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the seals of wisdom fusus al-hikam by muhiyyi d-din ibn al arabi 1-the seal of divine wisdom in the word of adam when allah glory be to him willed that the source of his most beautiful names which are beyond enumeration be seen or you can equally say that he willed his source to be seen he willed that they be seen in a microcosmic being which contained the entire matter,1 endowed with existence and through which his secret was manifested to him for how a thing sees itself through itself is not the same as how it sees itself in something else which acts as a mirror for it so he manifests himself to himself in a form which is provided by the place in which he is seen he would not appear thus without the existence of this place and his manifestation tajalli to himself in it allah brought the entire universe into existence through the existence of a form fashioned without a spirit rûh like an unpolished mirror part of the divine decree is that he does not fashion a locus without it receiving a divine spirit which is described as being blown 2 into it this is nothing other than the result of the predisposition of that fashioned form to receive the overflowing perpetual tajalli which has never ceased and which will never cease then we must speak of the container qâbil the container comes from nothing other than his most sacredly pure overflowing so the whole affair has its beginning from him and its end is to him and the whole affair will be returned to him 11:123 as it began from him thus the command decreed the polishing of the mirror of the universe adam was the very polishing of that mirror and the spirit of that form the angels are some of the faculties of that form which is the form of the universe which the sufis designate in their technical vocabulary as the great man al-insân al-kabîr for the angels are to it as the spiritual rûhânî and sensory faculties are to the human organism each

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of these faculties is veiled by itself and it sees nothing which is superior to its own essence for there is something in it which considers itself to be worthy of high rank and an elevated degree with allah it is like this because it has an aspect of the divine synthesis jam îya in it is something which derives from the divine side and something which derives from the side of the reality of the realities this organism carries these attributes as determined by the universal nature which encompasses the containers of the universe from the most exalted to the basest however the intellect cannot perceive this fact by means of logical investigation ­ for this sort of perception only exists through divine unveiling by which one recognises the basis of the forms of the universe which eceive the spirits this being was called both a human being insân and khalif as for his humanness it comes from the universality of his organism and his ability to embrace all of the realities he is in relation to allah as the pupil,3 being the instrument of vision is to the eye this is why he is called ÒinsânÓ it is by him that allah beholds his creatures and has mercy on them so he is a human being both in-time [in his body and before-time [in his spirit an eternal and aftertime organism he is the word which distinguishes and unifies the universe was completed by his existence he is to the universe what the face of the seal is to the seal for that is the locus of the seal and thus the token with which the king places the seal on his treasures allah named him khalif for this reason since man guards his creation as treasure is guarded with the seal as long as the seal of the king is on the treasure no one dares to open it without his permission he made him a khalif in respect of safeguarding the universe and it continues to be guarded as long as this perfect man is in it do you not see then that when he disappears and is removed from the treasury of this world nothing that allah stored in it will remain everything that was in it will leave it and all the parts will become confused and everything will be transferred to the next world then man will be the seal on the treasury of the next world for endless time and after-time all the divine names contained in in the divine form4 appear in this human organism thus it possesses the rank of containing and integrating this existence it was by this that allah set up the proof against the angels,5 so remember that allah admonishes you through others look at where that originates and where it ends up the angels did not realise what was implied by the organism of the khalif nor did they realise what the presence of the truth demanded as ibâda 6 worship each one only knows from allah what his essence accords him the angels do not possess the universality of adam and they did not understand the divine names with which he has been favoured and by which he praises allah and proclaims his purity they only knew that allah had names whose knowledge had not reached them so they could not praise him nor proclaim his purity through them what we mentioned overcame them and this state overpowered them they said about this organism why put on it one who will cause corruption on it 2:30 this is only the argument which they were voicing what they said regarding adam is exactly the state they were with regard to allah had it not been that their nature was in accord with it they would not have said what they said in respect of adam and yet they were not aware if they had had true recognition of themselves they would have had knowledge and had they been in possession of knowledge they would have been protected and would not have resisted by belittling adam and thus exceeding their claim of what they possessed of his praise and glorification adam was in possession of divine names which the angels did not have so that their praise and glorification of him was not the same as adam s praise and glorification of him allah describes this to us so that we may ponder it and learn adab7 with allah and so that we will not lay claim to what we have not

