Engraved
Seal of Divine Wisdom Made From Adam’s Word [1]
Apercu
Discussion
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When [2]
the Haqq (True & Absolute Reality, The Lord)
willed to behold the ‘Ayn (Ocular Corporeality) [3]
of ITs unnumbered Beautiful
Names, or you might have said to see ITself [4],
within a fully extended &
integrated ‘entity’ enveloping plenary instructions & ordinances
(i.e. the
World or the Human) [5], an ‘entity’ characterized
with (potential &
eventual) beingness. And therefore revealing to ITself ITs own secret
through
the latter ‘entity’:
Indeed an object viewing its
own self by itself is not of
the same nature as the object viewing itself through another medium—A
mirror.
Within the said mirror the object reveals itself via a form that
results from
the Mahal (Place, Object, Cause) of vision and such revealing could not
take
place without the existence of this Mahal and without Tajalli (Lucent
Manifestation) within it.
End.
Apercu
Indeed the Divine Volition
willed the emergence of the Human
Being fashioned in this current form, not because of any need on the
part of
the Divine Zaat (Essence) since IT is needless free of want from either
world.
However ITs Divine
Names do seek such Being (Human) and require his existence,
since these Names would not have been there without the Human Beingness
and
would not have had any meanings without him (to understand them and
benefit
from them).
After all isn’t this Human
Beingness anything but the
emergence of such Divine Names
and their Tajalli (Lucent Manifestations)? The
answer is yes!
And isn’t this world, as was
said by ‘Ibn ‘Arabi, anything
but the release of the Divine Names
from ITself?
IT willed the appearance of
the Creation in a universal form
and willed the appearance of the Human Being in a specialized and
particular
form. And these volitions are with regards to ITs Names and
not in any way
related to ITs Zāt (Essence), since ITs Zāt (Essence) is exclusive to
ITself
unique and free of any multiplicity. Such is the emergence of the
Creation so
IT is known (universally) and the emergence of the Human Being so the
‘individual’ is made cognizant of his Lord (personally), “I was a
hidden
treasure and loved to be known therefore created the creation so they
know me
by it (the creation).” This is indeed the Sirr (Secret) of the Creation
as was
mentioned by a Qudsi Hadith (Prophetic Narration) or what the Sufis
believe to
be a Qudsi Hadith (Prophetic Narration).
The extreme limit of the
Creation is for Allah to behold
ITself upon some form and Tajalli (Manifest with Lucency) within the
form ITs
Names &
Attributes, or in other words seeing ITself within a mirror! Within
the universe, being the said form, Divine Beingness became Tajalli
(Lucent
Manifest) and by using the universe the cognizance of the Allah’s Attributes
& Names came about and whatsoever of the known Uluhiya
(Divinity).
Therefore within our Nafs (Psyche, Self)
we know about IT
for as much as we know about the reality of our own Nafs (Psyche, Self)
and
again for as much as what measure of Tajalli (Lucent Manifestation) of
the
Divine Kamāl (Perfected) Attributes our Nafs (Psyche, Self)
has been exposed to
and as such is the Hadith (Prophetic Narration), “Who came to know his
Nafs
(Psyche,
Self) came to know his Lord”.
(Source: ‘Abul A’lā ‘Afifi)
[1]
“Adam’s Word” does not refer to Adam the father of all
Mankind, indeed it refers to human genus as a whole: A Human from the
point of
view of what makes him Human or the true reality of Humanity. Reason
being what
is mentioned by the author as the “Human Genesis” and that is a unique
genesis
Tajalli (Manifested) by the Divine Kamāl (Perfection) into paramount
forms, as
well as what is mentioned by the author as the Divine Edict for Human
Khilāfah
(Deputation) over the world and Human’s merit & superiority over
the angels
and the deserved Human Khilāfah (Deputation) excluding the angels. (He
means spiritually what makes Human Being and what makes him superior
not
excluding its superior mind and biological make up) (Source: ‘Abul A’lā
‘Afifi)
[2]
Words like ‘when’ do not point at time intervals since
the Divine Volition does not belong to any timeframe (is not temporal).
However
the issue, with regards to using such words, is to approximate for the
minds an
explanation concerning the Divine Wisdom for emerging the Human Being
though
the form it has appeared with. (Source: ‘Abul A’lā ‘Afifi) In other
words this
sentence starting with ‘when’ is Ishārat (Pointing, Hinting) at the
Divine
Wisdom.
[3] The
Arabic word ‘Ayn has quite a few different meanings
as well as ‘Ibn ‘Arabi using it amply all over the text and in each
instance
the meaning of the word, though spelled the same, is different. For
example on
the first sentence “see ITself” was “see ITs Ayn” which really was
meant to see
ITself. But the first usage of the ‘Ayn is to see the nature of ITs Divine
Names in some seeable fashion in material-immaterial form. So
Ocular
Corporeality is a term perhaps suitable to convey that meaning, Ocular
to mean
a visually observable form and Corporeality to mean at times non-Divine
or
material form. Example, one of ITs Names is
Rahim (Merciful); therefore IT
sends down much mercy in forms of provisions health guidance and so on.
IT
likes to watch these materializations or reflections of ITs Name. IT
likes to
watch the people enjoying and consuming ITs Mercy. Now ITs Mercy is
Divine and
immaterial originating from another Sempiternal universe (Azal),
however there
are materializations of this Divine Name
e.g. rain, food, health and so on and
also there are immaterial forms of this Divine Name
e.g. brotherhood between
people, love for the poor and needy and so on.
[4] ITs
‘Ayn (Ocular Corporeality) is different than ITs Zāt
(Essence), the first can be projected into other things like the
reflection of
light upon a mirror and the reflection maybe viewed by ITself as well
as
others, but the latter the Zāt (Essence) is searchlessly unreachable
and beyond
the grasp of any creature in the universe no matter what instruments or
how much
power is applied, this essence is exclusive to ITself and beyond all
reach
ever. But as ‘Afifi noted: Its 'Ayn (Ocular Corporeality) is
inseparable from
ITs Zāt (Essence) and that inexorable link is via the Sifāt
(Attributes) the
very attributes that render something of the nature of ITs Zāt
(Essence). IT
emerged the beingness that has appeared but there is a definite manner
IT
manifested the unearthing of the “hidden treasure” which is ITs
Absolute Zāt
(Essence) invariantly singular away from linkages and relationships.
Therefore
there is no way to uncover ITs Zāt (Essence) specially via the
disengaging or
isolating, truly the only way is by being in ITs bondage as well as
observing
ITs 'Ayn (Ocular Corporeality). (Source: ‘Abul A’lā ‘Afifi)
[5] When
IT willed to manifest the nature of ITs Names or
ITself, did so within an integrated plenary form that envelops the
attributes of
all beings within the Human Nafs (Psyche, Self).
And that integrated form
incubates within the manifestations of the Haqiqa (True Reality) of the
beingness from the loftiest to lowliest. (Source: ‘Abul A’lā ‘Afifi)
© 2004-2002,
Dara O. Shayda
(Source: ‘Abul A’lā ‘Afifi)