unseen
hope fear
intimacy awe
 109

However, if we apply the principle, "My mercy precedes My wrath," we have the "Taoist" perspective,
which places the mercy of yin as the attribute of God in Himself, while the wrath of yang comes into
play only in relationship to some of the creatures of the universe.
(4) The fourth pairing--in which the two hands are referred to as the forms of God and the
cosmos--sets up a yang/yin distinction between the Absolute and the relative, that which is truly Real
and that which is metaphorically real. Neither is separable from the other, since the cosmos is the
"thrall" of God and the vassal of the Lord. The cosmos is the manifestation of God's names and
attributes. Both Real and cosmos are God's hands, since one is the Hidden Treasure, and the other is the
manifestation of the Hidden Treasure. In the last analysis, one hand is God as Nonmanifest and the
other is God as Manifest. Nothing is conceivable without both. The divine Unity demands the divine
polarity. God is the One/Many (al-wâhid al-kathîr).
All these divine relationships can then be seen as having their analogues on the human level. In
any case, it is not my purpose to impose my own analysis on the texts. Rather, I want to illustrate how
the Muslim thinkers themselves spoke of yin and yang complementarity employing their own
terminology, such as receptive (qâbil) and active (fâ`il), and how they themselves were perfectly aware
of the way in which the relationships change with a shift of perspective. Hence I turn to some of the
major authors who followed in Ibn al-`Arabî's footsteps. The first three wrote the most influential of the
more than one hundred commentaries on the Fusûs al-hikam.

Mu'ayyid al-Dîn Jandî

Jandî (d. ca. 700/1300) was an important disciple of Sadr al-Dîn Qûnawî, who was Ibn al-
`Arabî's step-son and the most influential of his immediate followers. Qûnawî did not write a full
commentary on the Fusûs al-hikam, but his relatively short treatise, al-Fukûk or Fakk al-khutûm,
explains the meaning of the chapter headings of the Fusûs and influenced practically all the
commentators. Jandî wrote the earliest detailed commentary on the Fusûs, and his commentary was to
surpass even his master's al-Fukûk in influence. In its introduction, Jandî tells us how he began studying
the text with Qûnawî. While Qûnawî was in the process of explaining the preface, Jandî was overcome
by a spiritual state through which he came to know the meaning of the book from beginning to end. He
told Qûnawî about this, who replied that he had experienced the same thing when Ibn al-`Arabî had
begun explaining the work to him.185 By telling us this anecdote Jandî no doubt wants us to understand
that his explanation of the Fusûs is connected to the work's spiritual origin and is not simply a
transmission of Qûnawî's teachings.
Jandî discusses the two hands of God while commenting upon the passage from the Fusûs al-
hikam quoted above. Characteristically he develops Ibn al-`Arabî's themes in great detail. Later
commentators who borrow material from him usually abbreviate his words, and we will refrain from
translating everything he has to say about this passage.
Jandî begins his discussion by going back to the deepest roots of polarity in the Real. The
Divine Essence, he points out, is utterly "nondelimited" (mutlaq). It is so free of limitations that we
cannot limit It by saying that It is free of limitations. In other words, God's utter freedom demands that
He be able to assume all constraints, while not being delimited or defined by them. This is a theme of
Chapter 3 of the Fusûs al-hikam, which begins with the words, "In the view of the People of the
Realities, declaring the incomparability of the Divine Side is identical with definition and

185 Jandî, Sharh fusûs al-hikam 9.

 110

delimitation."186 If we say that God is incomparable in any restricted sense, we are claiming that He
cannot be similar. This is to remain blind to one-half the divine message. "In the same way," says Ibn
al-`Arabî, "he who declares Him similar without declaring Him incomparable has delimited and defined
Him and has not known Him."187
Qûnawî and his followers commonly refer to God's utter nondelimitation as His
"nonentification" (lâ ta`ayyun). The term indicates that He cannot be identified with any defined and
determined entity.188 As we have seen on more than one occasion, God in Himself is "no thing" (lâ
shay') or no entity, since His Reality transcends and embraces all things, all entities. Hence, His Essence
is "nonentified." But in respect of the fact that the Real can be called "God" in contrast to the cosmos,
He is nondelimited in a sense that is opposed to delimitation. He is one specific, nondelimited reality,
while the cosmos is a completely different, delimited reality. From this point of view, God is known as
the First Entification or the Breath of the All-merciful. At issue is but a single Being, but the two points
of view in respect of which Being can be considered allow us to distinguish between the Divine Essence
(Nonentification) and God (the First Entification), or between the unnameable and nameable Taos. This
is the root of all duality and polarity, as Jandî explains. In what follows, the text of the Fusûs al-hikam
is printed in italics.
God described Himself as manifest and nonmanifest. . . . God called these two attributes the
"two hands" through which He turned toward creating the perfect human being, since he brings together
the realities and individuals of the cosmos. . . .
The essential nondelimitation worthy of the Essence does not stand opposed to delimitation and
definition. No, this nondelimitation means that He is not delimited by the delimitation that is a
nondelimitation set up in opposition to delimitation. Hence the Essence is nondelimited in respect of
both delimitation and nondelimitation. For in Itself, the Essence combines both of these, while not
being delimited by either. On the contrary, It is nondelimited in respect to both points of view. In this
station there is no tongue, no property, no name, no attribute--only sheer stupefaction and utter
muteness.
Through the First Entification . . . there comes to be entified for the Nondelimited Entity an
entification and a nonentification, a nondelimitation and a delimitation, a oneness and a manyness, an
activity and a receptivity. Hence, through the First Entification, the essential relationships become
entified. These are firstness, lastness, nonmanifestation, and manifestation.
Jandî makes here the point that was stressed at the beginning of Chapter 2: In Himself, God is
incomparable. But Jandî adds a subtle nuance to which I did not refer: This initial divine
incomparability is so utterly absolute that it makes the Essence incomparable with incomparability.
Hence nothing prevents Him from being similar. Then, inasmuch as we know God, we can perceive
Him as both incomparable and similar. Note in the above the correlations Jandî draws between
attributes: activity or yang corresponds to nonentification, nondelimitation, and oneness. Receptivity or
yin corresponds to entification, delimitation, and manyness.
In continuing his explanation, Jandî clearly differentiates between the two basic levels of
considering the Real: (1) the Entity or Essence Itself, which is incomparable with both incomparability

186 Ibn al-`Arabî, Fusûs al-hikam 68 (cf. Ibn al'Arabi 73).

187 Ibid. 69 (cf. Ibn al'Arabi 74). For a detailed discussion of nondelimitation and its place in Ibn al-
`Arabî's teachings, cf. SPK 109-12.
188 The term nonentification is not part of Ibn al-`Arabî's usual vocabulary. For a discussion of its
meaning according to Qûnawî, cf. Chittick and Wilson, Fakhruddin `Iraqi 6ff.
 111

and similarity; and (2) the First Entification, which embraces the two attributes of (a) incomparability,
and (b) similarity. In the process of saying this, Jandî correlates yang and yin with the names of majesty
and beauty.
In respect of the Entity, He cannot be considered in terms of entification or nonentification. He
is neither first, nor last, nor nonmanifest, nor manifest. To ascribe these relationships to Him is not more
worthy and fitting than not to ascribe them.
In respect of His nondelimitation, God is Nonmanifest. The [fact that He is] Nonmanifest means
that through the inaccessibility of His Unseen, He cannot be encompassed. He does not enter into the
finite, nor does He have a beginning. Hence He possesses majesty.
In respect of His entification, He is manifest and beautiful, since all things go back to Him and
support themselves through Him, for He is the origin of all entifications. . . .
Hence duality becomes manifest through the First Entification in the Entity who is One through
true oneness. In respect of the Presence of His Majesty, He displays severity to the entities of the
"others." He is wrathful against them through the jealousy of Unity. However, in respect of the
entification, He gives His good pleasure to every receptive attribute that brings about entification and
every entified thing that receives the attribute. This is a good pleasure singled out specifically for the
specific characteristics of the things.
As pointed out in the previous chapter, jealousy (ghayra) is a quality that appears in relationship
to the "other" (ghayr).189 The divine majesty and wrath look at the others and annihilate them, since
God's incomparability does not allow anything else to exist. There is none real but the Real. Everything
else is unreal, evanescent, nonexistent. However, the divine beauty, mercy, and good pleasure look at
the other and affirm it. God is similar to all things and present in them. Hence He bestows upon them a
certain reality. His love and concern preserve and protect the creatures. The interplay between these
two attributes, these two hands of God, keeps the universe in constant movement and transmutation. At
every instant wrath destroys the others, and at every instant mercy recreates them.
These two hands possess contraction and expansion, giving and withholding, lifting up and
putting down. In keeping with them He brought us into existence possessing fear and hope, expansion
and contraction, awe and intimacy. We have awe of His majesty and feel intimate with His beauty. We
fear His wrath and hope for His good pleasure. Hence the properties of the duality mentioned in the two
hands became manifest within us, just as the Prophet said in the hadith, "He created Adam with His two
hands." . . .
For the same reason, "God kneaded the clay of Adam with His two hands for forty days." In
other words, our Lord--blessed and exalted is He--disclosed Himself in His own form. In keeping with
that form, He created Adam and kneaded his clay with His two blessed hands. Then, through the
blessing of His universal, all-comprehensive, divine attentiveness, the clay fermented and became
mature through the mystery of the unity of the essential, divine comprehension of the two hands.
Finally His blessed form appeared and became manifest in Adam's clay in the "best stature" [95:4] and
the most perfect balance and design. Hence all the realities--both the majestic and severe and the

189 Rûmî employs the images and symbols of love and was totally uninterested in the metaphysical
speculations of Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers. Yet his poetical descriptions of the two complementary
qualities of jealousy provide an interesting and down to earth application of what Jandî is talking about.
Chittick calls these two complementary qualities "smashing idols" and "maintaining veils." On the one
hand God eliminates all others, so that He alone will be worshiped. On the other He sets up the veils
that prevent the others from reaching His inviolable Presence. Cf. SPL 304-10.
 112

beautiful and gentle--became manifest within him, and through them he became perfect. Within him is
the mystery of nondelimitation and delimitation, entification and nonentification. Hence he is the most
perfect, the most comprehensive, and the most complete engendered thing. As locus of manifestation,
he is the most excellent, the widest, and the most inclusive. . . .
God brought His two hands together in Adam . . . [otherwise] he would not have been a
vicegerent. This is because perfection lies in the unity of comprehending all things. In addition, all
perfections flow forth from the unity of comprehending these two blessed divine hands. Hence the
perfections that rise up from the two hands must be brought together in Adam while being multiplied.
For the all-comprehensive unitary condition results in the fact that every reality of the two hands
becomes manifest in him who comprehends all things through the condition of all-comprehensiveness.
This explains why Iblis, who was part of the cosmos, was called to task for failing to prostrate
himself before Adam: Incumbent upon every one of the spiritual powers and the natural powers,
whether altogether or singly, are yielding, submission, obedience, and entrance under the command of
him who possesses the all-comprehensiveness of the two hands. For the two hands grasp the world of
subtle spirits and the world of dense nature, and Iblis dwells in one of these worlds.
Iblis's reality contradicts the reality of Adam both in reality and nature, since the reality of Adam
is the manifest form of the unity of the all-comprehensiveness of everything brought together by God
and the engendered world. God brought His two hands together in Adam only because humanness is a
reality requiring equilibrium [i`tidâl] and the perfection of bringing together both entification and
nondelimitation, both manyness and oneness, and the lack of constriction by any particular entification.
In contrast the reality of Iblis is the form of disequilibrium through entification and being veiled. Iblis
becomes defined by the particular ego [al-anâniyyat al-juz'iyya]. He is delimited by seeking exaltation,
claiming eminence, manifesting self, and rising up against the reality of the One Entity. For entification
conceals [kufr] the One Entity, veils It, and rises up against It. This reality requires a fiery separation
that rises up against the other elements.
God in Himself is "no thing," since each thing has delimited and defined characteristics that
make it into a thing as distinct from other things. But God is the all-comprehensive reality, the
coincidence of opposites, in whom all characteristics are found. Human beings are created in God's
form, so they bring together all the divine attributes. Each of them is the "all-comprehensive
engendered thing." Human perfection involves actualizing all these attributes such that none dominates
over any other. Ibn al-`Arabî refers to this perfection as the "station of no station."190 Each "station" is
delimited and defined by certain attributes, but the perfect human being is free of all delimitations and
definitions. This is the perfection of Adam, created with both hands. He thereby combines the
perfection of nonentification, or not being anything to the exclusion of any other thing, and entification,
or possessing all attributes. In contrast, Iblis represents delimitation, definition, constriction,
entification. He is "some thing," and he wants to keep that thingness as his own. "I am better than he"
(38:76), says Iblis, thereby claiming eminence and specificity for himself. Hence he proves that he is an
"unbeliever" (kâfir), that is--in the literal sense of the term--"one who conceals." What is he concealing
but the nondelimitation and nonentification of the Real?191 But the perfect human being is utter
servant, completely surrendered to the Real. He makes no claims, since he has nothing of his own. And

190 Cf. SPK, chapter 20.

191 Ibn al-`Arabî often employs the term kufr, "concealing" or "unbelief," in such a context. Thereby
he points to the ontological root of not having faith in God: the fact that the reality of things is
concealed. Cf. Futûhât II 214.12, 567.30, 592.20; III 92.11
 113

having nothing of his own is precisely his perfection, for it allows him to be "no thing," just as God is no
thing. Therefore he stands in the station of No Station. All this Jandî finds implied already in the fact
that God created Iblis from fire.
Fire is the form of elemental disequilibrium through entification. The entification rises up
against that which is entified within it. It oversteps its bounds and conceals [kufr] it. In other words, it
covers [sitr] it. But this entification has no fixity, since the light of the Entity that is entified within the
veil-substance of each entification tears it away and consumes it in fire.
It is appropriate for the entification to be cursed, driven away, and negated from the face of the
Entity entified within it. For through and in itself the entification is a veil in one respect over Him who
is entified, even if it points to Him in another respect. When people witness the fact that something else
lies beyond the entification and that the entification derives from that something, they witness the
Reality through the veil. But those who witness nothing but the veil-substance of the entification
become veiled by it.
The entification is a veil over itself. Hence it never sees the Entity that becomes veiled by it. In
the same way the image of the viewer imprinted within the inward depths of a mirror does not become
manifest upon the surface of a mirror, unless the reality of the veil is cursed away from the face of him
who is veiled. That is why every entification calls for an ego through which it is veiled from others,
from itself, and from the entity of the whole through which the whole subsists. . . . We alluded to this
mystery in our poem,
Let not the similar shapes veil you
from Him who takes shape within them,
while they are coverings.
Be aware of Him when He appears in any locus
of His manifestation, for in the actual situation
are found display and concealment--
Like the ocean: An ocean from all eternity,
while the things found in time
are waves and streams.
That which is veiled through the entification seeks to be self-ruling and alone through its
particular entification, since it has no entrance into universality. The divine all-comprehensive unity and
the human all-comprehensive unity contradict it and negate it. This is the meaning of the fact that the
Divine Presence and the human presence curse Iblis: the particularity of entification acts as a veil over
the universal, fundamental Entity. But entification takes place. And this can happen only in respect of
domination by one of the outwardly manifest parts of Him who is entified, or that which brings about
entification. So understand!
Since God brought the two forms together in Adam--the form of the Real and the form of
creation--he possessed the level of the "comprehension of all-comprehensiveness" [jam` al-jam`]. This
level corresponds to the form of God, since the Divine Reality must be the unity comprehending all
necessary realities. The necessary realities demand by their very essences the comprehension of all
engendered realities. It was through this all-comprehensiveness that Adam rightly possessed the
vicegerency.192

192 Jandî, Sharh fusûs al-hikam 181-86.

 114

Table 4
The Two Hands According to Jandî

Essence First Entification

nonentification entification
nondelimitation delimitation
oneness manyness
activityreceptivity
firstness lastness
nonmanifestation manifestation
wrath good pleasure
majesty beauty
severity gentleness
Unseen[visible]
[infinity] finitude
contraction expansion
withholding giving
putting down lifting up
fear hope
contraction expansion
awe intimacy
subtlety density
spirit nature
attributes of God attributes of the cosmos
 115

`Abd al-Razzâq Kâshânî

Kâshânî (d. 736/1335) is one of the most famous members of the school of Ibn al-`Arabî.
Among his well-known works is an esoteric commentary on the Koran, from which we will have
occasion to quote in later chapters. His commentary on the Fusûs al-hikam was one of the most
influential. It reflects the teachings of Qûnawî and Jandî. In fact, he studied the Fusûs with the latter.
In the following, I quote a few particularly relevant sections of his commentary on the passage discussed
above:
Having shown us the signs of His names and attributes within the cosmos, the Real placed within
us the means to recognize these signs. He made us share with the cosmos in His attributes, so that we
might recognize what is within it through what is within ourselves. However, it was not possible for the
cosmos to receive all the Real's names and attributes. For the cosmos is distinguished from the Real by
the fact that the Real is inherently Necessary while the cosmos is a possible thing. Real and cosmos are
inseparable from what their own realities demand: Independence and poverty. Hence the cosmos
receives only those effects of the names that are appropriate to its poverty and imperfection. But
through all-comprehensive unity, God combined both the Real and the cosmos within us. That is why
the Shaykh divides the names and attributes into two kinds. The first kind is shared by all three: the
Real, us, and the cosmos. Hence the Shaykh says, God described Himself as manifest and nonmanifest,
so He brought the cosmos into existence as a world of the unseen and a world of the visible, that we
might perceive the nonmanifest through our unseen dimension and the manifest through our visible
dimension. Both the cosmos and the Real are described by the two [attributes of manifestation and
nonmanifestation]. The Shaykh distinguishes between the two descriptions by making the cosmos two
worlds, an unseen world and a visible world, since the cosmos does not possess all-comprehensive unity.
However, he does not distinguish between the description of the Real and our description, since he
attributes the unseen and the visible to us in respect of our specific all-comprehensive unity. Hence we
share in God's meaning and form, but the cosmos does not.
As for the second kind of names and attributes, here the Shaykh makes us equal to the cosmos.
In contradistinction to every active attribute belonging solely to God, he specifies an attribute receptive
toward activity shared by us and the cosmos. Hence he says, He described Himself through good
pleasure and wrath, and He brought the cosmos into existence possessing fear and hope. Fear is a
reception of activity and effects from the effectivity of wrath; through it we know His wrath. So also is
hope in contrast to good pleasure. That is why the Shaykh says, We fear His wrath and hope for His
good pleasure.
Then he says, He described Himself as beautiful and possessing majesty, so He brought us into
existence having awe and intimacy. This is because awe is a reception of activity from the attribute of
majesty. Through it we know His tremendousness and His majesty. In the same way, intimacy is the
counterpart of beauty. Hence He made us accord with His attributes in one respect and with the
attributes of the cosmos in another respect. . . .
God called these two attributes, that is, the polar qualities that He possesses, such as
manifestation and nonmanifestation, good pleasure and wrath, beauty and majesty, the "two hands"
through which He turned toward creating the perfect human being.
His words, since he brings together the realities and individuals of the cosmos, let us know that
while the perfect human being is equal to the cosmos in his realities and individuals, he is singled out
from the cosmos through the unitary all-comprehensiveness. By means of this all-comprehensiveness
the individuals of the cosmos are unified. In the same way, the four elements are unified through
 116

composition, the qualities of the elements [i.e., wetness, dryness, heat, and cold] are unified through the
[human] constitution, and the [human] form is unified through those powers of the cosmos known as
"proportioning." Hence this form has the preparedness to receive the spirit that was blown into it.193
Through all this the perfect human being becomes worthy of the vicegerency. For the vicegerent
must have affinities with Him who makes him a vicegerent in order that he may know His attributes and
names and convey His command to the one in his charge. He must have affinities with the one in his
charge in order that he may know it through its attributes and names and put the command into effect as
is worthy of its individuals. Hence the vicegerent has affinities with the Real through his spirit and his
all-comprehensive unity, while he shares with the cosmos through his form, the parts of his existence,
and his individuals.
Therefore the vicegerent is the servant of God, the lord of the cosmos. His form, which derives
from the cosmos, is visible, while his spirit is unseen. His lordship derives from his unseen dimension.
That is why the Shaykh says,
Hence the cosmos is visible, while the vicegerent is unseen, since, in respect of his form, he is
included in the cosmos, but in respect of his meaning, he is the vicegerent of God, the lord and sultan of
the world. . . .
God brought His two hands together in Adam only to give him eminence. That is why He said to
Iblis, "What prevented you from prostrating yourself before him whom I created with my two hands?"
The Shaykh has mentioned that the two polar attributes are the two hands of God through which He
turned toward the creation of the perfect human being. He has also given examples of polar attributes of
God that share in the fact that they exercise effects, so they are polar giving hands. He has alluded to the
fact that the attributes of the cosmos are polar, sharing in the fact that they receive activity. Hence they
are hands that receive and take. He has made us equal in these attributes with the cosmos. Hence he
now wants to establish that we have also been given eminence, since God has brought together [in us]
the two hands that are polar in giving and receiving. For God has two polar hands that give, like good
pleasure and wrath, as

193 The term proportioning (taswiya) is taken from the Koran, where it is employed in seven verses in
the sense of God's preparing the body for the reception of the spirit. For example, "And when thy Lord
said to the angels, 'I am creating a mortal of clay. . . . When I have proportioned him, and blown My
spirit into him, fall down, prostrating yourselves" (15:20). This explains the meaning of the often
mistranslated passage at the beginning of the first chapter of the Fusûs: "The Real brought the whole
cosmos into existence as a proportioned shape, without a spirit. Hence it was like an unpolished mirror.
But one of the characteristics of the divine decree is that He never proportions a locus without its acting
as a receptacle for a divine spirit, which is called 'a_blowing into it'." (Ibn al-`Arabî, Fusûs 49; cf. Ibn
Al'Arabi 50).
 117

Table 5
The Two Hands According to Kâshânî
Polar Attributes of God
nonmanifestation manifestation
wrath good pleasure
majesty beauty
taking hand giving hand
Qualities possessed by cosmos and human beings vis-à-vis God
God Cosmos and humans
activityreceptivity
good pleasure hope
wrath fear
beautiful intimacy
majesty awe
giving hand taking hand
taking hand giving hand
Qualities of God vis-à-vis vicegerent
nonmanifestation manifestation
Giver of vicegerency vicegerent
Lord servant
Qualities of vicegerent vis-à-vis the cosmos
all-comprehensiveness [dispersion]
lord servant
spirit form
unseen visible
 118

well as polar hands that take and receive. Look at His words, "Do they not know that God is He who
receives repentance from His servants and takes the free will offerings?" [9:104].
That is why He rebuked and blamed Iblis for failing to prostrate himself before Adam. For Iblis
saw in Adam those attributes of the cosmos, such as fear and hope, that receive activity, but he did not
see the active attributes. Moreover, Iblis did not recognize that the receptive attributes also belong to
God, since they pertain to the preparedness that is effused through the Most Holy Effusion.
The Most Holy Effusion (al-fayd al-aqdas) is the state of the immutable entities as they are
known by God "before" they enter into the created world. The Holy Effusion (al-fayd al-muqaddas) is
then the self-disclosure of God in the cosmos whereby He makes the immutable entities manifest. In
terms more familiar to Islamic theology, one could say that the Most Holy Effusion refers to the things
as they are known by God for all eternity, while the Holy Effusion refers to their actual appearance in
the cosmos as creatures.194 Hence Kâshânî is saying that the Most Holy Effusion, which is God's
knowledge of the cosmos, is a receptive reality and the source of all receptivity in the cosmos. We have
already met this idea in Farghânî's discussion of the Oneness of Being and the Manyness of Knowledge.
This refers only to the fact that he brings together the two forms, the form of the cosmos and the
form of the Real, and these are the two hands of the Real. In other words, just as the polar, giving
attributes are the two hands of the Real, so also the giving hands and the receiving and taking hands are
also two polar hands of God. If Adam did not possess those receptive attributes, he would not have
known God through all His names, nor would he have worshiped Him by them.195

Dâwûd Qaysarî
Sharaf al-Dîn Dâwûd Qaysarî (d. 751/1350) studied the Fusûs al-hikam with Kâshânî. Thus his
commentary represents the third in a direct line going back to Ibn al-`Arabî through Kâshânî, Jandî, and
Qûnawî. In explaining the above passage, Qaysarî brings out rather clearly the different types of
relationship implied in Ibn al-`Arabî's discussion:
He brought the cosmos into existence possessing fear and hope: We fear His wrath and hope for
His good pleasure. Here the Shaykh mentions the concomitants of good pleasure and wrath, which are
fear and hope. He did not say, "He brought us into existence possessing good pleasure and wrath," even
though we are described by these two attributes. Thereby he wanted to stress his first point, which is to
explain the interrelationship between the Real and the cosmos, since the two kinds of attributes--the
active and the receptive toward activity--demand each other.
Here God is active, while the servants are receptive. But activity cannot exist without
receptivity, and vice versa. Through hope and fear we react to the divine activity, but at the same time,
through our reaction the divine attributes of good pleasure and wrath gain their reality.
He described Himself as beautiful and possessing majesty, so He brought us into existence
having awe and intimacy. And so it goes with everything which is attributed to Him and by which He is
named. By "beautiful" are meant the attributes of beauty, which are those attributes connected to
gentleness and mercy. By "majesty" are meant those attributes connected to severity, inaccessibility,
greatness, and hiddenness. He brought us into existence having awe and intimacy. This is an example
which brings together both points he is making, the explanation of interrelationship [between the Real

194 Cf. Chittick and Wilson, Fakhruddin `Iraqi 11.

195 Kâshânî, Sharh fusûs al-hikam 26-28. Kâshânî provides a similar interpretation of the two hands in
his Ta'wîlât or esoteric commentary on the Koran (Ta'wîlât II 366).
 119

and the cosmos] and the fact that the human being was created upon His form. This can be explained as
follows:
"Awe" can be considered an active attribute. Thus it is said, "The sultan is awe-inspiring." In
other words, people sense his tremendousness in their hearts. Awe can also be considered a receptive
attribute. Thus it is said, "Awe of the sultan"--alarm and wonder--"fell into my heart." The same thing
can be said concerning intimacy in respect to him who is greater in rank than you and him who is lower
in rank. The first demands the reception of activity, while the second demands activity, since intimacy
is the removal of alarm and awe. In the first case, the possessor of the higher level removes the alarm
from you, and, in the second, you remove it from someone else. Awe derives from majesty and
intimacy derives from beauty. . . .
God called these two attributes--majesty and beauty--the "two hands" metaphorically, since
through them the divine acts are completed and Lordship becomes manifest. In the same way, through
his hands a human being is able to give and receive, and hence his acts are completed through his hands.
Through which He turned toward creating the perfect human being, since he brings together the realities
and individuals of the cosmos. . . . The human being brings together the cosmos's "realities," which are
the loci of manifestation for all the attributes of beauty and majesty. These realities are the immutable
entities of the cosmos. As for the "individuals," the Shaykh means the existent things found in the
external realm. It is as if he is saying that since the human being brings together all the immutable
entities through his own immutable entity and all the externally existent things through his own external
entity, he possesses all-comprehensive unity, both in knowledge and external entity....
Hence the cosmos is visible, while the vicegerent is unseen. In other words, the cosmos is
manifest while the vicegerent is nonmanifest. He applied the term manifest to the cosmos, even though
some of it--like the world of disengaged spirits--is unseen, only figuratively, as one applies the name of
the part to the whole. What he means by "cosmos" here is the spiritual and corporeal macrocosm, since
it is the form of the human reality, a reality that is unseen. And since the perfect human being is a locus
of manifestation for the perfections of this reality, a vicegerent, and a governor of the cosmos, he made
him "unseen" in respect of his reality, which always remains in the unseen, even if the vicegerent exists
in the external realm.
Here Qaysarî points to basic Islamic teachings on the role of the vicegerent in the cosmos. In
short, the integrated and realized microcosm plays an active role in relationship to the macrocosm,
which is always dispersed and differentiated. The perfect human being is the "bridge" between God and
the world, whereby God governs and controls the cosmos. But all this, as we saw in the previous
chapter, depends upon "servanthood." Human beings can represent God in the world and govern the
macrocosm on His behalf only if they have first submitted to His will and follow His command at every
level of their own multi-leveled selves. Such perfected human beings have achieved an inner oneness
with God. Their spiritual dimensions have been integrated into the "Divine Breath" from which they
arose, their souls are willing instruments for the spirits, while their bodies are corpses in the hand of the
soul (to use the Sufi analogy for the proper relationship between a disciple and his spiritual master). The
"reality" of such a person is his or her innermost dimension, somehow not different from God. In virtue
of that reality, the perfect human being governs everything in the macrocosm.
In continuing his interpretation of this passage, Qaysarî explains Ibn al-`Arabî's understanding of
the "two hands" in terms of active and receptive names of God. The "presence of a thing" as used in this
passage means realm or domain, and more specifically, everything in existence defined by the
accompanying attribute. Thus the "Presence of Lordship" designates the realm of God's controlling
activity inasmuch as He is Lord of all worlds, while the "Presence of Servanthood" designates the
cosmos inasmuch as it is controlled by God. As the Koran says, "There is nothing in the heavens and
 120

the
 121

Table 6
The Two Hands According to
Qaysarî

Contrary Attributes of God

beauty majesty
gentleness severity
mercy inaccessibility, greatness,
hiddenness

Qualities pertaining to Real vis-à-vis cosmos

active receptive
good pleasure hope
wrath fear
beauty intimacy
majesty awe

Contrary attributes of human all-comprehensiveness

right hand left hand
form of the Real form of the cosmos
activityreceptivity
making manifest becoming a locus of manifestation
Lordship servanthood
 122

earth which does not come to the All-merciful as a servant" (19:93).196 The point that is especially
significant here is that the relationship between God and the cosmos is described in terms of
Lord/servant, which is seen as equivalent, as indicated above, with active/receptive or yang/yin.
God said to Iblis, "What prevented you from prostrating yourself before him whom I created
with My two hands?" This refers only to the fact that he brings together the two forms, the form of the
cosmos, the engendered realities, and the form of the Real, the divine realities. And these are the two
hands of the Real. He made the cosmos the "hand of the Real" only because it is the locus of
manifestation for His names and attributes. Thus he called the attributes of beauty and majesty "the two
hands," as already mentioned. But here he calls the two forms "the two hands" in order to remind us that
there is no difference between the two forms in reality, except in respect of [the activity of] making
manifest and [the receptivity of] becoming a locus of manifestation. Moreover, since the active and
receptive are in reality a single thing that becomes manifest sometimes in the form of activity and
sometimes in the form of receptivity, He called them "two hands." The right hand represents the active
forms connected to the Presence of Lordship. The left hand represents the receptive forms connected to
the Presence of Servanthood. . . .
But Iblis was a part of the cosmos. He had not actualized this all-comprehensiveness, since he is
the locus of manifestation for the name "Misguider." This name is one of the names included in the
name Allah, for which Adam is the locus of manifestation. Hence Iblis did not comprehend all the
names and realities.197

Sadr al-Dîn Qûnawî

Many other explanations of this passage could be quoted from commentators on the Fusûs al-
hikam. But the above passages are sufficient to illustrate that yin/yang thinking comes naturally to the
Muslim authorities who speak for intellectual Sufism. Instead of continuing with this survey of Fusûs
commentaries, I turn to two extremely influential authors of Ibn al-`Arabî's school who did not write
commentaries on the Fusûs.198
Qûnawî explains the meaning of God's two hands in a number of works. In Sharh al-hadîth, he
discusses the verse that tells us that the whole earth will be God's handful and the heavens will be held
in His right hand. The earth is in God's left hand because "the World of the Elements and everything
that becomes compounded and is born from them" pertains to the left side. The Companions of the Left
will be grasped by this hand in the next world, since they will not have ascended to the spiritual domain.
What dominates over the world of the elements--which is held in the mentioned handful--is
opacity, darkness, and density. Therefore God attributed the wretched to it. For the wretched are
dominated by the specific characteristics of composition and density. The Messenger alluded to this
when he said, "The thickness of the unbeliever's skin on the Day of Resurrection will be a three-day's
journey."199 God called attention to it with His words, "No indeed, but the book of the ungodly is in
Sijjîn" [83:7]. Sijjîn is the low world that is attributed to the hand known as the "handful" and the "left

196 I translate man as "nothing" rather than "no one" following Ibn al-`Arabî (cf. SPK 412n7).
197 Qaysarî, Sharh fusûs al-hikam 86-87, 89-90.
198 As noted above, Qûnawî's al-Fukûk deals only with the chapter headings of the Fusûs. Othman
Yahia attributes a commentary to the second author, Sa`îd al-Dîn Farghânî, but this is probably an error.
Farghânî is too important an author for such a commentary to have remained otherwise unknown.
199 A hadith to this effect is found in Muslim, Janna 44.
 123

hand." Concerning the Companions of the Right, God says, "No indeed, the book of the lovingly kind is
in the high realms" [83:18]. This is like His words, "The heavens are rolled up in His right hand"
[39:67].
The secret of the fact that the lovingly kind and their book are in the high realms is that the parts
of their dense configuration and their natural, constitutional faculties become transubstantiated, purified,
and transmuted through sanctification and purification--which are achieved by means of knowledge,
works, and adornment with praiseworthy attributes and exalted character traits--into angelic, fixed, pure
faculties and attributes inherent in their souls, which are now at peace with God [mutma'inna]. God
reported on this in explaining the states of souls. He says, "Saved is he who purifies it" [91:9]. The
Messenger of God alluded to this in the words of his supplication, "O God, give my soul its
godfearingness and purify it! Thou art the best who purifies it!"200
The state of the wretched is the opposite. Their spiritual faculties and attributes have been
absorbed by their natural faculties. Thereby their spiritual substantiality comes to nothing, as if it has
been transmuted and become dense. God will bring together the decomposed parts of their bodies and
their natural configuration, which have been colored by the properties of their corrupt beliefs and
opinions, their ruinous acts, and their blameworthy character traits while they subsisted for long years in
this configuration and abode. He will recompose them in the configuration of the afterlife. Then
without doubt through all this they will reach a situation that requires that the thickness of the bodily
skin of one of them will be a three-days' journey--in contrast to what I indicated concerning the state of
the lovingly kind.
This is why it has been reported concerning the configuration in the Garden that the inhabitants
will become manifest in a single moment in numerous palaces. They will take pleasure in every group
of their families and move back and forth in whatever forms suit their appetites. This takes place only
because of what we mentioned: The parts of their dense configuration have been absorbed into the
subtle realities of their substances and colored by their attributes. The characteristics of their souls and
their spiritual faculties have dominated over the faculties of their natural constitutions. They have
become like angels: They become manifest in any form they wish.201
In his commentary on the opening chapter of the Koran, Qûnawî mentions the two hands in the
context of describing the nature of human perfection. The fundamental difference between a human
being and any other engendered thing is that a human manifests all the divine names, while anything
else is limited to acting as a locus of manifestation for some of the names. A human being is total, while
everything else is partial. A human being stands at the center of the circle of existence, while other
creatures stand at the periphery.
In explaining the meaning of the words of Koran 1:5, "Thee alone do we serve" (or "worship"),
Qûnawî points out that all things serve and worship God, since, as the Koran puts it, "None is there in
the heavens and the earth that comes not to the All-merciful as a servant" [19:93). But non-human
beings serve only the specific name or names that act as their Lords. In contrast, human beings--at least
in the case of perfect humans--serve not specific names but the universal, all-comprehensive name
Allah, since God created them in the form of that name.
The tree rooted in the Divine Presence has branches. These branches are able to carry what
comes to them to the extent that each of them is permeated by a share of the mystery of the reality of
Allah. This share derives from the permeation of the essences of all things by the All-holy Essence.

200 The prayer is found in Muslim, Dhikr 73, and other standard sources.
201 Qûnawî, Sharh al-hadîth, no. 21.
 124

These branches are the divine names, and the root permeates the essences of all things through the fact
that the Essence's self-disclosure permeates the levels of Its names in keeping with what the level of
each of these names requires. That is why we have said on more than one occasion, "In one respect each
name is the same as the Named, and in another respect it is other than It."202
Each name, such as Alive, Knowing, Desiring, and Powerful, manifests something of the reality
of Allah, the absolutely Real. To the extent that the reality of the Knowing corresponds to the absolutely
Real, the Knowing discloses the Real's Essence and is identical with the Real. But to the extent that the
Knowing fails to correspond to the absolutely Real, something of the Real escapes it. Each branch of
the Root is thus identical with the Root and different from the Root at one and the same time. Then each
branch is connected to the creatures found in the cosmos. Some creatures manifest life, some
knowledge, some power, some desire, and so on, while, of course, most creatures manifest several
names at once. But when a certain name dominates over the nature of a thing, that name becomes the
thing's "kibla," the direction toward which the thing renders its service and worship.
Each name of the Real causes the manifestation of one of the kinds in the cosmos, so the name is
that kind's kibla. One name makes the spirits manifest, another causes the relatively simple forms to
become manifest, and still another brings the natures and compound things into manifestation. Likewise
each of the three children becomes manifest through a specific name. That name is designated by the
level in which it becomes manifest, or rather, by the state of the locus of manifestation and its inherent,
unmade preparedness.203 After that, the name becomes the thing's kibla in its attention and worship. It
knows the Real only in this respect, and the Real supports it only from this presence. The thing takes a
share from the nondelimited form of the Presence to the extent of the relationship of that name to the
actuality that comprehends the levels of all the names and attributes.
The "nondelimited form of the Presence" is that created thing which manifests God as such. In
other words, it is the perfect human being, the "all-comprehensive engendered thing" (al-kawn al-jâmi`)
discussed earlier. Allah is the "all-comprehensive name" (al-ism al-jâmi`), since the reality to which this
name refers--the absolutely Real--comprehends the levels of all names and attributes. Hence the form of
the all-comprehensive name, which is the perfect human being, manifests all these names and attributes.
Each partial creature shares in the totality that is the perfect human being only to the extent that the
name which it manifests participates in the all-comprehensive name. The Knowing manifests Allah to
one degree, the Forgiving to a lesser degree, and the Avenger to a still lesser degree. Hence those
creatures who manifest the Knowing correspond more closely to the Real than those who manifest the
Avenger.
Having introduced the question of how different creatures manifest in different degrees the
Divine Presence (the Reality designated by the name Allah), Qûnawî turns to the question of how the
perfect human being manifests all the names of God. Here he interprets God's two hands as referring to
the two basic dimensions of human all-comprehensiveness: the visible and the invisible, or the corporeal
and the spiritual.
As for the human being, the manifestation of his form depends upon God's turning toward him
totally when He brings him into existence. It depends upon the "two hands," as God has reported. One

202 As was pointed out at the beginning of this chapter, Ibn al-`Arabî frequently makes this point.
203 "Unmade" (ghayr maj`ûl), since God did not make it the way it is. Rather, it manifests the nature
of Reality Itself, and God has known it as long as He has known Reality, which is to say forever. The
concept of "making" (ja`l) plays a role in Ibn al-`Arabî's teachings on the nature of predestination
(qadar) and is much elaborated upon in later Islamic philosophy. Cf. SPK 297.
 125

of these two hands holds the unseen, while the other holds the visible. From the one become manifest
the holy spirits, from the other Nature, bodily things, and forms. That is why human beings bring
together the knowledge of all the names and are colored by the property of their presences. They are the
most comprehensive of those things that were singled out for forms and possess the attribute of
manifestation. They are also the most comprehensive of those things that were singled out for the
nonmanifest things--such as spirits, which possess the attribute of unseenness and hiddenness. Hence
human beings are not delimited by a station that would constrict them in the way the angels are
constricted. God alludes to the angels' constriction with His words, "None of us there is but has a known
station" [37:164]. Nor are human beings restricted as natural bodies are restricted.
After discussing the nature of human perfection, Qûnawî turns to teachings developed in detail
by Ibn al-`Arabî, although the principles were already well known. In brief, Ibn al-`Arabî presented a
complex psychology of "sanctity" (walâya), the state of being a "friend" (walî) of God. There is not one
kind of friend, but a vast number of types, conveniently summarized by the ninety-nine names of God.
Each name designates a particular quality of the absolutely Real, and each quality can dominate a fully
developed human personality. Then the person manifests through his or her human perfection that
divine quality more than any other. The basic nature of the person is delineated by names such as
Servant of the Knowing, Servant of the Forgiving, and Servant of the Majestic. Kâshânî provides a
description of ninety-nine human types among the friends of God, each of whom is a servant of a
specific name.204 The accounts of the prophets whom the prophet Muhammad met during his night
journey need to be understood in a similar way. Each prophet manifests certain divine qualities,
qualities which in turn are manifested through the celestial spheres. Hence these prophets are associated

204 For a brief survey of Ibn al-`Arabî's teachings on these points, cf. SPK 369-73. Many of Kâshânî's
discussions are reflected in Bayrak, The Most Beautiful Names.
 126

Table 7
The Two Hand(ful)s
According to Sadr al-Dîn al-Qûnawî

right hand left hand

heavens earth
spirits bodily things, Nature, elements
subtlety density
[light] darkness
[translucence] opacity
[simplicity] composition
Garden Fire
felicitous wretched
high world low world
unseen visible
angels natural bodies
meanings (suprasensory things) forms
nonmanifest things manifest things
incomparability similarity
tawhîd associating others with God
 127

with those spheres, but they are not "located" there. Islamic astrology is based precisely upon such
qualitative correspondences between God, the macrocosm, and human beings.
Next Qûnawî turns to the manner in which the two basic dimensions of the human being
designated by the term "two hands" interrelate so that three basic human types come into existence.
Some people are dominated by the spiritual (the right hand), some by the corporeal (the left hand), and
some establish a perfect balance between the two.
Another coming together is actualized between these spiritual and suprasensory constitutions and
the natural constitutions. This coming together has diverse properties that can be classified in three
kinds:
The first kind is specific to those people whose spiritual properties dominate over their natural
properties. In them their natural powers are subordinate to their spiritual powers.
A second kind is specific to most people. This is the opposite of the first, since their spiritual
powers and attributes are consumed by the property of their natural powers.
The third kind is specific to perfect human beings and any of the Solitaries205 whom God wills.
Their verse is, "He gave everything its creation, then guided" [20:50]. So understand, for this is a station
that cannot be explained in detail!
The domination of the names in different proportions--or, the differing ways in which the two
hands interrelate--brings different degrees of understanding into existence.
To return to our discussion: Because of what we mentioned, there becomes manifest in keeping
with the domination the property required by the quality of the dominant level, name, or nature. Though
the locus is not empty of the property of all the names, it is ascribed to the one whose ruling authority
becomes manifest within it. Hence one person declares God's incomparability, one declares His
similarity, one brings together incomparability and similarity, one associates others with God, one
declares His unity, and so on.206
What we mentioned causes the branching out of incompatible opinions, diverse states, disparate
waystations, goals, and attentivenesses. Those who know the levels of Being and the realities of the
names will know the secret of beliefs, revealed laws, religions, and opinions in all their diverse kinds.
They will know how all these combine and grow up.207
In short, Qûnawî tells us that the interrelationship between the two hands of God brings all
correlation and polarity in the universe into existence. It establishes the fundamental created dualities,
such as the unseen and the visible. It also sets up the fundamental human perceptions, such as declaring
similarity and incomparability. All movement, change, and process in the universe can be traced back to
the two hands.

Sa`îd al-Dîn Farghânî

Qûnawî's student Farghânî mentions God's two hands while explaining the nature of the Breath
of the All-merciful.208 God speaks, and within His Breath become manifest the existential words that

205 The Solitaries (afrâd) are a group of the highest ranking friends of God who are independent of the
Pole (qutb). Cf. SPK 413n23.
206 Cf. Ibn al-`Arabî's explanation of three basic approaches to knowledge of God, SPK 347.
207 Qûnawî, al-Tafsîr al-sûfî 385-88/I`jâz al-bayân 269-72.
208 For Ibn al-`Arabî's views on the Breath of the All-merciful, cf. SPK 127-32.
 128

are the creatures of the universe. The Breath itself is a single breath, yet it can be considered at several
levels. For example, it may be seen as identical with the Breather, as the Breather's exhalation, as the
Breather's articulated speech in which many words are made distinct, or as individual words making up
a coherent sentence. Each level represents one of the worlds which make up the cosmos. The All-
merciful Breath is sometimes called the First Entification, that is, the first level of reality within which
"entities" and things can be discerned, the first level where we may properly speak of distinct attributes
and qualities. Beyond the Breath stands the nondelimited Essence, also called the He-ness (huwiyya) or
the Unseen of the Unseen (ghayb al-ghayb). Concerning It nothing positive may be affirmed, since the
Real Itself is "no thing," just as the highest station of human perfection is "no station." Already in the
Breath yang and yin are present as the potentialities that will bring the cosmos into existence.
The first thing that becomes entified and manifest from the Unseen of the Unseen is the Divine,
All-merciful Breath. This is one reality within which are contained the property of activity [fi`l] and
effectivity [ta'thîr] as well as receptivity [qabûl] and receiving acts [infi`âl]. Or rather, within it are
contained God's names, attributes, and acts. This is to say that on the first level--which is identical with
His true Oneness--the knower, knowledge, and known, the agent, receptacle, and act, are all a single
thing, without distinction or difference. Then on the second level the entity of the All-merciful Breath
becomes entified and manifest from the Unseen of the Unseen.
The All-merciful Breath, at the highest level, refers to the potentiality of all manifestation within
the Real. At this level God's "face" is turned toward creation, and hence one can speak about the
relationships that will be established once creation comes to exist. Thus, for example, God is the
Knowing or the Knower, and as such He knows all things that will come into manifestation. But as long
as the things have not yet come into manifestation, He knows the things within Himself. He Himself is
the only reality, since nothing else exists. Hence the Knower and the known are one, while the process
of knowing--the "knowledge"--is identical with the Knower and the known. A similar analysis can be
made of many divine attributes.
At the next level, which Farghânî now describes, certain realities can be discerned as distinct
from the Breath. The first of the realities that can be discerned is Being (wujûd), that is, the Necessary
Being which is God. He is necessary because He cannot not be. As such He is contrasted with all other
things, which are "possible," since they may or may not be. Being is truly one, since It alone truly is.
All other things "are" to the extent they are given existence by Being, much as the sun gives light to
every illuminated thing. But along with Its Oneness, Being possesses a certain relative manyness, the
Manyness of Knowledge.
In this second level the first reality and presence contained within God's inclusive unity and
manifest through and distinct from the entity of the All-merciful Breath is the Presence of Being. This is
called the Presence of Necessity, by way of naming a thing by its concomitant. To this Presence are
ascribed true Oneness and relative manyness. Because of the true Oneness that is ascribed to it, the
property of activity and effectivity and all the divine names related to this Presence [of activity] are
ascribed to it and to all the loci of manifestation that are related to it.
As was mentioned at the end of the previous chapter, Being is active because It is the source and
origin of all the things that stem from It. They receive Its rays, much like things receive color from
light. To speak of Necessity is to speak of possibility, since the two are inseparable from each other in
conception. If Necessity is connected to Being, possibility is connected to the multiple objects found in
Being's Knowledge. Hence we have the distinction between the Oneness of Being and the Manyness of
Knowledge.
Within God's knowledge all things are known for all eternity. But they do not exist in and of
themselves, any more than our ideas exist outside ourselves. When the things exist, their existence is
 129

borrowed from Being, just as light is but a ray of the sun. Once an object of God's knowledge is given
existence, it shows its receptivity toward Being simply by its existence. It does not actively possess
Being, since sooner or later it ceases to exist. In short, at this second level Necessity and possibility set
up an active/receptive, yang/yin relationship.
On this second level, as the counterpart of this Presence [of Being], the Presence of Knowledge
connected to possible objects of knowledge becomes manifest and distinct. This is named the Presence
of Possibility, by way of naming a thing by the description of that which is within it. To this Presence,
in respect of the possible realities that it contains, are ascribed true manyness and relative, all-
comprehending oneness. Because of the intensity of the attribution of manyness to it, its dependencies
and contents are specific to reception, receiving effects, and receiving activity.
True ontological oneness is solely the attribute of God, the Necessary Being. Such oneness is
eternal, absolute, and infinite. In contrast, manyness is found among the things, each of which is
changing and limited. The One possesses necessarily all perfections as Its own, while each of the many
things borrows certain perfections for a period of time and then relinquishes them. The One lends and
the many borrow, the One gives and the many receive, heaven bestows and the earth gives birth to the
Ten Thousand Things.
However, in questions of yang/yin relationships, or in matters of correlativity such as Lord and
vassal, there can be no absolutes. What is active from one point of view is receptive from another. If
Necessity is active toward possibility, the very fact that Necessity cannot be conceived of apart from
possibility demonstrates that Necessity receives effects from possibility. At the outset Farghânî stated
that Necessity is truly one and relatively many. To the true oneness pertains activity, but to the relative
manyness pertains a certain receptivity. An analogous thing can be said about possibility.
Since the Presence of Necessity has the property of relative manyness, it possesses a kind of
reception through receiving the activity of the demand and request of the preparedness [of created
things] and complying with what is requested.
"Preparedness" (isti`dâd) is the specific configuration taken by a thing's possibility that makes it
receptive to existence in certain modes but not in other modes. The divine effusion of existence is one,
but the things receive it according to their own specific characteristics. As Qûnawî puts it,
The Effusion is one, but the preparednesses are diverse and disparate. This is like fire that comes
to naphtha, sulfur, dry wood, and green wood. Without doubt, the first and quickest to receive ignition
and manifestation in the form of fire will be the naphtha, then the sulfur, then the dry wood, then the
green wood. When you look carefully at what we said, you will see that the cause of the speed of
naphtha's reception of ignition before the others, then the sulfur, is nothing but the strength of the
affinity between the constitution of naphtha and fire and the fact that they share in certain intrinsic
qualities.209
In short, each possible thing within God's knowledge has a specific preparedness, or specific
characteristics through which it becomes a receptacle for existence. But this preparedness is not simply
passive, since there can be no absolute yin. By its very nature it demands and requests from the Real
that He irradiate it with His light so that it may enter into existence.210 Farghânî continues:

209 Qûnawî, al-Nafahât al-ilâhiyya 225-26; also quoted in Jâmî, Naqd al-nusûs 117.
210 For Ibn al-`Arabî's views on preparedness and the relationship between the divine effusion or self-
disclosure and the receptivity of the things, cf. SPK 91-94.
 130

Since the Presence of the Objects of Knowledge and Possibility has the property of relative
oneness, it possesses effectivity and activity through demanding and requesting from the Presence of
Necessity.
Next Farghânî considers the Breath of the All-merciful as a single unified whole. Within it
Necessity and possibility are two dimensions of the same reality, the two hands of God. From this point
of view, the Breath is a barzakh (isthmus) tying together the two sides. It is identical with the inmost
reality of the perfect human being. It is the all-comprehensive reality to which reference has already
been made. Here the Breath may also be viewed as the inmost reality of the macrocosm, in which case
it is referred to as the Cloud, within which, according to the Prophet, God was found "before He created
the creatures."211
As for the isthmus-like, undifferentiated, human presence and the differentiated, Cloud presence,
these bring together the two presences in one respect and separate them in another respect. They
comprise the divine attributes and the engendered realities and carry the self-disclosure of the Breath
which brings together everything.
Necessity is one of God's hands, open through mercy. Since this mercy pertains exclusively to
the receptivities of "those who are godfearing and pay the alms tax" [7:156], this is the right hand.
Hence the Presence of Objects of Knowledge and Possibility is the other hand.
Here Farghânî's point can be understood by reference to the two basic kinds of mercy that are
differentiated in Ibn al-`Arabî's school, to which reference was made earlier. The two are mentioned in
the Koranic verse, "My mercy embraces all things, and I shall write it down for those who are
godfearing and pay the alms tax, and those who indeed believe in Our signs, those who follow the
Messenger" (7:156). In respect of the fact that God's mercy embraces all things, it is called the "mercy
of free gift" or the "mercy of the All-merciful."

211 On the Cloud in Ibn al-`Arabî's teaching, cf. SPK 125-27.

 131

Table 8
The Two Hands According to Farghânî

right hand left hand

activityreceptivity, receiving efects
effectivity receiving effects
Necessity possibility
Being Knowledge
true oneness true manyness
relative manyness relative oneness
mercy of necessity [wrath]
simplicity composition
subtlety density
heavens earth
 132

But in respect of the fact that God "writes down" mercy for those who have faith, He is making it
necessary for them, since He does not break His word. Hence this second mercy is called the "mercy of
necessity" or the "mercy of the All-compassionate."212 The first mercy reaches all things, even objects
of wrath. It encompasses paradise and hell, and brings the cosmos into existence. It is manifest
precisely through the Breath of the All-merciful. Then, within the Breath of the All-merciful, the first
mercy is divided into two: mercy and wrath. This second mercy is the opposite of wrath, while the first
mercy has no opposite, except nonexistence. The second mercy is the mercy of necessity that pertains to
the name All-compassionate and is written for the faithful. Opposed to it, on the left hand, is the wrath
that reaches the unbelievers. The locus of manifestation for the All-merciful mercy is the whole cosmos,
including paradise and hell. The locus of manifestation for the All-compassionate mercy is the Garden,
and that of wrath is the Fire. The mercy of necessity is related to the right hand precisely because the
"Companions of the Right" are the people of paradise. In this perspective, the mercy of free gift stands
beyond the opposition set up by the two hands. In another respect, it is yang, while both hands are yin in
relation to it.
The two hands are connected with the blessing of all the name-derived perfections, since they
embrace both the entities and the manifestations of these perfections. Hence "both of God's hands are
right and blessed." This takes into account true perfection, not relative perfection.
In other words, in respect to the full manifestation of Being, the whole cosmos is perfect, so both
of God's hands are right. But in respect to the differing qualities of the two hands, certain parts of the
cosmos are more perfect than other parts. The Companions of the Right are more perfect than those of
the left, just as the faithful are more perfect than the unbelievers. For the Companions of the Right
partake of felicity and mercy, and mercy is the "precedent attribute" of God. "God's mercy precedes His
wrath," which is to say that it is manifests a greater range of ontological perfections than wrath.
Nevertheless, from another point of view, the unbelievers are what they must be, even if they are less
perfect than the faithful and end up as Companions of the Left. Both faithful and unbelievers are
necessary for the manifestation of the divine names.213 This point will be explained in more detail
below.
Whenever the property of oneness, simplicity, and subtlety is more manifest in any of the
spiritual or corporeal loci of manifestation--such as the heavens--then the relationship with the
manifestation of the Presence of Necessity and the effect of its effectivity and activity are stronger. In
such a case it is more appropriate for the thing to be attributed to the right hand.
Whenever the property of manyness, composition, and density are more apparent within
something--like the earth--then its relationship to the manifestation of the Presence of the Object of
Knowledge and Possibility and to the property of receptivity and receiving effects is more complete and
stronger.
Note here that Farghânî again stresses that the properties of oneness and manyness, right and left,
activity and receptivity, are relative qualities. Both are present in all phenomena, but things can
nevertheless be differentiated inasmuch as some are dominated by one side and some by the other. Both
hands are God's hands. Neither hand has anything negative in itself and in respect of the absolute
perfection alluded to above. However, in relation to various individuals and relative perfections, the

212 Farghânî describes the two mercies in Mashâriq al-darârî 551.

213 On the question of the perfection of the whole cosmos, in spite of the evils found within it, cf. "The
Perfection of Imperfection," in SPK 294-97.
 133

domination of the left hand over the right hand leads to wretchedness for those who experience it. The
reason for this is that manyness, composition, and density are the attributes of distance from God and are
connected to the divine names that affirm incomparability. Hence they are connected to wrath, and in
the next world wrath is experienced as the torments of hell. In contrast, oneness, simplicity, and subtlety
are the attributes of nearness to God and are connected with similarity and paradise. In both cases,
whether attributes connected with similarity or incomparability are affirmed, the relationship with God
is fundamental. Whichever hand is discussed, it must be connected with the Real.
It is most appropriate, out of courtesy, to attribute the hand, without qualification, to God. Look
at His words, "The earth, all of it, is His handful on the day of resurrection, and the heavens are rolled up
in His right hand! Glory be to Him above what they associate" [39:67], that is, what they associate by
ascribing the hand, activity, and existence to that which is independent of Him.214
In other words, tawhîd, or the profession of God's Unity (the opposite of shirk, or associating
others with God), can be achieved only by ascribing both hands and all the qualities that they imply to
God Himself.
In brief, Farghânî understands the two hands to refer to the two basic constituent forces of
existence, which are referred to from different points of view according to the attributes that dominate
over them: incomparability and similarity, oneness and manyness, necessity and possibility. These are
found both in the relationship between the Real and the cosmos, and in that between the unseen
dimensions of the cosmos and the visible dimensions.

Farghânî on the Two Handfuls

In his commentary on Ibn al-Fârid's poetry, Farghânî provides a marvelous discussion of the two
handfuls that ties together most of the qualities that we have been discussing up until this point. He
shows that polarity is fundamental to reality: It is demanded by the very nature of the Real, who is One
in His Being and many in His knowledge. This fundamental distinction is the yang and yin of existence.
From it arises all diversity.
Farghânî is commenting on the following lines of Ibn al-Fârid:
Were it not for the veil of engendered existence,
I would speak--
But my observance of the ruling properties
of the loci of manifestation keeps me silent.
For there is no vanity,
and the creatures were not created aimlessly,
Even if their actions
do not follow the proper way.
Their affairs run ahead
according to the branding of the names.
The wisdom that describes the Essence
puts its property into effect.
It turns them about in the two handfuls--
"No concern . . . , no concern . . . ,"
One handful is given bliss,

214 Farghânî, Muntahâ al-madârik I 63-64.

 134

the other wretchedness.215

Here Ibn al-Fârid is discussing the fact that all things are exactly what they must be. All things
follow the laws of their own natures, and these natures in turn manifest the divine names. Both mercy
and wrath must have loci of manifestation, so paradise and hell must necessarily exist. But they can
only exist through their inhabitants, the Companions of the Right and the Companions of the Left.
Must we then say that there is nothing but good in existence? We can say so, but only if we look
at things from the point of view of the Oneness of Being without reference to the Manyness of
Knowledge. However, human beings are commanded to look at things in terms of distinction and
differentiation. The Sharia sets down the difference between good and evil, true and false, right and left.
As long as we are human, we must observe the divine command.216 Farghânî begins his commentary
on the first of Ibn al-Fârid's verses as follows:
The poet is saying that engendered existence and its levels are a veil. This existence is delimited
by the properties of manyness. It affirms the other and otherness. It sees opposition to God's commands
and opposed qualities. The poet says: If this were not the case, I would have said that everything that
becomes manifest in existence is good and unitary, with no evil found within it. I would have said that
all paths lead to a single goal, there being no otherness or difference in the goal. However, I am obliged
to observe the levels and the requirements of the loci within which the divine names become manifest. I
must give to each level and to each locus of manifestation its right. This does not allow me to speak
these words.
Having explained the literal significance of the verses, Farghânî turns to the distinction between
the Oneness of Being and the diversity of the cosmos that results from the diversity of the divine names
or the Manyness of Knowledge. What is especially interesting in this discussion is the way in which he
contrasts the qualities of Being (al-wujûd) and engendered existence (al-kawn), or the Real and creation.
The term realness (haqqiyya) refers to all the specific qualities that pertain to the Real (al-haqq), as
opposed to those qualities that pertain to created things, "unrealness" (butlân) or "caprice" (hawâ). The
opposition between the Real and the unreal or caprice is standard, going back to such Koranic verses as
"The Real has come and the unreal has vanished away" (17:81); or, "Had the Real followed their
caprices, the heavens and the earth and everything within them would have been corrupted" (23:71).
In Its own Essence the One Real Being has a property, description, and characteristic that never
leaves Its level. This property is oneness, all-comprehensiveness, and the uniformity of realness,
purified from the contamination of the unreal, free of distinction and otherness. Engendered existence
and its levels also have a characteristic, property, and quality. This is manyness, dispersion, and
contamination by the unreal, or its domination over the concealed realness. . . . Within this manyness
are established distinction, otherness, diversity, and strife.
Nothing makes engendered existence manifest with all its characteristics, properties, and
qualities except the One Being. None of the rays of the light of the One Being become manifest within
the engendered levels for the sake of making manifest the name-derived perfection except in the loci of
disclosure that are the engendered realities.
Hence the Oneness of Being remains behind the veil of the manyness of the engendered realities.
As long as any effect and property pertaining to engendered existence dominates over someone or

215 Cf. Arberry, The Poem of the Way 73, lines 2308-20.
216 Ibn al-`Arabî frequently discusses these two points of view in terms of the "engendering command"
that brings both the Garden and the Fire into existence and the "prescriptive command" that brings the
Sharia into existence and leads to human felicity. Cf. below, chapter 9, pp. 000-000.
 135

becomes manifest within him, the Oneness of Being's all-comprehensiveness and its property of
undifference will not become manifest to him, no matter what he perceives.
Though Farghânî does not mention the Manyness of Knowledge in this passage, he alludes to it
by speaking of the manyness of the engendered realities. For the engendered realities are precisely the
objects of God's knowledge that have been given existence and are now found in the cosmos.
Each engendered reality, in respect of its being delimited by engendered existence and the
properties of the engendered levels, has two faces: The first face is turned toward Being, which makes
manifest this reality's properties, attributes, and effects. This face demands the manifestation of the
effects of Oneness, which are balance [`adâla], all-comprehensiveness, luminosity, realness, the lifting
of the veils, and the reception of the effects of guidance and compassion.
The second face is turned toward its own self [nafs] and the concomitants of its own self. This
face demands the manifestation of manyness, deviation, darkness, unreality, the domination of the
property of being veiled, and the effect of misguidance and severity.
Each of these two faces has a specific property and effect.
The property of the engendered reality's face turned toward Being is submission [islâm]; faith in
God, His messengers, and the Last Day; acquiescence to commands and prohibitions; limiting oneself to
the rulings of the lawful and the unlawful and the beautiful and the ugly, while distinguishing among
these and the requirements of each, that is, reward and punishment as a result of being worthy of it. The
property of this face includes faith that every act and word, whether beautiful or ugly, commanded or
prohibited, brings about the configuration of the forms of the ascending degrees and descending degrees,
the lasting bliss and the painful chastisement, of the Garden and the Fire.
Hence the property of this face is submission, faith, delimiting oneself by the rulings of the
Sharia and of commands and prohibitions, and acting according to this in the heart and the bodily frame.
The effect and fruit of this property are attaining to the good-pleasure of the One, Real Existence-giver
and entering into His Gardens. These Gardens are the forms of that good-pleasure and the locus of
manifestation for His right handful in the next world. They are a rising up in the degrees of the next
world. In other words, they are the configuration of the forms of bliss, which are the houris, the palaces,
and so on, in the barzakh and the next world.
The property of the face that is turned toward its own self and the concomitants of its own self
are ignorance of the Real, denial of the realness of every religion and sharia, refusal of everything that
comes from the Real through the prophets and messengers. It is the denial of all the reports given by the
prophets that affirm resurrection and recompense, Garden and Fire. It is to abandon oneself to the
caprice [hawâ] of the soul and nature and to ride upon the appetite [shahwa]. Caprice and appetite are
the domination of unreality over the hidden and concealed realness.
Hence the property of this face is unbelief, disobedience, refusal, following caprice and nature,
abandoning oneself to full gratification of appetites and enjoyments, accusing of falsehood, and
hypocrisy. The effect of this property is the manifestation of falling under the anger of the Real
Existence-giver. One enters into His hellfire, which is the form of His anger and wrath and the locus of
manifestation for His left handful. One falls into the place of being taken to account and criticized
during one's reckoning. Various forms of chastisement and punishment and the things that cause them
are configured in the barzakh and the next world. The reason for this is that every beautiful or ugly act
that issues from a human being, whether it comes from the heart or the bodily frame, must have an effect
and fruit, whether in this world, in the barzakh, or in the next world.
These then are the properties of the right hand and the left hand. All are traceable to Oneness
and manyness, which in turn are connected to Being and engendered existence. Here Farghânî brings
together the qualities explicit and implied in Ibn al-`Arabî's original discussion of the verse of the two
 136

hands in the Fusûs al-hikam. Having set up these distinctions, Farghânî turns again to Ibn al-Fârid's
verse. He points out that people in control of intellect (`aql), which is the human faculty that discerns
between truth and falsehood, observe the requirements of manyness. Intellect, it should be noted, is the
microcosmic equivalent of the prophet. Just as prophets bring commands and prohibitions, so the
correctly functioning human intellect discerns what is right and wrong. Here Farghânî also refers to the
connection between intellect and wisdom (hikma). For, as Ibn al-`Arabî remarks, the wise man is "he
who does what is proper for what is proper as is proper,"217 and this depends totally upon discernment
and differentiation.
Human beings may be confined within the bond of the properties and levels of engendered
existence and present with them. They may be aware of themselves and their own engendered
existence, ascribe things to themselves, and perceive the engendered properties. Then they remain
veiled from witnessing the Oneness of Being and its world and

217 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 163.26 (cf. SPK 174).

 137

Table 9
The Two Handfuls according to Farghânî

right handful left handful

Being engendered existence
oneness manyness
all-comprehensiveness dispersion
realness unreality
uniformity distinction, diversity
[sameness] otherness
equilibrium deviation
luminosity darkness
lifting of veils being veiled
guidance misguidance
compassion severity
exalting abasing
submission ignorance of the Real
faith unbelief, denial
acquiescence refusal
observing lawful & unlawful following caprice & appetite
[sincerity] hypocrisy
good-pleasure of God anger, wrath
Garden hellfire
bliss chastisement, punishment
felicity wretchedness
World of the Dominion World of the Kingdom
simplicity [composition]
elemental nature spirit, soul
activity, effectivity [receptivity]
high things low things
heavens earth
 138

from the uniformity of realness. They have no share whatsoever in that or in the property of its world.
They remain captive to the property of the world of wisdom, the manyness of its requirements, and the
requirement of the two faces and properties of engendered realities. They cannot avoid these situations.
And they will be held responsible for them because of the requirement of the world of wisdom. In such
a situation, they will be subject to the properties of reward, punishment, calling to account,
responsibility, and reckoning in this world and the next world. Both these worlds pertain to engendered
existence and fall under the sway of the world of wisdom.
However, people may escape from the tie of engendered existence and the bond of the levels.
They may join the vast expanse of the World of Oneness such that they are present with that Presence
and gaze upon it, having realized it. They remain forgetful and negligent of engendered existence, its
levels, and all the realities that it contains. They have no awareness of themselves, their existence, and
all the attributes, accidents, and concomitants that are seen to pertain to themselves. They witness and
see the One Real through the Real, not through themselves or through their own vision. At this point,
their entities and existences are colored with the property of that world. Hence they observe no other,
otherness, or anything unreal. They see all things as One Entity, without distinction or difference. Such
is the state of the enraptured, "attracted ones" [majdhûb] and some of the "rational madmen" [`uqalâ' al-
majânîn].218 People like this rise up empty of any thought of religious prescriptions, command and
prohibition, lawful and unlawful, or any of the rulings of the Sharia. For these things are all connected
to the perfection of intellect and the actuality of discerning through intellect between good and evil,
profit and loss, harm and benefit, withholding and bestowing, exalting and abasing, gentleness and
severity, acceptance and rejection, pleasure and pain. Once this discerning intellect disappears and is
forgotten and neglected, all the prescriptions of the Sharia and the distinctions between lawful and
unlawful are abolished.
When such people come back from the World of Oneness to the world of engendered existence
and become aware of themselves so that their discerning intellects return, then all the religious
prescriptions return. They will be held responsible for all the rulings of the Sharia, since they are
present with engendered existence and its levels. Hence the properties of engendered existence apply to
them.
Some people make use of the property of the World of Oneness when they are once again
present with engendered existence and aware of their own engendered existence and their intellects.
They apply this property to good and evil, pain and pleasure, and so on. They say, "In the World of
Oneness I saw all things as a single thing. Hence for me there is no more command and prohibition,
lawful and unlawful, or distinction among things. For me everything is one, with no difference between
lawful and unlawful." Such people are heretics [zindîq] and libertines [mubâhî], and their blood can be
shed.
Note that here we have a great authority in the sapiential tradition, a great Sufi, telling us that
people who blatantly transgress the Sharia can rightly be killed. "Bold expansiveness" has its place--in
the inmost depths of the spirit, where the seeker is one with God. It must stay in its place. On the outer
level, the domain of majesty and awe, the Sharia's authority stands supreme. Farghânî continues:

218 "Attraction" (jadhba) is God's attracting power, normally balanced with "wayfaring" (sulûk), the
spiritual traveler's own efforts. If attraction completely overcomes wayfaring, the result is the loss of
conscious control of self (cf. SPK 266-67). Such "attracted ones" have the outward appearance of
madmen, but are respected and even venerated by the pious.
 139

These considerations explain the words of the poet. The veil of engendered existence separates
creation from the World of Oneness and the witnessing there of the unity of all things, religions, and
creeds. The poet is aware of that veil. He is present with and perceives engendered existence and its
properties. These properties are the loci of manifestation for all the requirements of the divine names.
He says: I must observe the properties of the engendered loci of manifestation. In other words, I must
delimit myself by the rulings of the Sharia, affirm what it affirms, and negate what it negates. If not for
all this, I would speak of the realness of all things and all religions and their unity, without any
admixture of unreality whatsoever. I would say that there is no calling to account and no responsibility
for anything that issues from a human being. This would be based upon my witnessing of the world and
property of Oneness. However, the necessity of observing the mentioned rulings keeps me quiet. It
prevents me from saying this and obligates me to say the opposite, in keeping with the requirements of
the world of engendered existence and wisdom and their levels.
Ibn al-Fârid cannot simply declare that all things are one, since this would be to negate the
requirements of the Manyness of Knowledge. However, he also cannot ignore his vision of the Oneness
of Being. Since he embraces both perfections, he must express both truths. Hence he declares that the
reality of the situation combines the properties of both sides. Both Oneness and Manyness must be
affirmed. Farghânî continues speaking for Ibn al-Fârid:
The fact that I bring together the two qualities of oneness and manyness along with their
properties leads me to see that there is no unqualified vanity [`abath mutlaq] or unmixed unreality in
existence. Nor is there any within the creation of those creatures who dwell in unbelief, misguidance,
and error. None of this is empty of a hidden realness. The Wise Existence-giver brings together the
qualities of guidance and misguidance, compassion and severity, exalting and abasing, good-pleasure
and wrath. When He brings anything into existence, He does so to manifest the perfections connected to
the requirements of His Most Beautiful Names and Exalted Attributes. Not all existent things accord in
their existence and acts with the requirements of the properties of guidance and right conduct. However,
they do accord with what is required by the names Intensely Severe, Misguider, Abaser, and so on. . . .
Hence there is no vanity,
and the creatures were not created aimlessly,
Even if their actions
do not follow the proper way.
The poet means to say as follows: I have been prevented from speaking about the realness of all
things and of everything that appears in existence only because it is incumbent upon me to observe and
take into account the properties of the engendered loci of manifestation. Otherwise, I would have
spoken about that realness. For there is no vanity--in the sense of an unmixed vanity without any
realness--to be found or established in anything that appears in existence. The creatures were not
brought into existence for sheer unreality. On the contrary, everything that becomes manifest in
existence must have a hidden realness within it. But no one is apprised of this except God and those
people whom He allows to witness the Oneness and Realness of Being and the fact that it permeates all
existent things.
Even if the acts of people do not become manifest in proper forms for those who look upon these
acts from the perspective of the requirements of the name Guide, this lack of correct manifestation does
not detract from the fact that there is a hidden realness established within them. The realness that is the
concomitant of existence without qualification permeates all the divine names and their requirements.
Every divine name--such as Guide and Misguider, Compassionate and Intensely Severe--is nothing but
the Real Being Itself. However, here a quality is ascribed to the Divine Presence, such as guidance and
misguidance, mercy and severity, exalting and abasing. For just as God ascribes guidance to that
 140

Presence through His words, "God guides whomsoever He will to a straight path" [2:213], so also He
ascribes misguidance to It through His words, "God misguides the wrongdoers" [14:27]. All ontological
aid that reaches those who are guided in their guidance comes only from the presence of the name Guide
and by means of this name. And all aid that reaches the misguided in their misguidance comes only
from the presence of the Misguider and by means of this name. The purpose of all this is to make
manifest the perfection that pertains to each of these two names. Hence no existent thing is empty of
realness. However, in those who are guided the realness is manifest, while in those who are misguided
it is hidden and concealed.
Their affairs run ahead
according to the branding of the names.
In other words: The Shariite and proper affairs, acts, words, and character traits of the guided
flow on and become manifest from them in accordance with the requirement of the name Guide. The
mark of this name's requirement is the manifestation of the effects of realness that are established within
them through the ruling of the Sharia.
The improper and deviant affairs, acts, words, and character traits of the misguided flow on and
become manifest from them in accordance with the requirement of the name Misguider. The mark of its
requirement is the concealment of realness within them. Realness is overcome by their property of
caprice and nature.
The wisdom that describes the Essence
puts its property into effect.
This wisdom describes the Essence as bringing together the two handfuls in Himself. These are
the right handful, which pertains to felicity, and the left handful, which pertains to wretchedness. This
wisdom puts its property into effect by engendering the two handfuls. It singles out each group for a
single handful.
He turns them about in the two handfuls--
"No concern . . . , no concern . . . ,"
The requirement of the configuration of this world is that the properties of the two handfuls
should be mixed and blended with each other. Hence, one of its requirements is that the people of the
two handfuls are turned about with this configuration. Sometimes He gives bliss to the people of the
handful of wretchedness. He makes them happy through the felicity of comfort, ease, and a carefree
livelihood. He chastises and afflicts the people of the felicitous handful with deprivation, trouble, and a
constrained livelihood. Sometimes He does the opposite. Sometimes He gives bliss and happiness to
both, sometimes he afflicts and brings hardship for both. Hence He turns them about in this abode in the
two handfuls....
One handful is given bliss,
the other wretchedness.
One of these two handfuls is the handful of bliss and felicity, the other the handful of
chastisement and wretchedness. Each of them has formal and supra-sensory forms and loci of
manifestation entified within the two planes, this world and the next world.
The World of the Kingdom [mulk] is the world of composition and elemental nature. It is the
locus of manifestation for the left handful.
The World of the Dominion [malakût] is the world of the soul and spirit and the world that
renders praise with the tongue of action by manifesting the properties of activity, controlling power, and
effectivity within the World of the Kingdom. It is the locus of manifestation for the right handful.
The high things and the low things, which are called the heavens and the earths, are the loci of
manifestation for the two handfuls, by reason of His words, "And the earth is His handful." Their acting
 141

as loci of manifestation was singled out for the Day of Resurrection because on that day it will be
completely manifest. For God says, "Surely the abode of the next world--that is life" [29:64].
Then faith and unbelief act as loci of manifestation for the two handfuls on the supra-sensory
level.
Everything we have said is brought together in God's words, "All that is in the heavens and all
that is in the earth glorifies God. His is the kingdom and His is the praise, and He is powerful over
everything. It is He who created you. One of you is an unbeliever and one of you a person of faith.
And God sees the things that you do" [64:1-2]. The perfect and perfected shaykh, Muhyî al-Dîn ibn al-
`Arabî says, "This is the glorification of the two handfuls."219 His words are an eloquent and perfect
allusion to what we have said.220

219 Cf. chapter 320 of the Futûhât, which is dedicated to "The true knowledge of the waystation of the
glorification by the two handfuls" (Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 75.5)
220 Farghânî, Muntahâ al-madârik II 214-19.
142
 143

3 Cosmology
4. Heaven and Earth

In God, duality is prefigured by the Essence and the Divinity and can be seen manifesting
itself in the complementary divine names. But the first duality that may properly be called
"ontological" appears in the distinction between God and everything other than God. Only then
can we discuss two different realities as separately existent, even if, in the last analysis, the
existence of the second is seen to be shadow-like and ephemeral, or even metaphorical, since it is
utterly beholden to the existence of the first. This is the distinction made in Islamic philosophy
between the Necessary Being, or that which cannot not be, and the possible thing, or that which
may or may not exist, depending upon circumstances determined by the Necessary Being.
An ontological distinction can be drawn between God and the cosmos. In the same way
ontological distinctions can be drawn among the things present within the cosmos, each of which
manifests distinct and different qualities of the Real. In short, the cosmos is the locus of real
duality and real multiplicity. There is no question of merely positing duality or seeing it "in
principle." Rather, a great variety of pairings and relationships actually exist, and these set up
dualities as real as the things themselves. The Koran itself makes the primacy of two over the
other numbers explicit in such verses as, "And of everything We created a pair" (51:49).
Rashîd al-Dîn Maybudî, in explaining the literal sense of this verse, tells us that by "pair"
(zawjân) is meant male and female among living things and the diverse kinds among inanimate
things, for example, heaven and earth, sun and moon, night and day, land and sea, rough ground
and smooth ground, winter and summer, light and darkness, faith and unbelief, felicity and
wretchedness, sweet and bitter.221 In bringing out the deeper sense of the verse, Maybudî sees
these dual "signs" in all things as indications of God's incomparability: God created things in
pairs to distinguish between His own Unity and the manyness of the others. Creation is
impossible without duality, because God alone is One.
Maybudî then points to the connection between the Koran's mention of the "pairs" and
the conclusion that the Koran draws in the next verse: "So flee unto God." If we were
concerned with cosmology as a primitive form of science, this verse would appear irrelevant to
the discussion, since it tells us nothing about the nature of the universe. But Maybudî typifies
the sapiential approach to cosmological thinking by emphasizing the intimate link between two
fundamental dimensions of the Tao of Islam: the phenomena of the natural world and the moral
and spiritual imperatives of human life. Since the cosmos depends totally upon God for its
existence and reality, the human response must be to acknowledge the actual situation by giving
up self-centeredness and reliance upon created things.
Whenever God creates a temporally engendered thing, He creates it as a pair, as two
things linked to each other or opposite each other, for example, male and female, day and night,
light and darkness, heaven and earth, land and sea, sun and moon, jinn and mankind, obedience
and disobedience, felicity and wretchedness, guidance and misguidance, mightiness and
lowliness, power and incapacity, strength and weakness, knowledge and ignorance, life and
death. He created the attributes of the creatures in this manner--linked with each other or
opposite each other--so that they would not be similar to the attributes of the Creator and so that
His Unity and Singularity might become manifest to the creatures: His mightiness is without

221Chapter 4. Heaven and Earth Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr IX 322.

 144

lowliness, His power without incapacity, His strength without weakness, His knowledge without
ignorance, His life without death, His joy without sorrow, His subsistence without annihilation.
God is One and Unique: One in Essence and Attributes, Unique in worthiness. He is
incomparable with everyone and separate from everything. "Nothing is like Him" [42:11]. No
one is like Him and He has no similar or compeer. Similarity derives from associates, and God
has no associate. He is without likeness and need. The door of His withholding is closed and the
door of His generosity open. He forgives sins and caresses the faulty. He makes His love
apparent by caressing servants. He loves His servants, though He has no needs. His love acts
between Himself and the servant without association. Hence it is appropriate for the servant, no
matter what his state--whether wounded by the arrow of affliction or immersed in gentleness and
bestowal--to seize hold of His generosity and seek refuge in Him, fleeing to Him from the
creatures, just as He Himself has commanded: "So flee unto God!"
Flight is one of the stations of the spiritual travelers, one of the waystations of love.
When someone truly reaches this station, his mark is that he sees his whole self as a debt to be
paid, all his words as complaint, all his works as sin. He loses hope in his own activity and finds
fault in his own sincerity. If good fortune should come his way, he sees it as God's bounty and a
decree of eternity without beginning, not as a result of his own effort and activity.222

The Creation of the Cosmos

If all things are created in pairs, "everything other than God" should also be a pair, that is,
built up from two divergent but complementary realities. Several sets of pairs can be suggested
as comprising all things, as we saw on page 000, where the Ikhwân al-Safâ' were quoted as
mentioning some of the terms employed to refer to the roots of all created things: form and
matter, light and darkness, affirmation and negation, and so forth. If we look at the Koran,
probably no set of terms is employed in a more inclusive sense than the unseen (ghayb) and the
visible (shahâda), which are paired ten times, always in the divine name, "the Knower of the
unseen and the visible." Most authors identify these with the two fundamental worlds of the
cosmos. These are the spiritual and the corporeal worlds, also called the Dominion (malakût)
and the Kingdom (mulk), or the Command (amr) and the Creation (khalq). This is how `Abd al-
Razzâq Kâshânî explains the meaning of the above Koranic name:
The Knower of the unseen, that is, the realities of the World of the Spirits, which are His
Dominion, and the visible [6:74], that is, the form of the World of the Bodies, which are His
Kingdom.223
The most commonly mentioned pair in the Koran that can be interpreted as referring to
the total cosmos is heaven and earth. A number of verses suggest that everything in the universe
is encompassed by these two. The least that can be said is that heaven and earth are mentioned
as two fundamental points of reference in this world. For example:
It is He who in heaven is God and in earth is God. (43:84)
From God nothing whatever is hidden in heaven and earth. (3:5, 14:38)
Not so much as the weight of an ant in earth or heaven escapes from thy Lord. (10:61)
My Lord knows what is said in heaven and earth. (21:4)

222 Ibid. 325-26.

223 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 381. On dominion and kingdom, cf. I 382.
 145

Didst thou not know that God knows all that is in heaven and earth? Surely that is in a
Book. (22:70)
And not a thing is there hidden in heaven and earth but it is in a Manifest Book. (27:75)
You are not able to frustrate Him either in the earth or in heaven. (29:22)
The word heaven (samâ') is employed in the Koran 120 times in the singular and 190
times in the plural, and the word earth (ard) is used 460 times.224 The expression "heaven and
earth" or "heavens and earth" occurs well over 200 times. The constant juxtaposition of the two
terms--not to mention their conceptual interrelationship--makes it practically impossible to
mention one without bringing the other to mind.
It should be noted that the basic meaning of the word samâ' (heaven) is "the higher, or
upper, or highest, or uppermost, part of anything." It is also used to mean sky, heaven, clouds,
rain, and bounty. In contrast, the verbal root of the word ard (earth) means to thrive and
produce; to become fruitful; to be soft when tread upon and pleasant when sat upon; to be lowly,
submissive, naturally disposed to do good. The ard is "that whereon are mankind," the ground,
the floor; anything that is low. In the following verse, the Koran seems to be expressing simply
the literal sense of the two terms through analogy: "Your Lord, who . . . assigned to you earth for
a bedding, and heaven for a building" (2:22).
When mentioning heaven (or the heavens) and earth, the Koran often adds the expression
"everything between the two" (mâ baynahumâ), which can be considered as a Koranic synonym
for the "Ten Thousand Things" of the Chinese tradition. "God is He that created the heavens and
the earth and everything between the two in six days" (32:4, 25:59).225
There may be some created things that do not fit into the three categories of heaven,
earth, and everything between the two, though this would depend upon how heaven and earth are
defined. Some authors use the two terms as equivalent to unseen and visible, while others make
heaven and earth the high and low points in the visible universe. When Ibn al-`Arabî writes,
"There is nothing in compound engendered existence except a heaven and an earth,"226 he
excludes from heaven the "simple" things, among which are the four elements and the angels,
who dwell in the spiritual or invisible realm. However, by employing the terms indefinitely, he
is leaving room for "the heaven and the earth" to be a broader expression. Moreover, the use of
the term "heaven" in the Koran does not exclude a spiritual dimension, as Ibn al-`Arabî is fully
aware. In another context he identifies "heaven" with everything high and "earth" with
everything low, thereby considering the two terms as embracing all created things:
God said that He "did not create the heavens," that is, every high world, "and the earth",
that is, every low world, "and everything" of the cosmos "between the two except through the
Real" [30:8].227
Nasafî understands the pair heaven and earth as denoting a specific type of relationship,
that of giving or "effusing" (fayd) and receiving or "accepting effusion" (istifâda). In his view,

224 Always in the singular, though there is some Koranic basis for speaking of several "earths,"
as many cosmologists do. Koran 65:12 reads, "God is He who created seven heavens, and of the
earth their like."
225 See also 15:85, 21:16, 26:24, 30:8, 38:27, 44:38, 46:3, etc., some of which are quoted
below.
226 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 350.4.
227 Ibid. 285.10.
 146

the terms can refer to any giver and receiver, while "everything between the two" refers to the
result of the relationship. Understood in this sense, heaven and earth encompass everything in
engendered existence, including the spiritual creatures:
Heaven is something that is high and effuses upon a level below it. This effusing may
come from the world of bodily things or from the world of spirits. Earth is something that is
relatively low and accepts effusion from a level above it. This receiver of effusion may belong
to the world of corporeal things or to the world of spirits. Hence a single thing may be both earth
and heaven. . . . Among bodily things there may be both heaven and earth, and among spirits
there may be both heaven and earth. . . .
Now you have come to know that the effuser, whatever kind it may be, is heaven, and the
receiver of effusion, whatever kind it may be, is earth. Hence it has been established for you that
the number of heavens and earths cannot be known to anyone. "He created seven heavens"
[65:12] does not prove that there are none but these seven.
Although heaven is the effuser and earth the receiver of effusion, the level of the earth is
prior to the level of heaven. Hence Eve is prior to Adam. However, there was never any time
when there was no earth and no heaven, since there is always an earth and a heaven. But the
level of earth is prior to the level of heaven. . . .
No existent thing is outside these three: Either effuser, or receiver of effusion, or that
which appears from the two.228
Nasafî's insistence that the level of earth is prior to that of heaven seems to be rooted in
the same logic that makes Ibn al-`Arabî say that the "Lord" cannot be a lord without a "vassal,"
and the "God" depends upon the existence of the "divine thrall." Moreover, the Koranic creation
myth makes clear that God first turned His attention toward the earth. After putting it in order,
He differentiated the heavens:
It is He who created for you all that is in the earth, then He lifted Himself to heaven and
leveled them seven heavens. (2:29)
What, do you disbelieve in Him who created the earth in two days? . . . And He ordained
therein its provisions in four days, equal to those who ask. Then He lifted Himself to heaven
when it was smoke, and said to it and to the earth, "Come willingly, or unwillingly." . . . So He
determined them as seven heavens in two days. (41:9-12)
The Koran employs the word heaven (or sky) as it is commonly used in creation myths
and in Far Eastern thought, never in the sense of "paradise" or what the Koran calls the "Garden"
(janna). Sufi cosmologists usually place paradise outside the seven heavens altogether, since the
Prophet visited it during his mi`râj after having passed through them. According to Ibn al-
`Arabî, it is located between the eighth and the ninth heavens, that is, the Footstool and the
Throne.229
Heaven and earth designate a vertical and static dimension of the cosmos. As such they
are contrasted with the pair "this world" (al-dunyâ) and the "next world" (al-âkhira), which
designate a horizontal and dynamic relationship between our present situation in this life and our
future situation after death. The static relationship between heaven and earth will remain in force

228 Nasafî, Kashf al-haqâ'iq 224-25.

229 Cf. Ibn al-`Arabî's diagram of God's Footstool in Futûhât III 423, where the seven Gardens
embrace the sphere of the fixed stars and the other heavens (the diagram is put in context of Ibn
al-`Arabî's cosmology in Chittick, "Ibn `Arabî and his School" 78).
 147

until the Last Day, but then it will subsist in transmuted form. "On the day the earth shall be
changed to other than the earth, and the heavens, and they sally forth unto God, the One, the
Intensely Severe" (14:48).
The Koran's description of God's creation of heaven and earth recalls a primordial act that
brings duality into existence and establishes the "pairs" as the fundamental components of
existence. The Koran states explicitly that the heavens and the earth existed together in an
undifferentiated state before creation.
Have not the unbelievers beheld that the heavens and the earth were a mass all sewn up,
and then We unstitched them, and out of water fashioned every living thing? (21:30)
In six passages the Koran attributes to God the name, "fâtir of the heavens and the earth."
Translators usually render this term as "Originator" or "Creator," but the basic meaning of the
root is to cleave, split, or rend. Hence the expression calls to mind the standard mythic theme of
the separation of heaven and earth in order for a cosmos to come into existence. Other passages
explain that it is only God's power that keeps heaven and earth apart.
And heaven--He raised it up [raf`], and set the Balance. . . . And earth--He set it down
[wad`] for all beings, therein fruits. . . . (55:7-11)
He holds back heaven lest it should fall upon the earth, save by His leave. (22:65)
What, do they not consider how the camel was created, how heaven was raised up, how
the mountains were hoisted, how the earth was spread flat [sath]? (88:18-20)
And of His signs is that the heaven and earth stand firm by His command. (30:25)
A microcosmic equivalent of the separation of the heavens and the earth is the creation of
Adam and Eve from a single soul. The two souls that derive from the primordial single soul then
become the first human "pair" (zawjân). "Spouse" (zawj) in the following means literally one of
the two members of a pair.
It is He who created you from one soul and made from it its spouse that he might rest in
her. (7:189)
He created you of a single soul, then from it He appointed its spouse. (39:6)230
Typically, the Koran mentions the creation of the heavens and earth and then refers to
other things that help fill up the space in between.
Praise belongs to God, who created the heavens and the earth and appointed the shadows
and the light. (6:1)

230 See also 4:1, 6:98. The grammatical gender of the words in some of these passages sets up
an interesting relationship: "Soul" is grammatically feminine, while "spouse" is masculine. In
verse 7:189, "It is He who created you from one soul and made from it its spouse (zawj) that he
might rest in her," the context shows clearly and the commentators agree that Adam is referred to
as the "single soul." But the pronoun referring to this soul is feminine. Then the pronouns
quickly switch, so that Adam becomes masculine and the "spouse" feminine. If we were to
observe the grammatical gender, we could translate the verse as follows: "It is He who created
you from one soul [i.e., Adam] and made from her [the soul] her spouse [i.e., Eve] that he
[Adam] might rest in her [Eve]." The verse in any case refers to the manner in which yin arises
from Adam, the primordial androgyne containing both male and female. The play of the
pronouns might be read, in Sufi style, as a divine "allusion" (ishâra) to the presence of yin in
yang and yang in yin.
 148

Surely your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six days. Then He sat
Himself upon the Throne. He makes the night cover the day, which it pursues urgently. And
[He created] the sun, the moon, and the stars. (7:54)
He created the earth and the high heavens; the All-compassionate sat Himself upon the
Throne. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and
all that is beneath the soil. (20:4-6)

The Tao of Heaven and Earth

In the Muslim view, there is nothing neutral or indifferent about heaven and earth.
Creation has a purpose, and this purpose is intimately connected with the role of human beings.
A Muslim cannot be Muslim and at the same time look "objectively" and "scientifically" at the
cosmos, since that would imply detachment and disinterest, as if the universe were mute, without
any message of moral and spiritual significance. To say that the cosmos reveals God's signs is to
say that human beings must consider it in terms of the higher principles from which it derives.
The Tao of heaven and earth must impinge upon the Tao of human conduct on both the
individual and social levels. These two Taos are in truth one and the same Tao. There is no
fundamental difference between the laws that govern nature and the laws that govern the social
and moral orders.
One of the Koranic terms that is a good candidate for translating the word Tao into
Arabic is haqq, which means true, right, real, proper, correct (and the corresponding nominal
forms). The Koran employs the word about 350 times, repeatedly stating that human beings
must conform to it. A thorough explication of the range of its Koranic meanings would demand
a lengthy monograph. Here I will discuss a few of the senses of the term that are immediately
relevant to the present discussion.
The only reality that deserves the name haqq in every sense is God. The opposite of haqq
is bâtil (unreality or falsehood or vanity). In respect of God's incomparability, everything other
than God--the whole cosmos--is false and unreal, but in respect of His similarity, all things
reflect haqq to some degree. The most direct reflections of haqq are the prophets and the
scriptures. Hence they also deserve the name haqq. In the following, I translate haqq as "real" in
order to maintain consistency with its usage in a wide variety of contexts throughout this book,
even though "truth" would often be a better translation.
That is because God is the Real, and brings the dead to life, and is powerful over
everything. (22:6)
That is because God is the Real, and what they call upon apart from Him is unreal.
(22:62, 31:30)
That then is God, your Lord, the Real. What is there after the Real save going astray?
(10:32)
The Real has come and the unreal has vanished away. Surely the unreal is ever certain to
vanish. (17:81)
Say: "Is there any of your associates who guides to the Real?" Say: "God--He guides to
the Real. Which is worthier to be followed: He who guides to the Real, or he who guides not,
unless he is guided?" . . . Most of them follow only surmise, and surmise avails naught against
the Real. (10:35-36)
God sent forth the prophets . . . , and He sent down with them the Book with the Real,
that it might judge between the people concerning their differences. (2:213)
 149

What We have revealed to thee of the Book is the Real, confirming what was before it.
(35:31)
These are the signs of the Book. And that which has been sent down to thee from thy
Lord is the Real, but most people have no faith. (13:1)
With the Real We have sent [the Koran] down, and with the Real it has come down.
(17:105-6)
O people, the Real has come to you from your Lord. Whosoever is guided is guided only
to his own gain, and whosoever goes astray, it is only to his own loss. (10:108)
What, is he who knows that what is sent down to thee from thy Lord is the Real, like him
who is blind? Only those who have minds remember. (13:19)
And a party had grieved, thinking of God thoughts that were not the Real, such as the
pagans thought. . . . (3:154)
O People of the Book, go not beyond the bounds in your religion, other than the Real, and
follow not the caprices of a people who went astray before. . . . (5:77)
The Real brought by the prophets is the norm for human conduct in the present world. So
also, it will be the norm through which human conduct will be weighed on the Day of
Resurrection.
Of those We created are a nation who guide by the Real, and by it act with justice.
(7:181)
Slay no soul that God has forbidden, except by the Real [i.e., by right]. (6:151, 17:33,
25:68)
On that day God will give them in full their repayment in the Real, and they shall know
that God is the manifest Real. (24:25)
The weighing on that day is the Real. (7:8)
In short, the Koran employs the word haqq to refer to the absolute reality that is God, the
reflection of this reality that is revelation, the correct mode of activity that is the norm for human
beings, and the standard by which human activity will be judged. It also employs the word haqq
in reference to the natural, created world. It insists that God's signs (or "verses") become
manifest both in revelation and in the natural phenomena of the cosmos. Just as the prophets
came with the Real, so also the universe was created with the Real.
We created the heavens and the earth and everything between the two only with the Real.
(15:85)
Have you not seen that God created the heavens and the earth with the Real? (14:32)
It is He who created the heavens and the earth with the Real. And the day He says, "Be!"
and it is, His saying is the Real. (6:73)
God created the heavens and the earth with the Real; surely in that is a sign for those who
have faith. (29:44)
It is He who made the sun a radiance, and the moon a light, and determined it by stations,
that you may know the number of the years and the reckoning. God created that not save with
the Real, differentiating the signs for a people who know. (10:5)
We created not the heavens and earth, and everything between the two, in play. We
created them only with the Real. (44:38-39)
We have not created heaven and earth and everything between the two as vanity. (38:27)
Had the Real followed their caprices, the heavens and the earth and everything within
them would have been corrupted. (23:71)
 150

The interrelationship of these meanings of the word Real are summed up nicely by Ibn al-
`Arabî. Having quoted a Koranic verse about creation "through the Real," he writes,
The Real through which the cosmos was created is the Real after which we model our
conduct [ta'addub]. For it is the cause of the existence of the entities within the cosmos.
Through it God will judge among His servants on the Day of Resurrection. According to it He
sent down the revealed laws. Hence God said to His messenger David, "O David, We have
appointed thee a vicegerent in the earth, so rule among people with the Real and follow not
caprice" [38:26]. Although caprice is created with the Real, it is one of the things between
heaven and earth, or it is the earth itself. Hence the station of right conduct [adab] is acting
according to the Real and stopping with the Real.231
Human caprice or self-will (hawâ)--an aberrant wind (hawâ') that does not conform to the
Real but blows people's minds this way and that--upsets the balance of heaven and earth.
Following caprice instead of following God's guidance is the fundamental shortcoming of human
beings.
Follow not caprice, lest you swerve. (4:135)
Follow not their caprices, leaving the Real that has come to thee. (5:48)
If thou followest their caprices, after the knowledge that has come to thee, then thou wilt
surely be among the wrongdoers. (2:145)
Have you seen him who has taken his caprice to be his god? (25:43)
Judge among people with the Real, and follow not caprice, lest it lead thee astray from
the path of God. (38:26)
Who is further astray than he who follows his caprice rather than guidance from God?
(28:50)
Obey not him whom We have made forgetful of Our remembrance [dhikr], so that he
follows his own caprice, and his affair has become all excess. But say: "The Real is from your
Lord. Let whosoever will have faith, and let whosoever will disbelieve." (18:28-29)
The path of correct human conduct coincides with the Real and grows up out of the very
nature of existence. Human beings were created to serve God and to act as vicegerents over His
kingdom. Hence they accepted the Trust that was refused by the other creatures.
I created jinn and mankind only to serve Me. (51:56)
We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to
carry it and were afraid of it. And the human being carried it. (33:72)
It is because of the trust and the vicegerency that human beings are given power over
other creatures.
Have you not seen that God has subjected to you whatsoever is in the heavens and the
earth? (31:20)
And He subjected to you the sun and the moon, constant upon their courses, and He
subjected to you the night and the day, and gave you of all you asked Him. (14:33)
Hast thou not seen that God has subjected to you all that is in the earth, and the ships to
run upon the sea at His commandment? (22:65)
He has subjected to you what is in the heavens and what is in the earth, all together, from
Him. Surely in that are signs for a people who reflect. (45:13)

231 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 285.12.

 151

Human beings stand apart from heaven, earth, and the Ten Thousand Things because of
their peculiar function in the cosmos. All other things follow the Real by their very natures, but
humans have been given the freedom to accept or to reject the Real. This freedom makes them
responsible for their choices. If they fail to live up to the Trust, they will suffer the consequences
simply by the law of cause and effect. By rejecting the Tao, the normative equilibrium of the
cosmos, they put themselves out of kilter with heaven and earth. What goes up must come
down, and what deviates from the Real must be brought back to it. When deviation produces a
distorted nature, the return to equilibrium will be experienced by the deviant as distortion and
agony. The cosmos is the testing ground wherein human beings prove their own substances.
It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days--and His Throne was upon the
water--that He might try you, which one of you is fairer in works. (11:7)

Heaven and Earth as Correlative Terms

The Real manifests itself in the heavens and the earth, appearing as the signs that human
beings should ponder. The signs, whether prophetic or natural, point the way to conformity with
the Real. The way in which heaven and earth--the most fundamental of created pairs--interrelate
illustrates the laws that govern relationships in all domains.
The most salient feature of the heavens and the earth is the fact that they and everything
within them are the property and kingdom of God, who exercises absolute control over them.
The Koran makes this point in scores of verses. For example, the passage "And to God [or "to
Him"] belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth" occurs fourteen times, sometimes
along with the words, "and everything between the two" (5:17) or "everything within them"
(5:120). Since all belong to God, all are His servants.
None is there in the heavens and the earth but it comes to the All-merciful as a servant.
He has indeed counted them, and He has numbered them exactly. (19:93)
To God prostrate themselves all who are in the heavens, and every creature crawling on
the earth. (16:49)
To God prostrate themselves all who are in the heavens and the earth, willingly or
unwillingly. (13:15)
The seven heavens and the earth, and everyone within them, glorify Him. There is
nothing that does not glorify Him in praise, but you do not understand their glorification. (17:44)
The Ikhwân al-Safâ' make this same point employing more philosophical language:
The whole cosmos, with its high spheres, exalted heavens, and everything within it, such
as spiritual lights, natural, moving souls, faculties coursing through the corporeal pillars, and all
the existent things and creatures; everything included in the heavens and the earth, from the
highest of the high to the lowest of the low--all of it is a single body standing ready to receive the
universal effusion from its God.232
`Abd al-Razzâq Kâshânî presents the same idea within the context of Ibn al-`Arabî's
doctrine of the Oneness of Being. He is commenting on the Koranic verse, "To Him belongs all
that is in the heavens and the earth. All are obedient to Him" (2:117). In this verse, Kâshânî
reads heavens and earth as referring to everything in existence, the high worlds and the low.
To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. In other words, to Him belong
the World of the Spirits and the World of the Bodies, which are the nonmanifest world and the

232 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Jâmi`at al-jâmi`a 96.

