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Mysticism, Sufism and Practical Spirituality

Muhammad Maroof Shahmarooof123@yahoo.comAll spirituality is either practical or it is not

spirituality. There is no such thing as religion sansspirituality. There is no abstract or purely speculative religionand mysticism. All religions talk about the earth from which theyarise. All religions have a way of transforming the world or atleast transforming our attitude to the world. There is nospirituality outside or in contradiction to religion, theassertion of libertine spiritualists notwithstanding. Suchstatements as samsara is nirvana/ The kingdom of God is withinus/This very Garden is the Garden of Eden/There is no differencebetween this world and the other world/ Eternity is in time –that occur across different traditions foreground the point thattraditional spiritual systems are meant for this world and thisworld is the place for the other world. The other world is thedepth of this world, the fifth dimension, so to speak of theotherwise four dimensional ordinary world. We may approach thequestion of spirituality in Islam by first defining Sufism sothat the key aspect of its worldly character comes to the fore.It will be seen that Sufism is a series of therapeutic measuresaimed at changing our habitual personality so that we get a newpersonality not crippled by alienation, angst etc. and realizethe highest potential of human spirit. What is urgent for all ofus is our conquest of suffering and alienation and gettingproximity to divine presence, to be true to our theomorphicnature, to partake of the great treasures of the spirit. Lifeasks all of us some very fundamental existential questions andwisdom lies in seeking to deal with them at individual level. Wenow see how Sufism takes up these fundamental existential

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questions. We shall particularly though not exclusively focus onIbn Arabi as we explore these questions.

What is Sufism?

In one word it is transformation. It is seeing the world ina new light bathed in new glory. It is seeing through God’s eyes.Spirituality in Islam is not escapism. Is involves taking theworld seriously and even attempting to change it. Sufism ismetaphysical, esoteric, universal, integral, supraindividual,supraformal, comprehensive, unconditioned perspective ordimension of the Quran) It is the essence of exoteric,theological, juristic, anthropomorphic, individual, limiting,formal, sentiment affected religion which is constituted bysha’ria.

To be a Muslim is to strive for husn (beauty and perfection)in every act and to strive to live in constant awareness of Godas the famous sacred tradition called hadisi Jibriel states. Thus aMuslim is one who strives for perfection as demanded by faith.

There is an interesting and suggestive definition in ancientPersian dictionary: Sufi chest, Sufi sufist. “Who is a Sufi? A Sufi is aSufi.” This definition would be rejected as tautological by manyscholars especially the Westerners. In fact the Western logicalpropositional framework will be hard put to make sense of thisdefinition. Great Sufi masters have explained the fundamentalterm by means of poetic approach. It is a matter of realizationnot conceptualization. It is a matter of heart and not mind. Itis something to be tasted rather than debated. Sufism is “loveaffair with the Absolute.”

In Sufi perspective Ultimate Reality or God becomesaccessible only when ego disappears in ‘fana’. Then only can Godspeak. Thought must be transcended to commune with the Reality(Al-Haqq) because conceptual intellect divides & posits dualism ofsubject & object. “I” must be annihilated in fana so that one

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mirrors Existence or God. Ego divides part from the whole, manfrom Existence or Divine Environment. So Sufi insistence on fanais a pro-environmental move. When one claims nothing over &against Existence or Reality or God & submits one’s will tocosmic will or will of Existence or God’s will, real harmony isachieved. The fall of man is because of rise of separativeconsciousness that insists on living outside Divine Environmentthat is paradise. The Sufi has no name, no separate consciousness& therefore no identity. He wears God-given cloak & that whythere is none besides God in Sufi’s cloak. Ideally Sufi can’t becharacterized or named. That is where Sufism resists definition.To define is to limit, to exclude, to set apart, to give someidentity. In Sufi view God seeing Himself in the mirror & Godknowing Himself through God is what Irfan is really. There is nosubject who experiences God because that means duality. Only Godis-there is none besides God. Neither experiences nor experiencedis there; only pure experience is there. God is the actualwitness (Shahid) who declares Islamic Shahadah. Only God is & Godis infinite, All-Possibility thus totally inclusive reality.Nothing exists besides Him. And God is Truth, Beauty, Goodness,Light, Knowledge, Perfection. And the Sufi is one who realizesall this. And that is why he blesses the whole existence, as Godblesses it. Thus division between self & non self, man & nature,man & divinity isn’t real as the Sufi realizes doctrine of unityor tawhid. No environmentalist could go so far. The Suficelebrates universe as theophany & epiphany of God.

Sufism is an experience. It is prelinguistic orparalinguistic apprehension or perception. It is just awakenedstate, a state of attention. One becomes a mirror reflectingReality. It is a state of pure awareness. The Sufi by virtue ofmystic experience gets transported into a state where speechcomes without words. He is utterly silent and thus in silencesare all questions answered. There are no questions and thus no

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need of answer as the very questioning self is transcended,deconstructed.

Sufism on Silence

In the age that following Nietzsche is more or less post-metaphysical the only metaphysics possible is what may be calledas the metaphysics of silence that has been characteristicallythe via negative of traditional mysticism. It describes theundifferentiated Absolute, the God beyond God or Godhead, theBeyond-Being or Non-Being or the Supraformal Essence. Herelanguage and all representational stratagems fail. Here even thenegative theology is not smart enough to do justice to the DivineDarkness, the Void, the Nameless Nothing. To quote just twostatements of Sufis: Be silent that the Lord who gave thee language may speak. 

RumiThe furthest from God among the devotees are those who speak

the most of him. Bistami

The silence of the Buddha on fourteen metaphysical questions isthe religious answer to all of them and Sufis too stand forsomething similar. The Prophet of Islam has also explicitlyforbidden discussion on the Essence. This implies Islam, likeBuddhism, is focused on practical problems and has not much to dowith pure speculative exercises. Islam’s emphasis on orthopraxyis especially noted by Sufis who have expressly discouraged meretheoretical debates on religion and emphasized realization ofsuch fundamental articles as kalima.The Sufi grants that one can't know the Truth in itsabsoluteness by the signs. He denies the seeker so only Truthremains. Both knower and known disappear and only the pureexperience of knowing remains. The Sufi is a watcher or purewitness. He allows existence or Reality or Truth (Real is

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equated with Truth in the East and Islam though not in the Westand Truth isn’t reduced to property of propositions also in theEast) to speak, having surrendered/transcended himself. Hebecomes a hollow bamboo, a flute on which God plays the notes. Insilence is revealed the treasure that God is. This silence isbecause one can't speak with human tongue of the Ineffable, ofthe Unconditioned. Absolute has never been defiled by humanspeech as Ramakrishna has said. How could it be? Since nothinganswers the question what is It as Jili says one has to besilent. Of what one can’t speak one should be silent.

