Qutb al Mutasarif Mawlana Shaykh Hisham al Kabbani Rabbani al Haqqani
Eternally Muhammad
RasulAllah
All things Borne of the
First Intellect
By Shaykh Al-Akbar Ibn Arabi
On Allah being disconnected from any connection (tashbih)
or embodiment
contained in the words which designate Him in His Books
or on the tongue of His Messenger
"Allah is Greatly exalted over what the wrongdoers say." (17:43)
In the
slave's looking at his Lord
in the purity and disconnection of strength,
And
his height from the tools which you connect to "how" and likeness
Is an
indication which gives an absolute judgment on the
position of the slave and his praise.
The
soundness of knowledge and its affirmation, and
rejection of allegation and distortion.
(All known things were borne by the First Intellect)
{ Ayn Qaf Lam,
Know that the bearer of all known things, celestial and terrestrial, is the
Intellect
}
which takes from Allah without intermediary. None of the knowledge
of higher and lower being is hidden from it. The self's gnosis of things
comes from His giving and generosity, and from His manifestation to it, His
light and His purest overflowing.
The Intellect learns from Allah and teaches
the self. The self learns from the Intellect and action comes from it. This
applies to all that knowledge of the Intellect connects to things below it. We are limited by "what is below it" in respect of the learning we mentioned.
Be careful when you ponder, remembering that Allah said, "until We know"
(47:31). He is the All-Knower, so recognise the proper ascriptions!
(..except the Bewildered World)
Know that the Bewildered World does not learn anything from the First Intellect
and the First Intellect has no power over those who are bewildered by love.
They and it are on the same rank, like individuals among us who are outside
of the jurisdiction of the Pole (Qutb), even though the Pole is one
of the individuals. But the Intellect was selected to inform as the Pole
is selected for appointment among the individuals.
(...and except the science of the isolation (tajrid) of
tawhid)
The principle of the Intellect teaching those below it is transpires in all
that the knowledge of the Intellect is connected to - except
for 'the isolation
of tawhid'.
The science of the isolation of tawhid is different
from all known things in all aspects since there is no relationship at all
between Allah and His creation, even if the 'relationship' is applied to
it on a certain day as was done by Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali in his books,
and other people.
That is a sort of mannerism and very far from the realities.
What relationship is there between the in-time and the timeless? Or how can
a likeness be made of the One Who does not accept a likeness with someone
who does accept a likeness?
This is impossible as Abu'l-'Abbas ibn al-'Arif
as-Sanhaji said in Mahasin al-Majalis, "There is no relationship between
Allah and the slaves except concern. There is no cause except judgement and
no time except pre-Time. Whatever else is blindness and deceptive ambiguity."
One variant has "knowledge" in place of "blindness".
See how excellent these
words are and how complete this gnosis of Allah is and how pure this
contemplation (mushahada)! May Allah give us the benefit of what he
said!
(The intellect's incapacity for gnosis of Allah)
Knowledge of Allah is too difficult for the faculty of perception of the
intellect and the self except for the fact that He exists and is holy!
In
its reflection and preservation, the sound intellect knows that Allah is
different from what is said about Him in respect of creatures or imagined
in compounds and other things.
That illusion is not permissible in respect
of Him nor can that verbal expression be logically applied to Him in the
same manner as that which created things accept.
If it is applied to Him,
it is only used in an manner to facilitate the listener's understanding of
the firmness of existence in a manner comprehensile to the listener, not
to establish the the reality which the Real possesses.
Allah says, "There
is nothing like Him." (47:19)
Knowledge of Allah, however, is obligatory for us in the Shari'a since
Allah said to His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,"Know
that there is no god but Allah." (47:19).
So He is saying, "Know Me from My reports which are in harmony with your
reflection so that your belief will give you sound knowledge as your knowledge
without belief which comes from definition may be sound." So that matter is like
that.
Because of this matter in the view and opinion of certain people, we looked to
see how gnosis of Him can be attained.
We investigated in a fair and balanced manner.
The perfect intellect does not obtain it after effort and striving.
We only attained to gnosis of Him by the incapacity to recognise Him because our
quest to recognise Him is like our quest to recognise all things in respect of
the reality which known things have.
When we know that there is something in existence which has no likeness and
which cannot be conceived in the mind nor perceived, how then can the intellect
master this?