 152

manifest world. . . . All are obedient to Him, existent through His Being, acting through His act,
nonexistent in their own essences. This is the utmost limit of obeying Him and undertaking His
right, since He is Nondelimited Being, so nothing less than He exists. The entified existences are
His attributes and names.233
Kâshânî makes a similar point in commenting on the verse, "Praise belongs to God who
created the heavens and the earth and appointed the darknesses and the light" (6:1). Note how he
describes heaven and earth as manifesting the complementary divine attributes encompassed by
the terms majesty and beauty.
Praise belongs to God who created the heavens and the earth as the manifestation of the
perfections and attributes of beauty and majesty within the loci of manifestation, which are all
the differentiated existent things. This is the perfection of all. Nondelimited praise belongs
specifically to the Divine Essence, which comprehends all Its attributes and names in respect of
origination. He brought into existence the heavens, the World of the Spirits, and the earth, the
World of the Body. He configured within the World of the Body the darknesses of its levels,
which are veils dark in their essence, and within the World of Spirits the light of knowledge and
perception.234
On the one hand the heavens and earth are totally subordinate to God. God is yang, and
the heavens and earth are yin. On the other hand the relationship between God and cosmos is
repeated in the relationship between heaven and earth. Just as the cosmos is submitted to God,
so also the earth is submitted to heaven. When the Koran employs the term heavens in the
plural, it usually pairs it with the term earth and has in view the primary relationship between
God and the cosmos. For example, "Do you not know that God's is the kingdom of the heavens
and the earth?" (2:107). But when the Koran uses the term heaven in the singular, it frequently
has in view the delineation of a relationship between the higher and lower domains of the cosmos
as a reflection of the God/cosmos relationship. The relative qualities attributed to heaven and
earth in these passages are of particular interest here, since they establish many of the terms of
the Koranic yang/yin.
The heaven is the source for what God sends down to the earth and to human beings, for
example, water and provisions. Qualitatively speaking, the heaven is high, active, and creative,
while the earth is low, receptive, and fruitful.
And We sent down out of heaven water blessed, and caused to grow thereby gardens and
grains of harvest and tall palm trees laden with clusters of dates, a provision for the servants, and
thereby We brought to life a land that was dead. (50:9-11)
. . . the water that God sends down from heaven, therewith giving life to the earth after it
is dead. (2:164; cf. 25:48, 29:63, 30:24)
. . . the provision God sends down from heaven, and therewith brings the earth to life
after it was dead. (45:5)
Hast thou not seen how God has sent down out of heaven water, and in the morning the
earth becomes green? (22:63)
It is He who sent down out of heaven water, and thereby We have brought forth the shoot
of every plant. (6:99)

233 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 80-81.

234 Ibid. 356.
 153

Hast thou not seen how God sends down out of heaven water, and therewith We bring
forth fruits of diverse hues? (35:27)
It is God who . . . sent down out of heaven water wherewith He brought forth fruits to be
your provision. (14:32)
In the earth are signs for those having sure faith; and in your selves. What, do you not
see? And in heaven are your provision and that which you are promised. So, by the Lord of
heaven and earth, it is as surely Real as that you have speech. (51:20-23)
He who . . . sent down for you out of heaven water; and We caused to grow therewith
gardens full of loveliness whose trees you could never grow. (27:60)
It is He who sends down to you out of heaven water of which you drink . . . and thereby
He brings forth for you crops, and olives, and palms, and vines, and all manner of fruit. (16:10)
It is He who shows you His signs and sends down to you out of heaven provision.
(40:13)
As the storehouse of provision, heaven is the source for everything that appears on earth.
God's signs come down from heaven, whether as revelations or natural phenomena. Not only do
blessings and bounty descend, but also wrath and punishment. The angels come down out of
heaven, but only with the Real, only in conformity with the Tao.
If We will, We shall send down on them out of heaven a sign, so their necks will stay
humbled to it. (26:4)
We sent down upon the wrongdoers punishment out of heaven for their ungodliness.
(2:59)
We sent down upon them punishment out of heaven for their wrongdoing. (7:162)
Had there been in the earth angels walking at peace, We would have sent down upon
them out of heaven an angel as Messenger. (17:95)
We send not down the angels, save with the Real. (15:8)
Since God creates the heavens and the earth with the Real, everything that comes down
from heaven comes down in a measure determined by the Real and known by God. Many
Muslim theologians employ the word measure (qadar) in the sense of destiny or predestination,
but the Koran uses the term in a broader sense. It refers both to the relationship between God
and the cosmos, where everything is created in measure, and to the relationship between the two
dimensions of the macrocosmic reflection of that relationship, that is, heaven and earth.
Naught is there, but its treasuries are with Us, and We send it not down but in a known
measure. And We loose the winds fertilizing, and We send down out of heaven water, and We
give you to drink, and you are not its treasurers. It is We who give life, and make to die. (15:21-
22)
He who appointed the earth to be a cradle for you, . . . and who sent down out of heaven
water in measure. And We brought to life thereby a land that was dead; even so you shall be
brought forth. (43:11)
And We sent down out of heaven water in measure and lodged it in the earth. (23:18)
Just as heaven and earth are one of the fundamental "pairs" created by God, so also
everything created within the heavens and the earth duplicates this dual relationship.
And heaven--We built it with hands, and We extend it wide. And the earth--We spread it
forth. O excellent Smoothers! And of everything We have created a pair, that perhaps you may
remember. (51:47-49)
He . . . sent down water out of heaven, and therewith We have brought forth pairs of
various growing things. (20:53)
 154

Heaven, in short, is associated with highness, light, ascent, activity, blessing, provision,
origination. Earth is associated with lowness, darkness, descent, reception, fruitfulness,
actualization. The qualities associated with the two sides may be found in many sets of pairs,
beginning with the complementary divine names. Thus Rûmî connects heaven and earth with a
pair of divine names, Uplifter (râfi`) and Downletter (khâfid), and hence also with all the shifting
and changing qualities of the world. Through the interaction of these two names, God keeps the
cosmos separated into pairs and preserves it from dissolving back into the undifferentiation from
whence it came. The realm of many shades and colors that these names produce will not be
overcome by God's Unity until the next world.
The Creator is Uplifter and Downletter. Without these two attributes, no act could be
performed.
Look at the letting down of earth and the lifting up of heaven: Without these two
attributes, heaven could not revolve, O friend!
The downletting and uplifting of this earth is of another kind: Half the year desolate, half
the year green and moist.
The downletting and uplifting of this circling and distressful time is of another kind: One
half night, one half day.
The downletting and uplifting of this mixed bodily constitution is that it is sometimes
well and sometimes ill.
Know that all the states of the world are like this: famine, drought, peace, war--all for
putting to the test.
This world flies through the air with these two wings--these two make our souls a place
of fear and hope.
All this is so that the world may continue to flutter like a leaf in the cold and hot winds of
resurrection and death,
Until the vat of our Jesus-like one-coloredness destroys the value of our vat of one
hundred different dyes.
For that world is like a salt desert--everyone who goes there loses his multicoloration.
Look at the earth: It makes the many colored creatures into one color in the grave.
This earth is the salt desert of the outward bodies, while the salt desert of meanings is
something else.
That salt desert of meanings is supra-formal, forever new, from eternity without
beginning until eternity without end.
In this world newness is the opposite of oldness--in that world newness has no opposite,
no like, no number.235
In passages quoted above, Kâshânî demonstrated how heaven and earth display yin
qualities in relation to the divine. In another passage, he shows how heaven displays yang
qualities in relation to earth. He is commenting on the Koranic verse, "There is nothing that does
not glorify Him in praise, but you do not understand their glorification" (17:44).
Each thing has a characteristic that does not belong to any other thing. Each has a
perfection possessed by it alone. When it has not yet actualized that perfection, it yearns for it
and seeks it. When it actualizes it, it preserves and loves it. By making manifest its own
characteristic, it declares God incomparable with any associate [sharîk]. Otherwise, it would not

235 Rûmî, Mathnawî VI 1847-60.

 155

be unique in that characteristic. It is as if the thing says with the tongue of its state, "I declare
Him one just as He made me one." By seeking its own perfection, it declares Him incomparable
with the attributes of imperfection. It is as if it says, "O Perfect, make me perfect." By making
its own perfection manifest, it is saying, "The Perfect Perfecter has made me perfect," and so on.
Even a lioness, for example, through its care for her cub, is saying, "Be kind to me, O
Kindly! Have mercy upon me, O Compassionate!" And by seeking provision she says, "O
Provider!"
Hence the seven heavens glorify Him through everlastingness, perfection, elevation,
effectivity, bringing into existence, lordship, and by the fact that "Each day He is upon some
task" [55:29]. The earth glorifies Him with constancy, fixity, creativity, provision, nurturing,
kindliness, mercy, receiving obedience, showing thanks through reward, and so on.236

Similitudes
In many if not most of the Koranic passages where heaven and earth are discussed,
"heaven" can be read as "sky" without any apparent problem. God sends down water from the
sky. In other words, the rains come. Likewise the English word heaven can refer both to the sky
and to a spiritual realm that is also "up," but in a different sense. The Islamic tradition reads the
term in either or both senses, as appropriate to a given context.
But even if we understand a Koranic verse about rain and the earth coming to life in the
most literal sense, it is difficult to interpret it in a purely naturalistic way. Certainly such verses
mean that living things depend upon water, and this water is sent down from the sky by God.
But the discussion concerns life. And life, in the Islamic context, is a divine attribute. As the
Koran puts it, "He is the Alive, the Self-subsistent" (2:255). Hence a verse about sky and rain is
also saying that through rain, God gives life--His own quality--to a lifeless world. A
suprasensory, invisible attribute enters this world through visible means. Parallel remarks can be
made for every divine attribute, since no attribute can be perceived in itself. Attributes can be
known only inasmuch as they become manifest through things and activities. Hence Muslim
intellectuals have never supposed that the Koran juxtaposes sky and earth simply to describe the
physical facts of existence. All things, after all, are signs of God. The physical is the
manifestation of the spiritual. The two are intimately intertwined, even if we understand them as
opposites. "Things become distinguished through their opposites," as the Arabic proverb
reminds us. Heaven cannot be known without earth, nor earth without heaven.
The Koran itself identifies heaven as the locus of the angels, or at least the direction from
which the angels "come down" when they have occasion to appear in this world. "Upon the day
that heaven is split asunder with the clouds, and the angels are sent down in majesty" (25:25).
When we look at the hadith literature and the commentary tradition, the intimate relationship
between the high dimension of physical reality and the spiritual or divine order of things is made
explicit. For example, the Prophet used to walk outside with his head uncovered in the rain.
When asked why he did so, he said, "It is newly acquainted with my Lord."237
The Koran itself encourages interpretation going beyond the merely phenomenal level.
Not only does it often tell us that all natural phenomena are "signs" for people who reflect, it also
frequently points out that its own words are similitudes or likenesses or analogies (amthâl). The

236 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 717.

237 Muslim, Istiqsâ' 13: Abû Dâwûd, Adab 105. Cf. SPK 249.
 156

commentators, even the more literal minded like Fakhr al-Dîn Râzî, are quick to follow its leads.
For example, in its first use of the term heaven, the Koran makes clear that the term is employed
as a similitude.
The likeness of [the hypocrites] is . . . as a cloudburst out of heaven in which are
darkness, thunder, and lightning. They put their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps,
fearful of death; and God encompasses the unbelievers. (2:19)
Maybudî, having dealt with the literal meaning of the words, then turns to the meaning of
the passage as a likeness. Though he does not state explicitly the meaning of "heaven" in the
passage, by implication it is either God as the ultimate source of the Koran, or the angelic world,
the Koran's more immediate source. The "hypocrites" are those who make an outward show of
believing in Islam but are inwardly its enemies.
The hypocrites are like a group of travelers caught in the desert during a severe rain on a
dark night. The rain is so severe, the night so dark, the thunder so loud, and the lightning so
bright that they fear that they will be hit by a thunderbolt and die.
The rain is the likeness of the Koran, since it brings hearts to life, just as rain brings the
dead land to life. The darknesses are like the unbelief in which the hypocrites are stuck. The
thunder is like those verses of the Koran that threaten and frighten them, while the lightning is
like their giving witness to faith. In other words, when the lightning flashes, the hypocrites are
able to see a short way ahead in that darkness and rain. When the lightning ceases, they are kept
back. In the same way, when they give witness, they join with submission [islâm]. But when
they go back to their satans, they deny their witnessing and fall into the darkness of unbelief.
Just as lightning is not continuous and the stranded person takes no real benefit from it,
so also the hypocrites take no benefit from giving witness, since it has no reality. And just as
those travelers in the darkness put their fingers in their ears so as not to hear the sound of torment
and thunderbolts, since it threatens them with death, so also the hypocrites put their fingers in
their ears so as not to hear the verses of the Koran and the revelation, which make manifest their
secret. They fear that their hearts may incline toward it, that it will bring them into submission
and faith. They insist on unbelief because they are afraid that if they fall away from it they will
come to submission.238
In repeatedly referring to its verses as likenesses, the Koran is clearly asking its readers to
ponder and reflect and then to apply the lessons learned to their own situation. In using terms
such as heaven and earth as likenesses, it has in view the qualities associated with the two sides
in the world view of the people to whom it is addressed, and in the modified world view
represented by the Koran itself. The qualitative correspondences depend largely on analogies
between the microcosm and macrocosm.
I quote one more verse that the Koran presents explicitly as a likeness to illustrate how
the Muslim thinkers developed the qualitative descriptions of nature found in the text:
He sends down out of heaven water, and the wadis flow each in its measure, and the
torrent carries a swelling scum. And out of that over which they kindle fire, being desirous of
ornament or delightful objects, out of that rises a scum the like of it. So God strikes both the

238 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr I 90. Fakhr al-Dîn Râzî provides a systematic analysis of the
passage in his usual style, finding seven points where the verse provides a good analogy for the
situation of the hypocrites, and providing a detailed explanation for the similes on the basis of
the science of rhetoric (Râzî, al-Tafsîr al-kabîr I 297-301).
 157

Real and the unreal. As for the scum, it vanishes as jetsam, and what profits men abides in the
earth. Even so God strikes His similitudes. (13:17)
The first explanation is taken from Latâ'if al-ishârât of Qushayrî (d. 465/1072).
This verse comprises similitudes struck by God to compare the revealed Koran with
water sent down from heaven. He compares hearts to wadis, and He compares the whisperings
of Satan and the fancies of the soul to scum on top of water. He compares the Real to substances
pure of loathsomeness, like gold, silver, copper, and so on. He compares the unreal to the scum
of these substances.
Wadis are diverse in their smallness and largeness, and they carry water according to
their measure, whether little or much. In the same way, hearts are diverse in their ability to
carry, according to their weakness or strength.
When a flood takes place in a wadi, it purifies it. In the same way, when the Koran is
memorized in hearts, it negates whisperings and caprice from them.
Water may be accompanied by that which makes it opaque, while parts of it may be freed
from what sullies it. This is similar to the situation of faith and the understanding of the Koran in
the hearts of the faithful when they are delivered from the insinuations of Satan and from ruinous
thoughts. Hearts vary from pure to opaque.
The substances from which containers are made are delivered from loathsomeness when
they are melted down. In the same way the Real becomes distinguished from the unreal. The
Real remains and the unreal disappears.
It is said that the lights that shine in hearts negate the traces of discomfort, the light of
certainty negates the darkness of doubt, knowledge negates the insinuations of ignorance, the
light of recognition negates the trace of disavowal, the light of witnessing negates the traces of
lower human nature, and the lights of concentration negate the traces of dispersion. When the
lights of the realities shine, the traces of sensual gratifications turn to nothing. The lights of the
rising sun of gnosis negate the darkness of the "night," which is to take the trace of "others" into
account.
Moreover, the substances from which containers are made are diverse. One container is
made of gold, another from zinc, and so on. So also hearts are diverse. A tradition says, "God
has containers, and they are hearts."239 One person is a striving renouncer, another an ecstatic
lover, another a fearful worshiper, another a gnostic declarer of Unity, another an abstinent
worshiper, another a Sufi aspirant given over to praying all night. Their poet says,
Their colors are greatly varied and yet
they are given the same water from one pool.240
Rashîd al-Dîn Maybudî, writing in Persian about seventy-five years after Qushayrî,
comments on the same verse as follows. The verse itself is italicized.
This verse is the sphere of the science of reality and gnosis. He sends down out of
heaven water. In other words, He revealed from on high to the hearts and ears of the prophets
and He inspired the intellects and insights of the sages. . . . The wadis flow each in its measure.
In other words, He made the hearts see to the measure of their capacity, life, and illumination.
The hearts of the prophets became bright and illumined with the light of revelation and
messengerhood, and the hearts of God's friends with the lamp of wisdom and gnosis. In its

239 Suyûtî provides a similar saying in al-Jâmi` al-saghîr (Fayd al-qadîr II 496, no. 2375).
240 Qushayrî, Latâ'if al-ishârât III 224-25.
 158

measure, that is, each individual [sees] according to his own measure, in degrees and levels. One
is higher, one in the middle, one lower. The ranking in degrees and the disparity are apparent to
everyone. Concerning the prophets He says, "We preferred some of the prophets over others"
[17:55]. Concerning the friends, He says, "They are degrees with God" [3:163]. One has more
than prophecy through messengerhood, another has more than wisdom through prophecy,
another has more than knowledge through gnosis, another has more than faith and witnessing
through tasting the reality, another has the knowledge of certainty with explication, another the
truth of certainty with direct vision. He gave to each person what was appropriate. He placed
within each heart where there was room.
And the torrent carries a swelling scum. . . . Though those hearts are bright and lit up,
they are not free of whisperings, insinuations, and minor lapses, since Satan is always sitting in
ambush waiting for a way into hearts. He wants to toss in a doubt or a mistake, make up a lie,
steal away something memorized. Satan even pilfered a little something from him who was the
greatest in the world, the lord of the children of Adam, the pearl of the oyster of nobility, in spite
of the perfection of prophecy and the fearlessness of messengerhood. For God says: "[We sent
never any Messenger or Prophet before thee], but that Satan cast into his wish, when he was
wishing" [22:52]. So he sought refuge in God from Satan's goading, for he said: "My Lord, I
seek refuge in Thee from the goadings of Satan."241
And out of that over which they kindle fire, that is, out of that which they reflect upon,
ponder, and deduce from; being desirous of a proof or an unveiling; out of that rises a scum. A
scum is something in addition to the inspiration of God and the suggestion of the angel. [This
scum is] the like of it, that is, like the error being cast by Satan. In other words, one person is
busy in the sea of reflection with the hand of deduction bringing out the pearls of meanings from
Koranic verses and hadiths. Another seeks for the realities of unveiling through pondering the
attribute of inspiration. They strive and work so much in their reflection, pondering, and
deduction that they pass beyond the right measure and seek increase over the inspiration of God
and the suggestion of the angel. This increase is just like that which Satan has decked out fair.
Both must be avoided.
As for the scum, it vanishes as jetsam. In other words, as for the error, the lapses, and the
excess, they vanish through remembrance, because of His words, "The godfearing, when a
visitation of Satan touches them, remember, and then see clearly" [7:201].
And what profits men . . . abides in the earth. In other words, it takes firm root in the
heart. That erroneous opinion, lapse of the tongue, and excess because of Satan does not last and
does not find a resting place in the heart of the person of faith. Those who have faith have the
mention of God upon their tongues and His remembrance in their hearts. Satan's trouble-making
cannot last when there is remembrance of God. That is why the Lord of the worlds says, "When
a visitation from Satan touches them, they remember, and then see clearly" [7:201]. That which
is useful for people becomes firmly rooted in the heart. It is useful because the wholesomeness
of the heart and religion lie within it, since it follows the measure of the Sharia and the Reality.
It is a tree whose roots are firmly grounded, whose branches are luxuriant, whose wood is
fruitful. Its roots are driven into the earth of faithfulness, its branches spread in the air of
contentment, and it gives the fruits of vision and encounter.

241 Many hadiths are cited to this effect in the standard sources (cf. Wensinck, Concordance
VII 108, lines 24-30.
 159

In short, this verse alludes to the fact that when the light of knowledge shines in the heart,
it clears away the traces of disobedience's darkness. But these lights are diverse, and these acts
of disobedience differ. The light of certainty takes away the darkness of doubt, the light of
knowledge takes away the insinuations of ignorance, the light of recognition effaces the traces of
disavowal, the light of witnessing takes away the traces of the darkness of lower human nature,
the light of concentration lifts up the traces of dispersion. Then, beyond all of these, stands the
light of professing God's Unity [tawhîd]. When the sun of Unity lifts its head from the horizon
of the Unseen, duality says,
Night went, O Morning, and I became one with Thee--
How long this talk of human attributes and man?242
`Abd al-Razzâq Kâshânî explains the same verse from a strictily microcosmic point of
view. Heaven is the holy human spirit, water is knowledge sent down by God, and the hearts are
the instruments through which human beings receive the divine knowledge. The soul is the dark,
earth-like dimension of the human being, cut off from the divine light. It must be transformed
through love, thereby taking on the luminous qualities of heaven and discarding the limiting
qualities of earth.
He sends down out of heaven, which is the spirit of holiness, water, that is, knowledge.
And the wadis, the hearts, flow each in the measure of their preparednesses. The torrent of
knowledge carries a scum, that is, the loathsome, vile, and base attributes of the earth, which is
the soul. And out of that over which they kindle the fire of love--out of the gnostic sciences,
unveilings, realities, and meanings that stir up love--being desirous of the ornament of the soul
and the soul's splendor through these things, since these are the soul's perfections; or [being
desirous of] delightful objects, that is, virtuous character traits that are acquired through these
perfections, since these are some of the things within which the soul takes delight; out of that
rises a scum, loathsomeness, the like of it. This scum represnets things like the soul's gazing
upon and seeing itself, conceiving of itself as perfect or virtuous and adorned with the ornament
of those attributes, its being self-satisfied with and becoming veiled, and everything else that is
considered a blight of the soul and the sins of its states. So God strikes both the Real and the
unreal. As for the scum, it vanishes as jetsam, thrown far away, annihilated through knowledge,
as God says: "[He sends down on you water from heaven], to purify you thereby" [8:11]. And
what profits men, that is, the meanings from the Real and the pure virtues, abides in the earth, the
soul.243

Shifting Relationships
Along with the Koranic terms unseen and visible, or heaven and earth, some authorities
employ other sets of Koranic terms, such as Dominion and Kingdom, or Command and Creation.
Various authors draw the line between the two sides with different degrees of complexity and
sophistication. Normally the visible world is considered to be the same as the realm of corporeal
and sensory things, while the unseen world embraces spiritual and nonsensory things. Thus
Kâshânî writes,

242 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr V 191-93.

243 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 638-39.
 160

It is He who created the heavens, the spirits, and the earth, the body, through the Real
[6:73], thereby putting everything in its proper place as is the requirement of His Essence.244
To God belongs the kingdom of the heavens, the World of the Spirits, and of the earth,
the World of the Bodies, and all that is between them [5:17], all the forms and accidents,
manifest and nonmanifest.245
These parallel sets of terms establish a clear relationship that can be understood in terms
of contrasting qualities. In general the first term represents yang qualities and the second yin.
(See Table 10.)
The situation becomes more complex as soon as we follow the logic of relationships and
shake loose from the idea that absolute difference can appear in the created realm. Every
correlative term is limited and defined by its correlative. Hence it cannot be an absolute point of
reference. The differentiations among things that make it possible to know them come only
through distinction and opposition. "Things become distinguished through their opposites." As
Rûmî puts it,
The locus of manifestation for a thing is its opposite, so each opposite aids its own
opposite.246
No opposite can be known without its opposite. Having suffered a blow, you will know a
caress.247
There can be no absolutes within creation, since nothing stands alone. At the very least, a
thing must be subordinate to its Creator. But the Creator is not absolute in every respect, since It
is delimited by the created, just as the Lord is bound by the vassal and the God by the divine
thrall. Only the Essence is absolute, since It alone has no need for anything else. It is
independent and self-sufficient, with or without the universe.

244 Ibid. 380.

245 Ibid. 318-19.
246 Rûmî, Dîwân-i Shams 3761 (SPL 50).
247 Idem, Mathnawî V 599 (SPL 50).
 161

Table 10
Contrasting Qualities
According to Kâshânî in Taw'îl al-Qur'ân

yang yin
heaven earth
unseen visible
dominion kingdom
command creation
high low
bright dark
subtle dense
spiritual corporeal
suprasensory sensory
 162

Hence God as Essence stands beyond opposition. He has no opposites in existence. But God as
possessor of the names stands opposite the cosmos. Moreover, the names of the acts He
performs within the cosmos diverge. Hence these names have contraries within God, such as
Beautiful and Majestic. In this respect He brings all opposites together within Himself. To
quote Rûmî again,
His description is not contained within the intellect, for He is the Coincidence of
Opposites. Wonderful composition without composition! Wonderful freely acting Compelled
One!248
If we look at the attributes of God's Essence, such as life and knowledge, we see that their
opposites--death and ignorance--do not exist as such. What we call death and ignorance are
relative lacks of life and knowledge. Only absolute nonexistence--which, of course, does not
exist--could possess absolute death and absolute ignorance.
God's light has no opposite within existence, that through its opposite it might be made
manifest.249
Every light has a fire, every rose a thorn; a serpent watches over every treasure hidden in
the ruins.
Oh, Thy Rosegarden has no thorns! Thy pure Light has no fire! Around Thy Treasure is
no serpent, no blow, no teeth!250
In other words, absolute light is God, absolute knowledge is God, absolute power is God,
absolute good is God, and so on. The absolute opposites of these qualities do not exist. Hence
the whole universe is in some respect similar to God, since it reflects these names in some way.
But since the corporeal things are the most distant existent things from God, the opposites of
God's attributes can be attributed to them, so long as we remember that these are not absolute
ascriptions. Thus, for example, God is High (al-`alî), the heavens are high, the earth is low. God
is the Light of the heavens and the earth [24:35), the heavens are luminous, the earth is dark.
God is the Alive, the spiritual world is alive through the divine spirit, and the corporeal world
has no life except through the spiritual domain. God is the Knower of the unseen and the
invisible, the spiritual beings have knowledge of various dimensions of the two worlds, the
corporeal beings have such a limited knowledge that in effect they are ignorant.
The ascription of attributes such as highness, light, life, and knowledge to created things
pertains to a relative domain. If the First Intellect embraces the knowledge of all created things,
yet it is ignorant in face of God's infinite knowledge. If heaven is high, this is to speak of its
relationship with earth, since heaven is low in relation to God. The same thing can be said for
other qualities that are attributed to heaven, such as bright and subtle. These are not absolute
qualities, since they are possessed only in relation to earth. Hence also, earth is not low, dark,
and dense in any absolute sense, only in relation to heaven. In relation to absolute nothingness
earth is high, luminous, and subtle.
Since there are no absolutes within creation, things can be understood only in their
relationships with God or with other things. There are two extreme poles, represented by spirit
and body, light and darkness, heaven and earth, subtlety and density. Between the two poles

248 Idem, Dîwân-i Shams 26832 (SPL 50).

249 Idem, Mathnawî I 1134 (SPL 49).
250 Idem, Dîwân-i Shams 25634-35 (SPL 50).
 163

stands a spectrum of created things that are in some ways qualitatively ambivalent. From about
the time of Suhrawardî (d. 587/1191) onward, many Muslim cosmologists refer to this realm that
fills the space between the spiritual world and the corporeal world as the World of Imagination.
This "imaginal" realm is neither completely corporeal nor completely spiritual. Ibn al-`Arabî
and his school develop this three world scheme in great detail.
We should not think that there are any hard and fast lines separating the three worlds. In
fact, many of our authors tell us that the worlds are innumerable and that these three are merely
the "general principles" (kulliyyât) of the worlds.251 There are no sharp edges in existence. As
Ibn al-`Arabî puts it, "There is nothing in existence but barzakhs," that is, "isthmuses" or
intermediate stages of existence.252 Everything lies between two other things and every world
between two other worlds. Nothing can be known in itself, only in relationship to other things.
Ibn al-`Arabî concludes that everything in existence other than God can be called imaginal, since
each thing manifests qualities in an ambiguous sort of way. Neither absolute light (nûr) nor
absolute darkness (zulma) can be found in the created realm, so all things are varying degrees of
"brightness" (diyâ'), neither purely luminous nor purely dark. There is no absolute highness or
lowness, so all things stand in the middle. There is no absolute subtlety or density, so everything
is a mixture of the two.
By discussing three worlds instead of two, Muslim cosmologists place even greater stress
upon qualitative ambiguity and the importance of taking relationships into account. The middle
world is "imaginal" because, like an image in a mirror or a dream, it combines attributes of both
sides and cannot be discussed in isolation without distorting its reality. It is neither a spirit nor a
body, but it has certain attributes that are spiritual and certain that are bodily. It is neither
luminous nor dark, but something in between. Like fire, it combines light and darkness. The
whole cosmos is imaginal because it stands halfway between the absolutely Real, or Being, and
the absolutely unreal, or nothingness.
The cosmic World of Imagination is subtle in relation to bodily things, but dense in
relation to spiritual things. Depending on the point of view, it is luminous or dark, high or low,
spiritual or corporeal, suprasensory or sensory. We have already seen that the status of the
heavens is rather ambiguous. Sometimes heaven is considered identical with the spiritual world,
sometimes it is seen as one of the two poles of the corporeal world. In some verses the Koran
speaks of the "unseen of the heavens and the earth" (2:33, 11:123, 16:77), thereby suggesting
that both heaven and earth have unseen as well as visible dimensions. Because the seven
heavens are ambiguous in nature, neither completely corporeal nor completely spiritual, the
cosmologists often place them in the imaginal world. The planets clearly partake of the same
ambiguity. As bodies that we witness in the sky, they are visible, but as "swimmers" (sâbih) in a
heavenly world inhabited by angels, they have invisible dimensions.
How then do we gain knowledge of things, if the labels we place upon them have no
absolute worth? Whatever knowledge we gain will clearly be ambiguous. But ambiguous
knowledge can be sufficient to describe our situation in relation to God. In effect, such a way of
looking at things relativizes everything other than God, and this is one of the primary senses of
"There is no god but God": There is no truth but the Truth, no real but the Real, no absolute but
the Absolute. Any knowledge having any degree of certainty can only be acquired by perceiving

251 Cf. Jâmî, Naqd al-nusûs 29-30.

252 SPK 14.
 164

the relationship between the Absolute and the things. Relationships are defined in terms of a
vast number of qualities, and these are summarized by the divine names and attributes. Through
God's names, provided in revelation by the Real Itself, human beings gain access to those
qualities that provide a relatively absolute handhold on the nature of things.
The degree to which a given author attempts to sort out the various relationships among
the levels of the cosmos depends upon a large number of factors, such as his own grasp of the
fundamental texts, his training in various sciences, and the point he wishes to bring out. It is the
last which is of particular importance for our purposes, since it helps explain why a single author
will seemingly contradict himself, or explain the same Koranic verse in a variety of ways
depending upon the context of the discussion. What is envisaged is the qualitative relationships,
and these may change depending on the specific qualities envisaged.

The Seven Heavens

The Koran states explicitly in several verses that there are seven heavens. It also refers to
the planets that "swim" in each heaven. The seven "planets"--in the Greek sense of wandering
heavenly bodies--are the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The
heavens as such are invisible, while the planets are visible, at least to the extent that their light
shines down on earth. But as we have already seen, many cosmologists place the heavens and
the planets in an ambiguous realm, neither completely visible nor completely invisible.
Some of the clearest early texts that place the heavens within a relatively unseen
dimension of existence are the accounts of the Prophet's ascension to God (mi`râj). The Prophet
tells us that he met one or more of the earlier prophets in each of the heavens. He describes
corporeal and sensory events that took place in the sphere of each planet. Yet these events
clearly pertain to a spiritual domain of existence. In other words, the events occurred in an
ambiguous realm, neither purely corporeal nor purely spiritual. This is the realm known later as
the World of Imagination. Finally the Prophet passed beyond the heavens into a purely spiritual
world and eventually into the Divine Presence, beyond all differentiation and opposition. One of
the oldest of these accounts is found in the two most authoritative collections of hadith, Bukhârî
and Muslim. It reads in part as follows:
While I was lying down at al-Hatîm [a wall on the northwest side of the Kaaba] someone
came to me and made a split from here to here (meaning from the pit of his chest to the hair
below his navel), then took out my heart. I was next brought a gold dish full of faith, and my
heart was washed, then filled up and put back. . . . I was then brought a beast smaller than a
mule and larger than a donkey, which was white, was called al-Burâq, and stepped a distance
equal to the range of its vision. I was mounted on it, and Gabriel went with me till he came to
the lowest heaven. He asked that the gate be opened. When he was asked who he was, he
replied that he was Gabriel. He was asked who was with him. He replied that it was
Muhammad. He was asked whether he had been sent for. When he replied that he had been, the
words were uttered, "Welcome; his coming is good," and the gate was opened. When I entered
Adam was there, and Gabriel said, "This is your father Adam, so give him a salutation." I did so,
and when he had returned my salutation he said, "Welcome to the good son and the good
prophet." Gabriel then took me up till he came to the second heaven.253

253 Cf. Robson, Mishkat al-masabih 1264.

 165

So the account continues. Muhammad meets John and Jesus in the second heaven,
Joseph in the third, Idris (usually identified with Enoch) in the fourth, Aaron in the fifth, Moses
in the sixth, and Abraham in the seventh. These prophets clearly do not exist in their earthly
bodies in the visible world. They have returned to God. But they have not "gone to heaven" in
the Christian sense simply because they are located in the "heavens," since, as remarked earlier,
heaven in the Islamic sense is not paradise. Nor does their location within the heavens suggest
that they have not reached salvation or do not dwell in the Garden. Quite the opposite. It
suggests that because of their attaining to the highest stages of human perfection, they dwell with
God in perfect felicity. But at the same time, they are the human embodiments of the seven
degrees of the heavenly world. Each of them is an outstanding exemplar of those divine qualities
that "come down from heaven" into the earth. The Koran says of the prophets, "They are
degrees with God" (3:163), not, "They have degrees." As Ibn al-`Arabî remarks, this verse
suggests that each prophet plays a cosmic function far beyond any "human" role in the ordinary
sense of the term.254 Sadr al-Dîn Qûnawî makes these points in keeping with the teachings of
Ibn al-`Arabî's school:
Know that every prophet and friend of God . . . is a locus of manifestation for one of the
universal realities of the cosmos, the divine names pertaining to those realities, and the spirits of
those realities. These spirits are the Higher Plenum255 with all the diversity of their levels and
their relationships with the high world. To this point the Prophet made allusion when he said
that Adam is in the first heaven, Jesus in the second, Joseph in the third, Idris in the fourth,
Aaron in the fifth, Moses in the sixth, and Abraham in the seventh.
It is clear that the spirits of these prophets are not spatially located. Therefore the
Prophet meant only to point to the strength of their relationships--in respect of their levels, their
sciences, their states, and the levels of their communities--with that heaven. In this world, their
states are the form of the properties of the levels and the heavens. It is in this connection that all
the great ones among the Folk of God mention in their technical terms that some of the friends of
God are "upon the heart of Gabriel," some "upon the heart of Michael," some "upon the heart of
Seraphiel," and so on.256
Qûnawî's disciple Farghânî explains the qualitative nature of the heavens in terms of the
divine names, which are the roots of all created qualities. He has been discussing the creation of
the heavens and the earth from the "mass all sewn up," the undifferentiated original substance
mentioned in the Koran. "To become entified" (ta`ayyun), a technical term that we have already
met, means to become determined and differentiated as a specific entity or thing, as distinct from
other entities and things. Note that the relationship envisaged at first is that between God and the
cosmos. Hence the cosmos's quality of receptivity is stressed.
The sewn-up material that belongs to the heavens and the earth became entified such that
the heavens became distinguished from the earth. Heaven was engendered as a subtle smoke
while earth became a dense compound thing.
The name Form-giver became entified to give each of the two an appropriate form. God
addressed their material with His words, "[Then He lifted Himself up to heaven when it was
smoke, and He said to it and the earth,] 'Come willingly, or unwillingly.' [They said, 'We come

254 SPK 366.

255 Al-Mala' al-a`lâ, i.e., the angels, the inhabitants of the spiritual world. The term is Koranic.
256 Qûnawî, Fakk al-khutûm 275. Cf. idem, Sharh al-hadîth, no. 22.
 166

willingly']" [41:11]. In other words, come forward and receive the form determined for each of
you by the name Form-giver. "Come willingly" in respect of the property of your particular
existence, which has knowledge of its own good and of the perfection connected to its reception
of everything that issues forth from its Universal Root. It chooses that reception and inclines
toward it by its very essence, with no resistance. Or come "unwillingly," in respect of the
property of your possibility and your nonexistence, which is ignorant of its own good and
perfection. You will be forced, through coercion and severity, to accept to make manifest the
Root of perfection.
"They said, 'We come willingly,'" because they were near the root of their innate
disposition and the domination of the property of oneness and undifferentiation--which are the
most specific characteristics of Being within them in this state--over the property of
differentiation and manyness, which are the specific characteristics of possibility.
At this stage of existence heaven and earth are dominated by oneness rather than
manyness, Necessity rather than possibility, Being rather than knowledge. Hence they were
perfectly receptive to the one effusion from the One. They were naturally infused with
luminosity, subtlety, nearness, and all the attributes connected to the side of the Necessary Being.
They had hardly any trace of the individual self-assertion connected to manyness, dispersion,
distance, darkness, and possible existence. Hence the heavens and earth were perfect "Muslims."
As good servants of God, they submitted readily to His command. Then the yang power of the
One exercised its effects in various modalities. Heaven, through its receptivity toward the
undifferentiated power of the One, is differentiated into the seven heavens. Each heaven
manifests diverse qualities that were latent in the One and designated by various divine names.
Note that in each case Farghânî carefully qualifies himself in order not to make the point of view
in question seem in any way exclusive of other points of view.
At this point, the property of the original movement of love, . . . in keeping with the
property of the name Form-giver, permeated the sewn-up spiritual material that was actualized in
the sensory level. Hence that material came into movement in respect of its central point,
following a cyclic motion. It assumed the form of a first heaven in one respect and a fourth
heaven in another respect in keeping with the property of the name Form-giver. It became the
locus of manifestation for the attribute of life and the domination of heat. In keeping with God's
noble purpose for the name that was entified within this heaven--that is, the name Alive--the
name Form-giver entified a luminous locus of manifestation: the planet called the sun. The sun
became as it were the governing soul of this heavenly form.
Then Form-giver entified three heavens above the form of this heaven and three below it,
and it entified within each of them a governing soul: the planet specified for each heaven. That
planet is the locus of manifestation for a name that is entified according to a reality whose locus
of manifestation is the heaven.
Hence the fourth heaven, which is in the center of the seven heavens, is the locus of
manifestation for the attribute of life. The third heaven is the locus of manifestation for desire,
the second the locus of manifestation for equity and justice, the first the locus of manifestation
for speech. . . . The fifth heaven is the locus of manifestation for power, the sixth for knowledge,
the seventh for generosity. That is why Abraham--who is described by generosity, magnanimity,
 167

and care for the rights of guests through himself, his property, and his sons257--is seen in the
seventh heaven.
The planet sun is the locus of manifestation for the Alive, which is all-
comprehensive.258 The manifestation of the governing property of its gatekeeper, the Life-
giver, is most complete and manifest through it and in it.
The planet Venus is the locus of manifestation for the name Desiring. The manifestation
of the property of its gatekeeper, which is the Form-giver, is in one respect greatest in it.
The planet Mercury is the locus of manifestation for the name Just. The property of its
follower, the Author [al-bâri'], is in one respect most manifest within it.
The planet moon is the locus of manifestation for the name Speaker. The governing
property of its follower, which is the Creator, is in one respect strongest within it.
The planet Mars is the locus of manifestation for the name Powerful. The strength of its
gatekeeper, who is the Severe, is in one respect strongest within it.
The planet Saturn is the locus of manifestation for the name Generous. The governing
property of the name Lord, whose relationship to it is the most perfect, is strongest within it.259

The Four Elements

Cosmologists often express the subtlety and ambiguity of qualitative relationships
through the idea of the four "pillars" (arkân) or "elements" (`anâsir). These are the "substances"
from which the visible universe is compounded. They possess a certain relationship to the higher
realms because of their relative invisibility, which results from their "simplicity" (basâta), the
fact that they are not compound things. In contrast, minerals, plants, and animals are all
compounded of the elements. Many texts imply, if not state explicitly, that the four elements
themselves pertain to the invisible world, precisely because they have no parts and therefore
cannot be present in a world where everything is divisible. In other word, the elements indicate
qualities rather than actual manifest things. Thus it is often said that each element exists in pure
form only in its own "sphere" (kura), while our locus of experience is the place where their four
spheres of influence intersect.
Whether or not the pillars coincide precisely with the four things in the cosmos that go by
the names earth, water, air, and fire, the cosmologists consistently discuss the pillars in terms of
their qualities. In general, earth is dry and cold, water wet and cold, air wet and hot, fire dry and
hot. In descriptions of cosmogenesis, the four elements are originally undifferentiated. Then the
earth sinks to the center because of its density, fire rises to the top because of its subtlety and
heat, water rests above the earth, and air fills up the space between water and fire. In terms of
our own discussion, examination of the elements helps explain how heavenly qualities become
manifest in different degrees within the earth. The earth as an element (ard or turâb) represents

257 Allusion to various Koranic verses mentioning Abraham, e.g., "Our messengers came to
Abraham. . . , and he made no delay in bringing a roasted calf" (11:69; cf. 51:25-26).
258 The Alive is said to comprehend the other names in respect to the fact that each of them
depends upon life. God could not be merciful or knowledgeable or vengeful if He were not
alive. Hence the name Alive is sometimes called the Leader of the Leaders, that is, the first of
the primary names of God, which are usually said to correspond to the seven listed here. Cf.
above, pp. 000.
259 Farghânî, Muntahâ al-madârik I 61-62.
 168

the qualities furthest from heaven, while fire represents those earthly qualities that are closest to
the heavenly qualities. Hence the four elements represent four qualitative degrees of earthly
existence, degrees that ascend from the lowest to the highest, the densest to the subtlest, the
darkest to the brightest, and so on.
This qualitative understanding of the elements is found throughout Islamic texts, whether
or not the author is versed in cosmology, just as our own, scientific view of the elements is
reflected throughout contemporary literature. Thus, for example, Firdawsî (d. ca. 411/1020), the
author of the Shâhnâma, the Persian national epic, provides the following description of the
creation of the world. Note that he immediately draws moral conclusions from his cosmological
considerations:
At the beginning you should correctly grasp
the substance of the first elements.
God created things from no things
in order thereby to manifest His power.
He brought the substance of the four elements
into existence without trouble or time.
A shining fire came forth,
between water and wind, next to them a dark earth.
When fire fell into movement,
its heat brought about dryness.
Then cold appeared from the unmoving,
and wetness grew up from that coldness.
Once these four elements fell into place
God used them for the realm of two-or-three-days.
He combined the elements one with the other
and they put up their heads in every kind.
The quickly circling dome appeared,
displaying wonders ever new.
The seven [days] became lord over the twelve [months]--
each assumed an appropriate place.
All these appeared through generosity and gift--
the Knowing One gave each what it deserved.
The spheres became tied one to another.
Once the work was completed, they began to turn. . . .
When all this was completed, the human being appeared.
He was the key to all these locks.
His head went up like a tall cypress,
he worked his tasks through good speech and intellect.
He received awareness, thought, and intellect.
He was obeyed by wild animals and tame.
Look at him for a moment through intellect --
What is man in meaning? One.
Do you think all people are headstrong?
Do you think they have no other mark?
You were brought out from the two worlds,
you were nurtured by many intermediaries.
 169

The first in creation, the last to be enumerated,

is you--take not yourself in play.260
Farghânî offers an explanation of how the four elements come into existence within the
context of the metaphysics of Ibn al-`Arabî's school. He is commenting on the Koranic verse
quoted above: "Have not the unbelievers beheld that the heavens and the earth were a mass all
sewn up, and then We unstitched them, and out of water fashioned every living thing?" (21:30):
Some people have called that sewn-up material the Greatest Element, others the Element
of Elements. This Greatest Element has four pillars, which are fire, air, water, and earth, just as
its own origin, the Dust [habâ'], has four pillars, that is, the pillars of Nature [heat, cold, dryness,
and wetness]. This Element with its pillars is brought into movement through the original
movement of God's love [for creation], which permeates it and which is intrinsic to the All-
merciful Breath, of which this material is one of the effects and loci of manifestation. . . .
This movement and power of yearning demands a powerful and power-giving churning
of the pillars. This makes manifest within them a hidden trace of heat, and its effects makes the
subtlest part rise up from that sewn-up material as a vapor or smoke, undifferentiated and unitary
in description. This is the sewn-up mass of the heavens.
In discussing the appearance of the individual elements, Farghânî is careful to avoid the
absolutizing of terms that is characteristic of the more mythic mode of discourse, as in Firdawsî's
discussion of four distinct elements. With most cosmologists Farghânî holds that the elements
do not exist in pure form in the manifest cosmos, but only as the domination of a certain
tendency within existence. Hence, when we say that the earth is cold and dry, this is not an
absolute statement, simply an assertion of a certain dominant tendency. Heat and wetness are
also found in earth.
Then the pillars become differentiated one from another. This is the "unstitching" of the
pillars. . . . They become four kinds, each kind of which is dominated by two pillars [of Nature],
though it also comprises the other two. The densest kind is dominated by cold and dryness,
though the other two are actualized therein. Hence the pillar of earth [turâb] comes into
existence. This is the unstitching of the earth [ard]. The second kind is more subtle than the
first. It is dominated by cold and wetness, along with the actualization of the other two qualities.
Hence the pillar of water comes into existence. The third kind is more subtle than the second. It
is dominated by heat and wetness, along with the actualization of the other two qualities. Hence
the pillar of air comes into existence. The fourth kind is more subtle than the third. It is
dominated by heat and dryness, along with the actualization of the other two qualities. Hence the
pillar of fire comes into existence.261
This qualitative evaluation of earthly things has many applications. For example, it helps
us differentiate among the basic kinds of existent things in the cosmos. There are certain
creatures made predominantly of clay (water and earth), such as plants and animals. Some
creatures--the angels--are made of light, which is completely outside the elements. Because of
their unmixed luminosity, angels are invisible, except in special circumstances when they choose
to appear through their power to "imaginalize" (tamaththul) themselves, thereby assuming a state

260 Firdawsî, Shâhnâma I 14-16.

261 Farghânî, Muntahâ al-madârik I 59-60.
 170

of semi-visibility.262 Then there are jinn, who are made predominantly of fire and, according to
some authorities, possess a strong admixture of air. This means that they pertain to the earth but
at the same time possess heavenly qualities. Hence they are for the most part invisible, though
like certain angels they can choose to make themselves visible. In short, the jinn are "imaginal"
beings. Najm al-Dîn Râzî employs the qualitative distinction between the elements to explain
the difference between the bodily life of this world and the mode of existence represented by the
bodily resurrection in the next world.
The this-worldly frame was built from the four elements of earth, wind, water, and fire.
But it was dominated by water and earth--"sticky clay" [37:11]. Both of these are sensory and
dense. They are perceived by the sense of sight. Wind and fire are subtle and non-sensory and
are not perceived by the sense of sight. Hence they are dominated by the bodily frame and latent
within it.
In the next world, which is the world of subtlety, the frame is also built from the four
elements. But wind and fire are made dominant, since they are subtle. Earth and water are
dominated over and made latent within. Hence the frame will be intensely subtle. The light that
is today latent in the heart of the person of faith will be given dominance over his form: "Their
light shall run forth in front of them" [57:12]. The verse, "A day on which some faces shall be
whitened and others blackened" [3:106], also refers to this meaning.
When the frame is subtle and luminous, it no longer interferes with the spirit. . . . In the
same way, a glass-maker removes the earth and opacity from the substance of glass, making it
translucent and pure. Thereby its outward and inward dimensions have the same color. Its
inside can be seen from its outside, and its outside from its inside. The verse, "Upon the day
when secrets are divulged" [86:9], alludes to this meaning. That which is found in the outside
dimensions will enter the inside dimensions. . . .
The bodily frame will then be resurrected in this subtlety so that it can enjoy its full share
of the bounties of the eight paradises, without any opacity arising from it to interfere with the
spirit.263
The qualities inherent in the elements tell us something about the kinds of existent things
in the cosmos and the difference between this world and the next. In the same way, these
qualities allow us to draw conclusions about the nature of human beings. An early and
especially interesting use of the qualitative significance of the elements is found in Sam`ânî's
Rawh al-arwâh. The author is analyzing the qualities that went into the creation of Adam. At
the same time, he wants to show that mercy is the predominate divine attribute in the human
being, since God's mercy precedes His wrath. Human beings were created as the objects of this
mercy. Hence everything in creation directs people toward paradise and felicity. At the outset
Sam`ânî explains the meaning of the objection that the angels made when God told them that He
was going to create a human being and make him His vicegerent. He also pays close attention to
the "two hands" and the "feet" of God.
The angels said, "What, wilt Thou place therein one who will do corruption and shed
blood?" [2:30]. But God did not reply that He was not doing that. He said, "I know what you do
not know" [2:30]. In other words, I know that I will forgive them: You know their

262 For some of Ibn al-`Arabî's views on imaginalization by angels and human beings, cf.
Chodkiewicz, Illuminations 290ff.
263 Râzî, Mirsâd al-`ibâd 404-6 (cf. Path of God's Bondsmen 391-92).
 171

disobedience, but I know My forgiveness. . . . In your glorification, you make manifest your
own activity, while in My forgiveness I make manifest My own bounty and generosity. . . . "I
know what you do not know," which is My love for them. No matter what they are, I love them.
. . . Though your felicity lies in your sinlessness, I desire to show mercy to them. You wear the
vest of sinlessness, they wear the covering of mercy. . . .
On the day that He created earth for Adam, through His own generosity He made having
mercy upon Adam incumbent upon Himself. He said, your Lord "has written mercy against
Himself" [6:12]. He wrote Adam's slip through the intermediary of others, but He wrote mercy
without intermediary against Himself. For earth is the capital of incapacity and weakness. What
can be shown toward the weak except mercy?
Some of the commentators hold that "He created them for mercy."264 He created you in
order to have mercy on you. In its constitution earth is humble and submissive. People trample
it underfoot and look down upon it. In contrast, fire seeks through its constitution elevation and
eminence. It is always trying to go up. Water has a certain innate purity and natural humility,
but earth does not have that purity. However, it does have the humility. When Adam was
brought into existence, he came from earth and water. Hence the basis of his work was built
upon purity and submissiveness. Then this water and earth, which had become "stinking mud"
[15:26] and "sticky clay" [37:11], was honored with the attribute of the hand. For God said,
"What prevented you from prostrating yourself to him whom I created with My own two hands?"
[38:75]. But fire, which claimed eminence, was made the object of severity through the attribute
of the "foot." "The Invincible will place His foot in the Fire, and it will say, 'Enough,
enough.'"265. . .
God honored earth with the attribute of the hand. Then He fastened His own speech to
them: "He fastened to them the word of godfearing" [48:26]. He showed severity to fire through
the attribute of the foot.
The attribute of the hand imparts the sense of lifting up, while the attribute of the foot
gives the sense of putting down. Earth was put down through its own attribute. Through His
attribute it was lifted up. Fire was lifted up through its own attribute. Through His attribute it
was put down.
O earth! O you who are put down through your own attribute and lifted up through My
attribute! O fire! O you who are lifted up through your own attribute and put down through My
attribute!
Iblis performed many acts of obedience and worship, but all of these were accidental.
His innate attribute was disobedience, for he was created of fire, and fire possesses the attribute
of claiming eminence. Claiming eminence is the capital of the disobedient.
Adam slipped and we disobeyed. But the attribute of disobedience is accidental, and the
attribute of obedience original. For we were created from earth, and the attribute of earth is
humility and submissiveness. Humility and submissiveness are the capital of the obedient. God
looks at the foundation of affairs and the point around which the compass turns. He does not
look at exceptional affairs and accidents.

264 Apparently an allusion to Koran 11:118-19: People "cease not to differ, except those on
whom thy Lord has mercy, and for that He created them."
265 On this hadith, cf. chapter 3, note 22.
 172

O dervish! On the day when Adam slipped, they beat the drum of good fortune for all
human beings. God set down a foundation with Adam at the beginning of the work. He gave
him a capital from His own bounty.
The first example of bounty that He gave Adam was that He placed him in paradise
without any worthiness and without his asking. And the first example that Adam displayed of
his own capital was his slip.
God made a contract with Adam at the beginning of this business. The condition of the
contract was that whenever someone buys something or sells something, he has to give a taste.
Adam gave a taste of his capital when he disobeyed the command and ate the wheat. God gave
him a taste of the cup of bounty when He pardoned that slip.
No sin is as great as the first sin. This is especially true when the person was nourished
on beneficence and nurtured through blessings. The angels had to prostrate themselves before
him--the throne of his good fortune was placed upon the shoulder of those brought nigh to God.
He was brought into paradise without any worthiness. God gave him a home in the
neighborhood of His own gentleness. Since He pardoned the first slip, this is proof that He will
pardon all sins.
After all, we have a thousand times more excuses than Adam had. If the darkness of clay
is necessary, we have it. If the weakness of earth is necessary, we have it. If the impurity of
"stinking mud" is necessary, we have it. If some confused bites of food are necessary, we have
them. If the times should have become dark with injustice and corruption, we have that. If the
accursed Iblis has to be sitting in wait for us, we have him. If caprice and appetite have to
dominate over us, we have that. At the first slip, Adam was excused without any of these
meanings. Since we have all these opacities, why should He not forgive us? In truth, He will
forgive us.
O dervish! They robbed the human caravan on the day that Adam slipped. "The caravan
is secure once it has been waylaid." Once a blind old man was sitting in the hot sun in the Hijaz
eating walnuts and dates. Someone asked him, "Why are you eating two foods that are
[medicinally] so hot in this terrible heat?" He replied, "Well, they waylaid my caravan and
everything that I feared has come to pass. Now I am secure."266

The Virtues of the Earth

Which is more excellent, heaven or earth? This question is often implicit in discussions
of their respective qualities. Fakhr al-Dîn Râzî, in the usual dry and systematic fashion of the
rational thinkers, offers arguments for both sides without expressing his own opinion. He is
commenting on the first Koranic mention of the two terms together (2:22).
The Seventh Question. Is heaven more excellent [afdal], or earth?
Some have said that heaven is more excellent, for several reasons: [1] Heaven is the
place where the angels worship, and God is not disobeyed anyplace within it. When Adam
committed that act of disobedience in the Garden, it was said to him, "Get down out of the
Garden." And God said, "No one who disobeys Me will dwell in My neighborhood."
[2] God said, "We set up the heaven as a well-protected roof" [21:32] and "Blessed is He
who has set in heaven constellations" [25:61], but He did not say anything like that concerning
earth.

266 Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 224-26.

 173

[3] In most cases, heaven is mentioned before the earth in the Koran.
Others say that no, the earth is more excellent, for several reasons: [1] God described a
number of regions of the earth as being blessed with His words, [a] "The first house established
for the people was that at Mecca, a place blessed" [3:96]; [b] "[A voice called . . . ] in the blessed
hollow, [coming from the tree: 'Moses . . . ']" [28:30]; [c] ". . . to the Further Mosque, the
precincts of which We have blessed" [17:1]. [d] He described the earth of Syria as being
blessed, for He said, "all the east and the west of the land that We had blessed" [7:137]. [e] He
also described the whole of the earth as being blessed, since He said, "What, do you disbelieve in
Him who created the earth. . . . And He set therein firm mountains over it, and He blessed it"
[41:10]. You might ask what kind of blessing can be found in empty wastelands and dangerous
deserts. We would reply that these are the dwelling places and grazing spots of wild animals,
and they become the dwelling places of people when they need them. Because of these blessings
God says, "In the earth are signs for those having certainty" [51:20]. Although these signs are
also seen by those who do not have certainty, only those who have certainty profit from them, so
He made them signs for those having certainty, to honor them. In the same way He says, "A
guidance for the godfearing" [2:2].
[2] God created the prophets, the noble ones, from the earth, as He said: "Out of the
earth We created you, and We shall restore you into it" [20:55]. But He did not create anything
out of the heavens, since He said, "And We set up the heaven as a well-protected roof" [21:32].
[3] God ennobled His Prophet through it, since He made all the earth a mosque for him
and made its dust pure for him.267
Among the four elements, some authorities would certainly rank earth as the most
excellent. One reason for this is that on the elemental level it alone is purely itself. In other
words, each of the other three elements has an admixture of heavenly qualities, even though it
dwells in the lower world. Fire seeks the height of heaven and borrows something of its
luminosity. Air is open to luminosity and moves in high domains relative to earth and water.
Water, though it seeks lowness, is able through its translucency to become thoroughly illumined
by heaven's light. Only earth is fully low and fully dark. This may help explain why Ibn al-
`Arabî holds the earth in great esteem, calling it the subtlest of all elements, in spite of its
apparent density. Note that he clearly identifies earth as a single qualitative reality, in spite of its
two apparent senses (that is, as element and as counterpart of heaven).
The earth . . . gives all benefits from its own essence and is the locus of every good.
Hence it is the mightiest of corporeal bodies. In its movement it vies with no moving thing,
since none of these leave the earth's location. Each pillar manifests its authority within the earth,
while it is the patient, the receptive, the fixed, the stable. Its shaking was quelled by its
mountains, which God placed as its pegs because it was moving from the fear of God.268 God
made it secure through these pegs, so it became quiet with the quiet of those who have certitude.

267 Râzî, al-Tafsîr al-kabîr I 324-25. The reference at the end is to a hadith in which the
Prophet says that he has been given five things never given to any prophet before him, including
the fact that "the earth was made for me pleasant, pure, and a mosque [literally: a place of
prostration]" (Muslim, Masâjid 3). The Prophet also calls the earth a mosque in other hadiths.
For example, "Whenever the time of prayer arrives, pray, for the earth is a mosque for you"
(Bukhârî, Anbiyâ' 40).
268 Cf. Koran 59:21 etc.
 174

From it the People of Certainty learn their certainty. For it is the Mother from whom we
emerged and to whom we return, and from her we will emerge once again.269 To her we are
submitted and entrusted.
Earth is the most subtle of the pillars in meaning. It only accepts density, darkness, and
hardness to conceal the treasuries that God has entrusted to it, for God has given it jealousy. . . .
God sent the earth down to the station of the central point of the circumference. Hence
through its essence it stands opposite every part of the circumference. Every part of the
circumference gazes upon it. Every line from the earth goes out to the circumference equally
and in equilibrium, since it gives only in accordance with its own form, while each line from the
circumference aims to reach it. If the earth should disappear, the circumference would
disappear. But if the circumference should disappear, this would not necessitate the
disappearance of the earth. It remains and subsists in this world and the next. It is similar to the
Breath of the All-merciful through bringing into existence.270
Maybudî provides a beautiful and poetic account of the qualities of earth. Far from being
reprehensible because of its lowliness, it allows the highest human qualities to manifest
themselves; it is superior in some respects even to the angels.
A dervish overcome with the pain of separation came before Abû Yazîd Bastâmî. In
turmoil and disorder, he had lost his head and feet. He came as a traveler, and in his ecstatic
state he said, "O Bâyazîd, what would it matter if this shameless earth did not exist?"
Abû Yazîd became angry and shouted at the dervish, "Were there no earth, the breast
would have no burning! Were there no earth, religion would have no sorrow and joy! Were
there no earth, love's fire would not flame up! Were there no earth, who would smell the scent of
beginningless love? Were there no earth, who would become the familiar of the Eternal
Beloved?
"Dervish, Iblis's curse marks the perfection of the majesty of earth. Seraphiel's trumpet
was prepared for the sake of the yearning of earth. The questioning [of the dead in the grave] by
Nakîr and Munkar acts as deputy for the love in the breast of earth. Ridwân with all the slaves
and serving boys is but earth under the feet of earth.271 Beginningless grace is a gift and robe
for earth. The call from the Unseen World was prepared in the name of earth. The attributes of
the Lord adorn the beauty of earth. God's love feeds the mysteries of earth. Eternity's qualities
supply provisions for the journey of earth. The pure, incomparable Essence is witnessed by the
hearts of earth.
"Before you asked, I asked for you,
I set up the world all for you.
"A thousand in the city are in love with Me--
Live in joy: I asked for you."272

269 Allusion to such Koranic verses as 20:55: "Out of the earth We created you, and to it We
shall make you return, and from it We shall cause you to emerge a second time."
270 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 455.2.
271 Ridwân is the angel in charge of the Garden.
272 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr VIII 374-75.
 175

5. Macrocosmic Marriage

The relationship between heaven and earth is that between yang and yin, male and
female, husband and wife. We have already quoted the following lines of Rûmî:
In the view of intellect, heaven is the man
and earth the woman.
Whatever the one throws down,
the other nurtures.273
Ibn al-`Arabî makes the same point in the following passage. He has in mind the Koranic
verse, "He revealed its command to each heaven" (41:12).
God placed between heaven and earth a supra-formal conjunction and an attentiveness
toward the children--the minerals, plants, and animals--which He desired to bring into existence
in the earth. He made the earth like the wife and the heaven like the husband. The heaven casts
something of the command that God revealed to it into the earth, just as the man casts water into
the woman through intercourse. When the casting takes place, the earth brings out all the strata
of the engendered things that God has concealed within it.274
Because of her beauty and virtue, the earth is eminently lovable. Heaven marries her not
simply out of duty, but for pleasure and joy. Many Muslim authorities hold that the sexual
relationship that marks the consummation of marriage is itself a positive good, whether or not the
goal is to have children. Islam's "liberal" evaluation of sexual relationships has often been
remarked upon, most notably by nineteenth century missionaries trying to prove the superiority
of Christianity's ascetic approach. Nowadays, of course, that criticism has largely been forgotten
because of new attitudes, but something of it lingers on, especially in the general Western
attitude toward the permissibility for a man to take four wives. The West views monogamy as
closer to a "religious" attitude. And of course few Western women have been able to grasp the
benefits of polygamy.
However this may be, it is not my purpose here to provide an apologia for the Sharia or
Islamic sexual mores. I am merely concerned with bringing out the "deep background" of
Islamic attitudes toward relationships, whether or not these pertain to the strictly human realm.
Islamic myth and thought often picture relationships in terms of male and female, heaven and
earth. Hence it is totally normal that marriage should frequently be employed to explain the
nature of the fruitful relationship between the two sides.
The Arabic term most commonly used for marriage, nikâh, also signifies coitus, but
Islamic law makes a clear distinction between legitimate and illegitimate coitus. Nikâh refers
only to the former. The term nikâh is also used in a figurative sense, such as "The rain married
the soil," "The disease married the man," "Drowsiness married his eye."275 Our authors often
use the term in metaphysical or cosmological contexts. In what follows, I translate it sometimes
as marriage and sometimes as marriage act, depending on the context.

Fathers and Mothers

273Chapter 5. Macrocosmic Marriage Rûmî, Mathnawî III 4404 (cf. SPL 163).
274 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 131.23 (Y 2,277.15).
275 Cf. Lane, Lexicon, under nakaha.
 176

We have seen on more than one occasion that the four elements and the three kingdoms
born from them are sometimes called the "mothers" and the "children." Ibn al-`Arabî often
employs such terms. For example, the title of chapter 11 of his al-Futûhât al-makkiyya is
"Concerning our fathers, the high things, and our mothers, the low things." High and low, as
already noted, are juxtaposed to express the difference between the spiritual and the corporeal.
In this particular chapter, Ibn al-`Arabî is more concerned with the relationship between spirits
and souls. Among created things, spirits are the most closely akin to the divine. They are more
or less identical with the "divine breath" blown into Adam. For Ibn al-`Arabî and many others,
the qualities of spirits stand at the antipodes of bodily qualities. Between bodies and spirits stand
the souls (nufûs), which partake of the characteristics of both sides. Hence souls are "imaginal,"
since they are both luminous and dark, intelligent and ignorant, high and low, and so on.
Through their affinity with bodies, souls are thoroughly permeated by bodily attributes.
When our authors consider the contrast between spirits and souls, they set up the same
relationships that exist between spirits and bodies. Spirits are pure light while souls are
darkness, imbued with the qualities of the elements. We can see the justification for this in
everyday experience. For all practical purposes, the body as body can be ignored, since as body
it is dead, no different from a corpse. It is the body as living through the soul that is at issue, and
that living body cannot be considered apart from the soul. Bodily pain and pleasure are
experienced as real by the soul, since life and sensation are attributes of soul, not body. Hence
the soul is identical with our embodied self. The distinction between body and soul can be
ignored until it becomes relevant to the discussion.
In contrast to both soul and body, the spirit stands beyond normal experience. As the
luminous and noumenous reality beyond the soul, the spirit is a father, since all positive qualities
descend from it. In contrast, the embodied soul is a mother, since it is the locus wherein the
spirit's attributes become manifest. The spirit is rain-giving heaven and the soul fruit-yielding
earth.
If soul and body can be considered practically identical in their oppositional relationship
to the spirit, from another point of view they are completely different. That is when the
similarity and affinity between spirit and soul is taken into account, and the difference between
soul and body. As an imaginal reality, the soul reflects the life and luminosity of the spirit, while
the body is dead and dark. The soul is, as it were, simply the face of the spirit turned toward the
world of lowness and density. If the soul turns back upon itself, it will see its own identity with
the spirit. This is the path of spiritual realization and human perfection.
Ibn al-`Arabî begins the chapter on "fathers and mothers" with a poem summarizing its
contents. He speaks for the human individual:
I am the son of fathers--pure spirits--
and mothers--elemental souls.
Souls are "elemental" since they are thoroughly imbued with bodily attributes and with
the properties of the four elements that make up the body. Hence the qualities of earth, water,
air, and fire all manifest themselves within the soul. But spirit is pure light, dwelling beyond the
realm of the elements.
Our locus of manifestation is between spirit and body,
the result of a union of embracing and pleasure.
We as human beings come into existence as the result of the marriage of spirit and body.
The "we" with whom we identify is precisely our soul.
I come not from one, that I should declare him one,
 177

but from a group of fathers and mothers.

From a cosmological perspective, human beings come into existence as the result of the
marriage between plural properties present within the spiritual and corporeal realities. They are
not created directly by God.
God is to them--when you investigate their task --
like a carpenter who makes things with tools.
They are not related to him like his product.
Thus did the Lord bring us into existence.
In this cosmological scheme, the fathers and mothers--the heavenly and earthly qualities--
are the tools through which God creates the human universe. The tools are not the finished
product of His work.
Hence he who declares his Creator one speaks truly,
and he who affirms causes speaks the truth.
If you look at the tools, it will take long before
the attribution goes step by step to the Essence.
But if you look at Him, while He brings us into existence,
we will uphold His oneness without any groups.
The Unique Entity alone gave birth to me;
all people have the same father, but different mothers.
On the one hand, we have a variety of fathers because of the qualities of the spiritual
world. On the other hand, we all have but a single father because of the oneness of God. This is
a cosmological application of the principles of incomparability and similarity: From the first
point of view, creativity is God's alone. From the second, it is reflected within the creaturely
realm. As we will see below, Ibn al-`Arabî sometimes refers to God as "father" (ab) within the
cosmological context. This is unusual in Islamic texts, because of the Christian connotations of
the term.
Ibn al-`Arabî begins the prose part of the chapter by affirming a standard theme of Islam,
that human beings were God's goal in creation. The microcosm is the crowning glory of the
cosmos, since it governs the macrocosm through its knowledge and awareness. As we saw in the
last chapter, "God subjected to you" human beings "everything in the heavens and the earth"
(45:13). The goal of creating the spiritual and corporeal realities, the fathers and mothers, was
nothing but giving birth to the children, the human being specifically.
The goal of this cosmos was the human being. Human beings are the leader [of all
things] [imâm]. Hence we attributed the fathers and mothers to them. We said, "our fathers, the
high things, and our mothers, the low things."
Ibn al-`Arabî now defines his terms so that we will understand why he refers to high and
low realities as fathers and mothers. He has in view the qualitative significance of the terms.
What is it that makes a father a father and a mother a mother in the most general sense?
Everything that exercises an effect [mu'aththir] is a father, and everything that receives an
effect [mu'aththar fîh] is a mother. This is the general rule of this chapter. That which is born
between the two from the effect is called a son [ibn] or a child [muwallad]. . . .
The spirits are all fathers, while Nature is the mother, since Nature is the locus of
transmutations. When the spirits turn their attention toward the pillars--the elements--which are
 178

receptive toward change and transmutation, the children--the minerals, plants, animals, and jinn--
become manifest in Nature. The most perfect of these is the human being.276
If the defining characteristics of fathers and mothers are exercising effects and receiving
effects, the terms can be employed in a wide variety of contexts.277 Ibn al-`Arabî takes speech
and architecture as examples:
The speaker is a father, the listener is a mother, and speech is a marriage. What comes to
exist from this within the understanding of the listener is a son.
Every father is high, since he exercises effects. Every mother is low, since she receives
effects. And every determinate relationship between the two is a marriage and a turning of
attention. Every result is a son.
From here one understands the words of the speaker when he wants someone to stand up:
Stand! The object of desire is achieved through the standing. It is the result of the effect of the
word Stand! If the listener--who is the mother, without doubt--does not stand up, then she is
barren. And if she is barren, she is not a mother in this state. . . .
If the architect has knowledge but is not well skilled in workmanship, he casts what he
has to the hearing of one who is skilled in the work of carpentry. The speech of the architect is a
father, and the reception of the listener is a mother. Then the knowledge of the listener becomes
a second father, while his limbs become a mother.
If you like, you can say that the architect is a father, and the craftsman or carpenter is a
mother in respect to the fact that he listens to what the architect casts. If the architect exercises
an effect upon him, then he has caused what he has in his capacity to descend into the soul of the
carpenter. Then a form appears to the carpenter in his inward dimension. It derives from what
the architect cast to him and is actualized in the existence of his imagination as subsistent and
manifest to him. This form stands in the station of the child of the architect to which the
carpenter's understanding gives birth.
Then the carpenter undertakes his work. He is the father in respect to the lumber, which
is the mother of the carpentry. He works with his tools, through which the marriage act and the
ejaculation of semen take place, that is, every strike with the adz or cutting with the saw. Every
cutting, separating, and joining of planks is for the sake of configuring the form. Then the chest
becomes manifest, like the child that is born, coming into the world of sense perception.
This is the way you should understand the realities in the hierarchy of fathers, mothers,
and children and the way in which results are produced. Any father who does not have the
attribute of working [`amal] is not a father in that respect. He may have knowledge, but the
instrument of communication is prevented from speech or allusion in order to make understood,
while he himself is not doing the work. Then he is not a father in every respect. He is a mother
to the knowledges that are actualized in his soul.278

276 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 138.17 (Y 2,309.2).

277 If Ibn al-`Arabî can demonstrate this philosophically, the poets for their part constantly
make use of the principle of analogical correspondence in devising imagery. Thus, for example,
in Rûmî's view, "Every act in the world can be conceived as a birth; every cause is the mother of
a result" (Schimmel, Triumphal Sun 125). On Rûmî's use of the image of the "mother," cf. ibid.
124-28.
278 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 139.10 (Y 2,311.6), 140.3 (Y 2,315.4).
 179

In showing the wide application of the terms father and mother, Ibn al-`Arabî has in view
the spirit of the Koranic revelation, a point that he makes explicit in this chapter on a number of
occasions. For example, he points to one of the Koranic verses referring to the creation of Eve
from Adam, a verse we have already quoted: "It is He who created you from one soul and made
from it its spouse that he might rest in her" (7:189). The verse then says, "Then, when he
covered her, she bore a light burden," referring to her pregnancy. "When it became heavy they
cried to God their Lord, 'If Thou givest us a righteous son, we indeed shall be of the thankful.'"
Ibn al-`Arabî turns his attention to the verb the Koran employs here, "to cover" (taghashshâ). He
points out that the Koran uses the same verbal root, in the same meaning, to describe the
relationship between night and day. He also mentions other verses that employ a similar sexual
symbolism. And he points out that both night and day may be considered father or mother, yang
or yin, depending upon the point of view. Note in the following the distinction between daytime
(nahâr) and the twenty-four hour "day" (yawm), which comprises both nighttime and daytime.
Nighttime and daytime are found in time. God made the two a father and a mother
because of what He originates through them. He says, "He makes the nighttime cover the
daytime" [7:54]. He says something similar concerning Adam: "When he covered her, she
bore." Hence, when the nighttime covers the daytime, the nighttime is a father and the daytime
is a mother. Everything that God brings into existence in the daytime is like the children to
whom a woman gives birth. . . .
In the same way, God says, "God makes the nighttime enter into the daytime, and makes
the daytime enter into the nighttime" [22:61]. Thereby He increased explanation concerning the
fact that they perform the marriage act with each other.
Through His words, "And a sign for them is the nighttime: We draw the daytime out from
it" [36:37], He explains that the nighttime is daytime's mother and that daytime is born from her.
In the same way, the child "is drawn out" from its mother when it comes out of her, and the
snake "draws out" from its skin. Hence daytime becomes manifest as a child in another world,
different from the world embraced by nighttime. Here daytime is the father. . . .
Hence nighttime and daytime are fathers in one respect and mothers in another respect.
All minerals, plants, and animals that God brings into existence in the world of the pillars while
nighttime and daytime turn round about are called the children of daytime and nighttime.279
Ibn al-`Arabî makes similar points in another passage:
God made both daytime and nighttime female and male in order to produce the results,
the children, that become manifest among the four pillars. In days in general, the mother of
every effect that is born and becomes manifest in the daytime is the daytime, while its father is
the nighttime. The mother of that which becomes manifest in the nighttime is the nighttime,
while its father is the daytime. Hence "The nighttime enters into the daytime" when the daytime
is female, and "The daytime enters into the nighttime" when the nighttime is female.280
In discussing the qualities found in cosmic realities, our authors never forget that the root
of these qualities is the Divine Reality. Fathers and mothers both manifest divine attributes.
Kâshânî reminds us of this fact in commenting on the Koranic verse,

279 Ibid. 141.5 (Y 2,319.10).

280 Ibid. II 445.18. For an expanded discussion, with a few conclusions showing some of the
relevance to qualitative thinking, cf. Ibn al-`Arabî, Ayyâm al-sha'n 7-8.
 180

Thy Lord has decreed that you shall not worship any but Him, and to be good to parents,
whether one or both of them attains old age with you. Say not to them "Fie," neither chide them,
but speak unto them words respectful, and lower to them the wing of humbleness out of mercy
and say, "My Lord, have mercy upon them, as they nurtured me when I was little." (17:23-24)
To worship none but God is the fundamental teaching of Islam, equivalent to tawhîd.
Why, in this verse, does the Koran place being good (ihsân) to parents second only to the most
basic teaching of Islam? Kâshânî explains:
God places being good to parents next to tawhîd and considering Him alone as worthy of
worship because parents correspond to the Divine Presence in the fact that they are the cause of
your existence. And they correspond to the Presence of Lordship in the fact that they nurtured
you when you were a helpless and weak infant, without power and motion. They were the first
locus of manifestation within which such attributes of God as bringing into existence, lordship,
mercy, and kindliness became manifest in relation to you. With all that, their rights need to be
observed, while God is independent of that. Hence the most important obligatory duty after
tawhîd is being good to them and fulfilling their rights to the extent possible.281

Universal Marriage
Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers devote a good deal of attention to the nature of marriage
or sexual intercourse, not as a human phenomenon but as the universal power of productivity
found within every level of existence. One of Ibn al-`Arabî's lost works is called Kitâb al-nikâh
al-sârî fî jamî` al-dharârî, "The book on the marriage act that pervades all atoms."282 Many
passages in the Futûhât deal with the theme. In general, he looks at marriage as a reality that
manifests certain qualities in all things:
When an act gives rise to something that had no entity before it, that is a property of
marriage. There is no act that does not give rise to something in accordance with its own reality
and way. Hence marriage is a root of all things. Hence it possesses all-encompassingness,
excellence, and priority.283
Ibn al-`Arabî calls Chapter 21 of the Futûhât "Concerning the true knowledge of three
sciences of the engendered universe and their entering into each other [tawâluj]." He begins the
chapter by noting that the topic of the chapter is marriage, and that the root of marriage is found
in God Himself.
This chapter deals with the knowledge of reproduction [tawâlud] and procreation
[tanâsul]. It is one of the sciences connected to engendered things. Its root is found in the divine
science. First we will explain to you its form among the engendered things, and then we will
make it manifest to you in the divine science.
The root of every science is found in the divine knowledge, since everything other than
God derives from God. God says, "He has subjugated to you what is in the heavens and what is
in the earth, all of it from Him" [45:14].
This science of interpenetration [tadâkhul] permeates all things. It is the science of
conjunction [iltihâm] and marriage. It has three kinds: sensory, supra-sensory, and divine.284

281 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 717.

282 Yahya, Histoire et classification, no. 544.
283 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 167.18.
284 Ibid. I 170.7 (Y 3,101.2).
 181

Sensory conjunction is the sexual act that occurs among animals. Supra-sensory
conjunction pertains to the realm of "meanings" or ideas and is illustrated by the syllogism,
through which two premises meet and give birth to a conclusion. Divine marriage takes place
when God brings a thing into existence. He and the nonexistent thing are male and female, while
the existent thing that results from the union is the child.
The discussion of the original divine marriage has to do with the nature of the nonexistent
things, also called the immutable entities, or the things of the cosmos as known by God for all
eternity. In God's knowledge, they are nonexistent in themselves. Only when God gives them
existence do they enter into the cosmos for their determined stay. God in Himself, nondelimited
Being, is the father. Thus Ibn al-`Arabî writes, "I have alluded to the all-pervading First Father:
the all-comprehensive, greatest name that is followed by all the other names."285 In other
words, the First Father is Allah, which embraces all the other names and denotes the Real. The
mother is the nonexistent things, while the creatures that enter into existence are the children.
Fathers are "high" and mothers "low." The "highness" of the father in this case is the fact that He
is Being Itself, the source of all realities. The mother is "low" because she has no existence of
her own. She is pure receptivity toward the perfections that the father sends down. Ibn al-`Arabî
refers to the state of the things in God's knowledge as their "thingness." The term derives from
various Koranic verses that refer to the "things" before God creates them, like the verse Ibn al-
`Arabî quotes in the following.286
The first of the high fathers is manifestly clear. The first of the low mothers is the
thingness of the nonexistent possible things. The first marriage is the intention of the command
[given to the nonexistent thing, that is, "Be!"]. The first child is the existence of the entity of that
thingness.
This father is all-pervasive in fatherness, this mother all-pervasive in motherness, and this
marriage all-pervasive in all things. The result is continuous. It is never cut off for anything
whose entity is manifest. This is what we call "The Marriage that Pervades all Atoms." As
evidence for what we said, God says, "Our only word to a thing, when We desire it, is to say to it
'Be,' and it is" [16:40].287
Since this divine marriage is continuous, its celebration is also continuous. The guests at
the wedding festivities are the divine names, who rejoice in the fact that their properties become
manifest in the cosmos through the marriage. Without this marriage, the Hidden Treasure would
remain hidden.
The divine marriage act is the attentiveness of the Real toward the possible thing in the
presence of possibility through the desire of love. . . . The entity of the possible thing is named
"wife," the attentiveness through desire and love is called the "marriage act," and producing the
result is called the "bestowal of existence upon the entity of the possible thing." . . . The
wedding feasts are the rejoicing of the Most Beautiful Names. For the marriage results in a
bestowal of manifested existence upon the entities of the possible things, in order that the effects
of the names may become manifest. . . . This marriage is constant and continuous in existence.
There can be no cessation or divorce in this marriage contract.288

285 Ibid. 139.20 (Y 2,312.10).

286 Cf. SPK 88-89.
287 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 139.14 (Y 2,311.14).
288 Ibid. III 516.4 (cf. SPK 86).
 182

It is worth emphasizing that Ibn al-`Arabî often discerns the qualities connected with
marriage in unexpected places. For example, in the midst of a discussion of dream-visions in the
Futûhât, he cites the Koranic verse, "It is He who forms you in the wombs as He will" (3:6).
Then he says,
Among the "wombs" is imagination. God forms within it imaginal things as He will on
the basis of a supra-sensory marriage and a supra-sensory pregnancy. God opens up meanings
within that womb. "In any form He will, He composes" them [82:8]. Hence He shows you
Islam as a dome, the Koran as butter and honey, and religion as a shirt--long, short, plaited,
doubled, clean, dirty--in keeping with the situation of the religion of the dreamer or the one upon
whom the clothing is seen.289 I saw such a thing for a judge of Damascus while he was
undertaking judgment in Damascus. He was Shams al-Dîn Ahmad ibn Muhadhdhib al-Dîn
Khalîl al-Jûnî--God give him success, support him with His angels, and protect him in his giving
judgments! A speaker was saying to him in the dream, "God has bestowed upon you a clean,
long gown. Dirty it not and let it not shrink!" I awoke and mentioned that to him. May God
make him one of those who preserves the divine admonition! Hence imagination is one of the
wombs within which forms appear.290
Ibn al-`Arabî's teachings on the marriage that pervades all things is systematized by his
disciple Qûnawî, who discusses it in some detail in at least three of his works. Qûnawî's style is
often much more difficult than that of his master, not because he is more obscure, but because he
is careful to use technical terminology of a philosophical rather than mythic type. One of his
major concerns was to bridge the gap between Sufism and Islamic philosophy. In what follows,
I synthesize his teachings on marriage from three works, translating only occasionally, where the
discussion is non-technical enough to make sense in English.291 My version is simplified and
does not do justice to the subtleties of the original. But it is more useful for our purposes here to
provide the flavor of this discussion than to try to provide a thorough analysis that would take
many pages.
Qûnawî tells us that there are five fundamental levels of marriage: unseen, spiritual,
"natural" or pertaining to the Dominion, elemental or low, and "human" in a peculiar sense.292
The first marriage pertains to the level of the Divine Essence inasmuch as It can be
understood in terms of certain fundamental names that Qûnawî calls "the keys to the Unseen,"
after the Koranic verse, "With Him are the keys to the Unseen; none knows them but He" (6:59).
A "key" (miftâh) is an instrument for "opening" (fath). The keys to the Unseen open the locked

289 These are standard examples of imaginal experience, mostly derived from various hadiths.
Cf. SPK 122, 397n14.
290 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 508.17.
291 Most of this material, plus a great deal more, is found in al-Fanârî's commentary on
Qûnawî's Miftâh al-ghayb (Misbâh al-ins 159-64). Al-Fanârî takes much of his explanation from
Qûnawî's Sharh al-hadîth (no. 22), and his commentary on the opening chapter of the Koran
(Qûnawî, al-Tafsîr al-sûfî 180-92/I`jâz al-bayân 73-85).
292 Clear correspondences can be drawn between these five levels and the well-known "Five
Divine Presences," a term apparently coined by Qûnawî. It is interesting to note that Ibn al-
`Arabî often talks of three fundamental "presences," as he talks of three fundamental "marriages"
in the passage quoted above. In both cases it may have been Qûnawî who expanded them to five
in a systematic manner.
 183

door that is the Divine Essence and allow it to establish certain primary relationships with the
cosmos. "The first marriage is the turning of the Divine Essence toward the first, original
names--which are the keys to the Unseen of the Divine Essence and to the Presence of
Engendered Existence."293 These keys "open up" engendered existence, the created world, the
cosmos. Without the keys there would be nothing other than God. The marriage takes place
when the father, Sheer Being, impregnates the mother, who is these Keys to the Unseen. Being
in Itself is nondelimited and nonentified; no name can be applied to It. But Being as delimited
and defined by the Keys to the Unseen establishes the universal parameters of existence. The
child born from this marriage is the Breath of the All-merciful, the divine exhalation within
which all created things come into existence as words. Qûnawî also refers to the first child as the
"World of Meanings," that is, the world of the divine names and the immutable entities, or the
divine knowledge that knows the things before they are given existence.
The second marriage is "spiritual." It is the coming together of active and receptive
meanings within the World of Meanings to give birth to the spiritual realities, which dwell in the
first created world. Those meanings that reflect the influence and activity of the Keys to the
Unseen are known as the "properties of Necessity," since they denote the qualities of the
Absolute Being that cannot not be. Other meanings are receptive to these active meanings and
are known as the "properties of possibility." In other words, we have here at the level of the
meanings what Farghânî calls the "Oneness of Being" and the "Manyness of Knowledge," or the
"properties of Necessity" and the "properties of possibility." The meanings give rise to spiritual
realities, such as intellects, souls, and angels, which are like mirrors reflecting the qualities of
their parents.
The third marriage is known as "natural" or "pertaining to the Dominion." The term
Nature in Ibn al-`Arabî's school refers to the whole domain of existence that lies below the
purely spiritual realm and thus includes the world of imagination as well as the corporeal world.
The term Dominion (malakût), as we have seen already, is used in opposition to the Kingdom
(mulk), which is the corporeal world. In this context, Qûnawî is employing the term Dominion
to refer to an intermediary domain between the spiritual world or "Invincibility" (jabarût) and the
corporeal world. The marriage in question takes place when certain high spirits turn toward the
level of Nature. The children are those angelic beings who inhabit the heavens, which Qûnawî
identifies with the World of Imagination.
The fourth marriage pertains to the low, elemental world. It is the conjunction that takes
place between the simple corporeal realities as a result of the influences of the heavenly and
spiritual realities. The fruit of the marriage is the production of the compound, corporeal things,
that is, minerals, plants, and animals.
Each of the three lower levels of marriage results from the activities of the level or levels
that stand beyond it. Each lower level is more restricted and confined than the higher levels. As
for the fifth level, Qûnawî tells us that "Marriage has no fifth level, except for the intelligible
reality (ma`qûliyya) of the coming together of all the levels, and this pertains exclusively to the
human being."294 In other words, human beings, as microcosms, bring together in their reality
all the levels of marriage, and this itself is a "marriage" or conjunction of all realities.

293 Qûnawî, Miftâh al-ghayb 161.

294 Ibid. 163.
 184

Qûnawî discusses these marriages mainly to illustrate the nature of human perfection,
which is identical with the perfection of Being's full manifestation. At each level, different
children are produced, depending upon how the parents interrelate. Some of the children are
more general in scope and property. In other words, they manifest more of the qualities of
Being, more of the names embraced by the all-comprehensive name Allah, more of the colors
present in pure light.
For example, there may be a spirit that becomes manifest from a divine turning of
attentiveness in respect of one hundred names. It is more perfect and more complete than a spirit
that becomes manifest from a divine turning of attentiveness in respect of ten names.295
The perfection of each level of marriage is found when complete equilibrium and
harmony is established among all the properties of the divine names manifest at that level. The
perfection of the final level is found in the perfect equilibrium of everything in existence. This
perfect equilibrium is the fully actualized microcosm, the pinnacle of God's creation. Such a
microcosm--a prophet or a great friend of God--can come into existence only when all the levels
of marriage, including the marriage of his or her physical parents, have taken place in complete
harmony. As we saw in Chapter 3, Qûnawî describes the state of human perfection in terms of
the equilibrium of all the divine names and all the realities of the universe. If any one name or
thing dominated over the others, then the person would stand in the "station" of that one name or
thing. But perfection is the point at the center of the circle that is unbiased toward any station. It
is, in Ibn al-`Arabî's terms, the Station of No Station.
A certain interrelationship is eventually established among the properties of all the levels
of equilibrium, that is, the supra-formal level, then the spiritual, then the imaginal or Dominion-
related, then the sensory and elemental. This interrelationship does not allow any of the levels to
dominate any of the other levels. If a level dominated, then the properties of the dominating
level would overcome the properties of the other levels.
The properties of all the levels are combined in the marriage of a pure human being, free
of disequilibrium, with a spouse who is a pure locus. This occurs in a place appropriate for that
[conjunction] which we have mentioned, after the parents have partaken of pure and balanced
food. Then the form of a perfect human individual becomes manifest. The properties of the
intermediaries and the levels are overcome through the Real's turning His attentiveness toward
bringing this form into existence. Or rather, this condition resulting from the combination of
intelligible and imaginal realities and the bringing together of the properties and characteristics
of all the levels. . . receives an effusion from the Real in perfect equilibrium. The effusion is
nondelimited, pure, and manifest according to the properties, forms, and effects of all the levels.
Hence this [human] form is a mirror for all. It is imbued with the characteristics of all the levels
in such a way that all the properties of the levels are preserved without any change entering in
upon the divine effusion and self-disclosure that emanates from this level of human
perfection.296

Triplicity
More than any other Muslim thinker, Ibn al-`Arabî sought out the "divine roots" of
phenomena by analyzing the nature of the relationships between the absolutely Real and the

295 Ibid.
296 Ibid.
 185

relatively real. Up until this point we have tried to find the key to the Islamic understanding of
marriage in the nature of the yin/yang relationship. Implied by that approach is the existence of a
fundamental polarity. But Ibn al-`Arabî often looks a bit more closely at the relationship
between yin and yang and points out that we are not dealing with two terms, but three: the two
sides and the relationship itself. When we look at the production of results or offspring (intâj),
that is, the quality in respect of which marriage is found on every level of existence and in all
things, then we see that three things are involved: husband, wife, and the marriage act. This
holds true at every level. Hence, all things come into existence because of "triplicity" (tathlîth).
At the divine level, the triplicity is found in God Himself. Ibn al-`Arabî usually cites
three divine principles as fundamental for creation: (1) the Essence, or Being, or God in
Himself; (2) the desire (irâda) on God's part to bring something into existence, or His love for
that thing; and (3) the creative word or command. He sees these three principles mentioned in
the Koranic verse, "Our only word to a thing, when We desire it, is to say to it 'Be!' and it is"
(16:40). Word and desire are mentioned explicitly, while "We" is the divine Essence.
In the Futûhât, Ibn al-`Arabî explains the relationships among these three principles in
some detail. The discussions center around the quality of "singularity" or "being odd" as
opposed to even. What is the essential quality expressed to us through the divine name, al-fard,
the Singular? Why is it that this same word is applied to odd numbers? What is the divine
quality manifested in the odd numbers that allows them to be called by this term? How does this
divine name manifest its qualities in the cosmos? What is the nature of "producing results"
(intâj)? These are some of the issues that the Shaykh is investigating. Remember that in Islamic
mathematics, "one" is not considered a number, so "three" is the first odd number.
Clearly nothing comes to be from "one." The first of the numbers is two, and nothing
whatsoever comes to be from two unless there is a third thing that couples them and relates one
of them to the other. It brings the two together [jâmi`]. At this point what is engendered from
them can be engendered in accordance with the situation of the two. The two things may be two
divine names, or two supra-sensory or sensory engendered things--whatever they may be. The
situation must be like this. This is the property of the name the Singular [al-fard], since three is
the first singular [i.e., the first odd number].
From this name becomes manifest every possible entity that becomes manifest. No
possible thing becomes manifest from the One. It becomes manifest only from a plurality [jam`],
and the smallest plurality is three, which is the singular. Hence every possible thing needs the
name the Singular.297
In another passage, Ibn al-`Arabî explains the nature of this triplicity of the Singular on
the divine level:
In the science of the divine things, entering into one another and reproduction are as
follows: Nothing becomes manifest from the Essence of the Real inasmuch as It is an Essence.
It must first be ascribed to something else. This "something else" is the fact that the power of
bringing into existence is attributed to this Essence. . . .
Once this relationship--the fact that He is powerful--is established, then there has to be a
third thing. That third thing is His desire to bring into existence the entity that is intended. God
has to turn His attentiveness, through His intention, toward bringing the entity into existence.

297 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 126.1.

 186

Rational thought calls this turning "power," while the revealed Book calls it "word." Then the
entity is engendered.
Hence creation comes into existence only from singularity, not from unity, since His
Unity accepts no second, for this is not the unity of number. Therefore, in the science of the
divine things, the cosmos becomes manifest from three intelligible realities. Then all this
pervades the engendered universe, since some parts of it are reproduced through other parts,
because this is the form of the Root.298
The Real brings the cosmos into existence in this manner: The cosmos becomes manifest
from an Essence described by power and desire. Desire becomes connected to bringing an
existent thing into existence. It is the turning of God's attentiveness. It is like the coming
together of the two spouses. Power exercises its influence and brings into existence what He
desired.299
If reproduction is rooted in a certain triplicity in God, it is reflected in the created
triplicity of two things and a relationship, and it is also found on the level of concepts because of
the nature of rational thought. Ibn al-`Arabî frequently refers to the syllogism as a form of
"producing results" based on triplicity. For example,
Proofs [dalîl] are always triple in configuration--there is no escape from that: two terms
[mufrad] and that which brings them together [jâmi`]. This is the third term [wajh] in every two
premises that cannot be avoided if results are to be produced. "Every A is B," and "Every B is
C." Hence B is repeated, and the proof that A is C is established. The comprehending term is B,
since it is repeated in the two premises. Hence every A produces the result C. This is the goal
claimed by the possessor of the claim, since he claimed that every A is C.300
In short, triplicity is found on every level of existence, since marriage is found on every
level of existence.
When God wills to make a person manifest from two other people in the realm of sense
perception, these two produce that person as their result. But the third cannot become manifest
from them as long as a third property does not appear within them. The third property is that one
of the two should come to the other through intercourse [jimâ`]. The two of them come together
in a specific manner and according to a specific condition. The specific condition is that the
locus must be receptive to giving birth, that it must not corrupt the seed that it receives, and that
the seed must accept the opening up of the form within it. This is the specific condition. As for
the specific manner, it is that the two private parts meet, and that the water or wind is let loose
out of passion. Then a third must become manifest, and this third is called a child. The two are
called parents. The manifestation of the third is called a birth. The coming together of the two is
called marriage [nikâh] or fornication [sifâh]. This is a sensory affair, manifest among animate
things. . . .
In Nature, [reproduction] takes place as follows: The heaven rains down water, and the
earth receives the water. "It swells," that is, becomes pregnant, "and puts forth herbs of every
joyous kind" [22:5]. A similar thing happens with the pollination of palms and trees. "Of all
things we created a pair" [51:49] for the sake of reproduction.301

298 Ibid. I 171.15 (Y 3,107.11).

299 Ibid. II 413.3.
300 Ibid. 440.25.
301 Ibid. I 170.11 (Y 3,171.10).
 187

Ibn al-`Arabî's best known explanation of the nature of triplicity is found at the beginning
of Chapter 11 of the Fusûs al-hikam:
Know--God give you success--that the whole situation is built in itself upon singularity,
to which triplicity belongs. Singularity pertains to three and all the successive singular [i.e., odd]
numbers. So three is the first of the singulars. From this Divine Presence, the cosmos comes
into existence. For God says, "Our only word to a thing, when We desire it, is to say to it 'Be!'
and it is" [16:40]. Here we have an Essence, a desire, and a word. . . .
Then that threefold singularity also becomes manifest within the thing. In respect to it
the thing was able to be engendered and become qualified by existence. This singularity is the
fact that it is a thing, its hearing, and its obedience to the command of its Engenderer to come
into existence. Hence three stand opposite three. The essence of the thing, immutable in the
state of its nonexistence, parallels the Essence of Him who brings it into existence. Its giving ear
parallels His desire. And its reception, through obeying the command to be engendered,
parallels His word, "Be!"302

The Pen and the Tablet

Ibn al-`Arabî finds a salient example of "the marriage that pervades all atoms" in the
relationship between the Pen and the Tablet, the two principles of spiritual existence through
which the rest of the cosmos was brought into being. He writes,
A supra-sensory intelligible marriage takes place between the Pen and the Tablet, and a
visible, sensory trace. . . . The trace that was deposited in the Tablet was like the sperm that is
ejaculated and set within the womb of the female. The meanings deposited within the celestial
letters that became manifest from that writing are like the spirits of the children deposited within
their bodies.303
As noted in the introduction, the Koran mentions both Pen and Tablet in rather
ambiguous and seemingly unconnected verses. The hadith literature provides a number of
suggestive explanations for these verses and their connection with other verses where neither Pen
nor Tablet is mentioned by name. Most of these explanations have to do with the idea of the
"measuring out" (qadar) of good and evil, that is, the "predestination" that is an article of faith for
all Muslims. For example, the Koran says, "Did you not know that God knows all that is in the
heaven and earth? Surely that is in a Book; surely that is easy for God" (22:70). Fakhr al-Dîn
Râzî tells us that most authorities consider this "Book" to be identical with the Guarded Tablet.
Within it is written everything that comes into existence in the heavens and the earth.304
Concerning the Koranic mention of the Pen, Râzî says that it means the "well-known Pen
mentioned in the report, 'The first thing God created was the Pen.'" He continues,
Ibn `Abbâs said, "The first thing God created was the Pen. Then He said, 'Write what
will be until the Day of Resurrection.'" He also said that it is a pen of light whose length is the
distance between the heaven and the earth. Mujâhid has related from him that he said, "The first
thing God created was the Pen. Then He said, 'Write the measuring out.' So it wrote what would
be until the Day of Resurrection. People act out an affair with which He has finished."305

302 Ibn al-`Arabî, Fusûs al-hikam 115 (cf. Ibn al'Arabi 141).
303 Idem, Futûhât I 139.29 (Y 2,314.2).
304 Râzî, al-Tafsîr al-kabîr VI 259.
305 Ibid. VIII 260.
 188

Ibn `Abbâs reports that the Prophet said,

God created the Tablet from a white pearl. Its two surfaces are of green emerald, and its
writing is of light. He looks upon it every day with 360 glances. He gives life and slays, He
creates and provides, He exalts and abases, and He does what He will.306
The Shi'ite Imams, pillars of learning in early Islam according to Sunnis as well as
Shi'ites, often mention Pen and Tablet in senses that make obvious connections with the later
explications of Islamic cosmology. Thus some of the Imams say that Pen and Tablet are two
angels, thereby connecting them to the luminous world of the spirits.307 The well known
ascetic Sufyân al-Thawrî asked the sixth Imam, Ja`far al-Sâdiq, about the verse "Nûn. By the
Pen and what they inscribe" (68:1). Nûn, written here as a single letter (i.e., N), is one of the
many isolated letters of the Arabic alphabet that begin various chapters of the Koran. However,
this letter is pronounced nûn, and the word nûn can mean fish (hût), ink (midâd), and inkwell
(dawât). The context of the verse suggests that there may be an allusion to one of these latter
two meanings. Commentators have suggested this, and some have also proposed that this letter
nûn refers to the mythical fish upon which the earth is said to rest. The fish in turn swims in the
ocean, the ocean is held up by the wind, and the wind is maintained by the divine power.308
Sufyân relates that Imam Ja`far spoke concerning this verse as follows:
"Nûn is a river in the Garden. God said to it, 'Harden!' So it hardened and became ink.
Then God said to the Pen, 'Write!' So the Pen wrote in the Guarded Tablet everything that is and
will be until the Day of Resurrection. The Ink is an ink of light, the Pen a pen of light, and the
Tablet a tablet of light."
Then I said to him, "O son of God's Messenger, explain to me the situation of the Tablet,
the Pen, and the Ink with a greater explanation and teach me something of what God has taught
you."
He replied, "O Ibn Sa`îd, if you were not one of the people of answers, I would not
answer you. Nûn is an angel who conveys to the Pen, who is an angel. The Pen conveys to the
Tablet, who is an angel. The Tablet conveys to Seraphiel, Seraphiel conveys to Michael,
Michael conveys to Gabriel, and Gabriel conveys to the messengers and the prophets.309
The yang/yin implications of Pen and Tablet are plain. The Pen's masculinity needs no
explanation, while the Tablet's feminine receptivity is just as obvious. Ibn al-`Arabî frequently
makes use of this symbolism, as we saw above in his description of the marriage of Pen and
Tablet. Elsewhere he writes as follows:
Since God created this First Intellect as a Pen, it sought through its own reality a place for
its effectivity to write, since it is a Pen. From this search arose the Guarded Tablet, that is, the
Soul. Hence the Tablet was the first existent thing to arise from something created, since it arose
from the searching that subsisted in the Pen. . . .

