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THE CHAIN OF THE SUFIS
AT A TIME WHEN THE BREAKING DOWN OF RELIGIOUS,
INTELLECTUAL
AND CULTURAL BARRIERS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST
FOSTERS RICH FERMENTATION OF IDEAS, AND A
RE-EVALUATION
OF IDEALS, THE AGE-OLD TRADITION OF SUFI ESOTERIC
PHILOSOPHY
AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE PERENNIAL UNFOLDMENT
OF HUMAN THOUGHT REMAINS BUT LITTLE KNOWN EXCEPT
TO A FEW SPECIALISTS AND ENTHUSIASTS.
YET AN EXPLORATION
OF ITS TEACHINGS THROWS A REVEALING LIGHT ON THE
PROBLEMS THAT THE WEST HAS USUALLY TRIED TO FATHOM
WITH THE
MEASURING-ROD OF SPECULATIVE THOUGHT; AND IT MAY YET
HAVE
AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO MAKE TO TODAY'S
SPIRITUAL RENAISSANCE
A MESSAGE IN OUR TIME.
OUR APPRECIATION OF THE UNIVERSAL VALUE OF HUMAN
THOUGHT HAS BEEN GREATLY HAMPERED SO FAR BY OUR
ACQUIRED HABITS OF PIGEON-HOLING KNOWLEDGE INTO
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT AND WATER-TIGHT RELIGIOUS
GROUPS; WE
DISTINGUISH GREEK PHILOSOPHY FROM VEDANTA AND THE
EGYPTIAN
MYSTERIES FROM THE KABBALA OR ZOROASTRIANISM, OR
CHRISTIANITY, OVERLOOKING THE CURRENTS AND
CROSS-CURRENTS
THAT HAVE RUN FROM ONE SYSTEM (AS WE CALL IT) TO
THE OTHER, OR THAT PART PLAYED BY THOSE POWERFUL
THOUGHTS, ACTING AS POLLEN, FERMENTS OR CATALYSTS
THAT
HAVE THROWN THESE GROUPS INTO BLOSSOM, ENRICHED THEIR
CONCEPTS, OR OPERATED THE SUDDEN AND PROFOUND
TRANSFORMATIONS
THAT HAVE AT TIMES GALVANIZED CIVILIZATIONS
TO THE POINT OF TAKING THE LEAD FOR A TIME.
FURTHERMORE,
ONE MUST NOT OVERLOOK THE PERSONAL STAMP OF THOSE WHO
HAVE REVEALED NEW BELIEFS UPON THE SURFACE OF THE
SAME
OLD PROBLEMS THROUGH THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL OUTLOOK, OR
SHALL WE SAY, THEIR METTLE.
WHEN THE TORCH OF MYSTERY TEACHING THAT
ILLUMINATED
GREEK THOUGHT WAS IN DANGER OF BEING EXTINGUISHED
BY THE
CLOSING DOWN OF THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS UNDER
JUSTINIAN IN
THE YEAR 529, IT WAS RESCUED AND REVIVED BY THE
AWAKENING
ARAB WORLD WHICH INHERITED THE "FALSAFA" (ARABIC
FOR
PHILOSOPHY) FROM THE HANDS OF THE
NEO-PLATONISTS, DAMASCIUS
AND HIS BRETHREN, AT THE COURT OF THEIR ROYAL
PERSIAN
HOST, NURSHIVAN, WHO HAD GIVEN THEM ASYLUM.
THE
PHILOSOPHICAL CONTROVERSIES OF THE KHORASSAN SCHOOLS
WERE DOMINATED BY THE CROSS-CURRENTS BETWEEN THE
PLATONISTS
CALLED ISHRAKIN, OR ILLUMINATED, BECAUSE THEY
REGARDED INTUITION, OR THE INTROSPECTIVE LIGHT OF
CONSCIOUSNESS
AS THE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE, AND THE PERIPATETICIANS,
OR MASHAIN, WHO ATTRIBUTED KNOWLEDGE TO
DIALECTICS AND THE INTELLECT. NO DOUBT, NOT
ONLY THE NEO-PLATONIC GNOSIS
BUT EVEN ITS TERMINOLOGY CAN BE
TRACED BACK TO THE WRITINGS OF THE SUFIS.
BUT THE SWEEPING
AND CATEGORICAL NATURE OF THE ISLAMIC SHAHADA THAT IS
THE AFFIRMATION OF THE SOLE EXISTENCE OF GOD,
TOGETHER
WITH THE DENIAL OF ANY OTHER EXISTENCE, INEVITABLY
CALLED
FOR A TEARING RE-EXAMINATION OF THE "IMAGO MUNDI" OF
THE
NEO-PLATONISTS,
THAT HYPOSTATIC PROCESSION FROM THE ONE
AS PLOTINUS HAD OUTLINED IN THE ENNEADS. THE
CONCLUSIONS
REACHED IN THIS SOUL-SEARCHING OF THAT MOST INTREPID
OF
THINKERS ARE FAR-REACHING AND CANNOT LEAVE US
INDIFFERENT.
SIMILARLY THE ZOROASTRIAN BACKGROUND WHERE THE NEW
CONQUERORS OF PERSIA ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES, STEEPED
IN
THE AGE-OLD WISDOM OF THE MAGI WHOSE WORK HAD BEEN
DESTROYED BY THE PILLAGE OF ALEXANDER'S TROOPS,
CHALLENGED THE MORE ENLIGHTENED OF THE FAITH TO
RE-EXAMINE
IT IN THE LIGHT OF THEIR SWEEPING OUT-LOOK. SO
MUCH SO THAT SHIHAB-UD-DIN YAHYA-AS SUHRAWARDI WHO
WAS
PUT TO DEATH IN ALEPPO AT THE AGE OF THIRTY-SIX
REFERRED TO
HIMSELF AS THE SPIRITUAL SUCCESSOR OF SUCH PERSIAN
MAGI AS
KHOSRAU, ZOROASTER, JAMASP,
FRASHAOSHTRA, BOZURGMEHR.
BUT HE INCLUDED IN THIS CHAIN OF TORCHBEARERS OF THE
ESOTERIC TRADITION EMPEDOCLES, PLATO, PYTHAGORAS,
PLOTINUS,
PROCLUS AND HERMES, WHO FORM A PROPHETIC FAMILY,
WHOSE MISSION IS "THE CLOSE SAFEGUARD OF THE DIVINE
PROOFS
UPON THE EARTH." THE BREATH-TAKING PERSPECTIVES
OPENED
ON THE COSMOLOGY OF THE HEAVENLY ORBS BY AVICENNA IN
HIS
"KITAB AL SHIFA" AND SUHRAWARDI IN HIS "HIKMAT AL
ISHRAQ"
(PHILOSOPHY OF LIGHT) REINSTATE THE ANGELOLOGY OF THE
ZOROASTRIANS, WHICH IS THE MOST DETAILED SYSTEM
KNOWN,
EVEN MORE SO THAN THAT OF THE KABALA, WHOSE
ANGELOLOGICAL
SYSTEM HAS ENTERED SUFISM BY THE DOOR OF
ISMAILISM.
CURIOUSLY ENOUGH THE ANCIENTS CONSIDERED PLATO
AS THE DISCIPLE OF THE PERSIANS THROUGH A LEAKAGE
TRICKLING THROUGH THE DARDANELLES OR ACROSS ASIA
MINOR;
CONVERSELY, THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE ZOROASTRIAN
ANGELOLOGY
WERE LATER SHAKEN IN THE MIND OF AVICENNA BY
THE THEOLOGY OF ARISTOTLE, THAT APOCRYPHAL MANUSCRIPT
ATTRIBUTED BY THE ARABS TO ARISTOTLE WHICH WAS
NOTHING
BUT AN EDITED TRANSLATION OF THE ENNEADS IV AND VI
AND A
FRAGMENT OF PORPHYRY. SUHRAWARDI WENT YET
FURTHER,
CORROBORATING AND ENRICHING THIS "INTERPRETATIO
MUNDI"
BY THE FRUIT OF HIS MEDITATIONS ON THE ESSENTIAL
NATURE OF
KNOWLEDGE TO MEET THE CHALLENGE OF ISLAM.
THE OLD MYSTERY SCHOOLS OF EGYPT, SUPERSEDED AND
CORRUPT AS THEY WERE, ALSO LEFT A FERMENT THAT HAS
FERTILIZED
THE SOIL OF SUFISM. THEY HAD GIVEN RISE TO THE
TREMENDOUS RESEARCH IN METAPHYSICS, ARITHMETIC,
ALGEBRA,
SYLLOGISTICS, MEDICINE, ALCHEMY, ASTROLOGY, THAT HAS
RADIATED FROM THE THIRD TO THE SIXTH CENTURIES FROM
THE
SCHOOLS OF ALEXANDRIA, THE SO-CALLED SCHOOLS OF
ORIENTAL
SYNCRETISM. HERE THE ESOTERIC HERITAGE OF EGYPT, AS
BORNE
BY HERMES AND OTHERS, THAT OF THE HELLENISTIC CULTURE
BY
PROCLUS AND THE MANICHEANS, AND THAT OF ISRAEL BY
DENIS
AND THE NESTORIANS AMALGAMATED INTO A "CORPUS
HERMETICA".