This is not permissible even though knowledge of His existence is affirmed.
We know that He exists and is One in His essence. This is the knowledge demanded
of us, not that we know the reality of His essence which He knows that He has.
This is knowledge of the lack of knowledge which is demanded of us.
He does not resemble any creature in the view of the intellect nor is any of
them like Him. It was obligatory for us, first of all, when it was said to us,
"Know that there is no god but Allah" to know what knowledge is. We have learned
it and we have learned what it was first obligatory for us to know of what
knowledge is.
Look Close to The Huroof
{}=66
=1
Alif is Not connected represents Essence no Resemblance with creation. or
{La Illaha Il Allah}. Also Numerology Alif =1
1=State of Ihsan Tawhid
=65
Alif Lam Lam Hah.
Allah.
Four letters.
Always
Alif represents, being the first letter of the name Allah, if you
look at al-asma’ al-husna. What is the first letter of al-asma’
al-husna. You cannot say Rahman, you say ar-Rahman. You cannot say
Razzaq, you say ar-Razzaq. All of them begin with Alif. Alif
is always standing. In the form of up, never down. It describes akhirah.
Islam. Alif. Iman, Alif. Ihsan, Alif. Everything related to
akhirah must begin with Alif.
If you take
away the Alif, what is left remaining of
the Beautiful Name of Allah:
lam Lam hah – lillahi.
What does it mean: for the sake of Allah, or He
has this, it belongs to Him. So that first letter shows you the
meaning of the name Allah.
If
you take it away it shows you ma sīwallah, what is other than Allah,
the Creation. Without him it cannot be. Alif refers to Allah.
If
you take it away, it becomes dunya,
all that is other than Him. When you say to them Allah, you think He did not
describe that information about that beautiful Name Allah from beginning to
end.
If now you remove the
first lam,
what is left? La hah. Lahu.
Everything
is for Him. You don’t own yourself, or anything He owns it.
When the
Prophet (s) is being revealed, He understands these meanings.What then is left if you
take away Hah?
It is Hū.
Back to
Hū.
Whatever
you knew you still are back to where you were – you know nothing, He is
completely unknown.
Kuntu kanzan
makhfīyyan,
fa aradtu an ‘urif fa-khalaqtul khalq.If you take the
first letter which belongs to
akhirah
The “Alif”
it is lillahi
{remains is for Dunya}.
“ALIF”
For Allah-
“LAM”=
Heavenly Kingdom, lam
al-malakut {subtleties
and Energies Unseen}, the kingdom of akhirah. if you take away the
first lam, then
“LAM”=
Earthly Kingdom second LAM which represents Earthly kingdom, {all Mass of
Planets etc..}lam al-Mulk
and earthly kingdom,
When you take
away these two kingdoms what is left –
“Hu”. =
That means
there is nothing except him. {Al-Hadi}
In between Alif
and Hah, it means that between the beginning and end, the kingdoms of
dunya and akhirah.
Between the
Alif and the hah. Between the akhirah and the hidden.
That is “tell them O
Muhammad what you are describing is One.” Ahad.
He did not say
Wahid.
Ahad.
More strong than Wahid. Unique one, no resemblance to Him. Laysa
ka-mithili shay.
"Allah"{
Value Alif=1 Lam=30, Lam=30 Ha=5 =1+60+5=66,}{
66th name of Rasul is Sayedena Haqq}
RasulAllah.}
=30+30+5=65=11
1-1 is
1-Allah,
1-Muhammad RasulAllah
11- 11th Name of Rasul is YaSeen heart of Quran
6 is for Principles of Faith
5 For Pillars of Islam
{ 5+6=11}
If you follow Sayedena YaSeen what he sent of 5 Pillars and 6 principles with
love of YaSeen we may reach the State of Ihsan.=1
So Allah’s first creation was “My Light”. Muhammadu Rasulullah is everything
created.
That is wrapping all of the creation. La ilaha ill Allah is for heavens,
describing the Creator. Muhammadu rasulullah is a description of creation.
Allahu nūr us-samawati wal-ard. With this light you are able to see.
(Environment of the demands of knowledge)
The matrices of the demands of are four:
is?,
what?,
how? and
why?.
'Is?'
and 'why?' are single spiritual demands accompanied by what it is. 'Is?'
and 'why?' are the two sound roots of simple elements because 'what is it?'
is a sort of complex one.