306 Majlisî, Bihâr al-anwâr LIV 376. Majlisî records several similar reports from Ibn `Abbâs
himself (without reference to the Prophet), often with significant differences in detail. Cf. ibid.
372-75.
307 Ibid. 369, 370.
308 For the various interpretations of nûn, cf. Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr X 186-87; Râzî, al-Tafsîr
al-kabîr VIII 259-60.
309 Majlisî, Bihâr al-anwâr LIV 368.
 189

The Intellect cast to the Soul everything within itself to the Day of Resurrection,
inscribed and arranged. This was a third existent thing, whose level was between the Tablet and
the Pen and whose existence came after the Tablet. . . .
The form of the Intellect's acceptance from God was a self-disclosure of the All-merciful
out of love between the Self-discloser and that to which He disclosed Himself. From this station
God appointed love and mercy between the pair [zawjayn], "That he might rest in her" [7:189].
He made the wife to be created from the entity and soul of the husband, as He said: "He created
for you, of your own souls, spouses, so that you might rest in them, and He has placed between
you love and mercy. Surely in that are signs," that is, marks and indications, "for a people who
reflect" [30:21] and come to know that this is the Real.310
Just as the human world needed an Adam and an Eve, so also the cosmos as a whole
needed a spiritual Adam and a spiritual Eve--Pen and Tablet--to bring the heavens, earth, and
everything between the two into existence. Pen and Tablet are the spiritual principles of created
duality. In the words of Ibn al-`Arabî,
In reality the instructor [al-mu`allim] is God, while the whole cosmos is a learner, a
seeker, poor, and in need. . . . The first teacher [ustâdh] in the cosmos is the First Intellect, while
the first student [muta`allim] to take from a created teacher is the Guarded Tablet. This is the
religious nomenclature, while rational thinkers refer to the Tablet as the "Universal Soul." It is
the first existent thing that arises from something created. It is a locus that receives the activity
of the Intellect. It is to the Intellect as Eve is to Adam. It was created from the Intellect and was
paired [tazawwuj] to it, so the Intellect became two [thany], just as existence became two
through the temporally originated thing, and the divine knowledge became two through the
temporally originated Pen.311
A father is anything that exercises an effect and a mother is anything that receives an
effect. In the same way, a pen is what writes and a tablet is what is written upon. Hence it is not
surprising to find discussion of a plurality of tablets in the cosmos. In commenting on the
Koranic verse, "God obliterates whatsoever He will, and He establishes; and with Him is the
Mother of the Book" (13:39), Kâshânî tells us that the Pen itself is a Tablet in relation to God.
Then the Soul is the Tablet upon which the Pen writes. The Soul in turn writes in the heavenly
souls, and these write upon matter and produce the corporeal world. Hence the terms pen and
tablet, like so many other correlative terms, have to be understood as designating specific

310 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 428.8. In the continuation of this passage, Ibn al-`Arabî draws a
conclusion that may seem surprising to the Christian sensibility, which would make marriage an
inseparable bond. Muslims, in contrast, consider marriage as a contract that may be brought to
an end through divorce. Though divorce is not encouraged, neither is it forbidden. "The profit
of reflecting upon this is that when a man marries a woman and he finds rest in her, and when
God places between them love and mercy, he knows that God desires their union. But rest in the
companion may be removed from one of them or both of them, and love may disappear. For
love is the fixity of this rest, which is why it is called 'love' [wadd (literally "stake")], while God
is named al-wadûd, since His love for those servants He loves is firmly fixed. Mercy may
disappear from between them, or from one of them toward the companion, so that the one turns
away from the other. Then he will know that God desires their divorce, so he may undertake
that." Futûhât II 428.17.
311 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 399.12,28.
 190

relationships. What is "pen" from one point of view may be "tablet" from another point of view.
In the following and in subsequent quotations from Koran commentators, the Koranic verses are
italicized.
God obliterates whatsoever He will from the particular tablets, which are the inscriptions
fixed within the heavenly souls. Hence what He obliterates ceases to exist in the souls and is
annihilated from material substrata. And He affirms whatsoever He will within them, so it
comes to be. And with Him is the Mother of the Book, that is, the Tablet of precedent decree,
which is the Universal Intellect, inscribed with everything that has been and will be, from
eternity without beginning to eternity without end, in a universal mode, free from obliteration
and affirmation.
There are four tablets: The tablet of precedent decree [qadâ'] towers beyond obliteration
and affirmation. It is the First Intellect.
The tablet of measure [qadar] is the Universal Rational Soul, within which the universal
things of the First Tablet become differentiated and attached to their secondary causes. It is
named the Guarded Tablet.
The tablet of the particular, heavenly souls is a tablet within which is inscribed
everything in this world along with its shape, condition, and measure. This tablet is called the
"heaven of this world." It is like the imagination of the cosmos, just as the first [tablet] is like its
spirit, and the second [tablet] is like its heart.
Then there is the tablet of matter, which receives the forms of the visible world. And
God knows best.312

The Intellect and the Soul

That the predominant characteristics of intellect and soul are male and female is not
unconnected with the grammatical gender of the words `aql and nafs in Arabic. In any case, the
yang/yin relationship between the two is a commonplace in Sufi texts that touch on cosmology.
A relatively early example is provided by the Persian poet Sanâ'î (d. 525/1131):
Know that the father and mother of the subtle world
are the noble Intellect and the rational Soul.
Do not single yourself out from this noble pair,
do not be disloyal to these two roots. . . .
They give substance to the heaven and the pillars,
they take care of the world of the spirit.313
Just as Intellect takes from God, so the Soul takes from the Intellect. The rest of the
universe then falls into line behind these two. At every level there is a parallel relationship
established between that which exercises effects by determining the form, and the material or
maternal dimension that receives effects and displays the forms. Sanâ'î describes both the Arc of
Descent and the Arc of Ascent in terms of these relationships.
In the kingdom of giving form, the situation consists
of the Soul and the one that receives the pictures.
From the first spirit to the last mineral,
active and receptive are placed in between. . . .

312 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 645.

313 Sanâ'î, Hadîqa 305.
 191

The Intellect sits waiting for the Command,

the Soul wounds its heart yearning for the Intellect.
Form becomes the prisoner of matter,
the nine spheres are caught by the seven snares.314
Within the Sphere, four substances
are imprisoned by each other, each an enemy to each.
The three children come from these four pillars:
plants, minerals, and animals.
The plant becomes the food of the animal,
and the animal becomes the food of the human.
Then human rationality becomes the food of the angel,
returning thereby to the Highest Sphere.315
As Sanâ'î points out here, the marriage of Pen and Tablet, or Intellect and Soul, gives
birth to the cosmos, but in a series of stages. All the cosmologists describe a hierarchy of
children. In the view of Ibn al-`Arabî and others, the first child of the Intellect and Soul is
Nature, which in turn becomes the mother of both the imaginal and corporeal worlds. Nature as
mother or womb will be discussed in chapter 7. For now it is sufficient to mention it as a
feminine principle born from the first father and the first mother. The following passages from
Ibn al-`Arabî describe the relationship between Intellect and Soul in terms of marriage:
Have you not considered the Universal Soul, the wife [ahl] of the First Intellect? When
God paired the two in order to manifest the cosmos, the first child who became manifest from the
Universal Soul was Nature.316
The Universal Soul . . . is the locus within which the Divine Pen casts, so it is taken in
marriage [mankûh] by an engendered thing that takes in marriage [nâkih]. Everything below the
Soul belongs to the World of Birth [`âlam al-tawallud]--the Intellect is its father and the Soul its
mother.317
When God married the Intellect to the Soul in order to manifest the children--not to
actualize the pleasure of the consummation318--He settled the children in the earth of Nature.
Hence Nature exercised an effect upon their constitutions.319
One of the first children produced by the marriage of Pen and Tablet was God's Throne,
which encompasses the whole cosmos. Cosmologically the Throne is identified with the ninth
sphere, which is the starless heaven. As was indicated in chapter 3, the Throne is a locus of pure
mercy. Mercy does not become divided into the two feet--mercy and mercy mixed with wrath--
until the Footstool, the eighth sphere. Hence, when the All-merciful sits on the Throne, He has

314 In other words, the seven planets differentiate and define the nine heavens. Without the
seven planets, there could only be the first and second heavens, the starless sphere and the sphere
of the fixed stars.
315 Sanâ'î, Hadîqa 311.
316 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 99.19.
317 Ibid. II 429.29.
318 By adding this condition, Ibn al-`Arabî acknowledges that intercourse has two legitimate
aims: children and pleasure. I will have more to say about these aims in the next chapter.
319 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 231.13.
 192

but one word. When His feet reach the Footstool, the one word becomes divided into contraries.
The fact that the All-merciful sits upon the Throne, thereby encompassing the cosmos, is simply
a manifestation of the principle, "My mercy precedes My wrath."
When the All-Merciful created the Throne, He sat upon it one in Word, His Word having
no contrary. Hence all the Throne is mercy, there being nothing within it contrary to mercy. . . .
Intellect is the Throne's father and the Soul is its mother--which is why the "All-Merciful" sat
upon it: The parents look upon their children only with mercy, and God is the Most Merciful of
the merciful, while the Soul and the Intellect are two existent things noble before God and
beloved to Him. So He sat upon the Throne only through that which would comfort its parents. .
..
If some of the cosmos falls to choking, that is because there is a mercy that they would
not receive if God did not make them drink. The choking is caused by the natural constitution
and the conflict with the desire of the soul. . . . This is like a bad-tasting medicine that gives no
enjoyment. But within it is mercy for the one who drinks it and uses it, even if the person
dislikes it. . . .
God created the Footstool, square in shape, inside the Throne. He let down His two feet.
The One Word, which was one in the Throne, became divided. In the Throne this Word was the
One Mercy to which all things go back. In the Footstool it became divided into mercy and wrath
mixed with mercy. This composition was required by what God desired to manifest in the
cosmos, that is, contraction and expansion and all the opposite qualities. For He is Exalter and
Abaser, Contractor and Expander, Giver and Withholder.320
Though Nature's characteristics are predominantly yin, since it receives the effects of Pen
and Tablet, Nature can also manifest yang qualities in relation to other cosmic realities. In the
following passage we see Nature not as wife or mother, as is usually the case, but as husband.
Here the "Dust" refers to what the philosophers call "Prime Matter" or "Hyle" (hâyûlâ).321 The
"Universal Body" is a corporeal sphere possessing width, height, and depth that fills the Void.
Within it every corporeal thing in the cosmos takes shape.322
Among the things that were cast into the Soul through a most holy, spiritual casting were
Nature and the Dust. Hence the Soul was the first mother to give birth to twins. The first thing
she cast down was Nature, which was followed by the Dust. Hence Nature and the Dust are
brother and sister from a single father and a single mother. Then God married Nature to the
Dust. Born from the two was the Universal Body, the first body to become manifest. Nature is
the father, since it possesses the effectivity. The Dust is the mother, since within it receiving
effects becomes manifest. The result is the Body. Then reproduction descended within the
cosmos all the way to the earth according to a specific hierarchy.323
As mentioned in chapter 2, the Ikhwân al-Safâ' provide a number of sets of names that
they consider synonymous with the terms Intellect and Soul, or Pen and Tablet. Each name
specifies a particular relationship between these two fundamental principles of the created order,
a relationship that is repeated throughout the cosmos in other pairs. In explaining the logic of the
names, the Ikhwân demonstrate the qualities of the two sides in yin/yang fashion:

320 Ibid. 431.9, 432.18.

321 Cf. Hakîm, al-Mu`jam al-sûfî 1095-96.
322 Cf. Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 122 (Y 2,237), II 675, III 119, 433; idem, `Uqla 56-57.
323 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 140.13 (Y 2,316.7).
 193

Those who mentioned "matter and form" meant by this that the Intellect is the form of the
completion of the Soul and that the Soul is its matter, since the Soul receives the Intellect's
effects and the shining of its light. Hence the Intellect deposits the form of completion within the
Soul and takes it to the degree of perfection.
Those who spoke of "light and darkness" meant that the light of Intellect is a light with
no opacity, while the Soul inclines toward Nature. Hence the Soul's ways become dark when it
turns toward Nature, and it forgoes the Intellect. At this point it is dark.
Those who spoke of "Tablet and Pen" meant the Intellect and Soul, since what is written
by the Pen appears in the Guarded Tablet.
Those who spoke of "substance and accident" meant that the Intellect is a substance,
since it the father of the substances and the one who substantiates them. It is the element of
elements and the one who makes the elements into elements. In the Soul's relationship to the
Intellect and in being engendered from it, the Soul is the Intellect's accident, though it is a
substance in relation to others. So also others are substance in relation to those below them.
Those who said "spiritual and corporeal" meant by "spiritual" the Intellect, since it is the
pure spirit of holiness within which is no opacity and which is not touched by density. They
meant by "corporeal" the Soul in relation to the Intellect, since it is united with corporeal things
and inclines toward Nature. But the Soul is spiritual, in respect of being turned toward the
Intellect, and corporeal, in respect of being turned toward Nature.
Those who spoke of "extension and seizure" meant that the Intellect extends its lights,
benefits, and blessings over the Soul, while the Soul seizes what it acquires from the Intellect and
passes it on to those below it. Those below the Soul seize and take it from the Soul.
Those who spoke of "love and yearning" meant by "love" that the Intellect turns toward
the Soul with love, since the Soul is like the Intellect's instrument. "Yearning" is the Soul's
yearning for the Intellect's benefits and receiving its blessings.
Those who spoke of "motion and rest" meant by "motion" that the Intellect comes into
motion at the command of its Originator to make manifest the things. By "rest" they meant the
rest and peace of the Soul in the Intellect.
Those who spoke of "existence and nonexistence" meant by "existence" the Intellect,
which is an existent thing that receives existence by the effusion of generosity from the One
Object of worship, other than whom there is no god. Hence the Intellect is the secondary cause
of the existence of every existent thing. As for "nonexistence," they may have called the Soul
that since it was nonexistent in relation to the Intellect, while the Intellect was prior to the Soul
and the root of its existence.
Those who said "time and space" meant by "time" the Intellect, since it is the time of
times and the aeon of aeons. From it appeared the movement that is the root of time. They
meant by "space" the Soul, since it was a space into which the Intellect cast its benefits. When
the Soul accepted that and expanded for the Intellect, the Soul was space and the Intellect was
the one situated in space. The Intellect was time and the Soul was the one situated in time.
Those who said "this world and the next world" meant by "this world" the Soul, since it is
the secondary cause of this world's becoming populated and its life. By "the next world" they
meant the Intellect, since it is the Abode of Life and the Seat of the All-merciful. The people of
this world come from the Intellect and return to it in the next world, while the Soul turns back to
the Intellect and returns to it.
Those who said "cause and effect" meant by "cause" the Intellect and by "effect" the
Soul, since the Intellect is the cause of the Soul and the secondary cause of its existence.
 194

Those who said "origin and return" meant by "origin" the Intellect, since it is the root of
the origin of the things. By "return" they meant the Soul, since it returns to the Intellect when it
acquires from it and receives its own matter.
Those who said "manifest and nonmanifest" meant by "manifest" the Intellect, because of
the manifestation of its signs and the clarity of things to which it gives existence. By
"nonmanifest" they meant the Soul, since the flow of its faculties are nonmanifest. In the same
way, the Soul's spirituality is located within the nonmanifest dimensions of the sensory things,
the hidden recesses of the corporeal things, and the subtle centers of the natural things.
The demonstration of this explanation is clear. The sayings of the sages in their goals
and intentions have agreed upon it, even if they were diverse in their words, sayings, and
expressions.324
Ibn al-`Arabî's followers often illustrate how Intellect and Soul manifest their own divine
roots, or those divine qualities to which they correspond on their own level. Primarily, these
qualities are activity for the Intellect and receptivity for the Soul, or yang and yin. Thus, for
example, Farghânî ties Intellect and Soul back to the two inherent attributes of the Essence, the
Oneness of Being and the Manyness of Knowledge. He writes:
The Essence has two inherent attributes: oneness, to which pertains activity, and
manyness, to which pertains receptivity. . . . It is through the quality of oneness with its activity
that the Greatest Spirit--which is the First Intellect--becomes manifest. . . . The quality of
manyness along with its receptivity becomes manifest by means of the Soul.325

Natural Children
The Pen and the Tablet give birth to the creatures that make up the "natural world," which
embraces all the imaginal and corporeal realities below the spiritual world. In discussing these
children, `Azîz al-Dîn Nasafî provides a good overview of Sufi cosmological thinking. His
primary concern is to bring out relationships between God, the cosmos, and the human being.
On each level of existence he describes realities that correspond to what is found on other levels.
He begins by setting up the basic duality between spiritual and corporeal, but he soon expands on
it in order to bring out the complexities of the actual situation.
Some people say that this First Intellect, which is God's Pen, was addressed by the words,
"Write upon this first sphere, which is the Tablet of God!" The Pen replied, "O God, what shall I
write?" The command came, "Write everything that was, is, and will be until the Day of
Resurrection." The Pen wrote all of this, and the Pen became dry. "God has finished with
creation, provision, and fixed terms."326 . . .
In my opinion, this First Intellect, which is the Pen of God, was addressed as follows:
"Write upon yourself and upon the First Sphere."327 It wrote in the blink of an eye. "His only
command, when He desires a thing, is to say to it 'Be!', and it is" [36:82]. Immediately all the
intellects, souls, and natures came into existence from the First Intellect. And the spheres, stars,
and elements appeared from the First Sphere, were arranged in layers, and became separated

324 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Jâmi`at al-jâmi`a 67-69.

325 Farghânî, Muntahâ al-madârik II 3-4.
326 This is a hadith, found in some of the standard later sources (cf. SPK 409n17).
327 The first sphere, beginning from the top, is the starless heaven or the Throne of the All-
Merciful.
 195

from each other. "Have not the unbelievers beheld that the heavens and the earth were a mass all
sewn up, and then We unstitched them, and of water We fashioned every living thing? Will they
not have faith?" [21:30]. In other words, the First Intellect wrote out all these things that came
into existence. And these things that came into existence possess what they possess from
themselves and have brought it with themselves. The simples of the universe all came into
existence, the "fathers" and the "mothers" were completed, and the Pen became dry.328
As Nasafî explains below, "fathers" refer to the unseen, spiritual realities such as
intellects and souls. The "mothers" are the heavens, the stars, and the elements that act as
receptacles for the effects of the unseen world and give birth to the children: minerals, plants,
and animals. In what follows, Nasafî's mention of Adam is particularly interesting and more or
less typical for the genre. He looks upon him not as a historical person (though he does not mean
to reject that interpretation) but as the mythic first individual. Adam represents a set of qualities
that are manifest in every world.
O dervish! The "Kingdom" is the name of the world of sensory objects, the "Dominion"
is the name of the world of intelligible objects, and the "Invincibility" [jabarût] is the name of the
world of quiddities [mâhiyyât]. Some refer to the quiddities as "immutable entities," some refer
to them as "immutable realities," and I refer to them as the "immutable things." Each of these
immutable things is as it is. It has never changed from its state and will never change. That is
why these things are called "immutable." The Prophet wanted to know and see these things as
they are in themselves. [That is why he used to pray,] "O God, show us the things as they are!" .
..
O dervish! The Adam of the Invincibility is one person, the Adam of the Dominion
another, the Adam of the Kingdom still another, and the Adam of earth yet another. The Adam
of the Invincibility is the first existent thing. He is the Invincibility itself, since all existent
things appeared from the Invincibility. The Adam of the Dominion is the first of the world of the
Dominion. He is the First Intellect, since the whole world of the Dominion appeared from the
First Intellect. The Adam of the Kingdom is the first of the world of the Kingdom. He is the
First Sphere, since all the world of the Kingdom appeared from the First Sphere. The Adam of
earth is the locus of manifestation for the sciences and the meeting place of the lights. He is the
perfect human being, since all sciences appeared from the perfect human being.
O dervish! The Adam of earth is the setting place of lights, since all the lights rose from
the rising place of the Invincibility and came down to the Adam of earth. When the light
becomes manifest from the Adam of earth, the resurrection will have come and the sun will have
risen from its setting place.
One of the signs of the end of time is the "rising of the sun in the west." Here Nasafî
provides us with a ta'wîl or esoteric interpretation of this idea.329 The east is the rising place of
the sun, the west its setting place. The sun is light, and light is a name of God's Essence. Having
created Adam in His own form, God made the sun set in the earth. But at the resurrection, the

328 Nasafî, Insân-i kâmil 189.

329 Again, this does not imply that Nasafî is denying a more literal interpretation, since that
pertains to a different realm of existence. One of the principles of ta'wîl in the view of our
authors is that the more inward interpretations do not contradict the more outward
interpretations. On each level of existence a sacred "fact" has one or more significances different
from what it means on another level.
 196

realities of things will be laid bare. The sun that descended into the darkness of the lower realms
and set in Adam's earth rises back up from its setting place. The human being brings the divine
form from potentiality to actuality, thereby making the sun manifest once again. Hence various
Sufis divide the "resurrection" into a number of kinds. For example, Qûnawî speaks of the lesser
resurrection, the greater resurrection, and the greatest resurrection. In the first, the true nature of
the human being is bared through death and entrance into the barzakh, one of the realms of the
World of Imagination. At the greater resurrection, all people are resurrected for the final
judgment, and everyone's true nature is laid bare for all to see. At the greatest resurrection, the
true nature of the human being as divine form is actualized through the spiritual quest. As
Qûnawî puts it, the greatest resurrection is "the Arrival [wusûl] achieved by the gnostic, the
moment when the two created worlds are erased and obliterated by the light of Unity, so that
nothing remains but the Alive, the Self-subsistent."330
Nasafî continues, providing an implicit commentary on the hadith of the Hidden
Treasure:
To come back to the point: Now that you have known the World of the Invincibility,
which is the essence of the cosmos, you should know that the World of the Invincibility desired a
mirror in which to see its own beauty and contemplate its own attributes. It disclosed itself,
thereby coming from the world of undifferentiation to the world of differentiation. From its self-
disclosure two substances came to exist, one made of light and the other of darkness. Darkness
is the companion of light since darkness preserves and embraces light and is a niche and
guardian of light.
Within the cosmos, light and darkness necessitate each other and are inseparable from
each other. Though light is inherently manifest, in itself--in God--it is invisible because of the
intensity of its manifestation. Hence darkness is the yin that allows for light's yang to appear.
Here Nasafî refers to one of the Koranic allusions to this complementarity by mentioning the
word "niche," from the Koran's famous "light verse": "God is the light of the heavens and the
earth. The likeness of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. . . " (24:35). His light becomes
manifest only in a niche, which is darkness.
One of these two substances was the First Intellect and the other the First Sphere. The
first things that reached the shore of existence from the Ocean of the Invincibility were these two
substances. That is why the First Intellect is called the "First Substance of the World of the
Dominion," while the First Sphere is called the "First Substance of the World of the Kingdom."
For the same reason the First Intellect is called the "Throne of the World of the Dominion,"
while the First Sphere is called the "Throne of the World of the Kingdom."
Both substances descended. They came down into many levels. Hence the intellects,
souls, and natures appeared from the First Intellect, while the spheres, stars, and elements
became manifest from the First Sphere. The sensory things and the intelligible things appeared.
Thereby the simple things [mufradât] of the cosmos were completed, since the simple things of
the cosmos are not other than these.
Now that you have understood these introductory remarks, you should know that the
spirits, souls, and natures are known as the "World of the Dominion." The spheres, stars, and
elements are called the "World of the Kingdom." The spirits, souls, and natures are called the
"fathers," while the spheres, stars, and elements are known as the "mothers."

330 Quoted in Chittick, "Eschatology" 400.

 197

At this point Nasafî turns to a discussion of the "two oceans." These are mentioned in
several Koranic verses. For example, "It is He who let forth the two oceans, this one sweet,
grateful to taste, and this one salt, bitter to the tongue, and He set between them a barzakh, and a
ban forbidden" (25:53). "He let forth the two oceans that meet together, between them a barzakh
they do not overpass" (55:19-20). These two verses provide two of the three Koranic mentions
of the term barzakh, which plays a major role in Sufi thought. We have seen on several
occasions that our authors understand a barzakh to be an intermediate reality or world. Thus the
World of Imagination is a barzakh between the spirits and the bodies, while "the barzakh" is the
world of the grave between death and resurrection. These two Koranic verses are often
understood as an allusion to the three worlds: the spirits, the imaginal things, and the bodies.
The spirits are sweet, wholesome, pure, luminous; the bodies are bitter, corrupt, defiled, dark.
The imaginal things combine the qualities of both sides.
Nasafî takes the "two oceans" as an allusion to the World of Light and the World of
Darkness, and he immediately tells us that these are the spiritual world and the corporeal world.
However, both light and darkness have wider implications, since light is a name of God, while
darkness is a designation for absolute nothingness. The two terms can allude to a number of
possible relationships. Thus Nasafî says that this Ocean of spiritual Light is in fact a created
ocean. As soon as we compare it to the Ocean of God's Knowledge and Wisdom, it appears as
an ocean of darkness. In contrast, the visible world is the Ocean of Darkness properly speaking.
However, the darkness of the visible world also cannot be absolute, since the visible world is
called dark in relation to the unseen, just as the invisible world is called dark in relation to God.
As soon as we compare the visible world to nonexistence, we see that it is luminous. After all,
the term world (`âlam) signifies that which is marked (`alam) and designated (`alâma), that
which is known (`ilm). Things can be known only through manifestation. Hence the world is
manifest by definition. The visible world is luminous, even if it is dark in relation to the unseen
world. At the same time, "darkness" itself has a certain positive aspect, since light cannot
manifest itself without darkness. As Ibn al-`Arabî puts it, "darkness is a kind of light."331 It is
precisely darkness that allows light to be seen in the lower levels of the cosmos, just as the
heavens, stars, and elements allow the spiritual domain to manifest itself.
O dervish! Now that you have come to know about the World of the Invincibility, the
World of the Dominion, and the World of the Kingdom . . . , you should know that the Dominion
is the Ocean of Light, while the Kingdom is the Ocean of Darkness. This Ocean of Light is the
"water of life" and is found in darkness. In the same way, this Ocean of Light is the Ocean of
Darkness in relation to the Ocean of Knowledge and Wisdom, and Knowledge and Wisdom are
the water of life found in darkness.
That the "water of life is found in darkness" is a proverbial expression. According to
various Koran commentators (explaining Koran 18:83ff.), Dhu'l-Qarnayn set out with Khidr
searching for the water of life. They left the inhabited world and entered into the "darknesses"
that lie beyond it. Khidr alone was successful in the quest. Sanâ'î writes, "In this path, good is
found in evil--The water of life is found in darkness."332
O dervish! How often have you heard that the water of life is found in the darknesses?
But you do not know what the water of life is or what these darknesses are. Some of the

331 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 648.4 (SPK 140).

332 Gawharîn, Farhang I 9-12.
 198

travelers say that they have reached this Ocean of Light and seen it. It is an unlimited and
infinite light, an endless and shoreless ocean. The life, knowledge, power, and desire of the
existent things derive from this light.333 The sight, hearing, talking, taking, and walking of the
existent things derive from this light. The nature, specific characteristics, and activity of the
existent things come from this light. Or rather, everything comes from this light. The Ocean of
Darkness preserves and embraces this light. It is the niche and guardian of this light and the
locus of manifestation for its attributes.
In short, this Ocean of Light is called the "fathers," while this Ocean of Darkness is called
the "mothers." These fathers and mothers have wrapped their arms around each other's necks
and embraced each other. "He let forth the two oceans that meet together, between them a
barzakh they do not overpass" [55:19-20]. From these fathers and mothers, children appear.
"From the two come forth the pearl and the coral" [55:21]. The "children" are the minerals,
plants, and animals.
Minerals, plants, and animals are compound things, and before their existence no
compound things are found in the cosmos. The compound things do not come from anywhere,
nor do they go anywhere. But the simple things become compound and the compound things
become simple once again. "Everything returns to its root."
The wisdom in this composition is that those who have the preparedness may advance,
ascend, and turn into the World-displaying Cup and the Universe-reflecting Mirror. Then this
Ocean of Light and Knowledge may see its own beauty and contemplate its own attributes,
names, and acts.334
The World-displaying Cup and the Universe-reflecting Mirror both refer to the station of
the perfect human being, the "all-comprehensive engendered thing" who has actualized the
divine form and manifests fully the two hands of God. Through the perfect human being, the
Hidden Treasure is displayed and God witnesses Himself.

Changing Relationships
Earlier in this chapter we saw an example of how the Ikhwân al-Safâ' apply different
names to the fundamental cosmic duality depending upon the qualitative relationship in view. In
another passage, they explain the principle involved in shifting perspectives. Words are but titles
that we give to things to express the relationships that we have in view. If we change our point
of view, the words may change. What was matter may become form, and what was form may
become matter. And matter is clearly the yin side of the relationship, as indicated already in the
fact that the English word is cognate with mother.
Know that all these words are titles and marks. Through them allusion is made to forms,
so that distinction can be drawn in ascriptions that are made among them. Thus one form is
sometimes called material, sometimes substantial, sometimes accidental, sometimes simple,
sometimes compound, sometimes spiritual, sometimes corporeal, sometimes cause, sometimes
effect, and so on. In the same way, when some numbers are related to others, one number is
sometimes called half, sometimes double, sometimes one-third, sometimes one-fourth, and so on.

333 Remember that these four attributes are the "pillars" of divinity, the fundamental attributes
of the Divine Reality that are reflected in all creatures.
334 Nasafî, Insân-i kâmil 161-164.
 199

An example of this can be a shirt, which is a corporeal, manufactured thing, perceived by

sense perception. Its quiddity is a form in cloth, while cloth is its matter. The quiddity of cloth
is a form in thread, while thread is its matter. The quiddity of thread is a form in cotton, while
cotton is its matter. The quiddity of cotton is a form in a plant, while a plant is its matter. The
quiddity of a plant is a form in the natural bodies, which are fire, air, water, and earth. And each
of these four is a form in the nondelimited body, which is a form in the Prime Matter. The Prime
Matter is a spiritual form effused from the Universal Soul. The Universal Soul is also a spiritual
form, effused from the Universal Intellect, which is the first existent thing brought into existence
by the Creator.335
Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers were equally concerned to delineate the qualities of
things, but characteristically the Sufis looked not to the Greek heritage for their terminology but
to the Koran. They were concerned to find the roots of all qualities present in the cosmos in the
divine reality, as that reality is described by God's own Word. These qualities depend upon the
relationships that exist between God and the creatures. And as we have pointed out more than
once, these relationships are precisely God's attributes or names. Some of them are negative in
the sense that they declare what He is not. This is the route of incomparability: He is
Inaccessible, Pure, Transcendent, Holy. Other relationships are positive, since they tell us what
He is, giving news of His similarity: He is Alive, Knowing, Desiring, and so on.
Created things also can be known only through relationships with other things. These
relationships are expressed through the qualities that are attributed to things. When the
cosmologists look at the Pen and the Tablet, they want to show how the two are connected to
God and the visible universe. Pen and Tablet are needed to explain the world as we observe it in
terms of what we know about God through revelation. At the same time, Pen and Tablet are
known through their qualities, and these appear in all levels of existence. Hence some
cosmologists seek to show that the primordial qualities manifested by Pen and Tablet are present
everywhere. Ibn al-`Arabî does this, employing related terminology, when he declares that
marriage "pervades all atoms."
If the qualities of Pen and Tablet are found on every level, then Pen is found in Tablet
and Tablet is found in Pen. Thus, when the Pen, which is yang in relation to the Tablet, is
viewed in relation to God, it becomes yin, a tablet. And when the Tablet, which is yin in relation
to the Pen, is viewed in relation to what lies below it, it is yang, a pen.
In the first passage quoted in this chapter from the Ikhwân al-Safâ', allusion is made to a
series of yang/yin relationships in the pairs being discussed. The Ikhwân say, for example, that
the Soul is an accident (yin) in relation to the Intellect, but a substance (yang) in relation to
things below itself. In the second passage quoted above they say that what is matter in one
respect is form in another. In still another passage they explain that the Intellect and Soul are
each in turn a source of light and activity. The Intellect is God's radiance, while the Soul is the
Intellect's reflection. The Soul is bright in relation to the corporeal world, but dark in relation to
the Intellect.
The relationship of the Soul to the Intellect is like the relationship of the brightness of the
moon to the light of the sun, while the relationship of the Intellect to the Creator is like the
relationship of the light of the sun to the sun itself. When the moon is filled with the light of the

335 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il III 234-235.

 200

sun, it resembles the sun in light. In the same way, when the Soul receives the effusion of the
Intellect so that its excellencies are completed, it resembles the Intellect in its acts.336
In a similar passage Ibn al-`Arabî shows that the Pen is receptive in relation to God, but
active in relation to the Tablet.
The First Intellect, which is the first thing to be created from nothing, is the Supreme Pen.
No temporally originated thing was found along with it. It was a locus that received effects
because of what God caused to occur within it, that is, the arising of the Guarded Tablet from it.
In the same way, Eve arose from Adam in the world of corporeal things. Hence this Tablet
became an object and a locus for what the Supreme, Divine Pen writes within it. . . . So the
Guarded Tablet is the first existent thing to arise from a created thing.337
Since the Guarded Tablet or Universal Soul is a spiritual being, born directly from the
First Intellect, it is light. But it represents a movement in the direction of Nature, so it embraces
the properties of darkness as well. Like any barzakh, it brings together the properties of the two
sides.
The Universal Soul arises from the First Intellect. Hence it is the first object of activity to
arise from a created thing. It mixes that which acts upon it with that upon which it acts. That
which acts upon it is light, while that upon which it acts is darkness, that is, Nature.338
Just as the Pen can be considered yin or a "Tablet" in relation to God, so also the Tablet
can be considered yang or a "Pen" in relation to what lies below it. In the process of explaining
this, Ibn al-`Arabî tells us why the hadith literature frequently describes the Tablet as an emerald.
This noble angel, the Guarded Tablet, is also a pen in relation to what lies below it.
Every active thing and the locus that receives its activity are pen and tablet. . . . This angel has
two relationships: a luminous relationship, which is turned toward the Noble Intellect, and a
dark relationship, which is turned toward the Dust, the Ocean of Nature. In itself the Tablet is
green because of this delicate and wonderful mixture.339
In Ibn al-`Arabî's cosmology the "Dust" (habâ') or "Dust Substance" (al-jawhar al-habâ'î)
is the Universal Hyle or Prime Matter within which everything in the imaginal and corporeal
worlds assumes shape. The world of "Nature" appears within the Dust. If the Tablet is the first
existent thing to arise from the activity of a created reality, the Dust is the second existent thing
to arise in a similar receptive manner, but from the activity of the Tablet, now considered as
yang. Looking at the cosmos as a Divine Book, Ibn al-`Arabî refers to it in the following as the
"world of writing and inscription" (`âlam al-tadwîn wa'l-tastîr).
The First Intellect came into existence within the World of Writing and Inscription. It
came into existence from nothing. Then "after" that, with no temporal afterness, the Soul arose
in the mode of a thing arising from another created thing. It is the Guarded Tablet within which
is written everything that will come to be in this abode until the Day of Resurrection. It is God's
knowledge concerning His creation. It lies below the Pen--the Intellect--in luminosity and level
of brightness. Hence it is like the green emerald, because of the arising of the Dust Substance,

336 Ibid. II 462.

337 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 139.14 (Y 2,313.6).
338 Ibid. II 304.19.
339 Ibn al-`Arabî, `Uqla 56.
 201

which lies within the potentiality of this Soul. Hence the Dust Substance arises from the Soul. It
is a dark substance within which there is no light.340
Nasafî frequently discusses the way in which realities take on different names according
to the point of view. In the following, he is once again discussing the worlds of Invincibility,
Dominion, and Kingdom. He shows that each of them can be called by certain key Koranic
terms as soon as we envisage their qualities and the corresponding relationships. He is
concerned here to bring out the relationship between nûn, the Pen, the Guarded Tablet, and God's
Book. We saw above that Imam Ja`far interpreted nûn to be a river in the Garden, ink, light, and
an angel. In the present context, Nasafî understands nûn to mean "inkwell." Hence we have the
Inkwell, the Pen that writes, the Tablet upon which is written, and the Book that is written. What
is especially interesting about this passage is the clarity with which Nasafî brings out the
directionality of relationships. Each thing needs to be understood in relation to the yang realities
above it and the yin realities below it.
Know--God exalt you in the two worlds--that the World of Invincibility is the Guarded
Tablet, the Book of God, and the Inkwell. For the World of Invincibility has two faces, one
turned toward God and the other turned toward the Dominion and the Kingdom. The face turned
toward God is called the "Guarded Tablet" and the "Book of God," since everything that has
been, is, and will be is written together in the World of Invincibility. "There is not a thing, fresh
or withered, but in a Clear Book" [6:59]. Hence the World of Invincibility is the Guarded Tablet
and the Book of God.
The face that is turned toward the Dominion and the Kingdom is called the "Inkwell,"
since the simple things and the compound things of the cosmos all appeared from the World of
Invincibility, becoming manifest and differentiated. As long as they were in the World of
Invincibility, they were all concealed and undifferentiated. Hence the World of Invincibility is
the Inkwell.
Now that you have come to know about the Guarded Tablet, the Book of God, and the
Inkwell, you should know that the First Substance is the Pen of God, since the First Substance
was addressed with the words, "Write from this Inkwell!" In the blink of an eye it wrote, and the
simple things of the cosmos entered into existence, coming from the world of potentiality to the
world of actuality and from the world of undifferentiation to the world of differentiation. The
"simple things" of the cosmos are the intellects, the souls, the natures, the spheres, the stars, and
the elements. Once the simple things were written, the Pen became dry. "The Lord has finished
with creation, character, provision, and fixed terms."
The Pen of the simple things became dry, but the simple things are constantly occupied
with inscription, thereby writing out the compound things. "The Inkwell! By the Pen and what
they are writing" [68:1]. The "Inkwell" is the World of Invincibility, the "Pen" is the First
Substance, and "what they are writing" is the simple things of the cosmos.
O dervish! Each of the simple things of the cosmos has a special task and is constantly
occupied with its task in order that the compound things of the cosmos may appear and arrive
from them. The "compound things" of the cosmos are the minerals, the plants, and the animals.
The existent things of the cosmos are nothing more than this.
O dervish! The World of the Invincibility is the Book of God, and the worlds of the
Dominion and the Kingdom are also the Book of God. However, the World of the Invincibility

340 Idem, Futûhât II 675.7.

 202

is the undifferentiated book, while the worlds of the Kingdom and the Dominion are the
differentiated book. In this differentiated book, the simple things of the cosmos are the letters of
the alphabet, while the compound things of the cosmos are the words. That is why the simple
things of the cosmos are twenty-eight341 and the compound things are three: minerals, plants,
and animals. For the simple letters of the [Arabic] alphabet are twenty-eight, while the
compound things [according to Arabic grammar] are three: nouns, verbs, and particles. . . .
Know that each simple thing of the cosmos is the Guarded Tablet, the Book, the Inkwell,
and the Pen, since all the simple things have two faces, a face turned toward the World of the
Invincibility and a face turned toward the compound things. The face turned toward the World
of Invincibility is called the "Guarded Tablet" and the "Book," since everything that has been, is,
and will be in the compound things was written in them by the First Pen from the First Inkwell.
The second face, which they have turned toward the compound things, is called the "Inkwell"
and the "Pen." It is called the "Inkwell" because all the compound things of the cosmos appeared
from the simple things, becoming manifest and differentiated. As long as the compound things
were in the simple things, they were concealed and undifferentiated. Hence the simple things are
the Inkwell. This second face is called the "Pen" since the simple things are constantly occupied
with inscription, writing out the compound things. Once the First Pen wrote the simple things, it
became dry. But these pens that write the compound things do not become dry. All are
constantly occupied with inscription. "Say: 'If the sea were ink for the Words of my Lord, the
sea would be exhausted before the Words of my Lord are exhausted, though We brought
replenishment the like of it'" [18:109].
O dervish! The First Pen, which wrote the simple things, and these pens, which write the
compound things, did not learn inscription from anyone. Inscription pertains to their essences.
The perfection of the simple things goes along with their essences, in contrast to the compound
things.342

The Faces of the Intellect

Most authorities consider the Pen and Tablet as two levels of spiritual manifestation. But
considered independently from the Tablet, the Pen itself has two faces, since it looks both at God
and at the cosmos. The face turned toward God is receptive, while the face turned toward the
lower levels of creation is active. On one side stands the Necessary Being, on the other side the
world of possible existence. Hence the Pen is a barzakh between the two sides, possessing
properties of both Necessity and possibility.

341 Nasafî divides the twenty-eight simple things into fourteen from the World of the Dominion
and fourteen from the World of the Kingdom. In the World of the Dominion, they include ten
degrees of spirits plus the four natures. The first spirit is Adam, the second the spirit of
Muhammad, and so on through the different types of prophets and friends of God down to the
tenth, the spirits of the faithful. The fourteen simple things of the World of the Kingdom are
Eve, the Throne, the Footstool, the seven heavens, and the four elements. Here "Adam and Eve"
refer to the primordial cosmic pair produced from the First Substance. One of them was
differentiated to become the World of Spirits, and the other to become the World of Bodies. Cf.
Nasafî, Insân-i kâmil 55-57.
342 Nasafî, Insân-i kâmil 390-93.
 203

The two faces of the Pen help explain why hadiths refer to it both as Pen and Intellect, as
in the sayings, "The first thing created by God was the Pen" and "The first thing created by God
was the Intellect." When envisaged as a Pen, this reality is considered yang in relation to the
worlds below it. When looked upon as an Intellect, it is yin in relation to its divine source. The
root meaning of the word `aql (intellect) is tying, binding, constricting. The intellect delimits,
defines, and differentiates that which is undifferentiated. Qûnawî alludes to these points while
discussing the process whereby the cosmos comes into existence.
When God turned the attentiveness of His desire [toward creating the cosmos], this gave
rise within the World of Writing and Inscription to a single ontological result that carried the
unseen manyness of the relationships. God named it a "pen" and an "intellect."
In other words, the relationships established by the fact that God desired to create a
universe appear in the Pen/Intellect. God's "turning the attentiveness of His desire" is Qûnawî's
way of expressing the meaning of the hadith of the Hidden Treasure: God created the creatures
because of His love or desire to be known.
This reality is an "intellect" in respect of the face turned toward its Lord, a face that
receives from Him bestowal and replenishment. The Intellect is the first entified existent thing
that intellectually perceives its own self along with everything that is distinguished from itself. It
also perceives everything through which it becomes distinguished from others, in contrast to
those who precede it in level, the "enraptured ones."
In Ibn al-`Arabî's cosmology, the "enraptured angels" (al-malâ'ikat al-muhayyamûn) are
created along with or just before the First Intellect, but their attention is turned exclusively
toward God, so they have no awareness of self or others. They stand above the World of Writing
and Inscription.343
God called it a "pen" in respect of its face turned toward the engendered world, so it exercises
effects upon this world and replenishes it. Moreover, the Pen carries the unseen, undifferentiated
manyness that is deposited in its essence so that it may differentiate it in that which becomes
manifest from it, whether through a level or in some other way.
Even though the Pen is differentiated in relation to the absolute undifferentiation of God,
it manifests God's knowledge of creation in a relatively undifferentiated form. Then, through its
activity, this knowledge becomes differentiated within the Tablet.
Since the Pen is the result of the aforementioned turning of God's attentiveness, it became
manifest comprising the characteristics of all-comprehensiveness and unity.
In other words, the Pen is itself the created manifestation of this divine act of turning
toward the creation of the cosmos. Inasmuch as it reflects the divine reality directly, the Pen is a
single reality that comprehends all attributes, just as Allah comprehends all names. Hence the
Pen brings together the real oneness of the Essence and the relative manyness of the names--
what Farghânî calls the "Oneness of Being" and the "Manyness of Knowledge."
The property of the Desire reached its limit through exercising its influence in respect of
this face. Thereby the Pen--which was the object of the Desire--became manifest. Then another
relationship became entified through a second attentiveness in respect of this entification [of the
Pen], not in respect of the Real, since His command is one.
In other words, God's one command--to which the cosmologists find reference in the
Koranic verse, "Our command is but one, like the blink of an eye" (54:50)--gives rise to the Pen.

343 Hakîm, al-Mu`jam al-sûfî 1124. Cf. SPK 413.

 204

It does not produce the Tablet directly. We saw Ibn al-`Arabî make this same point by saying
that the Pen comes into existence from no created thing, while the Tablet arises from the Pen. As
our authors frequently mention, the single command of the One Reality has but a single object,
the Intellect. On the basis of this triplicity of Command, Intellect, and relationship, first the
Tablet is engendered and then the rest of the cosmos. Qûnawî explains these points in his own
typical fashion:
As a result, a self-disclosure possessing two properties became manifest and entified
from the Unseen. One of these properties was the unitary, all-comprehensive property of the
Essence. The other has to do with the fact that this very property [of the Essence] became
colored by that over which it passed and from which it became distinguished, that is, the Pen.
Hence there became entified . . . in the level following the level of the Pen the existence of the
Guarded Tablet. . . .
Within the Tablet became manifest the differentiation of the manyness contained in the
Cloud [that is, the level of God's knowledge]. Thereby the name Differentiator reached its
perfection through having a locus of manifestation. In the same way, the name Governor had
reached its perfection of having a locus of manifestation through the Pen.344
The yang/yin relationship between the names Governor and Differentiator, discussed in
Chapter 2, is thus made manifest in the Pen and Tablet.
In the preceding passage, Qûnawî was concerned merely to show why a single reality is
called both "Pen" and "Intellect." In the following, his disciple Farghânî wants to show that Pen
and Intellect are also identical with the "Muhammadan Spirit" or the "Muhammadan Light,"
since the Prophet said, "The first thing God created was my spirit" or "my light." Hence he
speaks of three faces of the Pen:
The Supreme Pen has three supra-sensory, universal faces. One is its taking existence
and knowledge--in an undifferentiated mode and without any intermediary, perception, or
restricting--from the unseen Presence of Him who gives it existence. In respect of this face it is
named the First Intellect.
Through the second face it differentiates within the Guarded Tablet that which it had
received as undifferentiated. Thus it follows the command, "Write My knowledge in My
creation" or "in that which will be." Because of this face it is called the Supreme Pen. This face
is the Muhammadan Soul which is alluded to by his saying, "By Him in whose hand is
Muhammad's soul."
These two faces represent the yang and yin sides of the Pen, as in Qûnawî's discussion.
The third face suggests that the Pen combines the two qualities in a unified whole, just as God
combines the names of majesty and beauty.
Through the third face the Pen carries the property of the First Self-disclosure and acts as
its locus of manifestation in itself. In this respect it is the reality of the Greatest Muhammadan
Spirit, and in one respect his Light.
If the Pen has three faces, then the Guarded Tablet, which is second in the chain of
command, has six faces. Three are receptive toward the faces of the Pen, and three more effuse
upon the realities of the cosmos below the Tablet.
As for the Guarded Tablet, it has six supra-sensory, universal faces.

344 Qûnawî, I`jâz al-bayân 134-35/al-Tafsîr al-sûfî 241-42.

 205

First is the fact that it is a condition resulting from combining the ray of light effused
from and attributed to [the Real] with the properties of the quiddities that are connected to the
world of the spirits. This condition comprises the two kinds of words, active and verbal.345
These words are differentiated such that nothing that enters into existence until the completion of
the Day of Resurrection escapes this face. In this respect the Tablet is called "everything" and is
referred to in God's words, "We wrote for [Moses] on the tablets something of Everything"
(7:145].
The second face is the Tablet's attention toward Him who brought it into existence and its
taking of replenishment from Him. This is in fact two faces. The first of the two has no
intermediary. In this respect the Tablet is called a spirit attributed to the Divine Presence and
effused from the All-merciful Breath without intermediary. From it the spirits attributed to
perfect human beings are blown into them without intermediary, while spirits attributed to others
are blown into them with the intermediary of a particular spirit from this face called an "angel."
The second face, which is the third, is an effusion through the intermediary of the
Supreme Pen. In accordance with this face the Tablet is called a "Guarded Tablet."
The Tablet's fourth face is its descent and manifestation in respect to some of what its
reality and essence comprise. In this descent and manifestation, the Tablet becomes
differentiated and assumes imaginal and sensory forms, both simple and compound. These
forms are the Throne, the Footstool, the heavens, the earths, and everything in between, that is,
the angels, the spheres, the planets, the elements, and the children--minerals, plants, animals, and
human beings. . . . In this respect the Tablet is called the "Active, Manifest Book." It is meant
by His words, "There is not a thing, fresh or withered, but it is in a Manifest Book" [6:59], and
His words, "Tâ' Sîn. Those are the signs of the Koran and a Manifest Book" [27:1].
The fifth face is the attention that the Tablet turns, through the attribute of governing and
perfecting, toward that which becomes differentiated from it and manifest in the imaginal and
sensory forms. Hence the Tablet governs, guards, and perfects the universal through a universal
attribute and the particular through a particular attribute. In this respect it is called the
"Universal Soul."
This fifth face turns its attention toward governing in two forms. One of them is the form
of universality, and in this respect it is the soul of all the prophets and friends of God except our
Prophet. The Prophet's rational soul, which governs his purified form, is a face of the Supreme
Pen's differentiation. This same thing was taken in undifferentiated mode by the Guarded Tablet
through the command, "Write what will be!" Allusion is made to this in the Prophet's words
while swearing an oath: "By Him in whose hand is Muhammad's soul."
The fifth face's second form [i.e., the sixth face] is the particular souls that govern the
elemental, particular persons.
In short, the Pen is closer to the Oneness of God, and hence has only three faces. The
Tablet is further away, so it is more closely connected to manyness. Here Farghânî comes back
to the common theme that oneness dominates over certain realities of the cosmos, while
manyness dominates over others. Oneness is closely connected to equilibrium, mercy, and all

345 The "active words" are the words of God that are the spirits of all creatures, while the
"verbal words" are the divine revelations delivered by the prophets (Farghânî, Muntahâ al-
madârik I 49).
 206

the names of beauty, while manyness is connected to deviation, wrath, and all the names of
majesty. Oneness is the right hand of God, manyness the left hand.
From all of this you have come to know that the relationship of the reality of the Guarded
Tablet to the Second Level, known as the Level of Divinity, is stronger. In the same way, the
relationship of the Pen to the First Entification is more intense. Just as the First Entification is
dominated by the property of undifferentiation and oneness, so also this property dominates over
the reality of the Pen. Hence the Pen receives the existence that is effused upon it only in an
undifferentiated mode.
In a similar way, since the property of differentiation dominates over the Second,
Relational Entification, the reality of the Guarded Tablet received that undifferentiated existence
through the intermediary of the Pen as differentiated.346
Mahmûd Shabistarî (d. ca. 720/1320) alludes to two faces of the Intellect in his famous
poem, Gulshan-i râz ("The rosegarden of the mystery"). His meaning is made clear by his
commentator, Muhammad Lâhîjî (d. 912/1506-7), who also ties in Necessity and possibility, the
right and left hands, and Adam and Eve. In the light of the tradition, the parallels he draws
should not seem exceptional.
"Just once, look carefully at your own root--
it is your mother's father and her mother."
The poet's meaning is as follows: Look carefully at your own root, which is the
Universal Intellect. See that your root, which is the Universal Intellect, became the father of
your mother, which is the Universal Soul, while in another respect, it is her mother.
The Universal Intellect is the root and reality of the human being. In respect to the fact
that it effuses the Universal Soul and becomes the intermediary for its manifestation, it is the
Universal Soul's father. But in respect to the fact that the Universal Soul is born from the
Universal Intellect, the Intellect is the Soul's mother.
Since the Universal Intellect is the isthmus between Necessity and possibility and
encompasses the two sides, and since Necessity stands on its right side while possibility stands
on its left side, the Universal Soul was actualized on the left side, which is the side of possibility.
In his reality, Adam is the form of the Universal Intellect, while Eve is the form of the Universal
Soul. From here the seeker comes to know why Eve became manifest from Adam's left side.347
Finally, I quote a passage from Ibn al-`Arabî in order to emphasize the importance of the
relationship between undifferentiation and differentiation. Ibn al-`Arabî is commenting on the
Koranic passage, "Nûn. By the Pen" (68:1). Like Imam Ja`far, Ibn al-`Arabî sees Nûn as the
name of an angel. And like Nasafî, he is concerned to bring out the hierarchy of relationships
between God and the visible world. He refers to this angel while explaining some of the
implications of the fact that God is called King (al-malik). He describes a series of levels,
moving from God to the Tablet. God as King sets up the kingdom as He desires. He chooses
certain close companions, the enraptured angels or cherubim. Then He chooses one of these to
be His closest advisor: the veil-keeper or chamberlain (hâjib). He gives His knowledge of
creation to this most trusted of friends. The chamberlain then appoints a scribe, the Pen, who
writes down the details on the Tablet. Hence the movement is from total undifferentiation in
God Himself to relative undifferentiation in the chamberlain. Then the scribe possesses a

346 Farghânî, Muntahâ al-madârik I 49-50.

347 Lâhîjî, Sharh-i Gulshan-i râz 195.
 207

relatively differentiated knowledge, which is further differentiated through writing in the Tablet.
On each created level, from Nûn to the Tablet, there is a receptive face turned toward the higher
direction, and an active face turned toward the lower direction.
Since God is named the King, He arranged the cosmos in the hierarchy of a kingdom
[mamlaka]. Hence He appointed certain of His servants to be His favorites, and these are the
enraptured angels, God's sitting companions through remembrance [dhikr]. "Those who are with
Him wax not too proud to do Him service, neither grow weary, glorifying Him by night and in
the daytime and never failing" [21:19-20].
Then God chose one of these cherubim to be the veil-keeper, giving him His knowledge
concerning His creation. This is a differentiated knowledge within undifferentiation. Hence
God's knowledge is a locus of disclosure to the angel within the angel. He named the angel Nûn.
Nûn never ceases living in the seclusion of the Presence of His Knowledge. He is the head of the
Divine Chancellery. God--in respect of being the All-knowing--is never veiled from him.
Then God specified another angel from among the angels, below Nûn in rank, whom He
named the Pen. He appointed for him a station below Nûn, making him a scribe. God teaches
him whatever knowledge of the creatures that He desires through Nûn, but by way of
undifferentiated knowledge. One of the things that this undifferentiated knowledge comprises is
differentiated knowledge, which is one kind of undifferentiated knowledge. For knowledges
have their levels, one of which is the knowledge of differentiation. Hence the Divine Pen
possesses none of the levels of undifferentiated knowledge except the knowledge of
differentiation in general and some specific differentiated knowledges, but nothing else.
God took this angel, the scribe of His chancellery, and disclosed Himself to him in
respect of His name the All-powerful, giving him replenishment through this Divine Self-
disclosure. He made this Pen turn its gaze toward the World of Writing and Inscription and
created for it a Tablet. He commanded it to write within it everything that He willed to bring
about in His creation until the Day of Resurrection specifically. He made the Tablet the pupil
and the Pen the teacher.348

The Two Wings of Gabriel

Shihâb al-Dîn Suhrawardî al-Maqtûl (d. 587/1191), Ibn al-`Arabî's older contemporary
and the founder of the Illuminationist School of philosophy, demonstrates the reversibility of the
yin/yang relationships in cosmic realities in the midst of one of his visionary treatises, "The Song
of the Wing of Gabriel." In Suhrawardî's scheme, Gabriel is the lowest of the supreme angels,
who are the "greatest words" of God. He stands at the borderline between the unmixed light of
the spiritual realm, where all attention is turned toward the Divine, and the mixed light of the
lower realms of spiritual existence, where the angelic beings are busy with bringing the visible
world into existence. Gabriel's two wings correspond functionally with the First Intellect and the
Universal Soul. Hence one is pure light, while the other is light mixed with a small amount of
darkness. This mixture prepares the way for the realms that are thoroughly mixed with darkness
on lower levels of the cosmos. Suhrawardî refers to Nature as the "world of deception" because
it is dark in relation to the spiritual world. Hence Nature gives a relatively free hand to
ignorance and misguidance.

348 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 294.32 (Y 4,353.2).

 208

Know that Gabriel has two wings. The first, the right wing, is sheer light. This wing is
solely the attribution of his existence to God. He also has a left wing, which has a bit of the
mark of darkness upon it, like a spot on the face of the moon. . . . This is the sign of his own
existence, one side of which is turned toward nonexistence. When you look at the attribution of
his existence to the Real, he has the attribute of the Real. But when you look at the proper claim
of his own essence, he can properly claim only nonexistence. This is the concomitant of possible
existence. These two meanings are found in the level of the two wings: the attribution to the
Real in the right wing, and the respect of his own proper claim in the left wing.
In other words, Gabriel displays the light of the Necessary Being. But he is the
manifestation of that Being, not that Being Itself. Hence he is a possible thing. As a result, his
light does not belong intrinsically to himself, but to God. He cannot be called pure light, since
he himself, in his own specific reality, has no light of his own. Hence his right wing manifests
the Oneness and Necessity of Being, while his left wing displays the Manyness and Possibility of
Knowledge. His right wing goes back to God, while his left wing displays its effects in the
engendered universe.
The left wing of Gabriel, which has a small amount of darkness, throws down a shadow.
From it derives the world of falsehood and deception. Thus the Prophet said, "God created the
creatures in darkness, then He sprinkled them with some of His light."349 "He created them in
darkness" alludes to the blackness of the left wing. "Then He sprinkled them with light" alludes
to the ray of the right wing. . . .
The world of deception is the song and shadow of Gabriel's wing, that is, his left wing,
while enlightened souls derive from his right wing. The realities that God deposits in the minds
of human beings all derive from the right wing, as, for example, "He has written faith upon their
hearts, and He has confirmed them with a spirit from Himself" [58:22]. But severity, the "Cry"
[11:67], and mishaps all derive from the left wing.350
In short the two wings of Gabriel reflect the two hands of God: The right wing is related
to Oneness, mercy, and beauty, the left wing to manyness, wrath, and majesty.

349 For the hadith, see chapter 1, note 5.

350 Suhrawardî, Majmû`a-yi âthâr-i fârsî 220-22. Cf. idem, The Mystical and Visionary
Treatises 32-33.
 209

6. Human Marriage

The macrocosm is identical with the cosmos, or "everything other than God." If the term
macrocosm is used instead of cosmos, this is done to set up a relationship between the whole
universe and the human individual, since the two terms are correlative. Frequently our authors
draw correspondences between the outward structure of the macrocosm and the inner structure of
the microcosm by investigating the relationships among the three basic levels of the human
being: spirit, soul, and body. In this case they are studying the microcosm in terms of a "spiritual
psychology." In doing so they often speak of "marriage" between the various levels. This is a
topic that will be discussed in chapters 8 through 10. Our authors also study relationships
between individual microcosms, though here the term microcosm is normally not employed,
precisely because the term is used to establish relationships between the human being and the
macrocosm, not among human beings. Since we have discussed macrocosmic marriage in the
previous chapter, it may be appropriate here to investigate the repercussions of macrocosmic
marriage on the level of interpersonal relationships. What does marriage within the Divine
Reality, between God and the cosmos, and within various levels of the macrocosm other than the
human level, tell us about human marriage? And conversely, what do human sexual
relationships tell us about God and the macrocosm?
To deal with these sorts of questions, we need to consider those Islamic teachings that
have a bearing on the relationship between men and women, and then see how these are placed
in the context of God, the macrocosm, and the microcosm. Naturally, Islam in general has a
great deal to say about sexual relationships, and it would be impossible in this context to
summarize all the relevant legal and social teachings. Instead I will focus on a few key Koranic
verses and sayings of the Prophet.

Marriage in Society
There are numerous Koranic verses and prophetic sayings--not to mention the Sunna or
prophetic practice--that supply the basis for Islam's generally positive evaluation of human
sexual relationships.351 On one level, Islam sees the sexual relationship as a natural and normal
part of God's good creation.352 Did not God say, "And of everything We created a pair that
haply you may remember" (51:49)? "He Himself created the pair, male and female" (53:45).
When something was created as one of a pair, it is clearly incomplete without the other. Many
traditional sayings emphasize marriage's importance. Among hadiths of the Prophet are the

351Chapter 6. Human Marriage Some of the ascetical Sufis of the early period seem to oppose
this attitude, as pointed out by Tor Andrae (In the Garden of Myrtles 41ff.). But he concludes
that "their practical attitude was quite different. Their critics maintained that the Sufis possessed
three outstanding qualities: they enjoyed food, sweet things and women. . . . Most of the mystics
were married, and several of them had more than one wife." (Ibid. 49-50).
352 As Abdelwahab Bouhdiba remarks, "Sexual pleasures are conceived by Islam as
constitutive of the earthly conditions of life and, as such, they must be welcomed by Muslims"
(Sexuality in Islam 88). This work is often insightful, but the author pays no attention to the
sapiential tradition that might have allowed him to offer Islam's own explanation of the
psychological roots of the questions he deals with.
 210

following: "Marriage is my Sunna. He who does not act according to my Sunna does not belong
to me."353 "A person who marries achieves half his religion, so let him fear God in the other
half."354 "Most of the people of the Fire are bachelors."355 "No building is built in Islam more
beloved to God than marriage."356 "A Muslim man can acquire no benefit after Islam greater
than a Muslim wife who makes him happy when he looks upon her, obeys him when he
commands her, and protects him when he is away from her in herself and his property."357
Given that marriage is the foundation of society and one of the highest goods, it is natural
that Islam expects both husband and wife to behave in the best manner toward their spouses.
The Prophet said, "The best among you is the one who acts best toward his wife, and I am better
than any of you toward my wife."358 It is true that in these discussions of the relationships
between men and women, the tradition typically addresses men. But it is also typical for the
tradition to recognize that whatever is applied to men also applies to women, the appropriate
adjustments having been made. Thus the Koran usually employs language that grammatically
refers to men. But sometimes, clearly in order to prevent the reader from making the mistake of
thinking that God is addressing men alone, it brings women into the picture, making the same
points that were made elsewhere through grammatically masculine expressions. For example, in
the first passage below, only masculine adjectives are employed, in the second both masculine
and feminine adjectives:
And God sees His servants who say, "O Lord, we have faith; forgive us our sins, and
guard us against the chastisement of the Fire"--the patient, the truthful, the obedient, the
expenders, the askers of forgiveness at daybreak. (3:17)
The submitted ones [masculine] and the submitted ones [feminine], the faithful and the
faithful, the obedient and the obedient, the truthful and the truthful, the patient and the patient, . .
. for them God has prepared forgiveness and a mighty wage. (33:35)
We can summarize the Muslim view of the benefits of marriage by quoting a few short
passages from the great authority Abû Hâmid Muhammad al-Ghazâlî (d. 505/1111). It needs to
be recognized, however, that in these passages Ghazâlî is speaking from the position of a teacher
concerned for the good of the general public. Hence he de-emphasizes certain aspects of
marriage, such as enjoyment of the sexual act, that are given a positive evaluation by many Sufi
authors writing for a more limited audience. From the perspective of the Sharia and the general
religious teachings, establishing social responsibility is the primary goal. Hence God's awesome
authority and His outward commandments need to be stressed.
Know that marriage is one part of the way of religion, like eating food. For the way of
religion has need of human life and subsistence, and life is impossible without food and drink.
In the same way it needs the subsistence of the human species and its procreation, and this is not

353 Ibn Mâja, Nikâh 1.

354 Ghazâlî, Ihyâ' II.2.1 (II 15). A slightly different version is found in Suyûtî, al-Jâmi` al-
saghîr (Fayd al-qadîr VI 103). The hadith is also found in Shi`ite sources (cf. `Amilî, Wasâ'il al-
shi`a XIV 5).
355 `Amilî, Wasâ'il al-shi`a XIV 8.
356 Ibid. 3.
357 Ibid. 23.
358 Ibn Mâja, Nikâh 50.
 211

possible without marriage. Therefore marriage is the cause of the origin of existence, while food
is the cause of the subsistence of existence.
Marriage was made permissible for this reason, not for the sake of satisfying one's
appetites. On the contrary, God created appetite as a deputy responsible for encouraging people
to marry. Then travelers on the path of religion will come into existence and travel on religion's
path. Everyone was created for the sake of religion. As God said, "I created jinn and mankind
only to be My servants" [51:56].359
Ghazâlî devotes much of the rest of this chapter to five benefits that marriage provides:
having children, protecting one's religion and limiting appetite, being intimate with women,
having someone to take care of the affairs of the house, and training oneself in good character
traits. Though all these topics deserve amplification, some of Ghazâlî's remarks on the benefits
of children and intimacy are especially interesting for our purposes.
Ghazâlî considers participation in the natural order the first of four merits that a person
acquires through having children. In a fashion that typifies Muslim thinking about the created
world, he appeals to the signs of the microcosm to show that marriage is the human state desired
by God.
The first merit of having children is that a person should have striven for that which is
loved by God, that is, human existence and procreation. Whoever understands the wisdom of the
created order will have no doubt that God loves this. For God has given His servant an earth
worthy of cultivation. He has given him seed. He has turned over to him a pair of oxen and a
plow. He has sent a deputy to encourage him to cultivate. If the servant has one iota of
intelligence, he knows what God means by all this, even if He should not speak to him with His
tongue.
God created the womb. He created the organ of intercourse. He placed the seed of the
children in the backs and bodies of men and women. He sent appetite as His deputy to men and
women. No intelligent person will miss what God means by all this.
If the person should waste the seed and send away the deputy through some stratagem,
without doubt he will remain far from the road of what was meant by his original nature [fitrat].
This is why the early Muslims and the Companions considered it reprehensible to die while
single. So much was this the case that when Ma`âdh's two wives died in the plague and he
himself caught the plague, he said, "Give me a wife, that I may not die single."360
Ghazâlî's explanation of the benefits of intimacy (uns) reminds us that intimacy is
associated with yin names such as Merciful and Loving. Worship and service (`ibâda), in
contrast, are associated with yang names such as King and Majestic. Too much dealing with the
names of majesty tends to increase awe and constrict the heart. The intimacy and bold
expansiveness that one achieves through women remedies this one-sided development of the
soul. And of course it should not be thought that the same argument does not apply to women.
They also become constricted by too much worship, and they also find ease and expansion
through intimacy with men. In this context, men manifest the yin names for them.

359 Ghazâlî, Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat 301/238. "To be My servants" is usually translated as "to
worship Me" or "to serve Me." In any case, the point is that servanthood is the foundation of
proper human existence.
360 Ibid. 302-3/239.
 212

The third benefit of marriage is that the heart finds ease through intimacy with women,
because of sitting and joking with them. This ease then becomes the cause of an increase in
desire for worship. For diligence in worship brings weariness, and the heart contracts. But ease
acquired in this way brings back the heart's strength. `Alî said, "Do not remove rest and ease
completely from the hearts, lest they become blind."
It sometimes happened that the Prophet was overcome by such tremendous unveilings
that his bodily frame was not able to tolerate it. He would take `A'isha's hand and say, "Talk
with me, `A'isha."361 He wanted to gain strength so that he could carry the burden of revelation.
Once he came back to this world and gained full strength, the thirst for that work would
overcome him, and he would say, "Give us ease, Bilâl!"362 Then he would turn back to the
ritual prayer.
Sometimes the Prophet would strengthen his mind with a sweet aroma. That is why he
said, "Three things of this world of yours were made lovable to me: women, perfume--and the
coolness of my eye was placed in the ritual prayer." He put "ritual prayer" last because that is
the goal. For he said, "The coolness of my eye is in the ritual prayer," while sweet aromas and
women are the ease of the body. Thereby the body gains strength to busy itself with prayer and
to gain the coolness of the eye found therein.363

361 The hadith is frequently cited, especially in Sufi sources, but scholars do not seem to have
found a source for it before Ghazâlî (cf. Furûzânfar, Ahâdîth-i Mathnawî 20-21).
362 Bilâl was the Prophet's muezzin. He used to say to him, "Stand, O Bilâl, and give us ease
through the prayer!" (Abû Dâwûd, Adab 78; Ahmad ibn Hanbal V 364, 371).
363 Ghazâlî, Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat 305/241.
 213

Man's Degree over Woman (I)

One of the most famous, and indeed in certain circles, notorious, verses of the Koran is
2:228: "The men have a degree above them [the women]." The passage occurs in a relatively
long section having to do with the laws of divorce. The particular verse within which it occurs
sets down the woman's waiting period after divorce before she can remarry. The whole verse is
as follows:
Divorced women shall wait by themselves for three periods; and it is not lawful for them
to hide what God has created in their wombs, if they have faith in God and the Last Day. In such
time their husbands have better right to bring them back, if they desire to put things in order.
They have [rights over their husbands] similar to those [their husbands have] over them, [all to
be maintained] with honor, but the men have a degree above them. God is Inaccessible, Wise.
Certainly the meaning of the clause, "the men have a degree above them" needs to be
clarified within its context, though that cannot exhaust its significance, as our authors are the first
to note. "The men" are the husbands of these women, and thus Arberry, for example, one of the
most careful of Koran translators, practically never adding a word to the text, sees fit to translate
the verse, "Their men have a degree above them." The verse deals specifically with the context
of the marriage relationship established according to the Sharia. It affirms that God gives to men
a certain something in which they are one "degree" (daraja) "above" or "over" (`alâ) the women.
The Koran commentators naturally try to explain what that something is, and interpretations
differ.
Maybudî's explanation of this verse provides a good sampling of the usual opinions put
forward by the commentators:
God is saying that the right of the women over the men is just like the right of the men
over the women. It is incumbent on both of them to keep the other and the self pure and pleased,
to live in happiness, and to provide pleasant company and companionship. Ibn `Abbâs said, "I
love to adorn myself for the woman just as I love that she adorn herself for me, since God said,
'They have [rights] similar to those over them, with honor.'" In the same way God says, "Treat
them [women] with honor" [4:19]. The Prophet said, "The best of you is the best of you to his
wife."
Sa`îd ibn al-Musayyib reports that the Prophet said, "When a Muslim man intends to
come to his wife, God writes for him 20 good deeds and erases from him 20 evil deeds. When
he takes her by the hand, God writes for him 40 good deeds and erases from him 40 evil deeds.
When he kisses her, God writes for him 60 good deeds and erases from him 60 evil deeds. When
he comes into her, God writes for him 120 good deeds. When he stands up to make the ablution,
God boasts of him to the angels and says, 'Look at My servant. He stands up in a cold night to
wash himself of impurity [janâba] seeking the good pleasure of his Lord. I bear witness to you
that I have forgiven him.'"
But the men have a degree above them. They have more than the women through the
dower they contract to give them and the support [infâq] they provide for them. In addition they
have it through the blood money, since the blood money for a man is twice that for a woman;
through inheritance, since men have two shares and women one; through divorce and returning
[raj`a (before a full divorce)], since this is in the man's hands, not the woman's; through leading
the prayer, leading the people, and the holy war, since these belong to the men, not to the
women; through intelligence and religion, since the Prophet said, "I have seen none who fall
shorter in intelligence and religion in the eye of the possessor of insight than you [women]."
 214

Then a woman said, "O Messenger of God, what is this 'falling short in intelligence and
religion'?" He replied, "As for falling short in intelligence, it is that the testimony of two women
equals that of one man [according to the Koran], so this is falling short in intelligence. The fact
that one of you remains several nights without fasting and breaking the fast in Ramadan pertains
to falling short in religion."
It is significant that all the examples provided by the tradition, and the original discussion
itself, pertain to social relationships and the rules and regulations set down by the Sharia. We are
dealing here with men and women as social beings having strictly defined gender roles. And
these roles, in the Islamic view, are established by God. We have not yet entered into the
domain of the interpretation of these rules and regulations for any level other than the social.
Even the hadith, "Women fall short in intelligence and religion," is explained in a strictly
Shariite sense. Maybudî continues his commentary in the same vein, looking at the most
outward and socially relevant aspects of the verse:
They have [rights] similar to those over them, with honor. But the men have a degree
above them. Concerning this verse, Sa`îd ibn al-Musayyib relates the following from Ibn
`Abbâs:
When the Day of Resurrection comes, God will gather together the jurists and ulama, and
they will stand in a row. Then a man will come with a woman. He will say, "My Lord, Thou art
the Judge, the Just. Before marriage, she and I were forbidden to each other. Then, through
marriage, we became permitted to each other, and she had enjoyment the like of my enjoyment.
Why then didst Thou make incumbent upon me the giving of a dower to her?"
God will say, "Did you take a dower from him?" She will say, "Yes." He will say, "Who
commanded you to do so?" She will point to the jurists.
Then God will say to the jurists, "Did you command her to take a dower from him?"
They will say that they did, and He will ask them on what basis they did so. They will say, "O
Lord, Thou hast said in Thy book, 'Give the women their dowers as a free gift'" [4:4]. God will
say, "You have spoken the truth."
Then the husband will say, "But why didst Thou make incumbent upon me a dower for
her, when we were the same in enjoyment?"
God will say, "Because I made it permissible for you to take enjoyment from others while
she was with you, but I forbade her to take enjoyment from others while you were with her.
Since I permitted you and forbade her, I wanted to give her that which would make you equal, so
I appointed for her the dower."
The account continues in the same vein. The man asks why he must support her and why
he alone must support their children, and he is given answers. Then he says,
"Thou hast said in Thy book, 'The men have a degree over them.' Yet we are equal.
What then is this degree?"
God replies, "Your degree above her is that I have given you permission to divorce her if
you like and keep her if you like, but she does not possess that."364
In turning to a more inward sense of the verse, Maybudî points to the importance of the
rights that God has over human beings as their Creator and Sustainer. He quotes a number of
hadiths, such as God's words reported by the Prophet, "I will not observe the right of My servant
until My servant observes My right." Nevertheless, God usually forgives and forgoes His rights.

364 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr I 610-12.

 215

But as for the rights of human beings, there is no indulgence, so most of God's vengeance
takes place here. It has even been said that if a person should have the merit of seventy prophets
but has a single claimant against whom he has transgressed in the measure of half a grain, he will
not go to paradise until that claimant is satisfied.
Hence the rights of the creatures must be maintained and one must strive mightily to
observe them -- especially the rights of women and wives. In this verse the Lord of the worlds
represents them and asks the husbands to take care of them. The Prophet said, "The best of you
is the best to his wife, and I am the best to my wife." He said, "I counsel you to be good to your
wives, for they are your helpers. They own nothing of their own, and you have taken them only
as a trust from God, making their vulvas lawful through a word." In other words, these women
are in your hands and are God's trust with you. Be good to them and desire the best for them,
especially that they be pious and worthy, since a pious and worthy woman is the cause of a man's
ease and his help in religion.
One day `Umar ibn al-Khattâb said to the Prophet, "O Messenger of God, what should I
take from this world?" He replied, "Let each of you take a tongue that remembers God, a heart
that thanks Him, and a wife who has faith," a pious and worthy woman. Look at the high rank he
has given a worthy wife, for he has placed her next to remembrance and gratitude! It is well
known that the remembrance of the tongue and the gratitude of the heart are not of this world.
On the contrary, they are the reality of religion. Hence the pious woman that the Prophet placed
next to them is the same. That is why Abû Sulaymân Dârânî said, "A worthy spouse is not of
this world, but of the next." In other words, the worthy spouse allows you to be free to engage in
the work of the next world. When you keep to your worship, if a boredom should appear such
that the heart is wearied and you fall behind in worship, looking at her and witnessing her gives
intimacy and ease to the heart. That power of worship will return and your desire to obey God
will be renewed.365
In commenting on the same Koranic verse, Tabrisî demonstrates a less "liberal" approach
than that found in Maybudî. He speaks for the more legalistically minded ulama, and he does
not temper his position with any appeal to the more inward dimensions of understanding:
The verse They have [rights] like those over them, with honor is one of the marvelous
statements, embracing many important points. By it God means everything that goes back to
good companionship, freedom from harm, and equality in portions, provision, and clothing. In
the same way, the husband has rights over the wife, like the obedience toward him that God has
made incumbent upon her, that no one should enter her bed but he, that she should preserve his
water and not try to make it come out.
It is related that the wife of Ma`âdh said, "O Messenger of God, what is the right of the
wife over the husband?" He replied, "That he not hit her in the face and not abuse her, that he
feed her with what he eats, that he clothe her in what he wears, and that he not keep himself apart
from her." It has also been related that he said, "Fear God in the affair of women, for you have
taken them in trust from God, you have made their vulvas lawful with the word of God. Among
your rights over them is that they not spread your bed for someone whom you dislike. If they do

365 Ibid. 613-14. The rest of Maybudî's discussion is derived from Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat and
follows it rather closely.
 216

that, strike them with a striking not severe. They have the right over you that you provide for
them and clothe them with honor."366
Tabrisî's commentary on the verse "The men have a degree above them" quotes the views
of many of the early Muslims and does not differ substantially from Maybudî's review of the
same material. Toward the end of the passage, however, he takes a rather extreme view of men's
degree over women. In support of his position, he quotes the following prophetic saying on the
authority of the fifth Shi`ite Imam, Muhammad al-Bâqir:
A woman came to the Messenger of God and said, "O Messenger of God, what is the
right of the husband over the woman?"
He replied, "That she obey him and not disobey him; that she not give alms from her
house without his permission; that she not fast of her own accord without his permission and she
not hold herself back from him, even mounted on a camel; that she not leave her house without
his permission, for if she leaves without his permission, she will be cursed by the angels of
heaven, the angels of earth, the angels of wrath, and the angels of mercy until she returns to her
house."
The woman said, "O Messenger of God, which person has the greatest right over a
woman?"
He replied, "Her husband."
She said, "Do I have rights over him similar to the rights he has over me?"
He replied, "No, not one in a hundred."
She said, "By Him who sent you with the Truth, no man will ever own my neck!"
The Prophet also said, "Were I to command someone to prostrate himself before another,
I would command the woman to prostrate herself before her spouse."367
Of course there is more than one way to interpret these sayings. Some might read them
as clear proof that Islam aims to subjugate women in society. But those who read between the
lines may see them as clear proof of the dominating power of women in Islamic society. On one
level, such sayings clearly mean to stress the importance of the marriage bond as the foundation
of the community. They also set up a certain irreversibility in the husband/wife relationship.
The husband has his functions and the wife has hers, and the two should not be mixed.
However, the firmness with which the superiority of men is stressed in this last saying
points to a certain power within women that needs to be faced. If men are so superior, why does
the point have to emphasized so much? They should be able to take care of themselves. But in
fact, men in many ways are weaker than women, so they need the backing of God and the
prophets to set up the right relationship. In one passage Ibn al-`Arabî takes this position, and he
supports it by referring to the implications of a certain Koranic verse that was revealed in
reference to two of the Prophet's wives, `A'isha and Hafsa. He is discussing the divine name the
Strong (al-qawî) and the various realities in the cosmos that manifest it. He begins by reminding
us that the cosmos comes into existence through a marriage between the Necessary Being and
the possible things. God as Creator and giver of existence stands in need of the immutable
entities which become His "wife." He can do nothing without them. On the level of the
relationship between man and woman, man is impotent without woman. And since woman is a

366 Tabrisî, Majma` al-bayân I 327.

367 Ibid. This second hadith is also found in Sunni sources (Abû Dâwûd, Nikâh 40; Ibn Mâja,
Nikâh 4; Ahmad ibn Hanbal IV 381, V 228, VI 76).
 217

microcosm, she focuses within herself the strength of every receptive reality in existence. She
brings together in herself the power of the whole cosmos. As a result, nothing in the universe is
stronger.
There is nothing in the created world greater in strength than woman, because of a
mystery known only by those who know that within which the cosmos came into existence, by
what movement the Real brought it into existence, and the fact that it comes from two premises.
For the cosmos is a result. The one who takes in marriage [nâkih] is a seeker, and a seeker is
poor and needy. The one who is taken in marriage [mankûh] is the sought, and the sought has
the mightiness of being the object of need. And appetite predominates. Thus has been made
clear to you the place of woman among the existent things, what it is in the Divine Presence that
looks upon her, and why it is that she manifests strength.
Note that "appetite" (shahwa) in the human realm reflects the love (mahabba) and desire
(irâda) of God for creation. God "loved" to be known. This was a desire for the cosmos. It
dominates over the reality of the Lord. Hence the vassal rules the Lord.
God has indicated the strength singled out for the woman in His words concerning
`A'isha and Hafsa: "If you two support one another against him, God is his Protector, and
Gabriel, and the righteous among the faithful; and, after that, the angels are his supporters"
[66:4]. All of this in order to vie in strength with two women! And here God mentions only the
strong, those who possess power and strength!368

Man's Degree over Women (II)

When we leave the social level, which is the concern of the Sharia, other interpretations
of the verse of man's "degree above women" become possible. It is worth noting that `Abd al-
Razzâq Kâshânî passes over most of the verses in this section of the Koran in silence, not
wishing, it seems, to find in them any inward significance, although he accepts in principle that
every Koranic verse has a number of inward senses. Qushayrî's Latâ'if al-ishârât offers
extremely brief interpretations for the two sections of the verse we have been considering.
Recall here that the title of his work means "Subtle allusions."
They have [rights] similar to those over them, with honor. In other words, he has the
obligation to expend property for her, and she has the obligation to serve him because of this.
But the men have a degree above them in excellence, while the women have the advantage
[maziyya] of weakness [da`f] and the incapacity of mortal nature [`ajz al-bashariyya].369
Note first that Qushayrî, in keeping with the more esoteric approach of his commentary,
pays no attention to the actual rules and regulations of the Sharia, but rather to the inner spirit of
the verse. By calling woman's weakness an advantage, he is alluding to a positive view of the
yin reality typical of an approach to the Koran that seeks out meanings related to inwardness.
We just saw how Ibn al-`Arabî draws a surprising conclusion on the basis of this quality of
woman.
Awareness of one's weakness, incapacity, and yin position in relationship to the Real is
the state of servanthood (`ubûdiyya). As was noted earlier, being a servant is the proper human
relationship with God, a necessary prerequisite for actualizing the yang qualities that pertain to

368 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 466.10. For a related commentary on the same passage, cf. ibid.
IV 84.34.
369 Qushayrî, Latâ'if al-ishârât I 193.
 218

vicegerency. Hence, Qushayrî's "subtle allusion" here suggests that men can be deluded by their
natural state of projecting and displaying yang attributes. They tend innately toward claiming
authority and vicegerency, but this is a great danger, since they have no valid claim to it without
first attaining servanthood. In contrast, women have the advantage of relative weakness and
incapacity in the outward domain. Hence they will be less inclined to make unjustified claims.
They have the advantage of a kind of natural servanthood.
Attributing yang qualities to oneself is perilous because all yang qualities belong by right
to God. As Rûmî puts it, alluding, through "king" and "dust," to yang and yin qualities,
If I be a king but without Thee, then how false are this "I" and "we"! But if I am dust and
with Thee, how comely is my I-hood!370
Recognizing one's own yin qualities in face of God is an aid to tawhîd, since it makes a
person ascribe all power, strength, glory, creativity, and so on to the Real. As the Prophet put it,
in a saying that traditional Muslims frequently recite: "There is no strength and no power except
in God, the High, the Tremendous." In any case, this discussion pertains more to the
psychological or microcosmic dimension of reality, so we will return to it in chapter 9.
Ibn al-`Arabî demonstrates a concern to explain the nature of the "degree" that men
possess above women in several passages. Typically, he does not pay a great deal of attention to
the social applications of the degree, but rather to the cosmological and metaphysical
significance. In other words, he is especially concerned to show what it is in the nature of reality
that establishes this degree and determines its qualities. As he puts it, "That degree is ontological
[wujûdî], so it does not disappear."371
In one passage, Ibn al-`Arabî sees the fundamental root of the relationship between
husband and wife in the yang/yin relationship between God and the cosmos. To support this
position, he cites two Koranic verses that show an interesting parallel. God "stands over" (qâ'im)
or takes care of every soul just as men "stand over" (qawwâm) women. Here his argument is
simply an appeal to the Word of God.
God made Himself descend among His creatures by standing over their best interests and
what they earn. He says, "What, is He who stands over every soul through what it earns. . . ?"
[13:33], just as He says, "Men stand over the women for that God has preferred one of them over
the other in bounty" [4:34], since the women are men's family [`â'ila]. It has been related that the
Messenger of God said, "The creatures are God's family,"372 so He stands over them, since the
creatures incline toward Him. That is why they are His family.373
In several passages, Ibn al-`Arabî sees man's superiority over women to lie in the
relationship established through Eve's creation from Adam. Note in the following that he brings
out a masculine side to Eve's reality not often encountered. He also finds a kinship between Eve
and Jesus, both of whom were created by the intermediary of a single human being.374

370 Rûmî, Dîwân 33594 (SPL 193)

371 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 171.4.
372 The hadith is not found in the standard sources.
373 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât IV 228.3.
374 Henry Corbin offers interesting speculations on the significance of this correlation, but he
does not pay close attention to the texts. See his Creative Imagination in the Sûfism of Ibn
`Arabî, especially pp. 162ff.
 219

The first existent human body to become manifest was Adam. He is the first father of
this kind. . . . Then God separated out from him a second father for us, whom He called a
mother. Hence it is correct to say that this first father has a degree above her, since he is her
root. . . .
God brought Jesus into existence from Mary. Hence Mary settled in the station of Adam,
while Jesus settled in the station of Eve. For just as a female came into existence from a male, so
a male came into existence from a female. Hence God finished with the like of that through
which He began, by bringing into existence a son without a father, just as Eve came to be
without a mother. Hence Jesus and Eve are two siblings, while Adam and Mary are their two
parents.
"The likeness of Jesus, in God's sight, is as the likeness of Adam" [3:59]. God compared
the two in terms of the lack of male parentage. He set this down as a proof to show that Jesus'
mother was free of blame. He did not compare him to Eve--even though the situation would
warrant that--since the woman is a place of suspicion, because of pregnancy. She is the locus
within which birth takes place, while the man is not a locus for that. And here the aim of the
proofs is to remove all doubts. . . .
The meaning of the likeness is that Jesus is like Eve. However, the denier might be beset
by doubts about that, since the female is, as we said, the place for that which issues from her, and
hence suspicions might occur. Hence the comparison was made with Adam so that Mary would
be shown to be free of that which commonly occurs. Hence the manifestation of Jesus from
Mary without a father is like the manifestation of Eve from Adam without a mother. And he is
the second father.
When Eve was separated from Adam, God filled her place in him with appetite for the
marriage act with her. Through that took place the "covering" [7:189] for the sake of the
manifestation of procreation and reproduction.375
Ibn al-`Arabî sometimes connects the verse of the degree to the superiority of heaven
over earth. Here he provides a cosmological justification for male superiority, not simply one
based on the text of the Koran--though the Koran is also brought to bear. The following is found
in a chapter called "Concerning the true knowledge of how men and women come together in
certain divine abodes."
"Humanity" [insâniyya] is a reality that comprehends both male and female, so men do
not possess a degree over women in respect of humanity. In the same way the human being
shares with the macrocosm in the quality of being a world. Hence the cosmos does not possess a
degree over the human being in this respect.
Yet it has been established that "The men possess a degree above" the women, just as it
has been established that "The creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of
mankind" [40:57]. . . . God also said, "Are you stronger in creation or the heaven He built?"
[79:27], and He mentions what pertains to heaven. Then He mentions the earth, and that He
spread it and what pertains to it. All this serves to demonstrate the superiority of these two over
the human being.
We have found that the degree by which heaven and earth are more excellent than the
human being is exactly the same as that by which the man is more excellent than the woman. It
is that human beings receive the activity of the heaven and the earth and are between the two and

375 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 136.13 (Y 2,298.5).

 220

derive from them. That which receives activity does not possess the strength of the one that acts
upon it.
In the same way, we find that Eve received the activity of Adam and was taken out and
engendered from his shortest rib. By that she fell short of reaching the degree of him who acted
upon her. Hence, she knows the level of the man only to the extent of that from which she was
created, that is, the rib. Hence her perception falls short of the reality of the man.
In the same way the human being knows the cosmos only to the measure in which his
existence is taken from it, no more. Hence the human being will never reach the degree of the
cosmos in its totality, even if he is an epitome [mukhtasar] of it. Likewise the woman will never
reach the degree of the man, even though she is the choicest part [naqâwa] of this epitome.
The woman is similar to Nature in respect of being a locus that receives activity [mahall
infi`âl]. But the man is not like that, for the man simply casts the water into the womb, nothing
more. The womb is the locus of engendering and creation. Hence the entities of this species
appear from the female, since she receives engendering and activity in the stages of creation,
creation after creation, until the person emerges as a faultless human being.376 In this measure
men are distinct from women.
That is why women fall short of the intelligence of men: They understand only to the
measure that the woman takes of the creation of the man at the root of configuration. As for the
fact that they fall short in religion, that is because recompense follows the measure of works, and
works come into existence only from knowledge. Knowledge follows the measure of receiving
the cosmos, and the degree of receiving the cosmos follows the measure of the preparedness at
the root of configuration. Woman's preparedness falls short of the preparedness of man, since
she is a part of him. Hence woman must be described as falling short of man in religion.
But this chapter demands the attribute in which men and women come together. That lies
in what we mentioned: the fact that they stand in the station of receiving activity. All of this is
in respect to the realities.
The "realities" for Ibn al-`Arabî are the divine roots of things, or the inherent
characteristics of things determined by their mode of being. The realities lie at the deepest level
of existence and become manifest in the cosmos as the actual situations. At this point in the
discussion, Ibn al-`Arabî turns to the concrete situations of men and women in the world. He
points out that the Koran makes them share in qualities:
As for that which occurs for men and women, that is like God's words, "The submitted
[masculine] and the submitted [feminine], the faithful and the faithful, the obedient and the
obedient, the truthful and the truthful, the patient and the patient, the humble and the humble,
those who fast and those who fast, those who guard their private parts and those who guard,
those who give in charity and those who give in charity, those who remember God much and
those who remember, [for them God has prepared forgiveness and a mighty wage] [33:35]." Or
it is like God's words, "The repenters [masculine], the worshipers, the praisers, the fasters"
[9:112] and His words, "The repenters [feminine], the worshipers, the fasters" [66:5]. The
Messenger of God said, "Many have reached perfection among men, but among women only

376 Allusion to various Koranic verses concerning the stages which the embryo passes through
before birth. For example, "He creates you in your mothers' wombs, creation after creation, in
threefold shadows" (39:6).
 221

Mary the daughter of `Imrân and Asiya the wife of Pharoah."377 Hence men and women come
together in the degree of perfection. But men are more excellent in the degree of most-
perfectness [al-akmaliyya], not that of perfection. For though men and women are both perfect
through prophethood [nubuwwa], men are more excellent through messengerhood [risâla] and
"being sent" [ba`tha], since no woman has had these two degrees.378 . . .
God has made men and women share in the prescription of the Sharia [taklîf]. Though
women are singled out for rulings that do not pertain to men, men are singled out for rulings that
do not pertain to women, even if "Women are the likes of men."379
In still another passage, Ibn al-`Arabî rejects the idea that man's degree stems from the
fact that Eve was created from Adam. Though he seems to be contradicting what he says in the
above passage, in fact he is merely adding some precision by pointing out that the myth of Eve's
creation from Adam's left rib teaches us that woman is dominated by yin qualities to a degree
that is not true for man. This passage is found in a short sub-chapter called "Concerning
dependence upon that which falls short [nâqis] and inclination toward it." He explains that this
title refers to dependence upon any created thing other than the perfect human being, since full
perfection is found in him or her alone. Someone who depends upon the perfect human being--
for example, upon a prophet or a great saint--is not depending upon that which falls short, since
the perfect human being becomes manifest in the form of God. Ibn al-`Arabî continues:
But everything else in the phenomenal world falls short of this level, just as the woman
falls short of the man by the degree that stands between them. Even if the woman becomes
perfect, this degree means that her perfection will not be that of the man. Some people claim that
the degree is the fact that Eve came into existence from Adam, so she became manifest only
through him. Hence he has the degree of being a secondary cause, and she can never reach him
in that. But this is a situation in a particular entity [that is, Eve], and we would counter it with
[another particular entity, that is,] Mary in relation to the existence of Jesus. Hence the "degree"
is not that he is the secondary cause of her becoming manifest.
The fact is that the woman is the locus that receives activity, while the man is not like
that. The locus that receives activity does not possess the level of activity, so it falls short. But
in spite of the falling short, there is dependence upon it and inclination toward it, since it receives
activity in itself and with itself.380
In other words, man has no superiority over woman simply because Eve was created
from Adam, since Jesus--the spirit and word of God and one of the greatest of perfect human
beings--was created from Mary, without any human intermediary. Rather, man's degree has to
do with the dominance of yang in his case and yin in hers. Perhaps it is necessary to add that
Muslims have never questioned the virgin birth of Jesus, since the Koran supports it explicitly.

377 The hadith is found in several of the standard sources, including Bukhârî (Anbiyâ' 32, 46,
etc.) and Muslim (Fadâ'il al-Sahâba 70).
378 Apparently Ibn al-`Arabî is attributing prophethood to Mary and perhaps Asiya as well.
Here his position would differ from most authorities, though the idea that Mary was a prophet
was supported by his fellow Andalusians Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064) and al-Qurtubî (d. 671/1273).
Cf. Smith and Haddad, "The Virgin Mary in Islamic Tradition and Commentary."
379 The saying is a hadith found in Tirmidhî (Tahâra 82) and other standard sources. Ibn al-
`Arabî, Futûhât III 87.18.
380 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 471.21.
 222

In still another passage, Ibn al-`Arabî attributes man's degree over woman to the fact that
the cosmos can never reach the station of God because of the peculiar relationship that is
established between them: cosmic receptivity and divine activity. He is commenting on the
Koranic verse, "He has no equal" (112:4).
Here He means by "equal" consort [sâhiba], because of those who said that the Messiah
was the son of God and Ezra was the son of God.381 The equal is a likeness. But the woman
can never be like the man, since God says, "The men have a degree over them." Hence she is not
his equal. For the locus that receives activity is not the equal of that which acts upon it. The
cosmos is the locus that receives God's activity, so it is not God's equal. Eve is the locus that
receives Adam's activity, so he has the degree of activity over her. Hence she is not his equal in
this respect.
Since He said, "The men have a degree over them," He did not allow Jesus to be the locus
that receives the activity of Mary, lest the man should be the locus that receives the activity of
the woman, as Eve had received that of Adam. Hence Gabriel or the angel "became
imaginalized to her as a mortal man without fault" [19:17]. He said to her, "I am but a
messenger come from your Lord, to give you a boy most pure" [19:19]. Hence he gave her
Jesus. Thus Jesus received the activity of the angel who was imaginalized in the form of a man.
That is why he came out in the form of his father--a male, a mortal man, a spirit. Hence he
brought together the two forms possessed by his father, who was the angel, since his father was a
spirit in respect of his entity and a mortal man in respect of his becoming imaginalized in the
form of a mortal man.382

Mutual Love
For Ibn al-`Arabî as for other Muslim thinkers, the myth of Adam and Eve has many
applications. For example, it provides a rationale for the love that appears between a man and a
woman. But it also makes clear that the two loves are not identical, precisely because of the
"degree" that separates the sexes. The hierarchical relationship set up by that degree defines the
yang and yin qualities on each side.
When the body of Adam became manifest, as we mentioned, he had no appetite for the
marriage act. But the Real knew that reproduction, procreation, and marriage would be brought
into existence in this abode. And marriage, in this abode, is for the sake of the subsistence of the
species.383 Hence He brought Eve out from Adam's short rib. Thereby she fell short of the
degree of the man, as God says, "The men have a degree above them." Hence the women will
never reach the men.
Eve came from the rib because ribs are bent. Thereby she may bend toward her children
and her spouse. The bending of the man toward the woman is his bending toward his own self,
since she is a part of him. The bending of the woman toward the man is because she is created
from the rib, and within the rib are bending and inclination.