THIS CORPUS BOLSTERED THE GROWTH OF THE EXACT
SCIENCES IN THEIR FORMATIVE STAGES IN BOTH EAST
AND WEST
AND GAVE ALCHEMY ITS RICHNESS AND POWER TO THE
EXTENT
THAT PSYCHOLOGISTS TODAY STILL FEEL THE NEED TO
GROPE
INTO ITS MYSTERIES IN ORDER TO ENABLE THEM TO MAKE
AN
EXACT SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY. THROUGHOUT
THE PROGRESS OF
SECULARIZATION OF PHILOSOPHY IN EAST AND WEST, THE
BELIEF
IN AN HERMETIC KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE ONLY TO THE
INITIATED
AND COMMUNICATED BY A SAGE, SUCCESSOR IN THE SECRET
TRADITION TO HERMES AND FURTHER BACK TO THOTH, HAS
NEVER
COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED. IN ISLAM THE FIGURE
OF HERMES
WAS ASSUMED BY KHIDR OR BETTER STILL IN THE
ESOTERIC
TRADITION BY IDRIS, THAT INEFFABLE MASTER OF THE
HERMETIC
MYSTERY KNOWN ONLY TO THE FEW, WHO REMAINS THE
HIDDEN
(BATIN) INITIATOR BEHIND THE OUTER (ZAHIR) PIR'S
TEACHING.
THIS ESOTERIC SCIENCE TOGETHER WITH ITS EXOTERIC
DISCIPLINE WAS SPREAD IN ARAMAIC ASSYRIA
AND MESOPOTAMIA.
ONE OF THE SUFI HEIRS TO THE EGYPTIAN MYSTERY CULTS
AND
HERMETIC WISDOM WAS THE EGYPTIAN DHUL NUN MISRI, (BY
HIS
REAL NAME, ABU FAYE THAUBAN IBRAHIM MISRI) 798-856,
WHO IS
PASSED DOWN IN THE HISTORY OF SUFISM AS A NEAR
LEGENDARY
FIGURE FOR HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE THEN ALMOST FORGOTTEN
HIEROGLYPHICS, WHICH HE DECIPHERED FROM EGYPTIAN
TEMPLES, HIS MASTERY IN THE ART OF ALCHEMY AND
KABALA,
AND HIS ERUDITION IN HERMETIC WISDOM. BY
ACCUMULATING
INITIATIONS IN THESE ESOTERIC DISCIPLINES HE WAS ABLE
TO
COMBINE THEIR DOCTRINES IN AN OVERRIDING GNOSIS -- OR
VISION OF UNITY -- BROADENED YET BY HIS OWN
MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE.
DURING THE NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES, THE
ISMAILIS INJECTED
ISLAM WITH THE IDEAL OF INTER-RELIGIOUS
RECONCILIATION
AND DIFFUSED THE FRUITS OF THE FINDINGS OF THE
SCHOOL OF
ALEXANDRA. AN INDICATION OF THE
ENCYCLOPEDIC CHARACTER
OF
ISMAILISM
MAY BE TRACED IN THE IKHWAN AL SAFA, WHICH
GIVES AN ALL-EMBRACING PANORAMIC VIEW OF HUMAN
KNOWLEDGE
IN THE TENTH CENTURY. THIS MYSTERIOUS SECT,
WHICH
SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH THE FATIMID IMMAMAT, WAS FOUNDED
BY
MAYMOUN AL QUADDAH AND REACHED
A DEPTH OF INTROSPECTIVE
ANALYSIS AS YET UNSURPASSED IN THE ANNALS OF
METAPHYSICS
UNDER THE IMPULSE OF NAZIR KHUSARAU E JAMI AL
HIKMATAIN
(THE BOOK LINKING THE TWO WISDOMS). IT WAS THE
INFLUENCE
OF ISMAILISM
THAT INTRODUCED ELEMENTS OF SUFI
ESOTERICISM INTO THE WEST THROUGH THE CONTACTS
MADE
WITH THE CRUSADERS. THUS THE CATHARS, WHO
INTRODUCED
THE ROSICRUCIAN SECRET ORDER INTO THE MEDIEVAL
CHRISTIAN
MILIEU, BRANCHED OFF FROM THE STEM OF THE SUFI
TRADITION.
THE LEGENDS OF PARSIFAL THAT PENETRATED
GERMANIC
FOLKLORE THROUGH THE DRUIDS, THE CELTIC ONE IN
CRESTIEN
DE TROYES FABLES, AND THE SAXON ONE, THROUGH THE KING
ARTHUR LEGENDS, REVEALS THE TRACE OF AN ENCOUNTER
BETWEEN ISLAMIC AND CHRISTIAN INITIATES.
ACCORDING TO THE
TRADITION, PARSIFAL'S FATHER WAS AN ARAB, AND
THE WORD
PARSIFA BETRAYS A PERSIAN
ETYMOLOGY -- PAREH-FAL MEANS: "LE
FOL PUR" OR "LE FOU D'AMOUR" (IN ARABIC PARS MEANS
PURE AND
WAL OR WALI, SAINT, OR FRIEND
OF GOD). THE GRAIL LEGEND
BROUGHT BACK FROM PALESTINE BY THE ORDER OF THE
TEMPLARS
INTRODUCED THE MYSTERY TRADITION INTO
CHRISTIANITY. THE
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN TERMINOLOGY: KNIGHTS OF PURITY
AND IKHWAN AL SAFA, WHICH MEANS "BROTHERHOOD OF THE
PURE", WAS FOSTERED DURING THE CRUSADES.
THERE ARE MORE EXAMPLES OF THE INFLUENCE OF SUFI
THOUGHT
UPON CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM THROUGH THE SPANISH SCHOOL
THAT FLOURISHED DURING THE FOUR CENTURIES FROM THE
THIRTEENTH CENTURY ONWARDS. RAMON LULL
(1235-1315), WHO
MAY BE CONSIDERED AS THE INITIATOR OF THE GOLDEN AGE
OF
CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM, WROTE IN THE "BOOK OF THE LOVER
AND
THE BELOVED", WHICH WAS FRAMED IN TYPICAL SUFI
TERMINOLOGY,
OF HIS MEETING WITH "CERTAIN MEN CALLED SUFIS WHO
SET DOWN WORDS O LOVE AND BRIEF EXAMPLES WHICH GAVE
US GREAT DEVOTION, AND THESE WORDS WHICH DEMANDED
EXPOSITION AND BY THE EXPOSITION THEREOF THE
UNDERSTANDING
SOARS ALOFT, AND THE WILL LIKEWISE SOARS AND IS
INCREASED IN DEVOTION". THE DISTINGUISHED
CONTEMPORARY
SPANISH ARABIC SCHOLAR AND WRITER, PROFESSOR
MIGUEL ASIN
PALACIOS, HAS ATTEMPTED TO PROVE IN "ISLAM AND THE
DIVINE
COMEDY" THE INFLUENCE OF THE ESOTERIC DOCTRINES OF
ISLAM
OF DANTE'S "DIVINE COMEDY." HE HAS ALSO SHOWN
THE
INFLUENCE OF AVERROES ON ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
AND OF IBN L'ARABI ON RAMON LULL.
THE CONVERSE IS EQUALLY TRUE: HASSAN BASRI (D. 728),
WHO IS
CLAIMED AS THE FIRST AFTER HAZRAT ALI IN THE "ISNADS
AND
SILSILS" OR "CHAINS OF SPIRITUAL AFFILIATION",
ATTRIBUTED TO
DAVID AND JESUS THE AUSTERE PRACTICES UPON WHICH HE
MODELLED HIS LIFE. AS A MATTER OF FACT THE WORD
SUFI IS
OFTEN ATTRIBUTED TO THE PRECEDENT HE SET BY WEARING A
ROBE OF WOOL (SUF IN ARABIC), FOLLOWING THEREBY THE
EXAMPLE OF JESUS, FOR WHICH HE WAS CRITICISED BY IBN
SIRIN, A
CONTEMPORARY SCHOLAR WHO "PREFERRED TO FOLLOW THE
EXAMPLE OF OUR PROPHET WHO CLOTHED HIMSELF IN
COTTON."
THE KHIRKA OR ROBE MARKED ALREADY AT THAT TIME THE
CLEAVAGE BETWEEN THE NON-CONSERVATIVE SUFIS AND THE
DOGMATICS
OF THE FAITH. ABU HASHIM OTHMAN IBN SHARIK
OF
KUFA, WHO IS CREDITED WITH HAVING SET UP THE FIRST
TRUE
SUFI KHANKAH OR MONASTERY, IS SAID TO HAVE
FOLLOWED, IN SO
DOING, THE EXAMPLE OF A CHRISTIAN AMIR WHO FOUNDED
THE
FIRST MONASTIC EDIFICE IN RAMLEH IN PALESTINE.
ABU HASHIM
WAS ATTACKED FOR THIS BY THE IMMAMITES ON THE
STRENGTH
OF THE HADITH "YA RABANIH FIL ISLAM" (NO MONKERY
IN ISLAM).
THIS WAS TO BE FOLLOWED BY THE KHANKAH SI RIBAT,
BUILT BY
THE DISCIPLES OF IBN KHARRAM AT JERUSALEM IN 855.
