Salaam Allaah,
Consider the following equations:
Haqq = Good = Light (Beauty) = Existence
Baathil = Evil = Darkness = Non-Existence
None describes these more effectively and elegantly than Syaikh al-Akbar Ibn al-'Arabi (qaddas Allaahu sirrah) himself:
"Existence is Light, and Non-Existence is Darkness. We are in existence, so we are encompassed by Good."
Let's try to elaborate on this a little bit here. When the 'Aarif (Knower) says, "Al-Haqq alone exists," he means that on the highest level of Being, which is al-Ahadiyyah, there is only Allaah, al-Wujuud adz-Dzaatiyyah, such that His Existence is beyond definition, classification, and categorization. If this weren't so, both existence and non-existence would be absolutely impossible (see: http://sufi-horizon.blogspot.com/2008/09/al-misykaat-al-anwaar.html).
We say that Allaah Subhaana Huwa Ta'aalaa is Infinitely Merciful (Rahmaan) and Essentially Loving (Rahiim), because in His Necessary Oneness, there is no disintegration, divisibility, gradation, and particularity whatsoever. In other words, there is no substantial limitedness in His Being Him. That is, in His Being Him, Allaah Ta'aalaa singularly encompasses Perfect Harmony, Boundless Love, and Eternal Life. He is He (Huwa Huwa). He, the Self-Existent (al-Qayyuum), has no direct, substantial opposite ('otherness' which is 'non-existence'); none exists but He.
This is the primary, absolute level. Nothing whatsoever can be said to be exterior to it. The 'Aarif witnesses this Reality of Oneness (as a result of the Convergence of Witnessing (the State of Complete Gatheredness and Inclusiveness, al-Maqaam al-Jam', taking place in the domain of the Ruuh)) which is none other than al-Qalam (the 'Pen', the Total Intellect), which can be represented as the 'dot' in the total, boundless expansion of That-Which-Is (al-Maujuud), that-which-contains none but the Presence of Being (Hadhratullaah), that-which-spans it in the first place, called, al-Lauh (the 'Tablet' of Certainty and Existential Possibilities, Umm al-Kitaab al-Mubiin).
The Realm of Divine Essence, al-Laahuut, which is Qadiim (Essential, Uncreated) and Daa'im (Eternal), actually has two + one Presences:
1. Al-Ahadiyyah (al-Haahuut)
2. Al-Wahdat al-Muhammadiyyah (al-Haqiiqah al-Muhammadiyyah)
3. Al-Wahdaaniyyah ar-Rubuubiyyah al-Muhammadiyyah (al-'Aalam al-Asmaa' wa-sh Shifaat)
Nothing separates them whatsoever. The only 'difference' (which is not substantial at all (for none exists here but Allaah's 'He-ness' (Huwwiyyah, Essential Self)) is that al-Wahdat (al-Muhammadiyyah) is the 'Desired Self-Manifestation of Essence' within al-Ahadiyyah by what can only be termed as 'Sheer Love and Pure Longing'. Al-Wahdat, as the Absolute Spirit (ar-Ruuh al-A'zham), is the Substantial Source of Manifestation (Locus) of Essential Names (al-Asmaa') and Attributes (ash-Shifaat). In the threefold projective form of the First Intellect (al-Qalam), the First Heart (al-Lauh), and the Throne of Glory (al-'Arsy), this is called al-Wahdaaniyyah (ar-Rubuubiyyah al-Muhammadiyyah). That is why, (the Perfect) Man essentially shares the same attributes as Allaah; in fact all attributes and names come from Him. His exalted rank is his being the Unique, Total Manifestation of the Absolute Oneness of Essence (at-Tajalliyy adz-Dzaatiyyah al-Lathiif al-Ahadiyyah) which singularly encompasses the following ascending three stations of Unity (al-Wahdat):
1. The Station of the Unity of Witnessing and Action
2. The Station of the Unity of Names and Attributes
3. The Station of the Unity of Essence
Al-Wahdat is the Origin of the Muhammadan Reality (al-Haqiiqah al-Muhammadiyyah). The deeper meaning of the sacred Qur'anic initials Alif Lam Mim is that between Alif (Allaah) and Mim (Muhammad) there is no (La(m)) substantial separation whatsoever, because both are encompassed by Allaah alone, in Himself, by His own Essence. More concisely, this is written as Ha Mim. This Reality is called as-Sirr al-Qadr. Metaphorically, we can say that, when Allaah (al-Wujuud al-Aqdas) looks at Muhammad (al-Wujuud al-Muqaddas), He sees Himself, in Complete Love. As such, Muhammad sees only Allaah; none exists but Him. That is why Ibn al-'Arabi (qs) has implied that Mim (Muhammad) is the Mirror (al-Mir'aah) and Absolute Manifestation (at-Tajalliyy al-Muthlaq) of Essence (Dzaat).