381 Allusion to Koran 9:30: "The Jews say, 'Ezra is the son of God.' The Christians say, 'The
Messiah is the son of God'."
382 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 181.35.
383 Ibn al-`Arabî adds the proviso "in this abode" because marriage in paradise is strictly for
enjoyment.
 223

When Eve was taken from Adam, God filled the empty space with appetite for her, since
existence does not allow a vacuum to remain. When He filled the vacuum with "air" [hawâ'],384
Adam bent toward her just as he bends toward his own self, since she is a part of him. And Eve
bent toward him, since he is the homeland from which she was configured. Hence Eve's love is
the love of homeland,385 while Adam's love is the love for himself. That is why the man's love
for the woman is manifest, for she is himself. But in love for men the woman is given the power
called "shame" [hayâ'], so she is strong in concealment, for the homeland is not united with her
in the same way that she is united with Adam.
God formed within that rib everything that He had formed and created in the body of
Adam. Hence the configuration of the body of Adam in His form was like the potter's
configuration of what he configures from clay and baking. But the configuration of the body of
Eve was like the carpenter's configuration of the forms that he carves in wood. When He had
carved her in the rib, set up her form, proportioned her, and balanced her, He blew into her of
His own spirit. Then she stood up alive, speaking, a female. Hence He made her a locus for
tilling and cultivation, because of the existence of sowing, which is procreation. Hence Adam
rested in her, and she rested in him. She was "a garment" for him, and he was a "garment" for
her. God says, "[Permitted to you, upon the night of the Fast, is to go in to your wives.] They
are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them" [2:187]. Appetite permeated all his parts,
so he sought her.386
Ibn al-`Arabî provides a similar explanation for the love between men and women when
explaining why the gnostics, those men who have reached perfection, incline toward women:
The longing [hanîn] of the gnostics toward women is the longing of the whole toward its
part, like the loneliness of dwellings for the inhabitants that give them life. Moreover, God filled
up the place in the men from which woman was taken with inclination [mayl] toward her. His
longing toward her is the longing and bending of the large toward the small.387
According to a sound hadith that will be discussed in detail in the next chapter, "The
womb is a branch (shajana) of the All-merciful." The Arabic word for womb (rahim) derives
from the same root as the words mercy (rahma) and All-merciful (rahmân). The mother's womb
is the locus of God's life-giving mercy. Ibn al-`Arabî sees one of the meanings of the hadith in
the relationship between man and woman, since, just as the womb is a branch of the All-
merciful, so Eve is a branch of Adam:
The station of the woman in relation to the man at the root of coming into existence is the
same as the station of the womb in relation to the All-merciful, since she is a branch of him, for
she emerged in his form. Certain hadiths have reported that "God created Adam in the form of
the All-merciful,"388 and it has been established that the womb among us is a branch of the All-
merciful. Hence in our relationship with the All-merciful God placed us in the station of Eve in

384 Hawâ' is from the same root and almost identical in pronunciation with hawâ, "caprice" or
"desire." The empty space was filled with air, which in this context implies desire and love.
385 Ibn al-`Arabî has in mind here the saying, often cited as a hadith, "The love of the homeland
is part of faith" (hubb al-watan min al-îmân).
386 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 124.27 (Y 2,248.6).
387 Ibid. II 190.9.
388 According to Jâmî, this hadith is found in Rawâya ma`ânî al-akhbâr of Muhammad ibn
Ishâq ibn Yasâr (fl. second/eighth c.). Cf. Jâmî, Naqd al-nusûs 94.
 224

relation to Adam, and this is the locus of procreation and the manifestation of the entities of the
children. In the same way, we are the locus for the manifestation of the acts of God, since the
act, though it belongs to God, becomes manifest only through our hands. It does not become
attributed to Him in the sensory realm except through us.
Were we not a branch of the All-merciful, it would not be correct for us to be ascribed to
God. That is the fact that we are His servants, and "The client of a people is one of them." Our
poverty and need toward God is the poverty of the part toward the whole. Were there not this
much relationship, the Divine Inaccessibility and the Absolute Independence would not incline
toward us, nor would He look upon us. Through this ascription we have become the locus of
disclosure for that Inaccessibility. Hence His Essence is witnessed only in us, because of the
divine form in which He created us. So our kingdom is all the divine names. There is no divine
name of which we do not possess a portion. No affair occurs in us whose property does not
permeate the Root. . . .
Since Eve is a branch of Adam, God placed love and mercy between the two, thereby
calling our attention to the fact that there is love and mercy between the womb and the All-
merciful. . . . The love placed between the two spouses is permanency in marriage, which leads
to reproduction. The mercy placed between them is the longing found by each of the spouses
toward the other. Each longs for the other and finds rest therein.389
In the case of the woman, this longing is that of the part for its whole, the branch for its
root, the stranger for her homeland. The man's longing for his spouse is the longing of the whole
for the part, since through the part he can rightly be called the whole, but with the part's
disappearance, this name does not belong to him. It is the longing of the root for its branch,
since the root replenishes the branch. Were it not for the branch, the lordly power of giving
replenishment would not become manifest from the root.
In the same way, if there were no engendered universe, it would not be correct to say that
God is "Lord" over Himself. But He is a Lord, so there must be a cosmos. And He is always a
Lord, so the immutable entities will never cease gazing upon Him through their poverty, [asking
Him] to clothe them with the name of existence. He never ceases gazing upon them with the eye
of mercy, because of their calling to Him. Hence He never ceases as a Lord in the state of our
nonexistence and the state of our existence. Possibility belongs to us and Necessity to Him. . . .
Hence love and mercy are the seeking of the whole for its part and the part for its whole.
The two join together, and from this conjunction become manifest the entities of the children.
Then the name parenthood can correctly refer to the two. Hence the existence of the children
gives a property to the parents that they did not possess, that is, parenthood. But the Lord is not
like that, since He is a Lord from eternity without beginning. For the possible thing is always
described by possibility, whether or not it exists, since God looks upon it in its state of
nonexistence from eternity without beginning. The priority of nonexistence is the possible
thing's beginningless attribute. Hence it remains forever a vassal, even if it does not exist. This
is the difference between that which is necessary for God and that which is necessary for the
servant in respect of the naming and the level that appears for it through the existence of the
child.390

389 Allusion to Koran 7:189: "It is He who created you from one soul and made from it its
spouse that he might rest in her."
390 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 88.28.
 225

Later in the same chapter, Ibn al-`Arabî wants to correct those who think that women are
inferior to men in their possibilities of spiritual attainment. They can even, he says, become the
Pole (qutb), the supreme spiritual ruler of the age upon whom the existence of the cosmos
depends. Moreover, women have certain attainments that men cannot reach, a point to which
allusion is made in the very word "woman" (mar'a) that is applied to them. Apparently some
Sufis had cited the hadith Ibn al-`Arabî mentions in the following as proof that women could not
become the Pole.
Women share with men in all levels, even in being Pole. You should not let yourself be
veiled by the words of the Messenger of God, "A people who give the rule of their affairs to a
woman will never prosper."391 We are speaking about the rulership given by God, not the
rulership given by people, while the hadith speaks of someone who is given rulership by the
people. If the only thing that had reached us concerning this matter were the words of the
Prophet, "Women are the likes of men," that would be enough, since it means that everything to
which a man can attain--stations, levels, or attributes--can also belong to any woman whom God
wills, just as it can belong to any man whom God wills.
Do you not notice God's wisdom in the extra which He has given to the woman over the
man in the name? Concerning the male human being, He says mar', and concerning the female
He says, mar'a; so He added an a--or an at in construct form--to the name mar' given to the man.
Hence she has a degree over the man in this station, a degree not possessed by him, in
contradistinction to the degree given to men in the verse, "Men possess a degree above them"
[2:228]. Hence God blocked that gap [alluded to in the verse] with this extra in mar'a.392
What then is Ibn al-`Arabî's position on the degree? It would not be possible to state it on
the basis of the above passages without inconsistency. My own reading is that whenever Ibn al-
`Arabî takes the point of view of a specific quality in men or women, he reaches a conclusion
appropriate for the quality. In the last analysis, however, we enter into the imponderables of the
divine form, which opens up to infinity. Here God does what He wants, and in that respect no
distinction can be drawn between men and women.

Women Made Lovable

If men and women fall short of each other by a certain degree, yet they find fulfillment in
each other precisely for that reason. What separates them gives rise to the desire that brings
them back together. In the same way, God's love for the cosmos brings it into existence, "so that
the Hidden Treasure might be known." Thereby "other than God," difference, diversity,
separation, make their appearance. But just as this love brought the world into existence, so also
it brings creatures to the perfections for which they were created. Thereby it reunites them with
God. God "loved to be known." Without the original separation demanded by the cosmos, a
separation that begins on the human level in ignorance of God, the subsequent knowledge of God
by the "other" would not have been possible.
The Sufis see one of the most striking expressions of the inherent presence of love in the
cosmos in the prophetic saying, "Three things of this world of yours were made lovable to me:

391 The hadith is found in several slightly differing versions. Bukhârî (Maghâzî 82, Fitan 18),
Tirmidhî (Fitan 75), Nasâ'î (Qudât 8), Ahmad ibn Hanbal (V 43, 51, 38, 47).
392 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 89.22.
 226

women, perfume--and the coolness of my eye was placed in the ritual prayer."393 The Prophet
is by definition the most perfect human being and the most perfect male. His love for women
shows that the perfection of the human state is connected with love for other human beings, not
simply with love for God. More specifically, it shows that male perfection lies in women and, by
implication, female perfection in men. Ibn al-`Arabî provides several insightful explanations of
this hadith, situating it in various contexts.
In the chapter of the Futûhât on supererogatory acts (nâfila) like extra prayers and fasting,
Ibn al-`Arabî points out that such acts of worship are ranked in degrees according to the
excellence of the required worship whose form they take. Thus, for example, if the mandatory
ritual prayer is more excellent than the mandatory alms, so also supererogatory ritual prayer is
better than supererogatory alms. If Abû Hanîfa, the founder of the Hanafite school of law, called
marriage the best of all supererogatory acts, this is because marriage is the best of all obligatory
acts. And the reason for this must be sought in God's love to make the Hidden Treasure
manifest.
Marriage is the best of the supererogatory good deeds. It has a root, and that is the
obligatory marriage. Anything in addition to that is supererogatory. The obligatory marriage is
of two kinds, that is, its occurrence: It may occur because of the relationship of unqualified love.
And it may occur because of the relationship established by a person's love for reproduction and
procreation.
When marriage occurs because of the love for reproduction and procreation, then it joins
the divine love when there was no cosmos. He "loved to be known." Hence He turned His
desire toward this love for the things while they were in the state of their nonexistence. They
were the root [of creation] through the preparedness of their possibility. He said to them, "Be!"
and they came to be, that He might be known by every sort of knowledge. Temporally
originated knowledge as yet had no object, since the one who knows by means of it was not yet
qualified by existence.
This was a love that sought the perfection of knowledge and the perfection of existence,
for neither existence nor knowledge gains perfection without the cosmos. And the cosmos
becomes manifest only through God's turning His attentiveness toward the entities of the
possible things by way of love, in order that the entities may achieve the perfection of existence
and knowledge. This is a state that resembles marriage for the sake of reproduction.
Obligatory marriage is the best of obligatory acts, so its supererogatory form is the best
supererogatory good deed. . . . Abû Hanîfa said that marriage is the best of the supererogatory
good deeds. What he said is true--he truly struck the mark. The Messenger of God was made to
love women, and he married more than any other prophet. The reason for this is that in marriage
is found something of the realization of the form in which the human being was created.

393 The hadith is found in Nasâ'î (`Ishrat al-Nisâ' 1) and Ahmad ibn Hanbal (III 128, 199, 285),
without, however, the word "three things" (thalâth), which plays an important part in Ibn al-
`Arabî's interpretation, as we will see below. Ghazâlî provides the text as Ibn al-`Arabî reads it
in Ihyâ' II.2.1 (II 21). Shi`ite sources give several sayings of the Prophet and the Imams of
similar import. For example Ja`far al-Sâdiq said, "The more the servant's love for women
increases, the more his faith increases in excellence." Cf. `Amilî, Wasâ'il al-shî`a XIV 9-11.
 227

However, only a small number of people know this, and that by way of unveiling. Or rather,
only a small number of gnostics among the Folk of God know this.394
God created the human being in His own form, and hence the human is the most perfect
form in the cosmos, the goal of creation, the pinnacle of the cosmos. This is one reason that God
made the Prophet love women--through women the perfect form enters into existence. But it is
not the only reason, since the joy given by the marriage act is itself inherently beautiful and
lovable. This is proved by the fact that the inhabitants of paradise have sexual relationships
simply for pleasure, not for producing children.
God made the Prophet love women and gave him the strength for marriage. He praised
the state of being a husband and blamed abstaining from sexual intercourse. The Prophet was
made to love women because they are the locus that receives the activity of engendering the most
perfect form, that is, the human form, more perfect than which there is no form. Not every locus
of receiving activity has this specific perfection. Hence love for women is one of the things
through which God favored His Messenger, for He made him love them in spite of the fact that
he had few children. Hence the desired goal was nothing but the marriage act itself, like the
marriage act of the people of the Garden, which is strictly for pleasure, not for producing
offspring.395 . . . And this [pleasure in the marriage act] is an affair outside the requirement of
the love for the locus that receives the activity of engendering [children].
Do you not see--if you understand the meanings of the Koran--how the Real "assigned to
you earth for a bedding" [2:22] and how He created Adam from the earth, making him a locus
that receives activity? The Messenger of God said, "The child belongs to the bedding."396 In
other words, the child belongs to the master of the bedding, while the bedding is the woman. In
the same way, God made Adam a vicegerent in the earth from which he was created. Thereby
Adam was made a "master of the bedding," since he has the form of Him who brought him into
existence. Hence God gave him the power of activity [through the divine form and being the
master of the bedding] just as He gave him the power of receiving activity [through being a
product of the bedding].397
Here Ibn al-`Arabî alludes to the fact that Adam contains both yin and yang
characteristics within himself. In the same way, Eve has both yin and yang qualities, as was
pointed out earlier. All created realities are ambiguous, capable of being considered yin or yang
depending on the point of view. This helps explain why the Prophet said, "Women are the likes
of men." As Ibn al-`Arabî remarks,
"Women are the likes of men." Do you not see that Eve was created from Adam? Hence
she has two properties: the property of the male at the root and the property of the female as
accident. Hence she is ambiguous [mutashâbih].398

394 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 167.10.

395 On the pleasure of the Garden as contrasted to that of this world, cf. Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât
II 193.8.
396 This hadith, as well as its variants, "The child belongs to the master of the bedding" and "to
the lord of the bedding" occurs numerous times in all the standard sources (Wensinck,
Concordance V 109, lines 51-58).
397 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât IV 243.8.
398 Ibid. 84.21.
 228

Eve's ambiguity can be seen in the fact that she acts upon Adam just he acts upon her.
Adam's "acting upon her" is inconceivable without her acting upon him, since the ability of the
yang force to act is given to it by the yin force. As Ibn al-`Arabî points out in continuing the
above passage, yin is present in yang, giving it the ability to be yang:
Humanity is the locus that brings together male and female. But how can the reality of
the active be compared with that which receives activity from something active within it?
However, the active one acts only upon that which resembles it. For the active one is the first
thing within which receiving activity appears. There becomes manifest within it the form of that
which receives its activity. Through this strength that which receives activity receives the
activity. This is like the divine names Originator, Deviser, and Real.
These divine names refer to the fact that God creates out of "nothing." But in Ibn al-
`Arabî's understanding, the "nothing" out of which the cosmos is created corresponds to the
nonexistent immutable entities. They are nothing because they do not exist in themselves.
However, they are known by God. The point of all this is that the active (God, Adam) is able to
act upon the receptive (the immutable entities, Eve) because the receptive acts upon the active.
Adam gave birth to Eve because Eve acted upon Adam by being present within him. The Lord
brings the vassal into existence because the Lord is defined by the vassal and has no meaning
apart from it. Yin has yang within it, and yang has yin. Ibn al-`Arabî makes clear that he has
this inseparability of the two terms of the relationship in mind in the continuation of this
discussion. Having mentioned the divine names that demand creation out of nothing, he explains
that this divine creativity cannot mean that there is yang without yin. As Rûmî would put it, how
can one hand clap?399 Rather, yin is already present within yang: The entities are present
within the knowledge of the Creator before they are given existence.
We have already demonstrated concerning God's knowledge of the cosmos that this
knowledge follows its object. Knowledge is an attribute of the Knower. That which gives the
knowledge is the actual situation of the object of knowledge. Then the Knower gives rise to the
coming into existence of the object of knowledge. In the same way, the Deviser gives rise to the
coming into existence of that which is devised; He makes it manifest within existence.
Hence yin is found within yang. If yang loves yin, it is because yin is yang itself. If the
Prophet (the perfect image of God) was made to love women, it is because women reflect God.
In Rûmî's words again, "She is the radiance of God, she is not your beloved. She is the Creator--
you could say that she is not created."400
From this you will understand why God made Muhammad love women. He who loves
women as the Prophet loved them has loved God, who brings together all reception of activity.
For He has been given knowledge by the objects of knowledge. Thus it can be said concerning
Him that He is the Knower. Hence He is the first to receive activity from an object of
knowledge.
Jesus's reception of activity from Mary became manifest opposite Eve's reception from
Adam. "Surely in that is a reminder for him who has a heart" [50:37]. Thereby such a person
can understand God's words, "O people, We created you from the male," as in the case of Eve,
"and the female" [49:13], as in the case of Jesus, and from both together, as in the case of the rest
of the offspring, the children of Adam. This encompasses the creation of all people.

399 Cf. SPL 209.

400 Rûmî, Mathnawî I 2437 (SPL 189).
 229

Ibn al-`Arabî now turns to an autobiographical remark that is worth quoting, at least to
make clear that these speculations on the nature of male and female were not without practical
results in the lives of our authors.
I used to dislike women and sexual intercourse as much as anyone when I first entered
this Path. I stayed that way for about eighteen years until I witnessed this station.401 Before
that, I had feared the divine displeasure because of this, since I had come across the prophetic
report that God had made women lovable to His Prophet. For he did not love them because of
nature. He loved them because God had made them lovable to him. When I was sincere toward
God in turning my attentiveness toward Him in that, because of my fear of His displeasure--since
I disliked what God had made lovable to His Prophet--that dislike disappeared from me. Praise
belongs to God! He made them lovable to me. I am the greatest of creatures in care for them
and the most observant of their rights. For in this I am "upon insight" [12:108]. This derives
from my being made to love. This is not a love deriving from Nature.402
The love that the Prophet had for women is obligatory on all men, since he is the model
of perfection who must be emulated. Ibn al-`Arabî explains this while discussing how the
gnostic takes help from women:
He takes help from them for their sake, as the Messenger of God took it when he
commanded them to give alms. For he was striving in their deliverance, since he saw them as
the majority of the people of the Fire.403 Hence he felt pity for them, since they came to be
from him. This is a human being's pity for himself. Moreover, women are the locus within
which the form of perfection is engendered. Hence love for them is obligatory [farîda] and a
way of following the Prophet. The Messenger of God said, "Three things of this world of yours
were made lovable to me: women, perfume--while the coolness of my eye was placed in the
ritual prayer." Thereby he mentioned women. Do you think that which would take him far from
his Lord was made lovable to him? Of course not. That which would bring him near to his Lord
was made lovable to him.
`A'isha, the Mother of the Faithful, understood what women were taking from the heart
of the Messenger of God when he chose them and they chose him. God wanted to console these
women [that is, the Prophet's wives], to show affection for them in that time, and to take care of
them, even if that was against the desire of the Messenger of God. Hence He said, "Thereafter
women are not lawful to thee, neither for thee to take other wives in exchange for them, though
their beauty please thee, except what thy right hand owns" [33:52]. Out of mercy for him
because of the love of women that He placed in his heart, God left for him the property of the

401 If Claude Addas is right that Ibn al-`Arabî means by "entering the path" the beginning of his
training at the hand of a shaykh and that this took place when he was 20 (cf. Addas, Ibn `Arabî
68), he would have been 38 when he reached this station. This corresponds nicely with the fact
that he saw himself consecrated as the "Seal of Muhammadan Sanctity" at the age of 38 in
598/1202. In his terminology, a "Muhammadan" friend of God is one who inherits directly from
Muhammad, without the intermediary of other prophets, such as Jesus or Moses. Upon fully
realizing his own "Muhammadan" nature, he would naturally be made to love women.
402 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât IV 84.22.
403 Allusion to the hadith, "The majority of the people of the Fire are women," which comes in
several versions (Bukhârî, Hayd 6, Kusûf 9, Bad' al-Khalq 8; Muslim, Kusûf 17, etc.).
 230

right hand.404 This was one of the most difficult [ashaqq] verses to come down upon the
Messenger of God. Hence `A'isha said, "God would not chastise the heart of His Prophet! By
God, the Messenger of God did not die before He made women lawful to him."405
He who knows the measure of women and their mystery will not renounce love for them.
On the contrary, one of the perfections of the gnostic is love for them, for this is a prophetic
heritage and a divine love. For the Prophet said, "were made lovable to me." Hence he ascribed
his love for them only to God. Ponder this chapter--you will see wonders!406
The "mystery" of women lies in the fact that the sexual act provides the occasion for
experiencing what Ibn al-`Arabî calls God's "greatest self-disclosure." From the perspective of
incomparability, God is unknown and cannot be experienced. But from the perspective of
similarity, God shows Himself in all things and can be experienced through all things. The
whole cosmos and everything within it is God's self-disclosure. But the greatest locus of
experiencing God's self-disclosure is the sexual act.
The fact that Islam considers sexual relationships one of the greatest pleasures of paradise
is well-known.407 There is no suggestion that this is the sake of producing children. The
prophets and great friends of God experience already in this life that paradisial state. Their
marriages replicate the marriages of the blessed in the Garden. If children happen to be born as a
result, that is fine, but the goal was the pleasure. Ibn al-`Arabî expands on this theme in a
chapter on the Pole (qutb), who is the greatest friend of God in any given era and acts as the
primary means whereby the worlds are interconnected. He is the perfect human being par
excellence, the true servant of the name that embraces all divine names. "Servanthood"--a yin

404 The "property of the right hand" here is the slave girl, with whom Islamic law allows sexual
relationships.
405 The second sentence of this saying, with the exception of "By God," is found attributed to
`A'isha in Tirmidhî, Tafsîr sûra 33, 19.
406 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 190.11.
407 Bouhdiba goes a bit overboard when he calls the chapter of his Sexuality in Islam that deals
with paradise "The Infinite Orgasm." It is worth noting that the analysis by Bouhdiba and others
has in turn led to criticisms that give a new twist to the old missionary approach to Islam. M.E.
Combs-Schilling remarks, "Christianity's imagination of paradise is asexual, while Islam's is one
of infinite male orgasm. For those who would ennoble the sexual act, Islam's imagination has
some advantages; it speaks of sexuality in highly poetic and lyrical terms. Yet this imagination
is profoundly limited, for it does not apply sacrality to sex between partners on earth. It does not
allow the man to have sacred sex with a real woman, only with the imagined huris in heaven. . . .
In Islam's imagination, sacred sex is biased towards the man and towards heaven, so that it
profoundly interferes with the depth of intimacy that males and females can experience on earth.
It does not allow the man to spiritually, emotionally, and sexually invest where he plausibly
could" (Sacred Performances 96). Even if the Islamic concept of the sacred had not been
misrepresented here, one would wonder where the author gained her prophetic ability to see into
the souls of Muslim men and women over history and tell us what they have and have not
experienced and then to mandate a norm in their sexual relationships. How does she know what
is and is not spiritually plausible? At least traditional Muslim authors are frank in their
anthropology. One wishes that this author could have told us what a human being is and how
she can be sure of her definition.
 231

relationship, let it be recalled--is the highest human situation, the station of perfection itself,
especially servanthood to the name Allah, to God as He is in Himself.
Through God's self-disclosure in marriage, the Pole knows what encourages him to seek
marriage and to become completely enamored of it. For neither he nor any other gnostic realizes
his servanthood more thoroughly than in what he realizes in the marriage act--not in eating, or
drinking, or putting on clothes to ward off harm. But he does not desire marriage for offspring,
but strictly for the sake of appetite. He makes procreation present in himself because of a
command of the Sharia, while procreation in this is an affair of nature, for the sake of the
preservation of the species in this abode.
The word shahwa, translated here as "appetite" in order to maintain consistency
throughout this book, can also be rendered as passion or desire or concupiscence. The Koran
says of the people of the Garden that "They shall dwell forever with the objects of their souls'
appetite" (21:102). Or again, "Therein you shall have all the objects of your souls' appetite, all
that you call for" (41:31). Arberry renders these two verses as follows: "They shall dwell
forever in that their souls desire." "Therein you shall have all that your souls desire, all that you
call for." In Ibn al-`Arabî's view, this "appetite" or passion that is given free rein in the Garden is
the same as the appetite that people experience in this world. For, as pointed out above, human
appetite reflects God's attribute of desire and love. Within human beings, it incarnates God's
desire for creation and His joy in bringing the world into existence. In order for human beings to
develop their appetite in a healthy and wholesome manner, fully in accord with the nature of the
Real Itself, they must keep it within the bounds set down by the Sharia. Then appetite will
follow the course of what God desires for mankind. Once human beings reach the Garden, their
appetite is freed from all outside constraint, since at this stage of human perfection appetite
coincides with God's desire by its very nature. Like the activity of angels and beasts, the activity
of the felicitous in the Garden flows with the Tao. Ibn al-`Arabî continues:
The marriage act of the possessor of this station is like the marriage act of the people of
the Garden, strictly for appetite, since it is the greatest self-disclosure of God. However, it is
hidden from mankind and jinn except in the case of those of God's servants whom He singles
out. In the same way, the marriage act of the beasts is strictly for appetite.
Many of the gnostics have remained oblivious of this reality, since it is one of the
mysteries grasped only by a few of the People of God's Solicitude. Within marriage is found
complete nobility denoting the weakness [da`f] that is worthy of servanthood. There is
something of the severity of enjoyment [qahr al-lidhdha] that annihilates the person from his
strength and his claims. It is a delicious severity. For severity precludes taking enjoyment in it
for the one who is overcome by it, since enjoyment of severity is one of the specific
characteristics of the one who is severe. Its enjoyment is not a characteristic of the one who is
overcome by it, with the single exception of this act.
Here again Ibn al-`Arabî stresses the Islamic view that human perfection is found in
submission to God. Every positive good begins in servanthood. In the sexual act, the human
being is overwhelmed by the power of pleasure, thereby gaining a foretaste of the bliss of the
paradisial relationship with God. The pleasure manifests God's severity (qahr), which is
normally juxtaposed with His gentleness (lutf). The relationship between the two is that between
majesty and beauty, wrath and mercy. But here the utter submission to severity leads not to
separation and wrath but to unparalleled joy.
People have remained oblivious of this nobility, making the marriage act an "animal
appetite." Thereby they declare themselves beyond it, even though they name it with the noblest
 232

of names, that is, "animal" [hayawânî]. In other words, it is one of the characteristics of the
living being [hayawân]. What is more noble than life? What they believe to be an ugliness in
their eyes is identical with words of praise in the view of the perfected gnostic.408

The Fusûs al-hikam

Ibn al-`Arabî devotes much of the last chapter of his most celebrated book, the Fusûs al-
hikam, to explaining why the Prophet's character is summed up in the hadith that tells us that
women, perfume, and the ritual prayer were made lovable to him. What he has to say in the
Fusûs about love for women parallels the above passages from the Futûhât, but provides a good
deal of elaboration. Small sections of this Fusûs passage have sometimes been quoted in studies
of women in Islam, but no one has put the passage into its context within Ibn al-`Arabî's overall
teachings, nor have scholars looked in detail at the commentary tradition.409
As usual, Ibn al-`Arabî is looking at the "divine roots" of things, their situation in relation
to God that determines their mode of appearance in this world. The key to his discussion lies in
the title of the chapter, which is "A ringstone of wisdom of singularity [as embodied] in a
Muhammadan Word." Each of the twenty-seven chapters of the Fusûs al-hikam (The ringstones
of wisdom) deals with the incarnation of wisdom in a specific prophet. Muhammad, as the last
and greatest of the prophets, is given the last chapter of the work. "Singularity," as explained in
the previous chapter, means not only uniqueness but also the quality of being odd as opposed to
even. The first of the odd numbers is three, and three is connected to the quality of "producing
results" (intâj). Nothing can be produced from one or two. Until the two interrelate through a
third element, there can be no production, no results, no creation, no cosmos. Hence God does
not create the cosmos with respect to His Unity, only in respect to the interrelationship of three
of His attributes. This three that produces the cosmos is the first of the odd numbers, hence the
first of the "singulars." Singularity, then, implies not only uniqueness, but also principiality,
productivity, bringing into existence. The quality of being "singular" relates directly to the idea,
well-known long before Ibn al-`Arabî, that the Prophet in his innermost reality is the principle of
creation. He is the "Reality of Realities" from which all other realities derive.
In what follows, I will quote important passages from this discussion in the Fusûs and
refer also to some of the more significant explanations provided by the commentators. The text
of the Fusûs is given in italics. Ibn al-`Arabî begins the chapter as follows:
His is the wisdom of singularity because he is the most perfect existent in the human
species. That is why the whole affair began with him and is sealed with him. For he was a
prophet while Adam was between water and clay. Then, in his elemental configuration, he was
the Seal of the Prophets. And three is the first of the singulars. Every singular beyond one
derives from it.
Here Ibn al-`Arabî alludes to Muhammad as the most perfect human being. As such, he
manifests the divine name Allah, since he brings together all the divine names in a

408 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 574.1.

409 Henry Corbin provides a fascinating and highly original meditation on the significance of
Ibn al-`Arabî's teachings on woman as divine image based upon this and other passages (cf.
Creative Imagination 157-75). Most of the passages upon which he bases his arguments are
translated in the previous and present chapters, along with a great deal of other material that
helps clarify the context.
 233

comprehensive unity. At the same time, his innermost reality, called by such names as the
"Muhammadan Reality" and the "Reality of Realities," is the principle that gives rise to the
cosmos and is manifest in the Breath of the All-merciful--the Supreme Barzakh--as well as in the
Supreme Pen. Hence the Prophet's innermost reality is identical with the marriage act that gives
rise to the cosmos. The very fact that he is the most perfect existent in human form--created in
God's form--shows that he is the fruit of the original creative movement in the divine reality. He
is the first creation and as such the locus of manifestation for singularity, which is identical with
triplicity.
Jandî explains that at the level of his reality or immutable entity, the Prophet possesses
true singularity in the World of Meanings, since his immutable entity is the greatest and most all-
embracing immutable entity, that is, the Reality of Realities. Then, at the level of his spirit, he
was a prophet sent out to the spirits of all the prophets. Finally, at the level of his corporeal
form, he was the seal of the prophets. Hence he was unique in entity, spirit, and body, and these
make up his triplicity.410 Qaysarî remarks that he is the first triplicity since, as the
Muhammadan Spirit or First Intellect, he manifests both the Essence and the level of Divinity
that embraces all the names, so these three levels--Essence, Divinity, and First Intellect--make up
his reality.411
Hence he is the most perfect proof of his Lord, since he was given the "all-
comprehensive words." They are the things named by the names taught to Adam. . . .
"I was sent with the all-comprehensive words" is a sound hadith.412 According to Jandî,
"the things named by the names taught to Adam" are infinite, but they can be summarized in
three categories, and these correspond to yang, yin, and the full manifestation of the Tao: (1) the
active and effect-producing realities and entities pertaining to the Necessary Divine Being; (2)
the engendered and activity-receiving realities pertaining to the possible vassal; (3) the all-
comprehensive realities pertaining to human perfection.413
So his reality yields singularity, since he is triple in configuration. Hence he said
concerning the love that is the root of the existent things, "Three things of this world of yours
were made lovable to me," because of the triplicity in himself. Then he mentioned women and
perfume, while the coolness of his eye was placed in the ritual prayer. Hence he began with
woman and he ended with the ritual prayer.
The reason for this is that woman is a part of the man in the root of the manifestation of
her entity. A human being's knowledge of his soul is prior to the knowledge of his Lord, since
his knowledge of his Lord is the result of his knowledge of his soul. That is why the Prophet
said, "He who knows his soul knows his Lord.". . .
`Abd al-Razzâq Kâshânî makes explicit that this whole discussion is based on the
correspondence that is found between two pairs: man and woman, and spirit and soul.
The woman is the outward form of the soul, while the man is the outward form of the
spirit. The soul is a part of the spirit, since the soul is one of the entifications that is included
under the entification of the first spirit, which is known as the "True Adam." The soul is one of
the descents of this spirit. Hence the woman is in reality a part of the man, and every part is a

410 Jandî, Sharh fusûs al-hikam 671.

411 Qaysarî, Sharh fusûs al-hikam 470.
412 Cf. SPK 395n17.
413 Jandî 672.
 234

proof of its root. So the woman is a proof of the man and the man of the woman, for the Prophet
said, "He who knows his own soul knows his Lord." The proof is prior to that which is proven.
Hence he placed the woman first.414
So Muhammad was the clearest proof of his Lord, since each part of the cosmos is a
proof of its root, which is its Lord.
In explaining this passage, Kâshânî points out that everything in the cosmos is a proof of
the Lord, since everything is His sign. But Muhammad, as the most perfect human being, proves
his Lord perfectly on all levels of existence, since he is the most perfect of microcosms and
thereby fully conforms to the metacosm. His human level corresponds exactly to the Divine
Presence, the reality of God inasmuch as it embraces everything that exists.
Knowledge of the most perfect of human beings, the one who was defined and entified
through the First Entification, is the most complete of knowledges. And that individual is
Muhammad.
First, his immutable entity: The entity of Muhammad, in respect of being entified
through the greatest, all comprehensive barzakh-reality, is identical with the One Essence in
respect of Its being entified through the First Entification.
Second, his form: The Muhammadan form brings together the presences of the exclusive
unity of the Essence and the inclusive unity of the divine names on all the levels of possibility,
that is, spirit, heart, soul, imagination, and body. In a similar way, the "Divine Presence" is the
Essence with all Its names and forms. These comprise the entities of the cosmos, its active
realities, and its receptive realities. These are: the Mother of the Book, which is the Universal
Spirit that comprises all spirits; the Guarded Tablet, which is the universal heart that comprises
all hearts; the World of Imagination; and the Nondelimited Body, which comprises all the
corporeal bodies of the cosmos.415

Mutual Longing
The woman is a part of the man, as Ibn al-`Arabî explains in passages already quoted.
All the more so are women part of the Prophet, the most perfect of men. Hence,
Women were made lovable to him--so he longed for them--only because the whole longs
for its parts.
Next Ibn al-`Arabî explains that man's longing for woman is a mirror image of God's
longing for the human being, and the root of God's longing for the human being is found in His
statement, "I blew into him of My own spirit" (15:29). In fact, God is longing for Himself in the
human being.
He has explained that He blew into him of His own spirit, so He yearns only for Himself.
Do you not see that He has created him upon His own form, since he derives from His spirit?. . .
Qaysarî's explanation of this passage is especially interesting, since he brings out the
mutuality of the relationships between God and the human being on the one hand, and between
man and woman on the other.
In respect of the reality, the woman is identical with the man, but in respect of the
entification, each is distinct from the other. At root the woman becomes manifest from the man,
so she is like a part of him. She becomes separate and manifest in feminine form. Hence the

414 Kâshânî, Sharh fusûs al-hikam 327.

415 Kâshânî 328.
 235

Prophet's yearning for them was of the type of the yearning of the whole for its part. The
Prophet explained this through his words.
On the divine side, the situation is the same, since His words, "I blew into him of My
spirit," proves that the relationship of Adam to his Lord is exactly the relationship of the part to
its whole and the branch to its root. Every whole yearns for its part and every root yearns for its
branch. Thereby interrelationship is established between the two sides. Hence each one became
lover in one respect and beloved in another respect.416
That God should refer to the spirit through "blowing" alludes to the fact that it derives
from the Breath of the All-merciful. For through this Breath, which is the blowing, the entity of
the human being became manifest. . . .
Then God split off from him a person in his form whom He named "woman." She
became manifest in his form. Hence he longs for her as a thing longs for its own self, and she
longs for him as a thing longs for its homeland. Hence women were made lovable to him, for
God loves the one whom He created in His own form and before whom He made the angels--the
beings made out of light--prostrate themselves. This was in spite of the greatness of their
measure and station and the elevation of their natural configuration. From here arises the
correspondence [munâsaba].
Kâshânî explains that there is a correspondence in form between the man and the woman,
just as there is one between God and the human being.417
The form is the greatest, grandest, and most perfect correspondence. For it is "one of a
pair" [zawj]. In other words, it made the Being of the Real into two. In the same way, the
woman makes the man two through her existence. She turns him into one of a pair.
In other words, says Qaysarî, the human form makes the form of the All-merciful into
one of a pair, just as the form of the woman makes the form of the man one of a pair.418 Here
we have Ibn al-`Arabî's teachings about the Lord's need for a vassal and God's need for a divine
thrall. Interrelationship lies at the root of existence. Without cosmos, "God" is not a god, since
divinity is defined precisely in terms of cosmos. Without woman, man is not a man, since man is
defined by woman. This is part of the mystery of the "strength" of the woman to which Ibn al-
`Arabî alluded in the passage quoted above: The cosmos turns the Real into a God and woman
turns man into man. Without cosmos, there is no god. Without woman, there is no man.
Thereby triplicity becomes manifest: the Real, man, and woman. The man longs for his
Lord, who is his root, just as the woman longs for him.
Kâshânî points out that spirit and body have a corresponding love for each other:
The body is in the form of the spirit, which is one and unique. Hence the bodily form
makes the spirit two and turns it into one of a pair. Such also is the relationship between the He-
ness and existence. Hence love brings about interrelationships on every level.419
Qaysarî points to the corresponding appearance of triplicity in the microcosm through
spirit, heart, and soul. Hence there is mutual love between spirit and heart and between heart and
soul.420

416 Qaysarî 472.

417 Kâshânî 332.
418 Qaysarî 475.
419 Kâshânî 332.
420 Qaysarî 475-76.
 236

Hence his Lord made women lovable to him, just as God loves him who is upon His own
form. Hence love occurs only toward the one who is engendered from him. Or it may take place
toward the one from whom a person is engendered, that is, the Real. This is why the Prophet
said, "Were made lovable to me." He did not say "I loved" on his own behalf. His love was for
his Lord, in whose form he existed, even his love for his woman. He loved her through God's
love for him, as an assumption of a divine character trait.421
When the man loves the woman, he seeks union, or the ultimate union that takes place in
love. And there is no union in the form of the elemental configuration greater than the marriage
act. That is why appetite pervades all his parts. And that is why he is commanded [by the
Sharia] to make a major ablution.
The major ablution (ghusl) is necessary after the sexual act, while a minor ablution
(wudû') is required after becoming impure through such activities as going to the toilet.
The purification is general, just as the annihilation within her in actualizing the appetite is
general. For God is jealous lest His servant should believe that he takes enjoyment in someone
other than He.
As pointed out already, God's jealousy (ghayra) is connected to the existence--or apparent
existence--of the other (ghayr). The "other" is everything that has the qualities of engendered
existence and possibility. But in reality, there is no "other," if by that is meant something that
has true and inherent existence, independent of the Real. The gnostic knows the actual situation,
as Qaysarî points out:
The gnostic, in his state of taking enjoyment, believes that he is taking enjoyment in the
Real, who becomes manifest within that form. Hence he is busy with the Real, not with the
other. So in this case there is no jealousy. However, that form is entified and distinct from the
station of the perfect Divine All-comprehensiveness. Hence it is stained with the stain of having
been originated in time. It is sullied by imperfections and impurities. Hence God made the
major ablution incumbent upon him, that he may become pure of the imperfections he gained by
turning his attention toward the form and busying himself with it. The Shaykh alludes to this
with his next words:
Hence He purifies him through the major ablution, so that he will return to looking upon
Him in the one within whom he is annihilated, since there is none other than He.

Witnessing God in Women

We now come to the heart of the discussion, which is that the witnessing or
contemplation of God in woman is the most perfect kind of witnessing given to a human being.
It is useful to recall here that representatives of the Muslim sapiential tradition do not allow that
God can be seen in Himself, that is, in His own Essence. God's Essence stands beyond every
sort of delimitation, entification, and relationship. There is "no thing" that could be witnessed by
a something. However, God can be witnessed as He discloses Himself (tajallî). And He
discloses Himself in every existent thing.
Given the earlier discussions in the chapter, it is clear that Ibn al-`Arabî's primary
concern is to bring out the nature of the perfect witnessing of God that is given to the most
perfect of human beings and those who follow in his footsteps. The tradition holds that God

421 On the concept of "assuming the character traits" of God as the basis for all positive human
traits, cf. SPK 283-86.
 237

reveals Himself most completely and perfectly in the human being, made in the image of the
name Allah, the name that comprehends every name, every reality, every ontological possibility.
Hence witnessing God in the human being must be the most perfect form of witnessing.
However, one can then ask if witnessing God is more perfect in the form of men or the form of
women. Ibn al-`Arabî answers with the latter, especially since women "were made lovable" to
the Prophet. He could not have been made to love something other than God, since nothing
other than the Real is truly worthy of love. "There is no beloved but God" is a theme found
throughout Sufi literature, though rarely expressed in these particular words. Rûmî provides the
most detailed and accessible explanation of the fact that all love is in fact directed only toward
God.422 But it takes a prophet or a gnostic to experience this.
In short, Ibn al-`Arabî holds that witnessing God in the female human form is the most
perfect mode of witnessing. He also provides us with a rational explanation for this fact. But it
should be remembered that Ibn al-`Arabî is speaking not primarily as a rational thinker, but as a
gnostic who himself has tasted the realities. He himself knows through his own experience that
this is the most perfect form of witnessing.
The gist of his explanation is that by witnessing God in woman, a man sees Him as both
yang and yin, as embracing both majesty and beauty, distance and nearness, activity and
receptivity, left hand and right hand.
When the man witnesses the Real in the woman, this is a witnessing within a locus that
receives activity. When he witnesses Him in himself in respect to the fact that the woman
becomes manifest from himself, then he has witnessed Him in an agent. When he witnesses Him
in himself without calling to mind the form of that which was engendered from himself, then his
witnessing takes place in a locus that receives the Real's activity without intermediary.
Hence his witnessing of the Real in the woman is the most complete and the most perfect,
since he witnesses the Real in respect to the fact that He is both agent and locus of receiving
activity.
Jandî explains why woman is the most complete locus of witnessing as follows:
The man witnesses the Real within a locus of receiving activity in the state where the
locus both receives and acts. He witnesses God in a locus that brings together [1] receiving
activity while it is active while being receptive, [2] acting while it is receiving activity, and [3]
receiving activity while it is active. But here there are hidden mysteries, forbidden to those who
are not worthy.423
The mystery of Jandî's own explanation can perhaps be clarified by looking at other
commentaries on this key passage. According to Kâshânî, this witnessing of the Real during
sexual intercourse is most perfect,
because it takes place in a locus of receiving activity, while that locus receives activity from an
agent. At the same time, both are one in the unitary reality, since the marriage act of the
witnessing gnostic brings together the witnessing of the Real receiving activity while He is
performing an act. So He is active while receiving activity and receives activity while being
active.424

422 Cf. SPL 200-6.

423 Jandî 679.
424 Kâshânî 333.
 238

Qaysarî was clearly not satisfied with the explanation of his teacher or his teacher's
teacher, since his explanation bears little outward resemblance to theirs:
The witnessing of God's activity is that the Real, manifest in the form of the woman,
takes control of and acts upon the soul of the man through a universal taking of control. He
makes him obey and love his own soul.
The witnessing of His receiving of effects is that this form is the place man controls. It is
under his hand and his command and prohibition.
It may also be that the way in which He is active through the woman is that the reality of
the woman is identical with the reality of the man, since masculinity and femininity are the
reality's accidents. Hence that human reality acts within her, and it itself is acted upon. Its
activity and receiving activity are the same.425
`Abd al-Rahmân Jâmî provides a more straightforward explanation:
The man witnesses the Real in respect to the fact that He is both agent and locus of
receiving activity at the same time, without any separation between the two. He witnesses the
Real within her in respect of His being the agent, since she has an effect within the soul of the
man by exciting him. He witnesses Him in respect of His receiving activity since she becomes
affected by him during intercourse.426
However, [he witnesses Him] in himself in respect only of the fact that he is a locus of
receiving activity.
Qaysarî explains:
When he witnesses Him in his own soul without calling to mind the form of the woman,
he witnesses Him as a locus of receiving activity, since he is one of those things that are the
objects of God's activity and His creations.427
This is why the Prophet loved women--because of the perfection of witnessing the Real
within them. For the Real can never be witnessed disengaged from some material, since God in
His Essence is independent of the worlds. Since the situation is impossible in this respect and
witnessing takes place only in some material, then the witnessing of the Real in women is the
greatest and most perfect witnessing.

Marriage and Creation

Having explained why the gnostic experiences the sexual act as the supreme instance of
witnessing God in the full splendor of His self-disclosure, Ibn al-`Arabî turns to the metaphysical
and cosmological dimensions of marriage. The marriage act gains its nobility from the fact that
its archetype is God's creative act itself.
The greatest of unions is the marriage act. It is equivalent to God's turning His
attentiveness toward creating him whom He creates in His own form. Hence He sees Himself in
him. He proportions and balances him and blows into him of His own spirit, which is His
Breath.
[Qaysarî:] The marriage act is equivalent to God's turning His attentiveness toward
creating the human being in order that He may witness within him His own form and entity.
That is why He proportions and balances him and blows into him of His own spirit. In the same

425 Qaysarî 477.

426 Jâmî, Sharh fusûs al-hikam II 329.
427 Qaysarî 477.
 239

way, the active partner of the marriage act turns his attention toward bringing a child into
existence in his own form. He blows into the child something of his own spirit as contained in
the sperm drop. He wants to witness his own soul and entity within the mirror of the child and
make him his vicegerent after him. Hence the well-known marriage act is equivalent to the
original marriage act in eternity without beginning.428
Hence his manifest dimension is a creature while his nonmanifest dimension is the Real.
[Qaysarî:] The manifest dimension of the human form that He proportions and balances
is a creature described by servanthood. The nonmanifest dimension is the Real, since his
nonmanifest dimension derives from the spirit of God, which governs and acts as Lord over the
manifest dimension. Or rather, it is God's Entity and Essence that has become manifest through
the spiritual form.429
That is why He describes himself as governing this outward frame. For He said, "He
governs the affair from the heaven," which is the high, "to the earth" [32:5] which is the lowest
of the low, for it is the lowest of the four elements.
Jandî tells us that here Ibn al-`Arabî is alluding to the five universal divine marriages that
give rise to the production of the five worlds: the World of Meanings, the World of Spirits, the
World of Souls, the World of Images, and the World of Sensory Objects.430 Kâshânî takes
inspiration from Jandî's allusions and writes a detailed explanation of the passage. It is worth
quoting, since it provides another explanation of Universal Marriage and illustrates that this
whole discussion cannot be separated without distortion from the metaphysics and cosmology
within which it is embedded. Notice how clearly Kâshânî explains that the universe depends
upon the interplay of yang and yin forces for its existence.
The Shaykh said his manifest dimension is creation while his nonmanifest dimension is
the Real only because the He-ness that is entified within the World of the Unseen in the form of
the inward spirit governs the outward form, gives shape to it, and becomes manifest through it.
This spirit is identical with the form that governs this outward frame called the cosmos.
The One Essence has five descents down to the World of the Visible, or the World of
Sense Perception--which is the last world--in the form of acting and receiving activity. That is
why they have been compared to marriage acts and have been called the "Five Marriages." But
this is a single reality in acting and receiving activity. Its manifest dimension is the cosmos and
its nonmanifest dimension is the Real. And the nonmanifest dimension governs the manifest
dimension. In reality, He is the Manifest and the Nonmanifest, for these descents are nothing but
the entifications and modalities of the One Essence. They take the forms of name-derived,
effect-producing forms and their effect-receiving forms.
The first descent is the self-disclosure of the Essence in the forms of the unmade
immutable entities. This is the World of Meanings.
The second is the descent from the World of Meanings to the spiritual entifications. This
is the World of Disengaged Spirits.
The third is the descent to the entifications of soul. This is the World of Rational Souls.

428 Qaysarî 477-78.

429 Qaysarî 478.
430 Jandî 679.
 240

The fourth is the imaginal descents. These become embodied and take shape without
matter. This is the World of Imagination. The philosophers call it the World of the Conforming
Souls. In reality, this is the imagination of the cosmos.
The fifth is the world of material bodies. It is the World of Sense Perception and the
World of the Visible.
The four preceding descents are the levels of the Unseen. Whatever is lower is like the
result of what is higher. It is actualized through activity and the reception of activity. That is
why this has been compared to the marriage act. All this is identical with the Real's governing of
the cosmos.431
The Prophet loved women only because of their level and the fact that they are a locus
that receives activity. In relation to him they are like Nature in relation to the Real. For within
Nature He opened up the forms of the cosmos through the attentiveness of desire and the divine
command. This, in the world of elemental forms, is the marriage act. In the world of the
luminous spirits, it is resolve [himma], and in the world of meanings it is the ordering of
premises to produce conclusions. All this is the marriage of the Prime Singularity in each of
these respects.
These allusions to different kinds of marriage acts prompt Qaysarî to provide his version
of the "marriage that courses through all things":
The first marriage is the coming together of the divine names in order to bring into
existence the World of Spirits and their forms within the Breath of the All-merciful, which is
called Universal Nature. Then the luminous spirits come together to bring into existence the
world of natural and elemental bodies. Then there are other marriages that produce the three
children and what pertains to them.
Since these instances of coming together--of the names, the luminous spirits, and the
meanings that produce conceptual results in demonstrations--lie outside the property of time, the
Shaykh makes all of them the marriage act of the Prime Singularity. In other words, it is the
marriage act through which the Prime Singularity is actualized. In ontological level this
Singularity is the One Essence, the divine names, and Universal Nature.
In other words, the primary Singularity/Triplicity that brings about the cosmos is God as
Essence or Nondelimited Being, God as named by the names, and God as manifesting Himself
through the Breath of the All-merciful.
The other instances of coming together that produce the three children are the second and
third marriages. They end with the fourth marriage, which is the last of the universal marriages.
Here Qaysarî most likely has a view toward the teachings of Qûnawî, who maintains that
there are four universal marriages, as we saw in the last chapter.
Since the effectivity of the luminous spirits takes place through resolve and turning
attentiveness, while the effectivity of premises takes place through a specific order, the Shaykh
mentioned "resolve" for the World of Spirits and the "ordering of premises" for the meanings.
All these things are branches of the first marriage and are contained within it in one of the three
modes: the marriage act in elemental forms, resolve in the World of Spirits, and the ordering of
premises in the World of Meanings.432

431 Kâshânî 333-34.

432 Qaysarî 479.
 241

Perfect Sexual Union

It should not be imagined that Ibn al-`Arabî is prescribing sexual activity as a means of
achieving spiritual realization. At least, he is not doing so any more than the Prophet did when
he said, "Marriage is one-half of religion." Rather, he is describing the modalities of human
perfection, achieved only by the prophets and the great friends of God. No doubt in order to
preclude any misunderstanding, Ibn al-`Arabî now turns to the fact that this type of witnessing of
God is not possible for the vast majority of people. For, as he frequently points out in the
Futûhât, most people are "animal human beings" (al-insân al-hayawân). They have not attained
to the perfection of the divine form latent within themselves. Hence they are governed by the
characteristics that they share with other animals.
When a person loves women within these bounds, that is a divine love. But when
someone loves them only out of natural appetite, then he falls short of the knowledge of this
appetite. For him the marriage act becomes a form without spirit. Though in actual fact that
form possesses a spirit, it is not witnessed by the one who comes to his wife, or to whatever
female it may be, strictly for taking pleasure, but not knowing in whom. He remains ignorant of
his own soul just as someone else remains ignorant of him as long as he does not name himself
with his tongue so that he might be known. . . . Such a person loves the taking of pleasure, so he
loves the locus within which it is found, that is, the woman. However, the spirit of the question
has remained hidden from him. Were he to know it, he would know in whom he takes pleasure
and who it is that takes pleasure. Then he would be perfect.
[Jandî:] The Shaykh is talking about the witnessing of the Real within the locus in which
the man takes pleasure. The man must witness the Real through a single witnessing that brings
together the agent and the recipient of the act. At the same time he must witness Him as not
confined or delimited through His entification within either of the two, or both together, or the
combination of the two, or being free from the combination. On the contrary, he must witness
Him as not delimited by any of these modalities and as incomparable with all of them, together
or apart. Then he is the perfect man, the one who takes enjoyment in the Real in every single
entity and every single entification. He is unique in his time, unparalleled among his peers and
his companions. He is one of the perfect human beings, or one of the rare Singulars.433
Though Ibn al-`Arabî has not mentioned the Singular or Solitary (fard) in his discussion,
he clearly has him in mind, since this chapter is devoted to the Wisdom of Singularity.
According to his teachings, the Singulars are friends of God who have the same spiritual rank as
the Pole. They are not given the Pole's specific cosmic function, nor are they under his
command. It is even possible that their knowledge of God may be superior to his.434
The woman stands below the degree of the man according to God's words, "The men
have a degree above them." In the same way, the one who is created in the divine form stands
below the degree of Him who configured him in His form, though he has His form. Through the
degree whereby the Real is distinguished from him, the Real is independent of the worlds and a
First Agent. The form is a second agent. Hence the human being does not have the firstness that
belongs to the Real. Thereby the entities become distinguished through the levels. Hence every
gnostic "gives to each that has a right its right."

433 Jandî 680.

434 Cf. SPK 413n23.
 242

Here Ibn al-`Arabî alludes to the ontological and cosmic hierarchy that lies at the root of
all things. He refers to the sound hadith, "Give to each that has a right its right."435 Each thing
has a right to existence and attributes according to its own essence. The gnostic acts according to
justice, which is defined as putting each thing in its proper place. Hence the gnostic acts in a
manner that is exactly appropriate to every situation. He observes the rights of God, men, and
women.
Hence Muhammad's love of women derived from God's making him love them and the
fact that God "gives each thing its creation" [20:50]. Its creation is identical with its right.
Hence he only gave the right to the thing inasmuch as the thing deserved it in its very essence.
[Kâshânî:] The Real becomes entified within each spirit that is entified, whether for the
gnostic or other than the gnostic. Or rather, in all things He gives every thing that has a right and
a level what is worthy for it according to its reality and essence. Hence He gives the locus of
receiving activity its creation in its receiving activity and its posteriority in degree. That is its
right. Likewise He gives the agent its creation in its activity and its priority. That is its right. He
gives the gnostic who knows all this the witnessing of the Real within all things and the
enjoyment of it. That is his creation and his right. And He gives to other than the gnostic his
creation, which is the enjoyment without his having the spirit. That is his right. Similar words
can be said for everything.436
[Qaysarî:] The verifying gnostic gives each possessor of a right its right. Hence the love
for women found in Muhammad's heart derived from God's giving him love. In other words, He
made the Prophet's heart love women because of the requirement of the very essences of women
that they be men's objects of love and the requirement of men's essences that they be loved by
women. This giving by God is identical with the right of the thing to which the right is given.
Hence Muhammad's love of women was identical with Muhammad's right, since the essences of
men require the love of women. Nevertheless, from another point of view, the man is loved and
desired by the woman, and the woman is his lover and desirer. Through the fact that each of
them brings together the attribute of being the lover and the beloved, interrelationship is
established between them. Love pervades all loci of manifestation. Each of them is lover from
one point of view and beloved from another point of view. Hence love sets up the
interrelationship between the Real and the creature.437
He put women first because they are the locus that receives activity. In the same way
Nature precedes those who come into existence from it as forms. And in reality, Nature is
nothing other than the Breath of the All-merciful. Within it the forms of the cosmos, both the
high and the low of the cosmos, were opened up through the fact that the "blowing" pervades the
hylic substance specifically within the World of Bodies. . . .

The Symbolism of Grammatical Gender

Ibn al-`Arabî now turns to a "Taoist" perception of reality. In truth, the ultimate reality is
feminine, since the Essence of God "receives" all forms in the same way that God as Knower (as
we saw above) receives all knowledge from the objects of His knowledge. But this divine
receptivity cannot be made too explicit, if only because of the social dangers inherent in such a

435 Cf. SPK 400n12.

436 Kâshânî 335.
437 Qaysarî 480.
 243

perspective, as we saw in Chapter 2. Hence the Prophet only alludes to this perspective through
the grammatical gender of the words that he employed in his saying.
Then the Prophet made the feminine gender dominate over the masculine, since he
wanted to give great importance to women. For he said "three things" in the feminine form, not
in the masculine form. But he mentioned "perfume," which is masculine, and it is the habit of
the Arabs to make the masculine gender dominate over the feminine. You say, "The Fatimas and
Zayd came," using a masculine plural verb. You do not use the feminine plural. So the Arabs
make the masculine gender dominate over the feminine, even if the masculine is one and the
feminines are many. And the Prophet was an Arab. Hence he observed here the meaning that he
wanted to convey. For that which had not been exercising an effect upon his love was made
lovable to him. Thereby God taught him something that he did not know, and God's bounty
upon him was great. Hence he made the feminine dominate over the masculine with his words,
"three things." What a great knowledge he had of the realities! How great was his observance of
rights!
Then he made the end [of his words] correspond to the beginning in feminine gender,
while he placed the masculine between the two. For he began with "women" and he ended with
"prayer," and both words are feminine. Perfume stands between the two, just as the masculine
stands between two feminines in existence. For the man is placed between an Essence from
which he becomes manifest and a woman who becomes manifest from him. Hence he is
between two feminines: the feminine gender of the Essence and the real femininity of the
woman. In a similar way, "women" is a real feminine, while "prayer" is an unreal feminine.
Between the two, "perfume" is like Adam between the Essence from which he comes into
existence and Eve, who comes into existence from him.
If you want to say [that he does not come into being from the Essence, but] from a divine
attribute, "attribute" [sifa] is also feminine. If you want to say [that he comes into being] from
the divine power, "power" [qudra] is also feminine. Take whatever position you like. You will
not find anything but the feminine having priority, even in the case of those who claim that God
is the "cause" of the cosmos, for "cause" [`illa] is feminine.
Jandî sums up the significance of this discussion in a long passage that is rewritten with a
bit more clarity by Kâshânî. Both authors see the root of all yang and yin in the Nondelimited
Reality, or the Essence of God, which is both active and receptive to activity.
This passage is one of the more abstruse discussions to be found in the Fusûs
commentaries, which are not known for their clarity and simplicity. For the most part the
translation of the passage follows Kâshânî. However, the sections in brackets {} follow Jandî's
original version when I found it clearer than Kâshânî. In this section I observe the gender of the
feminine pronouns in English, translating consistently as "she" where I would normally translate
"it." I leave the masculine pronouns as "it" or "he," depending on the context.
The Shaykh says that the Prophet made the feminine gender dominate over the masculine
gender, even though he was the most eloquent of the pure Arabs. . . . He did this because he paid
perfect attention to observing the rights of things, after having reached the furthest limit of the
verification of the realities.
The reason for this is that the origin of anything is called the "mother" [umm], since the
branches branch off from the mother. Do you not see how God says, "[Fear your Lord, who
created you from a single soul,] and from her He created her spouse, and from the two of them
scattered forth many men and women" [4:1]? "Women" are feminine, while the "soul" from
which creation took place is also feminine. In the same way, the root of the roots, beyond which
 244

there is no beyond, is called the "Reality" [which is feminine]. . . The same is true of "Entity"
and "Essence"--all these words are feminine.
By making the feminine dominate over the masculine the Prophet wanted to point to the
state of women: They embrace the meaning of being the root from which things branch off. The
same is true of Nature, or rather, of the Reality. Although the Reality is the father of all things
because She is the Absolute Agent, She is also a mother. She brings together activity and the
reception of activity. Hence She is identical with the locus of receiving activity in the form of
that locus, and She is identical with the agent in the form of the agent. Her own reality demands
that She bring together entification and nonentification. Hence She becomes entified through
every male or female entification, just as She is incomparable with every entification.
In respect of Her entification through the First Entification, She is the One Entity that
requires equality and equilibrium between activity and reception of activity, manifestation and
nonmanifestation. In respect of being nonmanifest within every form, She is an agent, while in
respect of being manifest, She receives activity. This is like what was explained concerning the
spirit's governing the body.
The First Entification may be witnessed inasmuch as It is manifest in Its own Essence
through that Essence's nonentification and nondelimitation. For entification, in its very essence,
must be preceded by nonentification. The Reality, in the respect that She is She, is actualized
within every entified thing. Hence this entification demands that it be preceded by
nonentification. Or rather, every entification, in respect of the Reality and disregarding the
delimitation, is nondelimited. Hence the entified thing is supported and sustained by the
Nondelimited. In respect of that Nondelimited Root, it receives activity and makes the Root
manifest. And that Root is active within it and hidden. Hence it is a locus of receiving activity
in respect of being entified within itself after having been nondelimited, even though the Entity is
one.
{As for nonentification, if we consider It in the sense of the negation of entification, then
knowledge of that depends on entification. Without entification, nonentification could not be
actualized in knowledge. Hence in knowledge nonentification receives the activity of
entification and actualization from that which is entified through the First Entification.}
If we consider the Reality nondelimited either by entification or by nonentification, then
She possesses priority over the two. Then the two--entification and nonentification in the sense
of negation--are preceded by the Reality and receive Her activity, since the two are relationships
possessed by Her equally.
{Hence both activity and reception of activity are established for the First Entification
and That which becomes entified within It.}
Through the First Entification the Reality leaves the nonmanifestation of Her Essence to
become manifest within Her first and greatest visibility. Each of the Five Descents is a
manifestation after a nonmanifestation, or a visible after an unseen. In respect of entifying and
delimiting the Nondelimited, each locus of manifestation and self-disclosure acts upon the
Nondelimited. Hence, in this respect, it is correct to say that the entified thing and the
entification exercise activity and effectivity within the Reality.
Hence wherever the Reality travels and in whatever face She becomes manifest, She
possesses activity and the reception of activity, fatherhood and motherhood. Hence it is correct
 245

to give the feminine gender to the Reality, the Entity, and the Essence. But the all-
comprehensive barzakh, who is the true Adam, stands between two feminines.438
Kâshânî ends this discussion after providing brief explanations of the other feminine
words mentioned in Ibn al-`Arabî's text. But Jandî continues expanding upon the
complementarity of yin and yang that are found in the Reality, which Herself is the inward
dimension of that all-comprehensive barzakh known as the reality of the human being. For
human beings, made in the form of God, bring together in their innermost nature every quality
found in the Reality in a completely harmonious fashion. They manifest the two hands of God.
Hence in their outward existence, to the extent that they reach the perfection of the human state,
they are the face of the Tao. Jandî continues:
You should realize that the Root Reality, which is the origin of the human reality,
receives through Her own reality both activity and reception of activity, both manifestation and
nonmanifestation. For indeed, these relationships are the modalities of Her own Essence. Hence
they do not change or disappear. This one, all-comprehensive Reality demands the barzakh-
reality that brings together nondelimitation and delimitation, entification and nonentification,
manifestation and nonmanifestation, activity and reception of activity. The human barzakh-
reality receives the activity of the Entity between the First Entification and the Nonentification of
the Essence. She [the barzakh-reality] brings together these two while keeping them separate.
She becomes manifest through the triplicity of the First Singularity, which is the origin of the
Prophet's configuration and the root of his existence.
Femininity is the description of that which receives activity in its essence. In the same
way, masculinity is the quality of that which is active. The actual situation stands between the
Real, nonmanifest or manifest, and a creature, also nonmanifest or manifest, within the two
stations of firstness and lastness and with the two relationships of manifestation and
nonmanifestation, or unseenness and visibility. But the Reality is one in all. And activity and
the reception of activity belong to Her truly and by Her very essence in all these relationships--
manifestation and nonmanifestation, unseenness and visibility, creatureliness and realness, Lord
and servant--in respect of the Unity of the Entity.
Hence the all-comprehensive barzakh is active between two things that receive activity,
like the masculine gender between two feminines. The Prophet made these mysteries and
realities manifest in respect of his having been given the "all-comprehensive words" in all his
words and acts. Likewise he took into account singularity in all things. Hence he gave priority
to the true femininity that belongs to the Essence, the Reality, the Entity, the Divinity, the
Lordship, the Attribute, and the Cause--depending on the diversity of viewpoints and
considerations. He also put the feminine gender last through "ritual prayer," in respect of the
word. And he placed "perfume," which is masculine, between two feminines. So what a great
knowledge he had of the realities, as the Shaykh said! Know this, for these discussions, even
though they have been mentioned repeatedly in this book, are extremely difficult for people to
understand when the Reality has not been unveiled to them.439

Spiritual Counsel

438 Kâshânî 336; Jandî 682-83.

439 Jandî 683-84.
 246

I bring this chapter to a close by reminding the reader of the context of Ibn al-`Arabî's
teachings on woman as image of God. Ibn al-`Arabî did not write the Futûhât or the Fusûs al-
hikam for everyone. He directed both books toward people who consider spiritual perfection as
the goal of human life. His teachings are not primarily theoretical or philosophical, no matter
how abstract or irrelevant they may appear to some people. He is trying to map out the cosmos
and the soul so that serious practitioners of spiritual discipline may achieve the goal of union
with God.
In short, Ibn al-`Arabî's teachings on the spiritual significance of sexuality are a guide for
those few members of the human race who have the intellectual and spiritual gifts to put them to
practical use. For people in general, he has no prescriptions outside the Shariite teachings on
human relationships; in other words, he accepts the "patriarchal" orientation of those Islamic
teachings that stress God's incomparability and difference. But he has further advice for those
who are making a serious attempt to integrate all dimensions of their own existence into the
Real. Such people should recognize that God's similarity and sameness with the cosmos allow
for a totally positive evaluation of the feminine dimensions of reality.
Ibn al-`Arabî devotes the last chapter of the Futûhât, one of the longer chapters of the
book, to counselling the spiritual traveler. There he makes clear how all the "abstract"
discussions of his works have direct applications to life. In one section he talks about the trials
that people face in their everyday existence. He has in mind several Koranic verses, such as
64:14-15: "O believers, you have an enemy in your wives and children, so beware of them ...;
your wealth and your children are only a trial." To undergo a trial is be tested, and the author of
the test is God. Ibn al-`Arabî mentions four divine blessings through which men are tried:
women, children, wealth or possessions, and position. He devotes several pages to explaining
how a person can pass the test of having been given one or more of these blessings. The first test
he deals with is women. Here we see an explicit statement of the practical application of what he
says elsewhere in his works concerning human sexual relationships.
You should return to God through trials, for "God loves everyone who undergoes trials
and who turns toward Him." So said the Messenger of God.440 And God says, "He created
death and life to test you, which of you is best in works" [67:2]. Trial and testing have the same
meaning, which is none other than the examination of human beings in their claims. "It is only
Thy trial," that is, Thy examination, "whereby Thou misleadest whom Thou wilt," that is, Thou
bewilderest him, "and Thou guidest whom Thou wilt" [7:155], that is, Thou makest clear for him
the way of deliverance in the midst of the trial.
The greatest of trials are women, possessions, children, and position--these four. God
tests His servant with all of them or with one of them. If the servant acts correctly while the trial
is directed toward him, returns to God during it, does not stop with it in respect of its entity, and
takes it as a blessing through which God has blessed him, then God will bless him through it.
Thus the servant refers the trial back to God and stands in the station of true gratitude, to which
God commanded His prophet Moses. For God said to Moses, "O Moses, thank me with true
gratitude." Moses replied, "My Lord, what is true gratitude?" God said to him, "Moses, when
you see that every blessing comes from Me, that is true gratitude."441...

440 Ahmad I 103.

441 According to Ibn al-`Arabî Ibn Mâja quotes this in his Sunan from the Prophet, but the
hadith is not indexed in Wensinck.
 247

As for being tried by women, the form of the return to God in loving them is to see that
the whole loves its part and longs for it. Hence the whole loves only itself. For the woman, at
root, was created from the man--from his short rib. Hence in relation to the man's self, the
woman was put in the place of the form upon which God created the perfect human being, that
is, the form of the Real. Hence the Real made her a locus of disclosure for the man. When
something is the locus of disclosure for something else, the viewer sees only himself in that
form. When the man sees his own form in this woman, his love for her and inclination toward
her intensifies, since she is his form. At the same time, it has become clear to you that his form
is the form of the Real upon which he was brought into existence. Hence he sees only the Real,
but with an appetite of love and a joy in union. He becomes annihilated within her with a real
annihilation and a true love. He coincides with her through likeness. Hence he becomes
annihilated within her, for there is no part of him that is not in her. Love may permeate all his
parts such that he devotes his whole self to her. That is why he becomes annihilated in his like
with a complete annihilation, in contrast to his love for something that is not his like.
In other words, a human being can become totally absorbed in love for another human
being (or in love for God), but not in love for any other created thing. Ibn al-`Arabî makes this
point explicitly in another context:
Love cannot absorb the whole of the lover unless his beloved is God or one of his own
kind, a woman or a man. No other love can absorb a human being totally. We say this because
in his essence a human being coincides with nothing but the one who is upon his own form.
When he loves that person, there is nothing in himself that does not find its corresponding part in
his beloved. There remains nothing left over in him that would allow him to remain sober. His
outward dimension is enraptured by his beloved's outward dimension, and his inward dimension
by his beloved's inward dimension. Have you not noticed that God is named "the Outward and
the Inward" [57:3]? So the human being's love for God and for his fellow human beings absorbs
him totally, whereas no love for anything else in the cosmos can do that. When a person loves
one of the forms found in the cosmos, he turns to it with the corresponding part of himself, while
the rest of himself remains sober in its occupation.
As for the reason that the human being is totally absorbed by his love for God, this is
because he is made in God's form. Hence he coincides with the Divine Presence with his total
self, for all the divine names have become manifest within him.... When God is his Beloved, he
is annihilated in this love much more thoroughly than in his love for his fellow human beings,
since, in loving a human being he loses the outward dimension of his beloved when his beloved
is not with him; but when God is his Beloved, he witnesses Him constantly. Witnessing his
Beloved is like a food for his body through which he grows and flourishes. The more he
witnesses Him, the more he loves.... This is what the lovers find when they come together with
their Beloved. They are never sated by witnessing Him. Their burning desire is never taken
away from them. As much as they look upon Him, they increase in their ecstasy and yearning
for Him, though they are present with Him.442
To return to the passage already begun, we see that Ibn al-`Arabî is telling us that a man
can overcome the trial of being stricken by love for a woman by recognizing that his absorption
in her is in fact his absorption in the divine image, which is, at root, nothing but God. Hence by
loving her he is loving God. He continues,

442 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 325.25. Cf. SPK 285-86.

 248

He becomes one with his beloved to the extent that he says [in the words of al-Hallâj],
I am the one I love,
and the one I love is I.
In this station, someone else said, "I am God."
Hence, if you love a person who is like you with such a love, your witnessing within this
person will turn you back to God with such a turning. Then you will be one of those loved by
God.
Another path in love for women is as follows: They are loci of receiving activity and
engendering in order that every kind may become manifest. There is no doubt that God loves the
entities of the cosmos in the state of the nonexistence of the cosmos only because those entities
are loci of receiving activity. When He turns toward them in respect of the fact that He is
Desiring, He says to them "Be!" and they come to be. Hence His kingdom becomes manifest
within existence through these entities. These entities give to God His right in His Divinity;
hence He is a god. They worship Him in all His names through their states, whether or not they
know these names. Hence God has no name left over in the form and state of which the servant
does not stand up, even if he does not know the fruit of that name. This is what the Messenger of
God said in His supplication concerning the names of God: "[O God, I ask Thee by every name
by which Thou hast named Thyself] or kept to Thyself in the knowledge of Thy Unseen or
taught to any one of Thy creatures."443 In other words, he prays concerning each of His names
that he come to know its entity so that he may differentiate it from other names through
knowledge. For there are many things in a human being's form and state that he does not know,
while God knows these from him.
When the person loves a woman because of what I mentioned, his love for her takes him
back to God. She becomes the blessing of trial for his sake, and God loves him for his returning
to Him through loving her.
As for the fact that in this love the man is attached to a specific woman and no other,
even though the realities that we mentioned permeate every woman, this is because of a spiritual
affinity between these two individuals at the root of their configuration, natural constitution, and
the gazing of their spirits. Sometimes this affinity goes on until a fixed date, and sometimes
there is no fixed date, or rather, the final date is death, and the devotion does not disappear.
Take, for example, the Prophet's love for `A'isha, for he used to love her more than he loved any
of his other wives. So also was his love for Abû Bakr, who was her father. These secondary
affinities determine the individuals. But the first cause is what we mentioned.
The fact of a specific affinity toward certain people seems to contradict the idea that a
person of spiritual attainment should love God in all His creatures without any discrimination.
The tradition speaks of the "nondelimited" (mutlaq) love of the friends of God, the fact they they
love God in all things, hear His speech in all things, and see His face in all appearances. Ibn al-
`Arabî now explains that there is no contradiction between loving God in all things and loving
specific things more than others.
The nondelimited love, nondelimited hearing, and nondelimited vision that belong to
some of the worshipers of God is not singled out for one individual rather than another in the
cosmos. Everyone present for such a person is his beloved and keeps him occupied.
Nevertheless, there has to be a specific inclination toward certain individuals because of a

443 Ahmad I 391, 452.

 249

specific affinity, despite this nondelimitation. There is no escape from this, since the
configuration of the cosmos yields this in its members--there has to be delimitation. The perfect
human being is the one who brings together nondelimitation and delimitation. An example of
the nondelimitation is the words of the Prophet, "Three things of this world of yours were made
lovable to me--women." Here he did not single out one woman rather than another. An example
of delimitation is what has been related concerning his loving `A'isha more than his other wives,
because of a divine, spiritual affinity that delimited him toward her rather than toward anyone
else, even though he loved women.444

444 Futûhât IV 453.34.

 250

7. The Womb

In the Chinese view, everything comes under the sway of the Tao. Heaven and earth
follow the Tao, as do the Ten Thousand Things. In ancient times, the sage-emperors were in
perfect harmony with the Tao, and hence their kingdoms dwelt in peace and equilibrium. If the
world is now in turmoil, that is because human beings do not follow the Tao as they should. If
on the one hand the Tao governs all things, on the other hand human beings have the peculiar
ability to upset the balance.

Universal Worship
Muslim thinkers would have little trouble grasping these basic ideas of the Chinese
tradition. They can be rewritten in Islamic terms as follows: The heavens and the earth and
everything between the two obey the laws of God since they are His creatures. Their obedience
can be called "submission to the Real," or "Islam." Nothing refuses to obey the Real, since
everything is submitted to Him by the very fact that He brings all things into existence. "To Him
is submitted (islâm) everyone in the heavens and the earth" (3:83). Hence everything in the
universe constantly worships Him--"Everything in the heavens and the earth glorifies God"
(57:1, 59:1, 61:1).
Human beings are no different from other creatures. Hence, in one sense of the word
islâm, they are submitted to God by definition. But the term islâm has several senses. In another
sense, it refers to voluntary submission to God by following one of the religions brought by the
prophets. In this sense, humans can choose not to submit themselves. To reject this kind of
submission is to go against the will of God and to corrupt the harmonious interaction of heaven
and earth. Corruption takes place first on the microcosmic scale when spirit and soul fail to
interact fruitfully. Corruption then spreads to the macrocosm, since human beings are God's
vicegerents in the earth. If they refuse to perform their duties, they ruin the earth.
In still another sense, islâm refers to the historical religion that goes by the name. But
even people who are "Muslim" in this sense may choose not to submit to God's will. Merely to
be a member of the religion is no guarantee that one understands its teachings or puts them into
practice in the proper way. One can be a "Muslim" in this historical sense without having
submitted oneself to God.
In short, the term islâm refers both to the way things are and to the way things should be,
and hence is a worthy candidate for an Arabic word to translate Tao. In the first broad sense of
the word islâm, all things are Muslims. In the second sense, few human beings are truly Muslim.
In the first sense the Tao is the principle of heaven and earth from which nothing can escape,
while in the second sense the Tao represents a right way that human beings alone have the power
to transgress. Other Koranic concepts illustrate the same ideas.
To say that "Everything in the heavens and the earth" praises and glorifies God is to say
that things "worship" or "serve" Him, two words that translate the Arabic word `ibâda. The term
`abd (slave or servant) comes from the same root. We have already met this as one of the highest
human qualities, without which human vicegerency--the goal of creation--is impossible. In the
broadest sense, to be an `abd is the inescapable ontological condition of all creatures. It derives
from the fact that "He created you and what you do" (37:96). Human existence as well as human
activity are God's creations, like all other things in the universe. Hence the Koran refers to all
things as servants: "None is there in the heavens and the earth that comes not to the All-merciful
 251

as a servant" (19:93). All creatures serve God, whether they want to or not. But like islâm, the
term `abd is also used in a more specific sense. Then it refers to the observance of the laws of
religion, or doing the work of God by voluntarily following His commandments.
All things worship God in their own way, but human beings can also reject worship and
upset the balance between heaven and earth. Hence the Koran sometimes qualifies itself in
statements concerning universal worship and submission: "Have you not seen how before God
prostrate themselves all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth, the sun and the
moon, the stars and the mountains, the trees and the beasts, and many of mankind?" (22:18). The
whole Koranic message is, of course, directed at those "many" of mankind who do not submit.
Inasmuch as human beings do not submit themselves to God's will, they become the "lowest of
the low" (95:5), as the Ikhwân al-Safâ' point out:
Know, my brother, that the human being who is heedless of worship and engrossed in
disobedience is less than an animal, less than a plant, and less than the minerals, restored to the
"lowest of the low." For mineral substances receive form, but he does not receive it. The plant
prostrates and bows itself to its Lord, but he does not prostrate himself. The animal obeys man,
but he does not obey his Lord, nor recognize him, nor find Him.445
In discussing the worship of all things, the Ikhwân usually keep in view the analogy
between God and the human vicegerent. Hence they see the worship of animals as identical with
the service they render to people. This obscures the central Koranic teaching, brought out by
many Sufis, that all worship is directed toward God.446 In the following passage, the Ikhwân
elaborate upon this idea of universal worship. What is especially noteworthy is the way in which
their argument is centered upon the idea of worship as a quality that is manifest in different
modes throughout the cosmos. Note that they describe the worship in question in terms that
recall the complete receptivity of the servants to the divine command and their submission to it.
Worship is the yin dimension of the cosmos.
The movement of the mineral substances to worship and admitting the Originator is the
fact that they receive imprint [naqsh] and form. This is their worship, obedience, subjection, and
humbleness. Among them are those that enjoy and yearn for obedience. Among them are those
that are quicker in reception, more beautiful in form, greater in measure, more than this, and less
than this. Among them are those that are heedless of this. They do not receive the form and do
not melt in fire. They have no radiance or purity, and no one profits from them, such as hard and
solid stones and rocks and salty earth.
The worship of plants is the movements that appear from them and their turning right and
left with the wind. Thereby they bow and prostrate themselves. They glorify and call God holy
through the rustling of their leaves, the movements of their branches, the splendor and blossoms
that appear from them, and the submission of their fruits to animals. Among them are those that
give no profit and are fit only for the fire.
The worship of animals is their service [khidma] to mankind, their going with him when
he goes, their patience in the work they do for him. Among them are the disobedient, the
deniers, the rejecters of obedience to human beings, and their enemies, like savage beasts and
varieties of wild animals.

445Chapter 7. The Womb Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il IV 212.

446 Ibn al-`Arabî frequently discusses this point. Cf. SPK 294, 311-12, 349, 404n18.
 252

The worship of human beings is that which God has made incumbent upon them and to
which He has guided them. This is the greatest of the earthly worships and the most tremendous
animal science. The human being possesses the excellence of rational speech, the nobility of
power over what stands below him, the perfection of creation, and the uprightness of his stature.
He brings together the two worlds. He is like the boundary that lies on the two boundaries and
the intermediary between the two sides.447
In short, when human beings worship God through total submission, they become perfect
vicegerents, thereby bringing together the two hands of God and manifesting the full range of
divine attributes. No other creature can compare to them.
The Sufis of Ibn al-`Arabî's school frequently discuss worship as a quality of all things.
Their approach is much less anthropocentric than that of the Ikhwân, since they consider this
worship to be directed toward God without intermediary. All things manifest the divine names,
so all things render service to Allah, the name that encompasses all names. `Abd al-Razzâq
Kâshânî illustrates the typical approach of this school in commenting on Koran 16:48. His ta'wîl
departs only slightly from the literal sense. In fact, his reading is much more "literal" than that of
those who would see the verse as referring simply to everyday reality and nothing more. The
verse says, "Have they not seen all things that God has created casting their shadows?" It does
not qualify "all things" by making them those corporeal realities that would cast shadows by
nature. If we say that the Koran means only things like mountains, trees, animals, and humans
that have "shadows" in the most literal sense of the term, then we would be rejecting the verse's
explicit statement. Hence Kâshânî suggests that we need to understand both thing and shadow"
in the widest senses of the terms. "Thing" can be taken to refer to the entities, whether or not
they exist. The entities, as we have noted before, are also called the essences, the realities, the
quiddities, and the objects of God's knowledge. The "shadows" cast by the entities are the
creatures that enter into the various worlds of existence--spiritual, imaginal, and corporeal. They
are shadows since they dim the infinite light of God by making it finite and perceptible. Light is
invisible, but a shadow can be seen. The Light of God is incomparable, but the luminous being
of an angel can be perceived in appropriate circumstances. A shadow, on whatever level it is
witnessed, alerts us to the infinite light of God.
Have they not seen all things that God has created, that is, every created essence and
reality, whatever it may be among the created things, casting their shadows? In other words,
their frames and forms assume bodily form and imaginalized form. For everything has a reality,
which is the "Dominion" of that thing and its root through which it is it, as God says, "In His
hand is the dominion of each thing" [36:83]. And each thing has a shadow, which is its attribute
and locus of manifestation, or its body, through which that thing becomes manifest. To the right
and to the left, that is, in the direction of good and evil, prostrating themselves before God,
submitting themselves to His command and being obedient, not refusing what He desires in
them. In other words, their frames move in the directions of good and evil works by His
command, while they are abased, submissive, making themselves lowly before His command,
overpowered.
To God prostrates or submits itself everything in the heavens, the world of the spirit.
This refers to the Inhabitants of the Invincibility and the Dominion and the disengaged, holy
spirits. And every creature on the earth, the world of bodies. This refers to the crawling

447 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il IV 210-11.

 253

creatures, the human beings, and the trees. And the angels, all the souls and the earthly and
heavenly faculties. They do not claim eminence: They do not refuse to submit themselves.
They fear their Lord: they are broken and they receive effects. They are receptive toward His
activity with the receptivity of one who fears. Above them, because of His overpowering sway,
His exercising effects, and His elevation beyond them. And they do what they are commanded,
willingly and submissively, such that the activity of no one else embraces them.448
Kâshânî makes similar points in commenting on Koran 13:15:
To God prostrate themselves all who are in the heavens and the earth. These are the
spiritual realities, such as the entities of the substances and the Dominion of the things. As do
their shadows. These are their frames and bodies, which are the "idols" of those spiritual things
and their shadows. That is why, when the Prophet prostrated himself at this verse, he would
recite, "Prostrated before Thee is my face, my blackness, and my imagination."449 He meant the
reality of his essence, the blackness of his person, and the imagination of his soul; or, his
existence, his entity, and his person. Willingly or unwillingly: whether they want to or refuse to
do so. The meaning demands that this be said, since some of them are willing and some of them
unwilling. In the mornings and the evenings: constantly.450
By serving and worshiping God and singing His praise, everything tells us something
about its specific relationship to His Essence. All things are signs of their Lord, giving news of
how He relates to His creatures. We saw in chapter 1 the importance of the Koranic term sign
(âya), which is employed to refer to any phenomenon that gives news of God, whether it be a
prophet, a prophetic message, a prophetic miracle, or simply the things of the natural world. In
the writings of the Sufis, few ideas are as basic as that everything in the cosmos is a sign of God
because it manifests God's names and attributes. Rûmî summarizes this idea clearly:
Consider the creatures as pure and limpid water, within which shine the Attributes of the
Almighty.
Their knowledge, their justice, their kindness--all are stars of heaven reflected in flowing
water.451
It is this quality of being a sign that most clearly expresses the yin relationship of all
created things to God.

The Mercy of Existence

The signs of God give news of the divine reality. The names of God provide in summary
form the knowledge given by the signs. On the basis of a well-known saying of the Prophet,
Muslim thinkers generally speak of the divine names as numbering ninety-nine, though many
more are found in the sources. The name Allah is the supreme and all-comprehensive name,
since all other names refer back to it. It is Allah who is Knowing, Powerful, Desiring, and so on.
But the Koran says, "Call upon Allah, or call upon the All-merciful--whichever you call upon, to
Him belong the names most beautiful" (17:115). While alluding to the all-comprehensiveness of
the name Allah, the verse also suggests that the name All-merciful (al-rahmân) somehow shares
in this quality.

448 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 679-80.

449 I was not able to trace this hadith.
450 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 638.
451 Rûmî, Mathnawî VI 3172-73 (SPL 43).
 254

The All-merciful is God inasmuch as He shows mercy to everything. God says in the
Koran, "My mercy embraces all things" (7:156). Following various allusions in Ibn al-`Arabî's
works, Qûnawî identifies mercy (rahma) with wujûd, which in this sense of the term denotes
both Being, or the absolute Reality of God, and existence, or that Reality inasmuch as it is
reflected in the universe and therefore brings it to be. Of all conceivable divine attributes, only
wujûd and knowledge "embrace all things." But the creatures do not profit simply by the fact
that they are the objects of God's knowledge. As long as they are objects of knowledge and
nothing else, they have no existence of their own. They reap benefit only when God shows
mercy to them by bringing them to be. Hence wujûd is the root of every blessing. In this sense
God's bestowal of wujûd on the things is identical with His mercy toward them. This is the
"mercy of the All-merciful" that we have already met. Qûnawî writes,
God is called "All-merciful" inasmuch as He spreads His nondelimited wujûd over the
things that become manifest through His manifestation.452 For mercy is wujûd itself, and the
"All-merciful" is the Real inasmuch as He is a wujûd spread over everything that becomes
manifest through Him and inasmuch as He possesses through His wujûd the perfection of
receptivity toward every property in every time and in accordance with every level--properties
that rule over every state.453
Note that the All-merciful--wujûd or Being--is receptive to all properties: It is yin. This
is the point that Ibn al-`Arabî alluded to through his assertion that the cosmos derives from the
feminine. We will return to this point shortly.
If in one respect the names Allah and All-merciful seem to be identical, since both are to
be "called upon" (as we saw in the above Koranic verse) and both "embrace all things," in
another respect the name Allah is more inclusive, since it embraces nonexistence as well as
existence. If "mercy" is existence (wujûd), and existence is an attribute that applies to that which
is "found" (mawjûd), then mercy has been bestowed upon all those things that may be found in
the cosmos, that is, everything other than God. Hence mercy is the attribute of God inasmuch as
He turns His attention toward bringing the cosmos into existence, or inasmuch as He is Manifest
through His own Being. But God is also Nonmanifest, refusing to show Himself to any "others."
According to Qûnawî, the name All-merciful does not refer to God from this point of view:
The All-merciful is a name of the pure and eternal Essence in respect of the fact that the
lights of existence shine out from the presence of His majesty upon the [nonexistent] entities of
the possible things [thus bringing them into existence]. This name has no relationship with the
Unseen He-ness in respect of the fact that It is the Unseen He-ness. Rather, this name pertains
exclusively to the presence of the manifest. In contrast, the name Allah embraces both the
unseen and the visible, the manifest and the nonmanifest.454
The name All-merciful never becomes exhausted by bestowing existence upon the
entities and bringing them out from the level of nonmanifestation to manifestation. The Prophet
said, "On the day God created mercy, He created it as one hundred mercies and kept ninety-nine

452 "Things" here renders shu'ûn (tasks), a term derived from Koran 55:29. In Ibn al-`Arabî's
teachings, shu'ûn refers to everything God undertakes in the cosmos, or everything toward which
He turns His creative power. More specifically, it alludes to the fact that each thing undergoes
constant transformation and change. Cf. SPK 98-104.
453 Qûnawî, I`jâz al-bayân 382/al-Tafsîr al-sûfî 513.
454 Idem, Tabsirat al-mubtadî 86.
 255

mercies with Himself. To all His creatures He sent out but a single mercy."455 The Prophet
also said,
God created a hundred mercies on the day He created the heavens and the earth, each
mercy of which would fill what is between the heaven and the earth. Of these He placed one
mercy in the earth. Through it the mother inclines toward her child, and the birds and animals
incline toward each other. When the Day of Resurrection comes, He will complete those
mercies with this mercy.456
Ibn al-`Arabî expanded on the Koranic and prophetic references to God's mercy and its
relationship with creation by developing the image of the "Breath of the All-merciful," a term
which is found in the hadith literature and which we have already discussed. He explains the
qualities implied by the term "Breath of the All-merciful" something like this:
Before the creatures enter into existence, God embraces them within His own Reality as
so many latent possibilities of manifestation. It is as if God, prior to creating the universe, has
drawn a deep breath. He then feels distressed by holding all the creatures in a nonmanifest state,
just as a person holding his breath feels constricted. So God exhales, thereby showing mercy to
all things, giving birth to the cosmos, and relieving His own constriction. And this exhalation
takes the form of articulated speech, since God is the Speaker--He never remains silent. This
mythic description of God's "distress" (kurb) pertains to the same level of reality as the love for
creation expressed in the hadith of the Hidden Treasure: "I loved to be known." This love or
distress is also described as the demand of the divine names to experience the manifestation of
their own properties.
For Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers, the Breath of the All-merciful is the substance of
creation, pure mercy or pure existence. The individual things or creatures are so many
articulated words within the Breath, or specific shapes and forms assumed by existence. As
Qûnawî explains in the passage quoted above, the All-merciful is God inasmuch as "He
possesses through His Being the perfection of receptivity toward every property in every time
and in accordance with every level." In other words, the All-merciful is God considered as a yin
reality, inasmuch as She is the matrix within which the things take shape. In the same way, the
term "Breath of the All-merciful" makes explicit the implications of the name All-merciful by
providing an analogy to explain how God shows mercy to all things. His Breath, which is not
other than Himself from the point of view of similarity, receives the articulations known as
"words" or "creatures." If there were no words in the Breath, God would be silent. But the All-
merciful speaks. Thereby we perceive God in the mode of similarity. When we hear His words
by perceiving His creation, we are alerted to the fact that these are certain words and not others.
And we know that an infinite Breath can say anything and talk forever. The Breath can be
articulated by any word. Just as God is considered yang when He is looked upon as the distant
Creator, so also She is considered yin when She is looked upon as the receptive substance
underlying all things and giving shape to all things.
Inasmuch as each creature articulates the All-merciful Breath through its own reality, it
possesses a yang nature in respect to God as yin. In one respect the Breath precedes the word in
existence and reality, so the Breath is yang and the word yin. But the word acts upon the Breath
by defining it and differentiating it from pure Breath and from other words, so the word is yang

455 Bukhârî, Riqâq 119.

456 Muslim, Tawba 21.
 256

and the Breath yin. Moreover, Breath without word is inconceivable--since this is the Breath of
the All-merciful, whose goodness does not allow Him to remain silent. In the same way, it is
impossible to conceive of God without a divine thrall, Lord without a vassal, Creator without a
creature. This is a constantly recurring theme in Ibn al-`Arabî's writings: that the realities of the
things make God receptive. For example, he writes,
Though God in His Essence is Independent of the worlds, it is known that He is described
by generosity, munificence, and mercy. Hence there must be objects of mercy and objects of
generosity. That is why God says, "When My servants question thee about Me--surely I am
near. I respond to the call of the caller when he calls to Me" [2:186]. God answers the caller
through munificence and generosity.457
In other words, the gentle and beautiful qualities connected to God's similarity and
nearness make God receptive toward the creatures. Moreover, this receptivity and response on
God's part is the root of every receptivity and response in the cosmos. No Muslim thinker can
doubt that God is active in relation to the cosmos. Hence all activity reflects His activity. But to
speak of God's receptivity is further from the mind. The "patriarchal" view of God is normal for
the Sharia that pertains to all Muslims, but the "matriarchal" view pertains to the spiritual path,
the Tarîqa, so not everyone can appreciate it. Ibn al-`Arabî alludes to this point in the midst of a
discussion of the characteristics of water. He points out that water has effects upon the other
elements, for example, by purifying the air. But it also can be affected by the other elements.
Then he generalizes the discussion to include all the elements:
God has made each of the four pillars both producer of effects and receptive toward
effects. The root of this in the divine knowledge is His words, "When My servants question thee
about Me--surely I am near. I respond to the call of the caller when he calls to Me." When
anything in the cosmos is receptive toward effects, this derives from the divine response. As for
the divine root of the active, that is obvious to everyone. We call attention to something only
when most people may remain heedless of it.458
And most people are heedless of the fact that receptivity or yin is as much a divine
attribute as activity or yang.
One way of explaining God's receptivity is, of course, to speak of God's two hands, the
giving hand and the receiving hand. In other terms, the divine reality brings together all
qualities, both the qualities of the Real and those of the creatures. The creaturely qualities, after
all, stem from His qualities. Hence, on every level, the Real and the creature are intertwined:
On the divine level, God has such "creaturely" qualities as receptivity and response. On the
creaturely level, the things have such "divine" qualities as activity and control. All of this is
rooted in the "marriage that permeates every atom," thereby displaying yin and yang in all things.
Ibn al-`Arabî makes some of these points while discussing the properties of the divine name the
Strong (al-qawî).
The reason for all this is the interpenetration of creation and the Real and of the Real and
creation through the self-disclosure in the divine and engendered names. The actual situation
manifests the Real in one respect and creation in another respect in each and every engendered
thing. The Divine Presence Itself brings together the property of the Real in creation and
creation in the Real. Were this not the case, God could not be described in such terms as the

457 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 289.23 (cf. SPK 65).

458 Ibid. II 453.16.
 257

following: The servant makes Him wrathful and angry, so the Real becomes wrathful and angry.
The servant makes Him pleased, so He becomes pleased. As for the fact that the Real makes the
servant angry, wrathful, and pleased, everyone knows about that. This all belongs to the science
of entering into one another [tawâluj] and interpenetration [tadâkhul].
Were it not for the existence of the property of strength, none of this would take place.
For weakness is a strong hindrance. Look at the property of strength and see how it permeates
weakness! Thus, you say concerning a weak person: The weakness has become so strong that
he is unable to move. Hence you ascribe strength to weakness. You describe it by its opposite.
From here you will understand the words of Abû Sa`îd al-Kharrâz [d. 286/899]. He was asked,
"Through what do you know God?" He replied, "Through the fact that He brings opposites
together.". . .459
Through strength, weakness becomes strong. And through the stronger, strength
becomes weak. This is the difference between the stronger and the strong, like the nearer and the
near. Everything nearer is near, but everything near is not nearer. Everything stronger is strong,
but everything strong is not stronger.460
In short, qualities interpenetrate on every level. Yin and yang are both present in all
things. What is yin may become yang simply by a change in the point of view. All this goes
back to the Real, which is both yin and yang. At the same time, there is a yin/yang relationship
between the Real and each thing. From the perspective of the specific qualities of the things,
including existence, each quality is received from the Real, so the thing is yin. But from a
slightly different perspective, the Breath of the All-merciful receives the qualities of the things,
just as our breath is delineated and articulated by our words. Hence the Real is yin and the
creature yang.

Nature as Wife and Mother

The intellectual tradition, and more particularly the philosophers and Sufi sages,
employed a great array of rational demonstrations and analogies to develop the idea that the
cosmos manifests the signs of God. For example, they adopted the idea of "nature" (tabî`a or
tab`) from the Greek philosophers and, especially among the Sufis, explained it in ways
harmonious with the Koranic teachings on signs. The basic meaning of the Arabic root t.b.`. is
to seal, stamp, or impress with a signet or stamp. Nature is that which receives impressions or
imprints from a higher level of existence. It is the cosmos viewed as the place wherein the signs
of God are made manifest.
In the view of the Ikhwân al-Safâ', Nature is the "faculty" or "power" or "strength"
(quwwa) of the Universal Soul, which is the "spirit of the cosmos." Nature is the activity (fi`l)
performed by this spirit, while the four elements are the matter within which Nature displays its
activity. Nature permeates the elements and the three children, governing them and giving them
motion and rest. It completes each of them, taking each to its ultimate goal.461 Though Nature
is the "activity" of the Universal Soul, it is clearly subordinate and governed by the Soul and
receives effusion by means of the celestial bodies, which are the instruments (adawât) of the
Soul. Hence, say the Ikhwân,

459 Ibn al-`Arabî frequently quotes this saying. Cf. SPK 67, 115, 116, 375.
460 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât IV 282.25.
461 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il II 132-33.
 258

The engendered things below the sphere of the moon begin from the least complete and
lowest states, advancing to the most complete and most excellent. This takes place during the
passage of time and hours, since Nature does not receive the effusion of the celestial bodies all at
once. Rather it receives it gradually, little by little, just as a bright student receives from a skilled
teacher.462
The dual aspect of Nature, as both receptive and active, is also discussed in the teachings
of Ibn al-`Arabî, though he develops Nature's feminine symbolism in some detail. According to
his view, Nature in the widest sense refers to the Breath of the All-merciful, within which are
imprinted the words or creatures, whether these be spiritual or corporeal. We saw in the previous
chapter that in the Fusûs he identifies the qualities of Nature with those of women. Then he says,
"In reality, Nature is nothing other than the Breath of the All-merciful."463
But Ibn al-`Arabî employs the word Nature in two basic meanings. If in one sense it is
the divine receptivity or the All-merciful Breath, in a narrower sense it refers to the corporeal
world inasmuch as it is governed by the spiritual world, receiving its imprint. In this second case
also Nature is clearly yin. It is described as "wife" or "woman" (mar'a) in relation to the spirit,
which is "husband" or "man" (rajul). Nature is the mother (umm) who gives birth to the
creatures, the children (awlâd, mawâlîd).
Nature is the domain wherein appear the "four natures"--heat, cold, wetness, and dryness.
These four manifest the qualities of the spiritual world and ultimately go back to certain
fundamental names of God. For example, Ibn al-`Arabî refers to the analogical connections
between the four natures, various cosmological realities, and the Four Pillars of Divinity--the
divine attributes life, knowledge, desire, and power. Each of these divine attributes has an
"imprint" (tab`), that is, a "nature" within the corporeal things.
The cosmos demands four relationships from the divine realities: life, knowledge, desire,
and power. . . . Life and knowledge are the two roots in these relationships, while desire and
power stand below them. The root is life, since it is a precondition for the existence of
knowledge. Then knowledge is connected to all things, since it is connected to the Necessary
Being, the possible thing, and the impossible thing.
Desire stands below knowledge, since it becomes connected only to the possible thing.
This happens when God gives preponderance to one of the possible thing's two sides: existence
and nonexistence. It is as if life seeks desire, since desire, as it were, receives its activity, for
desire is more inclusive in connection than power. Power is the most limited in connection,
since it becomes connected to bringing the possible thing into existence, but not to making it
nonexistent. Hence it is as if power receives the activity of knowledge. For power in relation to
desire is like knowledge in relation to life.
Once the levels of these divine relationships have been distinguished, the active is
distinguished from that which receives activity. Then the cosmos emerges in this form: active
and receptive to activity.
In relation to God, the whole cosmos is receptive and originated. But in respect to itself,
some of it is active and some receptive.
This, in a nutshell, is a conclusion that was reached in chapter 2: The cosmos is yin in
relation to God as yang. Then within the cosmos itself, some parts are yang and some yin,

462 Ibid. 427.

463 Ibn al-`Arabî, Fusûs 219.
 259

depending on the relationships envisaged. Ibn al-`Arabî continues by illustrating how the divine
names that reflect yang and yin are the roots of various cosmological realities. Note how the
issue is always qualitative correspondence, and this is established at least partly by the reports
that come through revelation. "Natural" phenomena--for example, cold--can never be separated
from human phenomena--for example, knowledge and certainty--since the qualities that the
natural and human worlds manifest derive from the same roots.
God brought the First Intellect into existence from the relationship life. He brought the
Soul into existence from the relationship knowledge. The Intellect was the precondition for the
existence of the Soul, just as life was the precondition for the existence of knowledge. The two
things that receive the activity of the Intellect and the Soul are the Dust and the Universal Body.
These four are the root of the manifestation of the forms in the cosmos.
However, between the Soul and the Dust stands the level of Nature. It has four realities.
Two of them are active, and two are loci that receive activity. But all of them stand at the level
of receiving activity in relation to that from which they have come forth.
These four realities are heat, cold, wetness, and dryness. Dryness receives activity from
heat, and wetness receives activity from cold.
Heat derives from the Intellect, and the Intellect derives from life. That is why the
"nature" [tab` (literally, imprint)] of life within the elemental bodies is heat.
Cold derives from the Soul, and the Soul derives from knowledge. That is why, when
knowledge becomes established it is described as the "coldness of certainty" or "snow." For
example, the Prophet said that when he felt the coolness of God's fingers between his breasts, he
came to know the knowledge of the ancients and the later folk.464
Since dryness and wetness receive activity from heat and coldness, desire seeks dryness,
which is on its level, and power seeks wetness, which is on its level.
Since power is connected only to bringing into existence, it is more worthy of having life
as its nature. For "life," in corporeal bodies, is heat and wetness.465
Ibn al-`Arabî frequently discusses Nature itself as a receptive reality. He often juxtaposes
it with spirit, which is active. He does this in the following passage while reminding us that yin
and yang are inseparable. Just as creation has an effect upon the Creator by making it a Creator,
so also Nature has an effect upon the World of the Command, which is the world of activity
proper to spiritual beings.
A woman in relation to a man is like Nature in relation to the Divine Command, since the
woman is the locus for the existence of the entities of the children, just as Nature in relation to
the Divine Command is the locus of manifestation for the entities of the corporeal bodies.
Through Nature they are engendered and from it they become manifest. There can be no
Command without Nature and no Nature without Command.466
The World of the Command, as we saw in chapter 4, is invariably contrasted with the
World of Creation. So also the natural level is usually contrasted with the spiritual level, since
Nature receives the spirits' imprints and reflects their light. The spirit governs while Nature is
governed, the spirit is the husband, Nature the wife. In the following, Ibn al-`Arabî employs the
terms soul and spirit synonymously.