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realised or possessed by pinning down how can we allege something which is beyond us and of which we have no knowledge we will only be exposed this divine instruction is part of allahÕs discipline of those of his slaves who are well-mannered trusting and khalifs let us return to the wisdom under discussion know that universal matters which have no existence in themselves are without a doubt intelligible and known in the mind they are hidden and continue in their invisible existence these universal matters have jurisdiction and effect on everything which has an individual existence indeed they are the same thing and nothing else i.e the sources of existent individual things and they continue to be intelligible in themselves they are manifest in respect of the sources of existent things just as they are hidden in respect of their intelligibility each individual existent thing depends on these universal matters which cannot be dislodged from the intellect nor would their existence be possible in the source once they ceased to be intelligible whether that individual existent is in-time or out-of-time the relationship of that which is in-time or out-of-time to this universal intelligible matter is the same this universal matter only has jurisdiction in individual existent things according to what the realities of these individual existent things demand of it it is like the relationship of knowledge to the knower and life to the living life is an intelligible reality knowledge is an intelligible reality knowledge is as distinct from life as life is distinct from knowledge so we say that allah has knowledge and life and that he is the living the knowing we also say that the angel has life and knowledge and is living and knowing we say that man has life and knowledge and is living and knowing the reality of knowledge is one thing and the reality of life is another and their relationship to the knowing and the living is the same relationship we say that the knowledge of allah is in non-time and the knowledge of man is in-time so look at the evaluation that this relationship has brought about in this intelligible reality examine this connection between individual intelligibles and stence is necessary rather it is necessary by another not by itself as knowledge determines the one who participates in it ­ as he is called knowing ­ so the one who is described by it can determine the knowledge it is in-time in relation to the one in-time and non-time in relation to the one in non-time each of the two is determining and determined it is known that these universal matters even if they are intelligible lack a source although they still have an authority when they are determined since they are ascribed to an individual existent thing they accept the principle in the existent sources and do not accept distinction or fragmenting for that is impossible for them they themselves are in everything described by them as humanity is in every person of this particular species without distinction or the numbering which affects individuals and it continues to be intelligible now as there is a connection between that which has an individual existence and that which does not have one ­ and it is a non-existent relationship ­ so the connection of existents to each other is easier to conceive because in any case there is a common factor between them which is individual existence in the other there is no common factor yet there is a connection despite the lack of a common factor so it is stronger and more real when there is a common factor without a doubt the in-time establishes itself as being put into time and it needs something in time to put it into time it has no place in itself so it exists from something other-than-it and it is linked to that by the dependence of need this dependence must be on that whose existence is necessary which is independent in its existence by itself without need it is that which by its own essence gives existence to the in-time which depends on it since the existence of its essence is necessary and what appears from it depends on it for its essence it nevertheless depends on its form for everything which is from a name or attribute,

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except for the essential necessity that is not the property of it in-time even if its existence is neceesary rather it is necessary by another not by itself since the matter is based on what we said about its manifestation in its form allah communicates to us knowledge of himself through contemplation of the in-time he tells us that he shows us his signs in the in-time,8 so we draw conclusions about him through ourselves we do not describe him with any quality without also possessing that quality with the exception of that essential autonomy since we know him by ourselves and from ourselves we attribute to him all that we attribute to ourselves for that reason divine communications came down on the tongues of our interpreters,9 and so he described himself to us through ourselves when we witness he witnesses himself we are certainly numerous as individuals and species yet we are based on a single reality which unites us so we certainly know that there are distinctions between individuals if there were not there would be no multiplicity in the one similarly we are described in all aspects by that by which he describes himself but there must be a disinction and it is none other than our need of him in our existence our existence depends on him by virtue of our possibility and he is independent of that which makes us dependent on him because of this one can apply before-timeness and timelessness to him which negates that firstness which is the opening to existence from non-existence although he is the first firstness is not ascribed to him and for this reason he is called the last had his firstness been the firstness of the existence of determination it would not have been valid for him to be the last of the determined because the possible has no last for possibilities are endless so they have no last rather he is the last because the whole affair will be returned to him 11:123 after its attribution to us so he is the last in the source of his firstness and the first in the source of his lastness then know that allah has described himself as the outawrdly manifest and the inwardly hidden;10 he brought the universe into existence as a visible world and an unseen world so that we might know the hidden by the unseen and the manifest by the visible he described himself with pleasure and wrath and so he brought the world into existence as a place of fear and hope ­ so we fear his wrath and hope for his pleasure he described himself with majesty and beauty so he brought the universe into existence with awe and intimacy it is the same for all that is connected with him may he be exalted and by which he calls himself he designates these pairs of attributes by the two hands11 which he held out in the creation of the perfect man man sums up all the realities of the universe and its individuals so the universe is seen and the khalif is unseen it is with this meaning that the sultan veils himself even as allah is mentioned and described as having with veils12 of darkness which are natural bodies and luminous veils which are subtle spirits arwâh the universe is composed of both the gross and the subtle the universe is its own veil on itself and cannot perceive the truth since it perceives itself it is continuously in a veil which is not removed since it knows that it is distinct from its creator by its need of him it has no portion of that essential necessity which belongs to the existence of allah so it can never perceive him in this respect allah is never fully known by the knowledge of tasting and witnessing because the in-time has no hold on that allah only applied between his two hands to adam as a mark of honour and so he said to iblis what prevented you prostrating to what i created with my two hands 38:76 that is none other than the union in adam of the two forms the form of the universe and the form of