SUFIS MAY BE TRACED DOWN TO IBRAHIM BEN ADHAM, WHO
LEARNED THE TRUE MARIFAT OR GNOSIS FROM FATHER
SIMEON
AND A GROUP OF CHRISTIAN ANCHORITES WHO GAVE HIM
ASYLUM AND COVERED HIS HIDING WHEN HIS LIFE WAS IN
DANGER
IN THE SYRIAN DESERT. IT WAS THROUGH HIM
THAT BUDDHIST
INFLUENCES ARE SAID TO HAVE PENETRATED INTO THE
MOSLEM
WORLD. FOLLOWING THE EXAMPLE OF PRINCE
SIDDHARTHA, THE
BUDDHA, IBN ADHAM, WHO WAS PRINCE OF KHORASSAN, LEFT
HIS
PALACE TO DON THE PAUPER'S ROBE AND TAKE UP THE
BEGGAR'S
BOWL (KASHKOUL) AFTER HAVING HEARD A VOICE BECKONING
WITH THE WORDS "IT WAS NOT FOR THIS THAT THOU WAST
CREATED." ROAMING AS A MENDICANT HE LEARNED,
THEN TAUGHT,
A SYSTEM OF SELF-DISCIPLINE (ZUHD) WHICH WAS THEN IN
ITS
FORMATIVE STAGE AND WAS FURTHER DEVELOPED BY HIS
PUPIL
SHAQIQ WHO ADVOCATED "TAWAQHUL", ABANDON IN GOD.
HE
GAVE HIS PUPILS THE FIRST PRECEPTS IN METHODS OF
CONTEMPLATION
(MURAQUABAH) KNOWN TO THE SUFIS AND PRACTISED
THE PRESENCE OF GOD THROUGH "FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD"
(KHOLLA).
 
THE PHENOMENON OF OSMOSIS BETWEEN ISLAMIC AND HINDU
THOUGHT CAN ALSO BE TRACED BACK BY FOLLOWING CROSS-
CURRENTS. THE PORT OF BASRA ON THE RED SEA
CONDUCTED
DURING THE SEVENTH CENTURY THE FLOW OF INDIAN CULTURE
INTO THE ISLAMIC WORLD. A STUDY OF ASTRONOMICAL
AND
ASTROLOGICAL TABLES, TOGETHER WITH MATHEMATICAL
METHODS
(THE SINEWS INSTEAD OF THE CHORD IN TRIGONOMETRY)
AND MEDICINE USED AT THE TIME PROVES THIS. BUT
A CROSS-
CURRENT FLOWING NOW FROM THE SCHOOLS OF BASRA,
BAGHDAD
AND KHORASSAN SOON TURNED THE TIDE IN THE
OPPOSITE DIRECTION WHEN THE GNOSTIC SCIENCES
DEVELOPED
BEYOND THOSE OF INDIA. THE CHALLENGE OF ITS
SINGLE DIVINITY
SET BEFORE THE MINDS OF MANY INDIAN THINKERS A NEW
PROBLEM
OF INTEGRATION WHICH HAD FAR-REACHING EFFECTS.
IT
GALVANIZED THE THEN DECADENT INDIAN CULTURE INTO
RENEWED
SOUL-SEARCHING, FORCING IT TO OUTREACH ITSELF,
AND IT CATALYZED A NEW FORM OF SYNCRETISM, OR A
SPIRITUAL
SYNTHESIS, SURPASSING IN ITS UNIVERSAL CHARACTER
EVEN THAT
OF THE SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA. FROM THE
EARLIER MASSIVE
CONVERSIONS THAT WERE EFFECTED BY THE POWER OF THE
WORD
RATHER THAN THE SWORD IN INDIA ONE MAY JUDGE OF THE
SPIRITUAL ASCENDANCY OF MALIK BEN DINAR AMONG THE
MOPLARS OR HALLAJ AMONG THE DUDWALARS AND THE
PINJARAS
OF GUJRAT, OR YUSUF AL DIN SINDHI AMONG THE MOMANS,
OF
KUTCH, OF ABDALLAH HARAZI AMONG THE BOHARAS OF GUJRAT,
OF NASIR E KHOSRAU AMONGST THE TRIBES OF WAKHAN AND
THE
AFRIDIS, AND NOUR STAGAR AND SADRAL DIN AMONGST THE
KHOJAS OF GUJERAT WHO ARE OF THE ISMAILI SECT OF
WHICH HIS
HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN IS THE LEADER TODAY. THE
MOGHUL
INVASION OF NORTHERN INDIA FOSTERED THE EXODUS INTO
INDIA
OF MANY SUFI FRATERNITIES AND ORDERS THAT PLAYED THE
LEADING ROLE IN CONVERSIONS: MOIN-UD-DIN CHISHTI
(634 A.H.) WHO
WAS THE FOUNDER OF THE CHISTIA ORDER IN AJMER FROM
WHICH PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN DESCENDS IN
SPIRITUAL
AFFILIATION, PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN
SETTING THE IDEAL
OF UNIVERSAL RELIGION, FOLLOWED BY THE MOGHUL EMPEROR
AKBAR WHO CONVENED THE FIRST INTER-RELIGIOUS CONGRESS
IN
THE WORLD AT HIS COURT. QUTB KHAKI WAS ALSO A
CENTER OF
SPIRITUAL RADIATION THAT DREW THOUSANDS IN DELHI.
IT WAS DURING THIS DYNAMIC PERIOD BETWEEN THE LATTER
HALF OF THE SIXTEENTH AND THE BEGINNING OF THE
SEVENTEENTH
CENTURIES IN INDIA THAT THE SANSKRIT SACRED TEXTS
WERE TRANSLATED INTO PERSIAN AND THE ARAB TEXTS
INTO
THE INDIAN DIALECTS. IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT
BIROUMI
TRANSLATED THE YOGA SUTRA OF PATANJALI FROM SANSKRIT
INTO
ARABIC AND LEFT NUMEROUS STUDIES ON INDIAN PHILOSOPHY
OF
A COMPARATIVE NATURE THAT WERE WIDELY SPREAD IN THE
ARAB WORLD, AND PRINCE DARASHIKH WAS ENCOURAGING
MUTUAL
COMPREHENSION THROUGH THE EXCHANGE OF CULTURE.
THE PROFOUNDER MINDS OF THE TIME WERE SEEKING A
RECONCILIATION
BETWEEN THE METAPHYSICAL DOCTRINES THAT WERE
THUS CONFRONTED. THIS MEANT A COMPLETE
AND UTTER REEVALUATION
OF ALL THE PROBLEMS AND CONCURRENTLY THE
ESTABLISHING OF A TABLE OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE
TERMINOLOGIES NOT ONLY OF VEDANTA AND SUFISM, BUT
ALSO
OF JAINISM, MAHAYANA, SAMKHYA, HINAYANA, TANTRA, AND
THE
SCHOOL OF SHANKARA ON THE ONE HAND, AND ON THE OTHER
HAND,
THE WHOLE COMPLEX WE HAVE EXAMINED SO FAR.
Ek Ong Kar Sat Nam Siri Wha Guru
THERE IS BUT ONE GOD, TRUTH IS HIS NAME,
GREAT IS HIS INDESCRIBABLE WISDOM.
KABIR (1518) FOUND A HAPPY COMPROMISE IN HIS POEMS.
A MUSLIM,
THOUGH THE DISCIPLE OF A HINDU GURU, RAMANANDA, HE
TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES THE ISLAMIC IDEAL OF THE UNITY
OF GOD,
TOGETHER WITH THE VEDANTA METAPHYSICS.
SIMILARLY, THE
MOVEMENT THAT GAVE RISE TO THE SIKHS UNDER GURU NANAK
(1539) WAS A FURTHER EFFORT TOWARDS A RECONCILIATION,
AND
MORE: A SWEEPING OVERBRIDGING. THE ADIGRANTH,
OR SACRED
TEXT OF THE SIKHS, CONTAINS MANY HYMNS BY SUFIS
AMONGST
WHOM IS SHAKARGANJ (664 A.H.) OF PAKPATTAN.
WHATEVER BE THE UNDERCURRENTS OF EXCHANGE, IT IS
GRATIFYING
AND EXCITING FOR THE STUDENT OF COMPARATIVE
RELIGION TO SEE VEDANTA, ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY
CONVERGING
UPON ADVAITA AND MONISM (AHADIAT); INDEED JUST AS THE
DIVERSITY OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS WAS LATER SEEN AS THE
MANIFOLD ASPECTS OF THE SINGLE ZEUS, WHO BECAME THE
DEUS
OF THE CHRISTIANS. ONE MAY COMPARE THE CURRENTS
THAT
LEAD THE PRE-ARYAN, DUALISTIC, REALISTIC JAIN
PHILOSOPHY OF
MIND-VERSUS-SUBSTANCE TO THE VEDANTA OF
SHANKARYACHARYA,
OR THE ETHICAL DUALISM OF ZOROASTRIANISM OR THE
METAPHYSICAL
DUALISM OF THE PERIPATETICS TO THE INTEGRATION
OF THE ISMAILIS AND THE MONISM OF IBN L-ARABI, OR THE
FORMALISM
OF ST.
AUGUSTINE THROUGH ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS' IDEALISM
TO MEISTER
ECKHARDT'S MYSTICISM. THIS GIVES EVIDENCE
OF THE INEVITABLE MARCH OF THE HUMAN SOUL FACED WITH
THE TASK OF ASSIMILATING POINTS OF VIEW AT FIRST SO
CONFUSINGLY
CONTRADICTORY AND YET FUNDAMENTALLY UNIFYING.
"GOD IS THE RECONCILIATION OF OPPOSITES"
SAYS THE SUFI KARRAS.