464 A hadith that has come in several versions in standard sources. Cf. SPK 68.
465 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât I 293.8 (Y 4,344.11).
466 Ibid. III 90.18 (cf. SPK 141).
 260

When a natural form that has the receptivity to be governed becomes manifest and when
a particular soul becomes manifest governing it, the form is like the female, while the governing
spirit is like the male. Hence the form is the wife, while the spirit is the husband.467
Nature's outstanding characteristic is the ability to receive and manifest the activity of the
spiritual realities that dwell above and beyond it. Ibn al-`Arabî insists on Nature's receptivity in
a curious anecdote about one of the spirits, who wanted to give the property of activity, which
belongs to spiritual beings--or, as Ibn al-`Arabî says here, to the forms that place their stamp
upon Nature--to Nature itself.
One of the spirits desired to make the property of the form that it governed join with the
property of Nature, within which that form had come into existence. It wanted to make the form
descend so that its properties would be those of the level of Nature. But the form can never
descend to Nature's level. The Teacher [the First Intellect?] said to it, "What you desire is
impossible. The form cannot perform the activity of Nature, since Nature is receptive toward the
form. What does the level of that which is active have in common with the level of that which
receives activity?". . .
When this ignorant spirit was unable to join the form to Nature, its own mother, it said,
"Perhaps that is because of my inability and incapacity to perceive knowledge in this.". . . So it
asked from God that the form have the same reception toward activity as Nature. But it found
that the receptacles within which form exercises effects could not receive what was received by
those forms that had the receptivity for the effect of Nature. The Real gives to things, as
mentioned, only in accordance with the preparedness of the recipient of the gift. The recipient
cannot receive that which is not allowed by its preparedness.468

Love for Parents

Human beings are the children of Nature, and hence her qualities permeate them. But
they also take after their father, the Spirit. This Spirit is the "Attributed Spirit" (al-rûh al-idâfî)
mentioned in the Koranic verses that attribute it to God, such as "I blew into him of My spirit"
(15:29). In Ibn al-`Arabî's view, the rational soul--also called the human spirit--is born from the
Attributed Spirit and Nature. Nature is the mother of spiritual as well as corporeal possibilities.
Body and soul are two faces of the same human reality.
The human being is the son of his mother in reality, without doubt. Hence the spirit [i.e.,
the rational soul] is the son of the nature that is the human being's body. Nature is the mother
who nurses it. It is configured in her belly and nourished by her blood. It must have food for its
frame to subsist.469
But Nature is passive and weak compared to the Spirit. As long as human beings are
dominated by the natural and bodily side of their realities, they will have no resistance toward
things that draw them away from the Divine Light. When their mother pulls them away from
their father, they will not be able to stand up to her unless they are confirmed by God Himself.
In this human configuration, Nature's property demands a great lassitude, since there is
no intermediary or veil between her and the spirits, which possess strength and authority over
her. Hence fear clings to her as a shadow clings to the person that throws it. Those who are

467 Ibid. 99.7.

468 Ibid. 99.16.
469 Ibid. I 276.18 (Y 4,247.12).
 261

companions of Nature cannot be strong unless they are confirmed by the Spirit. Then the
lassitude of Nature will not exercise its effects over them. Otherwise, what is greatest in them is
the flow of Nature.
However, the spiritual reality of such a person, which is the governing soul, also comes to
exist from Nature, since she is its mother. Even if the soul's father is a spirit, the mother has an
effect upon the son, since he was engendered in her womb and nourished by what was with her.
Hence the soul does not gain strength through its father unless God confirms it with a holy spirit
that gazes upon it. Then it will gain strength over the property of Nature and she will no longer
exercise total effectivity upon it, even though her effect will remain, since it cannot disappear
completely.470
Maybudî makes a similar point while discussing the importance of intelligence or
intellect (`aql) in the human being. He is commenting on a Koranic verse that speaks of "signs
for those who have intellect" (2:164). He explains what this intellect is, and he traces it back to
its cosmological source in the First Intellect. Then he provides us with a Persian translation of
the famous hadith of the Intellect, adding at the end a section I have not seen in the Arabic
versions. Clearly he wants to remind us that however exalted Intellect may be, it depends utterly
upon God. All of its power and authority is derivative and depends upon His aid. The spirit
within us needs the divine confirmation to overcome the hold of Nature.
Intellect [`aql] is the fetter [`iqâl] of the heart. In other words, it holds the heart back
from everything except the Beloved and prevents it from unworthy desires. In the view of the
Sunnis, intellect is light and its place is the heart, not the brain. It is the precondition for being
addressed by God, but its existence does not mean that God will necessarily address a person.
Intellect is identical with the instrument of knowledge, not with the root of knowledge. Intellect
gives benefit and profit because the heart can come to life through it. The Koran says, "[It is
only a Remembrance and a Clear Koran], that he may warn whosoever is alive" [36:69-70], that
is, whosoever has intellect. Hence, those who have no intellect are not considered to be alive.
Do you not see that God does not address the mad man? Nor does He address a corpse. The
reason is that they have no intellect. . . .
The intellect of the servant is a divine gift and a lordly bestowal. The servant's obedience
is earned, but obedience cannot be put in order without that gift, and that gift cannot function
without God's bestowal of success [tawfîq]. Thus it has been reported that the Inaccessible Lord
created the Intellect. He said to it, "Stand up." It stood up. He said, "Sit." It sat. He said,
"Come." It came. He said, "Go." It went. He said, "See." It saw.
Then He said, "By My inaccessibility and majesty, I have created nothing more noble and
honored than you. Through you I shall be worshiped and through you I shall be obeyed."
Because of these caresses, the Intellect felt pleased with itself. The Lord of the worlds
did not let that pass. He said, "O Intellect, look behind yourself. What do you see?" The
Intellect looked behind itself and saw a form lovelier and more beautiful than itself. It said,
"Who are you?" The form said, "I am that without which you are useless. I am the success that
God gives."
Intellect, though you be noble, become low!
Heart, be no longer heart, but blood, blood!
Come under the veil of that waxing Beauty!

470 Ibid. III 125.3.

 262

Come without eyes, go without tongue!471

In certain respects, the spirit, who is the father of the soul, has a greater claim upon it
than Nature, the mother. But in another respect, the good behavior and loving kindness that are
due toward parents demands that human beings turn more attention to their mother. This is a
point of fundamental importance in the Islamic perspective and helps explain where it parts
company with much of Christianity. This world is good and full of God's bounty. The body is
good. It is a divine gift, to be cherished as such. Marriage is good, not only for the sake of
procreation but also in itself inasmuch as it is a mode of enjoying the divine bliss that creates us.
The mother, who is Nature, deserves as much love and respect as the father, the spirit.
The Prophet was asked, "Among people, who is most deserving of loving kindness
[birr]?" He answered, "Your mother." The questioner asked, "After her, who?" He replied,
"Your mother." He asked, "After her, who?" He said, "Your mother. Then your father."472
The word birr is itself significant. In his Lexicon Lane defines it as benevolent and
solicitous regard or treatment or conduct to parents and others; piety towards parents and towards
God; and goodness or beneficence; kindness, good and affectionate and gentle behavior, and
regard for the circumstances of another. The adjectival form is barr, and this is also a name of
God (52:28): Al-Barr is the Lovingly Kind, the Beneficent, the Benevolent. One says in Arabic,
al-umm barra bi waladihâ, "The mother is lovingly kind toward her child," or, as Lane renders it,
"The mother is maternally affectionate toward her child." Moreover, the same word barr means
the land as opposed to the sea (bahr) and is so employed in several Koranic verses. A prophetic
saying concerning tayammum, or ritual purification with earth when water is not present, says,
"Wipe yourselves with the earth, for it is lovingly kind to you."473 So birr or "loving kindness"
is a divine attribute that permeates existence and is manifest especially in mothers and in the
earth. And just as the earth is loving and kind to us, we must be loving and kind to it. Moreover,
all the good qualities of the earth are epitomized in one's mother. She deserves the highest love,
kindness, and goodness in return. The Prophet's great-grandson, `Alî ibn al-Husayn, reflects the
Muslim attitude toward mothers in his "Treatise on Rights":
The right of your mother is that you know that she carried you where no one carries
anyone, she gave to you of the fruit of her heart that which no one gives to anyone, and she
protected you with all her organs. She did not care if she went hungry as long as you ate, if she
was thirsty as long as you drank, if she was naked as long as you were clothed, if she was in the
sun as long as you were in the shade. She gave up sleep for your sake, she protected you from
heat and cold, in order that you might belong to her. You will not be able to show her gratitude,
unless through God's help and giving success.474
Such hadiths and sayings have many social repercussions, but clearly the "mother" in
question has more meanings than one. Ibn al-`Arabî writes,
The human being brings together Nature and Light. Nature makes demands upon him
and Light makes demands upon him. Light is charged to stay hidden and to refrain from much
of what it merits and what its own reality demands because of Nature's best interests. Light is

471 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr I 442.

472 Muslim, Birr 1; Bukhârî, Adab 2; Tirmidhî, Birr 1; Abû Dâwûd, Adab 120; Ibn Mâja, Adab
1; Ahmad V 3, 5.
473 Cited in Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, under barr.
474 `Alî ibn al-Husayn, The Psalms of Islam 287.
 263

commanded to fulfill the right of Nature. This is illustrated by the Prophet's words when he was
asked to whom loving kindness should be shown. He replied "Your mother" three times. Then
the fourth time he said, "Your father." So he preferred loving kindness toward the mother over
that toward the father, and Nature is the mother. This point was also made in the Prophet's
words, "Surely your soul," that is, your animal soul, "has a right upon you, and your eye has a
right upon you."475 These are all the rights of the mother, who is the human being's nature. The
father is the Divine Spirit, that is, Light.476
In the last analysis, the rights of the spirit outweigh those of Nature, since the receptivity
inherited from Nature needs to be turned in the right direction. Nature is receptive to all things,
darkness as well as light, ignorance as well as knowledge, evil as well as good. Hence the spirit,
which is identical with light, knowledge, and good, makes demands upon her. The human being,
caught between father and mother--spirit and Nature--must choose the father if the two pull in
different directions.
Nature . . . courts her spouse, seeking childbirth, for she loves sons. She has a
tremendous affection for her children. Because of this affection, she seeks to attract them to
herself. If she trains them, they will recognize no other. That is why you will see that most sons
are servants only of the natural level. They do not leave aside sensory things and natural objects
of pleasure. Only a few do that--the ones who gaze upon their father. They are those who have
become spiritualized [al-mutarawhinûn]. Their mark is not that they cease to undergo variation
in forms, since undergoing variation in forms belongs to them just as it belongs to the people of
Nature. What marks the spiritualized ones as sons of their father is that they rid themselves of
natural appetites, taking only what allows their configuration to subsist. Thus the Prophet said,
"A few mouthfuls to firm up his backbone are enough for the son of Adam."477 Their aspiration
should lie in joining with their father, who is the Divine Spirit, . . . the word of God blown into
Nature.478
Qûnawî makes a similar point while explaining the meaning of a well-known hadith that
sets up a series of images, each of which is yang in one respect and yin in another. In the
process, he suggests another significance for the "two hands of God" that created the human
being.
When God created the earth, it began to sway. So He created the mountains and said to
them, "Overwhelm her!" Then she became steady.
The angels wondered at the strength of the mountains. They said, "O Lord, is there any
of Thy creatures stronger than the mountains?"
He said, "Yes, iron."
They said, "O Lord, is there any of Thy creatures stronger than iron?"

475 The hadith is found in several versions in all the standard sources. Cf. Wensinck,
Concordance I 486.
476 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 354.22.
477 In Tirmidhî (Zuhd 47) and Ahmad (IV 132), the hadith reads as follows: "A human being
fills no container worse than his belly. A few bites to firm up his backbone are enough for the
son of Adam. If he must, then a third [of his belly] for his food, a third for his drink, and a third
for himself."
478 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 125.8. In the same passage Ibn al-`Arabî makes clear that he
means the spirit that the Koran attributes to God Himself ("I blew into him of My spirit").
 264

He said, "Yes, fire."

They said, "O Lord, Is there any of Thy creatures stronger than fire?"
He said, "Yes, water."
They said, "O Lord, is there any of Thy creatures stronger than water?"
He said, "Yes, wind."
They said, "O Lord, is there any of Thy creatures stronger than wind?"
He said, "Yes, the son of Adam. He gives charity with his right hand and conceals it
from his left."479
In discussing this hadith, Qûnawî suggests that the meaning is plain down to wind, but
few people are aware of why the human being should be superior to wind or why God should
have inspired the angels with this knowledge.
The human being has a right hand and a left hand that are manifest. These are the two
hands of his form. He also has a right and a left hand that are nonmanifest: his spirituality and
his nature. The religion has taken this into account. It alludes to it in God's words, "The earth
altogether shall be His handful on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens shall be rolled up in
His right hand" [39:67]. Since the heavens are the place of the spirits and have become manifest
from the Real by means of them, they are more strongly related to the World of Spirits [than the
earth]. Hence God attributed them to His right hand, while He attributed the earth and the
natural forms within it to the other hand, to which He alluded with the term handful. . . .
You should know that the mystery of the words that the Prophet relates from his Lord,
"He gives charity with his right hand, concealing it from his left," is as follows: What incites the
human being to charity is a spiritual, lordly inciter, completely empty of the properties of Nature.
But this is exceedingly difficult. What makes it so difficult is that the human being is a
combination of spiritual and natural attributes, and they are thoroughly mixed together. A
person's spirituality may be strengthened to the extent that his natural faculties and attributes are
absorbed into his spirituality and he is able to exercise free disposal with his spirit without any
influence from his nature. Then he will possess the ultimate limit of power and strength. What
is more, through that he will be superior to many of the angels, since the angel's innate
disposition is that its acts are empty of natural attributes. In the angel this is not considered
surprising, nor is it counted as something great, since nothing contends against it.
But in this world, natural faculties and attributes contend with the spiritual, and the ruling
power of Nature is exceedingly strong. How should it not be? For the spirit of the human being
becomes entified only after and in accordance with the natural constitution. Hence the ruling
power of the spirit and its attributes, which are attributed to the supra-sensory right hand of the
human being, do not overcome the ruling authority of his natural constitution, which possesses
the left hand direction. If they did, all his spiritual acts would be delivered from the stain and
properties of his nature. This does not occur as long as the interrelationship and mixture between
the spiritual and natural attributes remain, unless there should be a lordly confirmation and a
tremendous strength and power, as we indicated.480

The Womb as Microcosm

479 Tirmidhî, Tafsîr 96. I follow Qûnawî's text in Sharh al-hadîth, which has a few slight
differences from Tirmidhî's text.
480 Qûnawî, Sharh al-hadîth, no. 15.
 265

The elevated station of the mother in the Islamic tradition is reflected in the stress that is
placed on observing the rights of "womb relatives." As noted in the previous chapter, the Arabic
word womb (rahim) is derived from the same root as the word mercy (rahma). The dictionaries
define the womb as the receptacle for the young in the belly or the place where the young
originate. The word also signifies a blood tie, kinship, or a close family relationship. Rahma is
defined as mercy, pity, compassion, tenderness; the inclination to favor someone. It is the
natural attribute of a mother toward the fruit of her womb. Various hadiths make this point. For
example,
We were with the Messenger of God in one of his battles. He passed a tribe and asked,
"Who is this tribe?" They replied, "We are Muslims."
A woman was tending her oven. She had her son with her. When the flames of the oven
shot up, she pulled back her son. Then she came to the Prophet. She said, "Are you the
Messenger of God?" He said, "Yes." She said, "I ask you by my father and my mother: Is God
not the Most merciful of the merciful?" He replied, "Indeed He is." She said, "Is God not more
merciful to His servants than the mother to her child?" He replied, "Indeed He is." She said, "A
mother would not throw her child into the fire."
The Messenger of God looked down and began weeping. Then he raised his head to her
and said, "Among His servants, God will only chastise the one who is defiant and rebellious, the
one who rebels against God and refuses to say, 'There is no god but God.'"481
The connection between mercy and womb is clear in both the form and meaning of the
words. In addition four different sayings of the Prophet connect the womb to the the All-
merciful and to His Throne. The sayings speak of "cutting off the womb," which is an
expression that signifies breaking the ties of blood relationship, or acting unkindly toward one's
relatives. In contrast, "joining the womb" means to act with kindness and tenderness toward
one's relatives. The hadiths are as follows:
[1.] God said, "I am God and I am the All-merciful. I created the womb and I gave it a
name derived from My own name. Hence if someone cuts off the womb, I will cut him off, but
if someone joins the womb, I will join him to Me."482
[2.] God created the creatures. When He finished with them, the womb stood up and
seized the All-merciful by the belt. The All-merciful said, "What is this?" It replied, "This is the
station of whoever seeks refuge from being cut off." God said, "Indeed it is. Will you not be
satisfied that I join him who joins you and cut him off who cuts you off?" The womb replied,
"Yes, I will." God said, "Then that is yours."483
[3.] The womb is attached to the Throne and says, "If someone joins me, let God join
him, but if someone cuts me off, let God cut him off."484
[4.] The womb is a branch of the All-merciful. God said to it, "When a person joins you,
I will join him, but when he cuts you off, I will cut him off."485

481 Ibn Mâja, Zuhd 35.

482 Ahmad ibn Hanbal I 191, 194.
483 Muslim, Birr 16; Bukhârî, Tafsîr sûra 47, Tawhîd 35; Ahmad II 330, 383, 406.
484 Muslim, Birr 17; Ahmad II 163, 190, 193, 209.
485 Bukhârî, Adab 13; Tirmidhî, Birr 16; Ahmad I 190, 321; II 295, 382, 406, 455, 498.
 266

These sayings are enough to establish the sanctity of the womb and family relationships
in Islam. Our concern, however, is to look at the cosmological significance of the qualities
implied in the term womb. We will return to these sayings shortly.
Many cosmologists see the growth of the embryo into a complete human being as an
analogical repetition of what takes place in the cosmos through the creative act of God's mercy.
The basic movement of the embryo in the womb is from undifferentiation to differentiation. In
each earlier stage, everything is present potentially, like a tree in a seed. Each stage is yin or
earth in relation to the previous stage, since it actualizes what was potential. At the same time, it
is yang in relation to what follows, heaven in relation to the next earth.
The Ikhwân al-Safâ' are especially fond of the analogy between the embryo and the
cosmos, developing it most fully in their treatise, Fî masqat al-nutfa (Concerning the place where
the sperm drop falls).486 On one level, this treatise deals with astrology, since it discusses the
influence of the stars and planets upon the growth of the child in the womb. But what is
interesting for our purposes is the way in which the Ikhwân develop the analogies and
correspondences between the macrocosm and the microcosm.
The first sections of the treatise describe the development of the embryo through eight
full months. After the eighth month it is complete and ready for birth, though many factors will
influence the exact date of birth. Each monthly stage is marked by the "governance" (tadbîr) of
one of the planets (or one of the heavens). I quote from the section concerning the fourth month
of pregnancy, which is governed by the middlemost planet, the sun. The sun, as we have seen,
manifests the spirit more clearly than any other planet, since it is most intense in light.
According to the Prophet, it is at the end of the fourth month that the spirit is breathed into the
embryo.487 The stages to which the Ikhwân refer are mentioned in Koran 22:5: "We created
you of dust, then of a sperm drop, then of a lump of flesh, formed and unformed. . . . And We
establish in the wombs what We will, till a stated term, then We deliver you as infants."
When the fourth month from the entrance of the sperm arrives, the governance is given
over to the sun. The faculties of the spiritual things assume mastery over the lump of flesh. The
spirit of life is breathed into it, and the animal soul permeates it. This is because the sun is the
leader of the planets in the celestial sphere. The sun's soul is the spirit of the whole cosmos. It
has mastery over all the engendered things below the sphere of the moon, especially over the
animal children that have wombs. It has its greatest specific properties in human beings, since its
corporeal body in the cosmos is like the corporeal heart within the human frame. The rest of the
planetary and celestial bodies are like the organs and articulations of the body. . . .
When the sperm drop falls into the womb, the sun must dwell in some degree of one of
the constellations. It travels its course for four months from the entrance of the sperm to the end
of the fourth constellation. During this time it passes through one third of the celestial sphere. . .

486 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il II 417-55.

487 In a sound hadith found in the standard sources, the Prophet says, "The creation of each of
you is brought together in his mother's belly for forty days. Then he is a blood clot for an equal
period. Then he is a lump of flesh for an equal period. Then God sends forth an angel that is
commanded by four words. It is said to the angel, 'Write his words, his provision, his time of
death, and whether he is felicitous or wretched.' Then the spirit is blown into him." Bukhârî,
Bad' al-Khalq 6, etc. It is for this reason that "All Muslim jurists believed that the foetus became
a human being after the fourth month of pregnancy" (B. Musallam, Sex and Society in Islam 57).
 267

. Then it will have completed the natures of the constellations: the fiery, earthy, airy, and watery.
Thus the natures of the four elements will have mixed in compounding the structure of the
embryo. The constitution will have reached equilibrium (i`tidâl], the form will have been
impressed, and the disposition will have been configured. At this point the shapes of the bones
have appeared, the joints have been mounted, the composition put in order, the muscles
connected to the bones, the veins extended through the flesh. Thus the bodily structure appears
"formed and unformed."488
Nasafî provides an account of the process of the growth of the embryo that is worth
quoting in some detail, since it provides a clear and basic account of the "evolutionary"
development of a human being in the typical fashion. For Nasafî, as for the Ikhwân al-Safâ' and
others, the development of the human body replicates the development of the outer world,
beginning from the four elements, then the appearance of minerals, plants, and animals, then the
appearance of the various levels of spirit. In truth the embryo is a Hidden Treasure within the
womb, and it makes manifest its own attributes, motivated by a love to be known. At the same
time, this is a "return" to God whereby the human being becomes the second vicegerent,
ultimately identical in a certain respect with the first vicegerent--the First Intellect--from which
the cosmos had entered into existence. Like the Ikhwân al-Safâ', Nasafî has various Koranic
verses in view.
The human being is a single substance, and everything that gradually comes into
existence in the human being was already existent in that single substance. Everything becomes
manifest in its own time. That single substance was the sperm drop. In other words, all the parts
of the human being, whether substances or accidents, existed in the sperm drop. Everything that
is useful for reaching human perfection is already found there. This is to say that the sperm drop
is writer, pen, paper, ink, book, and reader.
O dervish! The sperm drop of the human being is the first substance of the microcosm,
the essence of the microcosm, the seed of the microcosm. The world of love is the microcosm:
The sperm drop is in love with itself. It wants to see its own beauty and witness its own
attributes and names. It will disclose itself, become clothed in the attribute of actuality, come
from the world of undifferentiation into the world of differentiation, and become manifest in
many forms, shapes, meanings, and lights. Thus its beauty will become manifest and its
attributes, names, and acts will appear.
When the sperm drop falls into the womb, for a time it is a sperm drop, for a time a blood
clot, and for a time a lump of flesh. In the midst of the lump of flesh appear bones, veins, and
nerves until three months pass. Then, at the beginning of the fourth month, which is the turn of
the sun, it comes to life. Sensation and volitional movement gradually appear within it, until the
fourth month passes.
When the fourth month passes, the body and spirit are actualized and the creation of parts
and organs is completed. The blood that gathers in the mother's womb becomes the food of the
child and reaches it through the navel. The body, spirit, and parts of the child gradually reach
perfection, until eight months pass. In the ninth month, when Jupiter's turn arrives,489 the child
is born from the mother's womb into this world. . . .

488 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il II 423-24.

489 The nine months are governed by the seven planets beginning from the outermost planet
and moving to the innermost, then beginning again from the outermost. Hence the order is:
 268

When the sperm drop falls into the womb, it becomes round, since water by its nature is
round. Then by means of the heat that it has in itself and the heat of the womb, the sperm drop
gradually begins to grow. Its subtle parts become separate from its solid parts. When it
completes its growth, the solid parts from the whole sperm drop turn toward the center of the
drop, while the subtle parts from the whole drop turn toward the encompassing surface. In this
way the sperm drop becomes four layers, each of which encompasses what is below itself. In
other words, that which is solid goes to the center and becomes established in the middle of the
drop. That which is subtle goes to the encompassing surface and becomes established in the
highest level of the drop. That which is beneath the highest level but connected to it has a lesser
subtlety, while that which is above the center but connected to it has a lesser solidity than the
center. In this way the sperm drop comes to have four strata.
The center, which is in the middle of the drop, is called black bile. Black bile is cold and
dry and has the nature of earth, so it had to fall into the place of earth. The stratum that is above
the center, connected to it, and encompasses it is called phlegm. Phlegm is cold and wet and has
the nature of water, so it had to fall into the place of water. The stratum that is above phlegm,
connected to it, and encompasses it is called blood. Blood is warm and wet and has the nature of
air, so it had to fall into the place of air. The stratum that is above blood, connected to it, and
encompasses it is called yellow bile. Yellow bile is hot and dry and has the nature of fire, so it
had to fall into the place of fire.
The one substance that was called "sperm drop" became four elements and four natures,
and all this took place in one month.
When the elements and natures were completed, the three children appeared from the
four elements and natures: First the mineral, second the plant, third the animal. In other words,
the Apportioner apportioned these four elements and natures and brought all the organs of the
human being into manifestation, both the inward and the outward organs. These organs are the
minerals. He sent to each organ a certain measure of black bile, phlegm, blood, and yellow bile.
To some He sent the four in equal measures, to some in disparate measures, as wisdom
demanded. All the inward and outward organs appeared. He joined them all to each other and
brought into existence the channels of food, life, sensation, and volitional movement until the
minerals were completed. This all took place in the second month.
When the organs were completed, the minerals were completed. Then faculties appeared
in each outward and inward organ: the faculty of attraction, retention, digestion, repulsion,
transformation, nourishment, and growth. These faculties are called "angels."
Nasafî continues by describing how the vegetal spirit comes into existence in the liver,
the animal spirit in the heart, and the psychic spirit in the brain. Each of these spirits has its own
specific functions. Finally the human spirit arrives, but here a major difference can be discerned.
The human being shares with other animals in these three spirits--the vegetal, animal, and
psychic. A human being is distinguished from other animals through the human spirit. The
human spirit is not of the same kind as the other three, since the human spirit belongs to the high
world, while the vegetal, animal, and psychic spirits belong to the low world.490

Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter (cf. Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il II
434-442).
490 Nasafî, Insân-i kâmil 16-23.
 269

However, Nasafî then explains that these different kinds of spirit are in fact but a single
spirit. This one spirit is put into relationship with the bodily world in different modes according
to specific limitations pertaining to various levels of the cosmos. In the last analysis, the spirit
pertains to the higher world and the body to the lower. If in all cases we speak of spirit and
body, this is because the spirit governs the body, while the body is receptive to the spirit's
activity.
The body belongs to the World of the Kingdom and the spirit to the World of the
Dominion. The body belongs to the World of Creation and the spirit to the World of Command.
Since it has become clear that the spirit is not more than one, we can know the spirit as the
following: The spirit is a substance that perfects and moves the body, on the level of plants
through nature, on the level of animals through choice, and on the level of human beings through
choice and intellect.491

The Womb as Nature

Human beings develop in the womb in a manner that parallels the order followed by God
in creating the macrocosm. In the womb the infant grows to completion and reaches deliverance
by dying to the womb in order to be born into the world. In the world the human being grows to
spiritual perfection and reaches deliverance through death to this world and birth into the next.
The analogy between these two processes was never lost on our authors. At the beginning of the
treatise, "On how the particular souls become configured in the human, natural bodies," the
Ikhwân al-Safâ' develop it in some detail:
The body is related to the soul just as the womb is related to the embryo. When the
embryo's structure is completed within the womb and its form is perfected there, it comes out
into this abode complete in creation, flawless in its sense faculties. It takes benefit from life here
and enjoys its bliss until a fixed time. So also is the situation of the souls in the next abode: The
particular souls complete their essences by coming out of potentiality into the confines of
actuality by means of the knowledges and sciences that they acquire through the senses. Then
forms reach perfection through the virtues they gain by way of intelligibles, experiences, and acts
of ascetic discipline as well as through governing those things that need to be managed. These
things are putting the affairs of the soul's livelihood in good order through the path of the mean,
smoothing the way to the Return according to the norms of guidance, and polishing the soul
through beautiful character traits, correct opinions, and righteous works--all of this by means of
the body, put together from blood and flesh.
If the soul parts from the body having true insight about itself and its affairs, having
known its own substance, conceived of its own essence, and seen with clear vision the affair of
its own world and its own beginning and Return, and having disliked existence along with the
body, then it will stay separate from matter, become independent in its essence, and have no need
in its substance for attachment to corporeal things. It will then advance to the Higher Plenum
and enter into the ranks of the angels. It will witness those spiritual affairs and see face to face
those luminous forms that it did not perceive through the five senses and that were not conceived
of by human intuitions. This is mentioned in prophetic symbols, since the Prophet said that in
the Garden there is "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what has never passed

491 Ibid. 34.

 270

into the heart of any mortal,"492 that is, bliss, joy, happiness, pleasure, repose, and ease. Thus
God says, "Therein shall be all the objects of the souls' appetite and whatever the eyes delight in,
and therein you shall dwell forever" [43:71]. He also says, "No soul knows what comfort is laid
up for them secretly, as a recompense for what they were doing" [32:17].
However, if the creation of the embryo does not reach completion in the womb and its
form is not perfected therein, or there occurs to it an accident in the soul or a crookedness in one
of the organs, then it will not benefit completely from life in this abode and its bliss will not be
perfect, like the blind, the dumb, the deaf, the chronically ill, the crippled, and so forth. Such
will be the state of the particular souls when they part from human bodies.493
Rûmî sometimes compares the birth of the child to the perfection of the soul achieved
through "dying before you die," or the voluntary death that is the goal of the spiritual path.
Although the mother suffers the pain of childbirth, the embryo breaks out of its prison.
The woman weeps at the birth: "Where is the refuge?" The child laughs: "Deliverance
has come!"494
Until mothers feel the pain of childbirth, the child finds no way to be born.
The Trust is within the heart and the heart is pregnant; all the exhortations of the saints
act as a midwife.
The midwife says, "The woman has no pain. Pain is necessary, for it will open a way for
the child."495
Sadr al-Dîn Qûnawî develops the analogy between the womb and the macrocosm in some
detail while commenting upon the four hadiths of the womb cited above. He considers them far
more than simple rhetorical devices used to emphasize the importance of family ties. Why was it
necessary, after all, to mention the Throne, God's belt, and other details of the unseen world?
The Prophet certainly had the social situation in mind, but the social implications can not exhaust
the meaning, especially since three of the four hadiths are hadîth qudsî, that is, sayings of the
Prophet in which God's own words are quoted.
Hence Qûnawî sets out to explain the significance of these sayings on a deeper level that
is not accessible without confirmation from God. Before beginning his explanation he refers to
this deeper level of knowledge by thanking God for "His blessing me, giving me knowledge, and
clarifying [the meaning of these texts] for me; He has allowed me to share with the most perfect
of His creatures [that is, Muhammad] in coming to know these secrets and disclosing these
sciences hidden from 'others.'"
Qûnawî's explanation is based on the identification of the womb with Nature. The womb
clings to the Throne because, according to Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers, the Throne is the
sphere that encompasses the corporeal universe. If, according to the Koran, "The All-merciful
sat upon the Throne" (20:5), this is because God, who is Being, envelops the universe. The
radiance of His Being is the very existence of the universe, the All-merciful Breath whereby the
cosmos subsists.
The Throne marks the demarcation line between the unseen and the visible worlds, or the
World of Command and the World of Creation. Both worlds exist through the radiance of

492 On this sound hadith qudsî, cf. Graham, Divine Word 117-19.
493 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il III 5-6.
494 Rûmî, Mathnawî III 3560-61 (SPL 184).
495 Ibid. II 2518-20 (SPL 241).
 271

Being, but in two different modes. The "belt" of the All-merciful alludes to the line that
distinguishes the two worlds. The All-merciful is present in both worlds through His radiance,
but the world above the belt is manifest to the angels and spiritual beings, while the world below
the belt is the locus of the "pudendum" or "shame" (`awrât). This is the domain of corporeal
things, which are concealed from the spiritual beings by God's loincloth. Hence the angels were
ignorant of Adam's rank, blaming him and praising themselves. For when God told them He was
setting a vicegerent in the earth, they replied, "What, wilt Thou set therein one who will do
corruption therein and shed blood, while we proclaim Thy praise and call Thee Holy?" (2:30).
Qûnawî concludes by explaining why Nature should be held in high esteem--why
"cutting off" Nature from oneself is to cut oneself off from God. Here he is being critical of a
certain current in the philosophical tradition, especially among the heirs of Neoplatonism and
Hermeticism, including the Ikhwân al-Safâ'. Such philosophers sometimes blamed Nature for
the darkness that holds the soul back from seeing its ultimate good.
Though these hadiths deal specifically with the womb, each of them has mysteries not
found in the others. Altogether they include great mysteries, many inaccessible branches of
knowledge, and general questions whose knowledge is important. The first of these is the
knowledge of the reality of the womb; then the knowledge of its being a branch of the All-
merciful; the knowledge of the name All-merciful; the knowledge of why the womb is attached
to the Throne; the knowledge of its joining; the knowledge of its being cut off; the knowledge of
the belt of the All-merciful; the knowledge of the womb's seizing the All-merciful's belt; the
knowledge of its standing; the knowledge of its seeking refuge; the knowledge of God's
answering it with exactly what it asked for; the knowledge of its prayer in respect to being
attached to the Throne; and the knowledge of its properties. All of these are mysteries about
which nothing has been written in any book. I do not know, or it has not reached me, that
anyone has undertaken to explain the images of these hadiths. . . .
"Womb" is a name for the reality of Nature. Nature is the reality that brings together
heat, cold, wetness, and dryness. This means that Nature is identical with each of these four
without opposition, but none of the four is identical with it in every respect, only in some
respects.
The womb is "attached to the Throne" in the respect that in the view of those who verify
the truth, all existent corporeal bodies are natural, while the Throne is the first of these corporeal
bodies. Reports of the Sharia have come concerning this fact, and the unveilings of the perfect
human beings all give witness to its correctness.
The womb is a "branch of the All-merciful" because mercy is identical with existence,
since it is mercy that "embraces all things." Nothing embraces all things except existence, since
it embraces everything, even that which is called "nonexistence.". . .
Since mercy, as we have established, is a name of existence, the "All-merciful" is the
name of the Real inasmuch as He is identical with Being. As for the fact that Nature is a branch
of the All-merciful, that is because the existent things are divided into the manifest and the
nonmanifest. The corporeal bodies are the forms of the manifest dimension of existence, while
the spirits and meanings are the entifications of the nonmanifest dimension of existence. The
Throne is the place where the division takes place. So understand!
The "womb seized the All-merciful by the belt" because the All-merciful is a lordly self-
disclosure through existence, comprising the world of spirits and meanings as well as the world
of corporeal bodies. The world of spirits precedes the world of corporeal bodies in existence
and level. Moreover, in one respect it possesses the degree of causation toward the womb.
 272

Hence it possesses height and corresponds to the first half of the form of the Divine Presence.
That is why the womb is attached to the Throne, for the Throne is the first of the world of
corporeal bodies and it encompasses all manifest forms. Through it what is manifest becomes
distinguished from what is nonmanifest.
The "belt," which holds up the loincloth, is the beginning of the second, lower half,
which is concealed by the loincloth. The loincloth is the world of Nature and the locus of the
concealment of the Real within the self-disclosures that lie in the depths of Nature, and these are
the pudendum. That is why the angels, who were commanded to prostrate themselves to Adam,
were ignorant of these self-disclosures. They shied away from Adam's natural configuration and
blamed him, while they praised themselves.
The womb "sought refuge from being cut off" because it sensed the distinction that was
made between it and the world of spirits and the Presence of the All-merciful Breath, which is
the station of complete nearness to the Lord. It pondered the state of distance after nearness and
feared the cutting off of the Lordly replenishment because of the separation that it sensed. While
answering its prayer God announced to it that He would continue the replenishment and make
permanent the joining in respect of the divine and essential withness [ma`iyya] and compass.
The womb became happy at that, gained peace, and rejoiced in God's answer to it concerning
exactly what it had asked. So its prayer for him who joins it and against him who cuts it off
continues.
The term withness derives from the Koranic verse, "He [God] is with you wherever you
are" (57:4)--whether in the spiritual world or the natural world. Qûnawî now turns to a basic
point that helps explain Islam's great respect for this world, marriage, and reproduction. Before
its entrance into this world, the human spirit is not actually separate from its One Source. The
body alone allows for separation, distinction, differentiation, individualization. Thereby the
spirit, which knows by its very essence, comes to know others--and having known others, it
knows itself. Self-knowledge is impossible without other-knowledge, since "Things become
known through their opposites." If there were no opposition between body and spirit, earth and
heaven, there could be no differentiation between the two or awareness of their specificities.
Without the body, the microcosmic Hidden Treasure remains hidden. Rûmî frequently refers to
these points, as in the verse, "The body did not exist and I was a spirit with Thee in heaven;
between us was none of my speaking and listening."496 Without "speaking and listening," there
is no interaction and no awareness of self. Through earthly existence, the spirits gain self-
awareness and realize the worth of their original abode. As Rûmî says, "The birds of
consciousness. . . were sent from the spheres. . . to realize the worth of union with God and to
see the pain of separation from Him."497 Qûnawî continues:
To "join the womb" is to recognize its position and to honor its measure. Were it not for
what becomes constituted through Nature's four pillars, the human spirit would not become
outwardly entified and the human being would not have been given the ability to combine
knowledge of universals and particulars. Or rather, the human spirit's knowledge of universals
would also have remained absorbed, just as God reported about this with His words, "And God

496 Rûmî, Dîwân 19132 (SPL 70).

497 Ibid. 7192-94 (SPL 70).
 273

brought you out from the bellies of your mothers when you knew nothing" [16:78].498 Through
the natural configuration and the characteristics, faculties, and instruments that God placed
within it, the human being brings together both spiritual and natural characteristics, properties,
and perfections. Through this bringing together, he is able to seek access to the realization of the
barzakh-reality that encompasses the properties of Necessity and possibility. Thereby his
conformity [with the Real] is perfected and his parallelism [with Him] is established. He
becomes manifest in the form of the Divine Presence and the form of the whole cosmos, both
outwardly and inwardly. So understand! These are some of the properties of its joining that can
be mentioned.
The human being is created with the two hands of God and made in His form, so he
comprehends all the worlds. This is the very definition of what it means to be human. It is
impossible to be human without being at the same time a barzakh, an isthmus that separates and
joins all dualities, all oceans found in reality: God and Cosmos, Being and Nothingness, Right
Hand and Left Hand, Spirits and Bodies, Light and Darkness, Beauty and Majesty, Mercy and
Wrath. As the locus of manifestation for God's left hand, the body is the absolutely essential yin
reality without which yang is barren or, rather, without which yang does not exist. Spirit and
body are equally necessary and deserve equal respect. Criticism of the body reflects ignorance
of reality.
The cutting off, concerning which God says that "He will cut off him who cuts it off,"
takes place through belittling the womb, ignoring its position, and disregarding its rights. The
person who disregards its rights and belittles it has disregarded God and ignored the specific
characteristics of the names that God has deposited within it, names in respect to which it is
supported by and related to God. Were its position with God not high, God would not have
reported His answer to it with His words, "When a person joins you, I will join him, but when he
cuts you off, I will cut him off."
Among the ways in which Nature is belittled and cut off is the blame ascribed to it by the
recent philosophers. They have described it as dark and opaque and sought deliverance from its
properties and the shedding of its attributes. Suppose that they had known that this is
impossible; that every perfection acquired by a human being after parting from the natural
configuration is one of the results and fruits of the spirit's companionship with the natural
constitution; that after parting, the human being passes from the forms of Nature to worlds that
are the loci of manifestation for Nature's subtle realities; and that in those worlds, all the
felicitous reach the vision of God promised by religion, a vision that is reported to be the greatest
of God's blessings given to the People of the Garden. So Nature is a reality upon which the
witnessing of God depends. How then could they have allowed Nature to be belittled?

498 Cf. the remarks by the Ikhwân al-Safâ': "The human being is a whole made of two
substances. One is the corporeal body and the other is the spiritual soul. The most incomplete
and lowest state of his soul is that it should be simple, without knowing anything, as God said,
'God brought you out of the bellies of your mothers not knowing anything' [16:78]. The most
complete state of the soul is that every virtue within the soul's potentiality should be brought out
into actuality. This is that the human being should become a person of true faith, a knower of the
Lord, a philosopher, a sage, a Verifier, as God said, 'And you were taught what you did not
know, neither you nor your fathers' [6:91]. And He said, 'He taught the human being what he did
not know' [96:5]. And He said, 'Be you lordly' [3:79]." Rasâ'il III 31.
 274

As for the state of the elect among the Folk of God, such as the perfect human beings and
those who approach them, they achieve the witnessing of God and verified knowledge of Him in
this world. But that is made possible for them only with the help of this natural configuration.
This is true even of the everlasting, essential self-disclosure [of God], after which there is no veil
and below which there is no resting place for the perfect human beings. For the perfect ones
agree that if they do not achieve this self-disclosure within this natural configuration, they will
not achieve it after parting from this configuration. There is an allusion to this in the Prophet's
words, "When the son of Adam dies, his works are cut off,"499 and his words, "There is a group
of the People of the Garden from whom the Lord is not hidden or veiled."500
The fact that the womb "stands" and prays means that through the attribute of poverty it
has turned the attention of its own essence toward God.501 God refers to the attention He turns
toward creation through replenishing it as "standing," for He says, "What, is He who stands over
every soul through what it earns. . . ?" [13:33].
Know this and ponder what has been placed for you in the commentary on this hadith,
which contains sublime sciences and hidden mysteries. You will prosper and reach salvation,
God willing.502

499 The hadith is found in a number of versions in Muslim (Wasiyya 14), Abû Dâwûd (Wasiyya
14), Tirmidhî (Ahkâm 36), Nasâ'î Wasâyâ 8), and Ahmad II 316, 350, 372.
500 The hadith is not indexed in Wensinck.
501 "Poverty " (iftiqâr), called "possibility" (imkân) by the philosophers, indicates that created
things are utterly dependent upon God for everything they are. Cf. SPK 44-46 and passim.
502 Qûnawî, Sharh al-hadîth, no. 20.
275
 276

4 Spiritual Psychology
8. Static Hierarchy

The microcosm is the human individual. Everything in the macrocosm is reflected in the
microcosm. And both microcosm and macrocosm manifest the Metacosm. This is the law of
correspondence. The goal of the seeker is to integrate the three realities, to "make them one"
(tawhîd).
If the macrocosm is the world "out there," the microcosm is the world "in here." The
Muslim cosmologists see reference to the three realities and their integration in the Koranic
verse, "We shall show them Our signs upon the horizons and in themselves, until it is clear to
them that He is the Real" (41:53). The relative reality of the signs in the macrocosm and
microcosm points to the absolute reality of the Real, the Metacosm. When the seeker truly
realizes that "There is none real but the Real," he achieves tawhîd.

Principles of Ta'wîl
We have seen repeatedly the importance our authors give to the Koran. As the word of
God in the form of a book, the Koran manifests the Metacosm within the macrocosm in a mode
especially adapted to the needs of the microcosm. God creates both cosmos and the human
being through the word Be, so language lies at the heart of existence. It is latent in every
individual thing. Both the cosmos and the human individual manifest the divine Word. Our
authors view both macrocosm and microcosm as books because of their totality or all-
comprehensive nature.
By revealing the nature of God in a linguistic mode that appeals to the intelligence--a
quality that sets human beings apart from most other creatures--the Koran makes possible the
establishment of correspondences between the divine and human worlds. It is true that God is
unknowable and incomparable. But this unknowable God is God as He is in Himself without
taking His relationship with the cosmos into account. As soon as we see God and cosmos, Lord
and vassal, King and servant, we can describe the relationship in terms of divine attributes. This
is the perspective of similarity. The Koran, as God's word, reveals these relationships as they
are. It manifests guidance to a world which, left to its own devices, sinks ever deeper into error
and misguidance.
In short, our authors see the Koran as the one certainty in a world of ambiguity. But
though it be truth in itself, there remains the problem of how to understand the Koran. At this
point ambiguity and uncertainty reenter the picture. Interpretation of the Koran lies at the heart
of Islamic intellectuality, and different interpretations explain most of the diversity that is found
in Islamic law and thought.
One particular mode of interpretation is of particular interest in the present context. This
is ta'wîl, sometimes called "esoteric hermeneutics." Henry Corbin has devoted a great deal of
attention to bringing out its centrality for the sapiential tradition, especially the branch of it that
he calls "Shi'ite gnosis." Here I want to look at some of the characteristics that are found in one
of the important modes of ta'wîl.
Ta'wîl derives from the same root as the word awwal, "first," which is a name of God.
The word ta'wîl means to return, to cause to return, to reduce to, to find that to which a thing can
be reduced. Since God is the First in relation to all things, many authorities understand the term
to signify taking a thing back to the First, demonstrating a thing's relationship with the First,
tying things back to God. At the same time, many Muslim thinkers draw no real distinction
 277

between ta'wîl and tafsîr or "commentary." Both terms are taken to mean explanation or
exegesis of the Koran. But when distinctions are drawn between the two, ta'wîl is often said to
refer to the reading of Koranic verses with a view toward implications hidden below or behind
the surface meaning. Or, it may simply be that tafsîr is commentary based upon what has been
handed down to us by tradition, while ta'wîl adds a dimension of personal meditation.503
For many Sufis, ta'wîl is based on a knowledge of the esoteric meaning of the Koran that
is given by God Himself. This knowledge cannot be brought to hand by ordinary learning. It
can be acquired only through submitting oneself to God's will as manifested in the Koran. Once
a person yields to the Koran, the Koran gives of itself. The seeker must be yin to the Koran's
yang. When Rûmî compares the Koran to a bride (`arûs), one might suppose that he has in mind
her submission to the husband. Quite the opposite: He means that the husband must submit to
the will of the wife. Only by giving oneself to the other do we gain worthiness for the other's gift
of self. Did not the caliph `Umar, renowned for his severity and military prowess, say that a
husband must be a child before his wife, in other words, yin before yang?504 As Rûmî himself
puts it,
Since God created Eve so that Adam "might find repose in her" [7:189], how can Adam
cut himself off from her?
Even if a man is [a hero like] Rustam and greater than [the great warrior] Hamza, still he
is captive to his old woman's command.
The Prophet, to whose speech the whole world was enslaved, used to say, "Speak to me,
O `A'isha!" . . .
The Prophet said that women totally dominate men of intellect and Possessors of
Hearts.505
It is in this context that one must understand Rûmî's comparison of the Koran to a bride.
Remember also that traditionally a Muslim man never saw his wife's face until she unveiled
herself after the wedding.
The Koran is like a bride. Although you pull the veil away from her face, she will not
show herself to you. When you investigate the Koran, but receive no joy or unveiling, it is
because your pulling at the veil has caused you to be rejected. The Koran has deceived you and
shown itself as ugly. It says, "I am not that beautiful bride." It is able to show itself in any form
it desires. But if you stop pulling at its veil and seek its good pleasure; if you water its field,
serve it from afar, and strive in that which pleases it, then it will show you its face without any
need for you to draw aside its veil.506
One of the foremost practitioners of the science and art of ta'wîl in the Sufi sense is `Abd
al-Razzâq Kâshânî, author of Ta'wîl al-Qur'ân, a work that has often been mistakenly attributed
to Ibn al-`Arabî. We have had occasion to quote from it in earlier chapters, and we will hear

503Chapter 8. Static Hierarchy Cf. Maybudî's discussion in Kashf al-asrâr II 20-21.

504 Ghazâlî quotes `Umar as follows: "`Umar, with all his severity [khushûna], used to say: 'A
man must be like a child with his family [ahl], but when they want him to be the lord of the
house, then he should be like men." (Ihyâ' II.2.3 [II 29]; in his Persian translation of this saying
[Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat 315/249], Ghazâlî clearly understands ahl to mean "wife," since he uses a
singular verb).
505 Rûmî, Mathnawî I 2426-28, 33 (cf. SPL 168-69).
506 Idem, Fîhi mâ fîhi 229 (cf. SPL 273).
 278

from it more now that we have turned to the microcosm, to which Kâshânî pays most of his
attention. At the very beginning of his work, Kâshânî explains why he wrote the book and how
he came to have mastery over the science of ta'wîl. The passage demonstrates the spirit that
infuses most Sufi works dealing with Koran commentary.
I used to dedicate myself to recitation of the Koran and I used to ponder its meanings
with the strength of faith, all the time persevering in my litanies. But my breast was constricted
and my heart upset. Even though the Koran's meanings did not bring about the opening of my
heart, my Lord did not turn my attention away from them. Finally I became intimate and
familiar with them. I tasted the sweetness of their cup and their drink. Now I was joyful in soul,
opened in breast, ample in mind, expanded in heart, spacious in inmost mystery, glad in moment
and state, happy in spirit, all through that opening [futûh].507 Opening seemed to come
constantly, as both an evening draught and a morning draught. At each verse meanings were
unveiled to me that my tongue fell short of explaining. My power was not equal to recording
and listing them. My strength had not the endurance to spread and expose them.
Then I remembered . . . the words of the Prophet: "There is no verse of the Koran that
does not have an outward sense, an inward sense, a limit, and a place to which one may
ascend."508 From it I understood that the outward sense is tafsîr, the inward sense is ta'wîl, the
limit is the meaning of the Word beyond which understandings go no further, and the place to
which one may ascend is that to which one may rise up from the meaning, in order to witness the
all-knowing King.
It has been related that the foremost truth-telling Imam, Ja`far ibn Muhammad al-Sâdiq,
said, "God has disclosed Himself to His servants in His Word, but they do not see." It has also
been related that he fell down in a swoon while performing the ritual prayer. When asked about
that, he said, "I kept on repeating the verse until I heard it from Him who spoke it."509
Hence I decided to make notes on some of what has come to me in my momentary states.
These are the mysteries of the realities of the inward senses and the lights of the illuminating
truths of the places to which ascent is made. But I made no note on that which pertains to the
outward senses and the limits. For God has determined for them a defined limit. It has been
said, "He who makes tafsîr according to his own opinion has become an unbeliever."510 But as
for ta'wîl, that should not be left alone and ignored. For it differs according to the states and
moments of the listener in the levels of his wayfaring and the disparity of his degrees. Whenever
he rises beyond his present station, the door to a new understanding is opened to him. Through it
he becomes aware of a subtle meaning already there. . . .

507 The "opening" of the door to unseen knowledge is a familiar theme in Sufi writings and is
referred to in the title of Ibn al-`Arabî's magnum opus, the "Meccan Openings," al-Futûhât al-
makkiyya. Note that all the qualities Kâshânî correlates with opening have to do with the
expansiveness and intimacy that result from establishing a relationship with the yin divine
names.
508 The hadith is often quoted by our authors, but it is not found in the standard sources. Cf.
SPK 412n5.
509 Ja`far al-Sâdiq, the sixth Shi`ite Imam from whom I have already had occasion to quote, is
the author of an important ta'wîl of the Koran that has not been critically edited.
510 This is a saying of the Prophet. Kâshânî follows the text provided by Ibn al-`Arabî, who
says it is found in Tirmidhî. However, the version there is slightly different (cf. SPK 405n16).
 279

I do not maintain that I have reached the limit in what I have set down--by no means!
For the modalities of understanding are not exhausted by what I have understood. God's
knowledge is not delimited by what I have come to know. At the same time, my understanding
does not stop with what I have mentioned. On the contrary, often so many senses have occurred
to me in the written word that I have been perplexed at all the things they embrace.511
The specific kind of ta'wîl that I want to consider here takes as its starting point the self-
evident--at least for our authors--correspondence that exists between the cosmos and the human
being. Hence it is based on relationships among the three realities. Practitioners of ta'wîl in this
sense read the Koran with a view to showing that the verses that ostensibly refer to the world
"out there" have another, deeper meaning, that refers to the world "in here." The verses of the
Koran, after all, are God's "signs," just as the phenomena of nature and the soul are God's signs.
Every verse that mentions a phenomenon gives to it a linguistic valuation that ties it to God. The
thing is a sign, the revealed word that refers to it is a sign, and our understanding of the revealed
word is a sign made possible by the presence of that very sign within us. "We shall show them
Our signs upon the horizons and in themselves." "He who knows himself knows his Lord."
Shaykh Mahmûd Shabistarî sums up this perspective in lines of poetry that correlate
various chapters and verses of the Koran with the structure of the cosmos. His words quoted
below introduce a long section on meditation, first on the signs of the macrocosm, then on the
signs of the microcosm. Since all this depends upon the Koran, he first shows how the Koran
itself is connected to the major "signs" or "verses" (âya) of the cosmos. The actual details of the
correspondences are not as important as the fact that correspondences do in fact exist. Anyone
who witnesses God's self-disclosure (tajallî) in the cosmos will necessarily see these
correspondences. The perspective of similarity demands interrelationships among all things.
Remember that in the following the word verse translates âya and also means "sign."
When a person's soul receives God's self-disclosure,
he sees the whole cosmos as the Book of the Real.
Accidents are the vowel marks, substances the letters,
the ontological levels like verses and stops.
Each of the worlds is like a specific chapter,
one like al-Fâtiha, another like al-Ikhlâs.
The first verse is the Universal Intellect,
like the first word of "In the name of God."
Second is the Universal Soul, the Light verse [24:35],
since it is like a lamp in extreme brilliance.
The third verse is the Throne of the All-merciful.
Read the fourth verse as the Footstool.
Then come the bodies of heaven,
within which are the "seven verses" [15:87].
Now look at the body of the elements,
each of which is a radiant verse.
After the elements come the bodies of the three children,
and these are verses that cannot be counted.
The last thing to come down was the human soul,

511 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 4-5.

 280

for the Koran concludes with "People" [sura 114].512

The correspondence between macrocosm and microcosm allows us to read Koranic
verses describing macrocosmic phenomena as referring also to the human person. Heaven and
earth, for example, may refer to spirit and soul, or soul and body. At first reading, the
correspondences may seem arbitrary, but the more one becomes familiar with the world view
that underlies this way of thinking, the more one sees a principled science of qualitative
evaluation, taking all qualities back to God as He reveals Himself in the Koran.
If the work of Kâshânî, for example, is studied in isolation, the logic of the
correspondences he draws is seldom clear. But as soon as he is placed in the tradition that we
have been discussing, his interpretations are seen to fit in harmoniously. One of the best
preparations for understanding Kâshânî's work is to study the treatises of the Ikhwân al-Safâ',
who constantly investigate the qualitative correspondences among the worlds. Unlike Kâshânî,
however, the Ikhwân are concerned not only with the text of the Koran but also with other texts,
especially the hadith literature. And they derive a good deal of their terminology and modes of
explication from the Greek philosophical heritage.
Like later authors, the Ikhwân al-Safâ' often refer to their ta'wîls as "allusions." Ibn al-
`Arabî suggests that the Sufis employed this word to defend themselves against the attacks of the
jurists, the exoteric and literal-minded legalists who could see nothing beyond the surface
meaning.513 This may also be the case for the Ikhwân. In the following they provide a typical
example of ta'wîl, investigating the significance of the prophetic custom of eating food with three
fingers, not with the full hand. They point out that "food" is the nourishment of the body, and
that a corresponding custom pertains to partaking of knowledge, the nourishment of the soul.
One of the practices of the prophetic norm and the beautiful acts of right conduct is to use
three fingers to partake of food, which is the nourishment of the body. In this custom the one
who established the norm for souls seems to have made an allusion, admonishing and inciting
them to seek knowledge from three routes. For knowledge is the nourishment of the soul, just as
food is the nourishment of the body. And the states of the soul are similar to the states of the
body, because the connection between the two is so strong.
One of the routes by which the soul partakes of knowledge is the faculty of reflection
[fikr], through which the soul perceives the intelligible existents. By this route the prophets take
revelation from the angels.
The second route is hearing [sam`], by which the soul receives the meanings of words
and the tidings of absent things denoted by the sounds.
The last is the route of sight [nazar], by which souls witness existent things that are
present.
Sciences must be acquired by these three routes, as God has admonished us. For He said,
"It is He who made for you hearing and eyes and hearts--little thanks you show" [23:78].
Thereby He blames those who do not make use of these blessings. He also says, "They have
hearts, but understand not with them. They have eyes, but see not with them. They have ears,
but hear not with them. They are like cattle--no, they are even more misguided" [7:179]. He
also says, "Deaf, dumb, blind--they do not understand" [2:171]. They are deaf to the realities,
dumb to the subtleties, blind to the supra-sensory, intelligible objects that are seen with the eye

512 Lâhîjî, Sharh-i Gulshan-i râz 733.

513 Cf. SPK 246-47.
 281

of the heart. God does not mean to blame them for not hearing sounds, not seeing colors, and not
knowing the affairs of livelihood. No, He blames them only for not understanding the affair of
the return to God [ma`âd], as He said, "They know an outward dimension of the life of this
world, but of the next world they are heedless" [30:7].514

Names of the Unseen

The human microcosm can be divided into two fundamental dimensions corresponding to
heaven and earth: the unseen and the visible, or spirit and body, or the Dominion and the
Kingdom. Complications arise immediately because of the variety of words that are employed to
refer to the inner, invisible dimension of the human being. The Koran employs three primary
words, rûh (spirit), qalb (heart), and nafs (soul, self), while using other words, such as `aql
(intellect), to refer to certain qualities of the same dimension. The semantic fields of the Koranic
terms overlap, and our authors use the terms in ways that reflect the fluidity of their meanings.
Most texts that deal in any detail with the unseen realities of the macrocosm and/or the
microcosm distinguish between various levels or degrees of the unseen dimension. Even those
who draw no distinction between the terms spirit and soul will differentiate among a number of
levels within the spirit or the soul. Some speak of the vegetal, animal, and human spirits, while
others refer to the same realities as the vegetal, animal, and human souls. In order to distinguish
among these levels, the Muslim cosmologists and psychologists speak of relationship between
the various levels, or of differing intensities in which the levels manifest certain qualities.
Invariably they envisage a hierarchy. Terms such as lower and higher refer to a trajectory
leading from the simplest signs of life and activity, as found, for example, in plants, to the
perfection of these same qualities as found in human beings and beyond.
What is of particular interest here is the relationship envisaged between any two levels,
since this is frequently discussed in terms of activity and receptivity, with the upper level usually
being active and the lower level receptive. In Sufi texts in particular, the higher and dominant
dimension of the inward human reality is called rûh (spirit), while the lower and receptive
dimension is called nafs (soul). The demarcation lines are never very clear, since we are dealing
with an invisible realm where exact boundaries cannot be drawn. Moreover, boundaries shift as
relationships change. Something that has the qualities of rûh from one point of view may have
the qualities of nafs from another point of view.
Considered as an invisible dimension of the cosmos, spirit and soul are marked by a
number of conspicuous attributes, most salient among them being life, since the unseen
dimension of existence animates the visible realm. As Rûmî puts it,
Have not the earthen clods--the bodies--come to life through the radiance of the spirit?
Marvelous shining light! Wonderful life-increasing sun!515
As in Latin, Hebrew, and other languages, the words for soul and spirit allude to this
animating power. Rûh (spirit) derives from the same root as rîh (wind), while nafs or soul is
written the same as nafas (breath). We perceive the presence of the spirit for reasons analogous
to our knowledge of the existence of wind: The rustling of the leaves. In the same way, the
breathing of a breather signifies the presence of life and the soul. The moment the breath is

514 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il III 13.

515 Rûmî, Dîwân 35280 (SPL 28).
 282

gone, soul also disappears. In Rûmî's words, "The poor body will not move until the spirit
moves. Until the horse goes forward, the saddlebag stands still."516

Signs of the Microcosm

For most authors of the intellectual tradition, the various names applied to the inward
dimension of the human being do not refer to distinct and autonomous entities, but to different
qualities or degrees of a single reality. Ghazâlî makes this point clearly in his magnum opus,
Ihyâ' `ulûm al-dîn. I take the following passages from Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat, which summarizes in
simple and elegant Persian many of the Ihyâ''s important discussions. At the very beginning of
the work, he explains this view of the human self, and he clearly identifies this view--as do the
other authors with whom we are dealing--with the essence of the Islamic teachings.
Note the basic correspondences that Ghazâlî draws. These are normative for the whole
tradition. The human being is compounded of a large number of qualities, and the nature of
these qualities can be understood by finding in the macrocosm the realities that make them
manifest. These qualities display the three "directions" of existence: ascending (angelic),
descending (demonic), and dispersive (animal). The dispersive tendency is in turn divided into
two kinds, represented in the macrocosm by two basic kinds of animals: Beasts (bahîma, sutûr)
and predators (sibâ`, dadagân). The predominant quality of the first is appetite (shahwa) and of
the second anger (ghadab). These are the two fundamental tendencies of the animal soul. The
term shahwa has usually been rendered into English in philosophical works as "concupiscence,"
while ghadab has been translated as "irascibility." Since both terms are Koranic and used in a
wide variety of contexts, from everyday speech to philosophy, I prefer to employ common
English words that provide something of the broad sense of the terms.
Both appetite and anger, in their own places, are positive. "Appetite" is the faculty or
power that attracts the soul toward anything that is agreeable to it, such as food and the sexual
act. "Anger" is the faculty that turns the soul against anything disagreeable and defends the
organism from threats. It can manifest itself in violence or flight. Both faculties are absolutely
essential to the survival of all animals, including human beings. But in human beings, appetite
and anger must be made subservient to the angelic faculty known as "intellect," which is by
nature obedient to the will of God. The angels, as the Koran puts it, "disobey God not in what
He commands them and do what they are commanded" (66:6). Here is Ghazâlî's explanation of
these points:
Know that the key to knowledge of God is knowledge of one's own soul. That is why it
has been said, "He who knows his own soul knows his Lord." That is also why God said, "We
shall show them Our signs upon the horizons and within their souls, until it is clear to them that
He is the Real" [41:53].
In short, nothing is closer to you than you. If you do not know yourself, how will you
know the other? Moreover, you may think that you know yourself and be mistaken, for this kind
of knowing is not the key to the knowledge of the Real. The beasts know this much of
themselves--since of yourself you know no more than the outward head, face, hands, feet, flesh,
and skin. Of the inward dimension you know that when you are hungry, you eat bread, and
when you are angry, you fall on the other person, and when appetite dominates, you make for the
marriage act. All the beasts know that much.

516 Ibid. 14355 (SPL 28).

 283

Hence you must seek your own reality. What thing are you? From whence have you
come? Where will you go? For what work have you come to this dwelling place? Why were
you created? What and where is your felicity? What and where is your wretchedness?
The terms felicity (sa`âda) and wretchedness (shiqâ' or shaqâwa) are employed by the
Muslim authorities to refer to the ultimate state of the soul in paradise or hell. The locus
classicus for the terms is Koran 11:105-8, in reference to the Day of Resurrection: "On the day it
comes, no soul shall speak save by His leave. Some of them shall be wretched and some
felicitous. As for the wretched, they shall be in the Fire. . . . And as for the felicitous, they shall
be in the Garden." By extension, "felicity" is employed to refer to the proper final end of
anything, not just human beings, while "wretchedness" refers to failure to achieve this end.
Some of the attributes that have been gathered together within you belong to the beasts,
some to the predators, some to the devils, and some to the angels. Of all these, which are you?
Which one is found in the reality of your substance? Which ones are alien to you and borrowed?
If you do not know this, you can not seek your own felicity. For each of these has a different
food and a different felicity:
The food and felicity of the beasts lie in eating, sleeping, and mating. If you are a beast,
strive day and night to keep the business of your stomach and private parts in order.
The food and felicity of the predators lie in tearing, killing, and being angry. The food of
the devils lies in stirring up evil, deceiving, and duping. If you are one of them, busy yourself
with your work so that you may reach your ease and felicity.
The food of angels and their felicity lie in witnessing the beauty of the Divine Presence.
Envy, anger, and the attributes of beasts and predators have no access to them. If you have an
angelic substance at your root, strive to know the Divine Presence. Find a way to witness that
Beauty and deliver yourself from the hand of appetite and anger. Seek to know why these
attributes of beasts and predators that are found in you were created. Were they created to make
you their prisoner, to make you serve them, and to take forced labor from you? Or so that you
may make them prisoner in the journey you have ahead of you and take forced labor from them?
So that you could make one of them into your mount and the other into your weapon? So that,
in these few days when you live in this dwelling place, you may employ them to hunt, with their
help, the seed of your felicity? Then, when you bring the seed of your felicity to hand, you can
place them under your feet and turn your face to the resting place of your own felicity: The elect
call it the "Divine Presence," and the common people call it "paradise." . . .
If you want to know yourself, you should know that when you were created, two things
were created: One is this outward frame, which is called the body. It can be seen with the
outward eye. The second is the inward meaning, which is called the soul, the spirit, and the
heart. It can be recognized through inward insight but cannot be seen with the outward eye.
Your reality is that inward meaning. Everything else follows upon it. Everything else is its
soldier and servant.
We will refer to this reality as the "heart." When we speak of the heart, you should know
that we mean the human reality, which is sometimes called spirit and sometimes soul. By
"heart" we do not mean the piece of flesh placed in the left side of the chest, since that has no
importance. Beasts and corpses also have that, and it can be seen with the outward eye.
Everything that can be seen with the eye belongs to this world, which is called the "visible
world."
The heart's reality does not belong to this world. It has come into this world as a stranger
and a passerby. The outward piece of flesh is the heart's mount and instrument. All the parts of
 284

the body are its soldiers. The heart is the king of the whole body, and its attribute is knowing
God and witnessing the beauty of His presence. Religious prescriptions are made for it, and it is
addressed by God. Rebuke and punishment apply to it, and fundamental felicity or wretchedness
belong to it. In all of this, the body follows the spirit.
The knowledge of the reality of the heart and its attributes is the key to the knowledge of
God. Strive to know it, since it is a precious substance, of the same substance as the angels. Its
fundamental quarry is the Divine Presence. It came from there and will return there. It has come
here as a stranger in order to trade and till.517
In Ihyâ' `ulûm al-dîn Ghazâlî makes similar points but in much more detail, explaining
how the terms soul, heart, spirit, and intellect can all refer to the same reality but from different
points of view.518 Sufis such as `Azîz al-Dîn Nasafî present the same sort of ideas but with less
of a view toward the abstract mode of logical discussion employed by theologians and
philosophers and more attention to the qualitative symbolism of the terms. In the following,
Nasafî divides the spirit into five levels, according to the qualities that are manifest at each level.
In the lower levels, the attributes of plants and animals are displayed, while in the higher levels,
the all-inclusive divine attributes become more and more apparent.
Know that human beings have a natural spirit located in the liver, on the right side. They
have an animal spirit located in the heart, on the left side. They have a psychic spirit located in
the brain. They have a human spirit located in the psychic spirit. And they have a holy spirit
located in the human spirit.
The holy spirit is like fire, the human spirit like oil, the psychic spirit like a wick, the
animal spirit like a glass, and the natural spirit like a niche. This is the meaning of God's words,
"God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The likeness of His light is as a niche wherein is a
lamp (the lamp in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star) kindled from a Blessed Tree, an
olive that is neither of the East nor the West, whose oil would almost shine, even if no fire
touched it" [24:35].519
The reality of these words in the view of the People of the Sharia is that when a child is in
the womb of its mother for three forty-day retreats--which is four months--God sends an angel to
blow this human spirit into the child. The spirit belongs to the World of Command and was
created many thousands of years before the child's body, but it had remained in God's
neighborhood. After three forty-day retreats the child comes to life.520
The human spirit has been called by several names according to various relationships and
viewpoints:
In respect of the fact that it can increase or decrease and change from state to state it is
called the "heart" [qalb].521
In respect of the fact that it is alive and bestows life on the body it is called the "spirit."

517 Ghazâlî, Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat 13-16/9-11.

518 Cf. the translation of this section in McCarthy, Freedom and Fulfillment 365-68.
519 Cf. Kâshânî's detailed explanation of this verse in Chapter 10 (pp. 000-000).
520 The mention of "forty-day retreats" (chilla) no doubt has to do with the Sufi practice by the
same name. It also refers to the hadith, quoted above in chapter 7, note 43, where the Prophet
mentions three forty-day periods.
521 The root meaning of the term qalb, as will be explained in chapter 10, is that which
fluctuates.
 285

In respect of the fact that it knows itself and gives the quality of knowing to the other, it
is called the "intellect."
In respect of the fact that it is truly simple and cannot be divided into parts, it is called the
"spirit of the Command."
In respect of the fact that it comes from the higher world and is the same kind as the
angels it is called the "angelic spirit."
In respect of the fact that it is disengaged, detached, pure, and purified, it is called the
"holy spirit."
This is what is meant by the words of him who says that the prophets and friends of God
have five spirits, the people of faith have four spirits, and the unbelievers and children have three
spirits. This also explains what some people mean when they say that the prophets and friends of
God have ten spirits.
Dervish, if someone says that the human being has one hundred spirits and one hundred
intellects, that also would be correct, since a single thing can be called by a hundred names in
keeping with a hundred viewpoints. No plurality and multiplicity become necessary for that
thing. This means that it may be said that for every praiseworthy or blameworthy attribute a
human being possesses, he has a spirit, such as the angelic spirit or the satanic spirit. The reason
for this is that the spirit is a single reality, but this single reality has the receptivity for
imperfection or perfection. In other words, it is receptive toward low and base works, and it has
the preparedness for high and noble works. This is the meaning of the verse, "The unbelievers of
the People of the Book and the idolaters shall be in the fire of Gehenna, therein dwelling forever.
They are the worst creatures. But those who have faith and do righteous works--they are the best
creatures" [98:6-7].
Hence the human being is called by any attribute by which he is qualified. In respect of
any attribute, he can be said to possess a spirit or an intellect. Hence, everyone who has more
character traits and attributes has more spirit and intellect. Though the substance of intellect and
the substance of spirit is not capable of increase and decrease in respect of substance, it is
receptive to imperfection and perfection in respect of the fact that it receives accidents and
attributes. Hence it is referred to in terms of manyness and fewness.522
Note here that Nasafî sees receptivity as the fundamental attribute of the human reality.
It is this yin quality, almost infinite in scope, that allows human beings to change and develop in
every conceivable direction. Receptivity is the key to human nature, as the Muslim
philosophers, among others, point out clearly. We will return to this point in the next chapter.

Spirit
Characteristically, Sufi authors based their explanations of the human situation on the
verses of the Koran and the hadiths of the Prophet. When discussing the human spirit, they paid
particularly close attention to the verses that allude to some sort of identity between the human
and divine spirits. It needs to be remembered here that the Koran never mentions the term divine
spirit (al-rûh al-ilâhî) as such. In several verses it mentions "the spirit" (al-rûh), and the
commentators generally consider this to be identical with the greatest of the angels. Thus the
cosmographer Qazwînî (682/1283) tells us that the spirit is the greatest angel and occupies one

522 Nasafî, Kashf al-haqâ'iq 72-73.

 286

row by itself, while the rest of the angels occupy a second row. He cites in proof the Koranic
verse, "On the day the Spirit and the angels stand in ranks" (78:38).523
The ambiguous nature of the spirit comes to the fore in several Koranic verses where the
human spirit is mentioned, since these make clear that this spirit is not different from God's own
spirit, whatever may be the relationship between "God's spirit" and God. The Koran speaks of
God's spirit in three verses connected to the creation of human beings. In each case, God is said
to shape and form Adam's clay, then to blow something of His own spirit into it:
And when thy Lord said to the angels, "See, I am creating a mortal from a clay of molded
mud. When I have shaped him, and blown into him of My spirit, fall you down, prostrating
yourselves before him!" (15:28-29 and 38:72)
And He originated the creation of man out of clay, then He fashioned his progeny of an
extraction of mean water, then He shaped him, and He blew into him of His spirit. (32:7-9)
In the Islamic view, God is not a "spiritual" being, as Christian authors often maintain,
but the Creator of all spirits. Hence in creating the macrocosm, God created two basic worlds,
the spiritual and the corporeal, or the unseen and the visible. The spiritual domain is inhabited
by spirits, intellects, and angels, all of whom are basically identical in substance, though diverse
in function and certain qualities--hence the diversity of the names. The "substance" of the
angels, according to a well-known hadith, is light, and light is associated with manifestation,
knowledge, and awareness.
Although the spirit is created, it retains an ambiguity that does not allow us to disentangle
it completely from the divine domain. Hence it is commonly said that the reality of the spirit is
difficult for human beings to grasp, and the following Koranic verse is cited in support of this
view: "They will ask you about the spirit. Say, 'The spirit is from the command of my Lord, and
of knowledge you are given but little'" (17:85). Rûmî says,
It is understood from "Say: 'The spirit is from the command of my Lord'" that the spirit's
explanation cannot be uttered by the tongue.524
Though many authorities read this verse to imply that the spirit cannot be understood,
they do not mean to say that no knowledge of it can be acquired. What is being said is that the
spirit cannot be defined as it is in itself, in contrast to, for example, the body, which can be
known, described, measured, dissected, and so on. However, if discursive knowledge of the
spirit in itself is unavailable, a great deal of discursive knowledge about the attributes of the
spirit is in fact provided both by human experience and revealed texts. These attributes, in turn,
delineate the relationships that are established between the spirit and the body. Typically, for
example, the spirit is said to "govern" (tadbîr) the body, and here the relationship is clear. But
even when the intrinsic attributes of spirit, such as life, are mentioned, the relationship with the
body is understood, since the body--in and of itself--is dead. It can live only through the spirit's
presence within it. Rûmî makes this point in the following verse, though he seems to have the
Arabic term soul in mind rather than spirit, since he uses a feminine image:
When the soul (jân) goes, place me beneath the earth--
When the lady leaves, the house gathers dust.525

523 Murata, "Angels" 327.

524 Rûmî, Dîwân 21284 (SPL 27)
525 Ibid. 8676.
 287

Ghazâlî provides one of the earliest and most detailed descriptions of the spirit and its
relationships with other realities in Ihyâ' `ulûm al-dîn.526 The following is from his Kîmiyâ-yi
sa`âdat:
As for the reality of the heart--what thing it is and what its specific attributes are--the
revealed Law has not given permission [to discuss this]. That is why the Messenger of God did
not explain it, as God said, "They will ask you about the spirit. Say, 'The spirit is from the
command of my Lord.'" He received permission to say no more than that the spirit is a divine
business and it pertains to the "World of the Command."
Concerning the World of Command, the Koran says, "Verily, His are the creation and the
command" [7:54]. The World of Creation is on one side and the World of Command on the
other. When area, measurement, and quantity have access to something, that is called the
"World of Creation." At root, khalq means to arrange in measure [taqdîr], but the human heart
has no measure or quantity. That is why it cannot be divided into parts. If it could be divided
into parts, then one side of it could be ignorant of something and the other side have knowledge
of the same thing. It would be knowing and ignorant in the same state. But this is absurd.
Though the spirit cannot be divided into parts or touched by measure, it is "created." The
word khalq also means creation, just as it means to arrange in measure. In this meaning, the
spirit is part of creation, but in the other meaning it pertains to the World of Command, not the
World of Creation, since the World of Command consists of those things to which area and
measure have no access.
Hence those who suppose that the spirit is eternal [qadîm] are mistaken, and those who
say that it is an accident are also mistaken. For an accident cannot subsist in itself, only through
subordination. But the spirit is the root of the human being, while the whole frame is
subordinate to the spirit. How could the spirit be an accident?
Those who say that the spirit is a body are also mistaken, since the body can be divided
into parts, but the spirit cannot. However, there is something else which is also called "spirit"
and which can be divided into parts, but that spirit is also possessed by animals. As for the spirit
which I refer to as "heart," that is the locus for the knowledge of God. Animals have no such
thing. It is neither body nor accident. On the contrary, it is a substance of the same kind as the
substance of the angels.
To know the reality of the heart is difficult, and permission to explain it has not been
given. At the beginning of walking on the path of religion, there is no need for knowledge of it.
On the contrary, the beginning of the path of religion is spiritual struggle [mujâhada]. When a
person performs the spiritual struggle as he should, then he will himself actualize this
knowledge, without hearing it from anyone. This knowledge is part of the "guidance" to which
God refers in His words, "Those who struggle in Us--surely We shall guide them on Our paths"
[29:69]. If a person has not yet finished his struggle, it is not permissible to tell him of the reality
of the spirit. However, before struggle one must know the army of the heart, since he who does
not know this army cannot undertake the holy war [jihâd].527
This "struggle" on the path of God is the true "holy war," incumbent on all Muslims.
Note that grammatically the two terms, mujâhada and jihâd, are two different forms of the same
word. The first, however, is used almost exclusively to refer to the inward struggle, while the

526 Much of this section is translated in McCarthy, Freedom and Fulfillment 363ff.
527 Ghazâlî, Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat 16-18/12-13.
 288

second is used for both inward and outward struggles. The Prophet established the superiority of
the inward struggle in his famous saying upon returning from a battle with the unbelievers, "I
have returned from the lesser jihâd to the greater jihâd."528
Najm al-Dîn Râzî looks at the Koranic ascription of the human spirit to God and
concludes that its special relationship with the divine reality puts it at the top of the hierarchy of
created things. Hence it is intimately connected with the creative word of God, "Be!" (kun),
which is written with the two Arabic letters kâf and nûn.
Know that the human spirit belongs to the World of Command and is singled out for a
nearness to the Presence possessed by no other existent thing. . . .
The World of Command consists of a world that does not accept measure, quantity, or
extent. In contrast, the World of Creation accepts measure, quantity, and extent. The name
"Command" was given to the World of the Spirits because it became manifest as a result of the
indication "Be!" without temporal delay or material intermediary. Although the World of
Creation also appeared through the indication "Be!", it did so through the intermediary of
material things and the extension of days. "He created the heavens and the earth in six days"
[7:53].
In God's saying, "Say, 'The spirit is of my Lord's command'," there is an indication that
the spirit, in all its wondrous nature, arose from the kâf and the nûn of the address kun with
neither matter nor hyle. It found life from the attribute of "He, the Alive" [2:255]. It subsisted
through the divine attribute of self-subsistence [2:255]. The spirit is itself the matter from which
the World of Spirits is derived. The World of Spirits in turn is the origin of the World of the
Dominion. And the World of the Dominion is the source of the World of the Kingdom. The
whole World of the Kingdom subsists through the World of the Dominion. The World of the
Dominion subsists through the World of Spirits. The World of Spirits subsists through the
human spirit. And the human spirit subsists through God's attribute of self-subsisting. . . .
Whatever comes into being in the Worlds of the Kingdom and the Dominion does so by
means of an intermediary, with the exception of the existence of the human being, for his spirit
first appeared at the indication "Be!" without any intermediary. The form of his bodily frame
was also kneaded without intermediary: "I kneaded the clay of Adam with My two hands for
forty days." And when it was time for the pairing [izdiwâj] of the spirit with the bodily frame,
the human being was honored with "I blew into him" without intermediary. Thereby he was
singularly ennobled with the attribution "of My spirit," as if God wished to say, "a spirit that is
alive with My life." Just as the spirit was brought into existence by God's command, so too did
God attribute the existence of the spirit to His command--"of my Lord's command." And
because the life of the spirit was brought into existence by the divine attribute of life-giving, this
too He attributed to Himself, saying, "of My spirit."529
In an approach closer to the school of Ibn al-`Arabî, Nasafî analyzes the spirit in terms of
the divine attributes present within it. God is absolute and nondelimited Light, while the
substance of the angelic or spiritual world is created light. The attributes of this created light can
be known either from the point of view of incomparability or similarity. If we take the first point

528 Though not found in the standard hadith sources, this saying is frequently cited. Cf.
Baydâwî, Anwâr al-tanzîl, on Koran 22:78; Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr III 213, VI 405. Cf. the fine
study by J. Renard, "Al-Jihâd al-Akbar: Notes on a Theme in Islamic Spirituality."
529 Râzî, Mirsâd al-`ibâd 210-11 (cf. Path of God's Bondsmen 220-21).
 289

of view, we see that created, angelic light is utterly different from uncreated Light, possessing no
common measure accessible to our understanding. It remains a mystery why God and His
Prophet chose to employ the same word for two completely different realities. But from the
point of view of similarity, if the Prophet chose to call the angels "light," they must reflect in a
rather direct way that which can properly be called "light," God Himself. Hence the attributes of
God predominate in their nature. They possess unity, life, knowledge, and so on, in contrast to
creatures made of clay, which are multiple and in themselves dead, ignorant, and so on. Nasafî
makes many of these points in the following passage:
The human being has a manifest dimension and a nonmanifest dimension. In other
words, he has a body and a spirit. The spirit is truly simple and cannot be divided into parts. It
belongs to the World of Command. The body is compound and can be divided into parts. It
belongs to the World of Creation.
Having learned this much, you should know that every compound thing has within itself
manyness and parts. When a thing has manyness and parts, each of its attributes and acts is
singled out for one of its parts and organs. For example, if that thing sees, hears, takes, and
speaks, it hears through one part, speaks through another part, and sees through another part.
When a thing is simple, it has no manyness and parts. None of its attributes and acts is
singled out for a part or an organ, since there are no parts or organs. It has no front and back, no
head and foot, no right and left. Hence its attributes subsist through its own self. If such a thing
should see, hear, speak, and have knowledge, it does each through the same thing through which
it does the rest.
Now that you have come to know this much, you should know that the human spirit,
which is truly simple, is living, knowing, hearing, seeing, and speaking. Its attributes do not
resemble the attributes of the bodily frame, since the frame hears from one place, sees from
another place, and speaks from another place. But if the human spirit is alive, you have to say
that it is all life. If it knows, you have to say that it is all knowledge. If it hears, you have to say
that it is all hearing. If it sees, you have to say that it is all sight. If it speaks, you have to say
that it is all speech. For its attributes and acts have no instruments and organs. This is the
meaning of the saying, "God created Adam upon His own form." This is also the meaning of
"He who knows himself knows his Lord."530
The business of the spirit is governing the body. In other words, from the point of view
of the inherent structure of the cosmos, the spirit is heaven and the body is earth, the spirit yang
and the body yin, the spirit lord and the body servant, the spirit high and the body low. Nasafî
refers repeatedly to this relationship in explaining how the one spirit can come into contact with
a multiplicity of bodily parts.
The human frame is a world. Or rather, it is many worlds. The human spirit is the lord
of this world. In this world, no organ is empty of the spirit, while the spirit belongs to none of
the organs.
Dervish, if it is said that cream is neither in the milk nor outside the milk, and milk is
neither in the cream nor outside the cream, this is correct. For no part of the cream is empty of
milk and no part of the milk is empty of cream. That is why, in this world, the spirit is not near
to some parts and far from others, or present with some and absent from others. The crown of
the head of this world, which is the Throne, and the bottom of its foot, which is under the earth

530 Nasafî, Kashf al-haqâ'iq 74-75.

 290

of this world, are identical. Both are governed without any distinction of place. Moreover, the
spirit's control of this world does not take place through reflection, thought, instrument, or limb.
That is why it is said that no business ever distracts the spirit from any other business. "No task
distracts it from any other task." In other words, when it governs the head, this does not distract
it from governing the foot, and when it governs the foot, this does not distract it from governing
the hand.531
The difference between spirit and body lies in the qualities possessed by each. Although
God is present in all things in respect of the Breath of the All-merciful, since His Breath is their
very substance, in another respect He is more intensely present in some things than in others,
since the divine attributes manifest themselves in different degrees, thus giving rise to qualitative
diversity. Some things are more luminous and some less. The distinction between the most
luminous and the least luminous things in a cosmos that manifests every possible degree of
luminosity allows us to speak of light and darkness as relatively absolute differences. A candle
next to the sun is, in effect, dark. This sort of ranking in degrees applies to every attribute.
Thus, for example, the spirit is near to God, the body far from Him. The spirit is knowing, the
body ignorant. The spirit is alive, the body dead. The spirit is desiring, the body without desires.
The Ikhwân al-Safâ' allude to these points in the following:
The substances of the souls possess a station and nobility with God not possessed by the
substances of the bodies, since souls have a close relationship with Him, while the relationship of
the bodies is far. This is because the substances of the souls are alive in themselves, knowing,
and active, while the substances of the bodies are dead and receive the activity of their likes.532

Soul
The term nafs may be translated as "soul" or "self." As remarked earlier, many authors
make no distinction between nafs and rûh, dealing rather with different degrees of a single reality
that may be called by either name. When authors distinguish between the two, the purpose is the
same as in dividing either into degrees: To show how a single, invisible reality, the inward
dimension of the human being, possesses a variety of qualities and how these qualities manifest
themselves in different modes. In other words, the inward/outward or unseen/visible dichotomy
drawn by Muslim authors is never a simple, dualistic, mind/body split. On the contrary, the
inward and invisible dimension is itself complex. In order to bring out its complexity, one
investigates how it manifests a great variety of divergent qualities whether at the same time or in
different circumstances. These qualities can then be classified into hierarchical groups. There is
nothing artificial about the hierarchies, since they pertain to the very nature of the qualities.
The typical philosophical mode of dealing with the structure of the microcosm is to
divide it into levels of soul or spirit, the inherent and salient attribute of which is life. Then the
vegetal soul possesses qualities such as growth, nutrition, attraction, expulsion, digestion, and
retention. The animal soul possesses in addition the five senses, imagination, appetite, and
anger. The human soul adds to these intelligence and reflective thought.
Hierarchy is inherent to the discussion, since to speak of a plant is to speak of something
that to a certain degree rules over the inanimate world precisely because of its basic qualities. In
the same way, to speak of an animal is to speak of something that possesses the vegetal qualities

531 Ibid. 75-76.

532 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il II 461.
 291

plus an added something that gives it power over plants. Likewise, the human being possesses
"three spirits," since it has vegetal, animal, and human qualities. It is superior to the animals
through the intelligence that sets it apart from the whole macrocosm.
This "great chain of being" found within qualities ties directly into the divine attributes.
All the qualities found in inanimate objects, plants, animals, and humans have their roots in the
divine names. In truth, there is "no life but God's life, no knowledge but God's knowledge, no
power but God's power, no desire but God's desire." To the extent that these qualities are found
in the cosmos, they show that all things are signs of God.
The tripartite division "body, soul, and spirit" plays the same role. Through it we come
to understand that the movement from outward to inward involves an increasing intensity of
ontological qualities. The trajectory of increase leads ultimately to infinite and absolute Being.
When spirit and soul are differentiated, soul commonly acts as a kind of barzakh
(isthmus) between spirit and body. The spirit is made of light and, like the angels, totally
disengaged from the bodily world. It is a single, simple reality. In contrast, the body is made
from clay, which is dark and has many parts. There can be no direct connection between the
luminous and disengaged reality that is the spirit and the dark conglomeration of parts that is the
body. The soul possesses the qualities of both sides and acts as the intermediary between the
two.
If the spirit is light and the body clay, the soul is fire. It is a mixture of light and clay,
both one and multiple at the same time. It is subtle and luminous enough to establish a link with
the spirit, but dense and dark enough to maintain contact with the body.
Koranic support for the spirit's higher rank can be found in several verses that ascribe to
it qualities never given to the soul. Thus, as we saw above, the Koran attributes the spirit
directly to God, in verses such as "I blew into him of My spirit." The word nafs, which also
functions as a reflexive pronoun and in many Koranic usages can be translated "self" just as well
or better than "soul," is usually envisaged at a lower level than rûh. In the sense of self the
Koran sometimes uses the term nafs to refer to God. For example, Jesus is quoted as saying to
God, "Thou knowest what is in my self but I know not what is in Thy self" (5:116). But the
Koran makes no suggestion that the nafs of human beings and God are somehow intimately
connected, as it does with the rûh of human beings and God. Commonly the Koran refers to the
soul or self of human beings as that which is held responsible for activity and which will be
rewarded or punished in the next world.
The Sufi authors were particularly concerned to ground their terminology in the Koran, in
contrast to the Muslim philosophers, for example, who were deeply influenced by the translated
works of the Greek philosophers. Hence the Sufis usually looked upon the spirit as intimately
connected to God, while the soul or self represents the human being in an aspect of greater
separation. In the Sufi cosmological texts, the spirit normally precedes the soul because of the
natural hierarchy of the universe and the order of creation. The spirit pertains to the highest level
of the cosmos, and everything else is ranked below it, step by step.
The hierarchical priority of the spirit is connected to an existential priority, in the sense
that the soul comes into existence after the spirit and is in some respect less real than the spirit.
In this connection the soul is often referred to as the spirit's child. More commonly, however,
the relationship is envisaged as one that has already been established. The spirit dominates,
since from it the divine qualities flow into the soul, qualities such as life, knowledge, desire,
power, speech, hearing, and sight. The soul is receptive to these attributes and then makes them
 292

manifest through the body. The soul's natural relationship with the spirit is one of acceptance
and receptivity.
The spirit fecundates the soul, and the soul gives birth to bodily activities in the visible
world. In respect of this relationship, the spirit is frequently called the "husband," the soul the
"wife." When the two of them marry in harmony, like Adam and Eve, they make the earth of the
body fruitful and bring about the possibility of the return to the primordial unity from which they
arose. Rûmî is not atypical in envisaging the relationship between intellect (the spirit inasmuch
as it possesses the power of discernment and the luminosity of awareness) and soul in terms of
the original couple. Nor is he atypical in thinking that the original relationship has been lost and
must be restored through the establishment of unity (tawhîd): "If duality were to leave our heart
and spirit for a moment, our intellect would be Adam, our soul Eve."533
Once spirit and soul live in conjugal harmony, each performing the function proper to the
relationship, the inward human dimension lives peacefully with the innermost reality (God) and
with the outermost reality (the body). If their marriage fails and complementarity is not
achieved, they cannot fulfill their proper functions.
In the spiritual psychology developed by the Sufis, the relationship between the male and
female dimensions of the invisible human reality was frequently employed to describe the ideal
and less than ideal psyches. But one has to read the texts carefully in order not to be misled by
negative or positive evaluations of the feminine or masculine characteristics. The male/female
relationship needs to be viewed in the whole context. In one respect the male side will be
praised and the female side blamed, and in another respect the opposite is the case. Each
attribute, male and female, may contribute to the ideal equilibrium or detract from it, depending
on the situation envisaged. We will return to this point in the coming chapters.

Intellect
Intellect or intelligence (`aql) is a quality that is highly praised in the Koran and the
hadith literature. Though the Koran does not use the noun itself, it employs its verbal form about
fifty times. Translators usually render the verb with such words as "understand." Intelligence
allows a person to grasp the significance of the signs of God. Note that in one verse the Koran
locates it in the heart.
Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day . . .
there are signs for a people having intelligence. (2:164)
And when it is said to them, "Follow what God has sent down," they say, "No; but we
will follow such things as we found our fathers doing." What? And if their fathers had no
intelligence whatsoever and were not guided? (2:170)
And when you call to prayer, they take it in mockery and sport. That is because they are
a people who have no intelligence. (5:58)
Surely in that there are signs for a people who have intelligence. (13:4, 30:24)
What, have they not journeyed in the land, so that they have hearts to intellect with or
ears to hear with? It is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts within the breast.
(22:46)
As we saw in previous chapters, macrocosmically the First Intellect is considered the first
reality to emerge from the One, or God's initial step in bringing the manyness of the cosmos into

533 Rûmî, Dîwân 25842 (cf. SPL 164).

 293

existence. It plays an intermediary role and shares in both the oneness of the Real and the
manyness of the things. As in the macrocosm, so in the microcosm: Intellect is the spirit
considered as the most luminous dimension of the human being, the nearest to God, and thus the
first dimension of the microcosm to enter into existence. The microcosmic applications of the
hadith in which the Prophet says that intellect was the first thing created by God were obvious
from earliest times. This is especially so in Shi`ite sources, which have a special fondness for
intellect.
Intellect is that which discerns the hidden and unveils the unknown. Luminosity is
inseparable from it, since light is that which removes darkness and obscurity. Also associated
with intellect are the other positive qualities connected to the divine name Light, such as life,
knowledge, desire, and power.534 In fact, Light is one of the names of God's Essence, so it
denotes the very nature of the Divinity. Like the sun that shines because it is the sun, God is
luminous because He is God. His Light in itself is His Being, while in its manifestation it is
existence, the cosmos, "everything other than God." Hence that which is luminous with a pure
and unsullied light reflects all the divine names.
Early expressions of these ideas applied to the microcosm are found in a number of
hadiths from Shi`ite collections. For example, the following is related from the Prophet:
The Intellect [`aql] is a fetter [`iqâl] against ignorance. The soul is like the worst of
beasts. If it does not have intellect, it wanders bewildered, since the intellect is a fetter against
ignorance.
God created the Intellect and said to it, "Turn away from Me" so it looked away. Then
He said, "Turn toward Me," so it turned toward Him. Then He said, "By My might and majesty,
I have created no creature greater than you nor more obedient than you. Through you I shall
begin and through you I shall bring back. What is for you shall be rewarded, and what is against
you shall be punished."
Then from intellect branched off deliberation [hilm], from deliberation knowledge, from
knowledge right guidance [rushd], from right guidance abstention, from abstention guarding,
from guarding shame, from shame gravity, from gravity continuity in the good, from continuity
in the good aversion to evil, and from aversion to evil obedience to the good counselor.535
The hadith goes on to mention ten good qualities that branch out from each of the ten
qualities mentioned here. Thus we have an early version of the lists that in Sufi texts came to be
called the "stations" (maqâmât) of the spiritual path.
The sixth Shi'ite Imam, Ja`far al-Sâdiq, provides a similar list of attributes or positive
character traits connected to intellect, but he contrasts them with the negative qualities connected
to intellect's opposite, ignorance (jahl). Implicit to this discussion is the fact that the attributes of
intellect pertain to the prophets, while those of ignorance pertain to Iblis and his followers. The

534 The same term intellect is also used in negative senses, especially in Sufi texts. Then it is
identified with the clever reasoning of those philosophers, jurists, and theologians who obscure
the truth. Hence Rûmî, for example, discerns between the "partial intellect" that is the domain of
the mind veiled from the divine light, and the "universal intellect" that is possessed by the
prophets and friends of God. Cf. SPL 35-37. Ibn al-`Arabî frequently criticizes the limitations
of intellect or "reason," as Chittick usually translates `aql (cf. SPK, index).
535 Majlisî, Bihâr al-anwâr I 117.
 294

Koran repeatedly identifies the function of the prophets with guidance (hudâ or hidâya), which is
a divine attribute, since God is the Guide (al-hâdî). And it identifies Iblis with misguidance
(idlâl), as in the verse "This is of Satan's doing; he is surely a blatant misguiding enemy" (28:15).
Of course, misguidance is also a divine attribute, since God is made the subject of the verb in
about thirty Koranic verses, though few authorities would add the name Misguider (al-mudill) to
the lists of the Most Beautiful Names. The Koran places too much stress on the underlying unity
of reality (tawhîd) to allow Iblis to escape from God's control. But guidance leads to human
felicity, while misguidance leads to wretchedness. If, from the divine point of view, the two
attributes participate in the same task of making the Hidden Treasure manifest, from the human
point of view they lead to profoundly different ends. In other words, guidance pertains to God's
right hand, and misguidance to His left hand.
In the Koran God says, "We have appointed for every prophet an enemy" (6:112, 25:31).
So also, every prophetic quality--every quality that aids in guidance--has an enemy. Both in the
outside world and the inside world, the friends and enemies of God are defined by their
attributes. In the microcosm, guidance is innate to the intellect, so intellect is the prophet's
microcosmic analogue. As the Safavid philosopher Mullâ Muhsin Fayd Kâshânî (d. 1090/1679)
puts it, "Intellect is a revealed law [Sharia] within the human being, just as the revealed law is an
intellect outside of the human being. . . . In short, the source of all good qualities and the origin
of all perfections is the intellect."53634 The enemies of intellect are the enemies of human
perfection and the Prophet. They are the friends of Satan and misguidance.
Imam Ja`far's description of the contrasting attributes of intellect and ignorance illustrates
that from early times Muslim thinkers were concerned to establish qualitative differences among
the realities of both the outside world and the soul. How could they not be? For the Koran itself
constantly attributes certain qualities to the faithful and the opposite qualities to the unbelievers.
Notice, at the beginning of the hadith, the correlation between intellect and the right hand and the
implication that ignorance stands on the left. Note also that the Imam uses the imagery of the
king and his soldiers, as Ghazâlî did after him.
God created the Intellect--the first creature among the spiritual beings [rûhâniyyûn]--from
His light on the right side of His Throne. He said to it, "Turn away from Me" so it turned away.
Then He said, "Turn toward Me," so it turned toward Him. Then He said, "I have created a great
creature and ennobled him above all My creation."
Then He created ignorance from the briny, dark ocean. He said to it, "Turn away from
Me" so it turned away. Then He said, "Turn toward Me," but it did not turn. Then He said,
"Have you waxed proud?"53735 So He cursed it.
Then God appointed for the Intellect fifty-seven soldiers.53836 When ignorance saw
how God had ennobled the Intellect and what He had given it, it conceived a hidden enmity

53634 Kâshânî, A'îna-yi shâhî 8 (cf. "Two Seventeenth-Century Tracts" 277).

53735 These are the words of God to Iblis when he refused to prostrate himself before
Adam (38:75).

53836 Various versions of the hadith enumerate from seventy-one to eighty-one

qualities, with the version cited below giving seventy-five.
 295

toward it. Ignorance said, "O Lord, this is a creature like me. Thou hast created him, ennobled
him, and given him strength, while I am his opposite and I have no strength against him. Give
me soldiers the like as Thou hast given him."
So God said, "Yes, and if you disobey Me after this, I will send you and your army away
from My neighborhood and mercy." Ignorance said, "I am satisfied." So God gave it fifty-seven
soldiers.
The rest of the hadith lists the opposing soldiers of the two camps, as summarized in
Table 11.53937

53937 Al-Kulaynî, al-Usûl min al-kâfî I 30-34. For other versions, cf. Majlisî, Bihâr al-anwâr I
109-11, 158-59.
 296

Table 11
Soldiers of Intellect and Ignorance
According to Imam Ja`far al-Sâdiq

Soldiers of Intellect Soldiers of Ignorance

good (intellect's vizier) evil (ignorance's vizier)
faith disbelief
acknowledgement denial
hope despair
justice injustice
satisfaction anger
gratitude ingratitude
desire disheartenment
trust greed
clemency cruelty
mercy wrath
knowledge ignorance
understanding stupidity
modesty shamelessness
renunciation craving
gentleness encroachment
reverence impudence
humility pride
deliberation haste
intelligence foolishness
silence idle talk
resignation waxing proud
surrender doubt
patience uneasiness
forgiveness vengeance
wealth poverty
remembrance distraction
remembering forgetting
fond attachment cutting off
contentment greed
sharing withholding
amity enmity
faithfulness treachery
obedience disobedience
meekness aggression
safety affliction
love hate
truthfulness lying
truth vanity
trustworthiness betrayal
 297

purity adulteration
sagacity dull-wittedness
kind masking unveiling
Guilelessness deceptiveness
concealing disclosing
ritual prayer neglect
fasting fast breaking
struggle shirking
hajj breaking the covenant
safeguarding one's words backbiting
loving kindness to parents undutifulness
reality lip service
the approved the disapproved
covering displaying
guarding proclamation
fairness fervor
accommodation infringement
cleanliness filth
shame boorishness
going straight to the goal overstepping boundaries
ease hardship
easiness difficulty
blessing obliteration
rightness excessiveness
wisdom caprice
gravity frivolity
felicity wretchedness
repentance persistence
asking forgiveness self-deception
mindfulness carelessness
supplication disdainfulness
liveliness indolence
joy sorrow
familiarity separatedness
generosity stinginess
 298

The Spirit's Kingdom

We have seen two references in this chapter to the analogy between the spirit and the
king. In chapter 1 a short passage from the Ikhwân al-Safâ' was quoted comparing the soul to a
king and the body to his city. Ghazâlî provided an influential and far more detailed version of
this analogy in Ihyâ' `ulûm al-dîn. Just as the king's fundamental function is to govern the
kingdom, so also the spirit's fundamental function is to govern the body. A king has ministers
and servants, and so also does the spirit. I quote from the briefer version of the analogy found in
Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat. Remember that Ghazâlî uses the term heart to refer to the inward dimension
of the human being, whereas others may refer to the same reality as "spirit" or "soul." In
Ghazâlî's view, intellect is the heart's vizier, providing it with right guidance. In other words, as
mentioned above, intellect is the microcosmic equivalent of a prophet.
Know that the body is the kingdom of the heart, and the heart has many armies in the
body. "And none knows the armies of thy Lord save He" [74:31]. The heart was created for the
next world. Its business is the seeking of felicity. Its felicity lies in the knowledge of God. It
acquires knowledge of God by coming to know the handiwork of God, which is the whole
cosmos. It acquires knowledge of the wonders of the cosmos by way of the senses. The senses
subsist through the bodily frame.
Hence knowledge is the heart's prey, senses its snare, and the frame its horse and the
carrier of its snare. That is why it needs the frame.
The frame is compounded of water, earth, heat, and dampness. That is why it is weak. It
stands in danger of destruction from within, because of hunger and thirst, and from without,
because of fire and water, and because of the intentions of enemies, wild animals, and so on.
Because of hunger and thirst, the frame needs food and drink. Hence it needs two armies,
one outward, like hand, foot, mouth, and teeth, and one inward, like appetite for food and water.
For the sake of fending off outward enemies, it needs two armies: one outward, like
hand, foot, and arms; and one inward, like anger and wrath.
Since it cannot seek a food which it does not see and cannot fend off an enemy which it
does not see, it has need of perceptual faculties. Some of these are outward, that is, the five
senses--eye, nose, ear, taste, and touch. Some are inward, and they also are five: the faculties of
imagination, reflection, memory, recall, and intuition. Each of these faculties has a special
business. If one of these should be defective, the human business in religion and this world will
also be defective.
All these armies, outward and inward, are under the command of the heart. It is the
commander and king of them all. When the heart commands the tongue, at once the tongue
begins to speak. When it commands the hand, it takes. When it commands the foot, it goes.
When it commands the eye, it looks. When it commands the faculty of reflection, it thinks. By
nature and obedience all of these are made to follow the heart's command. Thereby the heart will
protect the body so that it may take its provisions, accomplish its hunt, finish trading for the next
world, and scatter the seeds of its felicity.
The obedience of this army to the heart is like the obedience of the angels to God. They
cannot disobey God in any command. On the contrary, by nature and obedience they follow His
command.
Knowing the details of the heart's army is a long process. What has to be said here can
be made known to you through an analogy:
 299

Know that the analogy of the body is a city. Hand, foot, and organs are like the
craftsmen of the city. Appetite is like the tax-collector. Anger is like the police chief. The heart
is the city's king, while intellect is the king's vizier. The king needs all these to keep the
kingdom in order.
The problem is that appetite is a liar, a meddler, and a troublemaker. Whenever intellect-
-the vizier--tells appetite to do something, it acts opposite his command. It always uses some
pretext to take all the property in the storehouses of the kingdom as tax.
Anger, which is the police chief, is evil tempered and exceedingly fierce and harsh. It
likes nothing better than killing, breaking, and spilling.
The king of the city should always consult with the vizier. The king must keep the lying
tax collector chastened and he must not listen to anything he says in opposition to the vizier. He
must give the police chief control over the tax collector in order to prevent him from meddling.
But he must always keep the police chief beaten and broken, so that he will not place his foot
outside its boundaries. When the king does this, the business of the kingdom will be kept in
order.
In a similar way the heart/king should work according to the instructions of the intellect.
It must keep appetite and anger under the control and command of the intellect and it must not
place the intellect in their power. Then the business of the kingdom of the body will be correct
and it will not be cut off from the path of felicity and the way of reaching the Presence of
Divinity. But if the heart makes intellect the prisoner of appetite and anger, the kingdom will be
destroyed and the king will be wretched and ruined.540
The relationship between spirit and its various faculties is that between a king and his
servants. But here the yang/yin polarity becomes more subtle, since everything that dwells
between spirit as such and body as such has two faces, one turned toward the spirit and the other
toward the body. In respect of the first face, the spirit is high and bright, while the thing itself is
low and dark. In respect of the face that looks down toward the body, the middle reality takes on
the attributes of spirit.
If we begin at the top of the created hierarchy, we see spirit as God's servant and
vicegerent. It is yin in relation to God and yang in relation to everything below it. Each of the
spirit's underlings is also a yin reality in relation to the spirit and a yang reality in relation to what
it controls. But in some cases, there are several intermediaries before we reach the lowest realm,
so the yin/yang relationship keeps on switching back and forth. Ghazâlî brings this out while
expanding upon his analogy. Each level is the servant or assistant (khâdim) of the level that lies
above it, being assisted in its turn by the level that lies below it.
From everything that has been said you have come to know that appetite and anger were
created for the sake of food, drink, and preserving the body. Hence both are assistants of the
body. The body was created to carry the senses. Hence the body is the assistant of the senses.
The senses were created to spy for the intellect. They were to be its snare through which it might
know the wonders of God's handiwork. Hence the senses are the assistant of the intellect. The
intellect was created to be the heart's candle and lamp, so that through its light the heart might
see the Presence of Divinity, which is the heart's paradise. Hence intellect is the assistant of the
heart. The heart was created to gaze upon the beauty of the Presence of Divinity. When it busies

540 Ghazâlî, Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat 18-20/13-15.

 300

itself with this, it is the servant and assistant of the threshold of the Divine Presence. That is the
meaning of God's words, "I created jinn and mankind only to serve Me" [51:56].541
We have here a hierarchical set of relationships stretching from the inanimate objects,
which are yin in relation to appetite and anger, to God Himself, who is yang in relation to all.
But all this pertains to the natural and normative state of the human being. It does not mean that
relationships necessarily observe this order. In fact, relationships are usually upset, which is why
human beings are addressed by revelation. We will return to this point in detail.

