Beshara Publications

Extracts

Seth

From The Wisdom of the Prophets, by Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi

Of the Wisdom of the Divine Inspiration (al-hikmat an-nafathiyah) in the Word of Seth

Know that the gifts and favours (of God), [1] that are lavished on this world through the mediation of creatures or without their mediation, distinguish themselves for men of spiritual leaning (adh-dhawq), by essential gifts (like immediate Knowledge) and by gifts which proceed from the Divine Names (that is to say the Divine aspects such as Beauty, Goodness, Life, etc.). Furthermore they differ according to whether they are received as the result of a direct request or if they correspond to undetermined requests, or again if they are received without any request at all, and that independently of their distinction between essential gifts, and gifts conforming to the Divine Names. It is a determined request if someone says: 'Oh Lord, give me such and such a thing' and if his aim is only of this thing. A request which is not determined, on the other hand, is that of a man who prays: 'Oh Lord, give me that which is for my good, for all parts, spiritual and corporal, of my being', without thinking of any one thing in particular.

As for those who ask, they can be divided into two groups; the one obeys a natural impulse to hurry the attainment (of the thing that they desire) - for 'man was created impatient' [2] and the others ask because they know that there are, near to God, things which, according to the Divine foreknowledge, can only be obtained by virtue of a request; so, then, they say to themselves: 'perhaps that which I ask of God is of this sort'. Their requests take into consideration, in a global manner, the possible methods of the Divine Order; they do not know what the Divine Science implies, nor that which will result from their own pre­disposition (isti'dâd) to receive; for it is one of the most difficult things to know the predisposition of a being at each single instant (of his life); moreover, if he had not been predisposed to such a request, he would not request it. As for the contemplatives who do not know their pre­disposition, they recognize it, in the best cases, at the very instant they live; for by the state of their presence (hudûr) (with God) they know that which God gives them at that instant; and know they receive it only by reason of their predisposition. They are divided, in their turn, into two categories: the ones who know their predispositions from what they have received; the others who know what they will receive because of their predisposition; and it is this latter knowledge which is the most perfect within this group.

Belonging to this category are those who ask, not to accelerate the obtaining of a gift, nor to take into consideration the possible modes (of the Divine favour) but to conform to the Divine Order expressed by the Word: 'Ask me and I will answer you!' It is the adorer (al-'abd) 'par excellence'; when he asks, his desire does not attach itself to the thing asked for, whether it be determined or not, but looks to conform to the order of his Lord. When his spiritual state requires abandon and tranquillity, he is quiet; thus, Job and others were tried, and did not ask God to comfort them in their trial, until their spiritual state re­quired, at a certain moment, that they should ask that it should be lifted; then they asked, and God comforted them.

That the granting of a request be immediate or that it be deferred depends on the measure (qadr) predestined by God; if the demand is made at the moment predestined for the answer, this is immediate, and if the granting is predestined for a subsequent time, be it in this world or beyond, the answer will be adjourned; I mean the effective granting of the request, not the Divine reply: 'I am present' (which is always immediate); understand me well!

As for the second category of gifts, of which we were saying that they are received without request, we must state precisely what we mean by request: prayer expressed in words; for in principle there must always be a request whether it be articulated, consists of a spiritual state (hâl) or, whether it results simply from the (intimate) predisposition of the being. In the same way, to praise God signifies, if necessary, to pronounce praise towards Him; but in the spiritual sense, this praise is necessarily determined by a spiritual state, for that which incites thee to praise God is (in compliance) with a Divine Name, expressing an activity of God or an aspect of His Transcendence. As for his predisposition, the individual being is not conscious of it, that which he feels is the state (al-hâl), for he knows that which incites him (to praise or request); the predisposition remains the most hidden thing.