Sufism vis-à-vis (Post)Modernity

Modernity and post modernity have been negatively conditionedagainst traditional claims of religion. They have reacted againsta wrong conception of religion, against reduction of religion toan ideology. It is religion taken as a metanarrative, a system,an ideology explaining things, as theology’s talking of theotherworld or eternity at the cost of this world and time here-now, elaborate creedal formula coached in terms of propositionsprivileging the religious as distinct from or opposite to thesecular, bypassing or opposing the realm of Manifestation orNature so as to cultivate God consciousness, as parallel systemof cognitive truths to which science must conform, asexclusionist marginalizing discourse, as some theory about theworld towards which (post)modernity has reservations. It is(exoteric) theology’s logical, rational character and its pre-occupation with theological/ metaphysical abstractions that havenothing to do with our immediate concern, with here-now or thismoment or our existential concerns, that postmodernism subverts.Sufism’s escapes these criticisms because it foregrounds living,existential, concrete facets of life and addresses seriousproblems quite effectively as the paper shows. What looks

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abstract, esoteric and mystifying otherwise is made to look quitenatural and simple.

Sufism squarely faces nihilism that is implied in thepostmodernist rejection of idolatry, in the denial of allrelative truths, in the denial of self or ego that exists in itsown right. Sufism denies that there is any meaning in the world,any bliss in things finite, any beauty in the phenomenal or theperishable. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity in Sufiperspective. Everything perishes. All relative meanings,relative truths are denied as only Absolute is absolute. The Sufitranscends all the worlds, all time dependent thoughtconstructions.

The Sufi “vision” transcends all seeing, all imagining, allvisualising, all constructions of thought and thus allperspectives on Reality. The Sufi doesn’t talk about Reality orGod but talks Reality or God. He transcends the realm of “about”which theology is unable to do. That is why the Sufi doesn’tneed to interpret and wrangle about the question ofinterpretation. He isn’t caught up in the textual world at all.He lives truth, is truth. He doesn’t need mediation of language.He is pure awareness, prereflective prelinguistic awareness. Hehas become a mirror as mind and separating principle of thoughthas disappeared. The Seer and seen has disappeared and onlyseeing is there. Language doesn’t enter here. No metaphysics ofpresence is there. No centralism. The Sufi is centered in Godand thus in Nothingness or Void. God being not the name of athing, a person, an entity and substance, a being, among otherbeings. God is Reality, Isness in wahdatul wajudi (which is notsynonymous with pantheism as it emphasizes transcendence of Godunequivocally) perspective. He is Pure Consciousness. He eludesall apprehension. One can well say He is not because Nothing isnaught, blank, void to the conceptual intellect. Nothing is likeHim. He signifies, in a way, impossibility of all signification.Nothing can describe Him. We shall elaborate this theme of

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unknowability of Absolute and vanity of all reasoning to show howSufism escapes (and corrects in turn) postmodern agnosticism)critique.

To the most fundamental question regarding the why ofexistence Sufism has an answer that converges with the positionof postmodernism. The last word is for the Mystery, impenetrablemystery at the heart of existence. The Sufis’ characteristichumility and tolerance could well be traced to this fundamentalassertion about the unknowability of the Real in discursiveterms. The Sufis often quote the Prophet’s tradition (which evenif not authentic expresses something which plainly follows fromthe Quranic emphasis on divine transcendence) “God is a hiddentreasure.” Absolute in itself has really never manifested andcan't manifest. It remains unknowable. The Absolute in itsabsoluteness is Nameless and It has no signs by which It can beapproached. It is beyond all perception, conception andimagination. No qualification or relation (even such a categoryas existence) can be attributed to It for It even transcendstranscendence. No linguistic category can describe It. It livesin permanent abysmal darkness and is ‘‘the most unknown of allthe unknowns”. It is Gayyibul-gayyib. None can have, in principle,access to It. The Pure Absolute or Essence (Dhat) in itsfundamental aspect is beyond the insatiable human quest and allattempts to reach It, track it, pinpoint it, catch It in the netof language or realm of the finite or time, to conceptualize It,to imagine It, to speak about It, to affirm anything of It aredoomed. Before the Ipseity or Dhat one can only be bewildered asKhaja Gulam Farid says “Where to seek! Where to find You Friend.All the fiery creatures, human beings, forces of Nature and theentire world is amazingly drowned in the sea of bewilderment.The Sufis, devotees, men of wisdom and learning have ultimatelylost. Arshi and Bistami while embracing each other cry in vain…saints, prophets, mystics, poles and even messengers and deities

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incarnate proclaim weepingly that He is beyond the reach ofvision. Scientisits, erudites, gnostics and professionals in allhumaility have admittedly resigned. Ask Farid naive and simple:where do you find.” 1 Essence (Dhat) in its fundamental aspect –and thus Meaning/Truth/ Presence/ Identity/ Reality per se – isbeyond the human quest. God is “an unattainable ideal, a hopelessquest” as Whitehead wrote in his Science and the Modern World.  Beforethe Ipseity or Dhat one can only be bewildered according to Ibn‘Arabî. The world is ultimately a Mystery, a Mystery of Mysteriesand no rational or scientific approach could finally andcompletely demystify it. The world will never cease to be anobject of wonder and fascination and Beauty never cease to beworshipped or sought or God glorified. Man must travelceaselessly as love will never be satiated and man’s quest forthe Absolute will have no full stop in all eternity. Artists,scientists, mystics, philosophers and lovers shall never be outof business. Rationalization, familiarization, demystificationand descaralization of the world that ultimately makes itinhuman, alienating and absurd and disrespectful towards theenvironment can’t happen in the Akbarian perspective that seesone essence and divine face in everything. Ibn 'Arabî says inRisâlat al-Anwâr "You should know that man has been on the journeyever since God brought him out of non-being into being.” The goalis not reached. For it is “the unspeakable, the impossible, theinconceivable” as Stace would say.2 The goal is only glimpsed,sensed, and then lost. Meaning or Truth is never grasped in itsfullness. It ever recedes. Truth escapes all our searching. Wecan have a vision of it, rather a faint glimpse of it through thephenomena which are His symbols. Knowing God is realizing that Hein his essence can’t be known.“Gnosis is the realization of thyignorance when His knowledge comes” as Junaid has said.3