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the real:13 and they are the two hands of allah iblis is only a fragment of the universe and does not possess this comprehensive quality it is because of this quality that adam was a khalif had he not had the form of the one who appointed him khalif he would not have been khalif if there were not in him all that is in the world and what his flocks over whom he is khalif demand of him because of their dependence on him ­ and he must undertake all they need from him ­he would not have been khalîf over them the khalifate is only valid for the perfect man whose exterior form comes from the realities of the universe and its forms and whose inner form is based on his form may he be exalted for that reason allah has said of him i am his hearing and his sight 14 he did not say his eye and his ear so he differentiated between the two forms it is the same for every existent in the universe which appears according to what the reality of that existent demands of it nonetheless no one totally comprehends what the khalif has one only surpasses others by this comprehensiveness if it were not for the diffusion of allah into the existents by the form the universe would not have any existence similarly were it not for these universal intelligible realities no principle would have appeared in individual existent things from this reality the universe depends on allah for its existence so all is in need and nothing is independent this is the truth and we have not spoken metaphorically if i speak of a something independent without any need you will know who i mean by it the whole is tied to the whole and cannot be separated from it so understand what i have said now you have learnt of the formation of the body of adam ­ his outer form ­ and the formation of his spirit his inner form so he is the real and a created being now you have learnt of the formation of his rank which is the comprehensiveness by virtue of which he is worthy of the khalifate adam is the unique self from which the perfect human species was created according to his words o mankind be fearful of your lord who created you from a single self and created its mate from it and disseminated many men and women from the two of them 4:1 his words be fearful of your lord mean to make of what has appeared from you a safeguard for your lord and make what is concealed of you which is your lord a safeguard for yourselves the matter consists of blame and praise so be his safeguard in the blame and your safeguard in the praise so that you will be among those of knowledge and adab then he showed him what he had placed in him and he put that in his two hands one handful contained the universe and the other handful contained adam and his descendants and he showed them their ranks in adam then allah informed me in my inner heart sirr of what he placed in this imam the great progenitor i have put in this book some of what was allotted to me but not all of what i realised a book could not contain that and not even the present existent universe could

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contain it i have put some of what i have witnessed in this book as the messenger of allah may allah bless him and grant him peace defined it it was the divine wisdom in the word of adam that is this chapter then there is the wisdom of the breath of angelic inspiration in the word of shith seth the wisdom of divine inspiration in the word of nuh noah the wisdom of purity in the word of idris the wisdom of being lost in love in the word of ibrahim abraham the wisdom of truth in the word of ishaq isaac the wisdom of the elevation of the word in the name of isma il ishmael the wisdom of the spirit in the word of yusuf joseph the wisdom of unity in the word of hud the wisdom of revelation in the word of salih the wisdom of the heart in the word of shu ayb the wisdom of the power of the word of lut lot the wisdom of the decree in the word of uzayr ezra the wisdom of prophethood in the word of isa jesus the wisdom of mercy in the word of sulayman solomon the wisdom of existence in the word of da ud david the wisdom of the soul in the word of yunus jonah the wisdom of the unseen in the word of ayyub job the wisdom of majesty in the word of yahya john the baptist the wisdom of possession in the word of zakariya zachariah the wisdom of intimacy in the word of ilyas elias the wisdom of benevolence in the word of luqman the wisdom of the imam in the word of harun aaron the wisdom of sublimity in the word of musa moses the wisdom of what one turns to in the word of khalid and the wisdom of uniqueness in the seal of muhammad there is a seal for each wisdom so i have condensed these wisdoms according to what is established in the mother of the book and i complied with what was written out for me and stopped at what was set as a limit for me even if i had desired to do more than that i would not have been able to do so indeed the presence forbids that and allah is the one who grants success there is no lord but him 1 al-insân al-kâmil the perfect man 2 nafkh qur an 32:9 etc 3 insan as well as meaning human being also means the pupil of the eye 4 the form chosen by allah for the human being 5 qur an 2:30-33 6 ibada all the acts of worship giving praying fasting etc 7 adab manners here meaning the much deeper quality of spiritual manners that is a courtesy engendered in the ritual acts of worship the prostrations of the prayer the fast and giving gifts to the needy such a quality is imbued with awareness that you are the dependent and the real is the independent you are poor he is rich 8 qur an 41:53 we will show them our signs on the horizons and in themselves 9 i.e the prophets.