That which prevents some from asking, is knowing that God has decided their destiny for all eternity; they have prepared their abode (that is to say their soul) to receive that which will come from Him, and they have divested themselves of their ego (an-nafs) and of their individual existence. Amongst these there is he who knows that the knowledge God has of him, in each of his states, is identifiable to that which he is himself in his state of (principial) immutability before his manifestation; and he knows that God will give him nothing that does not result from this essence (al-'ayn), that he is himself in his permanent principial state. He knows then from whence the Divine Knowledge comes towards himself. No other category from amongst those who know God is superior to those who realize thus the mystery of the pre­disposition. They are divided in their turn, into two groups: there are those who realize this in a general manner, others in a distinct manner; the latter occupy the superior rank; for he who has a distinct know­ledge of that which is in question realizes that which the Divine Know­ledge implies towards him, be it that God reveals to him that which, in the matter of knowledge, results from his own essence ('aynuh), be it that He reveals directly His own immutable essence (al-'ayn ath-­thâbitah) and endless unfolding of the states derived from it. It is this latter gnostic who occupies the superior rank, for in his knowledge of himself he adopts the Divine point of view, the object of his knowledge being the same as the object of Divine Knowledge. However, when one considers this identification (of the knowledge that the contemplative has of the Divine Knowledge) on the individual side, it seems like a Divine aid predestined to this individual in virtue of certain contents in his immutable essence, contents that this being will recognise as soon as God lets him see them; for when God shows him the contents of his immutable essence, which, itself, receives directly from the Being, [3] that, evidently, surpasses the faculties of a creature as such; for he is incapable of appropriating the Divine Knowledge which is applied to those archetypes (al-a'yân ath-thâbitah) in their state of non-existence ('udum), these archetypes being but the pure, essential relations (nisab dhâtiyah) without proper forms. It is in this respect (that is to say, because of the immeasurable magnitude of the Divine Knowledge and of individual knowledge) that we say of this identification (of the Divine Knowledge) that it represents a Divine aid predestined to a cer­tain individual.

It is in this same respect that one must understand the Divine Word '(We will try you,) until We know...' [4] (as if God did not know in advance what all creatures will do) which is an expression rigorously adequate, contrarily to that which is believed by those who do not drink from this source; for the transcendence of God affirms itself the most perfectly by the fact that Knowledge appears temporal by its relation (to something temporal, just as it appears eternal in connection with an eternal object). That is the most universal aspect that a theologian can logically conceive in this matter, unless he considers the Divine Science as distinct from the Essence and attributes the relativity to the Science in so far as' it differs from the Essence. From (this last point of view), he is distinguishable moreover from the real knowers of God, gifted with intuition (kashf) and realizing the Being (al-wujûd).

But let us return now to the distinction between the (Divine) gifts and the essential gifts and gifts conforming to the Names. As for those which are favours and essential gifts, they are only granted by virtue of a Divine revelation (or irradiation; (tajalfl)); now, the Essence only reveals itself in the 'form' of the predisposition of the individual who receives this revelation; never does anything else happen. From that time, the subject receiving the essential revelation will see his own 'form' in the 'mirror' of God; he will not see God - it is impossible that he should see Him, - knowing all the while that he sees only his own 'form' by virtue of this Divine mirror. This is completely analogous to that which takes place in a corporal mirror: in contemplating the forms in it, thou dost not see the mirror, at the same time knowing that thou seest these forms Thor thine own form - only by virtue of the mirror. [5] This phenomenon God has manifested as a symbol particu­larly appropriate to His essential revelation, so that he to whom He reveals Himself knows that he does not see Him; there exists no symbol more direct and more conforming to the contemplation and the revela­tion in question. [6] Try, then, thyself, to see the body of the mirror as well as looking at the form that it reflects; thou wilt never see it at the same time, This is so true that certain people, observing this law of reflected forms in mirrors (corporal or spiritual), have claimed that the reflected form interposes itself between the view of the contemplative and the mirror itself; and that is all that they have grasped of the highest sense in the domain of spiritual knowledge; but in reality it is as we have just said (in knowing that the reflected form does not essentially hide the mirror, but that the mirror manifests it). Moreover we have already explained this point in our book 'Revelations from Mecca' (al-Futûhât al-Makkiyah). If thou dost appreciate that, thou dost appreciate the extreme limit that a creature as such can attain (in 'objective' knowledge); do not aspire, then, beyond that and do not tire thy soul by surpassing this degree, for there is nothing there, in principle and definitely, but pure non-existence (the Essence being non-manifest). God, then, is the mirror in which thou seest thyself as thou art His mirror in which He contemplates His Names. [7] Now these are none other than Himself, so that reality reverses itself and becomes ambiguous. Some of us imply ignorance in their knowledge (of God) and cite in this respect the word (of Calif Abu Bakr): 'To realize that one is powerless to know the Knowledge is already knowledge'. But amongst us there is one who knows (truly), and does not say these words; his knowledge does not imply a powerlessness to know, it implies the inexpressible; it is this latter that has the most perfect consciousness of God.