WHAT INTERESTS PARTICULARLY THOSE DRAWN TO THE
ESOTERIC
LEARNING IS NOT THE THEORETICAL OR HISTORICAL ASPECTS
OF
THIS PROBLEM, BUT THE FACT THAT THE PHILOSOPHICAL
COGITATIONS
MEETING THE PROBLEMS HAVE LEAD TO A PSYCHOLOGICAL
DISCOVERY OF OUR FUNDAMENTAL NATURE, WHICH
IS NONE OTHER THAN THE NATURE OF GOD. THUS THE
GREAT
PROGRESSION OF SUFISM IS NOTHING LESS THAN AN
EXPERIMENTAL
ADVENTURE INTO THE PSYCHE.
BUT THE ERA OF GLOWING, BURNING DIVINE LOVE,
FORESHADOWING GREAT STRIDES IN MYSTICAL ACHIEVEMENT,
WAS OPENED BY A LADY SUFI SAINT OF BASRA, RABIA
(801). THE
"GRACE OF LOVE," AS MARGARET SMITH HAS CALLED HER.
LIKE ST. THERESA SHE FORSOOK MARRIAGE, SAYING, "THE
CONTRACT
SHOULD BE ASKED OF HIM, NOT OF ME, FOR I LIVE IN THE
SHADOW OF HIS COMMAND."
LIKE ST. THERESA SHE PRAYED TO BE
SPARED THE GRACE OF THE EXPERIENCE OF HEAVEN, THAT
MUST
NEEDS BE A FURTHER TEMPTATION WITHHOLDING THE
YEARNING
SOUL FROM COMPLETE UNION. LIKE ST. THERESA
SHE SET UP AN
EXAMPLE OF LOVE AND SELF-ANNIHILATION TO BE
FOLLOWED BY
SUFI MYSTICS FOR GENERATIONS TO COME, RATHER THAN
THE
QUEST FOR PERFECTION OR NOSTALGIA FOR LIBERATION
THROUGH SELF-DISCIPLINE.
IN A FAMOUS QUATRAIN SHE DISTINGUISHED
HUMAN AND DIVINE LOVE, OR RATHER PERFECT AND
IMPERFECT: "I LOVE THEE WITH TWO LOVES, A LOVE THAT
IS
PASSION, AND ONE WHICH DECIDES THOU HAST EARNED AS
THY
DUE. THE PASSIONATE LOVE IS THE THOUGHT WHICH
FORGETTING
ALL ELSE IS OF YOU, AYE, FOREVER OF YOU. THOU
EARNEST
THE OTHER BY RENDERING ASUNDER ALL VEILS AND
DISCLOSING
THYSELF TO MY VIEW. NOT MINE BE THE PRAISE FOR
THE ONE
OR THE OTHER, THE PRAISE AND THE THANKS ARE
ALL THINE FOR THE TWO."
THE GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS AND THE FOUNDATIONS
OF
THE DOCTRINE WERE ESTABLISHED BY A PENETRATING AND
SYSTEMATIC
MIND; ABDUL WAHID IBN ZAID (D. 793), WHO CODIFIED, AS
IT WERE, MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE. HE WAS THE FIRST TO
PERCEIVE
THE ROLE PLAYED BY ISOLATION IN MYSTICISM AND HE
BAPTIZED
THE TERM IFRAD -- THUS PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE
SUBTLE
PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE MADE BY
AL
HALLAJ. AT THE SAME TIME HE WAS ABLE TO FOLLOW
THE WORK
ITTISAF (DEIFICATION) TO ITS ULTIMATE CONCLUSIONS,
THUS
FORESHADOWING THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE INTRINSIC UNITY
OF
ALL EXISTENCE WHICH ALL HALLAJ ELUCIDATED WITH SUCH
SKILL,
OPPOSING IT TO HULLUL, THE IDEA OF INCARNATION, WHICH
IS
FORBIDDEN IN ISLAM, AS IT IS ASSUMED THAT IT IMPLIES
THE DUALITY
OF SPIRIT AND MATTER AND THE EXISTENCE OF DIVINITIES
OTHER THAN GOD. IT WAS HE ALSO WHO
DISTINGUISHED ISHRAQ, OR
THE DESIRE OF GOD, FROM MUHABBA, WHICH MARKS
THE CONSUMMATION.
BUT IT WAS AL MUHASIBI (856) WHO WAS THE GREAT
FORERUNNER
OF THE SUFI DOCTRINE. THIS ROLE HE FULFILLED BY
INTROSPECTIVE
ANALYSIS (AS HIS NAME INDICATES). SCRUPULOUS
AND
METHODICAL, HIS WORK ASSUMES THE FORM OF A
PHILOSOPHICAL
CONFESSION IN WHICH THE TECHNICAL VOCABULARY OF HIS
PREDECESSORS IS ARRANGED AND SYSTEMATIZED. HIS
STYLE
REVEALS AT TIMES A STRIKING CONCLUSION; FOR INSTANCE:
"ENDURANCE IS TO OFFER ONESELF AS A TARGET FOR
THE ARROWS OF PAIN."
WHILE MAINTAINING THE FORMS CONSECRATED BY DOGMA, HE
YET PASSES FROM FORMALISM TO THE CORRESPONDING
EXPERIENCE, AS FOR INSTANCE IN HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE
MUSLIM AFTER-LIFE, FROM THE LAST JUDGMENT TO THE
BEATIFIC
VISION IN KITAB AL TAWAHHUM, WHERE HE MAKES USE OF
THE DOGMA TO DESCRIBE THE MYSTICAL STATES WHICH HE
EXPERIENCES. IN HIS EXEGESIS OF THE "STATIONS"
(MAQMAT) AND
"STATES" (AWHAL) HE WAS A PRECURSOR OF DHUL NUN.
ACCORDING
TO MUHASIBI, REASON NEED NOT SET ITSELF UP AS
JUDGE
WHEN MAN IS PASSIVELY OPEN TO DIVINE INTUITION; IT
IS
THEREFORE NOT NECESSARY TO JUDGE IN ORDER TO
DECIDE -- AN
ATTITUDE STRANGELY FORESHADOWING THE THESIS OF
KRISHNAMURTI IN OUR TIME.
WITH BASTAMI, SUFFISM ENTERS INTO THE PHASE OF THE
GREAT
MYSTICAL INTROSPECTION. HE TESTED HIMSELF TO
THE VERY
BRINK OF DEATH IN AN INTENSE SOUL-SEARING AND
INTROSPECTIVE
EXPERIMENTATION. THIS ANCHORITE, WHO
LIVED IN
THE CAVES OF NORTHERN IRAN, WAS AN UNCOMPROMISING
STICKLER FOR UNBIASED TRUTH, DISCARDING ALL
THEORIZATION,
AND STRIPPING HIS SOUL NAKED OF ALL THOUGHTS AND
EMOTIONS IN ORDER TO REACH THE DEPTH.
FOR YEARS HIS SOUL STRUGGLED TO FREE ITSELF FROM
THE NON-SELF
BY THE DEATH-RAY OF NEGATION AND ANNIHILATION,
SUFFERING NOTHING UNREAL AROUND HIM OR
IN HIMSELF.
RATHER THAN BELIEVE IN THE UNITY OF ALL BEING, HE
PREFERRED REALIZING IT; AND THIS HE FOUND COULD
ONLY BE
ACHIEVED BY REDUCING HIMSELF TO UNITY. TO
THIS END HE ENDURED
THE MOST TERRIBLE PRIVATIONS. HE WAS ONE OF
THE
FIRST TO GRAFT HIS MEDITATION UPON THE NIGHT
JOURNEY OF
THE PROPHET TO JERUSALEM AND HIS ASCENSION TO THE
FOOT OF
THE THRONE OF GOD. TO WIT, THE ITINERARY
TO THE SEAT OF GOD
DEPICTED IN AVICENNA'S HAYIBN YAQZAN, OR IN THE
"FLUTTER OF
GABRIEL'S WINGS" OF SUHRAWARDI, AND THE "CONFERENCE
OF
THE BIRDS" (MANTIQ AL TAIR) OF FARID-UD-DIN ATTAR.
IT WILL
BE REMEMBERED HERE THAT AL HALLAJ HAD NAILED THE
IMPERFECTION
OF MOHAMMED'S EXPERIENCE FOR HAVING FAILED TO
PENETRATE WITHIN THE DIVINE SANCTUARY, REMAINING
WITHIN
A DISTANCE OF "TWO DARTS OF AN ARROW". COULD
BASTAMI HAVE
SECRETLY STRIVEN TO EMULATE OR EVEN SUPERCEDE THIS
EXPERIENCE
AND ATTEMPTED TO PASS THE THRESHOLD OF THE
MYSTERY? NO DOUBT HE THOUGHT IT WAS THE MISSION OF
THE
MYSTICS AND OF THE SUFIS IN PARTICULAR TO TREAD THE
PATH
ALREADY BROKEN BY THE PROPHET AND LEAD HIS FIRST
ATTEMPT
TO CULMINATION. DID HE SUCCEED? THIS IS
DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN,
FOR HOW CAN ONE OVERLOOK THE CONTRADICTION
BETWEEN THOSE EXCLAMATIONS -- "SO NEAR DID HE
BRING ME
THAT I BECAME NEARER UNTO HIM THAN THE SPIRIT TO
THE BODY" --
AND HIS DISABUSED VITUPERATIONS AGAINST THE HOAX
OF
CREATION -- "AH, GOD MISLEADS THEE IN THE
MARKET-PLACE OF
THIS WORLD AND IN THE NEXT YOU WILL ALSO FIND
YOURSELF IN
THE MARKET-PLACE AND DISCOVER THAT YOU ARE FOREVER
THE SLAVE
OF THE MARKET"? OR WAS HIS REBELLION AGAINST
DUPERY
NOT A REACTION AGAINST THE COMPENSATIONS PROMISED BY
THE FAITHFUL IN THE PARADISE OF AFTER-LIFE, WHICH HE
DENOUNCES
AS A VAST HOAX KEEPING ONE YET LONGER AWAY
FROM THE ULTIMATE REUNION IN THE ESSENCE WHICH IS THE
ASPIRATION OF EVERY SOUL.