The postmodernist only sees the fact of our ignorance andnothing dispels his darkness because he chooses to be blind by

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denying that we can go outside language and history or discourseand thus intuition is denied especially by Derrida. Since allcontradictory truths are unified in the Truth as al-Jili says oneneedn’t despair and be a skeptic. Postmodernist rightly sees thefact that logic or reason (Aristotelian) is wooden legged andbedeviled by contradictions. But the Sufi though acknowledgesthis would unify all contradictions in Truth and celebrate life’scontradictions, its mystery, its transcendence of logic andreason. The gnostic sees by means of God Himself as Sarraj saysand since God by definition is Truth so the Sufi sees Truth (orour inability from human perspective to see the Truth) and seesit whole, undiluted, directly. The Quran denies man knowledge ofTruth as long as he remains a self, a separate subject.Exclusivist totalizing attitude is rejected by the Quran in thesewords: “Over every possessor of knowledge is one more knowing.”So we must all acknowledge our ignorance and let other speak aspostmodernists would have it. Whoso sees God transcends bothspeech and silence, as Niffari has said.4 Since “All are one,both the visible and the invisible” as Shabistari says.5 Thecharges of dualism, binary thinking, marginalization andexclusivism can't be labelled on Sufism. Oneness andundifferntiatedness of Being and emphasis on the subject’sinability to know the highest Principle or Absolute appropriatesall possible problematization by deconstructionists. The Sufi isone who has put duality away and sees two worlds as one. One heseeks, knows, sees and calls as Rumi tells us. Even the binary oftruth and falsehood, good and evil are transcended in Sufivision. “Since I have known God, neither truth nor falsehood hasentered my heart” as Abu Hafs Haddad said.6 This is because theSufi is in a state where neither good nor evil entereth as AbuYazid says.7

The problem for postmodern man is how to reject nihilism.Mistrust in the ability of rational thought or rational

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metaphysics in the context of God, insistence on the ultimateunknowability or ungraspability of the Real/writing, a positiveappraisal of "confusion" as a genuine means of "breaking through"to the Other/Real beyond our metaphysical constrictions, infiniteimpossibility of the text and disbelief in the autonomoussubstantiality of the self are some of the common points betweenIbn ‘Arabî and Derrida, the key postmodern figure as Ian Almondhas noted in his study titled Sufism and Deconstruction. It appearsthat postmodernism questions idols of thought and rationalphilosophies only to leave us in an agnosticism where nothing iscertain, nothing holy, nothing true, nothing worthy, nothingdependable. Ibn ‘Arabî, on the contrary, traveling farther andfarther on the road of negation, is able ultimately to access theReal and bring the joyful news of infinite riches that are hiddenin It. He finds nothing but God’s face in all directions, in allplaces. He celebrates everything that there is. For him allexperiences are to be treasured because they lead us greater andgreater knowledge of God. For him life is a revelation of theReal which is made of the substance of joy and therefore is acarnival of lights. God is, in one mystic’s sweet phrase, “theGreat Sweetness.” Richard Rolle saw mystic communion as thesoul’s participation in a supernal harmony – that sweetminstrelsy of God in which “thought into song is turned.” Ifeverything is a veritable theophany and thus epiphany for IbnArabi what else than bliss or Ananda would describe hisessentially aesthetic appropriation of Reality?

In his inclusive perspective the binaries of action andcontemplation, grace and self effort, invocation and resignationor acceptance of divine will, religious and secular or sacred andprofane, knowledge and faith, men and women, soul and body,matter and consciousness, good and evil, truth and error,guidance and misguidance, philosophy and metaphysics, theologyand philosophy, symbol and history, myth and fact and the like

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appear as complementary polarities rather than as opposites aswould follow from his nondualism which means transcendence ofbinaries or unification of polarities. In fact his logic is notthe Aristotelian logic of either/or but the Eastern logic ofpolarities. The problems of dualist philosophies and theologiesare dissolved in the grand Unity of Being, the vision of the Onewhich is coincidentia oppositorum. The Akbarian perspective becomesinclusive because it is based on intellectual intuition whichsynthesizes rather than analyzes, and thus becomes universal asit foregrounds supraformal, supraindividual, metaphysical andesoteric instead of the limiting exoteric theological which isanthropomorphic, individual, formal and sentiment affected. It islove/knowledge/reality/mercycentric which are all integrating oruniversalizing entities. It sees Reality as Beauty that everyonewillingly worships (God catches most people through the net ofbeauty as Plato says). He advocates a sort of perspectivism whichimplies epistemological pluralism that vetoes totalizingnarratives and allows every possible angle on infinite facedreality. He embodies the perspective of “judge not” that Jesusadvocated. He appropriates the conceptions of negative divinewhich is the hallmark of Buddhism and positive divine which isthe hallmark of Islam and Judaism. Everyone can be heard as everypath is a straight path in its own way. His integral spiritualityappropriates all the traditional paths to God, all the basicforms of yoga – bhaktic , jnanic and karmic.

The Akbarian perspective becomes inclusive because it isbased on intellectual intuition which synthesizes rather thananalyzes, and thus becomes universal as it foregroundssupraformal, supraindividual, metaphysical and esoteric insteadof the limiting exoteric theological which is anthropomorphic,individual, formal and sentiment affected. It islove/knowledge/reality/mercycentric which are all integrating oruniversalizing entities. It sees Reality as Beauty that everyonewillingly worships (God catches most people through the net of

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beauty as Plato says). He advocates a sort of perspectivism whichimplies epistemological pluralism that vetoes totalizingnarratives and allows every possible angle on infinite facedreality. He embodies the perspective of “judge not” that Jesusadvocated. He appropriates the conceptions of negative divinewhich is the hallmark of Buddhism and positive divine which isthe hallmark of Islam and Judaism. Everyone can be heard as everypath is a straight path in its own way. His integral spiritualityappropriates all the traditional paths to God, all the basicforms of yoga – bhaktic , jnanic and karmic.