Now, this knowledge is given only to the Seal of God's Messengers (khâtim ar-rusûl); [8] and to the Seal of the Saints (khâtim al-awliyâ); [9] none of the prophets and messengers [10] imbibe it anywhere else than in the tabernacle (mishkât) [11] of the messenger who is their seal. Again, none of the saints imbibes it elsewhere than in the tabernacle of the saint who is their seal; so that the messengers also imbibe this know­ledge, in so far as they imbibe it, in the tabernacle of the Seal of the Saints; for the function of the messenger of God and that of the prophet - I mean the prophetic function in so far as it brings about the promulgation of a sacred law - ceases, whereas saintliness never ceases; so, the messengers only receive this knowledge because they are also saints, and solely from the tabernacle of the Seal of Saints. [12]

Since it is thus (for the messengers and for the prophets) how would it be different for the other saints? And this is true, although the Seal ol the Saints conforms himself to the sacred Law given by the Seal of thc Prophets; that does not prejudice his spiritual rank and takes away nothing from that which we have just said; for it is possible that it is inferior from a certain point of view, at the same time being superior from another point of view. What we mean by that can be found confirmed, moreover, in the history of our religion, by the preferences (due to an ulterior revelation) of the judgement of Omar (to that of the Prophet) on that which concerned the treatment of the prisoners after the battle of Badr, (the Prophet having wished to accept a ran­som for them, whereas Omar advised liberating them or condemning them); in the same way it manifests itself in the episode concerning the fertilization of a date palm (where the advice of the Prophet failed, which led him to say: 'You are more expert than I in the affairs of your world down here'). It is not necessary that the perfect surpasses the others in every respect; but spiritual men consider only the superiority with regard to the Knowledge of God; as for ephemeral existences, their mind does not at all dwell on it. - Realize then, that which we have just revealed.

When the Prophet compared the prophetic function to a brick wall almost finished and which needed only one more brick, he identified himself with this last brick. [13] He saw, then, as he said, only the place for a single brick to fill. But, the Seal of the Saints will have an analo­gous vision; only, he will perceive, in that which the Prophet symbo­lized by the unfinished wall, the place for two bricks to fill; the bricks from which the wall is built will appear to him of gold and silver, and the two bricks still needed to complete the construction will be a brick of gold and a brick of silver; and the Seal of the Saints will see himself corresponding to the place which these two bricks are needed to fill. The reason that he sees himself in the form of two bricks is that he adheres externally to the law given by the Seal of the Messengers - that which corresponds to the silver brick, and that he imbibes internally in God exactly that which, according to his apparent form, presents itself as an adhesion to the law which preceded him; for he sees necessarily the Divine Order (al-amr) as it is - and it is that which corresponds to the golden brick, symbol of his internal nature - since the Seal of the Saints imbibes at the same source as that from which the Angel imbibed, who inspired the Messenger of God [14] - If thou understandeth that to which I allude, thou hast reached the fully efficacious knowledge. All prophets, without exception, since Adam until the last, imbibe, then (their light) in the tabernacle of the Seal of the Prophets; if the clay of the latter has been formed only after the others, it is no less present by its spiritual reality, conforming to the word (of Muhammed): 'I was a prophet when Adam was still between water and clay'. Every other prophet does not become one until he is awakened to his function. In the same way, the Seal of the Saints was saintly 'when Adam was still between water and clay', whereas the other saints only became saints after having realized the conditions of saintliness, which are the assimilation of the Divine Qualities flowing from the aspect of God which are expressed by His Names, the Saint, the Adored (al-walî; al-hamîd, this latter indicating the prototype of the positive qualities of the created one). The Seal of the Messengers is connected, then, in respect of his saintliness, to the Seal of the Saints, in the same way as the other messengers and prophets are connected to him. For he is himself simultaneously the saint (al-walî), the messen­ger (ar-rasûl) and the prophet (an-nabî). As for the Seal of the Saints he is the saint, the heir, (al-wârith) who imbibes in the origin, the one who contemplates all ranks...