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10 qur an 57:3 11 qur an 38:75 what i created with my two hands 12 hadith allah has 70,000 veils of light and darkness if they were to be removed the splendour of his face would consume 13 hadith allah created adam on his form 14 ref to hadith qudsî via abu hurayra my slave does not draw near me with anything i love more than what i have made obligatory for him my slave continues to draw near me with superogatory actions until i love him when i love him i am his hearing with he hears his sight by which he sees his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks sahih al-bukhari 81:38:2 2-the seal of wisdom of the breath of angelic inspiration1 in the word of shith seth know that the gifts and favours which appear in phenomenal being through human beings or without them fall into two categories the gifts of the essence and the gifts of the divine names these two categories are distinct among the people of tasting according to whether as they come from a specific request for a specific thing from a general request or without any request this applies whether they are gifts of the essence or gifts of the divine names they are specific when someone says o lord give me such-and-such a thing and specifies something which occurs to him they are general when someone says give me what you know is good for all my parts subtle and gross without specifying it the askers fall into two groups one group makes the request from a natural impulse to hasten its attainment for man is impetuous 17:11 and the other group asks because they know that there are matters with allah which in the foreknowledge of allah are only obtained after a request they say perhaps what i ask of him is something of that sort their request takes into consideration this possibility they do not know what is in the knowledge of allah nor what their capacity to receive will grant them this is because it is one of the most difficult things to know capacity at any moment for it refers to the capacity of the individual at that time furthermore had he not been disposed by his capacity to make the request he would not have made that particular request the goal of the people of presence,2 who do not possess such a knowledge is to know it in the moment in which they find themselves they know by their state of presence what allah has given them in that moment and they only receive it by their predisposition for it they are of two sorts one group knows their predisposition from what they have already received and the other group knows what they are going to receive based on their predisposition this latter group has the most perfect recognition of predisposition.

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among this group are those who make a request neither to hasten it nor for the possibilities of favour but rather to comply with the command of allah when he says call on me and i will answer you 40:60 this sort of person is the pure slave and when he asks his aspiration himma is not attached to what he asks for be it specific or not rather his aspiration is merely in or not rather his aspiration is merely in obedience to his lord s command when his state requires he asks for slavehood and when it requires entrustment [to allah and silence he is silent so ayyub and others were tried and they did not ask allah to remove their affliction from them then at another moment their state required that they ask that it be removed and allah removed it from them the immediate granting of a request or its deferment depends on the decree which has been determined for it by allah if the request coincides with the moment the answer comes quickly and if the moment is deferred either in this world or the next the answer is also deferred except for the answer from allah which is at your service 3 so understand this well as for the second category it is received without making a request and by without request we mean verbal expression of it in actuality there must always be a request be it articulated or by a state or from a predisposition similarly unrestricted praise only takes place through verbal expression the state determines the meaning for that which induces you to praise allah is determined for you by a name of action4 or a name of disconnection.5 in the case of the predisposition of the slave its possessor is not conscious of it but he is aware of his state because he knows both what his motive is and the state itself predisposition is the most hidden form of making requests that which prevents some people from asking is their knowledge that allah has predetermined their destiny so they have prepared themselves to receive whatever comes from him and they have withdrawn from their selves and their desires among these people are those who know that the knowledge which allah has of them in all their states is their basic constitution in the state of their permanent source-form from before existence they know that allah will only give them what their source allows them according to allah s knowledge of it when they were in their permanent source-forms thus these people know that allah knows the way they will obtain anything there is no higher nor more unveiled group among the people of allah than this group who understand on the secret of the decree they in turn fall into two sorts those who know it in general and those who know it in particular those who know it in particular are higher and nearer perfection than those who know it in general such a person knows what is in the knowledge of allah for him be it by allah informing him of the knowledge his own source has accorded to him or be it by direct unveiling to him from his permanent source-form whose unfolding states are endless so he in his knowledge of himself is in the position of having allah s knowledge of him because it is derived from the same source in respect of the slave concern from allah is predestined for him and it is constituted by the sum of the states of his source which the possessor of this unveiling perceives when allah allows him to perceive it i.e the states of his source when allah informs him of the states of his permanent source-form upon which the form of his existence depends it is not in the capacity of the creature in this state to perceive what allah perceives of his permanent source-form upon which the form of his existence depends it is not in the capacity of the creature in this state to perceive what allah perceives of these permanent sources in the state of their non-existence,