He speaks for all men – nay for all creatures – as theystand as he is an “unlimited mercifier.” He vindicates man quaman without feeling any need to qualify him with this or thatattributes or predicate as he sees God vindicated and His planbeing worked out this very moment by everyone. Addas aptly statesthe Akbarian view:

Because all men worship God whether they know it or not, becauseit is the Sigh of the Merciful who has brought them intoexistence, because each of them bears within him the imprint ofone of the infinitely multiple Faces of the One, it is to eternalbliss that they have been and are being guided from the beginningof eternity.8

Ibn ‘Arabî gives the most universal definition of Muhammadanwhere this becomes

not a designation of a particular historical community but thevery name of universality and perfection. It is the name of astation, theoretically available to everyone, attainable to theselect few who travel on and on, perfectly realizing all stationsuntil he arrives at the station of no station in which one hasnothing of one’s own and therefore mirrors the Real mostperfectly and is not defined by any particular divine name orattribute but brings together all standpoints or stations.9

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His universalism is also seen in his view of man as an endrather than a means to an end and that explains his statement inthe Fusūs which cuts at the root of all ideologies that justifykilling in ideological battles (Jihad is primarily in selfdefence and against oppressors of all kinds without regard totime or place or creed of the oppressor). He says: “Thepreservation of the human species should have a much greaterimportance than religious bigotry, with its consequentdestruction of human souls, even when it is for the sake of Godand the maintenance of the law.” This is because killing man isto cut off manifestation of God in him and his futuredescendents. This doesn’t take away the right to defend oneselfagainst those who unjustly wish to cut this manifestation.

Approaching from the gnostic rather than the voluntaristicperspective the Akbarian “mysticism of infinity” shows how in ourdenial of truth we nonetheless affirm it – a curved path too is astraight path (more precisely we don’t need to travel at all onany path, to think of taking the straight path is to wronglyimagine a distance between the Real and its “children” which weare) – we are always equally close/distant from the center calledGod/Reality. All things are on the straight path upon even if itdeviates for, as Ibn 'Arabī says in the Futūhāt: “… curvature isstraight in reality, like the curvature of a bow since thestraightness which is desired from it is curvature … and allmovement and rest in existence is divine because it is in thehand of the Real.”10 Akbarian views converge with suchconceptions as Jaina theory of Syadvada and postmodern distrustof metanarratives and system-making and deconstruction of pseudo-absolutes and centrisms as he formulates his notion of hairah andpersonal lord and ultimate mysteriousness andunknowabilty/inaccesibility at a rational-empirical plane of theEssence of which everything is the manifestation or symbol. Thisis a vision of spiritual democracy too profound to be assimilated

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for even the most catholic and tolerant of theologies. Heingenious reinterpretation of key terms of exclusion such askafir, fajir, zalim shows his catholicity. Even Satan is ultimatelyno outsider. How can there be any exclusion or marginalization ina perspective of complete nondualism Adopting basicallymetaphysical instead of religious perspective allows him totranscend dogmatic exclusivism that has traditionally beenassociated with religious perspective and in fact all exclusivismbased on anything less than Absolute and there is nothing whichis Absolute. With him the question is of man and his happiness orfelicity and traditional religion, if properly read, is a meansto that end rather than an end in itself in the name of which mencould be divided or killed. His concerns are basicallyexistential and thus universal to which everyone could relate. Hesubmits to Truth only (that is his definition of a Muslim) andTruth is his only God, much in the manner of Gandhi whoemphasized the Vedantic equation of Sat with Brahman. He findsTruth/ Reality of the substance of Joy and one with man and thatis the good news he brings to the despairing nihilistic world. Hehas ultimately no dogmas to preach except openness to the realitywithout any imposition from conjectural self or mind. He bringsthe glad tidings that the world is indeed our home or we are theworld and we are loved and Love is the be all and end all of allexistence, all endeavors. The Real is, it can’t and needn’t befound or searched – rather it finds us. Wherever one turns thereis the face of God as the Quran puts it and Ibn ‘Arabî reiteratestime and again. Realizing this one becomes a flute and God theflute player. A love affair with the Real commences and oneenjoys orgasm with the whole universe. This overwhelming desirefor love can’t stop at any human substitute as the Tarjumannarrates.

Ibn ‘Arabî’s perfect man is open to all forms, to infinitedisclosures of God which change every instant. He lives moment to

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moment as he is abdul waqt, the servant of the Instant. For him,as for Zen, ultimately, there is no distinction between theimmediate and the ultimate and there is no goal as such, eachstep is the goal, each moment is the goal. A blade of grass isinwardly the Absolute. There is no particular or exclusive way tosalvation because all ways are already blessed. There is no needof salvation because all alienation or bondage is reallyillusory. All are saved; all are embraced by God because none hasever left God or the Garden of Eden except in his imagination.And it is that cursed mind and imagination which is the bane ofman. Man needs to be saved because he suffers from the delusionthat he needs to be saved. God is loving enough (Wadud) andstrong enough to overcome all resistance on the part of man andwilly nilly arranges his return to Himself

Sufism and Metaethical Transcendence

Here surfaces the vital question regarding Sufi ethics. Here afew quotes from Ibn ‘Arabî, the greatest representative of wajudiSufism, are in order to present him as a great ethicalphilosopher. I quote some of his maxims which speak volumes aboutsubtlety and profundity of his ethical thought which aligns himwith the great tradition of ethics represented in both Semiticand nonSemitic traditions. The following are from The Mantle ofInitiation and the last two are from his Book of Spiritual Advice.

Do not condemn any of those addicted to carnal appetitesfor their lusts; Do not urge leadership upon anyone; Donot hold down your children to serve your own interests;Take no joy in a reputation flattering to yourselfspreading among the general public, even if you deserveit.

Care nothing for the ignorance of him who does not knowyour worth; rather, it is not seemly that there be anysense of your worth even in your own eyes.

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Have no desire that people should listen to your speech. Be not anxious to give answer to anything displeasing

said about you. Be content with [God’s] Decree not necessarily with each

thing decreed, but, rather, with its Decree itself. Andreceive with joy whatever may come from Him.

Do favors for both friend and foe, treating all alikewith humility, gentleness and long-suffering.