BASTAMI DESIRED ARDENTLY TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE
DIVINE "I", FOR HE THOUGHT THAT MAN'S AIM WAS TO
INCORPORATE
GOD IN HIS PERFECTION: "HE RAVISHED ME AND
PLACED
ME BEFORE HIM AND HE SAID: O ABU YAZID, MY CREATURES
WISH
TO SEE YOU, AND I TOLD HIM: BEAUTIFY ME WITH THY
UNITY,
ADORN ME WITH THY WONDERS AND ENRAPTURE ME WITH THY
UNIFYING NATURE, SO THAT WHEN YOUR CREATURES SEE ME,
THEY
SHALL SAY: WE HAVE SEEN YOU. MAY YOU BE
THAT AND MAY I NOT
BE THERE." IT WAS BASTAMI WHO FIRST USED THE
METAPHOR OF THE
MIRROR; SEEN FROM A CERTAIN STANDPOINT, MAN IS THE
MIRROR
REFLECTING GOD'S ATTRIBUTES; BUT AS MAN IS, IN HIS
ESSENCE,
GOD, GOD IS THE MIRROR. THIS PLAY ON WORDS,
JUMPING FROM
THE PARTICULAR TO THE GENERAL, IS EXEMPLIFIED AS
FOLLOWS:
"I AM THY MIRROR, BUT I BECOME MYSELF THE MIRROR."
HERE LIES
THE HOAX OF CREATION. THIS AUSTERE HERMIT, WHO
CALLS
HIMSELF "THE SMITH OF HIS EGO", SAW IN THE
DESTRUCTION OF
IDOLS IN BIRUMI'S TRANSLATION OF THE PATANJALI YOGA
SUTRAS
A PARALLEL TO HIS OWN INDOMITABLE QUEST FOR THE
ABSOLUTE.
IS NOT THIS THE EQUIVALENT OF THE NEGATIVE HALF OF
THE
GREAT MUSLIM SHAHAD "LA ILLAAH ILLA 'LLA HU"
(NOTHING EXISTS,
GOD ALONE IS). THE DESTRUCTION OF IDOLS IS
PURSUED BY
REPEATED NEGATIONS AND ANNIHILATIONS, BY THE
NEGATION OF
THOUGHT AND EMOTION AND EVEN OF THOSE CONCEPTS OF
GOD'S
ATTRIBUTES THAT ARE IDEALIZED, EVEN IDOLIZED
IN MEDITATION.
THESE UTTERANCES SHOW TO WHAT EXTENT THE LOGIC OF THE
MYSTIC OUTREACHES EVEN THE LAWS OF ORDINARY GRAMMAR.
THE MYSTIC UNION "TAWHID" FOLLOWS ONLY WHEN THE
PROCESS
OF NEGATION IS COMPLETED AND THE EGO IS COMPLETELY
ABSENT,
WHEN THE HUMAN BEING HAS REDUCED HIMSELF TO UNITY.
THEN
ONLY CAN THE REAL "I" PREDICATE ITS BEING, AS IN
AN EXCLAMATION
THAT HAS SINCE RUN DOWN THE GENERATIONS OF
SUFIS AS AN ELECTRIFYING IMPULSE EJACULATED AT A
MOMENT
WHEN HIS VERY NOTION OF I OR ME WAS TRANSFIGURED
INTO THE
ETERNAL I: ("GLORY BE TO ME, HOW GREAT IS MY
POWER"). "BUT
LET THERE NOT BE ONLY ME", HE CONTINUED IN HIS
ECSTASY;
HOW PREGNANT AN IMPLICATION OF GOD'S GENEROUS
DESIRE TO
SHARE HIS BEING OR CONSCIOUSNESS BY REPEATING IT AD
INFINITUM
BY THE MAGNANIMOUS OUTPOURING (FAYD AL AQDAS AL
RAHMAN)
AS AL JILI OUTLINED IT!
IT WAS JUNAID'S CIRCUMSPECT BUT PENETRATING
ANALYSIS IN
"DAWA AL ARWAH" THAT REVEALED THE DOCTRINAL
FOUNDATIONS
OF HALLAJ'S EXPERIMENT WITH THE SELF, WITHOUT ANY
PRETENCE OF HAVING ATTAINED UNION HIMSELF. A
CONTEMPORARY
OF HALLAJ (HE DIED IN 922), HE TOOK THE TWO TERMS
"FANA" AND "BAQA" -- ANNIHILATION AND SURVIVAL --
WHICH
KHARRAS HAD ALREADY BROUGHT TO LIGHT AS TYPIFYING THE
TWO ASPECTS OF THE SUFI MEDITATIONS, AND DREW UP A
RELATION
BETWEEN THE SECOND ONE, THAT IS SURVIVAL, AND THE
IDEA OF ETERNITY, OR EVEN PRE-ETERNITY. THIS HE
DID BY
ELABORATION IN A MEDITATION ON WHAT IS NOW COMMONLY
KNOWN AS THE "PRE-ETERNAL COVENANT" ALLUDED TO IN THE
QU'RAN. ACCORDING TO JUNAID, GOD SPOKE TO MEN
AT A TIME WHEN
THEY DID NOT EXIST IN THE MEASURE IN WHICH THEY WERE
IN
HIM. IT WAS A TYPE OF EXISTENCE DIFFERENT FROM
THAT
GENERALLY ATTRIBUTED TO CREATURES, SUCH AS GOD ONLY
KNOWS. GOD KNOWS OF THEIR EXISTENCE. HE
SEES THEM IN THE
BEGINNING WHEN THEY ARE NON-EXISTENT AND UNCONSCIOUS
OF THEIR FUTURE LIFE. THIS GOD SPOKE TO THEM
IN THEIR UNFORMED EXISTENCE.
SEEN IN THIS LIGHT, MEDITATION ON THE SHAHADA IS A
PROCESS
WHEREBY THE CONTINGENT IS SIFTED FROM THE ETERNAL,
AND
THE SOUL THUS PURIFIED RETURNS TO ITS ORIGINAL
CONDITION
(BIDAYAH) BEYOND TIME AND AS A PURE THOUGHT, A
MERE POSSIBILITY
IN GOD'S CONSCIOUSNESS. THIS BASTAMI HAS
ALREADY
FORESEEN. "I CONCERNED MYSELF TO REMEMBER GOD", HE
SAID,
"TO KNOW HIM, TO LOVE HIM, TO SEEK HIM. WHEN I
HAD COME TO
THE END I SAW THAT HE HAD REMEMBERED ME BEFORE I HAD
REMEMBERED HIM, THAT HIS KNOWLEDGE OF ME HAD
PRECEEDED MY
KNOWLEDGE OF HIM, HIS LOVE TOWARDS ME HAD EXISTED
BEFORE MY LOVE OF HIM, AND HE HAD SOUGHT ME BEFORE
I HAD SOUGHT HIM."
JUNAID'S ANALYSIS PROCEEDS FURTHER INTO THE
MEDITATIONS
ON THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES, SHOWING HOW THE ATTRIBUTES
OF
THE LOVER ARE CHANGED INTO THOSE OF THE BELOVED IN AN
OVERBEARING IDENTIFICATION: "THOUGH FROM MY GAZE
PROFOUND DEEP AWE HATH HID THY FACE, IN WONDER AND
ECSTATIC GRACE I FEEL THEE TOUCH MY INMOST GROUND."
THE NAME OF IBN MANSUR AL HALLAJ AWAKENS A DEEP
RESONANCE
IN THE HEART OF EVERY SUFI, FOR HIS WAS THE LIVING
EXAMPLE
OF THE ESSENTIAL TRUTH UNDERLYING SUFI DOCTRINE.
THIS
"QU'RANIC CHRIST" AS PROFESSOR MASSIGNON HAS
CALLED HIM,
WAS CONDEMNED FOR HERESY, EXCOMMUNICATED, TORTURED
AND CRUCIFIED FOR HAVING PUBLICLY GIVEN VOICE TO
AN EXPRESSION
WHICH SHOCKED THE ORTHODOX MOSLEMS OF HIS
TIME. AND YET THAT ASSERTION WHICH
EXPRESSED THE FINAL
CULMINATION OF HIS INNER EXPERIENCE AND THE FRUIT OF
HIS
MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE WAS SIMPLY THE CONCLUSION AT
WHICH
THE VERY LOGIC OF THE ISLAMIC DOCTRINE MUST
INEVITABLY
ARRIVE; IT WAS THE CORONATION OF THAT FAITH IN A
SINGLE GOD
WHICH IS THE VITALIZING POWER BEHIND THE CURRENT
RUNNING
THROUGH THE TRADITIONS OF JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY
AND ISLAM.