In these four demands there is no demand which
should be asked of Allah in respect of what the reality accords since it
is not correct that any of the science of tawhid be recognized except by
the negation of what exists except for Him. Therefore He said, "There
is nothing like Him" (42:11) and"Glory be to your Lord, the Lord
of Might, above what they describe." (37:180)
(Knowledge of negation is knowledge of Allah)
Knowledge of negation is knowledge of Allah.
Similarly we are not permitted
to ask "How?" about spirits (arwah).
They are too pure for that because
their realities are different from this expression.
The tools by which one
questions are not applied to the spirits, nor is it permitted that they be
applied to Allah.
The realized unifier who is deprived of the presence of his Originator and
Creator must not apply these expressions to Him.
The Real is not ever known by these demands.
(What is perceived by its essence, what is perceived by its action
and what is not perceived at all)
Then we also looked into all that it other than Allah and found it in two
categories:
one category is perceived by its essence - which the dense, sensory category;
and
one category that it is perceived by its action, which is intelligible and
subtle.
The intelligible is higher than the sensory by this station: it is too pure to
have its essence perceived, but its action is perceived.
Since these are the qualities of creatures, Allah is too pure to be perceived by
His essence like the sensory or by his action like the subtle because there is
no relationship at all between Him and His creation.
His Essence is not perceived by us so as to be like the sensory nor is His
action so as to be like the subtle.
The action of the Real is to originate the thing, but not from a thing.
The spiritual subtle achieves a thing from other things.
So what relationship is there between the two of them?
When the relationship is impossible in the action, then it is more fitting that
similarity in the essence be impossible.
If you wish to achieve realization of some of this area, look at the effect
(maf'ul) of this action according to the ranks of the effects, for
instance
the effect of handicraft like the shirt and chair.
We find that
the artisan is not recognized unless he himself has indicated the existence of
its maker and his knowledge of his craft.
It is the same with the effect of the formation of being - the sphere and stars
- which do not recognise their fashioner nor the one who compounded them.
That was the Universal Self which encompasses them.
It is also the same with the natural effect - like the products of minerals,
plants and animals, who effect a nature which was one of the effects of
formation into being. But they do not grasp who acts for them, namely the sphere
and the stars.
So knowledge of the spheres is not what you see of their mass and what the
senses perceive of them.
Where is the mass of the sun in relation to itself in the eyes of one of us who
sees it?
Knowledge of the spheres comes from their spirit and meaning which Allah brought
into existence for them from the encompassing Universal
Self which is the cause of the spheres and what is in them.
It is the same with emanating effect which is the Universal Self, emanating
from the Intellect as the Dihya
form came from the
Jibrilian form.
The Universal Self does not know what it emanated from at
all because it is in its care and encompassed by it as it is one of its thoughts
(khawatir).
So how can the Universal Self know what is above it when what is in the Self
from what is above it is only what is in it?
It only knows what it has of it.
So its knows its self, not its cause!
It is the same with the effect of origination which we call the Muhammadan
Reality, and others call the First Intellect.
It is the Highest Pen {Qalam is
Qaf, Lam, Meem = Qaf , Al
Qadir, Lam,Thru Lahut Mulk or Kingdom of Existence , Meem= Muhammad }which
Allah originated from nothing.
It is even more incapable and prevented from
perceiving its Doer than every effect already mentioned since between every
effect and its doer which have been mentioned there is a sort of relationship
and resemblance.
So it must know of it according to the amount of relationship
there is between them, either in respect of substantiality or otherwise.
There is no relationship between the first thing originated and the Essence
- glory be to Him!
It is the most incapable of the effects of causes of recognizing its Doer from others.
Then the incapacity of the effect, which
resembles its active cause from some aspects, is incapable of perceiving
it and knowing it. So understand this and realise it.
It is very beneficial
indeed in the area of tawhid and the inability to connect temporal
knowledge to Allah the Great.
(The
5 five faculties and their real perceptions)
What we mentioned confirms that man perceives all knowables by one of the
five faculties:
the senses which are five -
hearing
and
Seeing
touching
smell
taste
Sight perceives colors, colored things and individuals according
to the known limit of proximity and distance.
What he perceives a mile away
is not what he perceives at two miles, and that what he perceived at 20 spans
is not what he perceives a mile away.