Heaven and Earth

The structure of the human being is typically described in terms of worlds, levels, or
activities. These terms are in no way exclusive, since worlds are defined in terms of levels--
which indicate relationships with other worlds--and the activities that pertain to specific levels.
What is peculiar about the microcosm is that it brings together and harmonizes all the worlds,
levels, and activities found in the macrocosm.
Since the basic worlds are two, spiritual and corporeal, the description of how the
microcosm functions centers upon how these two worlds interrelate. In the simplest analysis, as
we have just seen in Ghazâlî's description of the kingdom of the heart, the higher world is yang
and the lower yin. In other words, the stress is laid upon the proper relationship between heaven
and earth as reflected in the human being. Hence those authors who apply ta'wîl to the Koranic
text often read verses mentioning heaven and earth as applicable to spirit and body. For
example, the first verse juxtaposing heaven and earth in the Koran is the following: "O people,
serve your Lord . . . , who assigned to you earth for a bedding, and heaven for a building, and
sent down out of heaven water, wherewith He brought forth fruits for your provision. So set not
up compeers to God willingly" (2:22). After explaining certain allusions found in the
macrocosmic sense of the verse, Maybudî adds:
The Masters of the Realities have commented [tafsîr] on this verse in a different way and
have seen a different intimation. They say that these are likenesses [mathal] that God has placed
in this verse. The earth is the likeness of the body, the heaven the likeness of the intellect, and
the water that comes down out of heaven is the likeness of the knowledge that is actualized
through intellect. The fruits are the likeness of the servant's praiseworthy behavior on the basis
of knowledge.
Thus the allusion of the verse is as follows: God is that lord who has created you as a
person, a form, and a body. Then He adorned the body with the beauty of intellect. Then by
means of intellect He gave knowledge, cleverness, and science. From that knowledge great
fruits were produced. Those fruits are praiseworthy behavior, within which are found your soul's
food and its good life. Since that Lord shows such kindness and mercy to you, why do you
worship others along with Him and associate partners with Him?542
Kâshânî frequently makes heaven and earth correspond to spirit and soul or body in
applying ta'wîl to Koranic verses, as in his summary of the meaning of the above verse:
God spread out for them the earths, their souls. He built over them the heavens, their
spirits. He sent down out of heaven water, which is the knowledge to profess the unity of His
acts. Therewith He brought forth from that earth the plant of surrender, good works, acts of

541 Ibid. 20-21/15-16.

542 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr I 114.
 301

obedience, and beautiful character traits, to provide their hearts through them with fruits, which
are certainty, states, and stations, such as patience, thanksgiving, and trust.543
Here Kâshânî follows Sufi technical terminology that we have met: The character traits
actualized by the soul as it gradually achieves its perfection are the "stations" (maqâmât) of the
spiritual path. The ongoing and ever-changing transformations and transmutations that the soul
experiences are "states" (ahwâl).544 In this perspective, spirit is the divine light within the
human being, while soul is the inward reality that experiences the actualization of the divine light
through becoming more and more illuminated.
In another typical passage, Kâshânî comments on one of the many Koranic verses (2:165)
that urge people to use their intelligence to understand the signs of the macrocosm:
Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth: Surely in the bringing into existence
of the heavens, which are the spirits, hearts, and intellects, and the earth, which is the souls. And
the diversity of night and day, the light and darkness that differentiate the two. And the ship, the
body, that runs in the sea, the Nondelimited Body with profit to men in gaining their perfections.
And the water, knowledge, that God sends down from heaven, the spirit, therewith reviving the
earth, the soul, after it was dead through ignorance. And His scattering abroad in it all manner of
crawling thing, the animal faculties that live through the life of the heart. And the turning about
of the winds, the forceful winds that increase God-given acts, and the clouds, the self-disclosure
of lordly attributes, subjected, or arranged, between heaven, the spirit, and earth, the soul. Surely
there are signs, indications, for a people who have intelligence illumined with the light of the
Sharia and disengaged from the stain of sensory intuition.545
According to implications of the hadith of the Hidden Treasure, God creates heaven and
earth in order to manifest His own perfections through "everything between the two," the Ten
Thousand Things. Heaven and earth are the two principles upon which creation is built. So also,
God creates spirit and body to manifest His own perfections within His own "form," which is the
human being. As divine images, human beings are the loci wherein the divine names and
attributes reach full actuality. In commenting on Koran 13:3, Kâshânî correlates earth with the
body. When heaven's rain falls on the earth, the earth gives birth to the Ten Thousand Things:
When the spirit effuses its light upon the body, the body gives birth to the soul. The soul, as
conjunction of spirit and body, is the locus within which all the perfections of heaven and earth
become outwardly manifest. In other words, the body is the womb wherein the child--the heart--
is born.
It is He who stretched out the earth, the body, and set therein firm mountains, the bones,
and rivers, the veins. And of every fruit, character traits and perceptions, He placed there pairs,
that is, two contrasting kinds, such as generosity and stinginess, shame and shamelessness,
licentiousness and continence, timidity and courage, wrongdoing and justice; and such as black
and white, sweetness and sourness, freshness and rottenness, heat and cold, smoothness and
roughness.

543 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 28.

544 For detailed explanations of the meanings of these two terms, cf. SPK 263-69, 278-83, and
passim.
545 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 103.
 302

He makes the night, the darkness of corporeal things, cover the day, the spiritual things.
In the same way the spiritual faculties are covered by organs and the spirit is covered by the
body.
Surely in that there are signs for a people who reflect on God's handiwork and the
correspondence between its two worlds, the microcosm and the macrocosm.
And in the earth, the body, are tracts neighboring each to each, like bones, flesh, fat, and
nerves. And gardens of trees, which are natural, animal, and human faculties; of grapes, which
are appetitive faculties, from which is squeezed the wine of the soul's caprice, and intellective
faculties, from which is squeezed the wine of loving kindness with the squeezing of love. And
fields sown, the vegetal faculties. And palms, the other outward and inward faculties. In pairs,
like the two eyes, two ears, and two nostrils, and not in pairs, such as the tongue, the instrument
of reflection, intuition, and recall. Watered with one water, the water of life. And some of them
We prefer above others in fruit, that is, in perceptions and acquired habits. Thus the objects of
intellect's perception are preferred over those of the senses, and sight is preferred over touch. So
also the acquired habit of wisdom is preferred over temperance, and so on. Surely in that are
signs for a people who have intelligence to perceive the marvels of His making.546
In commenting on Koran 14:32-34, Kâshânî illustrates the proper relationship between
spirit and body:
It is God who created the heavens, the spirits, and the earth, the body. He sent down out
of heaven, the world of holiness, the water of knowledge, wherewith He brought forth from the
earth of the body the fruits of wisdoms and virtues, to be your provision so that your heart might
be strengthened through them. And He subjected to you the ship547 to run at His command; and
He subjected to you the rivers of knowledge through deduction, discovery, induction, and
classification. And He subjected to you the sun, the spirit, and the moon, the heart, untiring in
their courses through unveiling and contemplation. He subjected to you the night, the darkness
of the attributes of the soul, and the daytime, the light of the spirit, for seeking livelihood, the
next life, ease, and illumination. And He gave you of all you asked Him with the tongue of your
preparednesses [isti`dâd], for everything asks Him with the tongue of its preparedness for a
perfection that is effused upon it along with the question, without lag or delay. Thus God says,
"All those in the heavens ask from Him; each day He is upon some task" [55:29].548
In commenting on Koran 6:99, Kâshânî again shows how a description of God's
creativity in the macrocosm can easily be applied to the microcosm by observing qualitative
correspondences.
It is He who sent down out of heaven, the spirit, water, knowledge. And thereby We
have brought forth every plant, every kind of character trait and virtue. And then We have
brought forth from the plant a green condition, which is the soul. It is a lovely, beautiful
ornament and a joy through knowledge and character. We bring forth from that condition, which
is the fresh, tender soul, close-compounded grain, that is, ordered, noble, and pleasing works and
truthful intentions, from which the heart gains strength. And out of the palm-tree, the intellect,
from its spathe, its intellection, thick-clustered dates, gnostic sciences and realities. Ready to the

546 Ibid. 631.

547 Kâshânî does not provide an explanation for ship here, but he probably reads it as referring
to the body, as in the passage quoted above.
548 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 656.
 303

hand, easy to partake of, since they are manifest through the light of the spirit, as if they were
self-evident. And gardens of grapes, which are states and tastings. More particularly, they are
various kinds of love in the heart, whose extract and choicest wine intoxicates. Olives,
reflection, and pomegranates, truthful imaginings, which are noble aspirations and worthwhile
intentions. Like each to each, as, for example, intellections, reflections, gnostic sciences,
realities, works, and intentions; or love for the Essence, and love for the divine attributes. And
each unlike to each, as for example, the kinds of love compared to the kinds of works. Or "like
each to each" in level, in strength and weakness, in being disclosed and hidden, "and each unlike
to each" in the same things. . . . Surely, in all this are signs for a people who have faith through
knowledge. They are those have attained certainty in these signs and states that we have
enumerated.549
The earth is good, as the Koran often reminds us. But there is a real danger that the
equilibrium between heaven and earth may be upset. We cannot partake of the earth in any way
we see fit. If people deal with the earth while ignoring its relationship with heaven, they will
bring about its corruption. To be a true vicegerent, ruling over the earth and its creatures with
justice, the human being must be a true servant, submitting his or her will to the Real. The Tao
establishes guidelines for activities, and these must be observed to keep the microcosm and
macrocosm in order. Satan, who incarnates the tendency in the soul to turn away from the spirit,
must be avoided. Kâshânî explains some of these points in commenting on Koran 2:168:
O people, eat of what is in the earth: Partake of the pleasures and enjoyments that are in
the low direction, the world of the soul and the body, in a manner that is lawful and good. In
other words, partake of them according to the law of justice, with the permission of the Sharia
and the approval of the intellect, in the measure of need and necessity. Do not overstep the limits
of equilibrium, through which things are good and give profit, entering into the limits of
immoderation, for these are the steps of Satan. That is why God says, "Verily the squanderers
are brothers of Satan" [17:27]. He is a clear enemy to you. He wants to destroy you and make
you hateful to your Lord by the performance of blameworthy acts of immoderation, for God
"does not love the immoderate" [6:141].
You should know that balance [`adâla] in the world of the soul is the shadow of
familiarity [ulfa] in the world of the heart. Equilibrium [i`tidâl] is familiarity's shadow in the
world of the body. Familiarity is the shadow of love in the world of the Spirit, and love is the
shadow of true Oneness. Hence equilibrium is the fourth shadow of Oneness. Satan flees from
the shadow of God and is unable to bear it. Hence he always steps outside the domains of these
shadows to the sides of immoderate acts. When he cannot do that, then he goes to the side of
extremes, as in love and familiarity. That is why `Alî said, "You will never see the ignorant
person except falling short or going too far, since the ignorant person is Satan's plaything."550
If heaven can be divided into seven heavens, as the Koran tells us, this also has its
parallels in the microcosm. Kâshânî explains this in commenting on Koran 2:29:
It is He who created for you what is in the earth. The earth is the low direction, which is
the elemental world. Altogether, since all these things are the origins of your creation and the
material for your existence and subsistence. Then He lifted Himself straight, that is, He turned
His intention straight to heaven, the high direction. "Then" indicates the disparity between the

549 Ibid. 392.

550 Ibid. 106-7.
 304

two directions and the two kinds of bringing into existence: origination [ibdâ`] and engendering
[takwîn].551 This does not indicate a delay between the times [of coming into existence], which
would necessitate that the earth was created before the heaven. He put them in order as "seven"
heavens in accordance with what the common people see, since the eighth and the ninth heavens
are the manifest Footstool and Throne.
The reality is that the low direction is the corporeal world, like the body and its limbs,
because its level is lowly in relation to the spiritual world, which is the high direction called the
"heaven," and also because of the disparity between Creation and Command.
He shaped them as seven heavens. This alludes to the levels of the world of spiritual
things. The first is the World of the Dominion over the earth, the faculties of the soul, and the
jinn. The second is the World of the Soul. The third is the World of the Heart. The fourth is the
World of the Intellect. The fifth is the World of the Inmost Mystery [sirr]. The sixth is the
World of the Spirit. The seventh is the World of the Hidden [khafâ'], which is the spiritual
mystery, not the heart mystery. `Alî referred to all this when he said, "Ask me about the paths of
heaven, since I know them better than the paths of the earth." The paths of heaven are the states
[ahwâl] and the stations [maqâmât], such as renunciation, trust, satisfaction, and so forth.552

551 "Origination" is creation from nothing, while "engendering," as Kâshânî uses the term here,
means creation from a pre-existent matter.
552 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 34-35.
 305

9. Dynamics of the Soul

One of the primary concerns of the Sufis was to map out the various stages or "stations"
(maqâmât) of spiritual development undergone on the path to God. At the beginning the
individual self or soul has little similarity with the spirit that is God's Breath. It stands at a level
of imperfection deriving from the natural human tendency to "forgetfulness" (ghafla),
represented mythically by the negative side of Adam's fall. Revelation appears as a message
from God that "reminds" (tadhkîr) the soul that its own luminosity stands witness to a covenant
made with God before the entrance into this world (cf. 7:172). Once a person accepts the
message, he or she enters onto a long path of struggle (mujâhada or jihâd) against the soul's
negative tendencies.

Struggle on the Path to God

A human being possesses a variety of inward tendencies or dimensions represented by
such words as soul, spirit, and intellect. Without these dimensions there could be no question of
"struggling against oneself." One way to picture the relationship among these dimensions is to
see human consciousness as situated on a vertical axis connecting the lowest dimension of
reality--the visible world--with the highest dimension, the incomparable God. This is the "static"
picture of the microcosm drawn in the previous chapter, where heaven and earth interrelate in
harmony at every level. God is heaven, the spirit earth. The spirit is heaven, the soul earth. The
soul is heaven, the body earth.
But this picture of the human individual as microcosmic harmony is normative. It
describes the ideal relationship between human beings and God, taking into account all the
intermediary levels of consciousness and experience, or all the different qualities that must be
actualized in certain modes. In any given human individual, the relationships may not
correspond to the ideal. The purpose of life will then be to rectify the relationships.
This static and normative picture of the microcosm gives us a model that allows us to
distinguish between what we are and what we should be. Based as it is on the structure of the
macrocosm, it is seen to pertain to the objective nature of things. A human being whose inward
nature corresponds to the macrocosmic order is seen to be in equilibrium with the Real. If the
inner relationships do not follow this order, the person is out of kilter with God and the cosmos.
Of course, from a certain point of view, everything is in perfect order, even if it is out of
kilter. God has issued the command "Be!" and all things have come into existence in their
proper places. The tradition calls this particular command the "engendering command" (al-amr
al-takwînî). Through saying "Be!" God engenders all things. This is the Breath of the All-
merciful through which God speaks every possible word. It corresponds to the two hands of
God, through which He makes all things. But God also issues the "prescriptive command" (al-
amr al-taklîfî). This second command takes the normative picture of the cosmos into account. It
draws a qualitative distinction between God's right and left hands. Through this command God
tells us that all paths do not lead to felicity and that every situation does not necessarily present
us with optimum conditions from our point of view. The heaven and earth of the microcosm are
not necessarily in balance, even if the macrocosmic heaven and earth follow the Tao. In order to
put our own heavens and earths back into equilibrium, we as human beings--God's servants and
vicegerents--must change our outlooks and habits. This is the perspective that religion
commonly takes, and it is the perspective that makes the "spiritual quest" a human imperative.
 306

Here arises a perennial question, to which we have already alluded in chapter 7: If God is
the principle of heaven, earth, and everything between the two, then all things must conform to
Him by their very natures. Yet we see that human beings bring about a rupture of equilibrium.
In the midst of the Real's cosmic equilibrium is found a disequilibrium caused by human beings.
How can certain things work against their own ontological root?
One way to explain this discrepancy between the two commands of God--the
engendering and prescriptive--is to tie things back to the divine names, or to appeal to the
different requirements of the two hands of God. The argument can be summarized as follows:
On one level, the all-comprehensive name Allah demands the cosmos as it is. On another level,
certain less comprehensive names, such as the Guide, have in view felicity, or ultimate human
happiness. Felicity is connected to mercy, kindness, love, nearness. It is the human actualization
of the attributes of beauty and gentleness that are allied with God's similarity. But felicity can be
achieved only if human beings establish a relationship with the Guide, which manifests itself in
the teachings brought by the prophets.
The very possibility of the existence of felicity on God's right hand depends upon the
existence of its opposite, wretchedness, on His left hand. If there were no wretchedness and all
things were equally felicitous, we could not speak of felicity. We might as well say that all thing
are equally wretched. The experience of felicity depends upon the existence of misery. "Things
become known through their opposites." As Rûmî remarks, "If you write upon a black page,
your script will be hidden, since both are the color of tar."553
Like other qualities, felicity has degrees, and these decrease steadily until they merge
imperceptibly into their opposite, wretchedness. A Sufi saying catches the point nicely: "The
felicity of the pious is the wretchedness of the saints." Something that is felicity in the eyes of
the common people may be constraint and misery for the enlightened. That is why Sufis
commonly speak of having no interest in paradise. By definition, paradise is different from God,
and therefore limited and defined. The infinite aspirations of the true seekers can be satisfied
only by the Infinite. There are many variations on this theme in Sufi literature. One of the most
famous is the prayer of the great woman saint Râbi`a (fl. second/eighth century), who was one of
the first to make the language of love central to Islam's spiritual vocabulary:
O God, whatsoever Thou hast apportioned to me of worldly things, do Thou give that to
Thy enemies; and whatsoever Thou hast apportioned to me in the world to come, give that to
Thy friends; for Thou sufficest me.554
The quality of wretchedness, localized eschatologically in hell, sets human beings into
relationship mainly with the names that declare God's distance and incomparability: Mighty,
Invincible, Magnificent, Majestic, King, Inaccessible, Avenger, Intensely Severe. God remains
far from His servants, and they are deprived of all that follows upon His nearness: mercy, love,
paradise, felicity. The Koran makes the point explicitly: "No indeed, but on that Day they shall
be veiled from their Lord, then they shall roast in Hell" (83:15). Being distant from God is
equivalent to torment.
In short, the engendering command brings all things into existence, including paradise
and hell. It follows upon the very nature of God as the reality that comprehends all ontological
qualities. God as "Allah" assumes every possible relationship with His creatures:

553Chapter 9. Dynamics of the Soul Rûmî, Dîwân 3762 (SPL 50).

554 Arberry, Muslim Saints and Mystics 51.
 307

incomparability and similarity, wrath and mercy, severity and gentleness, vengeance and
forgiveness, left hand and right. These qualities must exist because they belong to the nature of
existence itself. They are rooted in Being, which is the Real. And everything, as the Arabic
proverb tells us, returns to the root from which it arises. The Koran frequently reminds us that
all things "return to Allah." But all things do not return to Allah inasmuch as He is Forgiving,
Merciful, Gentle. Some return to Him inasmuch as He is Avenger, Wrathful, Severe.555 Ibn al-
`Arabî frequently makes this point, as does his student Qûnawî. For example, the latter writes as
follows:
Though every path takes us to God in respect to one of the divine names--since, in one
respect, every name is identical with the Named--this yields no profit or felicity. For the names,
in respect of their realities and effects, are diverse. What does Harm-giver have in common with
Benefit-giver, or Bestower with Withholder? What does Avenger have in common with
Forgiver, or Kind and Beneficent with Severe?556
On the one hand, human souls are situated on a vertical axis that sets them into
relationship with the Real at any given moment. On the other hand, they experience changing
relationships on a second, horizontal axis, which is temporal extension. If we look at any
microcosm in its day to day existence, we find nothing static about the relationships among its
invisible qualities. They change from moment to moment. The enormous extent of these
changes in the long term can be judged by tracing human trajectories from birth to death.
The Koran often recalls the "stages" (atwâr) of human life that begin within the womb.
We had occasion to refer to these in Chapter 7. All the early stages relate directly to God's
engendering command. When human development reaches the stage where it makes sense to
speak of responsibility, the prescriptive command comes into play. This command has a bearing
upon everything that makes human beings truly human. Only in respect of the prescriptive
command do right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, moral and immoral, perfection and
imperfection, good and evil, felicity and wretchedness, take on direct relevance to the human
state. At this point, we have to distinguish between the vertical axis that actually exists in a
human being and the vertical axis that should exist. What actually exists was brought into
existence by the engendering command. What should exist is described by the prescriptive
command, which provides norms for the human state. The horizontal axis is the scene wherein
relationships can be put into the right order.
The prescriptive command sets down a desired relationship between heaven and earth,
spirit and soul, soul and body. Its goal is to reestablish harmony among the qualities present
within the self and, as a result, between the microcosm and the macrocosm. Through it God
warns about the undesirable relationships that corrupt the Tao of human and cosmic life. He sets
down various means whereby relationships can be brought back into their proper and normative
standing.
The possibility of upsetting the balance of heaven and earth goes back to human freedom.
Since people are made in God's image, they share to a certain degree in His free choice. To that
extent they can reject the prescriptive command and will be held responsible for their choice.
When they do reject their role as servants of the Real, they upset the proper cosmic relationships
by arrogating the rights of the vicegerent to themselves. Instead of submitting to God's will

555 For a much more detailed discussion of the two commands, cf. SPK 291ff.
556 Qûnawî, I`jâz al-bayân 292/al-Tafsîr al-sûfî 409. Cf. Futûhât II 93.19 (SPK 55)
 308

(islâm), they refuse the divine guidance and try to take control of their own destinies. Here they
are being misled, since they can never wrest control from the Real. The power that misleads
them is known as "Iblis" or "Satan." As mentioned earlier, he manifests the divine name
Misguider. His task is to bring about separation and dispersion in order that all the possibilities
latent in existence may become manifest. Without distance there can be no nearness, without
misguidance no guidance, without wretchedness no felicity, without hell no paradise. This is
why the Sufi philosopher `Ayn al-Qudât Hamadânî (d. 525/1131) can talk of Muhammad and
Iblis as two lights of God:
"By the sun and her brightness! By the moon who follows her!" [91:1-2]. . . . Do you
know what this sun is? It is the Muhammadan light that comes out of the beginningless East.
And do you know what this moon is? It is the black light of Iblis that comes out of the endless
West.557
`Ayn al-Qudât brings out some of the implications of the existence of these two lights in
the following:
Dear friend, wisdom is this: Everything that is, was, and will be, may not and must not
be any different. There can never be whiteness without blackness. Heaven is not proper without
the earth. Substance cannot be imagined without accident. Muhammad could not exist without
Iblis. There can be no obedience without disobedience or unbelief without faith. Such is the
case with all the opposites. This is the meaning of the saying, "Things become distinguished
through their opposites." Muhammad could have no faith without Iblis's unbelief.
If it were possible that God not be "the Creator, the Author, the Form-giver" [59:24], then
it would be possible for Muhammad and the faith of Muhammad not to be. If it were
conceivable that He not be "the Invincible, the Magnificent" [59:23], "the Intensely Severe"
[12:39], then it would be conceivable that Iblis and his unbelief not exist. Thus it is clear that
Muhammad has no felicity without the wretchedness of Iblis. Abû Bakr and `Umar would not
exist without Abû Jahl and Abû Lahab.558 This is the meaning of the saying, "There is no
prophet who does not have a counterpart in his community." There is no friend of God whose
days are not accompanied by an ungodly person. There is no prophet without a forgetful person,
no truthteller without someone ungodly.559
Harmony between heaven and earth, spirit and soul, God and cosmos, is established when
people bring into balance within themselves the two hands of God, or the two dimensions of
their own nature. Like God Himself, of whom they are the image, their two basic dimensions are
yang and yin, activity and receptivity, majesty and beauty. To reestablish the normative
hierarchy, their receptivity must be open toward the divine guidance. And their activity must be
directed against their own limited awarenesses. The first attribute is known as "submission" and
"servanthood." The second attribute is known as "struggle" (jihâd, mujâhada). This is the
"greater holy war." According to the famous hadith mentioned in the previous chapter, the
Prophet spoke of leaving the lesser holy war and returning to the greater holy war (al-jihâd al-
akbar). When asked what struggle could be greater than the struggle against the unbelievers, he

557 Hamadânî, Tamhîdât 126.

558 Abû Bakr and `Umar were of course two of the Prophet's closest companions and became
the first and second caliphs after him, while Abû Jahl and Abû Lahab were the Prophet's
archenemies.
559 Hamadânî, Tamhîdât 187.
 309

replied that it was the struggle against one's own soul. The macrocosmic battle against the forces
of the enemy, Iblis, has an important role to play in human existence. However, given the
murkiness of human affairs, it is often extremely difficult to discern just who the enemy really is.
This is why Muslim authorities, after the initial century or two of Islam, have rarely agreed on
the legitimacy of any given war. And this is why "holy war" is not incumbent upon everyone,
even though some authorities have made it one of the pillars of Islam. However, the greater holy
war--the struggle against the enemy within--is indeed incumbent upon everyone, because it is the
active face of submission to the will of God. Like everything else, the soul has two faces. The
face turned toward God must submit to Him, and the face turned toward everything other than
God must struggle against the forces of misguidance. And the first and foremost of these
"others" is the soul itself. If it turns away from the divine command, it must be contended with.
To the extent that people refuse to submit to God and to contend with their own negative
tendencies, they remain imperfect and forgetful. Like those human beings who have actualized
true servanthood and vicegerency, they contain within themselves a vertical axis reaching from
body to God, but it does not conform to the Tao of human affairs. If they do not rectify their
inward states, they will meet God after death as Wrathful, Avenger, Intensely Severe.
Commonly the struggle to establish right relationships is pictured as a path. This path has
an explicit or implied ascent, since it leads to greater and greater actualization of goodness and
virtue, or emergence from the various kinds of darknesses into the one light. The Koran employs
this last image repeatedly:
God is the Friend of those who have faith: He brings them forth from the darknesses into
the light. (2:257)
[This is] a Book We have sent down to thee, that thou mayest bring forth mankind
from the darknesses to the light by the leave of their Lord. (14:1)
It is He who blesses you, and His angels, to bring you forth from the darknesses
into the light. (33:43)
It is He who sends down upon His servant signs, clear signs, that He may bring
you forth from the darknesses into the light. (57:9)
Why, is he who was dead, and We gave him life, and appointed for him a light to
walk by among the people, as one who is in the darknesses, and comes not forth from them?
(6:122)
The goal of the ascent into light is to reestablish harmony on all the inner levels of the
human being. Harmony with other harmonious human beings is then seen as the natural result of
the individual's own inner harmony. As Rûmî puts it,
The spirits of wolves and dogs are separate, every one, but the spirits of God's lions are
united.
I refer to their spirits by a plural noun because that one spirit is a hundred in relation to
bodies.
In the same way the light of the heaven's sun is a hundred in relation to the courtyards of
houses.
But all the lights are one when you remove the walls from between.560
At each level of the microcosm, the lower dimension must submit to the higher
dimension, the darkness must allow the light to shine. Finally the innermost dimension of the

560 Rûmî, Mathnawî IV 414-17 (SPL 71).

 310

human reality, called by such names as "inmost mystery" (sirr) and "most hidden" (akhfâ),
submits itself to God. But here the language of submission and dominance disappears, since
tawhîd, or the true profession of God's unity, has been achieved. Hence the tradition employs
words such as union or unification. At this stage a person comes to know what he or she is in
truth, in reality. The identity of the innermost dimension of the self with the divine is perceived
as having always been the situation. The true, normative hierarchy of the cosmos is actualized
and firmly fixed within the individual. Ibn al-`Arabî makes the point in typical fashion. He is
commenting on the well-known sound hadith in which God says,
I love nothing that draws My servant near to Me more than [I love] what I have made obligatory
for him. My servant never ceases drawing near to Me through supererogatory works until I love
him. Then when I love him, I am his hearing through which he hears, his sight through which he
sees, his hand through which he grasps, and his foot through which he walks.561
Ibn al-`Arabî writes,
In reality, it is the Real who governs the cosmos [just as the spirit governs the body]. . . .
So He is the spirit of the cosmos, its hearing, its sight, and its hand. . . . This is known only by
those who draw near to God through supererogatory good works. . . . When the servant draws
near to Him . . . , He loves him, and when He loves him He says, "I am his hearing, his sight, and
his hand." . . . God's words "I am" show that this was already the situation, but the servant was
not aware.562
The great Persian poet Hâfiz (d. 792/1389) makes the point in allusive verses that
summarize the whole tradition. He refers to the goal of the path as the mythical, "world-
displaying cup" of King Jamshid:
For years my heart sought Jamshid's cup from me --
What it had in itself it tried to find in others.
It asked for the pearl that is outside existence and place
from those lost on the shore of the Ocean.563
Union with God is perfect accord with the divine will. At the inmost center of the being,
the person lives in perfect harmony with the Tao. As a result, all other levels of the being are
brought into harmony with the inmost center. Each lower level "serves" the higher levels and is
in turn served by the lower levels.
When Sufi texts envisage the soul as something that must be transformed, they typically
describe a development through three stages, basing themselves on Koranic terminology. The
lowest stage, the "soul commanding to evil" (al-nafs al-ammâra bi'l-sû'), belongs to ordinary
mortals overcome by forgetfulness. The next stage, the "blaming soul" (al-nafs al-lawwâma),
pertains to those who have begun to struggle on the path to God. They recognize their own
weaknesses and blame themselves for their failures to adhere to the normative guidelines set
down by the prescriptive command. The final stage, the "soul at peace" with God (al-nafs al-
mutma'inna), is achieved by those who reach the fullness of human perfection.564

561 Bukhârî, Riqâq 38. Cf. Graham, Divine Word 173-74.

562 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 563.29 (cf. SPK 326).
563 Hâfiz, Dîwân 96. Cf. The Dîvân-i-Hâfiz I 258.
564 This classification is frequently discussed in Sufi texts. Cf. Schimmel, Mystical
Dimensions 112.
 311

According to the normative ideal, human beings should turn their attention toward the
upper reaches of the vertical axis and "ascend" to the World of the Command and to God
Himself. This is achieved while people live upon the horizontal, temporal axis. Those who cling
to life in the visible world and neglect their human possibilities as God's designated servants and
vicegerents are dominated by the "soul that commands to evil." Those who remember their true
nature and undertake the task of turning their attention toward perfection and nearness to God
reach the stage of the "blaming soul." Those who persevere in their struggle against their own
forgetful tendencies and succeed in attaining perfection achieve the soul "at peace."
If the transformation of the soul can be described in terms of a journey or ascent from
imperfection to perfection, or from forgetfulness to remembrance and mindfulness, it can also be
understood as a passage from dispersion to unity. The human reality, though single, has multiple
faculties and dimensions. Its oneness lies in the direction of the divine/human spirit, while its
multiplicity pertains to the side of the body with its many parts and functions. Here the
geometrical image is that of a circle. The center of the circle is the spirit, while its circumference
is the body. The more the soul turns toward its own center or source, the more it becomes
integrated and whole. The more it turns toward the circumference, the more it becomes
dispersed and partial. "Perfection" or full "remembrance" then corresponds to awareness situated
at the center of the circle. The circumference no longer attracts the soul, thereby drawing it into
dispersion, but instead represents the soul's active and conscious self-manifestation within the
bounds of its own perfected nature.
No matter how the ascent to human wholeness and integration is described, relationships
among different dimensions or qualities of the human being are constantly at issue. Terms such
as soul, spirit, heart, inmost mystery, and most hidden designate the subtle dimensions of the
human reality in terms of certain qualities. This is clearly and explicitly the case in the three
levels of soul: commanding to evil, blaming, and at peace. In the discussions of spiritual
psychology, such concepts serve to describe certain groups of qualities that need to be
juxtaposed with other qualities, whether within the microcosm, the macrocosm, or God Himself.
The purpose of the explanations is to allow people to come to grips with the forces inside
themselves within the context of the prescriptive command.

The Soul's Evil

The three levels of the soul--in some texts expanded to four or five--are derived from
Koranic passages that refer to the soul in connection with diverse qualities: evil, blaming, and
peace with God. Were one to study all the references to the soul in the Koran and Hadith, one
would surely come to the conclusion that the soul itself has no specific qualities. Rather, the
souls of different people have diverse qualities, and these souls are no different from the realities
of their own selves.
Sufi texts frequently build on this picture of the soul as the inner dimension of the human
reality possessing a great number of possibilities, many of them negative. Abû Tâlib al-Makkî
(d. 386/996) provides an early example of this approach:
The soul is afflicted with four diverse qualities. The first are the meanings of the
attributes of Lordship [rubûbiyya], like pride, invincibility, love of praise, mightiness, and
independence. It is also afflicted with the character traits of the satans, such as guile, cunning,
envy, and suspicion. And it is afflicted with the natures of the beasts, that is, the love of food,
drink, and the marriage act. And with all this, it is also held responsible for the qualities of
servanthood, such as fear, humility, and lowliness. The servant is not a pure servant until he is
 312

purified of the first three meanings. When he realizes the attributes of servanthood, then he is
pure of those attributes of lordship that afflict him.565
Here we see the constantly recurring theme that all perfection is found in servanthood or
pure submissiveness toward God. But this is a servanthood toward God alone, as Makkî stresses
in continuing the discussion. For, he asks,
How can the person be a servant of the Lord if he is a servant of a servant? When he is
led by something, that is his god. When he falls in line behind something, that is his lord. In the
view of those who have realized their deiformity [al-muta'allihûn], this is to associate other gods
with God; and in the view of those who have assumed lordly attributes [al-rabbâniyyûn], this is
to be confused about Lordship. Such a person has fallen on his face and is inverted, according to
the supplication of the Messenger: "Let the servant of the dinar fall on his face, the servant of the
dirham fall on his face, the servant of his wife fall on his face, and the servant of the cooking pot
fall on his face!"566. . . These are the possessors of souls that command to evil. Their souls
have been seduced, follow caprice, and are opposed to the Master.567
Given the fact that most people--as Ghazâlî and others frequently tell us--follow the
negative tendencies of the soul, it is not surprising that the Sufis often employ the term soul
without qualification to refer to the soul that commands to evil. Thus from earliest times we find
definitions of the soul that focus exclusively on the blameworthy character traits that it can
assume and stress its opposition to the qualities of the spirit. If the spirit is intelligent and good,
the soul is ignorant and evil.
In the chapter on terminology in Kitâb al-Luma`, Abû Nasr al-Sarrâj (d. 378/988)
explains the expression "So and so has no soul" (or, "So and so has no self") as follows:
This means that the character traits of the soul do not appear within him. For the soul's
character traits are anger, severity, seeking greatness, covetousness, eager desire, and envy. If a
servant is free of these and similar plagues, they say that he has no soul. They mean that it is as
if he has no soul. Thus Abû Sa`îd al-Kharrâz said, "There is a man who returns to God and
attaches himself to God. He stands motionless in nearness to God having forgotten his own soul
and everything other than God. If you were to say to him, 'Who are you and where are you
going,' he would have no other answer than to say, 'God,' since he knows none other than God.
This is because of the recognition of God's tremendousness that he finds in his heart."568
The famous Sufi Abû `Abd al-Rahmân al-Sulamî (d. 412/1021) devotes a short treatise to
"The defects (`uyûb) of the soul and their cure." Although he begins with a brief explanation of
the three basic levels of the soul--commanding to evil, blaming, and at peace--he limits himself
to a discussion of the soul that commands to evil. He describes seventy negative character traits
innate to the soul and explains how they can be overcome. His concluding remarks convey the
tone of the work:
I have explained in these chapters some of the defects of the soul so that the intelligent
person may deduce from them what is beyond them; and so that the person who is confirmed by

565 Makkî, Qût al-qulûb 177 (chapter 25).

566 Bukhârî gives the text of the hadith as follows: "Let the servant of dinars, dirhams, velvet,
and fine clothes fall on his face. If these are given, he is pleased, and if these are not given, he is
not pleased" (Jihâd 70, Riqâq 10; cf. Ibn Mâja, Zuhd 8).
567 Makkî, Qût al-qulûb 177 (chapter 25).
568 Sarrâj, Kitâb al-luma` 360.
 313

God with His giving success and showing the right way may come out of these defects. I admit
that it is impossible to enumerate fully the soul's defects. How could that be possible? For the
soul is defective in all its attributes and is never empty of defects. How can one count the defects
of something when the whole of it is defective and God has described it as "commanding to
evil"? However, it may be that the servant can gain well-being from some of its defects through
some of these cures. He may be able to free the soul from one of its defects through that cure.
May God give us the success to follow right conduct! May He eliminate from us sources of
forgetfulness and appetite! May He place us in His shelter, compass, safe-keeping, and care!
For He is powerful over that and bestower of that, through His mercy and bounty.569
In his classic Risâla, Qushayrî (d. 465/1072) defines the soul as follows:
Literally, the nafs of something is its existence. The Sufis do not apply the term soul to
mean existence, nor the bodily frame. They only mean by "soul" those qualities of the servant
that are defective and those character traits and acts that are blameworthy.570
`Ayn al-Qudât brings out the qualities of the soul by contrasting them with those of the
heart and spirit:
Dear friend, human beings do not have a single attribute. On the contrary, they have
many attributes. In every child of Adam there are two instigators: one from the All-merciful,
one from Satan. The frame and the soul are satanic, while the spirit and heart pertain to the All-
merciful. The first thing that came into the frame was the soul. If the heart had come first, it
would never have let the soul into the world. Relative to the heart the frame is dense. The soul
has the attribute of darkness. The frame is from earth and also has darkness. These two have
become each other's intimate and familiar. The homeland of the soul is the left side, while the
heart's homeland is the "breast." At every moment, the soul is increased in caprice and
misguidance, while the heart is adorned with the light of knowledge. "Is he whose breast God
has opened up to submission, so he follows a light from his Lord . . . ?" [39:22].571
Many Sufis were concerned to show that even the negative characteristics of the soul
have a positive side to them, since they are created by God. As soon as we take the divine names
into account, we see that certain names demand the soul's reality. As we have pointed out
before, God's incomparability and all the attributes of severity and majesty that go along with it
demand that creatures be nothing more than servants, with all the abasement and lowliness that
this implies. Moreover, such divine names as Avenger, Harsh in Punishment, and the Best of
Deceivers demand that there be servants who deserve to face these names. And God shows
vengeance and deception only to the wrongdoers. On the macrocosmic scale, these facts demand
the existence of Iblis and unbelievers. On the microcosmic scale, they demand the existence of
the soul that commands to evil. This perspective is commonly met with in the works of Ibn al-
`Arabî and his followers. But it is also found in authors who had no connection to his school,
like `Ayn al-Qudât--as we saw in passages quoted above--or like Ibn al-`Arabî's contemporary,
Rûzbihân Baqlî. In Mashrab al-arwâh, Rûzbihân discusses the "true knowledge of the soul" as
follows:
The soul is an instrument of God's severity. From it branch out all evil and corruption.
God says, "Verily the soul commands to evil" [12:53]. In its very essence the soul comprises the

569 Sulamî, `Uyûb al-nafs 107.

570 Qushayrî, Risâla 305.
571 Hamadânî, Tamhîdât 195.
 314

attributes of severities and is prepared to receive the inspiration of wickedness. God says, "By
the soul and Him who proportioned it and inspired in it its wickedness and its godfearing" [91:7-
8]. The one who examines the clothing of the Eternal's severity worn by the soul will know the
Real in the quality of invincibility, inaccessibility, magnificence, and tremendousness. God says,
"He who knows his own soul knows his Lord." One of the Shaykhs says, "The soul does not
speak the truth and the heart does not lie." The gnostic says, "The soul is the hidden inspirations
and thoughts of severity that come upon the person from the horizon of Eternity's deception."572
In another passage of the same work, Rûzbihân devotes a section to the visionary
experiences of the travelers on the path to God. They see all things in appropriate forms,
including the soul. It appears as a wife who "rests" in her husband, her husband being the
activity of God. But if she should turn away from the heart, spirit, and intellect--the luminous
dimension of the human reality--then she will fall prey to satanic insinuations:
When the lights of the divine attributes are unveiled to the spirit and the heart, the soul is
seen in imaginal forms as the bride of the acts of the Creator. She rests in those acts and enjoys
the neighborhood of the heart and the spirit. She gains peace with the affair of the heart,
intellect, and spirit.
But if she should become opaque and turn presumptuous before the intellect, then she
becomes infatuated. God shows her the callings of the appetites and the mysteries of misleading
forces from the direction of the severities. These take the form of satanic imaginings. God has
affirmed the truth of this in the texts of His Book where He says, "and inspired in it its
wickedness and its godfearing" [91:8]. The gnostic says, "The vision of the soul is the
witnessing of the severities of eternity without beginning."573

Conflicting Character Traits

The qualitative nature of the terms employed to refer to the human reality can be
illustrated with all sorts of texts. One particularly interesting area that brings it out clearly is the
discussion of ethics. The Arabic term used for the science of ethics, akhlâq, is the plural of
khuluq and means literally "character traits." These may be good or bad, praiseworthy or
blameworthy. The good and the bad are commonly cited as opposites, as we saw in Imam Ja`far
al-Sâdiq's comments on the opposing soldiers of intellect and ignorance.
When spirit is seen as luminous and soul as dark, praiseworthy character traits belong to
the luminous side of the self and blameworthy traits to the dark side. A slightly deeper analysis
shows that the dark side is not really dark, or at least not absolutely so. It is dark in relation to
the luminous side. It becomes firmly fixed in darkness only if it refuses to submit to the
luminosity from which it derives and clings to its own constricting and privative nature. Spirit,
for example, is inherently generous, while the soul should follow the spirit and adopt the same
quality. But the "soul that commands to evil"--a crony of Satan--urges people to stinginess. It
follows the darkness instead of the light. It points out with its inherent guile that generosity leads
to poverty and should be avoided. "O possessors of faith, expend of the good things you have
earned, and of that We have produced for you from the earth. . . . Satan promises you poverty
and commands you unto indecency. But God promises you His pardon and bounty" (2:267-68).

572 Rûzbihân Baqlî, Mashrab al-arwâh 151-52.

573 Ibid. 126.
 315

The science of ethics was developed extensively by representatives of the philosophical

tradition on Greek models. But the Koran and Hadith are full of references to character traits,
both human and divine, and those authorities who wanted to show the Koranic roots of ethics
had no difficulty doing so. One of the most prominent representatives of this latter tradition was
Ghazâlî, who discusses ethics in detail in many of his works. At the beginning of the twenty-
first book of the Ihyâ' `ulûm al-dîn, he devotes a section to "explaining the wonders of the
heart."574 He acknowledges the importance of this section in his own eyes by summarizing it in
Persian at the beginning of Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat. We have already had occasion to quote parts of
this summary.575 After discussing the various meanings given by different authorities to the
terms heart, soul, spirit, and intellect, Ghazâlî explains his own reasons for choosing the term
heart as the fundamental designation for that dimension of the human reality that must be
transformed by the spiritual life. In brief, he defines "heart" as the essence of the human being,
"spirit" as the source of perception and awareness, "soul" as the human self inasmuch as it
undergoes transformation, and "intellect" as the heart to the extent that it perceives the realities
of things.576 The four terms all refer to the subtle reality of the human being, but from different
points of view.
Ghazâlî's discussion of the nature of the human self is complex and cannot be dealt with
here. He provides a much more detailed and scholarly description of the structure of the self
than in the passages quoted from him earlier. In the present context, we can look at one part of
his analysis in order to bring out an approach to spiritual psychology that is typical for the
tradition.
Ghazâlî sees the human self as made up of different tendencies or attributes that must be
brought into equilibrium (i`tidâl) before human beings can reach the perfection for which they
were created. Note that the Arabic word for equilibrium, i`tidâl, derives from the same root as
the word for justice, `adl, which is normally defined as putting everything in its proper place.
The establishment of equilibrium within the self corresponds to the establishment of justice in
human society. Both terms, equilibrium and justice, play central roles in philosophical
discussions of ethics.
Ghazâlî refers to the two primary tendencies of human beings as "lordly" (rabbânî) and
"satanic" (shaytânî). The first is ascending and the second descending. The first is intellect,
which attracts toward God. This is the inner light that recognizes the teachings of the prophets as
one in substance with itself. The satanic tendency pulls away from God and tries to keep the
soul occupied with the outer world. It incarnates the divine attribute of misguidance and draws
toward wretchedness. As long as the satanic tendency dominates, the individual will remain at
the stage of the soul that commands to evil. This is the state of most people, who are overcome
by forgetfulness. If the ascending tendency gains the upper hand, the soul will eventually
achieve the stage of peace with God.
As pointed out already, the soul has two other tendencies that are basically dispersive.
They pull the soul this way and that, but in themselves they are neither ascending nor
descending. One is appetite, the power of the soul that seeks to obtain everything necessary for
survival. The other is anger, the soul's power to fend off everything detrimental to survival.

574 See the partial translation by R.J. McCarthy in Freedom and Fulfillment.
575 Cf. above, pp. 000-000.
576 McCarthy, Freedom and Fulfillment 365-67.
 316

These two faculties are inherent to the animal soul and necessary for life. Though they work on
the horizontal plane, they can be employed to help in ascending or descending. The manner in
which they are employed will depend on whether the satanic or the lordly tendency predominates
in the soul.
In explaining these points with an analogy, Ghazâlî personifies the four tendencies as a
wise man (intellect), a satan (satanity), a pig (appetite), and a dog (anger). At the beginning, he
describes the pig and the dog in completely negative terms. As he develops the analogy in some
detail, it becomes clear that their negativity is not inherent, but depends upon their being put to
use in the wrong way. Throughout he employs a typical qualitative evaluation that is quickly
tied back to divine attributes.
The pig is appetite, for a pig is not blameworthy because of its color, shape, and form, but
because of its greed, burning thirst, and eager desire. The dog is anger, for the rapacious
predator and the vicious dog are not "dog" and "predator" because of their form, color and shape.
The true meaning of "predatoriness" is rapacity, animosity, and viciousness.
Within the human being are found the rapacity and anger of the predatory beast and the
eager desire and lust of the pig. Through covetousness the pig invites to indecency and
abomination. Through anger the predator invites to wrongdoing and harm. The devil never
ceases stirring up the appetite of the pig and the anger of the predator. He goads on the one with
the other and makes their natural instincts appear beautiful to them.
The wise man--who is the likeness of the intellect--is commanded to repel the cunning
and deception of the satan by employing his penetrating insight and his illuminating and
clarifying light to unveil the satan's dissimulations. The wise man has to break the covetousness
of the pig by making the dog its master, since anger can break the force of appetite. He must
also repel the rapacity of the dog by making the pig dominate and rule over it. If the wise man is
able to achieve this, equilibrium will be established and justice will appear in the kingdom of the
body. All will walk upon the Straight Path.
Once equilibrium has been established through the rule of the intellect, every attribute of
the soul plays a positive role. Appetite and anger are wholly good as long as they are kept in
proper harmony and correct balance through the intellect's governance. Ghazâlî continues by
pointing out that if the wise man does not succeed in governing the other dimensions of the self,
the others will overcome him and place him at their service. Then he will spend his time
devising stratagems and sharpening his wits so that the pig can eat its fill and the dog can be
content. He will remain forever a servant of the dog and the pig. And this is the situation of
most people, since most of their aspiration is centered in the stomach and private parts and in
vying with their enemies.
Next Ghazâlî turns to a dimension of experience that soon after him became central to the
sapiential tradition--the World of Imagination. He alludes to the visions of the "unveilers"
(mukâshif), those adepts of the spiritual path who perceive the realities of things through
imagination in appropriate images. As he remarks in several places, images perceived through
imagination reveal the spirit and reality of things more clearly than the corporeal forms of the
things.577
What is really strange about people is that they criticize idol worshipers for worshiping
stones. But suppose the covering were lifted from them and the reality of their own situation

577 Cf. Chittick, "Eschatology" 396.

 317

were unveiled. Suppose they were shown the reality of their situation in images, as the unveilers
are shown images in sleep or wakefulness. Then they would sometime see their own soul
bending before a pig, prostrating itself before it. Or they would see themselves bowing before it,
awaiting its indication and command. Whenever the pig needed to seek some object of its
appetite, they would rise up immediately in its service and bring the object. Or they would see
themselves bending before a rapacious dog, worshiping it, obeying it, giving ear to what it
requires and requests. They would sharpen their wits to come up with stratagems to obey it.
Through all this, they are striving to make their satan happy, for it is he who stirs up the pig and
urges on the dog, sending the two out in his service. Hence they are worshiping their satans by
worshiping the pig and the dog.
Every servant of God should watch carefully over his movement and his rest, his speech
and his silence, his standing and his sitting. He should look with the eye of insight. Then, if he
is just with himself, he will see that he is striving all day to serve these three. This is the utmost
limit of wrongdoing, since he has made the master a slave, the lord a vassal, the commander a
servant, and the ruler the ruled. The intellect is worthy of leadership, domination, and authority,
but this person has put it under the sway of the dog, the pig, and the satan.578
At this point it hardly needs mentioning that the proper hierarchy of the human
microcosm is envisaged here with imagery reduplicating the proper relationship between God
and the world, heaven and earth, spirit and soul, Lord and servant, yang and yin. The luminosity
of the intellect should be dominant, since it is heaven's nature to rule the earth.
When the proper relationship between heaven and earth is upset, the result can only be
the corruption of everything between the two. Within the human microcosm, this means that all
the character traits proper to the heart will be distorted and perverted. Continuing the above
passage in a discussion reminiscent of Imam Ja`far al-Sâdiq's description of the soldiers of
ignorance, Ghazâlî details the character flaws and ugly moral traits found in those who are not
ruled by intellect .
Then Ghazâlî describes what will happen if the right relationship can be established. If
lord dominates over vassal--heaven rules over earth--equilibrium and justice will be established
and all the negative tendencies found in the soul will be transformed into positive ones. Appetite
and the qualities that go along with it are negative only if ruled by the satan. They are positive
when governed by the intellect. Among the virtues that grow out of appetite and its allies are
chastity, contentment, tranquility, ascesis, piety, godfearing, joyful expansion, modesty, and
gracefulness. Anger and its accompanying vices are transformed into traits such as courage,
generosity, forbearance, patience, clemency, forgiveness, steadfastness, and gravity.
Ghazâlî summarizes his points by comparing the heart to a mirror that reflects everything
around it. Through its receptivity, it is able to acquire every attribute in existence. If the heart
lives in a situation where the order of creation is inverted so that the intellect is subjugated and
obscured, it becomes cloudy and dark. If the proper equilibrium is established, the mirror of the
heart reflects the luminosity of the spiritual realm and, in effect, gains the attributes of heaven.
Through remembering (dhikr) God and becoming adorned by His attributes, the heart attains to
the stage of the "soul at peace."
The heart is like a mirror, and all these things surround it and have an effect upon it.
Their traces constantly reach it. The praiseworthy effects that we have mentioned increase the

578 Ghazâlî, Ihyâ' III.1.5 (III 9); cf. McCarthy, Freedom 376-78.
 318

polish, luminosity, and brilliance of the heart's mirror. Finally the plain evidence of the Truth
sparkles within it and the desired goal of religion is unveiled. The Prophet alludes to this kind of
heart with his words, "When God desires good for a servant, he appoints for him an admonisher
from within his heart," and his words, "When a person has an admonisher within his heart, God
has given him a protector."579 This is the heart within which the remembrance of God becomes
firmly established. "Surely in the remembrance of God hearts find peace" [13:28].
Blameworthy effects are like a dark smoke mounting up on the heart's mirror. The
smoke keeps on piling up on it until the heart becomes dark and black, totally veiled from God.
God calls this "sealing" and "rust." He says, "No indeed, but what they were earning has rusted
upon the hearts" [83:14]. Likewise He says, "Did We will, We would smite them because of
their sins, sealing their hearts so that they do not listen" [7:100].
Note here that the word the Koran employs for "sealing," tab`, is one of the two words
from a single root that come to be used in the intellectual tradition for nature (the other being
tabî`a). "Nature," conceived of as a yin reality, carries the imprint or "seal" of the spirit. It has
nothing of its own other than receptivity. At the same time, the spirit tends to be covered and
concealed through being impressed in matter. This becomes a seal over the heart, preventing it
from perceiving the spirit's light. Ghazâlî has this dual sense of the word tab` in mind in the next
sentence.
Thus He connects "not listening" because of sealing/nature to sins, just as He connects
"listening" to godfearing [taqwâ]. For He says, "Fear God and listen" [5:108]. "Fear God and
God will teach you" [2:282].
When sins pile up, hearts are sealed. Then the heart is blind to the perception of the Real
and to the well-being of religion. It considers the business of the next world insignificant and
gives great importance to the affair of this world, turning its attention exclusively toward it.
When the affair of the next world, along with the warning it contains, knocks on its hearing, it
goes in one ear and out the other. This affair does not take rest in the heart, nor does it move the
person to repentance and preparing himself. Such people are the ones "who have despaired of
the world to come, even as the unbelievers have despaired of the inhabitants of the tomb"
[60:13].
This then is the meaning of the "blackening" of hearts through sins, as mentioned
in the Koran and the Hadith. Maymûn ibn Mahrân says, [quoting the Prophet,] "If the servant
commits a sin, a black spot appears in his heart. If he repents, refrains, and asks forgiveness, it
becomes polished. If he returns, the black spot increases until it overcomes his heart. That is its
'rust.'"580
The Prophet said that the heart of the person of faith is bare, a lamp shining within it,
while the heart of the unbeliever is black and upside down. Obeying God by opposing the
appetites polishes the heart, while performing acts of disobedience blackens it. When a person
turns toward acts of disobedience, his heart turns black. When someone follows an evil deed
with a good one and erases its effect, his heart does not become dark, but its light is decreased. It

579 Neither of these two hadiths is cited in Wensinck, but the first is given by Suyûtî in a
slightly different form in al-Jâmi` al-saghîr (al-Fayd al-qadîr I 256, no. 378).
580 Maymûn ibn Mahrân is a respected authority in the science of Hadith who died in 117/735.
Ibn Mâja (Zuhd 29) cites a different version of this hadith on the authority of Abû Hurayra.
 319

is like a mirror upon which someone breathes. Then he wipes it off and breathes on it again.
Then he wipes it off again. It will not be completely clear of dullness.581

The Soul's Receptivity

When earth is fecundated by heaven, it yields every sort of fruit and flower. When the
mirror of the soul is receptive to the light effused by the spirit, it acquires every sort of virtue and
praiseworthy character trait. To upset the harmony between heaven and earth is to corrupt the
world. To upset the harmony between spirit and soul is to pervert the individual. The normal
and normative condition of the soul is to be receptive to the lights that come down from the
spirit. Through this receptivity, the soul becomes luminous and is transmuted into a spiritual
substance. The alchemical elixir turns the soul's lead into gold. The soul ascends from the world
of darkness into the world of light. The descending tendency that is all too often present results
from the soul's inability to see the light, its lack of receptivity toward that which lies beyond
itself, its satisfaction with its own limitations, or the deceptions of Satan. All these expressions
refer to the limitations inherent in the lower realms of existence.
The Muslim philosophers see the possibility of the soul's transformation as deriving from
its quality of receptivity, even though they do not contrast the term soul with spirit as clearly as
do many Sufi authors. In their treatise entitled "How the particular souls develop within the
human, natural bodies," the Ikhwân al-Safâ' expand on the analogy of knowledge as food for the
soul, referred to in the previous chapter. The goal of acquiring knowledge is not to gain
information but to develop the praiseworthy character traits, the virtues (fadâ'il). These in turn
depend upon the soul's being open to what lies above it and its ascending into the luminous
world of the spirit. The plethora of adjectives in the following passage is not simply a rhetorical
device. On the contrary, the Ikhwân are listing the qualities that are acquired by the soul in its
ascension into the world of light. The point of the discussion is not that "the soul is
transformed"--that is easy enough to say. At issue are questions such as, what are the attributes
that are acquired by the soul? What are the ontological qualities that the soul comes to manifest?
Ultimately, how does the soul become similar [tashabbuh) to God?
You should know, my noble, pious, and compassionate brother--God confirm you and us
with a spirit from Him--that the soul's knowledge and wisdom is like the body's consumption of
food and drink. First, bodies are given milk. Then they partake of food and drink, which are
their nourishment. Thereby their small parts grow, their incomplete parts develop, their thin
parts fatten up, and their weak parts strengthen. Their splendor and perfection are uncovered.
They reach their furthest limits and their ultimate goals and beauties through milk, then through
food and drink, which are their nourishment and matter.
In the same way, the states of the souls are similar to the states of the bodies. . . . For the
substances of the particular souls become substantialized through various kinds of knowledge.
Their essences grow through wisdom. Their forms become illumined through sciences. Their
reflective faculties become strengthened through mathematical exercises. Their thoughts take on
light through the rules of the disciplines. Their intellects become expanded to receive the
disengaged, spiritual forms. Their aspirations rise up and yearn for everlasting affairs. They
gain a strong determination to reach the furthest limits and to ascend to the highest levels by
gazing upon the sciences of the Divine. They travel in the spiritual, lordly ways and devote

581 Ghazâlî, Ihyâ' III.1.5 (III 9-10).

 320

themselves to the noble affairs of wisdom, following the way of Socrates. They follow Sufi
practices [tasawwuf], asceticism, and monastic discipline in the manner of Christ. They attach
themselves to the unswerving religion, which is for the souls to become similar to their universal
substance and to attain to their high world and their union with their First Cause.
"Unswerving religion" (al-dîn al-hanîfî) is identified both with Islam and with the way of
Abraham. It has sometimes been translated as "primordial religion." The Koran uses the term
hanîf in the singular or plural in twelve instances, all suggesting a person who follows the best
form of religion. For example, "Abraham in truth was neither a Jew nor a Christian. He was
submitted [muslim], unswerving" (3:67). "Say: 'As for me, my Lord has guided me to a straight
path of right religion, the creed of Abraham, unswerving'" (6:161). By employing this term, the
Ikhwân have in mind Islam on its most universal level. Though they use philosophical
terminology in talking of the unswerving religion, they do not mean philosophy, since that was
the first path they cited, and the three paths form an ascending hierarchy. Like most members of
the sapiential tradition, they see no contradictions among the ways of Socrates, Christ, and
Muhammad. But the philosophical way is dominated by certain intellectual qualities such as
concern for the divine wisdom. The way of Christ and the Sufis is dominated by a certain
concern for actualizing the purely spiritual domain of reality. And the way of Muhammad is
seen as balancing all positive tendencies. The passage continues:
Such souls hold fast to His handle that protects from error, desire His good pleasure, and
seek nearness to Him through becoming united with the sons of their own kind in their spiritual
world, their luminous locus, and their abode of life--as God says, "Surely the last abode is Life,
did they but know" [29:64]. If the abode itself is Life, then what do you think, my brother, about
the inhabitants of the abode? How could their attribute and their bliss be anything other than that
said by God? "[Surely the godfearing shall dwell amid gardens and a river], in a sitting place of
truthfulness, in the presence of a King Omnipotent" [54:55]. So understand these allusions,
pointers, and symbols!
The soul is awakened from the sleep of forgetfulness and aroused from the drowsiness of
ignorance. It struggles and throws off from itself the corporeal shells, the bodily coverings, the
natural habits, the character traits of predatory beasts, and ignorant opinions. It becomes purified
of the grime of material appetites. Then it is delivered, springs up, and stands. Its essence is
illuminated and its substance irradiated. Its lights shine and its sight is made piercing. Then it
sees that spiritual form, it observes those luminous substances, and it witnesses those hidden
affairs and concealed mysteries whose perception is impossible through the corporeal senses and
the bodily faculties. No one witnesses them but the person whose soul has been delivered by the
rectification of his character [tahdhîb khuluq]. For these things are not connected to a natural
desire or tied to corporeal appetites that they could appear to these and be examined.
When the soul examines those affairs, it becomes attached to them and clings to them as
a lover becomes attached and clings to his beloved. It becomes united with them as light
becomes united with light. It subsists along with them through their subsistence and remains
through their remaining. It takes delight in their repose and ease. It smells their fragrance and
enjoys their joys--joys that human tongues are unable to express, for the minds of great thinkers
fall short of imagining the depths of their attributes. Thus God says, "No soul knows what
comfort is laid up for them secretly, as a recompense for what they were doing" [32:17]. He also
 321

says, "Therein are the objects of the souls' appetites and wahd delights the eyes, and therein you
shall dwell forever" [43:71].582
After developing the analogy of food for the body and the soul in some detail, the Ikhwân
draw conclusions that illustrate clearly many of the points that we have been making concerning
normative guidelines for establishing wholeness in the soul:
There is no honor in eating a great deal. Food and drink are necessary only to the extent
that they appease hunger and thirst. When these are appeased, it makes no difference whether
they were appeased through many kinds of food or through a piece of barley bread and some
pure water. Thus Jesus said to the apostles, "Eating barley bread and drinking pure water today
in this world is plenty for him who wishes to enter paradise tomorrow."
Honor and praise must lie in gaining the virtues of wisdom, becoming illumined by the
light of knowledge, and coming to see the signs and proofs of the knowledge of the realities of
things. It lies in wisdom, deiformity [ta'alluh], asceticism, Sufi practices, clinging to the ways of
those who have assumed lordly attributes [rabbâniyyûn]. It is thinking little of the affair of the
body and attaching great importance to the affair of the soul. It is a strong desire to deliver the
soul from the darkness of ignorance, save it from the sea of Matter, and free it from the prison of
Nature. It is coming out of the depths of bodies, ascending to the World of the Spirits, and
entering into the ranks of the angels, as God says: "To Him good words go up, and the righteous
deed--He uplifts it" [35:10]. By "righteous deed" He means the spirit of those who have faith.
He says, "Surely the lovingly kind shall be in bliss" [83:22], and He says, "The book of the
lovingly kind is in the high ones, and what shall teach you what the high ones are?" [83:18]. By
the high ones He means the souls of the lovingly kind. He says, "Till, when they have come
thither, and its gates are opened, and its keepers will say to them, 'Peace be upon you! Well you
have fared; enter in, to dwell forever'" [39:73]. And He says, "And the angels shall enter unto
them from every gate: 'Peace be upon you, for that you were patient. Fair is the Ultimate
Abode!'" [13:24].583
The Islamic philosophical tradition follows the Ikhwân al-Safâ' in considering the soul's
transmutation through its receptivity to higher realities as the goal of human existence. The
Leading Master (al-shaykh al-ra'îs) of the philosophers, Avicenna (d. 428/1037) speaks for the
whole tradition when he explains the perfection of the rational soul, that is, the normative ideal
that it must achieve. The key idea is the soul's transformation through receiving what lies
beyond it. It begins as a "material intellect" (al-`aql al-hayûlânî). Here, as in all of his
philosophy, Avicenna wants to describe "the path which the intellect has to traverse in order to
progress from the stage of pure potentiality to total actuality."584 At the beginning of its
becoming, the specific quality of the soul that can be illumined by the light of the spirit has not
yet received its luminous form. When the soul reaches the pinnacle of its perfection, it has
actualized all the qualities of the spiritual realm.
"Material" in "material intellect" does not mean "made out of matter" in a modern sense,
but "not having received form" in an Aristotelian sense. At the beginning of the soul's becoming,
its rational and intellectual qualities--and these are precisely the qualities that give it a
specifically human identity--have not yet been developed, though the animal and vegetal

582 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il III 8-9.

583 Ibid. 15.
584 Gutas, Avicenna 86.
 322

faculties are present. Hence the material quality of the intellect refers to the soul's potential to
become fully human. As Avicenna himself remarks, it is customary to refer to the rational soul
as the "'material intellect,' that is, potential intellect, by analogy to matter."585 But the soul will
not necessarily become fully human, quite the contrary. For at this stage its human potentiality is
like clay waiting to receive imprinted shapes. If the wise man dominates, the true human being
will emerge. But the pig, the dog, and the satan are also vying for control. If the light of the
intellect finally gains total control over the soul, the soul will itself be transmuted into the Active
Intellect (al-`aql al-fa``âl).
This whole process represents the inherent movement of existence toward its full
manifestation. As the Sufis put it, this is the Hidden Treasure making Itself known. The
Treasure can be truly known only by that "other" which is not other. The light of the Real must
be fully and wholly reflected in a human being, made in the Real's image. This is the
culminating point of the return of the cosmos to God. Just as existence manifested itself through
the Arc of Descent and reached its lowest point in matter, so once again it rises up through the
three children and human beings until it reaches its full splendor in the perfect human being, who
is a prophet or a great friend of God. Avicenna encapsulates the cosmological teachings of the
philosophical tradition in the following words:
It is necessary that you know that when existence begins from the One, each thing that
follows upon it is lower in level than the One. And existence keeps on descending in degrees.
The first of these degrees is the degree of the spiritual, disengaged angels who are called
"intellects." Then come the levels of the spiritual angels who are called "souls." These are the
angels that perform works. Then are the levels of the heavenly bodies, some of which are nobler
than others. Finally existence reaches the last of these bodies.
After that begins the existence of matter receptive to the forms of corruptible, engendered
things. The first thing in which existence clothes itself is the form of the elements. Then the
elements ascend in degree little by little. The first thing found among them is lower and baser
than that which follows. The lowest thing in existence is matter, then the elements, then the
compound inanimate things, then the plants, then the animals. The most excellent of animals is
the human being. The most excellent of human beings is he whose soul reaches perfection by
becoming an active intellect and acquiring the character traits that are the practical virtues. The
most excellent of these is he who has the preparedness for the level of prophecy.586
Avicenna's terminology in this discussion strays too far from the Koran and the hadith
literature for the taste of most Sufis, but the Sufi view of the nature of the cosmos and the human
role within it is not substantially different. Sufis stress the role of the First Intellect at the
beginning of the Arc of Descent. But most of them would agree that the Active Intellect stands
at the end of the Arc of Ascent and that the perfection of existence is achieved only by the
prophets--and the friends of God. The Active Intellect is precisely the fully actualized perfection
of the divine form. In contrast, the First Intellect, standing at the beginning, possesses all
perfections only potentially. Ibn al-`Arabî writes, "Perfection in the perfect human being is
actualized [bi'l-fi`l], while in the First Intellect it is potential [bi'l-quwwa]."587

585 Quoted in Gutas, Avicenna 17.

586 Ibn Sînâ, Kitâb al-Najâh 299.
587 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 430.18.
 323

In the following passage, Avicenna describes the perfected soul in relation to the various
levels of the cosmos and God. He refers to the cosmos as the "whole" (al-kull) and to God as the
"Origin of the whole" and as "Absolute Comeliness, Absolute Good, and Absolute Beauty." As
in the above passage, he avoids--in a manner typical for much of the writings of the earlier
philosophers--terminology with a specifically religious color.
The perfection peculiar to the rational soul is for it to become an intellective world within
which is imprinted the form of the whole, the intelligible order of the whole, and the good that is
effused upon the whole. [Its intellective world] begins with the Origin of the whole and moves
on to the noble substances: First the nondelimited spiritual substances, then the spiritual
substances connected in a certain way to bodies,588 then the higher corporeal bodies with their
dispositions and faculties. The soul continues in this manner until it realizes fully within itself
the disposition of all existence. It becomes an intelligible world, parallel to the entire existent
cosmos, and witnesses That which is Absolute Comeliness, Absolute Good, and Absolute Beauty
while being united with It. The soul's intelligible world becomes impressed with Its likeness and
disposition, strung upon Its thread, and joined to It in substance.589
What Avicenna calls "becoming impressed with Its likeness and disposition," the
specifically religious terminology calls submission (islâm) to God. The Sufis are completely
explicit in stating that the soul attains perfection in servanthood (`ubûdiyya), the quality of being
an `abd, which is precisely the quality of submission to the Lord. As Ibn al-`Arabî puts it, "At
root the servant was created only to belong to God and to be a servant perpetually. He was not
created to be a lord."590 That is why Ibn al-`Arabî, who was more careful than any other
representative of the Islamic tradition to ascribe attributes to their rightful owners, speaks of
servanthood as the highest human station, attained only by the perfect human being. In order to
attain to perfection, he says, "The servant returns to his own specific characteristic, which is the
servitude that does not compete with Lordship. . . . In all of this he secludes himself from
governing his own affair."591 Or again: "The perfect human being is separated from him who
is not perfect by a single intangible reality, which is that his servanthood is uncontaminated by
any lordship whatsoever."592
Like Avicenna, the philosopher Bâbâ Afdal Kâshânî (fl. seventh/thirteenth c.) sees the
soul's ascent to perfection as a movement from pure receptivity to pure activity. Typically, Bâbâ
Afdal describes this movement in terms of the ascending levels of existence. He makes use of
the Persian language to distinguish between two fundamental senses of the word wujûd in
Arabic: being (bûdan) and finding (yâftan). The cosmos, which is wujûd or existence, can be
divided into four ascending levels. Each higher level embraces the perfections of the lower
levels. The lower two levels are merely "being." The higher two are also "finding":

588 Avicenna probably has in mind the appearance of angels in bodily form. As has already
been pointed out, the later tradition refers to this realm of spiritualized corporeality, or
corporealized spirituality, as imagination.
589 Ibn Sînâ, Kitâb al-najâh 293.
590 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 136.8 (SPK 324).
591 Ibid. II 153.26 (cf. SPK 322). For a detailed discussion of the nature of servanthood in Ibn
al-`Arabî's view, cf. SPK 321-24 and passim.
592 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 603.16 (cf. SPK 372).
 324

The difference between being and finding is that being may exist without finding, like the
being of elemental and mineral bodies, which has no finding. But finding cannot exist without
being.
Each of these two kinds is then divided into two more kinds: potential being and actual
being, potential finding and actual finding.
Potential being is the lowest level of existence. It is the existence of material things in a
matter, similar to the existence of a tree in a seed and the existence of an animal in the embryo.
Actual being, without finding, is like the existence of elemental and other bodies.
Potential finding belongs to the soul. The meaning of the word soul [nafs] and the word
self [khwud] is the same.
Actual finding belongs to the intellect. That which is potential in the soul is actual in the
intellect.593
In another treatise, Bâbâ Afdal employs terminology that shows without question that he
has in mind the active/receptive, yang/yin dichotomy. He is explaining that knowledge is
indispensable to the spiritual journey whereby the soul is transformed.
The purpose of listing the various sciences and explaining the kinds of knowledge is to
awaken the human soul from forgetfulness and lack of awareness of its own substance. To
awaken the soul is take it to the limit and perfection of existence [wujûd]. For existence has four
levels: acted upon [karda], agent [kunanda], known [dânasta], and knower [dânanda].
That which is acted upon is the lowest level. It is the whole corporeal world.
That which knows is the highest level. It is the source and end of existence.
The agent and the known lie between these two levels.
The bodily things are acted upon, the souls and spirits are agents, and the realities of
disengaged things are known. By these realities I mean the reality of agents, the reality of things
that are acted upon, and the reality of knowledges. Intellect is the knower.
The perfect human being brings together the acted upon, the known, the agent, and the
knower. Within such a person the acted upon is joined to the known and the agent with the
knower. . . . He joins his own Origin through all four, with God's guidance and bounty.594
In still another passage, Bâbâ Afdal summarizes the stages of human perfection,
culminating in the full actuality of the intellect through knowledge of God. He is in the midst of
discussing why, among the four causes delineated by Aristotle, the final cause is precisely "final"
and the most fundamental. Notice that each actuality, which is the actualization of full activity
(fi`l), is in turn a receptivity toward what lies beyond. The ultimate final cause and absolute
agent is Real Being.
It is possible that for every final cause there be another final cause. For example, the
simple, elemental body exists for the sake of the compound body. Hence the compound body is
the final cause of the simple, elemental body.
Composition exists for the sake of the equilibrium of the opposite and disharmonious
natures. The equilibrium of the natures exists so that there will be worthiness for receiving the
power of the spiritual soul. The worthiness for receiving the soul exists for the sake of
knowledge and intellect. Knowledge and intellect exist for the sake of Nondelimited Being.

593 Rahanjâm-nâma, in Kâshânî, Musannafât 58.

594 `Ard-nâma, in Kâshânî, Musannafât 153.
 325

And Nondelimited Being belongs to the He-ness and Essence. . . . The noblest cause is the final
cause and perfection.595
The great philosopher of the Safavid period, Mullâ Sadrâ (d. 1050/1641), reflects both the
philosophical and Sufi traditions when he describes the movement of the soul to the station of the
Active Intellect:
If you look at the soul's substance in this world, you will find that it is the principle of all
bodily faculties. It employs all the animal and vegetal forms. But if you look at its substance in
the World of the Intellect, you will find that, at the beginning of its original disposition, it is pure
potentiality without any form in that world. However, it can emerge from potentiality into
actuality in respect of the intellect and the intelligible.
The soul's original relationship to the form of the World of Intellect is the relationship of
a seed to the fruit and an embryo to the animal. Just as the embryo is actually an embryo and
potentially an animal, so also the soul is actually a mortal and potentially an intellect. To this
point God alludes with His words, "Say: 'I am only a mortal like you. To me it has been revealed
that your God is one God'" [18:110]. The soul of the Prophet resembles other mortal souls in
this [mortal] configuration. But when his soul, through divine revelation, emerged from
potentiality to actuality, it became the most excellent of creatures and nearer to God than every
prophet and angel. For the Prophet said, "I have a time with God when no angel brought nigh or
prophet sent out embraces me."596
The Prophet in the perfection of his soul is the example par excellence of what the
specifically religious teachings refer to as the vicegerent of God, the person who rules the
cosmos and determines its shape in keeping with God's prescriptive command. The Sufis would
remind us that this Active Intellect, like the First Intellect, has two faces, one turned toward God
and the other turned toward the cosmos. Through the first face it receives the divine effusion,
through the second it actively rules the cosmos. It is both servant and vicegerent.
In short, the perfection of the yang side of human nature pertains specifically to
intelligence, to what Avicenna calls the "Active Intellect." But implicit within this perfection is
the submission to the Origin, or rather, identity with It. The perfection of the yin side of human
nature pertains to this submission and receptivity of the soul.
Ibn al-`Arabî devotes much of his attention in his voluminous works to outlining the
possible modalities of the soul's perfection. In referring to the femininity of the soul that must be
actualized, he brings the issue down to the concrete level of the discipline that is imposed by a
Sufi master. The question is whether or not a male disciple on the path to God may have friends
(rafîq) among women. In other words, is it possible for him to have a legitimate "Platonic"
relationship with members of the opposite sex, or must he limit his relationships to the female
members of his own family. Ibn al-`Arabî provides an interesting answer, pointing to a
dimension of the soul that every man on the spiritual path--and every woman, of course--must
realize. He concludes that such friendship is not legitimate, except in the case of the gnostics,
those who have attained to spiritual perfection.
The disciple should not have friends among women until he becomes a woman in his
own soul. When he becomes feminine, becomes joined with the lower world, and sees how the
higher world is enamored of him, then he will constantly witness his own soul in every state,

595 Rahanjâm-nâma, in Kâshânî, Musannafât 74-75.

596 Mullâ Sadrâ, `Arshiyya 242-43 (cf. Mullâ Sadrâ, Wisdom 148-49).
 326

moment, and influx as a woman taken in the marriage act [mankûh]. He should not see his soul
in his formal unveiling and his state as a male or that he is a man in any sense. On the contrary,
he must see himself as an utter woman. From that marriage act he must become pregnant and
bear children. Then it is permissible for him to take friends among women. Inclining toward
them and loving them will do him no harm.
As for the gnostics, they are free, since they witness the holy hand of God, which is free
in taking and giving.597
This idea is not limited to Ibn al-`Arabî, though he is more explicit than most in his
language. In Islamic India the image of the soul as a longing female becomes a mainstay of
devotional poetry. It is true that this image is also present in various forms of Hinduism, but the
Muslims would not have adopted it so readily if it had not already been implicit in their own
tradition.598

Manliness and Chivalry

One of the great pre-Islamic virtues taken over by the Muslims is murû'a (manliness),
which is derived from the word mar' (man). Lane quotes the classical Arab dictionaries in
defining it. It consists
in abstinence from things unlawful, or in chastity of manners, and the having some art or trade;
or in abstaining from doing secretly what one would be ashamed to do openly; or in the habit of
doing what is approved, and shunning what is held base; or in preserving the soul from filthy
actions, and what disgraces in the estimation of men; or in good manners, and guarding the
tongue, and shunning impudence; or in a quality of the mind by preserving which a man is made
to persevere in good manners and habits. . . . In a word, [it is] virtue; or rather manly virtue or
moral goodness.599
The Sufis looked upon manliness as one of the virtues that become established in the soul
when it manifests the active qualities of the spirit. In his Persian Sad maydân (One hundred
fields of battle), which describes the waystations of the path to God, Khwâja `Abdallâh Ansârî
has this to say about manliness:
Manliness is to lose oneself and to live in oneself. God says, "Be those who stand firmly
in justice" [4:135].
The pillars of manliness are three things: to live with oneself by intellect, with the
creatures in patience, and with God through need.
The mark of living with oneself by intellect is three things: knowing the measure of
oneself, seeing the dimensions of one's own work, and striving for one's own good.
The mark of living with the creatures in patience is three things: being satisfied with
them when they are strong, seeking out excuses for them, and deciding in their favor when you
are strong.

597 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 192.5.

598 Cf. Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions 434; idem, As Through a Veil 152-54. The Ismailis
were particularly fond of this analogy. Cf. A. S. Asani, "Bridal Symbolism in Ismâ`îlî Mystical
Literature of Indo-Pakistan," in R.A. Herrera (ed.), Typologies of Mysticism, forthcoming.
599 Lane, Lexicon, under m.r.', form 1. I have modified the text slightly to avoid the references
to sources.
 327

The mark of living with God through need is three things: necessarily giving thanks for
whatever comes from Him, necessarily excusing oneself for whatever one does for Him, and
seeing that His choice is correct.600
As a character trait, manliness is closely connected with futuwwa, which signifies
generosity, liberality, and nobleheartedness. We will follow the normal custom and translate the
term as "chivalry." It derives from fatâ, meaning "young man." Chivalry has formed the
background of the moral order in the guild organizations throughout Islamic history.601 The
Sufis adopted it early on as one of the leitmotifs of their spiritual and social teachings.602 The
perfect exemplar of chivalry is `Alî, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, fourth caliph, first
Imam of the Shi`ites, greatest warrior of Islamic history, and patron saint of the guilds.
According to some sources, after the battle of Uhud, when `Alî demonstrated his unparalleled
valor, an angel was heard calling out, "There is no sword but Dhu'l-Fiqâr, there is no fatâ but
`Alî."603 This saying has gained the status of a proverb throughout the Islamic world.
Qushayrî provides a number of sayings concerning chivalry by Sufi masters in his
famous Risâla:
The root of chivalry is that the servant strive constantly for the sake of others.
Chivalry is that you do not see yourself superior to others.
The one who has chivalry is the one who has no enemies.
Chivalry is that you be an enemy of your own soul for the sake of your Lord.
Chivalry is that you act justly without demanding justice for yourself.
Chivalry is a beautiful character.604
Ansârî provides us with two descriptions of chivalry in the context of the spiritual path.
The first is from his Persian Sad maydân:
God says, "They were chivalrous youths who had faith in their Lord" [18:13].
What is chivalry? To live in young-manliness and freedom. Chivalry is of three kinds: a
kind with God, a kind with the creatures, and a kind with oneself
To be chivalrous with God is to strive in servanthood with all one's strength. To be
chivalrous with creatures is not to blame them for a defect that you know comes from yourself.
To be chivalrous with oneself is not to accept the temptations, embellishments, and adornments
of your own soul.
Chivalry with God has three marks: You never tire of seeking knowledge, you never
cease remembering Him, and you stick to companionship with good people.
Chivalry with the creatures has three marks: You never have suspicions concerning what
you do not know from them, you cover over what you do know, and thereby you become an
intercessor for the faithful.
Chivalry with oneself has three marks: You busy yourself with seeking out your own
defects, you show gratitude for the blessing of having your defects covered over, and you never
cease in your fear [of God].605

600 Ansârî, Sad maydân 253-54.

601 Cf. Cl. Cahen and Fr. Taeschner, "Futuwwa," Encyclopedia of Islam, new ed., III 961-69.
For some of the spiritual significance of the term, cf. S.H. Nasr, "Spiritual Chivalry."
602 Cf. Sulamî (d. 412/1021), The Book of Sufi Chivalry.
603 Mufîd, Kitâb al-Irshâd (translated by Howard) 56, 58.
604 Qushayrî, Risâla 472-73.
 328

Ansârî's second description of chivalry comes from his Arabic classic, Manâzil al-sâ'irîn
(The waystations of the travelers):
God says, "They were chivalrous youths who had faith in their Lord, and We increased
them in guidance" [18:13]. The subtle point in chivalry is that you witness nothing extra for
yourself and you see yourself as not having any rights. It has three degrees:
The first degree is to abandon quarreling, to overlook slips, and to forget wrongs.
The second degree is that you seek nearness to the one who goes far from you, honor the
one who wrongs you, and find excuses for the one who offends you. You do this by being
generous, not by holding yourself back, by letting go, not by enduring patiently.
The third degree is that in traveling the path you do not depend upon any proofs, you do
not stain your response [to God] with [any thought of] recompense, and you do not stop at any
designation in your witnessing.
You should know that he who compels his enemy to intercession and has no compunction
about not pardoning him has never smelt the scent of chivalry. According to the science of the
elect, he who seeks the light of Reality by means of rational arguments will never be able to
claim chivalry.606
Authors such as Qushayrî and Ansârî consider manliness and chivalry as two stations or
two virtues among many. But some Sufis put these virtues at the height of human qualities, just
short of perfection itself. `Abd al-Razzâq Kâshânî voices this opinion at the beginning of his
Persian Tuhfat al-ikhwân fî khasâ'is al-fityân (The gift to the brethren on the characteristics of
the chivalrous young men). He makes chivalry the final stage before reaching walâya,
"sanctity," or being a friend of God.
Chivalry consists in the manifestation of the light of the original nature [fitra] and its
gaining mastery over the darkness of the bodily configuration. All the virtues become manifest
within the soul and all ugly qualities disappear.
The human original nature comes to be delivered from the blights and accidents of the
soul's attributes and motives. It is freed from the veils of natural wrappings and the ties of
corporeal attachments. Then it becomes pure and luminous. It gains preparation and yearns for
its own perfection. It recoils from base goals and lowly aims. It deems it necessary to turn away
from ugly qualities and blameworthy character traits. It pulls aside from the belt of this-worldly
chaff and the clothing of the faculties of anger and appetite. Through high aspiration it passes
beyond transitory affairs and turns toward high and noble things. It becomes eagerly desirous
and passionately fond of manifesting virtues and perfections within its own nature. This state is
called "manliness."
The human being perseveres in these affairs until the force of the soul is broken, its
strength and evil are overcome, and subdual and firmness become the person's second nature.
The person remains firm in purity, radiance, luminosity, and subtlety. Then all the kinds of
moral integrity [`iffa] and courage become firmly rooted within him. All the varieties of wisdom
and justice become manifest from him in actuality. This is called "chivalry."
Hence manliness is to gain the deliverance and purity of the original nature, while
chivalry is this nature's luminosity and radiance. Just as manliness is the foundation and basis of
chivalry, so also chivalry is the foundation and basis of being the friend of God [walâya]. A

605 Ansârî, Sad maydân 362-63.

606 Idem, Manâzil al-sâ'irîn 47-48.
 329

person without manliness cannot possibly gain chivalry. A person without chivalry cannot
possibly become God's friend. For manliness is the sign of the connection of the servant to God
through the wholesomeness of the original nature. That is why `Alî said, "Overlook the slips of
the possessors of the attributes of manliness, for none of them slips without his hand being taken
by the hand of God." In the state of his falling away, God takes his hand. The pivot of
manliness is moral integrity. When moral integrity is completed, manliness is complete.607
Sufis frequently employ the term rajul, another word meaning man as opposed to woman,
to refer to the great friends of God, those who have attained to the station of human perfection.
Ibn al-`Arabî constantly uses the term, but he is careful to point out that it is not gender specific.
For example, he describes the process whereby "the human being becomes purified through the
light of intellect and guidance after having emerged from the darkness of nature and caprice."
The person then reaches a state wherein he is called a "man." "The perfection of manliness
[rujûliyya] lies in what we have mentioned, whether the person be male or female."608 Towards
the beginning of a long section of the Futûhât classifying the different types of God's friends, he
cites the example of those friends called the "Substitutes":
Everything we mention about these men by the term men may include women, though
most often men are mentioned. One of God's friends was asked, "How many are the Substitutes
[abdâl]?" He answered, "Forty souls." He was asked, "Why do you not say forty men?" He
answered, "Because there may be women among them."609
About a woman Sufi Ibn al-`Arabî remarks, "I have never seen one more chivalrous than
her in our time."610 In short, a host of good qualities is associated with being a "man" or a
"young man," though these qualities may be possessed by women as well as men. These in turn
are connected with the struggle (jihâd) of the soul against itself and the victory of the spiritual
warrior in the battle against his or her lower nature. The achievement of manliness and chivalry
verges on the achievement of human perfection, which is connected to the full activity of the
intellect and the full receptivity of the soul toward God.

Negative Masculinity
The qualities of the lord, such as knowing, ruling, control, kingship, and domination,
belong by right to God alone. Within the microcosm, they pertain by nature and right to the
spirit, while the opposite qualities, those of the vassal and the servant, define the soul's correct
relationship with the spirit. Hence yang qualities such as highness, brightness, and control are
virtues when found in the spirit, because they are light's inherent qualities in relation to darkness.
These same yang qualities also belong to the soul by right when the soul's relationship with the
body is taken into account. The soul must dominate over the body for the same reason that the
spirit must control the soul. Though these yang qualities are only dimly present in the soul, they
may be intensified through the soul's receptivity to the spirit's light. As long as the soul remains
fully receptive to the spirit, it can gradually change from the soul that commands to evil into the
soul at peace with God.

607 Kâshânî, Tuhfat al-ikhwân 4-5.

608 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât II 588.6.
609 Ibid. 7.7.
610 Austin, Sufis of Andalusia 154.
 330

When the soul is contrasted with the spirit, it corresponds to the earth. Hence it possesses
all earthly qualities, which are summed up as the characteristics of the four elements: earth,
water, fire, and air. Like the qualities of the earth as contrasted with those of heaven, the
qualities of the elements may be positive or negative, depending on the relationship envisaged.
The soul that commands to evil is associated most commonly with fire, since it has a close
kinship with Satan and the other jinn, who were created from fire. We have noted already
certain negative qualities of fire, such as pride and seeking greatness. These qualities lie on the
yang side of things, since they manifest a masculine assertiveness that allows fire to consume
everything that it dominates. But when the soul manifests the qualities of fire, they work to its
detriment, since they prevent it from seeing light and becoming light. In other words, the soul
that commands to evil asserts control in realms in which by right it should be yin, while it yields
in realms in which by right it should be yang.
The normative situation of the soul demands that it should be the servant of the spirit and
the master of the faculties through which it aids the body. These faculties include appetite and
anger--the pig and the dog. But if the soul submits to the pig and the dog, it puts the wise man
into the satan's service and follows a path that leads to wretchedness. Iblis dominates over Adam
and leads him into loss. The soul assumes attributes proper to Satan. These are by and large
domineering, since they control, but for the wrong ends.
Mu'ayyid al-Dîn Jandî makes use of the qualitative distinction between the elements to
explain the relationship between Adam and Iblis. Why did Iblis refuse to bow himself before
Adam? When God asked him this question, Iblis replied, "I am better than he. Thou createdst
me of fire, and him Thou createdst of clay" (7:12). The qualities of fire demand self-assertion
and rising up in fury. The qualities of clay demand submission and acquiescence.
The realities [of the human being and Iblis] are different, so opposition, counteractivity,
and enmity occur in the world of form. This follows upon the real opposition in the realities and
the fact that the configuration of each of the two is opposed to the configuration of the other in
the greatest part. The greatest part in the configuration of the human being is water, then earth.
These two--through their realities, forms, powers, and spiritual essences--give softness, yielding,
obedience, reception, submission, faith, fixity, gravity, affection, tranquility, reverent fear,
abasement, servanthood, lowliness, knowledge, forbearance, patient waiting, and similar
attributes. But the greatest part in the configuration of Iblis and the satans is fire, and it--through
its reality, form, and spiritual essence--yields seeking exaltation, claiming eminence, fickleness,
inconstancy, triviality, pride, haughtiness, ruling power, self-magnification, unbelief, denial,
spite, and envy.611
When the soul is dominated by the qualities of fire, it sees its own substance as "better"
than clay and refuses to acknowledge that its light derives from something beyond itself. It sees
its own fiery nature as unmixed light and acts as if the light were its own. Iblis is unable to see
beyond his own limitations. As Rûmî puts it,
Of Adam, who was peerless and unequaled, the eye of Iblis saw naught but clay.612
Iblis saw things separately: He thought that we are apart from God.613

611 Jandî, Sharh fusûs al-hikam 185. For a parallel passage in Ibn al-`Arabî's Futûhât, cf. I 131-
32 (Y 2,278-79).
612 Rûmî, Mathnawî III 2759 (SPL 83).
613 Idem, Dîwân 16532 (SPL 83).
 331

Do not gaze upon Adam's water and clay, like Iblis: Behold a hundred thousand
rosegardens behind that clay!614
Rûmî's spiritual psychology is based largely on the dichotomy between soul and spirit
considered as possessing the attributes of light and fire, though he prefers the term intellect to
spirit.615 Intellect has a luminous substance like the angels or the prophets, while soul has a
dark, fiery, and rebellious substance like Iblis.
The angels and the intellect are of one nature, but for the sake of God's wisdom they
assumed two forms:
The angel acquired wings and feathers like a bird, while the intellect put aside wings and
acquired splendor. . . .
Both angel and intellect are finders of God; both aided Adam and prostrated themselves
to him.
The soul and Satan were also one from the beginning and were enemies and enviers of
Adam.616
When Solomon leaves the palace, the jinni takes over as king: When self-restraint and
intellect go, your soul commands to evil.617
Rûmî commonly compares the soul to the dog, the pig, the cow, and especially the
donkey. He may have in view the docility of the soul in face of the world, but more commonly
he sees in these animal traits the soul's active anger and stubbornness. Intellect--the
distinguishing feature of the rational, human soul--is able to control the animal qualities and
either transmute them or put them to work for the soul's good.
The intellect is luminous and seeks the good. How then can the dark soul vanquish it?
The soul is in its own bodily home, and your intellect is a stranger: At its doorstep, a dog
is an awesome lion.618
You have abandoned Jesus and nurtured his ass. That is why, like an ass, you
must remain outside the curtain. . . .
Have mercy on Jesus, not the ass! Let not your animal nature rule your
intellect.619
Of course in Rûmî's view, love is even higher than intellect, for love erases all duality
between lover and beloved. If on the one hand the soul must submit to the intellect, on the other
hand the intellect is but a fly in face of all-conquering Love. Rûmî often makes this point when
explaining the Prophet's mi`râj (ascent to God). Gabriel, who guided the Prophet to the "Lote
Tree of the Far Boundary," could ascend no further, for his wings would burn. Gabriel is the
angel of revelation and prophecy. Like the prophets, he has a microcosmic equivalent in the
intellect.
Intellect is a shadow, God the sun: How can a shadow stand up to the sun?620

614 Ibid. 18226 (SPL 83).

615 Cf. Schimmel, Triumphal Sun 269-72 and passim.
616 Rûmî, Mathnawî III 3193-94, 96-97 (cf. SPL 89).
617 Idem, Dîwân 5798 (cf. SPL 33).
618 Idem, Mathnawî III 2557-58 (cf. SPL 35).
619 Ibid. II 1850, 1853 (cf. SPL 34). For many more examples, cf. Schimmel, Triumphal Sun
93-124; SPL, index, under animals, ass, beasts, cow, dog, etc.
 332

The intellect of the saints is like Gabriel's wing--it takes you mile by mile to the
shade of the Lote Tree.621
I had wings like Gabriel--six hundred wings were mine. When I arrived at His
side, what use were wings?622
I am with the King, I am both slave and King--how can Gabriel find room where
there are only God and I?623
In short, the soul may be considered as a positive and good reality, in which case its
attributes are of the yin type connected with servanthood, submission, and obedience. The soul
perfectly submitted to God's will is then called the soul at peace. In Rûmî's terms, it has reached
the stage of union where the slave is no different from the king. This same yin soul also has
yang attributes, but these are established in relation to the soul's faculties, such as appetite and
anger, and the body. The soul at peace with God is in perfect control of its own attributes and
the body that it governs.
When the soul is considered as a negative and bad force, its attributes are again of both a
yin and a yang type. The yin negativity of the soul is that it should surrender to the dictates of
the dog, the pig, and the satan. Its yang negativity is that it should acquire attributes proper to
Iblis. In either case, this is the soul that commands to evil.
Finally a soul may be neither fully yin nor fully yang in either sense of the two terms.
Such a soul is the "blaming soul."
In all these cases, the judgment as to whether the soul's qualities are positive or negative
has to do with the soul's relationship with the spirit on the one hand and with the body on the
other.
As pointed out above, many Sufi authors employ the term soul almost exclusively to refer
to the soul that commands to evil. But most of these authors are also aware of the soul's
ambiguity, so its positive sense sometimes comes out. For example, Shihâb al-Dîn `Umar
Suhrawardî (d. 632/1234) provides a clear picture of the two sides of the soul in his `Awârif al-
ma`ârif (Gifts of mystic knowledge), even though on the whole he pays little attention to
theoretical concerns. This work has probably been the single most influential handbook of
practical Sufism in the Islamic world. In most of what Suhrawardî says concerning the soul he
has in view the sayings of earlier Sufi masters. Thus for example, at the beginning where he
refers to the definition of the soul as a purely negative reality, having in view the nature of the
soul that commands to evil, he takes most of the discussion from the Sufi classic Qût al-qulûb by
Abû Tâlib al-Makkî.624 When he provides his own view, however, he explains the situation
with greater attention to changing relationships and takes into account the soul at peace with
God.
It has been said that the soul is a subtle reality [latîfa] placed within the bodily frame and
that from it arise blameworthy character traits and attributes. In the same way the spirit is a
subtle reality placed within the heart, and from it arise praiseworthy character traits and
attributes. Just as the eye is the locus of vision, the ear the locus of hearing, the nose the locus of

620 Mathnawî IV 2111 (SPL 222).

621 Ibid. VI 4139.
622 Rûmî, Dîwân 5791 (SPL 223).
623 Ibid. 34953 (SPL 223).
624 Cf. Makkî, Qût al-qulûb 175 (chapter 25).
 333

smell, and the mouth the locus of taste, so also the soul is the locus of blameworthy qualities and
the spirit the locus of praiseworthy qualities.
All the character traits and attributes of the soul derive from two roots: inconstancy
[taysh] and covetousness [sharah]. Its inconstancy derives from its ignorance, and its
covetousness from its eager desire [hirs].
In its inconstancy the soul is like a ball on a smooth, descending surface. Because of
both its innate disposition and its situation, it never ceases moving.
In its eager desire the soul is like a moth that throws itself on the flame of a lamp. It is
not satisfied with a small amount of light without pouncing upon the source of the light that
holds its destruction.
Because of its inconstancy the soul is hurried and lacks self-restraint [sabr]. Self-restraint
is the substance of the intellect, while inconstancy is the attribute, the caprice, and the spirit of
the soul. Nothing can overcome inconstancy except self-restraint, for intellect uproots
caprice.625
Because of its covetousness the soul is greedy and eagerly desirous. It is these two
qualities that became manifest in Adam when he was greedy for everlasting life and eagerly
desirous of eating from the tree.
The attributes of the soul have roots in its coming into existence. For it was created from
earth, and hence it has qualities in keeping with earth. It has been said that the quality of
weakness in the human being derives from earth, the quality of stinginess from clay, the quality
of appetite from "stinking mud" [15:26], and the quality of ignorance from "dry clay"
[15:26].626 It has been said that God's words, "[He created man of a dry clay] like baked clay"
[55:14] display a quality in which there is something of satanity, since there is fire in baked clay.
From this derive guile, cunning, and envy.
When someone knows the roots of the soul and its innate dispositions, he will know that
he has no power over it without seeking the help of its Creator and Originator. The servant will
not realize his humanity until he governs the animal motivations within himself through
knowledge and justice. Justice is to make sure neither to fall short nor to go too far. Thereby the
person's humanity and supra-sensory reality gain in strength and he perceives the attributes of
satanity and the blameworthy character traits within himself. The perfection of humanity
demands of him that he not be pleased with his soul in that. Then there will be unveiled for him
those attributes through which he contends with Lordship, that is, pride, mightiness, seeing the
self, being pleased with oneself, and so on. He sees that pure servanthood is to abandon
contending with the Lord.627
"Contending with Lordship" (tanâzû` ma` al-rubûbiyya) is a direct and explicit reference
to the negatively yang qualities of the soul. This is the quality of Iblis, who argued with God
concerning the affair of Adam. The qualities of the Lord are always juxtaposed with those of the
servant, and servanthood is precisely islâm, submission to the divine will. From this perspective,
any claim to the qualities of the Lord appears as the soul's wrongful usurpation of the rights of
the spirit or God, as we saw in the previous section.