'ANA' L HAQ
WHAT THEN IS THAT PRODIGIOUS SAYING WHOSE MERE
PRONOUNCEMENT
SET IN MOTION THE TREMENDOUS TRIAL IN
BAGHDAD ON A RAISED PLATFORM, SOMEWHAT RESEMBLING
THAT
OF JOAN OF ARC? THE TRIAL LASTED NINE YEARS.
WHAT WAS THE
HUMAN UTTERANCE THAT, OWING TO THE IMPORTANCE OF
THE
DOCTRINAL POSITIONS IT OPPOSED AND THE VEHEMENCE
OF THE
PASSIONS INVOLVED, ALMOST SPLIT ISLAM AND IN FACT
DEALT THE
KHALIFAT A BLOW FROM WHICH IT NEVER RECOVERED? IT
WAS
NOTHING OTHER THAN THE MUSLIM ADVAITA -- OR
RATHER, THE
VERY ESSENCE OF SUFISM, WHICH BEGINS WHERE THE OTHER
ENDS, JUST AS THE ADVAITA TRANSCENDS AND OUTREACHES
THE
VEDANTA WITHOUT BEING FOREIGN TO IT: THE ONE IS THE
NECESSARY AND LOGICAL CONCLUSION OF THE OTHER.
THE DANGEROUS
AND FATAL EJACULATION OF AL HALLAJ -- "ANA'L HAQ"
(I AM THE TRUTH) WHICH GOES STILL FURTHER THAN THE
"NA
AZ MA SHANI" OF BASTAMI; YET ESSENTIALLY THEY ARE THE
NATURAL AND INEVITABLE CONCLUSION OF THE ISLAMIC
SHAHADA -- I.E. THE AFFIRMATION OF THE DIVINE UNICITY.
ONLY ONE
THAT IF GOD ALONE EXISTS, ALL THINGS, AND MAN IN
PARTICULAR,
MUST NECESSARILY EXIST IN GOD; THEY ARE THEREFORE IN
THEIR
ESSENCE GOD, OR TRUTH -- THE ARABIC NAME FOR TRUTH
BEING
MERELY A PRIVILEGED NAME FOR GOD. IF HALLAJ HAD
SAID
"ALLAH AL HAZ -- GOD (IN HIS TRANSCENDENTAL ASPECT)
IS THE
TRUTH, OR "HUWA AL HAQ" (HE IS THE TRUTH) IT WOULD
HAVE BEEN
A COMMON STATEMENT. HOWEVER AL HALLAJ DECLARED
THAT
GOD ALONE EXISTS: THEREFORE HE IS THE ONE SUBJECT AND
THUS
HE ALONE CAN WITNESS HIS EXISTENCE.
ONCE THE MYSTIC HAS UNDERSTOOD THIS, GOD IN HIS
IMMANENT
ASPECT CANNOT BE REFERRED TO IN THE THIRD PERSON.
AND IT IS
PRECISELY THE IMMANENCE OF GOD THAT IS REFERRED TO IN
THE SHAHADA. BUT THE LAYMAN PRESUMES TO DECLARE
THAT
GOD IS UNITY, WHEREAS FOR HALLAJ, ALL THE MYSTIC
SEEKS IS
THAT PART OF HIM WHICH IS GOD SHOULD DECLARE ITS
UNITY
WITH GOD. THE ILLUSION OF THE PERSONAL SELF
INTERPOSES ITSELF
AS AN OBSTACLE TO GOD'S AFFIRMATION OF HIS UNITY,
EVEN
IN UNIFICATION. AL HALLAJ DID NOT WANT ANY
VESTIGE OF THIS
ACT OF IDENTIFICATION TO REMAIN.
"O LORD, REMOVE BY THY SELF, MY 'IT IS I' WHICH
TORMENTS ME,"
HE CRIES, LONGING FOR MYSTICAL UNION AND EXASPERATED
BY
THE PERSISTENCE OF THE FEELING 'IT IS I'.
ACCORDING TO MOSLEM TRADITION, IT WAS THE REFUSAL
OF SATAN TO RECOGNIZE THE DIVINE IN MAN THAT
CAUSED HIS
DOWNFALL -- A TRUTH WHICH AL HALLAJ DID NOT
FAIL TO
EMPHASIZE AT THE TRIAL. IN A DREAM JUNAID
HAD SEEN SATAN
JUSTIFY HIMSELF BY POINTING OUT THAT IN SO DOING
HE HAD
MERELY OBEYED AND RESPECTED THE SHAHADA IN
RECOGNIZING
NO OTHER GOD BUT GOD. BUT HALLAJ REPROACHED
SATAN WITH
HAVING TAKEN REFUGE IN THE UNICITY OF GOD WITHOUT
ALLOWING
HIMSELF TO BE CARRIED AWAY BY THE MYSTERY OF HIS
UNITY. AND IT IS WITHIN THIS CONTEXT THAT AL
HALLAJ ATTACKS
THE ALL-EXCLUDING SOLITUDE OF A MYSTIC SUCH AS
BASTAMI, IN
WHOSE ATTITUDE THERE WOULD BE SOME DANGER OF BEING
SATISFIED
WITH INNER SOLITUDE AND OF ISOLATION IN AN IVORY
TOWER
FROM WHICH, BY DINT OF EXCLUDING ALL, ONE MIGHT
FINALLY
EXCLUDE GOD HIMSELF. THAT IS WHY AL HALLAJ
REPLACES
THE TERMS "TAJRID" AND "TAFRID" USED BY BASTAMI,
WITH THE
TERMS "IFRAD" AND "INFIDAD" -- TO OUTSTRIP THE
ONENESS OF ISOLATION
BY ALLOWING GOD TO PROCLAIM HIS ONENESS THROUGH
YOU. THESE ARE THE TWO PHASES THROUGH
WHICH ST. JOHN
PASSED: "BECAUSE THOU HAST LOST ALL, ALL SHALT BE
GIVEN BACK
TO THEE TRANSFIGURED AND ALL SHALL BE THINE."
THE FIRST
STEP TOWARDS THE "TAWHID (MYSTICAL UNION) IS THE
SUPPRESSION
OF "TAFRID" -- THAT IS, THE SOLITUDE OF ISOLATION.
THE
"TAJRID" HAS BEEN COMPARED BY MASSIGNON TO THE
SARVIKALPA
SAMADHI OF THE VEDANTA -- THAT IS, ABSORPTION IN A
DIVINE
ATTRIBUTE, CONTEMPLATION WITH SEED -- AND THE "TAFRID"
TO NIRVEKALPA SAMADHI, WHICH IS THE ABOLITION OF ALL
FORMS
AND DETACHMENT OF THE SELF FROM EVERY ACT.
IT IS WITH THE
RENUNCIATION OF ACTION THAT THE RENUNCIATION OF
ISOLATION
BEGINS. THIS IS THE "FANA AL FANA" OR "PARANIRVANA".
"MYSTICAL UNION" SAYS AL HALLAJ, "CONSISTS IN THIS:
THAT YOU
REDUCE YOURSELF TO YOUR UNITY IN PROCLAIMING THE
UNITY OF
GOD -- AND THUS GOD MAKES YOU THE WITNESS OF
YOURSELF." THIS
IS TRULY AN ASPIRATION OF THE SOUL TO ITS SOURCE (THE
SOURCE
OF ITS BEING), TOWARDS ITS PRIMORDIAL ACT OF
EXISTENCE.
THOSE WHO JUDGED AL HALLAJ ACCUSED HIM OF "HULUL" --
I.E.,
OF HAVING AFFIRMED THE INFUSION OF THE SPIRIT INTO A
HUMAN
BEING (I.E., WHAT ISLAM REPUDIATED IN THE CHRISTIAN
CONCEPTION
OF CHRIST'S INCARNATION); EVEN THOUGH HALLAJ
SPECIFIED
THAT THIS INFUSION (OR INSUFFLATION, TO REFER TO THE
TRADITION
ACCORDING TO WHICH GOD BREATHED LIFE INTO ADAM
THROUGH HIS NOSTRIL) IS ONLY COMPLETE WHEN, AFTER THE
TRANSFORMATION OF HIS ATTRIBUTES, HE BECOMES
TRANSUBSTANTIATED AND A DEFINITE PERSONALITY.
THIS SAINT, WHO WITH ALL HIS STRENGTH CALLED FOR
DEATH IN
ORDER TO LIVE, IS INDEED A STRANGE FIGURE.
"THEREFORE KILL ME, MY FAITHFUL COMRADES," HE
SAYS, "FOR
ME, SURVIVAL IS DEATH AND TO DIE MEANS LIFE.
I FEEL THAT THE
ABOLITION OF MYSELF IS THE NOBLEST GIFT I COULD
MAKE AND
MY SURVIVAL AS I AM, THE GREATEST WRONG." DO
NOT THESE
WORDS REMIND US OF ST. THERESA'S SAYING: "I DIE
FOR THE
WANT OF DYING"?
IF WE FOLLOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF HALLAJ'S THOUGHT WE
SEE
HIM RUSHING TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHICAL SUICIDE BY A SORT
OF
ONTOLOGICAL NECESSITY SIMILAR TO THAT OF SOCRATES AND
PYTHAGORAS.