What he perceives close to him, like
his hand is not what he perceives at 20 spans.
At two miles, he perceives
an individual shape and does not know whether it is a man or a tree.
At one
mile, he recognizes that it is a man.
At 20 spans he recognises that he is
white or black.
Face to face, he recognises whether it is blue or navy blue.
It is like that with all the senses in their perception up close or from afar.
The Creator is not sensed, i.e. He is not perceived by the senses by us while
we are seeking to recognise Him. We do not know Him by the means of the senses.
The imaginative (khayaliyya) faculty only takes what the senses give it,
either in an image or a mental form, from what the senses give to each other.
The path of the people of thought in gnosis of Allah ends here (by way of the
imaginative faculty).
It is their language, not our language.
Even if their path is true, we ascribe it to them and it is quoted from them.
This imaginative faculty continues as long as it has perception from the senses.
We consider any connection of the senses to Allah to be invalid, so the
connection of the imagination to Him is also invalid.
As for the meditative faculty,
man only ever reflects on things that exist with him which he learns from the
senses and the precepts of the intellect and from how thoughts work on them in
the repository of the imagination which accords it another knowledge between it
and these things in which he conceives of a relationship.
There is no relationship between Allah and His creation.
Thus knowledge of Him is not valid by way of reflection.
Therefore scholars forbid thinking about the Essence of
Allah.
As for the faculty of the intellect, it is not valid for the intellect to
perceive Him.
The intellect only accepts what it knows spontaneously or what reflection
accords us.
It is invalid for thought to perceive Him, so it is invalid for the intellect to
perceive Him via reflection.
But whatever the intellect is, its limit is to understand and grasp what it
obtains.
So it may be that the Real will give it gnosis of Him and it will understand it,
but not by means of reflection.
This is not impossible. Allah gives this gnosis to whomever He will of His
slaves.
The intellect does not have sole possession of perception of gnosis, but it
accepts it. So neither proof nor demonstration is based on it because gnosis is
beyond the scope of the perceptions of the intellect.
These essential attributes cannot be designated because they are beyond
exemplification and analogy. "There is nothing like Him." (42:11)
Every intellect which does not have some of this gnosis unveiled to it questions
another intellect which has had some of it unveiled to it.
But it is not in the power of this questioned intellect to express it nor is it
possible. That is why Abu Bakr as-Siddiq said, "The inability to perceive is
perception."
This statement has two ranks, so understand! Whoever seeks
Allah through his intellect by means of his thought and investigation is astray.
However, his preparation may be enough to receive what Allah gives him of that,
so understand!
As for the faculty of memory, there is no way for it to perceive knowledge
of Allah. It remembers what the intellect knew before and then was heedless
of or forgot unwittingly. So the faculty of memory has no way to Him.
So man's perceptions are limited to what man is, what his essence gives him
and he can acquire. All there remains is the preparation of the intellect
to accept what Allah gave it of His gnosis. Man will never recognise the
Real by deductive proof - except for recognition of existence and that He
is the only One who is worshipped.
So perceiving man is not capable of perceiving
anything at all unless something like the perceived thing already exists
in him.
If it had not been for that, he would not have perceived it at all
nor recognized it.
Since man does not recognise anything unless he has something
like that recognised thing, in reality man only recognises what resembles
him and is like him.
There is nothing like the Creator and nothing has anything
like Him, so He will never be recognised!
(Natural things only accept nourishment from their own
sort)
Part of what supports what we mentioned is that natural things only accept food
from things of their own sort, and absolutely do not accept food from other than
their sort.
An example of that is that products of minerals, plants and animals are
compounded of the four humours, and the products do not accept food from any
other source. That is because a portion of them is from them. If a creature had
wanted to make the food of his body, which is compounded of these elements, from
other than these elements, or what is compounded of others, he would not have
been able to do so.
As it is only possible for natural bodies to accept food from something
that is compounded of the same elements as they are, so it is not possible
for anyone to know anything unless he has something like it.
Don't you see
that the self only accepts from the intellect what it shares with it and
what resembles it?
It does not know what it does not share with it at all.
None of Allah is in anyone and it that is not permissible in any aspect,
so no one recognises Him from his self and reflection.
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah is
veiled from the intellects as He is veiled from the eyes.