625 That intellect combats caprice (hawâ) is a standard theme of Sufi texts. Cf below, pp. 000-
000.
626 The ideas in this sentence are also taken from Makkî, Qût al-qulûb 176-77.
627 Suhrawardî, `Awârif al-ma`ârif 452-53 (chapter 56).
 334

Though the qualities of earth are frequently portrayed as positive in relation to the
qualities of fire, they may also be considered negative, as we just saw. For the soul's earth-like
submission to the dictates of appetite and anger upsets the right relationship between heaven and
earth. Thus, for example, Najm al-Dîn Râzî describes the earth's negative qualities while
describing the ascent of the soul on its way to perfection. Since earth is the lowest level of
creation, its negative qualities are the first that must be overcome on the "return" (ma`âd) to God.
Râzî does not have in mind the compulsory return to God, which everyone experiences through
death, but the voluntary return that takes place on the spiritual journey when a person dies to his
own limitations.
First, one must step outside the waystation of earth, which is the last waystation of this
world. The spirit reached it after becoming attached to this world. It is also the first waystation
of the next world in the soul's return to God. That is why, when someone is put into the earth
[after death], they say, "This is the last of the waystations of this world, and the first of the
waystations of the next world."
But the dead are taken without their own free choice. The living person on the spiritual
journey passes beyond the attributes of earth, not the form of earth. The attributes of earth are
darkness, opacity, density, and heaviness. From the characteristic of darkness arise ignorance
and blindness. From the characteristic of opacity are born attachment, clinging, and mixing with
all things, and this produces dispersion. From the characteristic of density appear lack of mercy,
lack of kindness, and hardness of heart. From the characteristic of heaviness appear meanness of
nature, vileness, lowliness, baseness, lack of aspiration, contemptibleness, laziness, and
disagreeableness.
The traveler has borrowed all these blameworthy attributes from earth. He has left there
as pledge generosity, manliness, chivalry, high aspiration, pity, mercy, kindness, knowledge,
certainty, purity, truthfulness, concentration, delicacy, luminosity, and buoyancy. He cannot
pass beyond the station of clay without giving its qualities back. And he cannot find the way to
his own world without retrieving and taking back those attributes that he had brought from there
and left with the earth as a pledge.
In the same way, he has borrowed blameworthy attributes from the other three elements:
water, fire, and air. In place of each he has left praiseworthy qualities as security. So also is the
case with the heavenly spheres, the stars, and the other worlds.
When the traveler returns all the loans, takes back his pledges, and goes back to his
original resting place, he is appointed to the kingship of vicegerency. . . . Once he becomes king
of the kingdoms, whatever he had previously borrowed that he had to return becomes his
property. He controls them through ownership. As deputy and vicegerent of God, he employs
all the worlds of the Unseen and the Visible as his own servants.628
In short, by giving up the negative attributes acquired by immersion in the lower world,
the human being ascends to the degree of vicegerency, where he controls the cosmos on behalf
of God. As the Active Intellect, he brings all things in the universe under his sway.

Adam, Eve, and Iblis

We have seen that the soul, when contrasted with the spirit, is that dimension of the
human reality furthest from the light of God, while the spirit is close enough to be considered

628 Râzî, Mirsâd al-`ibâd 373-75 (cf. Path of God's Bondsmen 363-64).
 335

inherently luminous. Inasmuch as the soul is receptive to the spirit's light, it is completely
positive. But inasmuch as it remains far from the luminous center of the cosmos, it is dark and
ignorant. To the extent that it is unaware of its own darkness and makes no attempt to overcome
it, it is a negative dimension of the person. In this respect the soul is a hindrance to human
perfection and may lead to wretchedness. It is evaluated negatively: It is the "soul that
commands to evil."
In his esoteric commentary on the Koran, Kâshânî frequently contrasts spirit and soul.
Sometimes he views the soul as a good and positive reality, sometimes as a negative reality,
depending on the verse. His interpretation of the myth of Adam and Eve is especially
interesting. He discusses the microcosmic meaning of Satan--Iblis--and his relationship to the
soul. He identifies Iblis with the faculty of the soul known as wahm, which I have been
translating as sensory intuition.629 Human beings share this faculty with animals. According to
the usual explanation given in texts on psychology, sensory intuition provides an immediate, but
sometimes mistaken, awareness of the non-sensory state of a sensory thing. Neither the senses
nor imagination can grasp this state, whether the thing is present or absent. For example, sensory
intuition alerts us to the fact that qualities such as enmity, truthfulness, rapaciousness, and
kindness may be present in a person or an animal. As Avicenna puts it, this faculty "perceives
the non-sensible intentions that exist in the individual sensible objects, like the faculty which
judges that the wolf is to be avoided and the child is to be loved."630 Kâshânî remarks that
sensory intuition is able to perceive particular meanings, but not universal meanings. Perhaps he
means that it can grasp certain states of a person's soul, such as love or hate, but it cannot
perceive the universal mercy and vengeance that pertain to the divine realm. In any case,
sensory intuition is clearly an intermediary faculty situated somewhere between intellect and
sense perception. The soul dominated by sensory intuition possesses a certain luminosity in
relation to corporeal things, but it is a mixed and ambiguous luminosity, like that of fire. Since
the faculty is also possessed by animals, it clearly ranks below reflection or thought (fikr), not to
mention intellect.
Note that Kâshânî does not ascribe moralistic evil to the microcosmic Iblis. Sensory
intuition has its limitations and cannot go beyond them. It has always had these limitations, and
they are what they are. Sensory intuition plays a positive and necessary role on its own level.
But like appetite and anger, it has to be kept in place. If a person follows sensory intuition

629 Modern scholars have not been able to agree on how to translate wahm, a term that plays a
role in philosophical psychology. According to Avicenna, it is one of the five internal senses.
Most commonly it has been rendered as estimation, following the early Latin translations from
Arabic. P. Morewedge suggests that "prehension" is more accurate. He criticizes various
attempts at translation made by historians of Islamic philosophy including not only estimation,
but also nervous response, instinct, apprehension, conception, and imagination ("The Internal
Sense of Prehension (Wahm) in Islamic Philosophy"). I choose "sensory intuition" because it
seems to correspond to what Kâshânî is talking about better than any other term I can think of.
In addition, the word wahm is frequently used in the texts to mean fantasy and misguided
thinking without any technical implications. Like the English word intuition, it is a part of
everyday vocabulary. However, wahm usually has a negative connotation, and in the present
context, "sensory" helps bring this out.
630 F. Rahman, Avicenna's Psychology 31.
 336

instead of intellect, Iblis instead of the prophets, he is displaying the depths of ignorance and
misguidance and will end up in wretchedness. Prophetic wisdom alone, which is grasped only
through intellect, can lead a person outside the limitations of the animal soul.
Like Ghazâlî, Kâshânî employs the term heart to refer to the essence of what makes a
human being human, or what the philosophers call the "rational soul."631 Thus in his ta'wîl,
Adam corresponds to the heart, Eve to the soul, and Iblis to sensory intuition. We begin with
God's teaching Adam the names (2:31).
He taught Adam the names, all of them. In other words, He cast into the human heart the
characteristics of the things through which they are known to be themselves as well as their
benefits and harms. . . . When We said to the angels, "Prostrate yourselves to Adam." Their
prostration to him is their submission to him, their becoming lowly before him, their obedience
to him, and their being subjected to him. So they prostrated themselves, except Iblis. Iblis is the
faculty of sensory intuition. Sensory intuition does not belong to those angels who are purely
earthly and veiled from the perception of meanings by the perception of forms, or it would
necessarily obey the command of God willingly.632 Nor is it one of the heavenly, intellective
angels, or it would perceive the nobility of Adam. It would conform with Adam's intellect and
willingly yield to him out of love and out of seeking the good pleasure of God. Sensory intuition
is a jinn. In other words, it pertains to the lower Kingdom and the earthly faculties. It grew and
was nurtured among the heavenly angels because of its perception of particular meanings and its
ascent to the horizon of the intellect. Hence in dumb beasts sensory intuition stands in the place
of intellect in human beings.
Sensory intuition refused because it did not submit to the intellect and refrained from
accepting its ruling power. It claimed eminence because of its counting itself superior to things
created from clay and to the heavenly and earthly angels, for it failed to grasp its own limits, that
is, the fact that it perceives particular meanings connected to sensory objects. It transgressed its
own stage by delving into intelligible meanings and universal rulings. He was one of the
unbelievers, those who were veiled in eternity without beginning from intelligible and spiritual
lights, not to speak of the light of Oneness.633
We said, "Adam, dwell with your wife in the Garden." The heart's wife is the soul. The
soul is called hawwâ' [Eve, literally "red inclining to blackness"] because it is inseparable from
the dark body, and huwwa is a color dominated by blackness. In the same way the heart is called
âdam [Adam, literally "tinged with blackness"] because it is connected to the body through
imprinting [intibâ` (i.e., through becoming immersed in nature, tab`)], though the heart is not
inseparable from the body. Udma [from the same root as âdam] is brownness, or the color that

631 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 35.

632 The angels are ranked in many degrees, and the types of angels that Kâshânî mentions here
clearly belong to the lowest reaches of the hierarchy, since they only perceive forms and not the
meanings behind the forms. In other words, they function on the level of imagination, but they
do not go into the world of disengaged spirits. But since they are "angels," they submit to the
will of God, for obedience pertains to the very substance of the angels.
633 The root meaning of kufr, commonly translated as "unbelief," is covering and concealing.
Hence our authors look for the significance of the term in the root sense. The "unbelievers" are
those who cover and veil the blessings of God, and by the same token, it is they who are covered
and veiled from His blessings.
 337

tends toward blackness. Were it not for its attachment to the body, the heart would not be called
"tinged with blackness."634
The Garden within which the two of them were commanded to remain is the heaven of
the World of the Spirit, which is the Meadow of Holiness. In other words, God said, "Stay
within the heaven of the spirit."
And eat thereof easefully where you desire. In other words: Spread out and make
yourselves comfortable in receiving heaven's meanings, sciences, and wisdoms. These are the
foods of the heart and the fruits eaten by the spirit. Spread out to any extent whatsoever, in any
level, state, and station that you desire, since it is everlasting, not cut off, not forbidden. But
draw not nigh this tree, lest you be wrongdoers [zâlimûn], those who put light in the place of
darkness [zulma].635 For "wrongdoing" [zulm] in common usage means putting something in
the wrong place, while literally it means failing in what is right and in the obligatory portion.
Then Satan caused them to slip therefrom. He made them slip from their station in the
Garden into the abyss of Nature by enticing them with corporeal pleasures and having them
forever. He brought them out of what they were in, bliss and constant repose.636
Kâshânî clarifies Satan's role in his commentary on a second, more detailed Koranic
account of these events. Iblis tells God that he refused to bow himself because his qualities were
better than those of Adam. The section begins with the verse,
He said, "What prevented you from prostrating yourself when I commanded you?" Said
he, "I am better than he. Thou createdst me of fire, and him Thou createdst of clay." Said He,
"Get down out of it. It is not for you to claim eminence here, so go thou forth. Surely you are
among the humbled." (7:12)
Note that the analysis of Iblis's nature depends upon the qualities associated with fire. As
pointed out in Chapter 4 and elsewhere, fire correlates with the imaginal realm. Kâshânî
mentions sensory intuition as belonging to the World of Dominion (malakût), which is the
unseen world as opposed to the World of the Kingdom. Imagination is unseen inasmuch as it
shares in certain spiritual characteristics, though it belongs to an unseen realm much closer to the
visible world than disengaged spirits.
"Thou createdst me of fire." The faculty of sensory intuition was created from the most
subtle parts of the animal spirit. . . It is the hottest thing in the body, so He called it a fire. Heat
demands ascent and self-elevation. We have already explained that every faculty of the World of
Dominion oversees the characteristics of what is below it, but not what is above it. It oversees
both the perfections and characteristics of the body and those of the animal spirit. Since sensory
intuition is veiled from the characteristics of the human spirit and heart, this veiling takes the
form of its denial and causes its refusal and claiming eminence. It transgresses its own proper
domain by making judgments about intelligible meanings and disengaged things. It refuses to
accept the judgment of the intellect. This takes the form of its refusal to prostrate itself.

634 These etymologies are not necessarily meant to be taken seriously on the linguistic level,
since Kâshânî's interest is ta'wîl. He wants to bring out the "allusions" (ishâra) and hidden
meanings found in the words.
635 Wrongdoers could be translated "dark-doers" to make Kâshânî's point, since it has a
common root with zulma (darkness).
636 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 39-41.
 338

"It is not for you to claim eminence here," since claiming eminence is to pretend to
possess excellent attributes of the self that one does not possess. The spiritual presence to which
you claim to belong would not elevate itself above the intellect. "So go forth." You are not one
of the people of this presence. They are the mighty. "Surely you are among the humbled," one
of the faculties of the soul that are inseparable from the low direction and remain constantly in
lowliness by being tied to bodily things.637
The Koranic account continues by telling how God banished Satan and gave him respite
until the Day of Resurrection. Then God addresses Adam, telling him to live in the Garden but
to avoid the tree. "Then Satan whispered to them, to reveal to them that which was hidden from
them of their shameful parts. He said, 'Your Lord has prohibited you from this tree lest you
become two angels, or lest you become immortals'" (7:20).
To reveal to them that which was hidden from them of their shameful parts. In other
words, Satan wanted to make manifest to them through their inclining toward Nature what had
been veiled from them while they were disengaged from natural things, bodily enjoyments, base
character traits, animal acts, and predatory and beastly attributes. Human beings are ashamed to
manifest any of these and disapprove of spreading them about. Manliness prompts them to
conceal them, since these are shameful things in the view of the intellect, so they scorn and
despise them.
He said, "Your Lord has prohibited you from this tree lest you become two angels, or lest
you become immortals." In other words, Iblis made them have the sensory intuition that joining
with corporeal nature and hylic matter would give them the pleasures, perceptions, and acts of
angels as well as immortality. . . .
And he swore to them, "Truly, I am for you two a sincere adviser." So he caused the two
of them to come down. He made them come down to attachment to Nature and repose within it.
By delusion, for he deluded them by dressing himself in the dress of sincere advisers and making
them have the sensory intuition that bodily pleasures and the chieftainship of human beings
would last forever. He enticed them with the benefits of the body and the appetites of the soul.
And when they tasted the tree, their shameful parts were revealed to them, so they took to
stitching upon themselves leaves of the Garden. In other words, they began to conceal the
blights of Nature through good manners and beautiful customs. These branch out from
intellectual opinions and are deductions of the practical intellect. The two of them were hiding
those blights with practical stratagems.
And their Lord called to them, "Did I not prohibit you from this tree?" The form of the
prohibition is that which is firmly fixed within the intellect: inclination toward disengagement
[from Nature], perception of intelligible things, and the avoidance of material and sensory things.
"And say to you, 'Verily, Satan is for you a manifest enemy'?" This is what God inspires to the
intellect: It must contradict the rulings of sensory intuition, oppose its perceptions, and stand
firm in acting contrary to it and resisting it. God's "call to them" in this is that they are apprised
of this meaning through an inspired thought. They are reminded of it after becoming attached to
and immersed in the pleasures of Nature, when they reach maturity and when the lights of
intellect and understanding become manifest to them.
They said, "Lord we have wronged ourselves." This is because within Nature the rational
soul becomes aware of its imperfections, the snuffing out of its light, and the breaking of its

637 Ibid. 425.

 339

strength. It has now been incited to seek perfection through becoming disengaged. "And if
Thou dost not forgive us," by effusing upon us true knowledges, "we shall surely be among the
lost," those who waste their original preparedness, which is the substance of felicity and
subsistence, by employing it in the abode of annihilation. Thereby they would be deprived of
reaching perfection through becoming disengaged because they kept on clinging to the
imperfections of Nature.638
God then sends Adam and Eve down to this world, in a passage parallel to that discussed
above. Next the Koran addresses the children of Adam, telling them what conclusions they
should draw from the story. God has sent down a "garment" to cover those "shameful parts" that
were exposed when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit. The shameful parts are the ugly character
traits that grow up in the rational soul when it becomes attached to this world. The garment is
the revealed law, the Sharia, which rectifies character traits and brings the soul into harmony
with intellect. Through the guidance of the Sharia the intellect is able to disengage itself from
immersion in the darkness of Nature, and the soul can then follow suit. Intellect, we should
recall once again, is that dimension of the microcosm that corresponds to the prophets in the
macrocosm. Hence its inherent characteristic is the light of guidance. However, it can be
brought from potentiality into full actuality only when a person follows the prophets, accepts the
revealed law, and possesses the receptivity of servanthood. The soul, considered here in its
negativity, conceals the light.
Children of Adam! We have sent down on you a garment to cover your shameful parts.
In other words, [We have sent down] a Sharia that will conceal your ugly attributes and indecent
acts. And plumage, that is, a beauty that will keep you far from resembling slovenly cattle and
adorn you with good character traits and beautiful works. And the garment of godfearing, which
is the attribute of piety and being on guard against the attribute of the soul, that is better than all
the pillars of the revealed laws, since that is the root and foundation of religion. . . .
That is one of God's signs, one of the lights of His attributes, since avoiding the attributes
of the soul will not be achieved or made possible unless the self-disclosures of God's attributes
become manifest. The Sufis allude to this with their words, "God will not take control of
anything of the servant without replacing it with something better of its own kind." Perhaps,
when the self-disclosures become manifest, you will remember your luminous, original garment,
or the neighborhood of God, within which you were dwelling through the guidance of the lights
of the divine attributes.
Let not Satan tempt you away from entering the Garden and being inseparable from it.
For he would strip you of the garment of the Sharia and godfearing, as he brought your parents
out of the Garden, stripping them of their original, luminous garments.639
In another part of his commentary, Kâshânî ties sensory intuition into the negative
masculinity of the soul while commenting on the Koranic verse, "When We let the people taste
mercy after hardship has touched them, lo, they have a deception against Our signs. Say: 'God is
swifter at deception'" (10:21). He begins by explaining why hardship and suffering are good for
the soul. They make it aware of the limitations and narrowness of the lower direction and cause
it to turn its aspiration upward. In contrast, well-being leads to self-satisfaction and arrogance.

638 Ibid. 427-28.

639 Ibid. 429.
 340

When We let the people taste mercy after hardship has touched them. It was mentioned
that the different kinds of affliction, such as hardship, distress, and different types of misery,
break the covetousness of the soul, subtilize the heart through removal of the veils that are the
soul's attributes, refine the densities of nature, and remove the wrappings of caprice. Hence in
the state of hardship people's hearts incline by nature toward their Origin, because here they
return to the requirements of their original nature, go back to their fundamental luminosity and
innate capacity, and incline toward the ascension that is in their root because of the removal of
the hindrance. Or rather, inclination toward the high direction and the luminous origins is the
innate disposition of the natures of all faculties relating to the Dominion. This is true even of the
animal soul, if it is purified from the dark, bodily conditions, since remaining low is one of the
bodily accidents. This is even so for the beasts and wild creatures: When their situation
becomes difficult in times of barrenness and days of drought, they gather together, lifting their
heads to heaven,640 as if their Dominion understands that effusion comes down from the high
direction. So they seek replenishment from it.
In the same way, when outward blessings become abundant for people and natural
supplies and corporeal desires are complete, the soul is strengthened by replenishment from the
low direction. Then its faculties become presumptuous through elevating themselves over the
heart. The veils become dense and coarse. Caprice gains mastery and becomes dominant.
Ruling authority comes to belong to corporeal nature. Dark, bodily conditions accumulate. The
heart takes on the condition of the soul and becomes hard and coarse. It becomes insolent and
blessings make it reckless. Hence it disbelieves and becomes blind, deviating toward the low
direction, since now it is far from the luminous condition.
To the extent that the soul gains mastery over the heart, sensory intuition gains mastery
over intellect. Hence satanity gains mastery, since the intellective faculty is a prisoner in the
shackles of sensory intuition, commanded by it, employed for its goals and put to work for its
hopes. These hopes are acquiring the pleasures of the soul, replenishing it by means of the world
of filth, and strengthening its attributes by means of the world of Nature. Satanity prepares the
material of gratifications by means of reflective thought. Hence the heart becomes veiled
through rust and is unable to receive all the attributes of God. That is the meaning of His words,
Lo, they have a deception against Our signs. Say: "God is swifter at deception." For God
conceals true severity in outward gentleness. All the while He prepares the chastisement of the
"fires," which are deprivation, the "serpents," which are the conditions of vile qualities, the
"black scorpions," and the "garment of tar" within this apparent mercy.641

The Soul's Animals

Kâshânî's allusion to the nature of the torments of the grave leads into a question closely
related to the perfection and completion of the soul, that is, the afterlife, belief in which is one of
the principles of Islam. Most authors of the intellectual tradition read the detailed descriptions of
the afterlife given in the Koran and the Hadith as delineating the possible qualities that the soul
may assume. At the beginning of its becoming, the soul is pure receptivity. If the qualities and
character traits which it gradually adopts as its own conform with the luminosity of the spirit,

640 Cf. Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il III 233, where the same example is given to prove that all things
"find" (wujûd) God.
641 Ta'wîlât I 527-28.
 341

then it ends up in felicity. If, on the contrary, the soul clings to the limitations and darkness of
the lower realms of reality, it will fail to be uplifted by the qualities of the spirit. Instead it will
ignorantly arrogate to itself the rights of spirit and intellect, and eventually it will find itself in
wretchedness. Kâshânî refers to these two basic routes that the soul can take in explaining Koran
7:8, one of the several Koranic references to the scales that will be set up on the Day of
Resurrection.
He whose scales are heavy. In other words, the things weighed for him excel because
they are "subsisting works, deeds of righteousness" [18:46]. They are the prosperers, the ones
who achieve the attributes of their original nature and the bliss of the Garden of the Attributes in
the station of the heart.
And he whose scales are light. In this case the things weighed are the passing, sensory
things. They have lost their souls by selling them for immediate and quickly disappearing
pleasures and annihilating them within the Abode of Annihilation, even though souls are the
wares of subsistence.
You should know that the "tongue" of the scales of God is the attribute of justice. One of
the pans is the world of sense perception, while the other is the world of intellect. When a
person's earnings are of the abiding intelligible things, virtuous character traits, and good works
joined with right intentions, then the scales are "heavy." In other words, they possess worth and
weight, since nothing is worth more than continuous subsistence. But when a person's
acquisitions are of the passing sensory things, transitory pleasures, corrupt appetites, base
character traits, and ruinous evils, then the scales are "light." In other words, they have no worth
and are not counted. There is no lightness lighter than annihilation. The "loss" of such people is
that they wasted their original preparedness by seeking the chaff of this world and acquiring the
hopes of the soul, since they became manifest in the attributes of their souls. They "wronged"
the attributes of God by crying lies to them, that is, by concealing them with the attributes of
their own souls.642
If the soul fails to actualize the attributes of God that are latent within itself as a divine
image, it will not become human. In other words, a person who at first had the potentiality to
actualize the fullness of human nature instead will remain dominated by the qualities of the
animal soul, which are the qualities that we see manifest around us in the animal kingdom. In
the next world, when the veils are lifted and the true nature of things is exposed for everyone to
see, such a soul will become manifest in its own proper attributes. Hence it will appear as an
animal. This, in the view of our authors, is the true meaning of transmigration (tanâsukh).
Both the Koran and the hadith literature provide many examples of the close
correspondence between works and the reward or punishment of the next world. The qualities
present within a person in this world become manifest outwardly and concretely within the next
world. For example, the Prophet said,
If any owner of camels does not pay the alms tax that is due on them . . . , when the Day
of Resurrection comes, a soft sandy plain will be spread out for him, as extensive as possible.
He will find that not a single young camel is missing, and they will trample him with their hoofs
and bite him with their mouths. Just as often as the last of them passes over him, the first of
them will be brought back to him, during a day whose length will be fifty thousand years. Then

642 Ibid. 423-24.

 342

judgment will be pronounced among mankind, and he will see whether his path takes him to
paradise or to hell.643
The intellectual tradition explains such events by having recourse to the World of
Imagination, which is neither purely spiritual nor purely corporeal. There disengaged spiritual
realities become manifest as appropriate corporeal forms, and material things are transmuted into
images that display their true nature.
Human beings, as microcosms, possess the qualities of all things within themselves,
though not necessarily in an actualized mode. Since they are made in the form of God, they can
actualize all the attributes of God. By the same token, they have the ability to actualize some
divine attributes and not others. They can develop on the basis of all sorts of combinations and
permutations of qualities. Inasmuch as these qualities manifest divine attributes, they are
positive. But as soon as the prescriptive command and human felicity are taken into account,
some combinations of qualities are positive and some negative. The right and left hands of God
are not equal.
Animals are the closest children of the elements to human beings, so human attributes
have strong affinities with animal attributes. What separates an animal from a human is the
partiality of the animal's constitution, as opposed to the potential totality of the human form. An
animal manifests one divine attribute, or two, or ten. But human beings have the potentiality to
manifest every attribute, since they are created in the form of the all-comprehensive name of
God. This, in the view of the sapiential tradition, helps explain the relevance to human life of
myths and fables about animals, the most famous example in Islamic literature being Kalîla wa
Dimna, also known as The Fables of Bidpai.
Almost all our authors compare certain attributes in the human being to the traits of well-
known animals. They have good precedents for this in the Koran and the Hadith. For example,
the Prophet was asked about the Koranic verse, "On the day the Trumpet is blown, and you shall
come in troops" (78:18). He replied,
Ten groups of my community will be gathered separately. God will have distinguished
them from those who have faith and changed their forms. Some will be in the form of monkeys.
Some will be in the form of pigs. Some will be upside down, their legs on top and their faces on
bottom, and they will be sliding on their faces. Some will be blind and wavering. Some will be
deaf, not understanding. Some will be chewing their own tongues . . . .
As for those who are in the form of monkeys, they are the slanderers. Those in the form
of pigs acquired property through unlawful means. Those upside down took usury. The blind
are those who transgressed in passing judgment. The deaf and dumb are those pleased with their
own works. Those chewing their own tongues are the ulama and judges whose acts conflicted
with their words.644
Shi'ite sources provide many examples of such sayings. The following is a particularly
good illustration, though I have not been able to trace it to any of the authoritative collections.
The addition of a star and a planet at the end is perhaps meant to keep us from taking the saying
too literally. `Alî is reported to have quoted the Prophet as saying,
People who are metamorphosized [mamsûkh] [in the next world] become one of thirteen:
elephant, bear, pig, monkey, eel, lizard, bat, scorpion, worm, spider, rabbit, Canopus, and Venus.

643 Tabrîzî, Mishkât 155; cf. Robson, Mishkat 371.

644 Tabrisî, Majma` al-bayân X 423-24.
 343

. . . The elephant was a tyrannical pederast who left neither wet nor dry alone. The bear was an
effeminate man who let other men come to him. The pig was a Christian man. The monkey was
one of those who transgressed the sabbath. The eel was a cuckold. The lizard was a thief. The
bat used to steal fruit. The scorpion was a stinging man from whose tongue no one was safe.
The worm was a backbiter who caused separation among his friends. The rabbit was a woman
who did not purify herself after menstruation or anything else. Canopus was a man who took the
tithe. Venus was a Christian woman.645
The Ikhwân al-Safâ' provide lists of the analogical correspondences between animals and
human character traits in their discussions of the microcosm. I quote a long passage which again
is a good illustration of the type of thinking involved.
The animals are many kinds, and each of them has a characteristic different from the
others. Human beings share with them in all the characteristics. But animals have two
characteristics that embrace all the others: seeking benefits and fleeing from harmful things.
However, some of animals seek benefits through severity and domination, such as
predators. Some seek them through blandishments, like dogs and cats. Some seek them through
artifice, like spiders. And all this is found in human beings. Kings and sultans seek benefits
through domination, beggars through asking and humility, artisans and merchants through
artifice and friendliness.
All animals flee from harmful things and enemies, but some repel the enemy from
themselves by killing, severity, and domination, like predators, and some through fleeing, like
rabbits and deer. Some animals repel through weapons and armor, like hedgehogs and turtles,
and some through fortifying themselves in the earth, like mice, vermin, and serpents. And all of
this is found in human beings: They repel enemies through severity and domination. If they fear
for themselves, they wear weapons. If they cannot master the enemy, they flee from him. If they
cannot flee, they defend themselves through fortifications. Sometimes people repel their
enemies with artifice, just as the crow overcame the owl in the book Kalîla wa Dimna.
As for the fact that human beings share with the engendered things in their
characteristics, you should know, my brother--God confirm you, and us, with a spirit from Him--
that every kind of animal has a special characteristic imprinted within its nature, and all of these
are found in human beings. Human beings are brave like the lion, timid like the rabbit, generous
like the rooster, stingy like the dog, chaste like the fish, proud like the crow, wild like the tiger,
sociable like the dove, clever like the fox, gentle like the cow, swift like the gazelle, slow like the
bear, mighty like the elephant, servile like the camel, thieving like the magpie, haughty like the
peacock, guiding like the sand grouse, astray like the ostrich, skillful like the bee, strong like the
dragon, dreadful like the spider, mild like the lamb, spiteful like the donkey, hard working like
the bull, headstrong like the mule, dumb like the whale, great talkers like the nightingale and the
parrot, usurping like the wolf, auspicious like the sandpiper, harmful like the rat, ignorant like
the pig, sinister like the owl, and full of benefit like the bee.
In short, there is no animal, mineral, plant, pillar, celestial sphere, planet, constellation, or
existent thing possessing a characteristic without that characteristic or its likenesses being found
in the human being. . . .

645 Ibn Abî Jumhûr, al-Mujlî 507.

 344

This explains why the sages have said that the human being alone stands after all
multiplicity, just as God alone stands before all multiplicity.646
Ghazâlî frequently employs the imagery of animals, as in the passage quoted at the
beginning of this chapter. A work usually attributed to him describes the structure of the soul,
showing how the characteristics of all creatures are found within it:
Human beings were created at a level between beast and angel, and within them are
found a totality of faculties and attributes. In respect of being nourished and growing, they are
plants. In respect of sensation and movement, they are animals. In respect of their forms and
statures, they are like pictures painted on a wall. But the characteristic for which they were
created is only the faculty of intellect and the perception of the realities of things.
Those who employ all their faculties in order to reach knowledge and good works
through them are similar to the angels and worthy of joining with them and being called lordly
angels. . . .
Those who turn their aspiration toward following bodily pleasures and eating as the
beasts eat have come down to the horizon of the beasts. Such people become dull like a bull,
covetous like a pig, mad like a dog, spiteful like a camel, proud like a leopard, or evasive like a
scorpion.647
Sufi texts frequently describe the negative tendencies of the soul in terms of animal
characteristics. Sam`ânî is typical:
O dervish, the human being was given a place of peril: In one instant, he attains to the
degree of Gabriel and Michael--rather, he passes beyond them. And through a single thought he
becomes a dog or a pig. If he goes forward in accordance with knowledge and intellect, then we
have a noble angel: "This is no mortal man, this is but a noble angel!" [12:31]. If he follows his
appetites and makes his heart the threshold of Satan, then we have a worthless beast. He may be
greedy like a pig, fawning like a cat, spiteful like a camel, proud like a panther, sly like a fox,
mean like a dog. "The likeness of him is as the likeness of a dog" [7:176].
The human being is an all-comprehensive city. His essence is a container for all the
meanings of the cosmos. The wisdom in this as follows: The Lord of Inaccessibility wanted to
apprise him of the treasuries of knowledges and make him witness all the meanings of the
cosmos. But the cosmos is exceedingly vast and the face of the earth is very wide. There was no
way that mortal human beings could travel all around the cosmos in its entirety, given their short
life and their incapacity in their affairs. Hence the divine wisdom required and requested from
the divine power that an abridged transcription be made of the root of the macrocosm. This was
then recorded in the microcosm. Then He placed this abridged tablet before the child, the
intellect, and He made him bear witness to it: "He made them bear witness to their own souls:
'Am I not your Lord?' They replied, 'Yes, we bear witness'" [7:172].648
As a microcosm, the soul contains all the animal characteristics, and any one of them
may dominate over it. The only way to overcome these characteristics is to strive in the way of
religion (dîn). As Sam`ânî puts it,
These Men who entered into this path fought a war against their selves, a war that had no
way to peace. For they found the soul to be the opponent of religion. How can the man who has

646 Ikhwân al-Safâ', Rasâ'il II 474-75.

647 Ghazâlî, Mîzân al-`amal 209-10.
648 Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 177.
 345

religion make peace with the opponent of religion? Sometimes they described the soul as a
beast, sometimes as a serpent, sometimes as a dog, sometimes as a pig. Every picture they
described it with was correct, except the picture of religion.649
Rûmî constantly uses animal imagery in his poetry to bring out the qualities and character
traits of different types of people or simply to express the general human situation. Like Ghazâlî
and others, he divides creatures into three basic kinds--angels, human beings, and animals--citing
also a prophetic saying to this effect. His position is no different from that of others, but his way
of expressing himself shows something of the laughing warmth of his personality:
The situation of the human being is like an angel's wing being attached to a donkey's tail.
Hopefully that ass, through the radiance and companionship of the angel, will itself become an
angel.650
One of the clearest explanations of the principle of qualitative correspondence at work
here is provided by Nasafî. The following is taken from a chapter entitled, "Explaining Adam
and Eve."
You should know that just as Adam, Eve, and Iblis are found in the macrocosm, so also
they are found in the microcosm. And just as predators, beasts, satans, and angels are found in
the macrocosm, so also they are found in the microcosm.
O dervish! The human being is the microcosm. Intellect is this world's Adam. The body
is Eve. Sensory intuition is Iblis. Appetite is the peacock.651 Anger is the serpent. Good
character traits are paradise. Bad character traits are hell. The faculties of intellect, the faculties
of the spirit, and the faculties of the body are the angels. O dervish! Satan is one thing and Iblis
is another. Satan is Nature, while Iblis is sensory intuition.
O dervish! Form is of no account--meaning must be considered. Names are of no
account--attributes must be considered. Lineage is of no account--excellence must be
considered.
A dog is not low and vile through its form as a dog. It is low and vile because of the
attribute of predatoriness and viciousness. When this attribute is found in a human being, that
human being is a dog through the attribute.
A pig is not low and vile because of its form as a pig. It is low and vile because of the
attribute of eager desire and covetousness. When this attribute is found in a human being, that
human being is a pig through the attribute.
Satan is not low and vile because of his form as a satan. He is vile and bad because of
disobedience and teaching evil. When this attribute is found in a human being, that human being
is a satan through the attribute.
Iblis is not driven away and distant because of his form as Iblis. He is driven away
because of the attribute of pride, self-satisfaction, envy, and disobedience. When this attribute is
found in a human being, that human being is an Iblis through the attribute.

649 Ibid. 89.

650 Rûmî, Fîhi mâ fîhi 107. For other passages, cf. SPL 85-87.
651 According to Muslim accounts of the events in the Garden of Eden, the peacock acted as the
intermediary between Satan and the serpent. The serpent then allowed Satan to hide in its mouth
in order to gain entry into the Garden. Cf. Kisâ'î, Tales 36-39.
 346

The angel is not noble and good through its form as an angel. It is noble and good
through its obedience and heeding commands. When this attribute is found in a human being,
that human being is an angel through the attribute.
You should think of all things in these terms.
The business of God's vicegerent is to make all these attributes subjected and obedient to
himself. He puts each of them to work in its own place. Without his command, none of them
will do anything. God's vicegerent is Solomon. All these work for Solomon.652
O dervish! The angel and Iblis are a single power. As long as this power is not obedient
to Solomon, it is called "Iblis." Solomon puts one of them in chains. When it obeys Solomon, it
is called an "angel." Then Solomon puts it to work. Some build, some dive.653
Hence the work of Solomon is to change attributes, not to eliminate attributes, since this
is impossible. He makes the disobedient obedient. He teaches the one who behaves badly right
conduct. He makes the blind seeing and the deaf hearing. He brings the dead to life. Hence the
intellect, which is God's vicegerent, is Adam, Solomon, and Jesus.
If the situation is different from this, then all these things subjugate Solomon and make
him obey them. Hence Solomon becomes the prisoner of the dog and the pig, the slave of the
devil and the satan. He must serve them every day, searching out their wants. . . .
O dervish! Though a person like this has the form of a human being, in meaning he is a
devil and satan, or a dog and a pig.654
In reading the data provided by the Koran and the Hadith on the afterlife, many
authorities came to the conclusion that at death the soul is transferred to the World of
Imagination, where essences and meanings are experienced directly, without the intermediary of
the corporeal body. Through the growth of the soul in this world, all its sensory faculties
pertaining to the animal level of existence come to be developed. After death, these faculties
continue to function without the body. The imaginal realities are perceived by the senses, like
corporeal things, but they are far more intense in existence, like spiritual things. Moreover, it is
here that "qualitative correspondence" plays a dominating ontological role. The body has
disappeared, so its darkness can no longer fend off the realities of things. Character traits are
seen for what they are, hypocrisy is unmasked, moral ugliness--or beauty--assumes concrete
form. "Today We have lifted thy covering," says God to the soul that has just died, "so thy sight
today is piercing" (50:22). These ideas are expressed in perhaps the most appropriate form by
poets of the spiritual tradition, especially Rûmî. The philosophical and cosmological
underpinnings of eschatology are dealt with most thoroughly by Ibn al-`Arabî and Mullâ Sadrâ,
though from Suhrawardî al-Maqtûl onward, the appeal to the World of Imagination is standard
procedure.655

652 Solomon stands for the vicegerent because he was given an unparalleled kingdom in answer
to his prayer, "My Lord, forgive me, and give me a kingdom such as may not come to anyone
after me" (38:35).
653 Allusion to Solomon's power over the satans mentioned in Koran 38:37: "And the satans,
every builder and diver, and others also, coupled in fetters."
654 Nasafî, Insân-i kâmil 149-51.
655 For a survey of the tradition, cf. Chittick, "Eschatology." For Ibn al-`Arabî's contribution to
the theory of imagination, cf. SPK, especially chapter 7. For Ibn al-`Arabî's eschatological
views, cf. J. Morris in Chodkiewicz, Illuminations, pp. 119-90; also Chittick, "Death and the
 347

Already Ghazâlî refers to the appropriate nature of the images perceived after death. In a
passage from the Ihyâ' quoted from him earlier, he remarks that if people were to perceive their
own situation in appropriate imaginal forms, they would see themselves bowing before pigs and
dogs. In the parallel passage in Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat, he extends the discussion to the afterlife:
If people were to be honest and remove the veil of forgetfulness, most of them would see
that, day and night, they have tightened the belt of service before the desires and caprice of their
own souls. And this in reality is their state, even though in form they are human. But tomorrow,
at the resurrection, meanings will be laid bare. Form will appear in the color of meaning. If a
person is dominated here by appetite and greed, tomorrow he will be seen in the form of a pig. If
he is dominated by anger, he will be seen as a dog.656
In the next world, the soul experiences its own character traits as the "snakes and
scorpions" promised to the wrongdoers by various prophetic sayings. Rûmî makes the point
clearly:
Man's existence is a jungle: Beware of his existence if you breathe the breath of the
spirit!
There are thousands of wolves and pigs in our existence: good and evil, fair and foul.
Man's properties are determined by the trait that predominates: If gold is more than
copper, then he is gold.
Of necessity you will be given form at the resurrection in accordance with the character
trait that predominates in your existence.657
Mullâ Sadrâ provides detailed philosophical explanations of the nature of the afterlife in
many of his works. In brief, he explains that the soul moves from potentiality to actuality. But
each soul's ultimate actuality is different, and it will appear in the next world according to its
own specific nature.
There is no human soul that does not acquire a certain kind of actuality in this engendered
universe, an actualization of existence. Then it acquires an independent existence after the
dissolution of the elemental body. Each soul acquires through its acts and works certain
conditions of character and traits of second nature. These give to it a correspondence within
itself with one of the four genera of substances, that is, the angel, the satan, the beast, and the
predator. Then the soul is resurrected according to that which has become firmly rooted within
it. He who is dominated by knowledge and wisdom becomes an angel in actuality. He who is
dominated by cunning and trickery becomes a satan in actuality. He who is dominated by
appetite and greed becomes a beast in actuality. And he who is dominated by anger and love of
leadership becomes a predator in actuality.658
Mullâ Sadrâ then says that the reports that have come down from Plato and earlier
philosophers concerning their belief in the transferal of wretched souls into the bodies of animals
must be understood in this light. Here he is following an interpretation going back at least to
Avicenna, who writes,

World of Imagination." For the eschatological tradition at its height, cf. Mullâ Sadrâ, Wisdom
of the Throne.
656 Ghazâlî, Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat 23/18.
657 Rûmî, Mathnawî II 1416-19 (cf. SPL 103-4).
658 Mullâ Sadrâ, al-Ta`lîqât 476-77. Cf. Mullâ Sadrâ's discussion of these points in Wisdom of
the Throne 144-49.
 348

It has been related that one of the sages said that if the soul has done evil, then, after it is
separated from the bodily frame, it will return to another body similar to it in that evil trait.
Thus, if the evildoing was based on the pull of appetite, the soul will come into the body of a pig.
If the evildoing grew up out of becoming angry, causing harm, and making people suffer, then
the soul will come in the body of a lion. . . .
This and similar things related from the sages are all allusions [ishârât]. They said such
things so that the common people would avoid evildoing. . . . What they meant by these
allusions was to [exhort their readers to] empty the soul of evil attributes, since, if these attributes
remain, it would be as if they had remained in the body. . . . Then the soul would receive effects
from the bodily faculties. . . . This would prevent the soul from seeking for its own perfection
and would hold it back from knowledge and intellection, which are the act of the soul in its own
substance. Then it would have no awareness of the pleasure that is singled out for it alone.
Although the soul's connection with the body will be terminated after it leaves the body,
nevertheless, if the body's effect remains, the soul will be as if it were still in the body. And the
evil condition that the soul gains through connection with the body is an effect either from the
side of the bestial appetite or from the side of the anger and wrath that is an attribute of predatory
animals. After separation, it is as if those effects upon the soul are the body of a beast or a
predatory animal.659
Ibn al-`Arabî makes the same point, but he states explicitly that all this actually occurs
within the World of Imagination:
It was here that the people who believe in transmigration slipped. They saw or heard that
the prophets sometimes gave news about the passage of spirits into these forms in the World of
Imagination, forms that accord with the character traits of the spirits. They saw these same
character traits in animals. So they imagined that the words of the prophets, messengers, and
men of knowledge refer to the animals that exist in this lower world. . . . They were mistaken in
their view and in their interpretation of the words of the messengers.660

Purifying the Soul

The goal of human life is to purify the soul and allow it to rejoin the world of luminosity
from which it descended. This theme permeates the intellectual tradition. We can take Avicenna
as the spokesman of the philosophers. He sums up his conclusions in one of his important
works:
We have established the situation of the true Return. We have proven that felicity in the
next world is earned by making the soul incomparable. "To make the soul incomparable" is to
keep it far from those bodily conditions that conflict with the causes of felicity. This making the
soul incomparable is acquired by character traits and second natures. Character traits and second
natures are earned through specific acts. Their characteristic is that the soul turns away from the
body and sense perception and constantly remembers its own Source. When it keeps on going
back to its own Essence, it no longer receives the activity of bodily states.661
Najm al-Dîn Râzî can speak for the Sufis. In Mirsâd al-`ibâd, he describes the human
soul in terms that sum up many of the points that have been made in the present chapter. He

659 Ibn Sînâ, Tarjama-yi risâla-yi adhawiyya 13-14, 50-51.

660 Ibn al-`Arabî, Futûhât III 66.23.
661 Ibn Sînâ, al-Najâh 307.
 349

names this section of his book "Concerning the Purification of the Soul and the True Knowledge
Thereof." As usual, he begins by quoting the Koran and the Hadith to set down the theme that
will be discussed.
God says, "By the soul and Him who proportioned it and inspired in it its wickedness and
its godfearing--truly he prospers who purifies it, and he is lost who obscures it" [91:7-10]. The
Prophet said, "Your worst enemy is your soul that is between your two sides."662
Know that the soul is an enemy with the face of a friend. Its cunning and deception have
no end. To repel its evil and subjugate it is the most important of tasks. For the soul is the worst
of all enemies, worse than the satans, this world, and the unbelievers. . . .
To train the soul and bring it back to a state of well-being and to make it advance from
the attribute of commanding to evil to the level of being at peace with God is a great task. The
perfection of human felicity lies in purifying the soul, while the perfection of human
wretchedness lies in letting the soul flow in accordance with Nature. That is why God says, after
several oaths, "Truly he prospers who purifies it, and he is lost who obscures it."
The reason for this is that the purification and training of the soul result in knowing the
soul, and knowing the soul entails knowledge of God. For "He who knows his own soul knows
his Lord." Knowledge stands at the head of all felicity. . . .
In the technical terms of the People of the Path, the soul is a subtle vapor whose source is
the form of the heart. The physicians call it the animal spirit. It is the source of all blameworthy
attributes, just as God said: "Truly the soul commands to evil" [12:53]. . . . The souls of other
animals have the same relationship with their bodies in terms of form. However, the human soul
has certain attributes that are not found in the souls of animals. One of these attributes is
subsistence. A taste of the World of Subsistence has been placed in the human soul. After
separation from the frame it will subsist, whether in paradise or hell. . . .
Subsistence is of two kinds: One kind always was and always will be. This is the
subsistence of God. The second kind was not, then came to be, and after this will subsist by
means of the Real's subsistence. This is the subsistence of spirits, the Dominion, and the next
world. . . . The human soul was given a taste of both kinds of subsistence.
The soul gained a taste of the subsistence of the Real when Adam's clay was kneaded.
One of the precious pearls that God concealed in that base earth through His own Divinity was
everlasting subsistence.
As for the taste of the subsistence of the spirits, that was placed within him at the time
when the spirit and frame were paired through the controlling power of "I blew into him of My
spirit" [15:29]. The likeness of this is that a man and woman should couple. From them two
children are engendered in a single belly. One is male and resembles the father, the other is
female and resembles the mother.
In the same way, from the pairing of spirit and frame two children appeared: the heart
and the soul. The heart is a boy who is similar to the father. The soul is a girl who is similar to
the mother, the earthy frame. In the heart are found all the praiseworthy, high, spiritual
attributes, and in the soul all the blameworthy, low attributes. However, since the soul was born
of spirit and frame, some of the attributes of subsistence and a few of the praiseworthy attributes
that pertain to spirituality are found within it. . . .

662 The hadith is not indexed in Wensinck.

 350

[In the mother's womb] the sperm drop becomes a blood clot and the blood clot becomes
a lump of flesh. . . . When three forty-day periods pass, the lump of flesh becomes worthy of
becoming connected to the spirit. . . . When the child enters existence and reaches puberty, the
soul reaches the perfection of soulness. After this it is worthy of carrying the prescriptions
imposed on it by the Sharia. If the Sharia had been addressed to the person earlier, he would not
have been able to carry the prescriptions, since his nurturing was still incomplete. . . .
Now that you have learned the true knowledge of the soul as appropriate for this
summary, listen to an intimation that will tell you where its training and purification are to be
found.
Know that the soul has two inherent attributes that it inherits from its mother. All other
blameworthy attributes are born from these two roots and represent their activity. These two
inherent attributes are caprice and anger.
We have not yet met caprice paired with anger, though this is commonly seen in Sufi
texts. The word caprice (hawâ) is employed synonymously here with appetite (shahwa). Like
other authors who prefer the word caprice to appetite, Râzî probably does so because appetite has
too many connections with the philosophical tradition (which most Sufis do not defend), while
caprice is a key Koranic term. The Koran employs it to sum up all the negative tendencies of the
soul. In short, to follow caprice is to turn away from the Real. We have already met the term in
such Koranic verses as 23:71: "Had the Real followed their caprices, the heavens and the earth
and everything within them would have been corrupted." The literal meaning of the word is to
drop, fall, tumble. By extension it means to fall for, to fall in love, love, passion. Râzî has this
extended meaning of the term in mind, as we will see shortly. For now, he turns to explaining
the connection between these two attributes and the four elements, from which the soul's mother-
-the body--is compounded. Note that Râzî connects caprice and anger rather explicitly with the
negative yin and yang tendencies of the soul. Caprice or appetite is passive and falls for
anything that pulls it away from God. In contrast, anger stands up arrogantly against the truth
and the Real.
Both caprice and anger are specific characteristics of the four elements, which are the
mother of the soul. Caprice is to incline and to go straight to the low. Thus God says, "By the
star when it falls [hawâ]" [53:1], that is, when it comes down. It is said that this verse refers to
the return of the Prophet from his mi`râj. He came from the high world to the low world. This
inclination and going straight to the low is the characteristic of water and earth.
Anger is self-exaltation, seeking eminence, and seeking domination. These are the
attributes of wind and fire.
These two intrinsic attributes of the soul are inherited from the mother. They are the
leaven of hell. All the descending degrees of hell are born from them. At the same time, these
two attributes--caprice and anger--must be present in the soul. Through the attribute of caprice
the soul attracts benefits, and through the attribute of anger it repels harm. Through the two its
existence subsists and is nurtured in the world of generation and corruption.
However, these two attributes must be kept in equilibrium. A deficiency of either results
in the deficiency of soul and body, and an excess of either results in a deficiency of intellect and
faith.
Here Râzî almost certainly has in view the prophetic saying, "Women fall short in
intellect and religion." For these "women" mentioned by the Prophet manifest the characteristics
of the soul that commands to evil. And the soul that commands to evil is precisely the soul
dominated by caprice and anger.
 351

The purification and training of the soul consists in bringing these two attributes, caprice
and anger, back to equilibrium. The scales in which they are to be weighed in every situation is
the code of the Sharia. Thus, both soul and body will remain without fault, and both intellect and
faith will advance. Each of these will be used in its proper place according to the command of
the Sharia.
People should observe the rights of godfearing and not try to find excuses for neglecting
the Sharia's commands. The Sharia and godfearing are the scales through which all attributes are
kept in equilibrium. They prevent some attributes from dominating over others. Such are the
attributes of beasts and predators. In beasts the attribute of caprice dominates over the attribute
of anger, while in predators the attribute of anger dominates over the attribute of caprice. Beasts
necessarily fall into eager desire and covetousness, while predators enter into gaining mastery,
severity, domination, killing, and hunting. Hence the two attributes must be kept in equilibrium
so that the person will not fall into the station of beasts or predators and other blameworthy
attributes will not be born.
If caprice oversteps the bounds of equilibrium, then covetousness, eager desire,
expectations, meanness, vileness, appetite, miserliness, and treachery appear. The equilibrium of
caprice is that it should attract benefits--which is its specific characteristic--in the measure of
imperative need and at the time of need. If it inclines toward more than it needs, covetousness
appears. If it inclines before the time of need, eager desire is born. If it inclines in order to
provide for the future, then expectations become manifest. . . . If the attribute of caprice is
dominated over and deficient at the root of the disposition, then femininity, hermaphroditism,
and lowliness will appear.
At this point it probably does not need to be remarked that this "femininity" (unûtha) is
the negative femininity of the soul, the opposite of "manliness." It is the state of the soul that
commands to evil because of its passivity toward everything below it. In a similar way, the
hermaphrodite (khunthâ) is lukewarm, neither man nor woman in the path of God, always
wavering.
If the attribute of anger passes the bounds of equilibrium, then evilness of temper,
seeking eminence, enmity, violence, fury, headstrongness, thirst for self-rule, instability,
untruthfulness, self-satisfaction, boastfulness, self-exaltation, and pride will be born. If the
person cannot express his anger, rancor will appear on the inside. If the attribute of anger is
deficient or dominated over at the root, this will result in want of zeal, lack of jealousy,
cuckoldry, sloth, lowliness, and incapacity.
One is a cuckold (dayyûth) when one's wife sleeps with another man. "Lack of jealousy"
(bî ghayratî) is not to care when she does. The wife is the soul, and the "other man" is anything
other than her husband, the spirit. Note once again that "jealousy" (ghayra) and "other" (ghayr)
are intimately connected in both form and meaning. To be jealous is to turn away from all
"others" and aim for God with single-minded attentiveness. For God is a jealous God, who
wants no "others" to be worshiped in place of Himself. Perseverance in "jealousy" or the
negation of "others" is to avoid shirk (associating other gods with God) and to establish tawhîd.
If both attributes--caprice and anger--should dominate, then envy will appear. For,
through the domination of caprice, people incline toward something that they see with someone
and they like. Because of the domination of anger, they do not want that person to have it. So
this is envy: You want something possessed by another and you do not want that person to have
it.
 352

Each of these blameworthy qualities is the source of one of the descending degrees of
hell. When these attributes gain mastery over the soul and dominate over it, the soul inclines
toward godlessness, wickedness, killing, plundering, inflicting injury, and all sorts of corruption.
When the angels looked with angelic glance on the Dominion of Adam's frame, they
witnessed all these attributes. They said, "Wilt Thou place therein one who will work corruption
there and shed blood?" [2:30]. They did not know that when the elixir of the Sharia was placed
upon these blameworthy, bestial, predatory, satanic attributes, they would all turn into
praiseworthy, angelic, spiritual, All-merciful attributes. Hence the Real replied to the angels, "I
know what you know not" [2:30].
The basic function of the Sharia is to turn all the forces of the soul in directions that will
help the soul reach felicity. As Ibn al-`Arabî frequently remarks, all the soul's faculties and
character traits are innate and cannot be uprooted. Hence they must be redirected, and this is the
function of "guidance" or prophecy. Even negative character traits become positive when they
submit to God's will.663 Hence Ibn al-`Arabî, like other Sufis, disagrees with a certain
philosophical approach that speaks of eliminating negative character traits. Râzî reflects that
concern in what follows. His criticism of the philosophers is reminiscent of that of his
contemporary Qûnawî in his discussion of the positive nature of the "womb" (above, pp. 000-
000).
The alchemy of the Sharia does not efface these attributes totally, or that would also be a
deficiency. It is here that the philosophers fell into error. They imagined that caprice, anger,
appetite, and other blameworthy attributes must be totally effaced. They toiled for years, but
those attributes were not totally effaced. However, they did become deficient. From that
deficiency, other blameworthy attributes appeared. For example, when caprice is negated,
femininity, hermaphroditism, vileness, and low aspiration appear. When anger is deficient, want
of zeal, weakness in religion, lack of jealousy, cuckoldry, and cowardice appear.
The characteristic of the Sharia and the alchemy of religion is to bring each of these
attributes back to equilibrium and employ each in its proper place. The Sharia acts to dominate
over each of these attributes. They become like a tame horse for the Sharia, so it rides them
wherever it wants. These attributes do not dominate over the Sharia such that it would become a
prisoner to the soul wherever the soul inclines. Then the attributes would be like a rebellious
horse that refuses to be tamed. Without wanting to, the horse throws itself and its rider into a pit
or against a wall, and both are destroyed.
Once the attributes of caprice and anger are brought into equilibrium in the soul through
the elixir of the Sharia and godfearing, such that the soul employs these attributes only according
to the Sharia, then praiseworthy attributes appear within the soul, like shame, generosity,
liberality, courage, forbearance, humility, manliness, contentment, self-restraint, gratitude, and
other praiseworthy character traits. The soul leaves the station of commanding to evil and enters
the station of peace with God. It becomes a mount for the pure spirit. Like Burâq, the soul will
cross over the low and the high waystations and stages and take the spirit to the ascending levels
of the Highest of the High and the advanced degrees of Two Bows' Length.
Here Râzî describes the ascent of the soul in terms of the Prophet's mi`râj. Through
becoming the worthy servant, submitted to the Sharia, the soul is transformed into a celestial
Burâq--the angelic steed that took the Prophet to the heavens. Then only can the soul reach the

663 Cf. SPK, chapter 16.

 353

Highest of the High (83:18), a term we have already met. "Two Bows' Length" is derived from
an allusive Koranic description of the Prophet's ascent: "He drew near and suspended hung, two
bows' length away or nearer" (53:9). According to some interpreters, the pronoun "he" refers to
the Prophet, and the verse is describing his nearness to God. For many of Ibn al-`Arabî's
followers, the two stations--"Two Bows' Length" and "Or Nearer"--are the highest degrees of
human perfection. The first is achieved by the prophets and great friends of God, while the
second is reached only by Muhammad.664
Then the soul is worthy to be addressed by the words, "O soul at peace, return to thy
Lord, well pleased, well pleasing" [89:28]. . . .
When the spirit returns to its own world, it must have the Burâq of the soul, since it
cannot go on foot. When it came into this world, it was mounted on the Burâq of the Blowing:
"I blew into him of My own spirit" [15:29]. . . .
The soul needs the two attributes caprice and anger. Whether it goes to the high or the
low, it cannot go without them. That is why the shaikhs have said, "If not for caprice, no one
would travel the path to God.". . .
When the soul reaches peace with God, having dominated over the attributes of both
caprice and anger and having heard the address "Return!", then it turns the face of caprice and
anger away from the lowest and directs it toward the highest. The desired goal of the two
becomes nearness to the Presence of Inaccessibility, not the enjoyments of the bestial and
predatory worlds. When caprice aims for the high, it turns completely into love and passionate
affection. When anger turns its face to the high, it turns into jealousy and aspiration.
"Jealousy," as pointed out above, can be understood only in terms of the "others." The
jealous spirit will never be a cuckold, since it does not allow its wife, the soul, to look at
anything but God.
Through love and passionate affection, the soul turns its face toward the Presence, and
through jealousy and aspiration, it refuses to stop at any station or to look at anything other than
the Presence of Inaccessibility. So these two instruments, caprice and anger, are the spirit's most
perfect means for reaching the Presence.
Earlier, in the World of the Spirits, the spirit did not have these two instruments. Like the
angels, it was satisfied with its own station. It was content to witness a single light and
brightness from the candle of Unity's Majesty. For [the angels say] "None of us there is but has a
known station" [37:164]. The spirit was not brave enough to take a single step beyond that
station. Like Gabriel it used to say, "If I advance a fingertip, I will be consumed by fire."
Having told us about the spirit's original situation, Râzî turns to the advantages that the
spirit gained by being connected with earth.
When the spirit became acquainted with the earth, the soul was born as the child of its
pairing with the elements. From the soul, two children--caprice and anger--arose. Caprice was
"very ignorant," anger "a great wrongdoer."
Here Râzî ties the negative femininity and masculinity of the soul to two Koranic terms
attributed to human beings in the verse of the Trust, which alludes to the unique role that humans
play in creation. God says, "We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the
mountains, but they refused to carry it and were afraid of it. And the human being carried it--
surely he is very ignorant, a great wrongdoer" (33:72). As Rûmî remarks, "Human beings are

664 Cf. Chittick and Wilson, Fakhruddin `Iraqi 147-48.

 354

able to perform that task which neither the heavens nor the earth nor the mountains can perform.
When they perform that task, they will no longer be 'very ignorant, great wrongdoers'."665
When the soul turns its face toward the low, these two--the very ignorant and the great
wrongdoer--keep on throwing it into pits of destruction. The spirit is also their prisoner, so all of
them are being destroyed.
Then God's giving success becomes the soul's friend. The lasso of the attraction of
"Return to thy Lord!" calls the soul--which has the attribute of a wild horse--to the high world
and the Presence of Inaccessibility. Once the spirit, an intelligent rider, reaches its own "known
station," it wants to draw in its reins like Gabriel.
With his words, "an intelligent rider," Râzî wants to remind us that intellect is the
attribute of the prophets and the angel of revelation, Gabriel. As we saw above, intellect can go
only so far in its approach to God. At a certain point love must take over. Intellect is too cool
and collected to risk the dangers of the unknown. But, as Rûmî puts it, "Love is that flame
which, when it blazes up, burns away everything except the Everlasting Beloved."666 That is
why the soul must possess the attributes of caprice and anger to reach its goal.
The soul, which has the attribute of a wild horse, like a mad moth throws itself upon the
candle of Unity's majesty with the two wings of being "very ignorant" and a "great wrongdoer"--
caprice and anger. It says good-by to its own metaphorical existence and seizes the neck of
union with the candle. Then the candle transforms its metaphorical moth existence into the true
existence of the candle. As I put it,
O you who sit around the candle,
content with a single ear from its harvest,
Place your souls on your palms, like moths--
perhaps then will you embrace the candle.
Until the soul reaches perfection through its work of being a great wrongdoer and very
ignorant, one cannot know the soul perfectly in this station: What is it? Why was it created?
For which task and to which station has it come?
Once this work has become completely manifest from the soul, it passes beyond the
madness of the moth and gives light by being a candle. For God says, "I am for him hearing,
sight, and tongue. Through Me he hears, through Me he sees, and through Me he speaks."667
Then the reality of "He who knows himself knows his Lord" will be realized. In other words,
whoever knows his own soul as a moth will know the Presence as a candle.
Were it not for Thee, we would not know caprice.
Were there no caprice, we would not know of Thee.668

665 Rûmî, Fîhi mâ fîhi 14 (cf. SPL 63).

666 Idem, Mathnawî V 588.
667 On this sound hadîth qudsî, cf. above, note 9.
668 Râzî, Mirsâd al-`ibâd 173-86 (cf. Path of God's Bondsmen 190-200).
355
356
 357

10. The Heart

For many Muslim authorities, knowledge of the human heart is the key to knowledge
of God, the macrocosm, and the microcosm. As the rational soul in its full perfection, the
heart is the goal of creation. Made in God's image, it embraces all of reality. Only through
the human heart can true equilibrium between God and the cosmos be established.

In the Koran and the Hadith

The Koran employs the term qalb (heart) 132 times, while employing near synonyms
on several occasions. The root meaning of the word is to overturn, return, go back and forth,
change, fluctuate, undergo transformation. The Koran uses a number of verbal forms from
the same root in this meaning. It uses the term heart itself in a variety of senses, all of which
point to the heart's centrality in the human being. Taken together, the various Koranic uses
of the term suggest that the word's etymological sense--turning, overturning, changing--is not
far in the background, since the heart is the locus of good and evil, right and wrong. Both the
people of faith and the unbelievers have hearts. But to provide a thorough survey of the
Koranic use of the term would take up far too much space. Instead I will attempt to classify
the major senses of the term, providing a small number of examples. In almost every case,
hadiths confirm what is found in the Koran.
Broadly speaking the Koran pictures the heart as the locus of that which makes a
human being human, the center of the human personality. And since human beings are
intimately tied to God, this center of the person is the place where they meet God. This
meeting has both a cognitive and a moral dimension.
Since the heart is the true center of the person, God pays special attention to it and
less attention to the actual deeds that people do. "There is no fault in you if you make
mistakes, but only in what your hearts premeditate" (33:5). "God will not take you to task for
a slip in your oaths; but He will take you to task for what your hearts have earned; and God is
Forgiving, Clement" (2:225; cf. 2:118, 8:70). A hadith tells us that, "God looks not at your
bodies or your forms, but He looks at your hearts."669
Since the heart is the place where God looks, it is the key to hypocrisy, certainly the
worst character trait in Muslim eyes. "God knows what is in your hearts" (33:51). "The
hypocrites are afraid, lest a sura should be sent down against them, telling thee what is in
their hearts" (9:64; cf. 3:154, 3:167, 9:64, 48:11).
The heart is the place where God reveals Himself to human beings. His presence is
felt in the heart, and revelation comes down into the hearts of the prophets. "Know that God
comes in [yahûl] between a man and his heart, and that to Him you shall be mustered" (8:24).
"[Gabriel] it was who brought [the Koran] down upon thy heart by the leave of God,
confirming what was before it, and for a guidance and a good tidings to those who have
faith" (2:97). "It is a sending down by the Lord of the worlds, brought down by the Faithful
Spirit upon thy heart" (26:194). "His heart [fu'âd] lies not of what he saw; what, will you
dispute with him what he sees? And he saw him another time" (53:11-13). According to the
hadith authority Muslim, these verses refer to the Prophet's seeing Gabriel with the heart on

669Chapter 10. The Heart Muslim, Birr 32.

 358

two occasions.670 According to Ibn `Abbâs, they mean that the Prophet saw God.671 Sufi
authors frequently cite the hadîth qudsî, "My heavens and My earth embrace Me not, but the
heart of My gentle and meek servant with faith does encompass Me."
The heart is a place of vision, understanding, and remembrance (dhikr). "Upon the
Day when the first blast shivers,. . . hearts upon that day shall be athrob, and their eyes [i.e.,
the eyes of the hearts] shall be humbled" (79:8). "What, have they not journeyed in the land?
Have they no hearts to use intelligence or ears to hear with? It is not the eyes that are blind,
but blind are the hearts within the breasts" (22:46). "Surely We have laid coverings upon
their hearts lest they understand it, and in their ears heaviness" (18:57). "What, do they not
ponder the Koran? Or is it that there are locks upon their hearts?" (47:24). "Surely in that
there is a reminder to him who has a heart, or will give ear while he is a witness" (50:37).
"Obey not him whose heart We have made forgetful of Our remembrance so that he follows
his own caprice, and his affair has become all excess" (18:28). "Whenever a new
Remembrance comes to them from their Lord, they listen to it in sport, their hearts
neglectful" (21:3). "We have created for Gehenna many jinn and men; they have hearts, but
understand [fiqh] not with them; they have eyes, but perceive not with them; they have ears,
but hear not with them. They are like cattle; nay, they are further astray. Those--they are the
forgetful" (7:179). "Their valor is great, among themselves; you think of them as a host, but
their hearts are scattered. That is because they are people who have no intelligence" (59:14).
The Prophet said, "Verily God brings hearts to life through the light of wisdom."672 In
Bukhârî, Imân 13 is called "The chapter on the words of the Prophet, 'I am the most
knowledgeable of God among you' and that knowledge [ma`rifa] is the act of the heart,
because of God's words, 'But He will take you to task for what your hearts have earned'
[2:225]."
Faith grows up in the heart, while guidance turns the heart in the right direction. By
the same token, the heart is the place of doubt, denial, unbelief, and swerving from the right
path. It is where Satan directs his attention, trying to instill misguidance. "You do not have
faith; rather say, 'We submit,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts" (49:14). "No
affliction befalls, except it be by the leave of God. Whosoever has faith in God, He will
guide his heart. And God has knowledge of everything" (64:11). "Those--He has written
faith upon their hearts, and He has confirmed them with a Spirit from Himself" (58:22).
"And We increased them in guidance, and We strengthened their hearts" (18:14). "It is He
who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the believers, that they might add faith to their
faith" (48:4). "And those who do not believe in the world to come, their hearts deny, and
they have waxed proud" (16:22). "Our Lord, make not our hearts to swerve after that Thou
hast guided us; and give us mercy from Thee" (3:8). "Those whose hearts are filled with
doubt, so that in their doubt they go this way and that" (9:45). The Prophet said, "Surely
Satan flows in man like blood, so I fear that he will throw evil into your hearts."673 He also
said, "When the call to prayer is made, Satan turns away while breaking wind. When it is
finished, he comes forward, and when the second call is made, he turns away. When the call

670 Muslim, Imân 284.

671 Ahmad I 223.
672 Mâlik, al-Muwatta', `Ilm 1.
673 Bukhârî, Bad' al-Khalq 11, etc.
 359

is finished, he comes forward in order to pass between a man and his heart. He says to him,
'Remember such and such' until he does not know if he has prayed three cycles or four."674
Through the heart the Koran can be grasped and unity achieved. The Prophet said,
"When it [the Koran] falls into the heart and becomes firmly rooted there, it gives
benefit."675 He said, "This Koran is God's banquet, so take from it what you can, for I know
of nothing smaller than a house within which is naught of the Book of God. The heart that
has naught of the Book of God within it is a ruin, just as a house that has no occupants is a
ruin."676 Another hadith tells us that "A branch of the heart of the son of Adam lies in every
stream bed. If someone allows his heart to follow all the stream beds, God will not care in
which stream bed He destroys him. But if someone trusts in God, He will save him from
branching."677
Koranic verses locate such virtues as purity, piety, confirmation, softness, expansion,
peace, love, and repentance in the heart. However, these virtues are not inherent to the heart.
They must be put there by God. If God does not purify the heart, it will be sick, sinful, evil,
hard, harsh, full of hate, anxious, and so on. "Those are they whose hearts God desired not to
purify; for them is degradation in this world . . . " (5:41). In the Koran, Abraham prays,
"Degrade me not upon the day when they are raised up, the day when neither wealth nor sons
shall profit except for him who comes to God with a faultless heart" (26:9). One of the
Prophet's supplications reads, "O God, wash away from me my offenses with the water of
snow and hail, purify offenses from my heart as Thou purifiest dirt from white cloth, and
remove me far from offenses as Thou hast removed the east from the west."678 The Prophet
was asked, "Who is the most excellent of people?" He replied, "Every one whose heart is
swept and whose tongue is truthful." They said, "We recognize the one whose tongue is
truthful, but whose heart is swept?" He said, "He is the godfearing and pure, who has no sin,
no wrongdoing, no rancor, and no envy."679 "Whosoever venerates the offerings made to
God--that is of the godfearing of the hearts" (22:32). "Those are they whose hearts God has
tested for godfearing; they shall have forgiveness and a mighty wage" (49:3). "Remember
God's blessing upon you when you were enemies, and He brought your hearts together, so
that by His blessing you became brothers" (3:103). "But God has made you love faith,
decking it out fair in your hearts, and He has made detestable to you unbelief and
ungodliness and disobedience" (49:7). "It was by some mercy of God that thou wast gentle
to them; hadst thou been harsh and hard of heart, they would have scattered from about thee"
(3:159). "And We set in the hearts of those who followed him tenderness and mercy"
(57:27). "Whosoever fears the All-merciful in the Unseen, and comes with a penitent heart .
. ." (50:33). "Those who have faith, their hearts being at peace in God's remembrance--in
God's remembrance are at peace the hearts of those who have faith and do righteous deeds"
(13:28).

674 Bukhârî, Bad' al-Khalq 11.

675 Muslim, Musâfirîn 175.
676 Dârimî, Fadâ'il al-Qur'ân, 1.
677 Ibn Mâja, Zuhd 14.
678 Bukhârî, Da`awât 39, 44, 46, etc.
679 Ibn Mâja, Zuhd 24.
 360

Sickness (marad) is the most common negative attribute that the Koran attributes to
the heart (e.g., 2:10, 8:49, 9:125, 47:20, 47:29, 74:31). "What, is their sickness in their
hearts, or are they in doubt, or do they fear that God may be unjust toward them?" (24:50).
"When the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is sickness, . . . " (33:12; cf. 33:60). "And
conceal not the testimony; whoso conceals it, his heart is sinful" (2:284). Other negative
qualities include rage and fierceness. "And He will remove the rage within their hearts; and
God turns toward whomsoever He will" (9:15). "When the unbelievers set in their hearts
fierceness, the fierceness of pagandom . . . " (48:26).
The heart should be soft and receptive to the divine guidance, light, and love. But the
hearts of the wrongdoers are hard and harsh. "God has sent down the fairest discourse as a
Book, . . . whereat shiver the skins of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and their
hearts soften to the remembrance of God" (39:23). "Then your hearts became hardened
thereafter and are like stones, or even yet harder" (2:74). "So for their breaking the covenant
We cursed them and made their hearts hard" (5:13). "Is he whose breast God has opened
unto submission (al-islâm), so that he follows a light from his Lord. . . ? But woe to those
whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of God! They are in manifest error"
(39:22). "Is it not time that the hearts of those who have faith should be humbled to the
Remembrance of God and the Truth which He has sent down, and that they should not be as
those to whom the Book was given aforetime, and the term seemed over long to them, so that
their hearts have become hard, and many of them are ungodly?" (57:16).
These passages from the Koran and the Hadith and many more like them show that
the heart has no fixed nature. However, there are normative qualities that the heart should
have, and any heart that does not have them is faced with the danger of deviation,
misguidance, and wretchedness. Several hadiths point to the instability of the heart, its
ability to accept any quality whatsoever. The heart, in keeping with its root meaning, never
stands still. In many supplications recorded by Bukhârî (Qadar 14 etc.) the Prophet calls to
God with the words, "O He who makes hearts fluctuate [yâ muqallib al-qulûb]!" He also
said the following: "The heart of the child of Adam is between two fingers of the Invincible.
When He wants to turn it about [taqlîb], He turns it about. So he often says, 'O He who
makes hearts turn about [musarrif al-qulûb]!'"680 "The heart is like a feather in a desert of
the earth. The wind blows it to one side and the other."681 One of the Prophet's wives
reported that he used to pray with the words, "O He who makes hearts fluctuate, fix my heart
in Thy religion!" She asked him about that, and he replied, "O Umm Salama, there is no
child of Adam whose heart does not lie between two of God's fingers. Whomsoever He
wants, He makes to go straight, and whomsoever He wants, He makes to swerve."682

Between Spirit and Soul

It would be possible to cite numerous references, especially from poetry, showing
how the later tradition reflects the picture of the heart provided by the Koran and the
Hadith.683 Instead I will turn back to our authors to illustrate how they bring out the pivotal

680 Ahmad II 173.

681 Ahmad IV 419.
682 Tirmidhî, Da`awât 89.
683 For a large number of citations from two authors who epitomize the Persian and Arabic
Sufi traditions, Rûmî and Ibn al-`Arabî, cf. the indexes to SPL and SPK.
 361

importance of the heart for the human being. They illustrate clearly that they followed the
Koranic description of the heart as an indefinable reality that assumes a wide variety of
qualities. But they were concerned primarily with bringing out the normative qualities that
the heart should possess and showing how human perfection depends upon actualizing these
qualities. For our authors, the heart is the divine form within us that must be brought from
potentiality to actuality. Through perfection, it comes to manifest both hands of God. And
its growth from imperfection to perfection can easily be understood as the play of
relationships set up by a series of yin/yang qualities.
From the perspective of the engendering command, God has created the heart as it is,
perhaps dominated by guidance, perhaps by misguidance. But from the perspective of the
prescriptive command, the heart is called upon to assume a whole series of positive qualities,
such as guidance, faith, intelligence, understanding, light, certainty, and so on. In actual fact,
the heart is caught between the two sides--light and darkness, spirit and body. It may be
dominated by the "soul that commands to evil," in which case it is predominantly dark. It
may stand in the middle between spirit and soul, in which case light and darkness are
contending. When light gains the upper hand, the soul "blames" itself for not conforming
wholly to the spirit. Only in the greatest of human beings, the prophets and the friends of
God, has the soul attained to "peace" with God, such that light is in total ascendence. Only in
them can we speak truly of the heart. Other people, though human from a certain point of
view, have not attained to the fullness of human nature. They are not, to use the common
expression, "Possessors of Hearts" (ashâb al-qulûb).
One of the most detailed early discussions of the nature of the heart is given by Abû
Tâlib al-Makkî in Qût al-qulûb (Food of the hearts), a work that has been extremely
influential in the Sufi intellectual tradition. Ghazâlî, for example, made thorough use of it in
writing his great Ihyâ'. As the title suggests, this long work is concerned with the perfection
of the heart throughout. Especially interesting for our purposes is chapter 30, a thirty-two
page section that deals with "Mention of the different kinds of incoming thoughts
experienced by the People of the Hearts; the attribute of heart; and comparing the heart to
lights and substances." "Incoming thoughts" (khawâtir) are all the thoughts that occur to the
mind (or rather, to the heart). They are "incoming" because they come from someplace. The
Sufi psychologists employ this term precisely to set up a relationship between the thought in
the heart and its source. In general, they discern four sources for all thoughts: God, the
angels, the soul, and the satans. To know where one's thoughts come from in any given
instance is a fundamental prerequisite for putting them into action or avoiding what they
suggest. In keeping with the usual format of such works, most of what Makkî has to say is
quoted from earlier authorities. I quote a few short passages to give his evaluation of certain
important qualities of the heart.
The heart is the locus for the remembrance of God (dhikr), just as it is the place where
caprice (hawâ) appears and turns the individual this way and that.
God says, "The godfearing, when a visitation of Satan touches them, remember, and
then they see" [7:201]. Hence He reports that the clarity of hearts is remembrance, through
which the heart sees. He also reports that the door to remembrance is godfearing, through
which the servant remembers. Thus godfearing is the door to the next world, just as caprice
is the door to this world. God commanded remembrance and reported that it is the key to
godfearing, since it is the cause of protecting oneself, which is avoidance and renunciation.
For He says, "Remember what is in it; haply you will be godfearing" [2:63]. He reports that
 362

He made the Explication manifest for the sake of godfearing through His words, "So God
explicates His signs to people; haply they will be godfearing" [2:187].
God says, "O human being! What has deceived you as to your generous Lord, who
created you, and proportioned you, and balanced you?" [82:6]. He says, "We created the
human being in the most beautiful stature" [95:4]. He says, "And of everything We created a
pair" [51:49]. Included in this proportioning, balancing, pairing, and stature are the outward
instruments [adâh] and the inward motives [gharad]. These are the bodily senses and the
heart. The instruments of the body are the outward attributes, while the motives of the heart
are the inward meanings. God has balanced them through His wisdom, proportioned them
according to His will, and given them a proper and firm stature with His making and
handiwork.
The first inward meanings are the soul and the spirit. These are two places for the
encounter of the enemy and the angel, who are two persons who inspire with wickedness and
godfearing.
Among these meanings are two motives firmly placed in two places--intellect and
caprice--deriving from two decrees in the will of the Decreer. These two decrees are giving
success and misleading.
Among them are two lights that shine in the heart by the specification of the mercy of
Him who gives mercy. These are knowledge and faith.
These are the instruments, the unseen senses and meanings, and the tools of the heart.
In the midst of all these instruments, the heart is like the king, while these are his
soldiers that discharge their duty to him. Or the heart is like a polished mirror, while these
tools become manifest around it and are seen within it. . . .
In short, the incoming thoughts are six. They limit and detract from the heart.
Beyond them are the treasuries of the Unseen and the Dominion of Power. They are God's
ready soldiers possessing manifest authority from Him.
The heart is one of the treasuries of the Dominion. God, who makes it fluctuate, has
in accordance with His will placed within it some of the subtle realities of the realms of
desire and fear and irradiated it with some of the lights of tremendousness and invincibility. .
..
The first two incoming thoughts are those of the soul and the enemy. The common
people among the faithful are not able to eradicate them. These incoming thoughts are
blameworthy and judged to be evil. They come only as a result of caprice and the opposite
of knowledge.
The next two are the incoming thoughts of the spirit and the angel. The elect of the
faithful are not able to eradicate them. They are praiseworthy, and they come only as a result
of the Real and that which is denoted by knowledge.
The next incoming thought comes from intellect. It stands among the previous four. .
. . The incoming thought of the intellect is sometimes with the soul and the enemy and
sometimes with the spirit and the angel, because of a wisdom from God in His making and
the ordering of His handiwork. Thus the servant enters into good and evil in accordance with
a clear rationality and a sound witnessing and discernment. Then the reward or punishment
that results from it returns to him. . . . The intellect's innate nature is discernment and
judging between good and evil. The soul's innate nature is appetite and commanding to
caprice.
 363

The sixth incoming thought is that of certainty. It is the spirit of faith and the increase
of knowledge. . . . This incoming thought is singled out for the elect; only those who have
certitude find it. They are the Witnesses and the Sincere Devotees. This thought comes only
through the Real. . . . They are the ones whom God has described by the Reminder and to
whom the Prophet has ascribed making pronouncements. God says, "Surely in that there is a
reminder for him who has a heart" [50:37], that is, him whose heart God has undertaken to
protect. The messenger of God says, "When something scratches your heart, leave it. Sin
cuts into the heart."684 In other words, sin has an effect upon the heart and cuts into it,
because of the hearts fineness, purity, softness, and subtlety. When a man asked the Prophet
about loving kindness and sin, which are two roots of good and evil, he answered: "Ask for a
pronouncement from your heart, even if the pronouncers give you a pronouncement."685. . .
Another hadith tells us that "Loving kindness is that through which the heart gains peace,
even if I keep on giving you pronouncements."686 This is the description of the heart that
undergoes unveiling through remembrance and the quality of the soul that comes to rest
through increased tranquility and loving kindness.687
A more systematic early analysis of the Koranic verses dealing with the heart and
related terms is provided by al-Hakîm al-Tirmidhî, who died toward the end of the
fourth/tenth century. He is the author of a treatise called "An explanation of the difference
between the breast, the heart, the inner heart, and the kernel." He discerns four levels of the
heart, corresponding to an ever-deepening certainty and rootedness in God. He correlates the
four levels with four levels of the soul, adding the "inspired soul" (al-nafs al-mulhama) to the
three levels with which we are already familiar. Some of the correspondences that he sets up
are shown in Table 12.
In the concluding chapter of the treatise, called "The Lights of the Heart," Tirmidhî
associates many qualities with each of the four levels.
Even though their names differ, the lights that I described at the beginning of the
book--such as the light of submission, the light of faith, the light of gnosis, and the light of
asserting God's unity [tawhîd]--are all similar and not opposite. From each of these lights, in
keeping with its level, are born benefits that differ from the benefits born from the others. . . .
Each of these lights is like a mountain. Submission is a mountain whose earth is the
breast, faith is a mountain whose place is the heart, gnosis is a mountain whose mine is

684 Cf. Ahmad ibn Hanbal V 252, 256.

685 Dârimî, Bay` 2.
686 A version near to this is found in Dârimî, Bay` 2. Cf. Ahmad IV 228.
687 Makkî, Qût al-qulûb I 233-35 (chapter 30).
 364

Table 12
Corresponding Qualities According to al-Tirmidhî

breast heart inner heart kernel

soul that inspired soul blaming soul soul at

commands to evil peace

a person submitted a person of a gnostic one who

to the Sharia faith (`ârif) asserts
(muslim) (mu'min) God's
Unity

(muwahhid)
 365

the inner heart, and the assertion of unity is a mountain whose resting place is the kernel.
On top of each mountain is found a bird. The bird of the breast's mountain is the soul
that commands to evil, the bird of the heart's mountain is the inspired soul, the bird of the
inner heart's mountain is the blaming soul, and the bird of the kernel's mountain is the soul at
peace.
The soul that commands to evil flies in the valleys of associating others with God,
doubt, hypocrisy, and similar things. God says, "The soul commands to evil, except
inasmuch as my Lord has mercy" [12:53]
The inspired soul flies sometimes in the valleys of godfearing and sometimes in the
valleys of wickedness. "By the soul and Him who proportioned it and inspired in it its
wickedness and its godfearing" [91:7-8].
The bird of the mountain of gnosis is the blaming soul. Sometimes it flies in the
valleys of self-exaltation, mightiness, looking upon God's gifts [to itself], pride, and joy in
God's blessings. Sometimes it flies in the valleys of poverty, humility, disparaging itself, and
seeing its own lowliness, misery, and destitution. Along with all this it blames its possessor
for its states. "Nay, I swear by the blaming soul!" [75:2].
The bird of the mountain of the kernel is the soul at peace. It flies in the valleys of
contentment, modesty, firmness in tawhîd, and the sweetness of remembering [dhikr] God. It
corresponds to the spirit. God has cleansed from it the defilement of contention. God says,
"O soul at peace, return unto thy Lord, well pleased, well pleasing" [89:27-28]. And He
says, "Then repose, and ease, and a garden of delight" [56:89]. . . .
The substance of the soul is a hot wind like smoke. It is dark, evil in conduct. But at
root its spirit is luminous. It increases in well-being [salâh] through God's giving success. It
must also have beautiful conduct and correct humility. But it does not increase in well-being
until the servant opposes its caprice, turns away from it, and subjugates it through hunger and
austerities.
The blaming soul is nearer to the Real, but it is full of guile and fawning
dissimulation. Only shrewd gnostics recognize it.
The soul at peace has been purified by God of the defilement of darknesses. It has
become luminous and resembles the spirit. It walks in obedience to God, being led without
refusal. It becomes obedient through obeying God. This is the soul of the sincere devotee
[siddîq] whose secret and public sides have been filled [with light] by God.
I have compared these lights to mountains only because the light of submission in the
breast of the submitted one is too firm and too well established for anyone to remove it as
long as God preserves it.688
Another early Sufi, Abû Ibrâhîm Mustamlî Bukhârî, summarizes the qualities
associated with the heart that were to dominate the tradition down to modern times.689
We know that the spirit is luminous, heavenly, Throne-like, high, and lordly. We
know that the soul is earthly, low, dark, and satanic. And we know that the heart fluctuates
between these two. The attribute of the spirit is all pleasantness and conformity, while the

688 Tirmidhî, Bayân al-farq 79-83. Cf. Tirmidhî, "Psychological Treatise" 244-46.
689 For a rather typical example of a contemporary discussion of the heart completely
rooted in this tradition, by a professor of theology at Tehran University, cf. Mîrzâ Ahmad
Ashtiyânî, Maqâlât Ahmadiyya dar `ilm-i akhlâq 13-15.
 366

attribute of the soul is all loathsomeness and opposition. The heart stands between the two
and turns about. Because of its fluctuating it is called the "heart". . . . Sometimes it goes
toward the high and becomes one with the spirit, sometimes it comes toward the low and
becomes one with the soul. When it becomes one with the spirit, it dominates over the soul.
Then nothing but conformity and obedience appear. When it becomes one with the soul, it
dominates over the spirit. Then nothing but opposition and disobedience appear.
The turning about of the heart is like the turning about of the celestial sphere.
Sometimes it brings the sun under the world and makes the world dark, and sometimes it
brings the world under the sun and makes it luminous. The spirit is like the sun, and the soul
is like the earth. The heart is like the celestial sphere. Sometimes the heart brings the spirit
under the soul, though the spirit itself remains in place, just as the disk of the sun remains in
place. However, the spirit becomes veiled by the soul, just as the sun becomes veiled by the
earth. It does not become incapable of giving light. In one case, the darkness of night
appears, in the other the darkness of wrongdoing.
Sometimes the sphere brings the sun. The veil of the earth disappears and the world
becomes luminous. In one case the brightness of daytime comes, in the other the brightness
of conforming [to the revealed law].690
In a similar way, `Ayn al-Qudât Hamadânî identifies God's two fingers that make the
heart fluctuate with heaven and earth.691 He tells us that the heart's exalted place has to do
with the fact that it is worthy of God's gaze.
What a shame that you have no heart! If you had one, it would tell you what the heart
is. The heart is in charge. Seek for the heart and bring it to hand! Do you know where the
heart is? Seek for it "between two fingers of the All-merciful." Would that the beauty of
"two fingers of the All-merciful" would lift up the veil of magnificence. Then all hearts
would find healing. The heart knows what the heart is and who the heart is. The heart is the
place where God looks, and the heart alone is worthy of that, for "God looks not at your
forms or your works, but He looks at your hearts."692 O friend, the heart is God's looking-
place. When the frame takes on the color of the heart and becomes the same color as the
heart, He also looks at the frame.693
Ahmad Sam`ânî provides us with a typical expression of the heart's exalted stature in
Rawh al-arwâh:
O chivalrous young man! You must wait many long years for trees to give fruit so
that you may take some produce. If you want a tree to give fruit earlier and give better fruit,
you must take a graft from another tree. Glory be to God! So many blessings are found in
cutting!
Many thousands of years before Adam walked forward, the angels were walking
around and performing acts of obedience. But they did not reach the station, level, and

690 Bukhârî, Sharh-i ta`arruf II 167-68. Part of the text is found in the abridged version,
Khulâsa-yi sharh-i ta`arruf 174.
691 Hamadânî, Tamhîdât 259.
692 `Ayn al-Qudât may have distorted this hadith. The nearest saying to it in the standard
sources is the following: "God looks not at your forms or your possessions, but He looks
only at your works and your hearts." Ibn Mâja, Zuhd 9; Ahmad ibn Hanbal II 285, 539.
693 Hamadânî, Tamhîdât 146.
 367

degree that Adam reached at the first instance. Yes, they were trees full of fruit. But they
were not grafted from another branch.
Once the circle of engendering reached the point of the people made of clay and once
it was determined that they would remain in this world for only a short time, the Presence of
the Unseen prepared a subtle reality in the spirit. Then the tree of human existence was
grafted on to that. Thus human beings were able to reach in a short period of time what
others could not reach in a long period. For they took no help from their own constitution,
but from the solicitude of the Teacher. May the evil eye stay far away--for He made them
very beautiful!
Once the body became the companion of the spirit, a heart appeared between the two.
It was called the "point of loving purity" [nuqta-yi safâ]. No other creature has a heart. The
heart is not that lump of flesh that if you threw ten of them to a dog would not satisfy it. That
is simply an outward marking place so that opinions and understanding may gain some good
manners. But the inner meaning of the heart is pure of that.
From the spirit the heart took subtlety and from the earth gravity. It came to be
praised by both sides and was well pleasing to both. It became the locus for the vision of the
unseen.
The heart is neither spirit nor bodily frame. It is both spirit and bodily frame. If it is
spirit, where does this embodiment come from? And if it is a bodily frame, why does it have
subtlety? It is neither that nor this. But it is both that and this.
Since the heart came into existence from these two meanings, the disparity of states
and diversity of steps appeared. The spirit does one work, the soul does another. The heart
is a prisoner in between, having read its sentence of poverty. If it inclines toward the
spiritual substance, the work of the spirit becomes manifest. If it leans toward the corporeal
substance, the work of the body appears. That is why the Master of the Two Worlds, the
Messenger to the Two Weighty Ones, said in this station, "The heart is like a feather in a
desert. The winds make it fluctuate from side to side."
The chameleon of creation and the wonder of the mystery of original disposition is
[the human being,] a point in the earth. Sometimes God praises him with a praise whose foot
rises above the head of the angels. Sometimes He blames him with a blame of which Iblis
would be ashamed. "The repenters, the worshipers" [9:112] are human beings. And so also
are the "ungrateful" [100:6], the "fretful" [70:19], the "impatient" [70:20], the "grudging"
[70:21], the "great wrongdoers" [33:72], the "very ignorant" [33:72], and the "unthankful"
[42:48].694
In his Koran commentary, Rashîd al-Dîn Maybudî pays special attention to the near
synonyms that are applied to the heart in the Koran. Taking advantage of the fact that he is
writing in Persian, he calls the heart itself dil, and then refers to each of four other terms,
including qalb, as a "curtain" (parda) over the heart. He sees the curtains as an ascending
scale of spiritual perfections, similar to the four degrees discussed by Hakîm Tirmidhî:
submission, faith, witnessing, and love.
The human heart has four curtains: The first is the breast [sadr], the resting place of
the covenant of submission [islâm], according to God's word, "Is he whose breast God has
opened up to submission. . . ?" [39:22]. The second curtain is the heart [qalb], the place of
the light of faith, according to His words, "He has written faith upon their hearts" [58:22].

694 Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 298-99.

 368

The third curtain is the inner heart [fu'âd], the pavilion of the witnessing of the Real, in
accordance with His words, "His inner heart lies not of what he saw" [53:11]. The fourth
curtain is the innermost heart [shaghâf], the place where one puts down the carpet of love, in
accordance with His words, "Love for him has rent her innermost heart" [12:30].
Each of these four curtains has a characteristic, and God looks upon each in a special
way. When the Lord of the worlds desires to pull someone who has shied away from Him
into the path of His religion with the lasso of gentleness, He first gazes upon his breast, so
that it may become pure of caprices and innovations. Then the person's feet will become
steadfast on the road of the Sunna.
Then God turns His gaze to his heart, so that it may become pure of the stains of this
world and blameworthy moral traits, such as self-satisfaction, envy, pride, lip service, greed,
enmity, and frivolity. The person sets out on the path of abstinence [wara`].
Then He gazes upon his inner heart and keeps him back from attachments and created
things. He opens the fountainhead of knowledge and wisdom in his heart. He makes the
light of guidance a gift for its core, as He said, "So that he follows a light from his Lord"
[39:22].
Then He gazes upon his innermost heart, a gaze--what a gaze! A gaze that is a
picture upon the soul, that brings the tree of joy to fruit, that opens the eye of revelry. A gaze
that is a tree, while the companionship of the Beloved is its shadow. A gaze that is wine,
while the heart of the gnostic is its cup. When this gaze reaches the innermost heart, it
removes it from water and clay. Then the person steps into the lane of annihilation [fanâ']:
Three things are negated by three things: Seeking is negated by the Sought, knowing is
negated by the Known, and love is negated by the Beloved.
The Shaykh of the Way [`Abdallâh Ansârî] said, "I threw away the two worlds for the
sake of love, and I threw away love for the sake of the Beloved. Now I dare not say 'I am I,'
nor dare I say 'He.'"
I have an eye filled with the form of the Friend--
Happy am I with my eye when my Friend is there.
To set eye and Friend apart is not good --
He sits in the eye's place, or the eye is He.695
Few Sufis paid as much attention to the qualitative side of existence as Rûzbihân
Baqlî of Shiraz. Even his theoretical works read like poetry. They present not so much a
theory of spiritual perfection as a verbal textile woven of qualities tasted by the gnostic
through unveiling. In his `Abhar al-`âshiqîn (The jasmine of lovers), Rûzbihân explains how
the human lover, having traversed various stages of love, reaches a state where he or she is
ready to love the Divine Beloved:
The soul is nurtured through human love until love becomes firmly rooted in the
inmost mystery. The heart is cleansed of the soul's passing thoughts through the fire of love.
Then the soul that commands to evil attains peace under the heel of love's dominating power.
The intellect is taught the waystations of love. The sensory soul and the animal soul take on
the color of meaning. The journey through the waystations of human love reaches
completion in the spirit. The spirit acquires the rules of right conduct and the science of the
path of love.696

695 Maybudî, Kashf al-asrâr VIII 411-12.

696 Rûzbihân Baqlî, `Abhar al-`âshiqîn 99.
 369

In another work, Rûzbihân devotes a chapter to describing the qualities that come to
be acquired by the perfected heart. The following represents less than half the chapter, which
goes on in the same vein:
The form of the children of Adam is the likeness of engendered existence. The heart
is like the Throne. It is the place where the spirit sits.697 Just as heaven is the staircase of
the ascent [mi`râj], so the frames of form are the ladder into the heart's world. Just as the
World of the Kingdom is veiled, so also between you and the heart, which is the throne of the
spirit, are found one hundred thousand veils. These include the five senses, the four natures,
accidents, character traits, soul, caprice, satans, and so on. Until you pass beyond them, you
will not reach the spirit's resting place.
Within the heart the lights of God are directed to the site of the spirit. God manifests
Himself there without veils. Between this heart, which in form is a lump of flesh, and that
heart, which is the site of the spirit, are found seven hundred thousand veils, from outside to
inside.
Indeed, since God Himself has built the heart, He calls it His own house, just as He
calls the Kaaba His own house. He opened the door of the outward Kaaba and shut the door
of the inward Kaaba. For the outward Kaaba is the place that creatures visit. The door has to
be open, since it belongs to the common people. But the door of the inward Kaaba must be
kept shut, since it is the place that God visits. It belongs to the elect. . . .
God formed the heart like an oyster and threw it into the ocean of form. He
concealed the spirit in the pearl. Unless you enter into the ocean of forms, you will not reach
the oyster of the holy spirit. . . .
Between the corporeal heart and the spiritual heart lie great distances. Within the
spiritual heart the spirit has one hundred thousand windows turned toward the chambers of
the Dominion. Through those windows it sees the marvels of the Unseen and the wonders of
the King. The spirit sends effusion from that place to the human attributes. From the
window of contraction it sees the lights of tawhîd. From the window of expansion it grasps
pure singularity. From the window of fear it falls into tremendousness itself. From the
window of love the effects of beauty enter in upon it. From the window of yearning it
witnesses with every eye. From the window of love it takes the wine of familiarity. From
the window of eternity it is struck with the blow of annihilation. From the window of
endlessness it is taken into the bridal chamber of subsistence.
That house is God's domain. There He plays the backgammon of verification with
the stone of disengagement against the one who witnesses Him. It is the place of revelation,
the house of knowledge, God's treasury, the home of joy, the corner of grief, the treasure
chest of comeliness, the mountain of Moses, the locus of God's self-disclosure, the brightness
of lordship, and the everlasting garden. Its seeds are faith, its trees gnosis, its fruit love. It is
the cage of wisdom for the bird of gnosis. It is the house of descent and the ocean of
lordship's wonders. At every moment the pearls of gnosis rain down on it from the heaven of
tawhîd.698
In his Arabic Mashrab al-arwâh, Rûzbihân has this to say about the "true knowledge
of the heart":

697 Allusion to Koran 20:5: "The All-merciful sat upon the Throne."
698 Rûzbihân Baqlî, Risâlat al-quds 67-68.
 370

The heart has an outward dimension and an inward dimension. Its outward
dimension is the pine-cone shaped lump of flesh. That is the locus of the spirit, the intellect,
the inmost mystery, the subtle reality, the army of the angel, and the soldiers that are
incoming thoughts.
The original heart is the blessed, holy, subtle reality. Its locus is the natural,
receptive, original disposition. This subtle reality is the place in which is seen the light of the
Unseen and the source of the Lord's decree. Sometimes this heart is unveiled for the people
of unveiling. This heart is called "heart" because of its fluctuation in the witnessing of
attributes. God says, "Surely in that there is a reminder for him who has a heart" [50:37].
The Prophet said, "There is in the body a lump of flesh: when it is sound, the whole body is
sound, and when it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Indeed, it is the heart."699
The form of the heart is corporeal, but the reality of the heart is heavenly, spiritual,
Dominion-related, luminous, and lordly. It rests only in the remembrance of God: "In God's
remembrance are the hearts at peace" [13:28]. One of the Sufis said, "The person of faith has
a heart, but the gnostic has no heart." He also said, "The heart of the person of faith rests in
God's remembrance, but the heart of the gnostic rests in God." The gnostic says, "The heart
is that which fluctuates in the breast according to the quality of intentions and
determinations. In the Unseen it examines the coming of the lights of the divine
attributes."700
Najm al-Dîn Kubrâ differentiates among soul, heart, and spirit as follows:
Soul, heart, and spirit give expression to a single thing. However, soul is used when
that thing is defiled and hardened, heart when it becomes purified, and spirit when it gains
nearness to God. Sometimes the Sufis differentiate among the realities and say that the heart
is inside the soul, the spirit inside the heart, and the inmost mystery inside the spirit.701
Kubrâ often discusses the changing qualities of the heart during the spiritual journey
in his Arabic classic, Fawâ'ih al-jamâl. I quote a single passage:
Know that the subtle reality which is the heart . . . fluctuates from state to state, like
water that takes on the color of its container. . . . That is why it is called a "heart," because of
its fluctuation. In the same way, it is called a heart because it is the heart of existence and the
meanings. The heart is subtle and accepts the reflection of things and meanings that circle
around it. Hence the color of the thing that faces the subtle reality takes form within it, just
as forms are reflected in a mirror or in pure water.702

The Heart in the School of Ibn al-`Arabî

Ibn al-`Arabî provides the most detailed discussions of the heart found in any Sufi
writings. His primary concern is to show how this subtle human reality, once it attains to the
fullness of manifestation in the perfect human being, displays God in His infinite self-
disclosure. As in all of his discussions, Ibn al-`Arabî is especially concerned to bring out the
roots of the heart's nature in the divine reality. In brief, he tells us that the heart alone is
adequate to receive the self-disclosure of God. As both incomparable and similar, God is at

699 Bukhârî, Imân 39; Muslim, Masâfât 107, etc.

700 Rûzbihân Baqlî, Mashrab al-arwâh 152-53.
701 Persian text from an untitled ms. provided by F. Meier in Kubrâ, Die Fawâ'ih al-Gamâl
170.
702 Kubrâ, Die Fawâ'ih al-Gamâl (Arabic text) 7.
 371

once inaccessible and present. That dimension of the human subtle reality known as
"intellect" perceives God as incomparable. It can comprehend God only in terms of His
name Nonmanifest. In keeping with the root meaning of the term `aql, intellect "constricts"
and "confines" God to transcendence and incomparability. In contrast, that dimension of the
human reality known as imagination perceives disengaged realities in sensory form. It alone
is able to grasp God in His self-disclosure through the name Manifest. But intellect and
imagination each perceives one-half of reality. Only the heart, through its "fluctuation" from
one state to another, is able to perceive God as both Manifest and Nonmanifest, both similar
and incomparable, both present and absent, both near and far.703
In `Abd al-Razzâq Kâshânî's explanations of the Koranic verses dealing with Adam
and Eve, we saw that the qualities of Adam and Eve correspond to those of the heart and the
animal soul. Kâshânî reads these verses as alluding to the original and normative state of
human beings and as pointing to the way of overcoming the rupture of equilibrium that took
place when the qualities pertaining to the lower dimension gained the upper hand. In
Istilâhât al-sûfiyya (The technical terms of the Sufis), Kâshânî defines the heart as follows:
The heart is a luminous, disengaged substance halfway between the spirit and the
soul. It is that through which true humanity [al-insâniyya] is realized [tahaqquq]. The
philosophers refer to it as the rational soul. The spirit is its inward dimension [bâtin] and the
animal soul is its mount and its outward dimension, halfway between it and the body. Thus
the Koran compares the heart to a glass and a shining star, while it compares the spirit to a
lamp. This is in His words, "The likeness of His light is a niche, within which is a lamp, the
lamp within a glass, the glass as it were a shining star, kindled from a blessed tree, an olive
tree neither of the east nor the west" [24:35]. The tree is the soul, the niche is the body. The
heart is the intermediate reality in existence and in levels of descents, like the Guarded Tablet
in the cosmos.704
Kâshânî provides a more detailed explanation of this famous "light verse" of the
Koran in his Ta'wîlât, where he also explains the rest of the verse: "Its oil would almost
shine, even if no fire touched it. Light upon light. God guides to His Light whom He will."
Note how the soul, which Kâshânî often portrays in a negative light, has now been utterly
transmuted into the soul at peace. Through its receptivity to the light of the spirit, it has
attained its perfection. Hence it is nothing but good. Kâshânî also employs here the
philosophical term Active Intellect to refer to the source of the light and guidance to which
the soul must be receptive.
The likeness of His light, that is, the attribute of His Being and Its manifestation
within the worlds through making them manifest, is a niche, within which is a lamp. The
niche is an allusion to the body, because it is dark in itself and becomes illuminated by the
light of the spirit, to which He alludes by "lamp." The body becomes a grillwork window
because of the crossbars, the senses. The light sparkles from behind the crossbars, like a
lamp in a niche. The glass is an allusion to the heart that is illumined by the spirit and
illuminates everything around it by shining its light upon them. In the same way a flame
illuminates a whole lamp and throws light upon others. God compares the glass to a shining
star because of its spaciousness, its exceeding luminosity, the elevation of its place, and the
multiplicity of its rays, since this is the state of the heart.