Let us come now to the gifts which flow from the Divine Names: the Mercy (rahmah) which God lavishes on His creatures runs wholly through the Divine Names: it is, on the one hand of pure mercy, like everything that is licit from nourishment and natural pleasures, and which is not tainted with blame at the day of resurrection (conforming to the Koranic word: 'Say, who then would render illicit the beauty which God manifested for His servants and the lawful things of nourishment; say: they are for those who believe, in this world, and will not be subject to reproach on the day of resurrection ...') - and it is these gifts which flow from the name ar-rahmân, - on the other hand of mercy which is mixed (with punishment), like medicine which is disagreeable to take, but which is followed by relief. Such are the Divine gifts, for God (in His personal or qualified aspect) never gives except through the intermediary of one of the guardians of the temple which are His Names. Thus, God sometimes gratifies the servant by mediation of the name the Compassionate (ar-rahmân), and it is then that the gift is free from any mixture which would be momentarily contrary to the nature of he who receives it, or which would contradict the intention or anything else (of the petitioner); sometimes, He gives by the mediation of the Name the Vast (al-wâsî), lavishing His gifts in a global manner, or He gives by the mediation of the Name of the Wise (al-hakîm) judging by that which is salutory (for the servant) at the given moment, or by the mediation of the Name of He who gives freely (al-wahhâb), giving that which is good without the one who receives it, by virtue of this Name, needing to compensate for it by actions of grace or merit: or He gives by the Name of He who establishes the order (al-jabbâr), considering the cosmic environment and that which is necessary to it, or by the Name of the Forgiver (al-­ghaffâr), considering the state of he who receives the forgiveness: if he finds himself in a state which deserves punishment, He protects him from this punishment, and if he finds himself in a state which would not deserve punishment He protects him from a state which would deserve it, and it is in this sense that the Servant (saint) is said to be protected or safeguarded from sin. The giver is always God, in the sense that it is He the treasurer of all possibilities and that He only produces according to a predestined measure and by the hand of a Name concerning that possibility. Thus, He gives to everything its own constitution by virtue of His name the Just (al-'adl) and of its brothers (like the Arbitrator: (al-hakam), He who rules: (al-wâlî), the Victori­ous: (al-qahhâr) etc.).

Although the Divine Names may be infinite as to their multitude - for one knows them by that which flows from them and which is equally unlimited - they are none the less reducible to a definite number of 'roots' which are the 'mothers' of the Divine Names or the (Divine) Presences integrating the Names. In truth, there is but one single essential Reality (haqîqah) which assumes all the relations and associations which one ascribes to it by the Divine Names. Now, this essential Reality causes each of these Names which manifest themselves indefinitely to contain an essential truth by which it distinguishes itself from the other Names; it is this distinctive truth, and not that which it has in common with the others, which is the proper determination of the Name. It is in the same way that the Divine gifts distinguish themselves one from another by their personal nature, although they come from the same source - it is moreover evident that this one is not that one - the reason being precisely the distinction of the Divine Names. Because of His infinity, there is in the Divine Presence abso­lutely nothing that repeats itself - and that is a fundamental truth.

This is the science of Seth, Peace on him! His spirit communicates it to all spirits whom He has proffered something, with the exception however of the spirit of the Seal which receives this knowledge directly from God, and not by the mediation of some other spirit; much more, it is from the Seal's own spirit that this knowledge flows to each spirit, even though each may not be conscious of it while it exists in corporal form. In its essential reality, and in its purely spiritual function, it knows, then, directly, all that it is ignorant of by its corporal constitu­tion. It is, then, at the same time knowing and ignorant, and one can attribute to it apparently contrary qualities, in the same way that its (Divine) principle, which is its very essence ('aynuh), is at once terrible and generous, the First and the Last. It knows then and it does not know, at the same time, it perceives and it does not perceive, it con­templates and yet does not contemplate.