Pardon the one who has harmed you, that is, do not evendefend yourself [from harm].

Looking down upon the ‘ordinary people’ (al-‘awâmm) inrelation to the (spiritual) ‘elite’, in the sense ofcomparing this particular individual with that individual—such as (comparing the famous mystic) Hasan al-Basrîwith Hasan ibn Hâni’ (the scandalous poet Abû Nuwâs)—can’t be relied upon.

In general, you should hold a good opinion of everyone,and your heart should be at peace with them.

The following famous passage is a particularly detailed andimportant expression of traditional Sufi understanding which isalso the central message of all integral traditions asCoomaraswamy and other masters of traditions formulate it. Hereis the basis for ethics on which all traditions are united i.e.,transcendence of lower self to subsist in the divine self. Hereis his formulation of the theory and objective of mysticaldiscipline. Here is also a manifesto for coexistence oftraditions or plurality of modes of experiencing or relating tothe divine.

Now you must know that if a human being (al-insān) renounces their(own personal) aims, takes a loathing to their animal self (nafs)and instead prefers their Sustainer/Teacher (rabb), then the Realwill give (that human being) a form of divine guidance inexchange for the form of their carnal self... so that they walk

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in garments of Light. And (this form) is the sharī‘a of theirprophet and the Message of their messenger. Thus that (humanbeing) receives from their Lord what contains their happiness –and some people see (this divine guidance) in the form of theirprophet, while some see it in the form of their (spiritual)state.

Ibn ‘Arabî says in The Kernel of the Kernel “You will be all when youmake nothing of yourself.” This is the golden rule that allows toknow all truths and achieve all perfections and absolutecertainty. Modern man, especially the academician, thephilosopher of religion, the phenomenologist is more interestedin speculation about Truth or God or neutral “objective” idleinquiry than without being prepared to sell everything includingthe dearest self, as Jesus would say, or make nothing of himselffor the sake of Truth. That explains why there is so muchknowledge and so little wisdom today and why he is farther fromGod and nearer to dust. It is only by becoming nothing, byabsolute detachment or poverty of spirit that one can attain thecentral point, the still centre of existence where lasting peaceand felicity lie. The Friend doesn’t tolerate duality as Ibn‘Arabî reminds us and comes to live in the sanctuary of aperfectly polished mirror of the heart.

However it must be noted that Sufism also speaks for thesage, the perfect man, the man of the moment (ibn-ul waqt) who ischaracterized by innocence of becoming and transcendence of goodand evil and perfect spontaneity of which Zen and Taoism soemphatically speak and is not guilty of the modern heresy ofmoralism. Postmodern probematization of ethics and modernscientific discoveries implicating relativism of morals can’tproblematize Akbarian Sufi position as he too, like Nietzsche’sZarathustra, speaks from the high mountains of the Spirit whichtranscends all actions, good or evil. There is no such thing asvirtue and sin (and thus moral evil) at the deepest level. Moralevil appears so from the perspective of law only which is not

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necessarily the same thing at the plane of haqiqah. God is beyondgood and evil and so is the sage. Transcendence of good/evildualism is a thesis shared by traditional mystical figures.Nietzsche’s superman, as Coomaraswamy points out, exemplifiesthis mystical thesis rather than any heterodox conception. Infact modern relativism poses hardly a problem in Ibn ‘Arabî ’sperspective and it is subsumed in the higher absolutist view ofSufism without denying its (relative) truth at a certain plane.In fact metaphysical-esoteric perspective of Ibn ‘Arabîdistinguishes itself from all kinds of moralisms and inadequateabsolutisms (based on absolutizing something less than theAbsolute) and ideologies to which modernity has succumbed andpostmodernism has questioned.

The issue of sage’s or Sufi’s being beyond good and evil(metaethical transcendence) has been misunderstood by its criticsas implying rejection of law and ethics while as the fact is thatmystics alone in the history of religion have shown exemplarymoral character as they have transcended the desiring self ornafsi amara which incites one to evil. Only good comes from themystic because he has transcended the plane of mind, of desiringself which chooses and is caught up in the net of time ordesires. His hands have become God’s hands and God acts throughhim, so to speak. The binary of time and Eternity too istranscended as one term of the binary (time) though acknowledgedat its own level is nevertheless transcended “Eternal andtemporal are not separate from one another/For in that Being thisnon-existent has its being.” The Sufis place is placeless andhis trace traceless. So what can you say of him. “Whencontemplation is firmly established, there is no differencebetween this world and the next” as Hujwiri says.11.The Sufi’stongue flaggeth after irfan. As Rumi says, “Be silent that thelord who gave thee language may speak.”12 Bistami has madesimilar point “The furthest from God among the devotees are thosewho speak the most of him.”13 The concept of negative divine in

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mysticism is expression of the fact that Existence refuses to bedemystified. God or existence can't be known. Thus we seeSufism transcending postmodern position while appropriating itscritique of philosophy, reason and the like. It sees God in anage where conventional theology knows nothing of Him andpostmodern theology declares him dead. Sufism could be never beso relevant as now when finality of interpretation, intolerance,exclusivism, dogmatism, fundamentalisms and totalizingmetanarratives has plagued the world.

Metaphysical-esoteric perspective of Sufis like Ibn‘Arabî distinguishes itself from all kinds of moralisms andinadequate absolutisms (based on absolutizing something less thanthe Absolute) and ideologies to which modernity has succumbed andpostmodernism has questioned. For Ibn Arabi human evaluations andcategories of good and evil are purely arbitrary and based onself interest. They are projections based on anthropocentricism.The revealed law designates as evil something which isnevertheless approved by the more primordial Divine Will. HereIbn ‘Arabî’s position converges with Spinoza’s view and easilyappropriates various arguments for ethical relativism.Everything, every creature, is under the tuition and influence ofdivine decree. Everything happens in accordance with archetypalconstitution or possibilities. God’s Goodness can’t be affectedby what is taken to be evil in the creation which is acquired bythe things/individuals as per their preparedness. Like Eckhart heprovides one of the most convincing formulations of theodicywhich resists standard modern critiques as he approaches theissue metaphysically and it is primarily at a theological planethat the problem arises.