703 On the heart in Ibn al-`Arabî's teachings, see SPK 106-9 and passim.
704 Kâshânî, Istilâhât al-sûfiyya 167-68.
 372

The tree from which the glass is kindled is the holy soul, purified and pure. It is
compared to a tree because of the branching out of its branches and its many kinds of
faculties that grow up out of the earth of the body. Its branches reach up within the space of
the heart to the heaven of the spirit. He described it as blessed because of the great
abundance of its benefits and uses, that is, the fruits that are character traits, works, and
perceptions. Also, it has a strong growth through advance in perfections. Through it the
felicity of the two abodes and the perfection of the two worlds are actualized. Upon it
depend the manifestation of lights, mysteries, gnostic sciences, realities, stations, earnings,
states, and mystic gifts.
The soul is singled out for the olive tree because its perceptions are particular and oppressed
by the weight of material appendages. In a similar way, the whole olive is not equally good.
Also, the peak of the soul is fully prepared to be inflamed and illumined by the light and fire
of the Active Intellect, which is connected to it by means of the spirit and heart. This is like
the oil that makes the olive receptive to catching fire.
The meaning of the soul's being neither of the east nor the west is that it is halfway
between the west and the east. The west is the world of bodies, the place where the divine
light has set and has become concealed by dark veils. The east is the world of spirits, which
is the place of the rising of the light and its appearance from luminous veils. For the soul is
more subtle and luminous than the body, but denser than the spirit.
Its oil. This is its preparedness for the holy light pertaining to its original nature
hidden within itself. Would almost shine. In other words, it would almost come forth into
actuality and reach perfection through itself, sending forth radiance. Even if no fire, that is,
the Active Intellect, touched it, and if no light from the spirit of holiness reached it. For it
has a strong preparedness and exceeding purity. Light upon light. In other words, this light
that shines upon it from actualized perfection is a light added to the light of the fixed
preparedness, which shines in the root. It is as if it is a doubled light. God guides to His
Light, which is manifest in itself and makes other things manifest through His giving success
and guidance, whom He will. These are the people to whom He shows solicitude so that they
may achieve felicity.705
Kâshânî contrasts spirit and soul in dozens of passages in his Ta'wîlât, since the
whole drama of human existence to which the Koran addresses itself is played out in the
relationship between the two. The heart is caught between them, sometimes pulled toward
light and felicity, sometimes toward darkness and wretchedness. If it ascends toward spirit, it
will attain to its perfection as rational soul. If it descends into the soul dominated by bodily
limitations, it will be cut off from light. The following commentary on Koran 8:62-63 is
typical:
He has made their hearts familiar through agreement in purpose and deliverance from
the bounds of the attributes of soul. For the soul's attributes demand conflict and stubborn
opposition, since the soul relies upon the world of opposition and is diverse through the four
natures. As long as the heart stays with the soul and its desires, and the soul's attributes gain
mastery over the heart, then the soul will drag the heart to the low direction. The heart's
goals will be particularized in accordance with the soul's interests. The heart will seek that
which someone else withholds from it, and enmity and hatred will occur. The faculty of
anger will gain mastery, and anger seeks position, honor, subordination, domination,

705 Idem, Ta'wîlât II 140-41.

 373

leadership, and sovereignty. Then pride, refusal, disdain, and scorn will appear. This will
lead to mutual cutting off, breaking up, antagonism, and quarreling.
The more the heart moves away from the low direction by turning its attention to the
high direction and becoming illuminated by the lights of the Oneness of the attributes or of
the Essence, it rises above the station of the soul and joins with the spirit. Its goals cease to
be mutually exclusive. There is no rivalry in them, since they can be achieved by one person
without someone else being deprived of them. The heart inclines toward those who are of
the same kind as itself in purity through essential love, because of the strength of the affinity.
The closer the heart is to Oneness, the stronger is the power of love within it, because
of the intensity of nearness to Him whose religion it follows. This is similar to the lines that
move from the circumference of a circle toward its center. In keeping with the strength of
faith, the familiarity among them becomes more intense.
Hadst thou expended all that is in the earth, thou couldst not have made their hearts
familiar, since everything in the low direction increases their enmity and their competition,
because of the strength of their greed and their falling upon each other because of it. But
God made their hearts familiar, through the light of Oneness that yields spiritual love and
familiarity in the heart. For love is the shadow of Oneness, familiarity the shadow of love,
and balance the shadow of familiarity.706
In another passage, Kâshânî clarifies his understanding of four different terms that are
applied to the self from various points of view: spirit, soul, intellect, and breast. As in the
above passage, the development of human perfection is tied to the spiritual world, while loss
and misguidance derive from the limitations of the soul. He is commenting on the following
verse: "You might have seen the sun, when it rose, inclining from their Cave towards the
right, and, when it set, passing them by on the left, while they were in a broad fissure of the
Cave" (18:17). This verse is found in the story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, whom the
Koran calls the "Companions of the Cave." Kâshânî has already suggested that the Seven
Sleepers refer to seven spiritual realities found in the human being: spirit (rûh), heart (qalb),
theoretical intellect (al-`aql al-nazarî), practical intellect (al-`aql al-`amalî), reflection (fikr),
inmost mystery (sirr), and most hidden (akhfâ). The "cave" in which they sleep is the body.
You might have seen the sun, that is, the spirit, when it rose, that is, ascended through
becoming disengaged from the wrappings of corporeality. Then it became manifest from its
own horizon, inclining and turning through its love from their Cave, the body, towards the
right, the direction of the World of Holiness. This is the direction of works of loving
kindness: good deeds, virtues, beautiful works, acts of obedience. It is the way of the
lovingly kind, since they are the "Companions of the Right." And, when it set, that is, when
the spirit sank into the body and became veiled by it, it became concealed by the body's
darknesses and blights. The disconnectedness and dispersion of the Companions of the Cave
make the spirit's light die down, since they are on the left, the direction of the soul. This is
the path of evil works, so the Companions become absorbed in acts of disobedience, evil
deeds, evils, ugly moral qualities, and the way of the ungodly, who are the "Companions of
the Left." While they were in a broad fissure of the Cave. In other words, they were in the
wide playing field of their body, which is the station of the soul and Nature. For within the
body there is a spacious area in which the light of the spirit does not reach them.

706 Ibid. I 483-84.

 374

You should know that the face of the heart that is turned toward the spirit takes
illumination from the spirit's light and is called "intellect." It incites to the good and is the
place to which the angel's inspiration has access. The heart's face turned toward the soul is
dark through the darkness of its attributes. It is called the "breast." It is the place where
Satan whispers, as God says: "He who whispers in people's breasts" [114:5].
When the spirit moves and the heart turns toward it through the face in the spirit's
direction, the heart becomes illumined and strengthened through the intellectual faculty,
which incites and causes yearning toward perfection. Hence it inclines toward good and
obedience. But when the soul is set in motion and the heart turns toward it through the face
in the soul's direction, it becomes darkened and veiled from the light of the spirit. The
intellect is darkened and inclines toward evil and disobedience. In these states the angel
seeks access through inspiration and the satan through whispering.707
Since the intellect manifests the light of guidance in the microcosm, it corresponds
not only to the prophets but also to their books. Hence the Koran frequently refers to the
Torah, the Gospel, and itself as guidance. The Koran has two primary names, al-qur'ân and
al-furqân. Ibn al-`Arabî and his followers frequently juxtapose the two terms, pointing out
that one of the literal meanings of the first term is "that which brings everything together and
combines them into a harmonious whole." In contrast, the second term means "that which
discerns and differentiates." In a parallel way intellect has two basic functions, which one
might call "synthesis" and "analysis." In the following passage Kâshânî shows once again
how intellect, heart, spirit, and soul are interrelated, emphasizing the character traits that
belong respectively to spirit and soul as contrasting tendencies. He is commenting on Koran
17:84:
And We send down from the Koran. In other words, from the intellect that
harmonizes all [qur'ânî], We send down, gradually, the stars that are the differentiations of
the intellect that discerns [furqânî]. One by one these stars reach the existence that manifests
the Real in accordance with the manifestation of the divine attributes. In other words: We
differentiate that which is undifferentiated and hidden within your essence in a plain
differentiation, manifest to you. This will then be a healing for the illnesses of the hearts of
those who have preparedness, those in your community who have faith in the Unseen--
illnesses like ignorance, doubt, hypocrisy, blindness of heart, rancor, envy, etc. Thus We
shall purify them. And a mercy, giving them perfections and virtues and adorning them with
wisdoms and knowledges. But it increases the unbelievers, those who have little portion of
perfection because of their bodily conditions and attributes of soul, only in loss. For their
souls increase in manifesting their own attributes, such as denial, obstinacy, haughtiness,
stubbornness, dissimulation, and hypocrisy. All these are added to what they had of doubt,
ignorance, blindness, and straying.
And when We bless the human being, through outward blessings, he turns away,
since he stands with the soul and the body. The bodily faculties are finite. They do not have
the circumspection to deal with the infinite affairs that may possibly occur and are connected
to the causes of blessing. . . . Hence people see nothing but the immediate. They claim
eminence because their soul is master of their heart and becomes manifest in their ego
[anâ'iyya]. Such a person flees from the heart and withdraws aside. In other words, he goes
far from the Real and into the side of the soul. He is enwrapped by the side of the soul and

707 Ibid. 751.

 375

turns away from the Real. So also he goes in the direction of evil. When evil visits him, he
is in despair, since he is veiled from the Powerful and His power. Were he to look with the
eye of insight, he would see God's power in both states. He would gain certainty that in the
first state gratitude is the tie of blessings, while in the second state patience wards off
adversity. Hence he would show gratitude and have patience. He would know that the Giver
of blessings is powerful. He would not turn away from Him in arrogance and insolence after
the blessing. He would fear its disappearance without forgetting the Giver of blessings. He
would not despair in adversity because of anxiety and grief. Rather, he would hope for its
removal while showing deference to the side of Him who gives affliction.
Say: "Everyone works according to his own manner," that is, according to his own
character traits and the disposition that dominates over him in keeping with his station.
When a person's station is the soul and his manner accords with its nature, then he will work
as we said, turning away and despairing. When his station is the heart and his manner is a
virtuous character, he will work in accordance with gratitude and patience. "So your Lord
knows very well who is best guided" among those who perform works "as to the way": He
knows that there is a worker of good according to the character of the heart and a worker of
evil according to the nature of the soul. He gives them recompense in keeping with their
works.708
Kâshânî's microcosmic interpretation of the archetypal spiritual journey of Islam, the
ascent (mi`râj) of the Prophet to the Divine Presence, clearly places the spirit at the summit
of the microcosm and contrasts it with all the negative character traits associated with the
soul. The Koranic verse is 17:1: "Glory be to Him who carried His servant by night from
the Holy Mosque to the Further Mosque, the precincts of which We have blessed, that We
might show him some of Our signs. He is the Hearing, the Seeing." Note that God carried
His servant. For only in servanthood, which is utter submission and total abandonment of
any self-control (tasarruf), is the human being a proper receptacle for the divine self-
disclosures. The "Holy Mosque" in the outside world is the Kaaba, while the "Further
Mosque" is al-Aqsâ in Jerusalem. It perhaps need to be stressed that Kâshânî is in no way
denying the bodily nature of the Prophet's mi`râj, which is accepted by practically all
Muslims. Rather, he wants to suggest what takes place in the microcosm when the servants
of God make their non-bodily ascents in imitation of the Prophet.
Glory be to Him who made His servant travel. In other words, the Prophet declared
God incomparable with material appendages and the imperfections of similarity through the
tongue of his state, which was disengagement and perfection in the station of servanthood,
within which there is no exercise of self-control whatsoever. By night, that is, within the
darkness of the bodily blights and the natural attachments, since ascent and advance take
place only by means of the body. From the Holy Mosque, from the station of the heart. The
heart is too holy for the circumambulation of the idolaters--the bodily faculties--and the
commission of their indecencies and mistakes. And it is too holy for the pilgrimage of the
animal faculties, whether the beastly or the predatory. The twin evils of their going to one
extreme and the other extreme are exposed, since they are naked of the clothing of virtue. To
the Further Mosque, which is the station of the spirit, the furthest from the corporeal world.

708 Ibid. 729-30.

 376

This takes place through the witnessing of the self-disclosures of the Essence and the "glories
of the Face."709
Remember here what we said earlier, that each station can be put in order only after
the traveler advances to what lies beyond it. Then you will understand that His words, that
We might show him some of Our signs, refers to the witnessing of the divine attributes.
Although viewing the self-disclosures of the attributes takes place in the station of the heart,
the Essence described by those attributes is not witnessed to perfection in majesty and beauty
until advance to the station of the spirit. God is saying, "that We might show him the signs"
of Our attributes inasmuch as they are ascribed to Us and We are witnessed through them and
appear in their forms. He is the Hearing: He hears his invocations in the station of the
inmost mystery, seeking annihilation. The Seeing: He sees the strength of his preparedness,
his turning his attentiveness toward the locus of witnessing, his being attracted toward Him
through the strength of love and the perfection of yearning.710
Kâshânî continues his analysis of the relationship between spirit, soul, and heart in
commenting on the next several verses of the Koran (17:2-7), which outwardly deal with a
topic completely different from the previous verse.
And We gave Moses, the heart, the Book, knowledge. And We made it a guidance
for the Children of Israel, in other words, for the faculties that are the tribe of "Israel," the
spirit. "Take not unto yourselves any guardian apart from Me": Thirst not for self-rule in
your acts and seek not independence through seeking your perfections and shares. Earn not
in accordance with your own motivations. Entrust not your affairs to the satan of sensory
intuition, or he will entice you with bodily enjoyments, nor to the intellect of everyday
livelihood, or it will employ you for arranging its own affairs and putting them in order. On
the contrary, entrust your affair to Me, that I may govern you with the provisions of
knowledges and gnostic sciences, the conditions of character traits and virtues. I will perfect
you with replenishment of lights from the world of the heart and the spirit and with the
confirmation of holiness. I will send down upon you something of the worlds of the
Dominion and the Invincibility. That will deliver you from need for the earnings of the
human world. These earnings are the offspring of those we bore with Noah, who is the
intellect, in the ship of the Sharia and practical wisdom. He was a thankful servant because
of his knowledge of God's blessings and his employing them in the mode that was proper.
And We decreed for the Children of Israel, the faculties, in the Book, the Guarded
Tablet: "You shall work corruption in the earth twice." The first time you shall work
corruption in the station of the soul when it is "commanding to evil" by seeking your
appetites and your enjoyments. "You shall ascend exceedingly high" through your seeking
mastery over the heart and your dominating and gaining exaltation over it. Thereby you will
prevent it from its perfection and you will employ its faculty of reflection to gain your
objects of desire and hope.
The second time refers to the station of the heart: Once you become clothed in
virtues, illumined by the light of the intellect, and manifested in the splendor of your

709 Allusion to the hadith, "God's veil is light [or fire]. Were He to remove it, the glories of
His face would burn away everything perceived by the sight of His creatures" (Muslim,
Imâm 293; Ibn Mâja, Muqaddima 13). Ibn al-`Arabî cites it in a slightly different form (cf.
SPK 401n19; Chodkiewicz, Illuminations 95-96).
710 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 705-6.
 377

perfections, then you will work corruption by making manifest your own perfections and
veiling the heart by means of your virtues from witnessing the self-disclosure of tawhîd. And
luminous veils are stronger than dark veils, since they are fine and subtle and give form to
perfections at which one must stop. Then you shall ascend in the station of your original
nature through the ruling authority of intellectual conditions and human perfections.
So when the promise of the evil consequence of the first of these came to pass, We
sent against you servants of Ours. These were attributes of the heart, lights of the Dominion,
and views of the intellect. They were possessors of great might, authority, and severity. And
they went through the habitations, that is, your places and loci. They slew some of you by
subdual and severity. They cursed the offspring of bodily conditions and the vile qualities of
the soul. They plundered the possessions of the sensory organs and the bestial and predatory
pleasures. And it was a promise made by God performed by His bringing into existence the
faculty of perfection. He sought in your preparedness and in purifying it the proofs of
intellect in its original nature.
Then We gave back to you the turn to prevail over them. We gave you good fortune
by illuminating you with the light of the heart, your turning toward the breast, and your
devotion to what is demanded by the vision and view of the intellect. And We succored you
with possessions, that is, beneficial knowledges, intellectual and Shariite wisdom, and
sciences of the heart, and children, virtues of character and luminous conditions. And We
made you a greater host through the greatness of virtues, virtuous habits, and beautiful
character traits. If you do good by acquiring perfections of character and views of the
intellect, it is your own souls that you do good to, and if you do evil by acquiring vile
qualities and bodily conditions, it is to them likewise.
The final stage of the heart's perfection is achieved through the annihilation (fanâ') of
the human attributes and the subsistence of the divine qualities within the human being.
Annihilation takes place through the manifestation of God's left hand: the attributes of
majesty and severity. Subsistence occurs when the right hand shows itself. Annihilation is
one of the demands of tawhîd, since everything unreal is effaced by the Real. Hence Kâshânî
refers to it as "annihilation in tawhîd." But here submission through annihilation turns into
the oneness of the qualities of the servant and the Lord. By achieving the station of
subsistence, the individual follows God by following the desires of his or her own heart.
Then, when the promise of the second time came to pass through annihilation in
tawhîd, We sent against you servants, that is, holy lights, the self-disclosures of majesty, the
glories of the severe divine attributes, the armies of the sultan of tremendousness and
magnificence, so that they would make your faces worse. In other words, they would
annihilate your existences through tawhîd, and you would be overcome by the grief of the
loss of perfections through severity and negation. And they would enter the Temple of the
heart, as they entered it the first time. Then their effect, which is knowledges and virtues,
reached you. And they would destroy utterly and annihilate by means of the attributes of
God that which they had ascended to by becoming manifest in the perfection and virtue of
the heart and being pleased with its vision, adornment, and joy. Perhaps your Lord will have
mercy upon you after the severity that annihilates and effaces you in the self-disclosure of
His attributes. He will have mercy by bringing you to life and stirring you up through
subsistence after annihilation. Then He will fix you in "what no eye has seen, what no ear
 378

has heard, and what has never passed into the heart of any mortal."711 But if you return by
undergoing variegation in the station of annihilation by manifesting your ego, then We shall
return through severity and annihilating. And We have made Gehenna, which is Nature, a
confinement, that is, a place of imprisonment within which people are confined by the
chastisement of being veiled and deprived of reward. For the unbelievers, that is, for the
ones who are veiled from the lights. They are the ones who remained in corruption the first
time.712

The Birth of the Heart

Soul as a negative force pulls the individual away from the light of guidance and
intellect, while spirit draws him or her toward God. From this point of view, the relationship
between spirit and soul is one of tension and conflict. But if the soul submits to the light of
the spirit, the relationship is one of harmony and equilibrium. Hence the smooth and
peaceful relationship between spirit and soul is frequently compared to a marriage similar to
that between the First Intellect and the Universal Soul. This happy and fruitful marriage
gives birth to the heart, which is a child in the image of God.
In this analogy, the true and perfect child is the full and perfected rational soul. For
although "rational soul" is the characteristic of human beings, few people actualize it. Hence,
as we saw in chapter 1, Ibn al-`Arabî contrasts the "perfect human beings" (al-insân al-
kâmil), who are the prophets and the great friends of God, with "animal human beings" (al-
insân al-hayawân), who are the rest of the human race.713 Most people, in short, are ruled
by the soul's animals, if not by its satan. Rûmî, along with many other authors, calls the
perfect human beings who have truly actualized the rational soul "possessors of hearts."
Experience shows that the spirit is nothing but awareness. Whoever has greater
awareness has a greater spirit.
Our spirit is greater than the animal spirit. Why? Because it has more awareness.
Then the angel's spirit is greater than ours, for he transcends the rational senses.
Then the spirit of God's friends, the Possessors of Hearts, is even greater. Leave
aside your astonishment!
That is why the angels prostrated themselves before Adam: His spirit was greater
than their existence.714
If the perfected rational soul is to be actualized, its parents--spirit and soul--must
marry, give birth to it, and nurture it. Only through perfect activity and perfect receptivity
can husband and wife bring the child to its perfected nature. The child will then embrace all
the qualities of the parents within itself, and through the child the parents will live in perfect
harmony.
One of the earliest authors to develop this imagery was Shihâb al-Dîn Suhrawardî in
`Awârif al-ma`ârif:
The human, high, heavenly spirit pertains to the World of Command, while the mortal
[basharî], animal spirit pertains to the World of Creation. The mortal, animal spirit is the
locus where the high spirit comes down and alights. The animal spirit is a subtle corporeal

711 Cf. chapter 7, note 48.

712 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 706-9.
713 Cf. SPK 275-77.
714 Rûmî, Mathnawî II 3326-30 (cf. SPL 31-32; 37, 39-40, 62, etc.).
 379

thing and carries the faculties of sensation and movement. The animal spirit arises from the
heart. Here by the heart I mean the well-known lump of flesh deposited on the left side of
the body. The animal spirit spreads out within the hollows of the veins and arteries. This
spirit belongs to all animals. From it are effused the faculties of the senses. It is this spirit
whose support depends for the most part on food in order to put God's norm into effect. The
science of medicine acts upon it by putting the mixture of the humors into equilibrium.
When the high, human spirit arrives at the animal spirit, the animal spirit gains a
certain kinship with it and becomes distinct from the spirits of the other animals, since it
acquires another attribute. It becomes a "soul," a place for rational speech and inspiration.
God says, "By the soul and Him who proportioned it and inspired in it its wickedness and its
godfearing" [91:7-8]. It becomes "proportioned" when the human spirit arrives at it and cuts
it off from the genus of the spirits of the animals. Hence the soul is engendered when God
engenders it through the high spirit.
When the soul, which is the animal spirit in the human being, is engendered from the
high spirit within the World of Command, this is like Eve's being engendered from Adam
within the World of Creation. Between the high spirit and the animal spirit appeared a
mutual familiarity and love like that found between Adam and Eve. Each of them tastes
death by being separated from its companion. God says, "He made from [the one original
soul] its spouse that he might rest in her" [7:189]. So Adam rested in Eve, and the high,
human spirit rested in the animal spirit and made it into a soul.
From the resting of the spirit in the soul the heart was engendered. By this heart I
mean the subtle heart whose place is the lump of flesh. But the lump of flesh belongs to the
World of Creation, while this subtle reality belongs to the World of Command.
When the heart is engendered from the spirit and soul in the World of Command, this
is like the offspring of Adam and Eve being engendered in the World of Creation. Were
there no mutual rest between the spouses, one of whom is the soul, the heart would not have
been engendered.
Among hearts, some are apprised of the father, who is the high spirit, and incline
toward him. That is the confirmed heart, which is mentioned by the Messenger of God as
related by Hudhayfa. He said, "There are four kinds of hearts: There is a bare heart within
which is a shining lamp, and this is the heart of the person of faith. There is a black and
inverted heart, and this is the heart of the unbeliever. There is a heart bound by attachments,
and this is the heart of the hypocrite. And there is a layered heart, within which are both faith
and hypocrisy. The faith within it is like a plant nourished by sweet water, while the
hypocrisy within it is like a boil nourished by pus and filth. The heart will be judged by
whichever nourishment dominates over it."715
The inverted heart inclines toward the mother, which is the soul that commands to
evil. There is also a heart that wavers in its inclination toward her. Its property will belong
to felicity or wretchedness in accordance with the dominant inclination of the heart.
The intellect is the substance of the high spirit, its tongue, and that which points to it.
It governs the confirmed heart and the purified soul at peace just as the father governs a
loving child and the husband a virtuous wife. The servant governs the inverted heart and the
soul that commands to evil as a father governs a recalcitrant child and a bad wife. Hence the

715 Ghazâlî quotes the same hadith in discussing the heart (Ihyâ' III.1.5 [III 10]). A similar
text is found in Ahmad III 7.
 380

intellect is turned away in one respect and attracted toward them in another respect, since it
cannot do without them.
Various people have offered differing opinions on the place of the intellect. Some
hold that its place is the brain, some that its place is the heart, and both fall short of
perceiving the reality of the situation. The reason they differ is that the intellect does not stay
still in a single manner. Sometimes it is attracted to the loving child, sometimes to the
recalcitrant child. The heart has a relationship with the loving child, and the brain with the
recalcitrant child. When people look at the governing of the recalcitrant child, they say that
intellect's place of rest is the brain. When they look at the governing of the loving child, they
say that its place of rest is the heart.
The high spirit aims to rise up to its Master out of yearning, bending, and freeing
itself from engendered things. Both heart and soul are among the engendered things. When
the spirit ascends, the heart bends toward it as the longing, loving child bends toward his
father. The soul longs for the heart, her child, as the longing mother longs for her child.
When the soul longs, it rises up from the earth. Its roots driven into the low world are
withdrawn. Its caprice vanishes and its matter is cut off. It renounces this world and
withdraws from this abode of delusion, turning toward the abode of everlastingness.
The soul, who is the mother, had made herself endure the earth through her innate
disposition. For she was engendered from the animal spirit that is similar in kind to the earth,
and she supported herself by resting in the natures, which are the pillars of the low world.
God says, "And had We willed, we would have raised him up through them [Our signs]. But
he inclined toward the earth and followed his own caprice" [7:176]. When the soul, who is
the mother, rests in the earth, the inverted heart is attracted to her. This is the child that
inclines toward its crooked and imperfect mother rather than to its upright and perfect father.
At the same time, the spirit is attracted to the child, who is the heart, because of the father's
innate attraction to its child. At this point it fails in the reality of standing up for the right of
its Master.
In these two attractions become manifest the property of felicity and wretchedness.
"That is the ordaining of the Inaccessible, the Knowing" [6:96].716

The Heart's Birth According to `Izz al-Dîn Kâshânî

Suhrawardî's brief explication of the heart and its relationship with its parents was
expanded upon considerably by `Izz al-Dîn Mahmûd Kâshânî (d. 735/1334-35) in his Persian
Misbâh al-hidâya (The lamp of guidance), a work that was inspired by the `Awârif and has
enjoyed a wide popularity wherever Persian has been read, especially in the Indian
subcontinent.
Like other authorities, `Izz al-Dîn insists on the impossibility of providing an exact
definition of the soul, since the term is applied to the whole inward dimension of the human
reality, which is unlimited in the direction of God. Each human soul is made up of a wide
range of tendencies and faculties. These belong not to the visible world that is accessible to
observation but to the unseen world that can be grasped only through the revelations given to
the prophets, or through individual spiritual experience on the basis of those revelations. But
each human being's grasp of the soul will be different, since each individual represents a

716 Suhrawardî, `Awârif al-ma`ârif 449-51 (chapter 56).

 381

unique image of God. No one can have access to the whole range of possibilities
encompassed by the soul.
Our purpose is to provide knowledge of the soul, even though knowledge of all its
attributes is impossible, for it possesses the characteristics of a chameleon. Moment by
moment it displays a new color, hour by hour it assumes another shape. It is the Hârût of the
Babylon of existence:717 At each moment it presents another painting, at each breath it
begins another trick. In the fact that the knowledge of the divine is connected to and made
conditional upon the knowledge of the soul [in the hadith, "He who knows his own soul
knows his Lord"], we should see an allusion to the fact that it cannot be known in all its
attributes. No creature can reach the innermost depth of the soul's knowledge, any more than
one can reach the innermost depth of the knowledge of God. And just as it is impossible to
know the soul as it is in itself, so also it is difficult to tie down its states in a worthy manner.
Hence `Alî said, "I and my soul are like a shepherd and his sheep. Whenever I gather them
from one side, they run off in another direction."718
`Izz al-Dîn then proceeds to describe the three stages of the soul: the soul that
commands to evil, the blaming soul, and the soul at peace. He points out that corrupt and
blameworthy character traits derive from the soul that commands to evil, while the
praiseworthy character traits that begin to manifest themselves in the blaming soul and
become firmly established in the soul at peace derive from the spirit. But as to the exact
nature of the spirit, that is even more mysterious than the nature of the soul. Nevertheless, it
is possible to grasp the relationship between spirit and soul by examining the structure of the
cosmos. Hence he turns his attention to the creation of the universe and God's blowing the
spirit into the human being. He calls the attributed spirit that God blew into the human being
when creating him the "Greatest Spirit." This Spirit has two "visions" (nazar), one for
looking at majesty and the other for looking at beauty. Through one of these visions "it
contemplates the majesty of God's beginningless Power, and through the other it gazes upon
the beauty of His endless Wisdom." Both of these visions are referred to as "Intellect," but
the one that contemplates majesty and power is directed toward God, while the one that
contemplates beauty and wisdom is directed toward creation. According to `Izz al-Dîn, these
two faces of the Intellect are mentioned in the versions of the hadith of the First Intellect that
refer to the two directions in which the Intellect "turned": "The first thing God created was
the Intellect. He said to it, 'Turn this way,' so it turned toward God. Then He said to it, 'Turn
that way,' so it turned away from God."
Majesty and power are clearly the yang side of the Divine Reality, while beauty and
wisdom are the yin side. If the former are seen in God, this is because of His incomparability
and distance. In contrast, creation manifests beauty and wisdom inasmuch as it reflects God
and displays His nearness and similarity. Wisdom is demonstrated by putting everything into
its proper place with a view toward ultimate truth and felicity. As Ibn al-`Arabî says,
wisdom is the divine attribute that rules over arrangement, order, and hierarchy, that is,
"cosmos" in the original Greek sense.719

717 Hârût is an angel, mentioned in Koran 2:102, who came down to Babylon along with his
fellow angel Mârût and taught the inhabitants sorcery. Cf. Kisâ'î, Tales 47-48.
718 Kâshânî, Misbâh al-hidâya 83-84. The saying of `Alî is also cited in Sarrâj, Kitâb al-
luma` 132.
719 Cf. SPK 174.
 382

The noblest existent thing and the nearest object of contemplation to the Presence of
Inaccessibility is the Greatest Spirit, which God attributed to Himself with His words, "[I
blew into him] of My spirit" or "of Our spirit." Terms such as the Great Adam, the First
Vicegerent, the Divine Interpreter, the Key to Existence, the Pen of Existentiation, and the
Garden of the Spirits all express its attributes.
The first prey caught in the snare of existence was the essence of this Spirit. The
Eternal Will appointed it to His vicegerency in the World of Creation. He turned over to it
the keys to the treasuries of the mysteries and gave it permission to exercise control over the
cosmos. He let a tremendous river flow down upon it from the Ocean of Life, so that it
constantly takes replenishment from the effusion of life and conveys it to the various parts of
the engendered universe.
From the resting place of all-comprehensiveness, that is, the Holy Essence, the
Greatest Spirit takes the forms of the divine words to the locus of dispersion, which is the
World of Creation. It takes them from the Undifferentiated Reality and displays them in the
entities of the differentiated things.
The divine generosity gave this Spirit two visions, one for the contemplation of the
majesty of the beginningless power and the other for gazing upon the beauty of the endless
wisdom. The primordial intellect that is turned toward God is the outward expression of the
first vision. Its result is love for God. The creaturely intellect that is turned away from God
is the outward expression of the second vision, as mentioned in the report, "He said to it,
'Turn that way,' so it turned away from Him." Its result is the Universal Soul.
Whenever the Attributed Spirit is replenished by an effusion from the All-
comprehensive Reality, the Universal Soul becomes its receptacle and the locus of its
differentiation.
This activity and receiving activity, or strength and weakness, bring about between
the Attributed Spirit and the Universal Soul the relationship of masculinity and femininity
and the customs of mutual love and intimate embracing. Because of this mixture and pairing
between the two, the children--the things of the engendered universe--are brought into
existence. They enter into the world of manifestation at the hand of the midwife--God's
ordainment--from the placenta of the Unseen. Hence all creatures are the offspring of the
Soul and the Spirit, while the Soul is the offspring of the Spirit, and the Spirit is the offspring
of the Command. For God created the Spirit by Himself without any intermediate cause, and
this is alluded to by the word "Command." In the same way, He created all creatures by
means of the Spirit, and these are called "Creation." "Verily, His are the Creation and the
Command. Blessed is God, the Lord of the worlds" [7:54].720
As God's one creature through which all other creatures come into existence the Spirit
comprehends all the divine names and attributes, of which the cosmos in its full amplitude
and deployment is the outward manifestation. The Spirit is the first point on the Arc of
Descent, while those human beings who achieve the station of perfection or vicegerency
complete the Arc of Ascent. The Spirit is God's first vicegerent, through which the effusion
of existence reaches all things, and human beings are His last vicegerent, taking existence
back to its Source.
Since every vicegerent must bring together all the attributes of the one who appoints
him, the divine bounty and infinite generosity clothed the Spirit in the vicegerency of

720 Kâshânî, Misbâh al-hidâya 94-95.

 383

existentiation through all His beautiful and majestic names and attributes. He made the Spirit
honored and venerated in the royal seat of creation. Then, when the Circle of Engendering
reached its final point, which coincided with the beginning point, the form of the spirit came
to be reflected in the mirror of the existence of the Adam made of earth. All the divine
names and attributes disclosed themselves in him. Then God called out, "Verily I am placing
in the earth a vicegerent" [2:30].721
The news of Adam's vicegerency spread among the Higher Plenum. On the firman of
his vicegerency these words were inscribed: "Verily God created Adam in His own form."
On the banner of his nobility this verse appeared: "He taught Adam the names, all of them"
[2:31]. The reins of subjugation and the halters of ordainment were placed in the hand of his
control. The angels were commanded to prostrate themselves to him. They did not have the
perfection of all-comprehensiveness that he had. Some of them are the locus of
manifestation for the attribute of beauty, and nothing else. These are the angels of gentleness
and mercy. Others are the locus of manifestation for the attribute of majesty, and nothing
else. These are the angels of severity and chastisement. But God made Adam bring together
the attributes of beauty and majesty. He made him a locus for gentleness and severity, mercy
and wrath. He expressed this through His words, "What I created with My own two hands"
[38:75]. Hence Adam knew God by means of all the names. But the angels knew God only
through that name for which they were the locus of manifestation. They allude to this with
their words, "We know nothing but what Thou hast taught us" [2:32].
Hence human beings were made God's vicegerent upon earth because they were
created in the divine form and manifest the properties of both hands of God. The properties
of the two hands are reflected in the dual nature of the spiritual world, as represented by the
Greatest Spirit (the First Intellect) and the Universal Soul. Through its distance from
creation, the spirit reflects majesty and severity. In contrast, the Soul reflects the caring
qualities of gentleness and kindness through its relative nearness to creation, multiplicity, and
differentiation. Spirit and Soul are then reflected in the human pair, Adam and Eve, and in
the spirit and soul of each human individual. Kâshânî continues:
Just as Adam's existence in the visible world is the locus of manifestation for the
Spirit's form in the unseen world, so also Eve's existence in the visible world is the locus of
manifestation for the Soul's form in the unseen world. Her birth from Adam--for God says,
"He created from [the one soul] its spouse" [4:1]--is a likeness of the birth of the Soul from
the Spirit. Thus the effect of the pairing of Soul and Spirit and the relationship established
there between masculinity and femininity were transferred to Adam and Eve.
Just as the created things emerged from the Spirit and Soul, so also the seed of the
offspring--which was entrusted to Adam's reins [7:172]--was brought into existence through
the pairing of Adam and Eve. Hence the existence of Adam and Eve is a transcription of the
existence of the Spirit and Soul. Moreover, in each human individual, another transcription
was made from the transcription that is the existence of Adam and Eve. This takes place
through the pairing of the particular spirit and the particular soul and the birth of the heart
from between the two.722
Both men and women manifest Spirit and Soul, but the Spirit predominates in men
while the Soul predominates in women. This may be the reason, Kâshânî suggests, that God

721 Ibid.
722 Ibid. 96.
 384

sent prophets only in male form. He indicates through his last sentence that he is not sure of
his own interpretation.
The birth of the form of the male derives from the form of the Universal Spirit, but
mixed with the attributes of the Soul. The birth of the form of the female derives from the
form of the Universal Soul, but mixed with the attribute of the Spirit. Hence no prophet was
sent in the form of a woman, for prophecy is related to masculinity because it controls human
souls and exercises effects within the World of Creation.723 Moreover, the means of
manifestation of the prophets is the Spirit, and the Spirit gives rise to the masculine form.
But God knows best.724
The heart that is born between spirit and soul is not born once and for all, since it
continues to come into existence instant by instant through the ever-changing relationship
between its parents. In the same way, the cosmos is reborn instant by instant--as the
Ash`arite theologians suggested and as Ibn al-`Arabî maintains with great vigor--since it is
constantly being reborn as the result of the marriage of Universal Spirit and Universal Soul.
Since "Everything is perishing except the Face of God" (28:88), only the Face or Essence of
God is fixed and stable. Kâshânî, like earlier authorities, identifies the experience of the
constant flux of creation with the heart's fluctuation.
Though the heart constantly fluctuates in its states, it is always conditioned by its
mother, the soul. As the soul moves away from the stage of commanding to evil and
advances toward the stage of peace with God, the heart undergoes a concordant
transformation. But like its father and mother, the heart cannot truly be known.
Knowledge of the attributes of the heart as they are in themselves is impossible. It is
even difficult to speak about the heart, since it undergoes constant fluctuation in the stages of
the states and constant advancement in the ascending degrees of perfection. Because of this
fluctuation it is known as the heart.
The "states" (ahwâl), as pointed out earlier, are the ever-changing experiences
undergone by the travelers on the path of God. As ephemeral gifts from God, they are
contrasted with the "stations" (maqâmât), which are permanent earnings.
Since the states are divine gifts, and since these gifts never end, the fluctuation and
advance of the heart in the ascending degrees of perfection and the rising stages of
beginningless beauty and majesty are infinite. Hence the heart's attributes and states cannot
be contained within the limits of reckoning and the reckoning of limits. If a person speaks in
an attempt to limit and reckon them, he will know for certain--if he looks carefully--that in
reality he is defining only the limits of his own perception and clarifying only the share of his
own preparedness. Several thousand divers into the oceans of gnostic sciences have plumbed
the depths of the ocean of the heart's knowledge, and no one has reached the bottom or fully
explained the inmost depth of its wonders and marvels. Moreover, not everyone who found a
trace of it has brought back news, nor has everyone who has grasped one of its precious
pearls held it out to be seen. `Alî ibn Sahl Sûfî says, "From the time of Adam till the coming
of the Hour, people will be saying, 'My heart, my heart.' I would like to see one person who

723 Note that on this point Kâshânî differs with Ibn al-`Arabî (see above, page 000).
724 Kâshânî, Misbâh al-hidâya 96.
 385

can describe to me what thing the heart is and what its qualities are. But I have not found
that one."725
Though any human being has a heart, father and mother do not always marry in
harmony to produce a perfect child. The true heart represents the coming together of the
qualities of yang and yin in perfect balance. It is the locus where heaven and earth work in
harmony, where the unseen and the visible meld and become inseparable. It is the possession
only of the prophets, the great sages, and the friends of God, those who have reached the goal
of human life.
Let me tell of the meaning of the heart in the tongue of allusion: It is the point from
which the Circle of Existence comes into movement and through which it reaches perfection.
Within it the mystery of eternity without beginning meets the mystery of eternity without
end. The first glance at it reaches the furthest range of sight. The beauty and majesty of the
Abiding Face are disclosed to it. Terms such as the Throne of the All-merciful, the
Descending Place of al-Qur'ân and al-Furqân, the Isthmus between the Unseen and the
Visible and between the Spirit and the Soul, the Meeting Place of the Two Seas of the
Dominion and the Kingdom, the Viewer of the King and the one whom He views, the Lover
of God and His Beloved, and the one who carries and is carried by the Secret of the Trust and
the Divine Bounty, all express its qualities.
What was desired from the pairing of spirit and soul was the offspring that is the
existence of the heart. A relationship was established between the Kingdom and the
Dominion in order for the heart to have an object of vision and a place for witnessing. Its
form took shape through love itself, while its insight is illuminated with the light of
contemplation.
When the soul was separated from the spirit, love and quarrel appeared on both sides.
When the two loves were paired, the form of the heart was born. Like an isthmus [barzakh],
it became the intermediary between the sea of the spirit and the sea of the soul. It stood at
their meeting place. Thereby if in their flowing either should infringe upon or transgress
against the other, it could prevent that: "[He let flow the two seas that meet together,]
between them an isthmus they do not overpass" [55:19-20].
The reason that the form of the heart appeared from love itself is that wherever the
heart sees beauty, it clings to it, and wherever it finds loveliness, it embraces it. It is never
without an object of gaze, a beloved, a heart's ease. Its existence subsists through love, and
love's existence through it.
In human existence, the heart is like the Throne of the All-merciful. The Throne is
the great heart in the macrocosm, and the heart is the small throne in the microcosm. All
hearts are encompassed by the Throne, just as the particular spirits are embraced by the
Greatest Spirit, and the particular souls are under the Universal Soul.
Like the Throne, the heart has a form and a reality. Its form is the pine cone shaped
lump of flesh deposited in the left side of the body. Its reality is the lordly subtle reality
[latîfa-yi rabbânî] mentioned earlier. The rational soul and the animal spirit are
intermediaries between the reality and form of the heart, for the reality of the heart is sheer
subtlety, while its form is density itself. Between the absolutely dense and the absolutely

725 Ibid. 97. `Alî ibn Sahl ibn Azhar Isfahânî (d. 280/893) is one of the eminent Sufis
mentioned by Hujwîrî, who also gives a longer version of this saying (Hujwîrî, The Kashf al-
mahjúb 143-44).
 386

subtle, there can be no relationship of any sort whatsoever. Hence the rational soul and the
animal spirit, both of which have a face turned toward the World of Subtlety and a face
turned toward the World of Density, became the intermediaries between the form and the
reality of the heart.
Every effect that emerges from the heart first reaches the soul, which receives it in
respect of its subtle face. Then in respect of its dense face it conveys it to the animal spirit.
In the same way, the animal spirit takes it in respect of its subtle face and entrusts it to the
outward form of the heart in respect of its dense face. From there, it is spread out to the
regions of the body.
In the same way, the effusion of mercy from the Presence of Divinity first reaches the
reality of the Throne. From there it reaches the Bearers of the Throne, and they convey it to
the form of the Throne, from which it reaches the regions of the visible world.726

The Heart's Birth According to Ibn al-`Arabî's School

When we turn to the school of Ibn al-`Arabî, we find several authors discussing the
birth of the heart. Qûnawî devotes a section to it in one of his short unpublished works,
Tahrîr al-bayân fî taqrîr shu`ab al-îmân. His major ideas are brought out well by his disciple,
Sa`îd al-Dîn Farghânî, who frequently discusses the heart. Farghânî makes the same
associations as the other authors that we have looked at, but the key idea in his teaching,
following his master, is that of equilibrium (i`tidâl). The perfect heart is only realized when
all the qualities present in the microcosm are fully actualized in proper or balance and
harmony. Farghânî refers to the birth of the heart from its placenta, the soul, in the following
commentary on Ibn al-Fârid's verse, "Be empty of gratifications, rise up from your own
nadir. Then be firm and grow."727 First he paraphrases the verse in Persian:
Become empty of everything desired by your own soul. Rise up from the nadir of
your own existence. Be firm in that emptiness. Have patience in the abandonment of
gratifications so that you may grow up through the growth of the heart. Then the doors of
increase will be opened to you.
His meaning is as follows: The world of sensation and sensory things has fallen to a
nadir and a lowness in relation to the world of the spirit and spiritual things. The more a
person inclines toward sensory gratifications and enjoyments, the more he descends into the
lowness and nadir of his own existence. Hence, if he abandons gratifications and enjoyments
and becomes empty of them, he will become more complete in relation to the World of the
Spirits. His spirituality will dominate over his corporeality. Then he will advance from his
own lowness to a high level.
The poet says that since you are seeking guidance, you should abstain from your
corporeal gratifications so that you may advance from the nadir to the zenith. When you
become firm in abandoning the gratifications and desires of the soul--which are the soul's
modes of disequilibrium--then the child/heart, who is concealed and overcome within your
placenta/soul, will lift up its head. The heart is the form and the central point of the soul's
equilibrium. It will be like a plant that grows up out of the earth of your constitution and

726 Kâshânî, Misbâh al-hidâya 98-99.

727 Cf. Ibn al-Fârid, Poem 25 (lines 575-77).
 387

soul. It is nurtured through the aid of a spiritual gaze by means of the water of repentance,
abstinence, and sincerity.728
In the introduction to the Arabic version of his commentary, Farghânî discusses five
levels of the heart pertaining to five major stages in the path to human perfection. In four out
of five cases he describes the appearance of the heart as a birth. The first and lowest level,
"the particular, relative heart," pertains to the soul that has passed through a number of the
important preliminary stations of the Sufi path. The second level, called the "true heart," is
born of the mutual love between its father and mother, who are spirit and soul. It displays the
properties of the divine name the Manifest. The father of the second heart now becomes the
mother of the third heart, while its father is the inmost mystery (sirr). This heart displays the
properties of the divine name Nonmanifest. The fourth heart is that of the perfect human
being and brings together the properties of both the Manifest and the Nonmanifest. Finally,
the fifth heart belongs exclusively to Muhammad and is the source of all the other hearts.
Farghânî's long discussion is full of technical terms pertaining to the teachings of Qûnawî. In
what follows I quote only a few especially relevant sections:
Once the soul has realized these stations, while remaining constantly in remembrance
[dhikr] of God through concentration and through repelling incoming thoughts, then the
properties of being veiled and the properties and effects of the soul's manyness disappear
from it. When the properties of manyness become weak in the soul, the effect of its own all-
comprehensive oneness becomes manifest. This oneness had been concealed within the
properties of manyness. This is the particular, relative heart that pertains specifically to the
soul. It is not the true heart.729
In contrasting spirit and soul, Farghânî refers to the activity that pertains to the
Oneness and Necessity of Being and the receptivity that pertains to the manyness and
possibility of the existent things, an idea with which we are already familiar. He refers to the
spirit as the "spiritual spirit" (al-rûh al-rûhâniyya) in order to distinguish it from the "animal
spirit" or animal soul. Note that he does not make the activity of the spirit absolute. On the
contrary, he simply means to say that, all things taken into consideration, activity belongs to
it more than it does to the soul.
The relationship of activity to the spiritual spirit is stronger because of its intense tie
with the Presence of Necessity, since that Presence's oneness is manifest within it. And the
relationship of receiving activity is more intense in the human, animal soul, because of its
strong tie with the Presence of Possibility, since that presence's characteristic--which is
manyness--becomes manifest within it.
The inmost mystery, the spirit, and the soul each witnessed the manifestation of its
own specific perfection as being bound to the others. Inclination to perfection belongs to
their very essences and is manifest in each of them. The reason for this is that they are
permeated by the original love of the Divine Essence [mentioned in the hadith, "I was a
Hidden Treasure so I loved to be known"]. . . .
That property of love made each of them move toward its companion. Hence through
its properties the spiritual spirit longed for the human soul as the contented husband longs for
his willing wife. The soul also, through its properties and original faculties, longed for the
spirit as the contented and pleasing wife yearns for the husband who is devoted to her. Each

728 Farghânî, Mashâriq al-darârî 210-11.

729 Idem, Muntahâ al-madârik I 95.
 388

of the two inclines toward the other. They come together and mix with all the unitary and
equilibrium-related effects contained in each. . . . Through the property of their coming
together is born from the placenta of the soul's all-comprehensiveness the child, who is the
true heart. The child brings together all the properties of the parents along with those of the
inmost mystery. He becomes manifest as a mature child, devoted to his parents. This unitary
and all-comprehensive heart, which is godfearing and purified of all the properties of every
mode of disequilibrium, becomes a mirror and a locus of self-disclosure for Him who
discloses Himself in the oneness of His attributes.730
Farghânî tells us that this true heart reflects God inasmuch as He is the Manifest, and
he devotes several pages to describing the various stations of perfection that this heart
achieves. But God is also the Nonmanifest, and the heart should also achieve the perfections
of nonmanifestation. This can occur only when the spirit becomes the wife of the inmost
mystery. "Then there is born from the placenta of the spirit the child/heart, receptive to the
self-disclosure of Nonmanifest Being." Through this receptivity the heart comes to know its
own reality within the knowledge of God.731
The fourth stage of the heart is actualized when the spiritual traveler is freed from
being dominated by the self-disclosure of God in the manifest or the nonmanifest domains.
This takes place when both names, the Manifest and the Nonmanifest, disclose themselves to
the person in their perfections that pertain to the "universal categories of their entifications."
Then between the two names is born the reality of the ocean-like heart that brings
together the two Presences. . . .
From the east of this perfect, all-embracing and all-comprehensive heart rises the sun of the
perfect, all-comprehensive self-disclosure of the Essence. . . . Now the traveler is able to put
on any garment he wishes and become manifest in any locus of manifestation that he
desires.732
`Abd al-Razzâq Kâshânî makes use of the image of the marriage of spirit and soul
and the birth of the heart in a number of places in Ta'wîl al-Qur'ân. For example, the
following is his ta'wîl of Koran 4:36:
Serve God. Pay exclusive attention to Him and to annihilation within Him, for that is
the extreme of self-abnegation. And associate naught with Him in affirming His existence.
And be good to parents. Be good to the spirit and the soul, from which the heart was born.
The heart is your reality. You belong only to it. Fulfill your parents' rights and respect them
as they should be respected, by taking effusion from the spirit and turning your attention
toward it through assent and reverence. Purify and preserve the soul from the defilements of
love for this world and becoming abased before greed, covetousness, and the like. Protect
her from the evil of Satan and his enmity toward her. Help her through clemency and zeal by
giving her fully her rights and keeping gratifications away from her.733
Kâshânî employs similar imagery in providing a ta'wîl of the Koranic story of
Zachariah, who prayed that God would give him a child. He is the spirit and his wife is the

730 Ibid. 98-99.

731 Ibid. 102.
732 Ibid. 103. Farghânî is alluding here to the power of the gnostic to enter into any world
of the cosmos in an appropriate form. Cf. Ibn al-`Arabî's discussion of this point in
Chodkiewicz, Illuminations 287-300.
733 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 256.
 389

soul. She is barren because she has not yet given birth to the heart. And John is their child,
the heart. He is called "John," yahyâ, which in Arabic can be read to mean "he lives,"
because the heart has everlasting life.734
In commenting on Koran 30:21, Kâshânî illustrates the nature of the love that should
exist between spirit and soul. Notice that the relationship is not one-sided. Both spirit and
soul give and receive, act and are acted upon. But the situation here corresponds to the
relationship between God and the divine thrall, or the Lord and the vassal: The soul acts by
receiving the activity of the spirit and thereby making the spirit spirit. Without a vassal, the
Lord cannot be a Lord. Without a soul, the spirit cannot be spirit.
And among His signs, that is, among His acts and attributes through which one
obtains access to His Essence through knowledge and wayfaring, is that He created for you,
of your souls, spouses. In other words, He created for you spouses for the spirits from the
souls, that you might rest in them, and support yourselves through them and incline toward
them through love, exercising effects, and accepting effects. And He has set between you
from both sides love and mercy. Hence through receptivity and receiving effects the soul
loves the light of the spirit and its exercising effects. Thereby it finds rest from inconstancy
and is purified. God blesses the soul through the child, the heart, within the placenta of
preparedness, as a loving kindness toward her. The soul is guided through the child's
blessing. She assumes its character traits and is delivered.
The spirit loves the soul by exercising effects within her and effusing light upon her.
God has mercy upon the spirit through the blessed child by means of loving kindness and
sympathy. Through the child's blessing the spirit climbs up. Through the child its perfection
becomes manifest.
Surely in that are signs, or attributes and perfections, for a people who reflect upon
their souls and their essences, their innate dispositions, and what has been deposited within
them.735

The Soul as Virgin Mother

The ideal soul receives the infusion of the spirit and gives birth to the heart. This is
the soul at peace. Sometimes our authors compare this soul to the Virgin Mary, while Jesus
is the heart to whom she gives birth. Rûmî, in a slight variation on this theme, depicts the
human body as Mary. He is explaining why the pain of love and longing are necessary on
the path to God.
As long as Mary did not feel the pain of childbirth, she did not go toward the tree of
good fortune. "And the pangs of childbirth drove her to the trunk of the palm tree" [19:23].
That pain took her to the tree, and the barren tree bore fruit.
The body is like Mary, and each of us has a Jesus within. If the pain appears, our
Jesus will be born. But if no pain comes, Jesus will return to his Origin on that same hidden
road by which he came. We will be deprived of him and reap no benefit.736
Kâshânî interprets Mary in a similar microcosmic sense in commenting on the Koran
3:42-44:

734 Ibid. II 10.

735 Ibid. 259-60.
736 Rûmî, Fîhi mâ fîhi 20-21 (cf. SPL 241).
 390

And when the angels, the spiritual faculties, said to Mary, the purified and pure soul,
"God has chosen you," because you have freed yourself of appetites, "and" He has "purified
you" of ugly character traits and blameworthy attributes. "He has chosen you above all
women". Women are the appetitive souls that are colored with blameworthy acts and
despicable habits. "Mary, be obedient to your Lord" through your duties, which are acts of
obedience and worship. "And prostrate" yourself in the station of brokenness, lowliness,
poverty, incapacity, and asking forgiveness. "And bow yourself" in the station of humility
and fear "with those who bow", those who are humble. . . .
The angels said to Mary, the soul, "God gives you good tidings of a Word", the heart,
which is a gift "from Him". His "name is 'Messiah,'" since he will "anoint" [mash] you with
light.
"High honored shall he be in this world" because of his perception of particular things
and his governing of the best interests of livelihood. He shall be the best, the purest, and the
most correct that can be. Both the "human beings," that is, the outward faculties, and the
"jinn," the inward faculties, shall obey him, follow him, attend to him, and glorify him. "And
in the next world", since he perceives universals and holy sciences and he undertakes to
govern the return to God and guidance to the Real. Hence We give to him the Kingdom of
the Heaven of the spirit and We honor him. He is one of those "near stationed to God",
receptive to His self-disclosures and unveilings.737

The Perfected Heart

If we suppose that intellect and soul have been perfected and live together in utter
harmony, then the heart will have been born. But the soul, this virtuous "woman," is none
other than her husband, since her union with the intellect is complete and total. Heaven and
earth have achieved such perfect harmony that their properties cannot be distinguished.
Their oneness is precisely the heart itself, which is identical with the Tao. And indeed, the
essence of the true human being is the heart.
In the midst of the tawhîd that has been established, relationships can be discerned in
any given situation. Is the perfect soul yin? Yes, since it has submitted itself to the will of
heaven. Is it yang? Yes, since it incarnates the will of heaven that rules over the Ten
Thousand Things. Is the perfect intellect yin? Yes, since it is receptive to the light of God.
Is it yang? Yes, since it irradiates the soul.
One can also express this state of union by saying that the heart has two faces. One
looks at God, the other at the cosmos. Inasmuch as the heart looks at God and receives from
Him, it is His servant. Inasmuch as it looks toward the cosmos and governs it, it is God's
vicegerent. Thus Qûnawî writes that a human being considered as an integrated whole--as
having actualized the perfections of all the divine attributes--is yin only in respect to the
Presence of All-comprehensiveness (hadrat al-jam`), which is designated by the all-
comprehensive name Allah. And this occurs only after the person achieves total and utter
annihilation (fanâ') of the limiting attributes of the soul:
When receiving activity [infi`âl] embraces both the outward and inward dimensions
of the human being and complete annihilation has been achieved, then the situation pertains

737 Kâshânî, Ta'wîlât I 185-86.

 391

to the Presence of All-comprehensiveness. For the human being as a whole does not act as a
locus for the reception of activity except in relation to this Presence.738
Human beings who attain to this station of perfection function as the heart of the
macrocosm, since only within them are all the qualities of heaven and earth, or all the
properties of the two hands of God, fully realized. Hence Qûnawî and his followers
sometime refer to the perfect human being as the "heart of all-comprehensiveness and
existence." Such a person comprehends the attributes of heaven, earth, and the Ten
Thousand Things and has become a totally integrated whole that embraces all reality. As
servant and vicegerent, he or she stands at the center of existence, tying all things together.
This individual human being is "the point at the center of the ontological circle," a circle
which is all of existence, or everything other than God. Qûnawî refers to some of these ideas
in examining the notion of heart and showing how it can be understood to exist on the five
levels of the microcosm.739
Know that every heart has five faces: [1] a face turned toward the Presence of the
Real with no intermediary between it and the Real; [2] a face through which it stands
opposite the World of the Spirits and in respect to which it takes from its Lord what its
preparedness requires by means of the spirits; [3] a face specific to the World of Imagination,
from which it enjoys favors to the extent of its relationship with the station of all-
comprehensiveness and according to the equilibrium of its constitution and character traits
and the right order of its states in its activities, presence, and knowledge; [4] a face turned
toward the World of the Visible and specific to the names Manifest and Last; and [5] an all-
comprehensive face that pertains to the Unity of All-comprehensiveness. This face is turned
toward the level of the He-ness that is described by Firstness, Lastness, Manifestation, and
Nonmanifestation and the bringing together of these four descriptions. Each of these faces
has a locus of manifestation among human beings. . . .
When a person is the form of the "heart of all-comprehensiveness and existence," he
is like our Prophet, for his station is the point at the center of the ontological circle. The five
faces of his heart are turned toward each world, presence, and level. He comprises the
properties of all things and becomes manifest through all their qualities through his all-
comprehensive face.
Know that the greatest things that God described by all-embracingness are mercy, the
human heart, and knowledge. Concerning the capacity of mercy He said, "My mercy
embraces everything" [7:156]. Concerning mercy and knowledge together He said through
the tongue of the angels, "Our Lord, Thou embracest all things in mercy and knowledge"
[40:7]. And concerning the all-embracingness of the human heart he said, "My heavens and
My earth embrace Me not, but the heart of My servant with faith does embrace Me.". . .
As for the all-embracingness of the heart that embraces God, that consists of the
barzakh-reality that pertains exclusively to the true human being, who is the heart of all-
comprehensiveness and existence.740

738 Qûnawî, Miftâh al-ghayb 324.

739 These correspond to the well-known "Five Divine Presences." Cf. Chittick, "The Five
Divine Presences."
740 Qûnawî, Fakk al-khutûm 246-50; cf. Jâmî, Naqd al-nusûs 200-1.
 392

The perfect human being is a barzakh or "isthmus" in respect of embracing all the
qualities of both God and the macrocosm and bringing them together within a single reality
that is both yin and yang, servant and vicegerent.
In another work, Qûnawî discusses the gradual perfection of the soul through its
ascent in the stations, a word that signifies literally a place of standing or halting. Any
attribute of created things that can become manifest in the human being may be a person's
station. In effect, human beings may stand anywhere, depending upon the qualities that
dominate over their characters. If luminosity and beautiful character traits dominate, they
stand with the angels. If ugly and limiting animal traits dominate, they stand with the beasts.
Throughout a person's life, each stage of becoming can be called a "station." The ideal and
ultimate station is that of all-comprehensiveness, which is the mirror image of the divine
name Allah, in the form of which human beings were created. Allah possesses all qualities
while not being limited and defined by any one of them. Correspondingly, the perfect human
being possesses all qualities but is free of any constriction. Hence the highest human station
is to be free of every station, what Ibn al-`Arabî calls "the station of No Station."
Qûnawî commonly refers to the station of No Station as "equilibrium" (i`tidâl), since
it stands equidistant from every station and is free from the dominating influence of each.
Hence the perfect human being stands at the "point at the center of the circle of existence,"
the point from which all qualities are generated and which is dominated by no quality. To be
dominated by any station whatsoever is to leave the center and to be less than total. It is to
be less than fully human. It is to dwell in disequilibrium or deviation (inhirâf). Having
attained equilibrium, the perfect human being turns his or her attention only toward the
Essence or He-ness, the absolutely nondelimited Reality.
The true human being gains freedom from the bondage of the stations and climbs up.
Through the equilibrium of perfection and the middle, he is delivered from the properties that
attract to the sides and to the states of disequilibrium. Then he turns his attention toward the
Presence of the He-ness, which possesses the unity of the comprehension of all-
comprehensiveness.741 It is described by manifestation and nonmanifestation, firstness and
lastness, comprehensiveness and differentiation. . . .
But the human being may incline away from the middle toward one of the sides
through an attracting and overwhelming affinity. He may be overpowered by the property of
some of the names and levels and leave equilibrium. Then he will take up residence within
the circle of that overpowering name and become related and ascribed to it. He will worship
God in respect to that name's level and depend upon that name. The name will become his
ultimate goal and the limit of his desires. The name will turn him this way and that in respect
of its state and station until he passes beyond it.742

True Men and True Women

We can summarize Islamic spiritual psychology as follows: The human soul is
situated on a vertical axis. It can ascend by moving toward the spirit or descend by moving
away. God's attribute of guidance, which shows itself most directly in the macrocosm
through the prophets and in the microcosm through the intellect, calls upon the soul to return

741 Ahadiyya jam` al-jam`, one of the terms Qûnawî and his followers employ to refer to
the station of the most perfect of the perfect human beings.
742 Qûnawî, I`jâz al-bayân 270-71/al-Tafsîr al-sûfî 386-87.
 393

to its origin. But the attribute of misguidance, incarnate in the satans and the soul that
commands to evil, calls upon the soul to follow the animal qualities and to move away from
God.
In the "normal," forgetful state, the soul is passive or "feminine" toward appetite and
anger, while it is active or "masculine" toward God and the intellect. Here both yin and yang
are inappropriate and therefore blameworthy. In both cases the normative order of heaven
and earth has been upset by the qualities that dominate over the microcosm. This is the state
of the soul that commands to evil.
In contrast, if the soul ascends through the various stages of the blaming soul and
attains to the soul at peace, which is none other than the yin side of the intellect, then it
manifests praiseworthy yin and yang. Its receptivity and yielding are its complete surrender
to the light of God. Its activity and domination are its mastery of appetite, anger, and all
forces that call upon it to become engrossed in the lower world.
Islamic sources are full of accounts of women that can be read as criticisms. In the
view of the intellectual tradition, critical references to women have in view those qualities
that are typically manifested by people who incarnate the negative receptivity of the soul. In
contrast, when women are praised--far less often, since praiseworthy souls are much rarer
than blameworthy souls--the object of praise is those qualities that are incarnate in the
receptivity of the soul at peace with God. If "women" are sometimes put into the same
category as hermaphrodites, this is because they both lack manliness, the active qualities of
the intellect.
Sam`ânî refers to both women and hermaphrodites in negative terms while providing
a ta'wîl of a Koranic verse that commands the Prophet's wives not to display themselves to
strangers. He is in the midst of explaining why self-satisfaction and pride is the worst
affliction that can overcome the traveler on the path to God. After all, Iblis reached great
proximity to God through his good works. According to some accounts, he was even made
the teacher of the angels. But then he refused to bow before Adam and said, "I am better
than he" (38:76). His vision of his own self was his downfall. He was a woman because he
surrendered to his lower self. He was hermaphrodite because he possessed certain male
qualities by achieving a high spiritual station, but then negated them by claiming them for
himself.
O dervish! If you dwell in a station of distance from God and regret not having
arrived, that is better than having a station of nearness and being self-satisfied because of
your arrival. Self-satisfaction is the beginning of the end, and regret is the precursor of
blessing. In short, you must clear your own self out of the way, you must tear off the
clothing of your mortal nature, you must pour earth on your earthly eyes. In this path, those
who show themselves have the property of hermaphrodites.
In the rulings of the Sharia, women have been commanded to conceal and cover
themselves. "Display not your beauty as did the pagans of old" [33:33]. But when we look
at the mysteries of the Tarîqa and the allusions of the masters of Reality, then we see the
following: To manifest one's own soul in the Path is more blameworthy and corrupting than
to remove curtained ladies from behind their veils and auction them off naked before
strangers.
There was someone in the time of Adam who spoke of himself. Though he was the
teacher of the angels and their leader, when he made his own self appear, he became
hermaphrodite and a woman on the Path. God said to him, "Go far from My Presence. Go,
 394

for I have given you the lower world. Go down into the cave of delusion. Adorn that dustbin
for the eyes of those who have no aspiration."743
Rûmî typically reads all mention of women that suggests negative qualities as
referring to the soul that commands to evil. For example,
When the Prophet said, "Put the females behind," he meant your soul. For it must be
put last, and your intellect first.744
Having told a story about a man and a woman, Rûmî then clarifies the meaning, lest
we take the story literally and miss the point:
A tale about man and woman has been related. Consider it as a likeness of your soul
and your intellect.
This "woman" and "man," which are soul and intellect, are very necessary for the
existence of good and evil.
Day and night in this abode of dust these two necessary beings are in war and
altercation.
The woman always desires the necessities of the household--reputation, bread, food,
and position.
Like a woman, the soul sometimes displays humility and sometimes seeks leadership
in order to remedy its plight.
The intellect indeed knows nothing of these thoughts. Its mind contains only longing
for God.745
In this qualitative view of things, a "man" is someone whose intellect or spirit
dominates over his or her soul, whatever the person's physical gender. A man incarnates the
qualities of the First Intellect in relation to the Universal Soul, or heaven in relation to earth.
In the same way, a "woman" is someone whose intellect and spirit are subjugated by the
soul's negative tendencies: Heaven has been wrongly dominated by earth. At the same time,
a "woman" also has masculine qualities, but these are the negative masculine tendencies of
the soul as incarnate in Iblis. And a "man" has feminine qualities, the positive feminine
attributes of the soul at peace with God. This is how Rûmî explains male and female in the
following:
Alas for those whose intellects are feminine and whose ugly souls are masculine and
prepared.
Without question their intellects are vanquished and they will be taken only to loss.
Happy are those whose intellects are masculine and whose ugly souls are feminine
and helpless.
Their partial intellects are masculine and dominant, intelligence has negated the
feminine soul. . . .
Animal qualities prevail in "women," because they tend toward color and scent.

743 Sam`ânî, Rawh al-arwâh 286-87.

744 Rûmî, Mathnawî II 1856. The hadith reads, "Put them [fem.] behind, since God has put
them behind." The text is given by Munâwî in Kanz al-haqâ'iq (Furûzânfar, Ahâdîth-i
Mathnawî 60). The sense in the original context is that the women should stand behind the
men during the communal prayer. As for God's "putting them behind," that probably refers
to Eve's creation after Adam.
745 Rûmî, Mathnawî I 2617-22.
 395

When the ass perceived the color and scent of the pasture, all arguments fled from its
nature.746
In short, a "man" is someone who possesses the qualities of manliness and chivalry,
and these include all the positive qualities of the soul. Many more passages could be cited
showing how the term man is used in this normative sense. For example, `Attâr tells the
following anecdote about Abu'l-Hasan Kharaqânî:
It has been related that a man came to Shaykh Abu'l-Hasan and said, "I want to put on
the khirqa [i.e., the cloak of the Sufis]." The Shaykh replied, "I have a question. If you can
answer it, you are worthy of the khirqa. If a man puts on the chador of a woman, does he
become a woman?"
The man replied, "No."
The Shaykh said, "If a woman puts on a man's clothing, will she ever become a
man?"
He replied, "No."
The Shaykh said, "You also--if you are not a man in this Path, you will not become a
man by putting on the khirqa."747
An Arabic saying, traceable at least to the seventh/thirteenth century, contrasts ideal
manliness with negative femininity: "The seeker of the Lord is male, the seeker of the next
world is hermaphrodite, and the seeker of this world is female."748 As already pointed out,
"hermaphrodites" are lukewarm on the path to God, wavering between the ascending and
descending tendencies of soul. Such a person may have overcome the desires of the soul that
commands to evil to a certain degree, but not enough to aspire to perfection. For perfection
entails actualizing all the names of God through union with the Real. In this saying the
suggestion seems to be that a person who seeks after paradise--at least in the limiting sense of
the term--is still looking for the sensory delights and enjoyments promised in the Koran.
Hence the soul has not completely overcome its lower nature, attached to the sensory and
outward level.
Many sayings are found in the early accounts of the Sufis that ascribe masculinity to
women. For example, the famous Sufi Abû Yazîd (d. ca. 260/874) said about the wife of
Ahmad ibn Khadrûya (d. 240/854), "If someone wants to see a man hidden in women's
clothing, let him look at Fâtima."749 Someone ignorant of the context might think that Abû
Yazîd is disparaging Fâtima's femininity. But this is hardly the case. On the contrary, by
calling a woman a "man" the Sufis meant to show that she had attained to the fullness of the
human state in which the soul serves the intellect. One can hardly be a perfect woman
without first being perfectly human. In other words, a female human being can be fully
female only when she is a "man" in the normative sense. A woman's specific gender
characteristics reach the fullness of their actuality only in the wake of her human perfection.
She also is made in God's image--though generally speaking in her outward form she
manifests God's love, beauty, mercy, kindness, and gentleness more directly than a man.

746 Ibid. V 2459-64, 66-67. For several more examples of such verses, cf. SPL 163ff.
747 `Attâr, Tadhkirat al-awliyâ 668.
748 Cited from Jamâl al-Dîn Hanswî (d. 1260) by A. Schimmel, "Women in Mystical Islam"
147.
749 `Attâr, Tadhkirat al-awliyâ' 349. Cf. Arberry's translation, Muslim Saints 175;
Nurbakhsh, Sufi Women 85.
 396

Only when she is fully herself by being fully one with God can she be fully human and fully
female. That is why Mary, whom Muslims look upon as perfectly feminine, can be
considered perfectly masculine without in any way compromising her femininity. `Attâr
quotes the following saying with approval: "When tomorrow on the Day of Resurrection the
call goes up, 'O men!', the first person to step into the ranks of men will be the Virgin
Mary."750 Rûmî makes a similar point, though he calls attention to the fact that such a man
in woman's clothing is truly rare. And he also points out that such a man in man's clothing is
almost as rare. Most men are "women" in men's bodies.
Since women never go out to fight the holy war, how should they engage in the
Greater Holy War [against the soul that commands to evil]?
Except rarely, when a hero like Rustam is hidden in a woman's body, as in the case of
Mary.
In the same way, women are hidden in the bodies of those men who are feminine [in
the path of God] from faintness of heart.751
In short, if we look at the dominant qualities in most people from the point of view of
the Islamic sapiential tradition, we see that they are "women," since they are passive toward
the pig, the dog, and the satan. In the qualitative perspective, the fact that "women fall short
in intelligence and religion," as the Prophet said, is self-evident. Intelligence and religion are
the hallmarks of guidance. "Woman" in the negative sense of the term refers to someone
dominated by the soul that commands to evil. By definition such a soul has turned away
from guidance by following ignorance and satan. Everyone who follows satan is a "woman."
We reach the conclusion that very few people deserve to be called "men" in the
positive and normative sense of the word. But many people--according to Ghazâlî and Ibn
al-`Arabî almost everybody--should be called "men" in the negative sense. For a "man" in
this negative meaning is someone whose soul is dominated by the fiery qualities proper to
Iblis, or someone whose soul is masculine through commanding to evil and whose intellect is
feminine through submitting to the soul.
What then is the Muslim view of women? It depends on whom you ask, and it
depends on what you mean by the term. As in any tradition, there are many views. Until you
define your terms, you will not be able to grasp the subtleties of the discussion.

750 `Attâr, Tadhkirat al-awliyâ' 72. Cf. Arberry's translation, Muslim Saints 40; Nurbakhsh,
Sufi Women 22; Smith, Rabia 2.
751 Rûmî, Mathnawî VI 1883-85.
 397

Bibliography

Abû Dâwûd. al-Sunan. Edited by A.S. `Alî. Cairo: Mustafâ al-Bâbî al-Halabî, 1952.
Addas, Claude. Ibn `Arabî ou La quête du Soufre Rouge. Paris: Gallimard, 1989.
Ahmad (ibn Hanbal). al-Musnad. Beirut: Dâr Sâdir, n.d.
`Alî ibn al-Husayn. The Psalms of Islam: al-Sahîfat al-sajjâdiyya. Translated by W.C.
Chittick. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.
`Amilî, Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Hurr al-. Wasâ'il al-shî`a. Edited by `A. al-Rabbânî
al-Shîrâzî. Tehran: al-Maktabat al-Islâmiyya, 1383-89/1963-69.
Andrae, Tor. In the Garden of Myrtles: Studies in Early Islamic Mysticism. Albany, N.Y.:
SUNY Press, 1987.
Ansârî, Khwâja `Abdallâh. Manâzil al-sâ'irîn. Edited by S. de Laugier de Beaurecueil.
Cairo: L'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1962.
------. Sad maydân. Edited by R. Farhâdî. In Manâzil al-sâ'irîn. Kabul: Bayhaqî, 1976.
Arberry, A.J. The Doctrine of the Sufis. See Kalâbâdhî.
------. The Poem of the Way: Translated into English Verse from the Arabic of Ibn al-Fârid.
London: Emery Walker, 1952.
Ashtiyânî, Mîrzâ Ahmad. Maqâlât-i Ahmadiyya dar `ilm-i akhlâq. Tehran: Dâr al-Kutub al-
Islâmiyya, 1336/1957.

`Attâr, Farîd al-Dîn. Tadhkirat al-awliyâ'. Edited by M. Isti`lâmî. Tehran: Zuwwâr,

1346/1967. Partly translated by A.J. Arberry as Muslim Saints and Mystics.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966.
Austin, R.W.J. "The Feminine Dimensions in Ibn al-`Arabi's Thought." Journal of the
Muhyiddin Ibn `Arabi Society 2 (1984) 5-14.
------. Sufis of Andalusia. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1971.
Avicenna. See Ibn Sînâ.
Awn, P. Satan's Tragedy and Redemption: Iblîs in Sufi Psychology. Leiden: Brill, 1983.
 398

Baydâwî, al-. Anwâr al-tanzîl wa asrâr al-ta'wîl. N.p.: al-Matba`at al-`Uthmâniyya,

1329/1911.
Bayrak, Sheikh Tosun. The Most Beautiful Names. Putney, Vt.: Threshold Books, 1985.
Bouhdiba, Abdelwahab. Sexuality in Islam. Translated from the French by Alan Sheridan.
Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985.
Bukhârî. al-Sahîh. N.p.: Matâbi` al-Shu`ab, 1378/1958-59.
Bukhârî, Abû Ibrâhîm Mustamlî. Sharh-i ta`arruf. Lucknow, India: 1328/1910. Abridged
version as Khulâsa-yi sharh-i ta`arruf. Edited by Ahmad `Alî Rajâ'î. Tehran:
Bunyâd-i Farhang, 1349/1970.
Chittick, W.C. "Death and the World of Imagination: Ibn al-`Arabî's Eschatology." The
Muslim World 78 (1988) 51-82.
------. "Eschatology." In Nasr. Islamic Spirituality: Foundations 378-409.
------. "The Five Divine Presences: From al-Qûnawî to al-Qaysarî." The Muslim World 72
(1982) 107-128.
------. "Ibn `Arabî and his School." In Nasr. Islamic Spirituality: Manifestations 49-79.
------. "Rûmî and Wahdat al-Wujûd." In The Heritage of Rumi, edited by Amin Banani and
Georges Sabagh. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
------. The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press,
1983.

------. The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-`Arabî's Metaphysics of Imagination. Albany,
N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1989.
Chittick, W.C., and P.L. Wilson. Fakhruddin `Iraqi: Divine Flashes. New York: Paulist
Press, 1982.
Chodkiewicz, M. Le Sceau des saints: Prophétie et sainteté dans la doctrine d'Ibn 'Arabî.
Paris: Gallimard, 1986.
Chodkiewicz, M., et al. Les Illuminations de La Mecque/The Meccan Illuminations: Textes
Choisis/Selected Texts. Paris: Sindbad, 1988.
 399

Combs-Schilling, M.E. Sacred Performances: Islam, Sexuality, and Sacrifice. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1989.
Corbin, Henry. Creative Imagination in the Sûfism of Ibn `Arabî. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1969.
------. The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism. Boulder: Shambhala, 1978.
Dârimî, al-. al-Sunan. N.p.: Dâr Ihyâ' al-Sunnat al-Nabawiyya, n.d.
Elias, Jamal J. "Female and Feminine in Islamic Mysticism." Muslim World 78 (1988) 209-
24.
Ernst, C. Words of Ecstasy in Sufism. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1985.
Fanârî, al-. See Qûnawî. Miftâh al-ghayb.
Farghânî, Sa`îd al-Dîn. Mashâriq al-darârî. Edited by S.J. Ashtiyânî. Tehran: Anjuman-i
Islâmî-yi Hikmat wa Falsafa-yi Irân, 1358/1979.
------. Muntahâ al-madârik. Cairo: Maktab al-Sanâ'i`, 1293/1876.
Firdawsî. Shâhnâma, vol. I. Edited by Y.A. Bertels. Moscow: Academy of Science, 1963.
Furûzânfar, B. Ahâdîth-i Mathnawî. Tehran: Amîr Kabîr, 1347/1968.
Gawharîn, S.S. Farhang-i lughât wa ta`bîrât-i Mathnawî. Tehran: Dânishgâh, 1337-54/1958-
75.
Ghazâlî, Muhammad al-. Ihyâ' `ulûm al-dîn. Cairo: Matba`at al-`Amirat al-Sharafiyya,
1326-27/1908-09.

------. Kîmiyâ-yi sa`âdat. Edited by H. Khadîw-jam. Tehran: Jîbî, 1354/1975. Edited by

A. Arâm. Tehran: Markazî, 1333.
------. Mîzân al-`amal. Edited by S. Dunyâ. Cairo: Dâr al-Ma`ârif, 1964.
Gimaret, D. Les noms divins en Islam: Exégèse lexicographique et théologique. Paris: Les
Editions du Cerf, 1988.
Graham, W. Divine Word and Prophetic Word in Early Islam. The Hague: Mouton, 1977.
Gutas, D. Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1988.
Hâfiz. Dîwân. Edited by M. Qazwînî and Q. Ghanî. Tehran: Zuwwâr, 1320/1941.
 400

------. Dîwân. Translated by H. Wilberforce Clarke as The Dîvân-i-Hâfiz. India, 1891.

Reprint New York: Samuel Weiser, 1970.
Hakîm, Su`âd al-. al-Mu`jam al-sûfî. Beirut: Dandara, 1981.
Hamadânî, `Ayn al-Qudât. Shakwa'l-gharîb. Translated by A.J. Arberry as A Sufi Martyr.
London: George Allen and Unwin, 1969.
------. Tamhîdât. Edited by `A. `Usayrân. Tehran: Dânishgâh, 1341/1962.
Hujwîrî. Kashf al-mahjûb. Edited by V. Zhukovsky. Tehran: Amîr Kabîr, 1336/1957.
Translated by R. A. Nicholson. The Kashf al-Mahjúb: The Oldest Persian Treatise
on Sufiism. London: Luzac, 1911.
Ibn Abî Jumhûr. al-Mujlî. Tehran: Ahmad Shîrâzî, 1329/1911.
Ibn al-`Arabî. Ayyâm al-sha'n. In Rasâ'il Ibn al-`Arabî.
------. Fusûs al-hikam. Edited by A. `Afîfî. Beirut: Dâr al-Kutub al-`Arabî, 1946.
Translated by R.W.J. Austin. Ibn Al'Arabî: The Bezels of Wisdom. Ramsey, N.J.:
Paulist Press, 1981.
------. al-Futûhât al-makkiyya. Cairo, 1911. Reprint Beirut: Dâr Sâdir, n.d. (Y refers to the
critical edition of Othman Yahya. Cairo: al-Hay'at al-Misriyyat al-`Ammat li'l-Kitâb,
1972-.)
------. Inshâ' al-dawâ'ir. In Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-`Arabî.
------. Istilâhât al-sûfiyya. In Rasâ'il Ibn al-`Arabî. Also in Futûhât II 128-34.

------. Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-`Arabî. Edited by H.S. Nyberg. Leiden: E.J. Brill,
1919.
------. "On Majesty and Beauty: The Kitâb al-Jalâl wa-l-Jamâl of Muhyiddin Ibn `Arabi."
Translated by R.T. Harris. Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn `Arabi Society 8 (1989) 5-
32.
------. Rasâ'il Ibn al-`Arabî. Hyderabad-Deccan: Dâiratu'l-Ma`arifi'l-Osmania, 1948.
------. `Uqlat al-mustawfiz. Edited by H.S. Nyberg in Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-`Arabî.
Ibn al-Fârîd. See Arberry.
 401

Ibn Mâja. al-Sunan. Edited by M.F. `Abd al-Bâqî. Cairo: Dâr Ihyâ' al-Kutub al-`Arabiyya,
1952.
Ibn Sînâ. Kitâb al-najâh. Cairo: Muhyî al-Dîn Sabrî al-Kurdî, 1938.
------. Tarjama-yi risâla-yi adhawiyya. Edited by H. Khadîw-jam. Tehran: Bunyâd-i
Farhang, 1350/1971.
Ikhwân al-Safâ'. The Case of the Animals versus Man Before the King of the Jinn.
Translated by L.E. Goodman. Boston: Twayne, 1978.
------. Jâmi`at al-jâmi`a. Edited by `Arif Tâmir. Beirut: Dâr Maktabat al-Hayât, 1970.
------. Rasâ'il Ikhwân al-safâ'. Beirut: Dâr Sâdir/Dâr Bayrût, 1957.
Izutsu, T. Sufism and Taoism. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
1984.
Jâmî, `Abd al-Rahmân. Lawâ'ih: A Treatise on Sufism. Translated by E.H. Whinfield and
Mîrzâ Muhammad Kazwînî. London, 1906. Repr. London: Theosophical Publishing
House, 1978.
------. Naqd al-nusûs fî sharh naqsh al-fusûs. Edited by W.C. Chittick. Tehran: Imperial
Iranian Academy of Philosophy, 1977.
------. Sharh fusûs al-hikam. On the margin of al-Nâbulsî's Sharh fusûs al-hikam. Cairo:
Matba`at al-`Amirat al-Sharafiyya, 1304-1323/1886-1905.
------. Sharh-i rubâ`iyyât. Edited by Mâyil Hirawî. Afghanistan: Anjuman-i Jâmî,

1343/1964.
------. Silsilat al-dhahab. In Mathnawî-yi haft awrang. Edited by M. Mudarris-i Gîlânî.
Tehran: Sa`dî, 1337/1958.
Jandî, Mu'ayyid al-Dîn. Sharh fusûs al-hikam. Edited by S.J. Ashtiyânî. Mashhad:
Dânishgâh-i Mashhad, 1361/1982. Supplemented with the Istanbul ms. Nur Osmaniye
2457.
Kalâbâdhî, Abû Bakr al-. al-Ta`arruf li madhhab al-tasawwuf. Edited by `A.H. Mahmûd and
T.`A. Surûr. Cairo, 1960. Translated by A.J. Arberry as The Doctrine of the Sufis.
 402

Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1966.

Kâshânî, `Abd al-Razzâq. Istilâhât al-sûfiyya. On the margin of Kâshânî's Sharh manâzil al-
sâ'irîn. Tehran: Ibrâhîm Lârîjânî, 1315/1897-98.
------. Sharh fusûs al-hikam. Cairo: Mustafâ al-Bâbî al-Halabî, 1966.
------. al-Ta'wîlât (Ta'wîl al-Qur'ân). Published as Tafsîr al-Qur'ân al-karîm and wrongly
attributed to Ibn al-`Arabî. Beirut: Dâr al-Yaqzat al-Adabiyya, 1968.
------. Tuhfat al-ikhwân fî khasâ'is al-fityân. In Rasâ'il-i jawânmardân. Edited by M. Sarrâf.
Tehran: Institut Franco-Iranien, 1973.
Kâshânî, Bâbâ Afdal. Musannafât-i Afdal al-Dîn Muhammad Maraqî Kâshânî. Edited by M.
Mînuwî. Tehran: University of Tehran, 1331-37/1952-58.
Kâshânî, `Izz al-Dîn. Misbâh al-hidâya. Edited by J. Humâ'î. Tehran: Majlis, 1325/1946.
Kâshânî, Mullâ Muhsin Fayd. A'îna-yi shâhî. Shîrâz: Châpkhâna-yi Mûsawî, 1320/1941.
Translated by W. Chittick in "Two Seventeenth-Century Tracts on Kingship and
Rulers." In Authority and Political Culture in Shi`ism, edited by Said Amir
Arjomand, 267-304. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1988.
Kisâ'î, al-. The Tales of the Prophets of al-Kisa'i. Translated by W. Thackston. Boston:
Twayne, 1978.
Kubrâ, Najm al-Dîn. Die Fawâ'ih al-Gamâl wa-Fawâtih al-Galâl des Nagm ad-Dîn Kubrâ.
Edition and study by F. Meier. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1957.

Kulaynî, al-. al-Usûl min al-kâfî. Tehran: Maktabat al-Islâmiyya, 1388.

Lâhîjî, Muhammad. Sharh-i Gulshan-i râz. Edited by K. Samî`î. Tehran: Mahmûdî,
1337/1958.
Lane, E.W. An Arabic-English Lexicon. Reprint Cambridge, England: Islamic Texts
Society, 1984.
Majlisî, Muhammad Bâqir. Bihâr al-anwâr. 110 vols. Reprint Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Wafâ',
1983.
Makkî, Abû Tâlib al-. Qût al-qulûb. Cairo: Mustafâ al-Bâbî al-Halabî, 1961.
 403

Maybudî, Rashîd al-Dîn. Kashf al-asrâr wa `uddat al-abrâr. Edited by `A. A. Hikmat.
Tehran: Dânishgâh, 1331-39/1952-60.
McCarthy, R.J. Freedom and Fulfillment: An Annotated Translation of al-Ghazâlî's al-
Munqidh min al-Dalâl and other Relevant Works of al-Ghazâlî. Boston: Twayne,
1980.
Morewedge, P. "The Internal Sense of Prehension (Wahm) in Islamic Philosophy." In
Philosophies of Being and Mind: Ancient and Medieval. Edited by J.T.H. Martin.
Delmar, N.Y.: Caravan Books, forthcoming.
Mufîd, Shaykh al-. Kitâb al-Irshâd: The Book of Guidance. Translated by I.K.A. Howard.
London: Muhammadi Trust, 1981.
Mullâ Sadrâ. `Arshiyya. Edited by Gh. Ahanî. Isfahan: Kitâbfurûshî-yi Shahriyâr,
1341/1962. Translated by J. W. Morris. The Wisdom of the Throne. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1981.
------. al-Ta`lîqât. On the margin of Qutb al-Dîn Shîrâzî's Sharh hikmat al-ishrâq. Tehran:
Asad Allâh Harâtî, 1313/1895-1896.
Murata, S. "Angels." In Nasr. Islamic Spirituality: Foundations 324-44.
Musallam, B. Sex and Society in Islam: Birth Control before the Nineteenth Century.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Muslim. al-Sahîh. Cairo: Matba`a Muhammad `Alî Sabîh, 1334/1915-16.

Nasafî, `Azîz al-Dîn. Insân-i kâmil. Edited by M. Molé. Tehran: Institut Franco-Iranien,
1962.
------. Kashf al-haqâ'iq. Edited by A. Mahdawî-yi Dâmghânî. Tehran: Bungâh-i Tarjama wa
Nashr-i Kitâb, 1344/1965.
------. Zubdat al-haqâ'iq. Edited by H. Rabbânî. Appended to Jâmî. Ashi``at al-lama`ât.
Tehran: Kitâbkhâna-yi `Ilmiyya-yi Hâmidî, 1352/1973.
Nasâ'î, al-. al-Sunan. Beirut: Dâr Ihyâ' al-Turâth al-`Arabî, 1348/1929-30.
Nasr, S.H. An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines. Cambridge: Harvard
 404

University Press, 1964.

------, ed. Islamic Spirituality. I Foundations. II Manifestations. New York: Crossroad,
1987-90.
------. "The Male and the Female in the Islamic Perspective." In Nasr. Traditional Islam in
the Modern World. London: KPI, 1987.
------. "Spiritual Chivalry." In Nasr. Islamic Spirituality: Manifestations 304-15.
Nicholson, R.A. Studies in Islamic Mysticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1967.
Nurbakhsh, J. Sufi Women. New York: Khaniqahi-Nimatullahi, 1983.
------. Sufism II-IV. New York and London: Khaniqahi-Nimatullahi, 1982-88.
Qaysarî, Sharaf al-Dîn al-. Sharh fusûs al-hikam. Tehran: Dâr al-Funûn, 1299/1882.
Qûnawî, Sadr al-Dîn al-. Fakk al-khutûm (al-Fukûk). On the margin of Kâshânî's Sharh
manâzil al-sâ'irîn. Tehran: Ibrâhîm Lârîjânî, 1315/1897-98.
------. I`jâz al-bayân fî ta'wîl umm al-Qur'ân. Hyderabad-Deccan: Osmania Oriental
Publications Bureau, 1949. Also printed as al-Tafsîr al-sûfî li'l-Qur'ân. Edited by
`A. Ahmad `Atâ'. Cairo: Dâr al-Kutub al-Hadîtha, 1969.
------. Miftâh al-ghayb. Printed on the margin of Shams al-Dîn Muhammad al-Fanârî's
Misbâh al-ins bayn al-ma`qûl wa'l-manqûl fî sharh Miftâh ghayb al-jam` wa'l-wujûd.
Tehran: Ahmad Shîrâzî, 1323/1905.

------. al-Nafahât al-ilâhiyya. Tehran: Ahmad Shîrâzî, 1316/1898.

------. Sharh al-hadîth (Istanbul mss.: Sehid Ali Pasa 138/2, 1369/1, 1394/2; Haci Mahmud
Ef. 574; Crh. 2085/7, 2097/6; Ibrahim Ef. 870/1).
------. Tabsirat al-mubtadî wa tadhkirat al-muntahî. Edited by Najaf`alî Habîbî. Ma`ârif-i
islâmî I (1364/1985) 69-128.
Qushayrî, Abu'l-Qâsim al-. Latâ'if al-ishârât. Edited by I. Basyûnî. Cairo: Al-Hay'at al-
Misriyyat al-`Ammat li'l-Ta'lîf wa'l-Nashr, n.d.-1971.
------. al-Risâla. Edited by `Abd al-Halîm Mahmûd and Mahmûd ibn al-Sharîf. Cairo: Dâr
 405

al-Kutub al-Hadîtha, 1972.

Rahman, F. Avicenna's Psychology. London: Oxford University Press, 1952.
Râzî, Fakhr al-Dîn al-. al-Tafsîr al-kabîr. Istanbul: Dâr al-Tibâ`at al-`Amira, 1307-
08/1889-91.
Râzî, Najm al-Dîn. Mirsâd al-`ibâd. Edited by M. A. Riyâhî. Tehran: Bungâh-i Tarjama wa
Nashr-i Kitâb, 1352/1973. Translated by H. Algar. The Path of God's Bondsmen
from Origin to Return. Delmar, NY: Caravan Books, 1982.
Renard, J. "Al-Jihâd al-Akbar: Notes on a Theme in Islamic Spirituality." Muslim World 78
(1988) 225-42.
Robson, J., trans. Mishkat al-masabih. Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1963-65.
Rûmî, Jalâl al-Dîn. Dîwân-i Shams-i Tabrîzî. Edited by B. Furûzânfar as Kulliyyât-i
Shams yâ dîwân-i kabîr. Tehran: Dânishgâh, 1336-46/1957-67.
------. Fîhi mâ fîhi. Edited by B. Furûzânfar. Tehran: Amîr Kabîr, 1969.
------. Majâlis-i sab`a. In the introduction to Mathnawî-yi ma`nawî. Edited by M.
Ramadânî. Tehran: Kulâla-yi Khâwar, 1315-19/1926-30.
------. The Mathnawî. Edited and translated by R.A. Nicholson. London: Luzac, 1925-40.
Rûzbihân Baqlî. `Abhar al-`âshiqîn. Edited by H. Corbin and M. Moin. Les Jasmin des
Fidèles d'amour. Tehran: Institut Franco-Iranien, 1958.
------. Mashrab al-arwâh. Edited by N. M. Hoca. Istanbul: Edebiyat Fakültesi Matbaasi,

1974.
------. Risâlat al-quds. Edited by J. Nûrbakhsh. Tehran: Khânaqâh-i Ni`matullâhî,
1351/1972.
Sadûq. al-Tawhîd. Edited by Hâshim al-Husaynî. Tehran: Maktabat al-Sadûq, 1387/1967.
Sam`ânî, Ahmad. Rawh al-arwâh fî sharh asmâ' al-malik al-fattâh. Edited by N. Mâyil
Hirawî. Tehran: Intishârât-i `Ilmî wa Farhangî, 1368/1989.
Sanâ'î Ghaznawî. Hadîqat al-haqâ'iq. Edited by Mudarris Radawî. Tehran: Sipihr,
1329/1950.
 406

Sarrâj, Abû Nasr al-. Kitâb al-luma`. Edited by R.A. Nicholson. Leiden: Brill, 1914.
Sayyid-Marsot, Afaf Lutfi al-, ed. Society and the Sexes in Medieval Islam. Malibu:
Undena, 1979.
Schimmel, A. As Through a Veil: Mystical Poetry in Islam. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1982.
------. Islam in the Indian Subcontinent. Leiden-Cologne: Brill, 1980.
------. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975.
------. The Triumphal Sun: A Study of the Works of Jalâloddin Rumi. London: Fine Books,
1978.
------. "Women in Mystical Islam." In Women and Islam, edited by Azizah al-Hibri, et al.,
145-51. Elmsford, N.Y.: Pergamon Press, 1982.
Smith, J.I. and Y.Y Haddad. "Eve: Islamic Image of Woman." In Women and Islam, edited
by Azizah al-Hibri, et al., 135-44. Elmsford, N.Y.: Pergamon Press, 1982.
------. "The Virgin Mary in Islamic Tradition and Commentary." Muslim World 79 (1989)
161-87.
Shabistarî, Mahmûd. Gulshan-i râz. See Lâhîjî.
Smith, M. Rabia the Mystic and Her Fellow Saints in Islam (1928). Reprint Lahore: Hijra
International, 1983.
SPK. See Chittick. Sufi Path of Knowledge.

SPL. See Chittick. Sufi Path of Love.

Suhrawardî, Shihâb al-Dîn Abû Hafs. `Awârif al-ma`ârif. Beirut: Dâr al-Kitâb al-`Arabî,
1966.
Suhrawardî al-Maqtûl, Shihâb al-Dîn. Majmû`a-yi âthâr-i fârsî. Edited by S.H. Nasr.
Tehran: Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, 1977.
------ The Mystical and Visionary Treatises of Shihabuddin Yahya Suhrawardi. Translated
by W. Thackston. London: Octagon, 1982.
Sulamî, Abû `Abd al-Rahman al-. The Book of Sufi Chivalry. Translated by Tosun Bayrak.
 407

New York: Inner Traditions, 1983.

------. `Uyûb al-nafs wa mudâwâtuhâ. Edited by E. Kohlberg. Jerusalem: Jerusalem
Academic Press, 1976.
Suyûtî, Jalâl al-Dîn al-. al-Jâmi` al-saghîr. In al-Munâwî. Fayd al-qadîr fî sharh al-jâmi`
al-saghîr. Birut: Dâr al-Ma`rifa, 1972.
Tabrisî, Fadl al-. Majma` al-bayân. Edited by S. H. al-Rasûlî al-Mahallâtî. Tehran:
Maktabat al-`Ilmiyyat al-Islâmiyya, n.d.
Tabrîzî. Mishkât al-masâbîh. Delhi: Matba` al-Mujtabâ'î, 1325/1907.
Tirmidhî, al-. al-Jâmi` al-sahîh, wa huwa sunan al-Tirmidhî. Edited by A.M. Shâkir. Cairo:
al-Maktabat al-Islâmiyya, 1938.
Tirmidhî, al-Hakîm al-. Bayân al-farq bayn al-sadr wa'l-qalb wa'l-fu'âd wa'l-lubb. Edited by
Nicholas Heer. Cairo: `Isâ al-Bâbî al-Halabî, 1958. Translated by Heer as "A Sûfî
Psychological Treatise." Muslim World 51 (1961) 25-36, 83-91, 163-72, 244-58.
Wensinck, A.J., et al. Concordance et indices de la tradition musulmane. Leiden: Brill,
1936-69.
Wilhelm, R., trans. I Ching or Book of Changes. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1951.
Yahya, O. Histoire et classification de l`oeuvre d'Ibn `Arabî. Damascus: Institut Français
de Damas, 1964.
408