As such, Imaam 'Ali ('alaihi salaam wa karram Allaahu wajhah), 'occupying' the Station of Origin (Absolute Beauty) of the Holy Prophet (s) in the state of Jalaal, once so beautifully proclaimed his great status as the Entirety of Essential Names and Attributes itself:
"Anaa Asmaa'-ul Husnaa."
Indeed, his exalted rank at the Great Muhammadan Station is such that he ('as) himself is a Unifying Name, or the Face of Convergence (al-Wajh al-Jam'iyyah), for all the Essential Names and Attributes. This is known as the Station of the Great Pole (al-Maqaam al-Quthbiyyah al-'Uzhmaa) and the Apex of Vicegerency (Khilaafat) of the Reality of the Seal of the Prophets (s). There is no station higher than this in the context of suluuk (one's individual journeying towards al-Haqq) of the Friends of Allaah (Awliyyaa' Allaah) by means of the Love-Embers of Divine Attraction and Unveiling (Mukaasyafah).
The correct knowledge of al-Wahdat al-Wujuud (the 'Unity of Being') expounded by Ibn al-'Arabi (qs) only pertains to this level, nothing else. It can only be correctly described in this context, not elsewhere. Still, it truly takes a perfected intellect and completely expanded heart to discern this sublime truth, while most people are still on the finite, evolutionary plane of expansion and contraction, on the islet of belief and disbelief. Note that Haqq-ul Yaqiin, Absolute Certainty, is not a belief (which substantially entails disbelief as its inseparable co-form) at all. Rather, it is the state of Seeing and Knowing Allaah by Totally Being with Allaah. The Holy Qur'aan describes this as the 'soothing water' because, while in the shadow of creation, nothing can be more certain and more comforting for a servant than knowing al-Haqq by al-Haqq.
Misunderstandings of Ibn al-'Arabi's teachings often arise from the fact that many people (with still imperfect, partial knowledge and tumultuous, unharnessed nafs) tend to claim the Essential Inseparability between Wujuud (Hu, Ha) and that-which-mirrors Himself (Mim, in Himself and by Himself) merely on the creational level. This is because they don't understand the other levels of existence and their subtleties.
The Creational Realm, an-Naasuut, sometimes also called the Realm of Witnessing, al-'Aalam asy-Syahaada, which is brought into being by Allaah from pure non-existence, has five intrinsic grades:
1. Al-Barzakh al-Kubraa (the Total Boundary)
2. Al-Arwaah (al-Malakuut, the realm of graded lights)
3. Al-Mitsaal (the realm of universal meanings and forms)
4. Al-Ajsaam (the material universe)
5. Azh-Zhulum (the realm of Utter Darkness)
In essence, the Total Boundary is the manifestation of the Face of Muhammadan Unity (al-Wajh al-Wahdat al-Muhammadiyyah), of the Entirety of Divine Names and Attributes; yet, with respect to creation (multiplicity, al-katsrah), it characteristically serves as the Veil of Majesty (al-Hijaab al-Jalaaliyyah) as well as the Point of Convergence in the Witnessing of Essential Oneness in phenomenal multiplicity (al-Musyaahada al-Wahdah fii al-Katsrah). The last four sub-realms, due to their specific creational nature, are subject to gradation, definition, classification, divisibility, disintegration, and hence temporality and perishment (extinction). Yet, Allaah, the Mighty Creator, al-Wujuud al-Khaliiqah, has not created them in their limitations purposelessly or for a limited purpose only. Glory be to Him, the Best Creator, from such vanity! Rather, Allaah Ta'aalaa has performed Creation as a sheer test ('play') in order that creational forms, through process and essentially inward journeying, might know (see) the difference between that which is Baqaa' (Ancient, Essential, Beginningless, Eternal) and that which is Fanaa' (New, Creational, Initiative, Perishing), so that they might know Allaah as Allaah by being stationed at the Station of Eternal Intimacy (al-Uns), which is known as al-Walaayah. And this did not take place other than by His Infinite Mercy alone since Allaah, the Self-Sufficient, had (and has) no need to create at all. But He did so, so that creation might know the Perfect Beauty and Majesty that He is.