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since they are but essential relations without any form in this respect we say that divine concern precedes the slave s need because of this equivalence in the communication of knowledge in this way allah speaks so that we will know and it is an expression which is completely specific not as is imagined by those who do not drink from this source the goal of disconnection is to make that in-timeness in knowledge belong to knowledge it is the highest aspect of this question which the mutakallim6 can comprehend with his intellect unless he considers knowledge to be distinct from the essence if he does this he ascribes relativity to knowledge and not to the essence and because of this he sets himself apart from the realised ones among the people of allah who are endowed with unveiling and real existence let us return to those gifts which are either the gifts proceding from the essence or the names as for the favours gifts and graces of the essence they only come by means of divine tajalli.7 tajalli only comes from the essence by means of the form of the predisposition of the one to whom the tajalli is made it never occurs otherwise the one who receives the tajalli will only see his own form in the mirror of the real he will not see see the real for it is not possible to see him at the same time he knows that he sees only his own form it is the same as a mirror in the visible world inasmuch as you see forms in it or your own form but do not see the mirror at the same time however you know that you see the forms or your own form only by virtue of the mirror allah manifests that as a model8 appropriate to the tajalli of his essence so that the one receiving the tajalli knows that he does not see him there is no model nearer or more appropriate to vision and tajalli than this when you see a form in a mirror try to see the body of the mirror as well you will never see it it is true that some people who perceive this say that the reflected form is imposed between the vision of the seer and the mirror this is the most that it is possible to say and the matter is as we have mentioned we have clarified this in the the makkan revelations if you wish to taste this then experience the limit beyond which there is no higher limit possible in respect of the creature neither aspire to nor tire yourself out in trying to go beyond this degree for in principle there is only pure non-existence after it thus allah is your mirror in which you see yourself and you are his mirror in which he sees his names his names are not other than himself as you know the matter is confusing one of us implied ignorance of the matter as part of knowledge and said the incapacity to achieve perception is perception 9 some of us know but do not express it in this way even though it is the highest of words knowledge does not give incapacity to know as the first one said but rather knowledge gives him the same silence which incapacity gives this is the highest level of those who have knowledge of allah this knowledge only belongs to the seal of the messengers and the seal of the awliyâ the messengers and prophets only see it from the niche of the messenger who is the seal the awliyâ only see it from the niche of the walî who is the seal even the messengers only see it to the extent that they see it from the niche of the seal of the awliya for message and prophethood by which i mean the prophethood of bringing the sharî a and its message ceases but wilâya never ceases thus the messengers imuch as they are awliya see what we have mentioned only from the niche of the seal of the awliya how could it be different for other awliyâ although the seal of the awliyâ is subject to the judgement which the seal of

