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