Hu Rahmaan, Hu Rahiim!
Now, since to know the Perfect, in the total, existential sense, requires Being Perfect, and since none of His Ta'aalaa manifestations is Perfect other than Muhammad (shalla Allaahu Ta'aalaa 'alaihi wa aalih), His Only Absolute Self-Manifestation (in Himself), it is said that all things have been created for the sake of His Beloved (Muhammad (s)).
Sufi-claimers, out of ignorance, often loudly claim their 'oneness' with Allaah in this created, shadowy, sensory realm while not comprehending that it actually exists 'outside' Pure Being (al-Wujuud) by the act of creation. The word 'outside' here simply implies 'non-substantiality', and not spatiality and temporality. This claim can only be true in al-Laahuut, where the one desired by Allaah, and stationed at the Station of the Holy Prophet (s), is overcome by Essence. But it is absolutely impossible in an-Naasuut alone. Rather, it requires the 'lifting of the Great Boundary by His Hand of Mercy' (al-Kasyf), followed inevitably by 'Self-Effacement', which is the beginning of an-Nubuwwah (Prophethood) and al-Walaayah itself. Hadhrat Syaikh 'Abd al-Qaadir al-Jailaani (qs) once said, "The greatest veil (hijaab) is al-Makhluuq (the created being) itself," precisely because it (the created being) exists 'outside' Allaah's Oneness, in the realm of process, and simply does not share the Essential Self.
Since at the deepest, self-total, self-complete level (al-Ahadiyyah), nothing exists but Allaah, that which is said to be 'outside' Allaah does not substantially exist at all; it only exists as a naturally restricted appearance.
And so, finally, although we can say that the whole expansive cosmos is a Tajalliyy (Manifestation) of Allaah on the Creational Level, just as Muhammad (s) is Allaah's Tajalliyy on the Essential Level, what we call 'Evil' (Baathil), which apparently exists in this world, is only a particular display of creation whose status is like an insubstantial foam in the ocean's vastness. 'Evil' has no origin whatsoever in al-Laahuut. It has only been brought into being from pure nothingness as a test. Compared with the Absolute Reality (al-Ahadiyyah), it is but a mirage (illusion), yet human beings (other than 'Primordial Beings' who are 'ma'shuum', as they are direct manifestations of the Light (Nuur) of Muhammad (s), the Light of Essential Perfection (an-Nuur adz-Dzaat al-Kaamil)), when not dressing themselves with Purity (Shafaa') and Knowledge (Ma'rifat), can develop latent tendencies towards being illusory (insubstantial). This is what being blind is all about. And the end-point of being illusory (blind) is Ultimate Darkness (which is the Illusion of illusions, or 'total non-existence' (for, as we have seen, non-existence can only be as a created reality)), which is the fifth sub-realm of an-Naasuut.