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the messengers brought through the sharî;a that does not diminish his station nor does it detract from what we have said for something which is lower from one point of view can be higher from another confirmation of this occurred in the history of our sharî a in the excellence of the judgement of umar regarding the prisoners of badr 10 and their treatment and in the story of fertilization of the date-palms.11 it is not necessary that the perfect have precedence in everything and in every rank the rijâl 12 regard precedence as being in the degrees of knowledge of allah here is their goal as for the things which are in-time they do not attach their thoughts to them so realise what we have mentioned al-khidr said to musa i have knowledge which allah has taught me and which you do not know and you have knowledge which allah has taught you and which i do not know 13 it is like the prophet may allah bless him and grant him peace in relation to a brick wall which was complete except for one brick,14 and the prophet was that one brick although he himself only saw the place for the single brick the seal of the awliyâ must also have this sort of vision he sees the same as the messenger of allah may allah bless him and grant him peace saw but he sees a place for two bricks in the wall and that the bricks are made of gold and silver he sees that there are two bricks missing in the wall and he sees that they are a silver brick and a gold brick he must see himself as being disposed by nature to fill the place of these two bricks the seal of the awliyâ is these two bricks by which the wall is completed the necessary reason for which he sees himself as two bricks is that he follows the shari a of the seal of the messengers outwardly which is the place of the silver brick this means the outward sharî a with all that pertains to it of ordinances which are taken from allah by the secret according to the outward form which conforms to the secret because he sees the matter for what it really is he must see the matter in this manner for it is the place of the golden brick in the inwardly hidden it is taken from the source from which the angel brought it the same angel who brought the revelation to the mesengers if you have understood what i have alluded to then you have indeed acquired useful knowledge all the prophets from adam to the last of the prophets take their light from the niche of the seal of the prophets may allah bless him and grant him peace even though the existence of his clay was deferred the last prophet was nevertheless present in his reality according to his statement i was a prophet when adam was between water and clay 15 every other prophet only became a prophet by being described by divine qualities inasmuch as allah is described as the praiseworthy wali.16 the seal of the messengers in respect to his wilâya is connected to the seal of the awliyâ in the same way in which prophets and messengers are connected to it he is a walî messenger and prophet the seal of the awliyâ is a walî and the heir who takes directly from the source contemplating the ranks he is the most beautiful of the beauties of the seal of the messengers muhammad may allah bless him and grant him peace the overseer of the community and the master of the sons of adam by reason of opening the door of intercession he specified a particular state which is not universal.17 in this special state he has precedence over the divine names so the all-merciful only mediates with the avenger for the people of affliction through the intercession of the mediators muhammad may allah

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bless him and grant him peace obtained mastery in this special station whoever understands the ranks and the stations does not find this discourse difficult as for the gifts of the names know that allah bestows mercy on his creation which is wholly from the names either it is a pure mercy like the excellence of the provision which they have in this world or on the day of rising which is bestowed by that name the merciful and so is a gift of mercy or it is a mixed mercy like the taking of a disagreeable remedy which is followed by relief it is still a divine gift divine gifts can only possibly be given through the intermediary of the guardians of the names sometimes allah gives it to the slave by means of the all-merciful and so the gift is pure from any adulteration which would be contrary to the nature of the moment otherwise he would not receive the object and what would resemble it sometimes he gives by means of the the boundless so it is general or by the wise so he looks at what is fitter at the moment or by the giving who gives what is good without those who receive it having to compensate for it by gratitude or deed he gives by the compeller and so he looks at the environment and what is necessary to it he gives by the forgiving and so he looks to the environment and what is happening to the individual if he is in a state which merits punishment he veils him from it and if he is in a state which does not merit punishment he protects him from a state which would merit it he is protected from wrong action safeguarded and other descriptions of that sort the giver is allah in the sense that he is the treasurer of all that is in his treasury and allah only brings forth from it according to a predestined decree through the intermediary of a name particular to that matter so he gives everything its created form 18 according to the name the just and its brothers the names of allah are endless because they are known by what comes from them and what comes from them is endless even though they can be traced back to the limited roots which are the matrices of the names or the presences of the names in reality there is but one of the names or the presences of the names in reality there is but one reality which assumes all these relations and aspects which are designated by the divine names the reality grants that each of the names which manifest themselves without end has a reality by which it is distinguished from another name it is that reality by which it is distinguished which is the name itself not that which it shares it is the same with the gifts every gift is distinct from another by personal nature although they come from a single source it is evident that this one is not that one that is because the names are distinct because of its boundlessness in the divine presence there is nothing at all which repeats itself this is the truth which is determined this was the knowledge of shith peace be upon him and its spirit aids every spirit which discusses the like of this except for the spirit of the seal who receives replenishing knowledge directly from allah not from any spirit no rather it is from his spirit that his substance flows to all spirits although he may not perceive that of himself at the time when his elemental body existed however in respect to his reality and his rank he knows all of that essentially just as he is ignorant of the composition of the elements of his body so he has knowledge and is ignorant and he is capable of being described by contrary attributes even as the origin admits of description with opposites such as the majestic and the beautiful the outward and the inward the last and the first and they are the same and not other than him therefore he knows and does not know and he perceives and does not perceive and he sees and does not see it is by this knowledge that shith received his name because it means the gift in his hand is the key to the gifts in their various types and relationships so allah gave him to adam and he was the first gift and he only gave it from himself.