The Highest Assembly seek Him as you seek Him." So
the Prophet reported that the intellect does not perceive Him by its reflection
nor by its inner eye nor does the eye perceive Him.
This is what we indicated earlier in the chapter. Praise belongs to Allah for
His inspiration and for teaching us what we did not know. The bounty of Allah is
immense.
(Disconnection (tanzih) and negation of exemplification and
connection (tasbih))
So there must be disconnection and negation of exemplification and connection.
Whoever among those who use connection and go astray only go astray by
allegorical interpretation and applying what the ayats and traditions
bring us which we have not understood without looking into the disconnection
which Allah made obligatory.
That led them to pure ignorance and clear diselief.
If they had sought soundness and left the traditions and ayats as they had
come without modifying anything in them to something else and entrusted the
knowledge of that to Allah and His Messenger and said, "We do not know",
that would have been better for them.
The words of Allah should be enough for them, "There is nothing like Him."
(42:11) When a hadith comes to them which contains connections
so that Allah is made like something, He negated the likeness in respect
of Himself.
So all that remains is that that tradition has one of the aspects
of disconnection which Allah recognises and it is brought to Arab understanding
in whose tongue the Qur'an was revealed.
Actually there is not to be found a single phrase in a tradition or ayat
at all which is a text for connection.
What you find with the Arabs is that
it supports many aspects, one of which leads to connection and one of which
leads to disconnection.
The allegorical interpreter applies that phrase to
the aspect which leads to connection by wronging that phrase since he does
not recognise its proper due given to it by what its place in the language
demands.
He infringes on Allah when He applies to Him what is not proper
for Allah. Allah willing, we will present some of the hadith which
have come with connection and which are not really a text for it. "To
Allah belongs the far-reaching proof. If He had willed, He would have guided
you all." (6:149)
(Connection (tasbih) and anthropormorphism in the expressions
of the Sunna)
An example of that is when the Prophet said, "The heart of the believer is
between two of Allah's fingers." [at-Tirmidhi]
The intellect looks at what
the subject demands of reality and metaphor and that a 'limb' is impossible
for Allah!
'Finger' is a sharted expression which can be applied to the limb or applied to
blessing.
The shepherd said:
Weak of staff , of Bedouin origin, you see him over them when people have not had their blessing end in drought.
He said, "You see him over them" is a good indication of blessing by looking
after them well.
The Arabs say, "What an excellent finger so-and-so has over his property"
meaning that his effect on it is to make his property grow because of his good
management of it.
The swiftest turning over of things is what is turned over by the fingers
because of their small size and perfect capacity for that.
So their movement
is swifter than the hand and other things.
When Allah turns over the hearts
of the slaves, it is the swiftest thing.
The Prophet, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, was most eloquent to the Arabs in his supplication.
using what they understood. Because for us, things are only turned over by
the hand, he used turning with 'the fingers' because the fingers are part
of the hand and are quicker. Thus the Prophet said in his supplication,
"O Overturner of hearts, make my heart firm in Your deen!" [Ibn Majah] Allah's
overturning of the hearts is what He creates in them of concern for good
and interest in evil.
When man senses the succession of thoughts which come
to him in his heart, this is referred to as 'Allah turning the heart'. Man's
knowledge cannot turn this away from himself. That is why the Prophet said,
"O Overturner of hearts, make my heart firm in Your deen!"
Regarding this hadith, one of his wives said to him, "Do you fear
then, Messenger of Allah?" He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied,
"The heart of the believer is between the fingers of Allah," so the Prophet
indicated the swiftness of the turning from belief to disbelief and what
they both contain. Allah said, "He inspired them with their depravity
and godfearing." (91:8) This inspiration is the turning and the fingers
are for speed. The fact that they are two ('two fingers') is the thought
of good and the thought of evil.
So 'fingers' should be understood as we have stated. 'Fingers' can mean the
limb and it can mean the blessing and good effect. So which of the two aspects
will you connect to the limb when these disconnected aspects demand it? Either
we will be silent and entrust knowledge of that to Allah and to the one whom
Allah has acquainted with it - a sent messenger or an inspired wali as long
as the limb is negated, or we are overcome by inquisitiveness which takes
control of us, although we ascribe that to an assimilating anthropomorphizing
innovator.