Sufism and Affirmative Transcendence

Most of the traditional religions, especially in theirexoteric formulations, for reasons quite understandable, havetaken the negative view of the world. They do not see the world

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as an instrument of arriving at the soteriological goal but as animpediment. The negative view concerning materiality leads to thedevelopment of various means, both the conceptual and practicalfor transcending the given, that which has name and form. It isTantricism among the Indian religious traditions and Islamamongst the Semitic religions that have, however, taken a quiteaffirmative view of world and see it as an instrument of arrivingat the final goal. They see it as a support for contemplation.The body is not seen as a burden that has somehow to be thrown ofimpure or illusory but as something fashioned by God, as a seat,a vehicle and medium for spirit. Islamic-Tantric ontologysituates itself the ascetic negative ontology of certain othertraditions which thinks that material substances, including thebody can never enable one to have the experience of eternal blisswhich is gained through the process of negation. In Islam allpleasurable experiences are celebrated as gifts from heaven.Islam rejects traditional soul-body dualism and takes thematerial world as symbol (ayat) of God. Purusa-Prakiti dualism seenin Sankhya-yoga is challenged by Tantricism. Islam sees the worldas charged with the grandeur of God. It only asks to seeeverything temporal in the light of Eternity, with the eyes ofGod or what is called as being a witness. Choiceless awareness iswhat seeing with the aarif’s eyes is. Zikr is geared towardsdeveloping that contemplative vision. Inward turning that Sufismcultivates is not opposed to lawful enjoyment of senses.Detachment or poverty – the virtue emphasized by Islam is notidentical with renunciation and shutting of senses. For IslamMuhammad symbolizes the positivity of the world of manifestation.Muslims are enjoined to bless the prophet and that means blessingthe existence. Tawhid understood metaphysically implies onenessof existence. The whole world is an enchanted grarden, areflection of the Edence Garden, a veritable sanctuary, a mosque,a theophany. It is God’s visible face (az-Zahir). This world is ameans to cultivate the other world as a prophetic tradition (Ad-

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dunya-u-manzraul akhira) testifies. Islam consecrates the world ofmatter rather than dismisses it as illusory or seductivetemptress. Islam, like Tantrism does not see any contradictionbetween the pleasures of the body and the soteric liberationIslam believes that Eternity can be won here and now and takes avery affirmative view of time. God is smiling in every flower.For Islam the world unveils God. Things are metaphysicallytransparent. The contemplative, the gnostic (the term is hereused in the primordial and non-sectarian sense) seeing with theeyes of God, sees the essences. The noumenal world wears thegarments of the phenomenal. For the sage every flower ismetaphysically the proof of the infinite as Schuon says. TheBuddhist declaration samsara is nirvana is taken to its logicaldevelopment by Tantrism. Islam too affirms this assertion.Tantric celebration of the world of matter reflects themetaphysical view that the world is the extension (Prasara) oremission (visarga) of the Absolute. The world is real beinggrounded in the Absolute. Islam, like Saivism and Tantrism,forgrounds positive divine unlike Hinduism and Buddhism. Allah’spersonal dimension is much foregrounded in the Quran. All thishas direct consequence in affirmation of human individuality.Dynamism inherent in the Islamic conception of deity is reflectedalso in Islam’s eulogization of change as sign of God. Islam seestime as a moving image of Eternity of God. Like Tantrism whichinterprets the non-dual Absolute in terms of I-consciousnessIslamic theism looks at Reality in personal terms. Sufism, eventhough sharing a Unitarian (or monistic) metaphysics has producedintensely devotional poetry that takes God as a Person, theBeloved with whom the over communes. Sufi and Tantric absolutismsare theistic because the Absolute is predicated with such powersas will, knowledge and action. Islamic and Tantric theisms findbest expression in their idea of liberation. They do not look atliberation as an escape from life in the world. “I” consciousnessexpresses itself through its energetic powers, in the form of the

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subject, means of experience and the object of experience at allthe levels of existence. Saivism and Tantrism have taken bipolarview of the Absolute the couple of Siva and Sakti. The dynamicaspect implies an affirmative view of the world.

Islamic aesthetics based and God’s beauty and Suficelebration of nature of earthy symbols of the Beloved, thehaunting music of Sufi verse and beauty of Islamic architectureall are the feast of senses Islamic metaphysics gives importantplace to God as Jameel (Beautiful). Sufis have been criticizedfor venerating earthly beauty of women and young boys. IbnArabi’s case had caused a scandal. From the Sufi metaphysicalviewpoint God is the real enjoyer of all experience. He is theonly Beauty that there is. He is Bliss. The vision of God is akind of highest aesthetic pleasure so Sufis take almost a Tantricview of pleasure (bhoga). The Quran records a statement “who hasforbidden the good things of the world?” Islam has not forbiddenmeat and rejected asceticism. ‘Affirmative transcendence” is thusas characteristic of Islam as it is a Saivism, especially TantricSaivism. Islam, like Tantrism, true to its Unitarian metaphysics,does not maintain dualism of the sacred and the profane, betweenthe temporal and the eternal, between God and the world. It isdue to impure dualistic perception or lack of spiritual knowledgethat differentiation as opposites are experienced at theempirical level. Every phenomenal entity is the sacred icon ofthe Absolute. Nothing is really unlawful for the one who hastranscended the dichotomy of poison and sugar as Rumi has said. Arealized person is no longer under any kind of bondage. Hediscovers law within and does not feel it as being imposed fromwithout as Iqbal has also noted.14

Religion asks man to be natural, to be true to his nature, tobe ordinary and as Zen Buddhism puts it “samsara is nirvana.” Islamrepeatedly emphasizes its natural – all too natural character. TheSage – in Taoism is above all the wholly natural man. The aim ofthe Sage is to be in harmony with his own nature for through this