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this was the knowledge of shith peace be upon him and its spirit aids every spirit which discusses the like of this except for the spirit of the seal who receives replenishing knowledge directly from allah not from any spirit no rather it is from his spirit that his substance flows to all spirits although he may not perceive that of himself at the time when his elemental body existed however in respect to his reality and his rank he knows all of that essentially just as he is ignorant of the composition of the elements of his body so he has knowledge and is ignorant and he is capable of being described by contrary attributes even as the origin admits of description with opposites such as the majestic and the beautiful the outer and the inner the last and the first and they are the same and not other than him therefore he knows and does not know and he perceives and does not perceive and he sees and does not see it is by this knowledge that shith received his name because it means the gift in his hand is the key to the gifts in their various types and relationships so allah gave him to adam and he was the first gift and he only gave it from himself all gifts in phenomenal being are manifested in this fashion so no one receives anything from allah and no-one receives anything which does not come from himself not everyone recognises this only a few of the people of allah know it when you see one who recognises that rely on him for that one is the source of the purest purity and the elite of the elite of the men of allah whenever a person of unveiling sees a form which communicates to him gnosis which he did not have and which he had not been able to grasp before that form is from his own source no other from the tree of himself he gathers the fruits of his cultivation as his outer form opposite the reflected body is nothing other than himself even though the place of the presence in which he sees the form of himself presents him with an aspect of the reality of that presence through transformation the large appears small in the small mirror and tall in the tall and the moving as movement it can reverse its form from a special presence and it can reflect things exactly as they appear so the right side of the viewer is his right side while the right side can be on the left this is generally the normal state in mirrors and it is a break in the norm when the right side is seen as the right and inversion occurs all this is from the gifts of the reality of the presence in which it is manifested and which we have compared to the mirror whoever recognises his predisposition recognises what he will receive not everyone who knows what he will receive knows his predisposition unless he knows it after receiving it and this one knows it in a general way some people who are weak of intellect think that since it confirmed with them that allah does what he wills they deem it admissible that he could contradict wisdom and what the matter is in itself.19 because of this some of them go so far as to deny the possibility and affirm that which is necessary by essence and by other the man who has achieved realisation however admits the possibility and knows its presence and knows what is possible and how it is possible since in its source it is necessarily existent because of something other-than-it from where is the name of other which determines its necessity valid for it no one knows this distinction except those with particular knowledge of allah it is in the footsteps of shith that the last of this human species will be born and he will carry his secrets there will none of this species born after him so he will be the seal of the begotten a sister will be born with him and she will emerge before him and he will follow her with his head at her feet he will be born in china and he will speak the language of his country sterility will spread in men and women so there will be much cohabitation without

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p. 13

conception he will call people to allah but will not be answered when allah takes him and the believers of his time those who remain will be like beasts not knowing what is lawful halâl from what is unlawful harâm they will act according to their natural instincts with lust devoid of reason and law upon them the last hour will occur 1 nafth to puff blow or spit hence inspiration hadith he jibril inspired or put nafatha into my heart hence poetry is called the nafth of shaytan 2 the people of the presence are those who see everything as coming to them from allah and everything as effected by allah 3 labbayk 4 like the giving the provider 5 tanzih making allah free of any connection to his creation names like the absolutely pure al-quddûs 6 the people of words theologians and philosophers they are unable to enter the realm of reflection and meditation that is the sufic domain and thus oppose the sufic teaching mistaking the doctrine s meanings since they cannot intellectually identify them with a specific set of physical practices and direct inner experience 7 a manifestation by which something is made clear and unobscured as the bride is displayed to the husband or the rust removed from a sword or mirror so that it shines the tajalli is the unveiling of a spiritual reality in the realm of vision it is a direct-seeing into the nature of existence a showing forth of the secrets of the one in the celestial and terrestial realms 8 mithâl a qur anic term which indicates learning not by logical but by analogical method it is simply the access to the parable and not the parable or any idea that the metaphor equals its interpretation it has no specificity mithal is grasped on the wing so to speak it cannot be explored or analysed or extended that is to say it must not be approached rationally but emphathetically with direct and clear seeing-into 9 abu bakr as-siddiq 10 after badr abu bakr asked the prophet to either forgive or allow the prisoners to be ransomed umar said that they should be killed eventually the muslims reached a consensus that the captives should be ransomed and they were later the verse was revealed it is not for a prophet to take captives 8:67 11 when the prophet had been asked about whether palm-trees should be pollinated and then later said you have the best knowledge of these things of your world 12 rijal sing rajul the men meaning the men of gnosis and illumination those who know that is who know how-it-is and not the veiled fantasy experience of so-called