It is not by inquisitiveness, but it is obligatory for the knower
in that to clarify the aspects of disconnection in that expression so as
to invalidate the argument of every disappointed anthropormorphist. May Allah
turn to us and him and provide him with Islam! If we discuss that word which
must give rise to tashbih, its explanation must be modified to an aspect
which befits Allah - glory be to Him! This is the portion of the intellect
in the linguistic convention of the phrase.
The Blowing of a spirit (ruh) into a heart
(ru')(The portion of the heart from the two fingers from an unseen
aspect)
'The two fingers' are the secret of essential perfection
which is such that when it is unveiled to the eyes on the Day of Rising,
a man will seize his father if he is an unbeliever and fling him into the
Fire, and will not feel any pain in that nor any grief for him due to the
secret of these two 'fingers' which has one meaning while the word is in
the dual.
The Garden and the Fire were created and the name illuminated and
darkened, and Blesser and Avenger appeared. So do not imagine that these
two fingers are two of ten fingers!
This secret must be pointed out in this chapter in the hadith,
"Both of his
Hands are right hands." This is gnosis of unveiling.
The people of the Garden
have two blessings: one is the blessing of the Garden and the other is the
blessing of the punishment of the people of the Fire in the Fire.
Similarly
the people of the Fire have two punishments.
Both groups see Allah by the
Names just as they did in this world.
In 'the two handfuls' which came from
the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in respect of Allah
is the secret of what we have said and pointed out."Allah speaks the
truth and guides to the Path." (33:4)
The handful and the right hand:
Allah said,
"The earth all together
shall be His handful" (39:68) and
"the heavens shall be rolled up
in His right hand." (39:68)
The intellect should see what the situation
requires.
First of all, at the beginning of the ayat, Allah forbade
that He be determined by connection and anthropormorphism which weak intellects
already have in the ayats and traditions which give rise to that in any aspect.
Then after this disconnection (transcendence) which only those with knowledge
understand, Allah said, "The earth all together shall be His handful."
One of the conventions of the Arabic language we know that it is said,
"So-and-so
is in my hand (qabda)," meaning under my jurisdiction, even though
I have nothing of him at all in my actual hand.
But my command is enforced
on him and my judgment of him is carried out, just like my judgment over what
my hand physically possesses and grasps.
I also say, "My property is in my hand", i.e. my ownership and I can dispose of
it and there is nothing to prevent me from doing so.
When I dispose of it, in the moment in which I dispose of it, I can say, "It is
in my hand for me to dispose of," even if that is my slaves who dispose of it
with my permission.
Since a limb is impossible for Allah, the intellect must modify the sense,
meaning and benefit of the "handful".
It is the possession of what it grasps in the moment, even if the grasper does
not have anything to grasp with.
It is absolutely in the possession of the handful.
Thus the universe is in the grasp/handful of the Truly
Real.
The earth in the Next World is designated as one of the possessions as you say,
"My servant is in my grasp", even though the
servant is only part of what is in our grasp.
I have mentioned him especially because something particular has occurred.
In our view,
'the right hand' is the place of absolute strong transaction.
'The left' does not have the power of the right.
So in the Quranic
ayat, the right hand alludes to full mastery.
It indicates mastery
of power in the action.
So the Quranic meaning reached the understanding
of the Arabs by phrases which they recognized and were quick to grasp. The poet
said :
When a banner
is raised for glory, 'Arabs takes it with the right hand.
Glory does not have a tangible manner, so the "limb" of the right hand does
not take it. It is as if he were saying: If glory were to show a tangible
banner, its place or bearer would be the right hand of 'Araba al-Awsi [one
of the Ansar], meaning that the attribute of glory is complete in him. The
Arabs still applies the phrases used for the limbs to things which the actual
limb cannot accept because they share in the meaning.
The blowing of a spirit into a heart
{ Qalb, Qaf, Lam, Ba}
(The portion of the heart in the right and left hands: the right
and left hands from an unseen aspect)
When the Truly Real manifests Himself to the secret
(sirr) of a slave who possesses all secrets and joins him to the free
men and he has essential freedom of action in respect of the
right hand,
the honour of the left is by something else and the honour of the
right is
by its essence.
To descend, the honour of the right hand is by the address
(khatab) and the honour of the left is by presencing (tajalli).
Man's honour is by recognizing his reality and becoming acquainted with it, and it is the left = 'both hands' in respect of man are left just as both
of Allah's hands are right!