It is by virtue of this science that Seth received his name which signifies the gift, that is to say the gift of God, for he holds the key of the divine gift according to the various ways and in all aspects. It is thus, because God made of Seth a present for Adam, and he was the first gratuitous gift that God made (that is to say the first gift that did not demand from he who received it some sort of compensation) and it is from Adam himself that it came, for the son is the secret reality of his generator; it is from him that he issues and to him that he returns, so he does not, then, befall to him like something unknown to him. It is this which will be understood by he who sees things from a Divine point of view. Moreover, every gift in the entire universe, is manifested according to this law: nobody receives something from God, (that is to say) nobody receives anything which does not come from himself, whatever may be the unpredictable variation of the forms. But few know this, some only of the initiated know this spiritual law. So if thou dost encounter anyone who knows it, thou mayest have confi­dence in him, for such a man is the pure quintessence and the chosen amongst the chosen of the spiritual men.

Every time that an intuitive person contemplates a form which communicates to him new knowledge which he had not been able previously to comprehend, this form will be an expression of his own essence ('ayn) and nothing unknown to him. It is from the tree of his own soul that he gathers the fruit of his culture, in the same way that his image, reflected by a polished surface is nothing but himself although the place of reflection - or the Divine Presence - which returns to him his own form, provokes the inversions following the essential Truth inherent in such a (Divine) Presence. [15] It is. thus that, in the case of a concrete mirror, it so happens that it reflects things according to their real proportions, the large as the large, the small as the small, the lying down as the lying down, the moving as movement, but also (following the constitution or following the perspective) it can reverse the proportions; in the same way it is possible that a mirror reflects things without the usual reversions, showing the right side of the contemplative from his right side, whereas generally the right side of the reflected image is found opposite the left side of he who is looking at himself; there can, therefore, be exceptions to the rule, like in the case where the proportions are reversed; and all that applies equally to the diverse ways of the (Divine) Presence, in which the revelation takes place (of the essential 'form' of the contemplative) and which we have compared to the mirror.

He who knows his pre-disposition, knows from himself what he will receive. On the other hand, he who knows what he receives does not necessarily know his pre-disposition, unless he knows it after having received, be it only in a global manner.

Certain thinkers, intellectually feeble, starting from the dogma that God does all that He wishes, have declared it admissible that God should act contrarily to principles and contrarily to that which is the Reality (al-amr) in itself (that is in its principial state - as if the mani­festation of God did not proceed from the possibilities eternally present in the Divine Being and in the Universal Intellect). From this, they have gone so far as to deny the possibility as such and to accept (as logical and ontological categories) only the absolute necessity (that is the very 'existence' of God) and the necessity through others (that is to say the relative necessity). But the wise man admits the possibility, of which he knows the ontological rank: obviously, possibility (as such) is not the possible (in the sense of that which could exist or could not exist) and how could it be so since it is essentially necessary because of a (prin­ciple) other than itself. But in the end, from whence then comes this distinction between it and its principle which makes it necessary (and by which it constitutes precisely a possibility of manifestation)? But nobody knows the distinction in question except those who know God!

It is in the traces of Seth that the last of the human species will be manifested; he will inherit the mysteries of Seth; there will be no other begotten after him, so that he will be the Seal of the begotten, (as Seth had been the first Saint). With him will be born a sister; she will emerge before him (whereas the first woman was manifested after the first man); and he will follow her, having his head at the feet of his sister. The place of his birth will be in China (the country furthest east); and he will speak the language of the country of his birth. At that time, sterility will spread throughout woman and man; so that there will be much cohabitation without generation. He will call the people to God, but there will be no response. When God has taken his spirit and He has taken the last believer of that time, those who survive will be like brutes, and they will not distinguish the licit from the illicit; they will react according to their purely natural inclinations, following desire, independently of reason and law; and it is on them that the last hour will rise.