We may recall this beautiful story in the Qur'aan about Hadhrat Muusaa ('alaihi salaam). He was given a 'Staff' ('Stick') and was ordered to strike a 'Rock' with it. Once he did this, 'Water' sprang forth from the 'Rock'. Know that the 'Staff' here, in the deepest sense, is none other than al-Ma'rifat adz-Dzaatiyyah (al-'Ilm at-Tauhiid or al-Ma'rifat al-Kull), the Knowledge of Allaah's Essential Oneness, which includes in itself the Knowledge of the Totality of Existences. The 'Rock' symbolizes creational (mental and phenomenal) self-limitations which are overcome (negated) by the Presence of Singularity (al-Hadhrah al-Ahadiyyah), while the 'Water' is a metaphor for Endless Life which 'flows' from the Station of Subsistence in Essence (al-Maqaam al-Baqaa' ba'd al-Fanaa' fii adz-Dzaat). Once Hadhrat Muusaa ('as) attained the Rank of Knowledge and became a Decisive Proof (al-Hujjah al-Kabiir), he went to face Pharaoh (Fir'aun) and his 'Magicians' who, in turn, manifested 'Snakes' before him ('as). Know, beloveds of Allaah, that the 'Magicians' alluded here represent the 'Philosophers', while the 'Snakes' represent their 'Futile, Divergent Philosophies'. (Note that this story is essentially similar to that of Hadhrat Ibraahiim ('as) and the 'Fire' of Namrood.) Such philosophies, no matter how eleborate they might seem, are infinitely far from the Convergence of Witnessing. This is given by Allaah alone, through the Sacred Muhammadan Intellect (al-'Aql al-Qudsiyyah al-Muhammadiyyah), to a Chosen Servant whom He Ta'aalaa intimately loves, as a Sign and Mercy. In fact, all Anbiyyaa' and Awliyyaa', so far as they attain such an exalted rank, must but drink the Living Water of Absolute Certainty (Maa' al-Hayaat) from the Fountain (al-Kautsar) of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s), for he (s) alone is the Absolute Prophet (an-Nabiyy al-Muthlaq) and the Absolute Saint (al-Waliyy al-Muthlaq).
May Allaah Jalla Jalaaluhu protect us all from the darkness of creation by drawing us towards Loving (Knowing) Him more and more.
"Yaa Rabbi, increase me in Knowledge."
(Suurah Tha Ha: 114)
Hu Allaahu Anaa Hu!
Alif Lam Mim
As'aluka Allaahumma antushalliya 'alaa Nuuri Ismika-l A'zhami-l Maktuubi min Nuuri Wajhika-l Mu'abbadi li kulli Maujuudi Sayyidinaa wa Mawlaanaa wa Mursyidinaa Muhammadin Dzi-l Maqaami-l Muthlaqi-l A'laa, wa Sirri Hayaati-l Wujuud
Yaa Hu, yaa Haqq!
End Note
Abuu 'Abd Allaah Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-'Arabi al-Haatimi ath-Thaa'i, known as Syaikh al-Akbar Ibn al-'Arabi, the 'Greatest Master'. May Allaah Ta'aalaa sanctify his soul. He is the Imaam and Hujjah of ath-Thariiqah al-Mu'tabara al-Khawwaash al-Wujuudiyyah (al-Ahadiyyah), which emphasizes both Purity of Heart and Sharpness of Intellect. By my soul, one has hardly ever seen a star of Divine Exposition more brilliant than him in the constellation of Allaah's Friends (Awliyyaa') among the Ummah of the Holy Prophet (s). He was empowered directly with the Prophetic Intellect (al-'Aql al-Qudsiyyah al-Muhammadiyyah) at the highest station of Witnessing (al-Musyaahada). In his al-Futuuhaat al-Makkiyyah, we learn that he reached this station, 'awake, not dreaming', in the Direct Presence (Hudhuur) of the Holy Prophet (s). He is the Inheritor of the Prophetic Station. He is known as the 'Red Sulfur' (the Rarity) among Ahl al-Haqiiqah. He is a Unique Diver in the Ocean of Oneness and is himself an Ocean of Gnosis without a shore. He is the Summit of Knowers and the Chosen Revealer of the Knowledge of Absolute Certainty. The 99 Secrets (al-Masyaahid al-Asraar) of the Muhammadan Reality are only available at his Blessed Fountain. May Allaah Ta'aalaa, for the sake of His Beloved (s), grant us someone like him among ourselves in the near future. Soon, yaa Allaah, soon.
Allaah's Most Unworthy Faqiir,
Dani
No comments:
Post a Comment