Referring to the meaning of unification (ittihad),
both of the hands
of the slave are right. Referring to tawhid,
one of the hands of Allah
is right and the other left. Sometimes I am in 'gatheredness' and 'the
gatheredness of gatheredness' and sometimes I am in 'separation' and 'separation
of separation' according to the manifestation and the gift (warid).
One day when
I encountered someone with good fortune (yaman),
he was Yemeni. If I met one
going beyond (mu'addhi), he was 'Adnani.
Part of that is wonder, laughter, joy and anger.
Wonder occurs from something existent who did not know that which makes him
wonder and then he learns of it and it makes him wonder.
So laughter is applied to him.
This is impossible for Allah.
There is nothing outside His knowledge, so when something occurs in existence
which can make us wonder, that wonder and laughter is applied to the One who
cannot have either wonder or laughter because the matter which occasions wonder
among us, like the young man without youthful passion, is a wondrous matter.
With Allah has the position of what would cause us wonder.
Laughter and joy emerge out of acceptance and pleasure.
If you do an action
for someone and because of it he shows you laughter and joy, he has accepted
that action and is pleased with it.
So His laughter and joy is His acceptance
and pleasure with us.
Similarly His anger is disconnected from the boiling
of the blood of the heart seeking revenge because He is too pure for corporality
and contingency.
That refers doing the action of one who is angry who is
permitted to be angry. It is His vengeance on the tyrants and those who oppose
His command and overstep His bounds.
Allah said, "He is angry with him"
meaning that He repays him as is done with someone who is the object of wrath.
So the Requitor is angry and the appearance of the action designates the
name.
Smiling is part of laughter.
The hadith says, "Allah smiles on the
man who walks to the mosque for the prayer and remembrance."
Since the world
is veiled by phenomenal beings and they are occupied with other than Allah,
they perform this action in a state of absence from Allah.
When they come
to Him with one of the varieties of presence,
Allah sends down on them in
their hearts some of the pleasure of the bliss of being present
(muhadara),
intimate conversation (munajat) and
contemplation
(mushahada) which endears itself to their hearts. The Prophet said, "Love
Allah for the nourishment He has given you of His blessings."
Smiling alludes to this action of His because it is the manifestation of joy
when you come to Him.
When someone makes it easy for you to come, the sign of his happiness is to
display kindness and love to you and to send some of the blessings he has to
you. When these things appear from Allah to the slaves who come to him, that is
called 'smiling'.
Forgetfulness. Allah said,"He has forgotten them." (9:67)
It is not permissible for Him to forget, but when Allah punishes them with
eternal punishment and does not give them mercy, they become as if they have
been forgotten by Him and it is as if He has forgotten them.
This is the action of one who forgets and one who does not remember the pain of
the punishment they are in.
That is because in their live in this world they forgot Allah, so He repaid them
with their own action and their action comes back on them appropriately.
The meaning of "Allah has forgotten them" is He has deferred them
and the meaning of "they forgot Allah" is they deferred the command of Allah
and did not do it. So Allah deferred them in the Fire when He brought out
of it the others which He had made enter the Fire.
Near this area is describing
the Real with devising, mockery and mockery. Allah said, "Allah mocks
them," (9:79) "Allah devises," (3:54) and "Allah will mock
them." (2:15)
The breath (nafas): The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, said,
"Do not curse the wind. It is from the breath of the Merciful."
He also said,
"I feel the breath of the Merciful coming to me from the Yemen."
All of this is from comforting (tanfis). It is as if he were saying,
"Do not curse the wind. It is part of what the Merciful uses to comfort
(naffasa) His slaves."
The Prophet said, "You aided with the east
wind" as he said. "I feel the breath," i.e. the All-Merciful relieves my
grief for me.
This was the grief the Prophet had when his people denied him
and rejected the command of Allah. He said, "From the direction of the Yemen",
so the Ansar were among those by whom Allah relieved His Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, from what grieved him from the deniers. Allah
the Great is free of the breath which is the air expelled by the breather.
"Allah is greatly exalted above what the wrongdoers ascribe to Him!" (See
17:43)
Form (sura). Form is applied to a matter and to what is known
with people and other things.
The hadith attributes form to Allah
in the Sahih and other books. For instance, there is the hadith of
'Ikrima, the
Prophet said, "I saw my Lord in the form of a young man." This was a state of
the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and it is a well-known
usage in Arabic.