HE LITERALLY FORCES HIS JUDGES TO CONDEMN
HIM. THERE IS AN ANECDOTE WHICH ILLUSTRATES HIS
HASTE FOR
THE FINAL CONSUMMATION. HEARING THE NEW YEAR
TRUMPETS HE
REMARKED: "AND WHEN WILL OUR NEW YEAR'S DAY COME?
WHEN
MY BODY IS ANNIHILATED, I SHALL BE CLOSE TO GOD."
THIRTEEN
YEARS LATER, WHILE HE WAS ON THE PILLORY FOR THREE
DAYS,
A DISCIPLE ASKED HIM IRONICALLY: "HAST THOU
RECEIVED THY
NEW YEAR'S GIFTS?" HALLAJ REPLIED, "YES, AND
I AM ABASHED,
FOR I HAD NOT WISHED TO HASTEN TOWARDS MY JOY"
-- REFERRING
TO A VERSE OF THE QU'RAN (XLII, 17) "THEY CRY OUT,
LET
HER COME, THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN MAN, BUT THOSE
WHO BELIEVE AWAIT HER COMING WITH A LOVER'S
TREPIDATION,
FOR THEY KNOW THAT SHE IS THE TRUTH."
BUT IT WAS HIS WORDS AT THE EXECUTION, WHEN HIS HANDS
AND
FEET WERE CUT OFF AND HE WAS EXPOSED ON THE CROSS FOR
THREE DAYS, THAT MOVE US THE MOST DEEPLY BY THEIR
NOBILITY,
WHICH ECHOES THE PLEA OF JESUS CHRIST, HIS EXAMPLE:
"OH LORD, I ENTREAT THEE GIVE ME TO BE THANKFUL FOR
THY
GRACE WHICH YOU HAVE BESTOWED ON ME. YOU HAVE
CONCEALED
FROM OTHERS WHAT YOU HAVE REVEALED TO ME -- THE
GLORIES OF THY SHINING COUNTENANCE. YOU HAVE
MADE IT
LAWFUL FOR ME TO BEHOLD THE MYSTERIES OF THY INNER
CONSCIOUSNESS AND MADE IT UNLAWFUL FOR OTHERS.
AS FOR
THESE OTHERS, THY SERVANTS, ZEALOUS OF RELIGION,
DESIROUS
OF THY FAVOR, WHO HAVE GATHERED TO KILL ME, FORGIVE
AND
HAVE MERCY ON THEM FOR IF THOU HADST REVEALED WHAT
THOU
HAST HID I SHOULD NOT SUFFER THIS. ALL PRAISE
BELONGS TO
THEE IN WHATSOEVER THOU DOST DECREE."
ALTHOUGH AVICENNA (1037) NEVER ADMITTED ANY
INITIATION
INTO A SUFI ORDER, HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE EVOLUTION
OF
SUFI THOUGHT HAS LEFT AN IMPORTANT IMPRINT, FOR HIS
ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE WAS CROWNED BY INSPIRED
INTUITIONAL
VISIONARY ALLEGORIES IN WHICH THE FLAME OF
PERSONAL
AWARENESS BREAKS THROUGH THE RAFT OF HIS
METAPHYSICAL
CONSTRUCTION. SUCH IS THE ALLEGORY
CALLED BY
IBN YAQZAN IN WHICH HE RECOUNTS HIS MEETING WITH THE
ANGEL WHO DESCRIBES TO HIM THE LAYOUT OF THE REGIONS
BEYOND. AVICENNA'S COSMOGONY IS NOT THE DEAD
PICTURE OF
OUR MODERN MECHANICAL "IMAGO MUNDI" BUT A LIVING
AND
MOVING SCENE IN WHICH THE GREAT COSMIC DRAMA IS
PLAYED,
AND WHICH IS INHABITED BY BEINGS IN THE FORM OF
PURE INTELLIGENCES
(AQL) WORKING THEIR WAY TO MATERIALIZATION.
IT IS A
STEP BEYOND, AFTER THE ARISTOTELIAN COSMOGONY WHICH
IT
INHERITS IN PART. BUT THE UNIVERSE OF AVICENNA
IS MOVED AND
INHABITED AND ILLUMINED BY SOULS, ANGELS OF LIGHT (MALEIKA)
INCORPORATING THE PRIMARY INTELLIGENCE, AND THEREFORE
HAVING PROCEEDED FROM THE ONE (ACCORDING TO THE
NEO-PLATONIC
CONCEPTION). IT IS THE NOSTALGIA OF THESE SOULS,
SOULS OF THE PLANETS AND STARS TO MANIFEST THE
UNMANIFESTED
AND AT THE SAME TIME TO REUNITE AT THEIR SOURCE,
WHICH
EXPLAINS THEIR RESTLESS ENERGY THAT MANIFESTS ITSELF
AS
MOVEMENT. THOUGHT IS THE GENESIS OF BEING.
FROM THE
FIRST INTELLIGENCE (THE "ONE" OF PLOTINUS),
PROCEEDS AN
ARCHANGEL GENERATING ITS OWN ANGEL, MATERIALIZING ITS
OWN ORB AND DEFINING ITS OWN ORBIT OR SPHERE, UNTIL
THE
ADVENT OF THE LAST ARCHANGEL, GABRIEL, WHO GENERATES
A
MULTITUDE OF ANGELS, THE SOULS OF MEN. HE IS
THE HOLY SPIRIT
WHO BREATHES LIFE. BUT THE SHADOW, LUCIFER, IS
GENERATED
FROM THE VERY FIRST STAGE IN THE PROCESSION OF
HYPOSTASES,
WHEREBY, ACCORDING TO THE
PYTHAGOREAN PRINCIPLE, "WHEN
FROM THE CAUSE EMANATES THE ONE, THEN IS EMANATED
LIKEWISE THE NON-ONE." IN OTHER WORDS, THE SHADOW IS
DISSOCIATED FROM ITS LIGHT AT THE INCEPTION OF
MANIFESTATION.
THEREFORE THE HUMAN SOUL IS SPURRED TO MOVEMENT
AND STRIFE BY ITS NOSTALGIA TO MEET ITS ARCHANGEL AND
RETURN
FROM WHENCE IT IS EXILED; AND IT IS THE HIERARCHY
OF
LIGHT BEINGS WHO TURN THE SOULS IN THE DIRECTION
OF THE
DAWNING LIGHT AND DRAW THE SOULS TOWARDS THE
SOURCE
OF LIGHT, THE ORIENT, FROM THEIR EXILE IN THE
OCCIDENT
(HENCE THE TERM 'ORIENTAL PHILOSOPHY", THE
"AURORA CONSURGENS"
OF JACOB BOEHME, AND HENCE THE NOSTALGIA FOR
FREEDOM FROM THE FRUSTRATION OF EXILE THAT IS FELT BY
MOST
SOULS. THE CULMINATION OF LIFE IS REACHED
WHEN ONE MEETS
ONE'S ANGEL. THIS IS THE REUNITING OF
THE SELF (NAFS) WITH
THE HIGHER SELF (AQL) AFTER THEIR FIGHT IN THE SHADOW
OF
ILLUSION LIKE THE BATTLE OF JACOB WITH THE ANGEL.
SHIHAB-UD-DIN YAHYA-AS SUHRAWARDI'S (D. 1191)
ANALYSIS OF THE
PROBLEM OF INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE AND HIS COSMOGONY
SURPASSES
EVERYTHING THAT WAS REACHED BEFORE HIM. THIS
YOUNG INITIATE AND MARTYR, WHO WAS REFERRED TO
EARLIER
AS THE SUCCESSOR OF THE ZOROASTRIAN, GREEK AND
GNOSTIC
TRADITIONS, HAD BASTAMI'S THIRST FOR SELF-MADE
DISCOVERY
TOGETHER WITH AN ERUDITION IN METAPHYSICS SURPASSING
THAT OF AVICENNA. HIS KNOWLEDGE AND INITIATION
INTO THE
ZOROASTRIAN MYSTERIES AND IN PARTICULAR ITS
ANGELOLOGY,
TOGETHER WITH HIS CARE TO CHECK THEORIES BY
EXPERIENCES,
ENABLED HIM TO OVERHAUL AVICENNA'S SYSTEM AND PUSH IT
MUCH FURTHER. THIS HE DOES IN A REMARKABLE BOOK
CALLED
"HIQMAT AL ISHRAQ" (THE WISDOM OF LIGHT) WRITTEN, AS
HE
DESCRIBES, DURING A MEMORABLE DAY AFTER HAVING
RECEIVED A
VISION OF ZOROASTER AND HERMES AND HAVING BEEN
INSPIRED
BY THE HOLY SPIRIT -- A DAY WHEN ALL THE SEVEN
PLANETS
WERE IN CONJUNCTION IN THE SIGN OF THE BALANCE
(LIBRA).
EACH HYPOSTASE OF LIGHT EMERGING FROM THE SOURCE, THE
"FLAMBOYANT MAJESTY" OR ORIENT OF LIGHT (THE XVARNAH
OF THE ZOROASTRIANS) PROCEEDS FURTHER INTO
MATERIALIZATION,
MULTIPLYING THE SOURCE INDEFINITELY AND
COMMUNICATING ITS PROPERTIES TO THE NEXT HYPOSTASE.