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p. 14

ordinary sensory perception which is as we now know in direct contradiction to the physical reality of matter according to high-energy physics 13 cf qur an 18:65 14 hadith in al-bukhari 2815 and muslim 15 hadith in at-tirmidhi and musnad ibn hanbal 16 qur an 42:28 it is he who sends down abundant rain after they have lost all hope and he unfolds his mercy he is the praiseworthy the wali 17 he only can open the door of intercession because it is a a special gift to him alone 18 qur an 20:50 our lord is he who gives each thing its created form and then guides it 19 i.e they permit that he do the impossible like making existence non-existence or nonexistence existence 3-the seal of the wisdom of the breath of divine inspiration 1 in the word of nuh noah know that disconnection tanzîh among the people of realities in respect to allah is the same as limitation and qualification so the one who disconnects is either ignorant or ill-mannered if he only applies disconnection to him and believes that about him.2 when the believer who follows the sharî a disconnects and stops at that and does not see anything else he displays ill manners and slanders allah and the messengers may the blessings of allah be upon them although he is not aware of it he imagines that he has reached the target and yet he has missed it so he is like the one who believes in part and rejects part.3 one especially knows that when the language of the various sharî as speaks about allah as they do they speak to the common people in the first sense and to the elite in every sense which can be understood from the various aspects of that expression in any language in the usage of that language allah manifests himself in a special way in every creature he is the outwardly manifest in every graspable sense and he is the inwardly hidden from every understanding except the understanding of the one who says that the universe is his form 4 and his he-ness huwiyya and it is the name the outwardly manifest since he is by meaning the spirit of whatever is outwardly manifest he is also the inwardly hidden his relation to whatever is manifested of the forms of the world is the relation of the governing spirit to the form the definition of man for example includes both his inward and outward and it is the same with every definable thing allah is defined in every definition yet the forms of the universe are not held back and he is not contained by them one only knows the limits of each of their forms

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p. 15

according to what is attained by each knower of his form for that reason one cannot know the definition of allah for one would only know his definition by knowing the definition of every form this is impossible to attain so the definition of allah is impossible similarly whoever connects without disconnection has given limits to allah and does not know him whoever combines connection and disconnection in his gnosis and describes allah with both aspects in general because it is impossible to conceive in detail because we lack the ability to encompass all the forms which the universe contains has known him in general and not in particular as he knows himself generally and not in particular for that reason the prophet may allah bless him and grant him peace linked knowledge ma rifa of allah to knowledge of oneself and said whoever knows himself knows his lord allah says we will show them our signs on the horizons what is outside of you and in themselves what is your source until it is clear to them the contemplators that it is the truth 41:53 inasmuch as you are his form and he is your spirit you are to him as your body-form is to you and he is to you as the spirit which governs the body the definition contains your inwardness and outwardness for the form remains when the spirit which governs it departs and it is no longer man but one can speak of it as resembling the form of man there is no difference between it and the form made of wood or stone upon which the name of man is only applied by metaphor and not by reality allah cannot vanish from the forms of the universe as his definition of his divinity is by reality not metaphor as the definition of man applies only so long as he is alive as the exterior of the form of man praises both his spirit and the self governed by it with his tongue similarly allah made the forms of the universe which glorify his praise but we do not understand their glorifying.6 we do not embrace all forms in the universe all are tongues of allah uttering the praise of allah and for that reason he said praise be to allah the lord of all the worlds 1:1 i.e all types of praise refer to him he is the praiser and the one praised if you speak of disconnection you limit him and if you speak of connection you define him if you speak of the two together then you are free of error and you are an imam and a master in knowledges of gnosis he who affirms duality falls into shirk and whoever speaks of uniqueness is a unifier.6 take care lest you be a dualist by connection and take care lest you be a isolator by disconnection you are not him rather you are him and you see him in the source of thing absolute and limited at the same time allah says there is nothing like him and so he disconnects and he is the hearing the seeing 42:11 so he connects allah says there is nothing like him so he connects and

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