It is like when the Prophet said, "Allah created Adam on His form."
Know that the quality of "likeness" which comes in Qur'an is linguistic,
not intelligible, because an intelligible likeness is impossible for Allah.
Zayd is a lion in strength.
Zayd is a Zuhayr in poetry.
When you describe something existent with one or two attributes and then
describe another with that attribute, even if there is clear disparity between
them in respect of other realities, they share in the spirit of that attribute.
It means that each of them has the form of the other in that attribute in
particular. So understand and take note!
See that your being indicates Him - glory be to Him!
Did you describe Him
with an attribute of perfection other than from you? Understand!
When you
enter the gate of stripping away equating, you negate imperfections which
you are not allowed to do, even if you are not based on that at all.
However
when the anthropormorphist and assimilator ascribe that to him, you negate
that attribution.
If the anthropormorphist had not had the illusion, you
would not have made any of this negation. Know that even if the form has
many openings, but we have refrained from mentioning them since we wish to
avoid making this book too long. "Allah speaks the truth and guides to
the Path." (33:4)
The Arm. It is related in a tradition from the Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, "the molar-tooth of the unbeliever in the
Fire is like Uhud and his skin is as thick as forty arm-spans of the arm-span
of the Almighty."
This is an attribution of honouring by the amount which Allah made attributed to
Him.
It is like you saying, "This thing is so many arm-lengths of the King," meaning
the greatest arm-length which the King makes, even though, for instance, the arm
of the King is the limb, like people's limbs and the arm-span which the he makes
is grater than the King's limb by a half or its like.
So in reality it is not his arm, but rather it is the estimate of his share and
then it is ascribed to its maker, so know! In language, the "Almighty" is the
Immense King.
It is like that with the foot. "The Mighty places His foot (in the Fire)".
The foot is the limb. It is said, "So-and-so has a good in the business,"
meaning he is firm.
The foot is a collective noun in creation, so the food is an attribution. The
Mighty is the angel and this foot belongs to the angel since the limb is
impossible for Allah!
Settling (istawa') is also applied to steadiness, direction
and overwhelming.
Steadiness is one of the qualities of bodies and is not
permitted in respect of Allah! except in the aspect of steadiness.
Direction
is direction is will and it is one of the attributes of perfection. Allah
said, "He lifted (istawa) Himself up to heaven," (3:29), i.e.
intended. "He settled on the throne" (7:54) means occupied.
There are many traditions and ayats, some sound, some weak. There
is no tradition which does not have one of the aspects of disconnection.
If you want to more easily understand that, then apply yourself to the phrase
which gives rise to tashbih and take its benefit or its spirit or what comes
from it.
Put it in what is due to the Truly Real and you will win the degree of
disconnection when other people obtain the rank of connection. So act thus and
purify your garment! This is enough of these traditions for the topic is long.
The blowing of the Purest Ruh in the Inner Heart
(The symbolic meaning of the phrases of tashbih in the
Shari'a)
"The blowing of the purest spirit in the inner heart" is in the previous
expressions:
when the wonderer (the King) wonders at the one who has come out on His form
(Adam),
His Creator in his inner conscience,
rejoicing in his existence,
laughing in his witnessing and
angry when he turns away,
smiling when he comes near,
forgetting his outward and breathing.
So He let the ships take their course and is firm on His
kingdom and rules over His kingdom by decree. What He wills is and the return is
to Allah!
These are isolated spirits of which the supporting forms (ashbah)
wait.
When the time comes, moments come to an end,
the heaven sways,
the
sun is rolled up,
the earth is changed,
the stars are thrown down,
things
are transformed,
the Next World appears and man and others are gathered in
the original state (See 19:10).
Then the forms will give praise,
the spirits
will delight,
the Opener will be manifested,
the lamp will be kindled,
the
Nectar sparkle,
pure love (wudd) appear, beseeching disappear, the wing
spread, and the the Dome established from the beginning
of night to morning.
How glorious a station! How delightful it is to selves in a perfect state. May
Allah let us enjoy it!
1. Dihya al-Kalbi, in whose form Jibril appeared to the
Prophet.
2. i.e. a good shepherd who tends his camels well.
3. The temple called al-Bayt al-Ma'mur corresponding
to the Ka'ba in the Fourth Heaven.