PROCEEDING FROM AHURA MAZDA, LIGHT THEREFORE
MANIFESTS
THROUGH THE SEVEN ARCHANGELS OR DOMINATING LIGHTS,
THROUGH THE ARCHETYPES OF THE SPECIES (SUCH AS THE
ETERNAL
IDEAS OF PLATO) OF WHICH THE FIRST IS GABRIEL, THE
HOLY
GHOST OR PARACLETE, TO THE GOVERNING LIGHTS OF SOULS
THROUGH WHICH THE ARCHANGELS GOVERN THE UNIVERSE.
ONE
MAY DISTINGUISH AMONGST THE LATTER THE MOTOR ENERGIES
OR SOULS OF THE ORBS AND PLANETS, THE SOUL CONDUCTING
EACH TYPE OF EARTHLY EXISTENCE OR SIMILAR FORMS OF
EXISTENCE,
ON OTHER PLANETS, AND FINALLY THE SOUL OF EACH
INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEING.
BEHIND THE SCENE OF MANIFESTATION IS A GREAT DRAMA,
AND
THE GREAT BATTLE IS FOUGHT BETWEEN THE FORCES OF
LIGHT
AND DARKNESS WHEREIN THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL -- THE
ANGELUS VICTOR -- PLAYS THE LEADING ROLE. MAN
ALSO IS
INVOLVED IN THIS BATTLE AND CAN BE AWARDED A
DECORATION
FOR HIS GALLANTRY IN THE FORM OF A ROBE OF LIGHT, THE
ROYAL
XVARNAH OF THE ZOROASTRIANS,
THAT IS THE AURA. THE BATTLE
FOR LIGHT IS THE EXODUS FROM EXILE IN THE OCCIDENT
TYPIFIED IN THE TRADITION BY THE FLIGHT FROM EGYPT.
IT IS THE
CONFINEMENT IN SPACE THAT IS EXILE. SO SPACE
MUST BE OVERCOME
BY REACHING THE "PLACE OF NOWHERE" (NAKUJA ABAD) BY
REACHING BEYOND THE SPACE LIMITED BY THE CATEGORIES
OF
THE BODY. THIS EXILE HAD ITS PURPOSE, FOR IT
WAS HERE
THAT LIGHT WAS ABLE TO BURST OUT. SUHRAWARDI CALLS
THIS
"THE GREAT BREAKDOWN", REFERRING NO DOUBT TO THE
TRADITION
ACCORDING TO WHICH THE PROPHET CAUSES THE MOON
TO SPLIT ON THE SACRED WORDS "ANA AL SHAMS" (I AM THE
SUN).
THE BREAKING OF THE RECEPTACLE OF LIGHT IS SYMBOLICAL
OF THE PASSAGE FROM THE EXTERIOR (ZAHIR) TO THE
INTERIOR (BATIN) -- IT IS THE FREEING OF LIGHT,
REMINISCENT
OF THE ISMAILIAN TRADITION OF THE BURSTING OF THE
COLUMN
OF LIGHT, OR THE TREMBLING OF THE COLUMNS OF THE
TEMPLE
SEEN BY ISAIAH IN HIS VISION, OR AGAIN THE TEARING OF
THE
VEIL IN THE SANCTUARY AT THE TIME OF THE CRUCIFIXION.
I WANT TO BE FREE
IT IS THE MISSION OF THE PROPHETS AND MAGI TO FREE
THE LIGHT
IMPRISONED IN MEN AT THEIR EXILE AND TO TURN THEM
TOWARDS
THE DAWNING LIGHT AT ITS SOURCE. THIS MISSION
STARTED WITH
ADAM AND IS CONTINUED BY THOSE WHO WORK FOR THE
ARCH-ANGEL OF THE HUMAN SPECIES, GABRIEL, WHO INSPIRED THE PROPHETS
AND SAGES -- "THE GUARDIANS OF THE DIVINE PROOFS UPON
THE EARTH." "DELIVER THE PEOPLE OF LIGHT AND LEAD
LIGHT
TO THE LIGHT" HE EXCLAIMED IN PRAYER.
 
BUT PERHAPS IT WAS IN THE SPHERE OF CONTEMPLATION
THAT
SUHRAWARDI'S LIFE PROVED THE
MOST REVEALING, FOR HERE
HE SHOOK TO THEIR CORE ALL OUR PRECONCEIVED IDEAS
ABOUT
KNOWLEDGE. IN THE FIRST STAGE, IN MEDITATION,
WE THINK WE
ARE A CONSCIOUSNESS CONCENTRATING UPON AN OBJECT,
SOMETHING TANGIBLE, OBJECTIVE, UNAWARE THAT WE ARE
BEING
DUPED BY AN ANTHROPOCENTRIC MIRAGE: FOR WHAT WE THINK
WE KNOW IS ONLY A REFLECTION OF REALITY; THIS IS
SPECULATIVE
KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE OF THE MIRROR (SPECULUM.)
SECONDLY YOU REALIZE THAT EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE
IS TO
BE FOUND WITHIN YOU IN YOURSELF, REFLECTED AS IN A
MIRROR
SO THAT YOU DISCOVER THAT WHAT YOU ARE CONTEMPLATING
IS THE REFLECTION OF THE UNIVERSE IN YOURSELF AND
THAT
YOU ARE THE MIRROR. THIRDLY YOU REALIZE THAT IT
IS NOT YOUR
CONSCIOUSNESS THAT IS AWARE, BUT THAT IT IS ONLY A
CHANNEL
OF THE DIVINE CONSCIOUSNESS AND THAT YOU ARE ONLY A
WITNESS
OF THIS PHENOMENON. FINALLY YOU UNDERSTAND THAT
THERE IS NO ROOM FOR ANOTHER PRESENCE OR SUBJECT THAN
THE ONE AND ONLY BEING; AND YOU REALIZE THAT HE IS
THE
ONLY KNOWER. THIS ANLAYSIS REMINDS ONE VERY
MUCH
OF BASTAMI.
"FOR THIRTY YEARS GOD MOST HIGH WAS MY MIRROR, NOW I
AM MY
OWN MIRROR AND THAT WHICH I WAS I AM NO MORE, FOR "I"
AND
GOD" REPRESENT POLYTHEISM, A DENIAL OF HIS UNITY.
SINCE I AM
NO MORE, GOD MOST HIGH IS HIS OWN MIRROR.
BEHOLD NOW I
SAY THAT GOD IS THE MIRROR OF MYSELF, FOR WITH MY
TONGUE
HE SPEAKS AND I HAVE PASSED AWAY."
ACCORDING TO SUHRAWARDI, THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
AS OBJECT (MARIFA). CONTEMPLATION OF THE SHAHAD OR
AFFIRMATION
OF THE UNITY OF GOD BROUGHT SUHRAWARDI TO A
BREATH-TAKING CONCLUSION, AROUND WHICH HIS WHOLE
THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE GRAVITATES. THE GENERALITY
AMONGST
THE FAITHFUL SAYS THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD, NOT
REALIZING
THAT BY SO ASSERTING THEY TESTIFY TO THEIR OWN
SEPARATE
EXISTENCE AS THE ONE WHO MAKES THE STATEMENT, AS AL
HALLAJ HAD POINTED OUT. SOME HOWEVER AFFIRM
"THERE IS NO
HE (HUWA_ BUT HE," REFERRING TO GOD IN THE THIRD
PERSON,
AS TO A PERSONAL REALITY; BUT THIS AGAIN LIKEWISE
TESTIFIES TO
THE EXISTENCE OF THE SUBJECT. THE MYSTIC
HOWEVER WHO
ENTERS INTO A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD REFERS
TO HIM IN
THE SECOND PERSON AS THEE, HOPING FOR THE MERGING
OF THEIR "I" WITH THIS "THEE", BUT STILL PRESERVING
THE
DUALITY THEY WISH TO OVERCOME. THE FINAL
REALIZATION IS,
HOWEVER: "THERE IS NO I EXCEPT I," THUS BRINGING
KNOWLEDGE
FROM THE OBJECTIVE TO THE SUBJECTIVE LEVEL. IF
THERE IS NO
OTHER I THAN GOD, THEN EVERY REALIZATION AND
AFFIRMATION
IS MADE BY GOD AND THE TONGUE THAT PRONOUNCED IT
IS THE
TONGUE OF GOD. HENCE THE LOGIC OF AL HALLAJ
WHO CRIED
OUT "ANA'L HAQ", FOR THE ONLY SUBJECT WHO CAN
AFFIRM A
PREDICATE IS GOD. THEREFORE THE LIGHT OF
KNOWLEDGE IS NOT
AN OBJECT, A RAY THROWN UPON PHENOMENA; IT IS THE
SUBJECT
HIMSELF THAT ILLUMINATES HIMSELF. KNOWLEDGE AND
CONSCIOUSNESS
ARE NOT SOMETHING THAT IS ADDED TO THE ESSENCE:
THEY ARE THE INNATE PROPERTY OF THE ESSENCE, AND IT
IS THIS
SELF-SAME LIGHT THAT IS THE SUBJECT THAT MAN
APPROPRIATES
AS HIS INTELLIGENCE, OR IDENTIFIES AS HIMSELF.
"TO THE LIGHTS OF THE LIGHT OF GOD CORRESPOND LIGHTS
IN THE HEARTS OF MEN" WRITES SUHRAWARDI, "AND TO THE
SECRET
IN THE SECRETS OF LOVING HEARTS THERE IS
A DIVINE SECRET."
HU ALLAH ANNA, ANNA ALLAH HU
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