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harmony comes harmony with men and this harmony is itself thereflection of harmony with God. The aim of spiritual man is tocontemplate nature and become one with it, to become ‘natural.’Religion is innocence of becoming. Religion intends to de-alienateman, to help him to be himself. God has to be existentiallyexperienced, discovered within the depth of our being or self.There is no beyond, no remote realm of being or no otherworldlydestination, in the pursuit of which one is asked to leave thisworld. “We live and move and have our being in God” as St. Paulput it. Heaven is won only in and through this world. This worldis the ground or soil on which the tree of hereafter grows. Nirvanamust be won here, every moment. God has to be remembered withevery breath. Nothing is profane, all is holy ground. Thefollowing words of Iqbal show this “secular” theological spirit ofall true religion “There is no such thing as a profane world. Allthis immensity of matter constitutes a scope for the self-realization of spirit. All is holy ground…… The spirit finds itsopportunities in the natural, the material, the secular. All that

is secular is, therefore sacred in the roots of its being.”15 Ibn ‘Arabî strongly maintains inseparability of the corporeal

and the spiritual in the human being. For him the world of matteris not profane or cursed as it as it is the “Breath of theCompassionate,” an effect of divine mercy on the inexistentthings. It is essential to the realization of Spirit. Derivingeverything by applying first principles or seeing them as anexpression of divine names and attributes he is logically is ledto celebrate the body at both the macrocosmic and microcosmiclevels and argues that the Universal Body is the first determinantof cosmic principles of arithmetic, geometry, and music. It is infact the matrix for all corporeal entities in the known universe.He champions the view of affirmative transcendence. Catering torights of both the individual and the society, contemplation andaction he interprets retreat (khalwa) which asceticism and

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monasticism in different traditions advocates in such a way thatit becomes quite compatible with active social or worldly life orjalwat which is emphasized by world-affirming socially conscioustraditions such as Islamic and Chinese traditions. His view ofsexuality and women also illustrate his view of affirmativetranscendence. He sees in sexual union a prototype of theexperience of fana though he insists that what is required is towitness God in woman, which he sees as the grandest and the mostcomplete contemplation, because it is a witnessing of God as actorand acted-upon simultaneously (Fusūs). Sexual union is a form ofcontemplation, a foretaste of paradise as Ghazali also believed,and if carried with full awareness can lead to higher states ofconsciousness, an assertion that finds full expression inTantricism and Kashmir Shaivism. The body is a theophany and thusthe temple of God. Passion and desire are ultimately from God anddirected to Him. There is nothing profane in itself. All actionsare ultimately authored by God and thus can’t be evil inthemselves.

The world of forms or manifestation is not a vain show; it isreal and expresses a mode of Divine Life. Every event ismeaningful and full of portents for the discerning people. Nothingis gratuitous. All so-called things are places of theophany ratherthan distractions which veil God. Everything can impart knowledge.So what room is there for escaping? And where shall one escape aswherever we turn there is God? One can flee to God only. Allthings can be enjoyed in God as for Eckhart.

According to Ibn ‘Arabî a Sufi ideally goes to God fromcreation and comes back to creation with God. There are lures ofsamadhis or ecstasies that pull man back from creation but ideallya Sufi makes whole life a form of yoga, an experience of unionwith God as Aurobindo also would characterize his own integralspirituality.

Ibn Arabi affirms ceaseless becoming and change and says inhis Kitâb al-isfâr 'an natâ'ij al-asfâr that there is no escape from ceaseless

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travel in all the worlds. The unity of the Real implies that thatit is one and unique in its every act; the notion of divineinfinity or All-Possibility implies that there is no monotony andno repetition in creation. This implies endless creativity anddynamism and subsumes much that is positive in processphilosophies. The Akbarian God never ceases creating/manifestingeven though He is also the still center of existence. Though Beingcentred he sees only becoming the lot of man and brings togetherthe insights of two divergent streams of philosophical thought –those of Parmenedies and Hereclites. Ibn ‘Arabî ’s view of historythough not clearly or explicitly formulated would appropriatefundamental insights of Hegel regarding opportuneness ofeverything at a particular movement and ultimate teleologicalheavenward (in the annals of the Spirit) movement of history. Infact Hegel had read something of Rumi and praised it very much andIbn ‘Arabî and Rumi share much between them – Ibn ‘Arabî islargely Rumi in prose.

Ibn ‘Arabî ’s comment on the prophet’s practice of retreatin a cave in his earlier life expresses his affirmative viewforcefully in which he states that had the Prophet gazed on theface of God in the people from which he fled to avoidconstriction he felt in their presence he would have stayed withthem as he later came to know. For Ibn ‘Arabî, there is novisible thing which is not a manifestation of God capable ofimparting knowledge. All so-called things are places of theophanyrather than distractions which veil God. One of the purposes ofretreat, then, is witnessing the Beauty of Oneness without aswell as within, so that there is not seen to be this separation,this differentiation, between within and without. Wherever youturn, there is the Beauty of His face.

Ibn ‘Arabî strongly insists on the importance of this"world" as an essential aspect of human perfection and theessential ground of man's superiority to the purely spiritual

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beings. He strongly contrasts the lower, "immature" state ofthose "Knowers" ('arifun) who deny the reality of this world, andthe station of the warithun (the true "heirs" of the prophets) whoare always aware of God's theophanic Presence throughout thisworld. Zen and “this worldly” Islam have strongly emphasized thesacred character of this world. Samsara is indeed nirvana, heavenis indeed here on earth, and eternity is indeed here and now. Butall these things are a matter of personal realization; only theone who has reached the other shore, who has been vouchsafed thevision of God can say so and not the one who is yet caught in theworld of time and senses. Ibn ‘Arabî asserts that this is thebest possible world, a thesis made famous by Ghazali and laterLeibnitz. In fact this easily follows from his understanding ofdivine names. The world is the expression of divine generosityand mercy. If the world were not the best it would entail anabsurd proposition that God is ungenerous. If this world isgratuitous, and shows no signs of wisdom of the Designer asevolutionary perspective asserts then all attempts to wish itbetter and care for it are ultimately doomed on metaphysicalgrounds. There can be no lasting peace, order and equilibrium onearth unless we find and relate to these things in heaven. TheChinese express this notion very well and in fact it is found inother traditions. And it is Ibn ‘Arabî who gives such an ideafirm metaphysical anchorage.

Ibn ‘Arabî sees God only (who alone is ultimately real forhim) and therefore he, like other great mystics, celebrates theholiness and wholeness of life and his is not a sin-centredperspective. The lover of the Real sees neither sin nor guilt,neither distance or real alienation from the Real nor damnationfor those who have gone astray – in fact there is no going astrayultimately, no slackening of God’s control. Nothing needs to bedone to reach God, just awakening from the sleep of inattentionor heedlessness. The world is the playground of God’s attributes

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and it is human, all-too-human weakness to evaluate inanthropocentric and moral terms. The attributes of majesty arenot to be loathed at. Iblis is a friend in disguise as for Hallajand the leader of the lovers as for Rumi. For Ibn ‘Arabî God’strickery (makr) is educative. What we ordinarily call evil andsin is not so at root or in the larger framework of divinelywilled action. The sage is situated beyond good and evil. But allthis doesn’t mean he makes a joke of traditional eschatology andcommandments and is blind to the painful reality of sufferinghere and hereafter. His genius lies in respecting the traditionalunderstanding of these things which make religion a seriousthing, a matter of life and death but at the same time pleadingfor a deeper understanding at the plane of haqiqah wheretheological or religious notions get a metaphysical translationand become quite comprehensible.

Seeing God Everywhere

There is nothing mystifying about the fundamentals of Sufitheory and practice. Practice of spirituality is clearlyformulated. There is no room for complaints about God’sremoteness. Metaphysically speaking to live truly is to live inGod as God is Life, the Larger Life. The life of love is the lifedivine. God is love and for Sufis one could well say that love isGod. The experience of love, of beauty, of goodness areexperiences of God and for a gnostic all experiences areexperiences of God. The finite can’t be outside the DivineInfinitude. So the world is necessarily in God or God’s visibleFace. As the Quran says God is both the Manifest (form) and theHidden (essence). As Ibn Arabi foregrounds the point:

If we gaze, it is upon Him; if we use our intelligence, it istowards Him; if we reflect, it is upon Him; if we know it is Him.For it is He who is revealed in every face, sought in every sign,

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worshipped in every object of worship, and pursued in theinvisible and the visible. The whole world prays to Him,prostrates itself before Him and glorifies His praise; tonguesspeak of Him, hearts are enraptured by love for Him, minds arebewildered in Him.16

Seeking for metaphysical abstractions, airy nothings,heavens out there is despised by Sufism. The world is the visibleface of God. The objects are not mere objects; they aremysterious, partaking of the mystery of Existence or God.Everything is charged with the grandeur of God. Everything, seenwith the eyes of a mystic, is sacred, the Infinite. Wherever weturn, there is the Face of God. The mystic sees the essences, theworld of ideas or archetypes. He sees through God’s eyes and thatis why everything appears as it really is, Infinite. The Belovedis expressing in countless forms.

Islamic God is both transcendent and immanent. But moststudents and critics of Islam have overemphasized God’stranscendence at the cost of His immanence. It is Sufism that hasrightly understood and emphasized both the aspects. God is theLight of the world as the Quran says. One could say with themystics of Islam that God is the essence of all existents. Hesustains everything. Everything is centred in God. God is al-Muhit, the all pervading Environment. The world is charged withthe grandeur of God. Space and time are interpretations “thatthought puts on the creative activity of God.”17 Matter is“spirit in space-time reference.”18 Islam rejects all dualism –dualisms of body-soul, here-hereafter, temporal-eternal, sacred-profane, immanence-transcendence etc. Islam’s antiidolatrousgenius deconstructs all “structuralist” hierarchical dualisms.The Sufi expresses this most emphatically when he sees nothingbut God everywhere. All is naught that isn’t God. In that visionall dualisms, including the dualism of good and evil aretranscended. Sufism that pertains to the inner core of religionrefuses to classify, divide and construct. It respects no binary

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oppositions as it doesn’t privilege one term over the other. Forit all is One. The binaries arise if we divide the indivisibleOneness of Reality. A Sufi rejects this division on a priorigrounds. He sees nothing but God everywhere. The binaries ofsinner and saint, good and evil too are transcended.

Combining the divergent conception of tanzih(incomparability, transcendence) and tashbih (resemblance,immanence) which had resulted in fierce controversies in Muslimhistory by means of the unitary consciousness of the heart whichpossesses the binoculer vision of reason and imagination he holdsthat whereas the divine Essence is absolutely unknowable, thecosmos as a whole is the locus of manifestation of all God'sattributes. This means that either of the terms in the binariesof God/creation, transcendence/immanence, Essence/attributes,Lord/servant, Infinite/finite etc. can’t be isolated/absolutizedand both are inextricably woven and for an aarif (knower/jnani)ultimately nondifferent or one. The tool of conceptual intellectwhich is condemned to posit dualities and think in binaries mustbe transcended if we are to experience Reality.Theology/philosophy employing reason as the tool in understandingthe things can only deal with mental constructs while the Realityin its depth and wholeness escapes them. The mystic rather thanthe theologian and the metaphysician (understood as intellectualrather than rational knowledge that transcends subject-objectduality and operates with Intellect rather than reason and seeksrealization rather than conceptualization of truth) rather thanthe philosopher is really competent to “understand” or seereality. The philosopher must bow before the Gnostic as Ibn‘Arabî tells us in one allegorical narrative and while recountinghis encounter with Ibn Rushd. Our hearts rather than our mindsgive us access to reality. Life is a mystery to be lived, asuperabundant joy and bliss to be enjoyed rather than a logicalpuzzle to be rationally approached. The Real alone is andconstitutes the reality of everything manifest and unmanifest and

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is the object of all perception, imagination and conception. Ibn‘Arabî is a gnostic or jnani for whom it is intelligence whichsaves and intellectual intuition that needs to be actualized forone’s felicity. Experiencing divinity is not a cognitiveencounter with the objects, this worldly or otherworldly asordinary cognizing subject is no longer there when the Real seesitself through the mirror of cognizing subject. God alone is thewitness, the knower and God is perceived by God alone. God is“attention without distraction” as Simone Weil would say. SeeingGod is pure experiencing where experiencer and experienced havedissolved as distinct entities. Just as there is no true beingbut God, so also there is no true finder or experiencer but Godand nothing truly found or expereienced but God for Ibn ‘Arabî.The Real, the what is, is before every construction of it by meansof conceptual thought, and it is after everything, everythinkable and imaginable entity has disappeared. He says in TheKernel of the Kernel:

He is able to show His Being either within or without; that whichis in the image of everything, that which is understandable inevery intellect, the meaning that is in every heart, the thingheard in every ear, the eye that sees in every eye, is Him....IfHe is manifest in this face he is also looking from the other.

What is needed is only receptivity, a polished mirror of theheart and God will teach it. No sterile debate on existence ofGod from purely theological and philosophical perspectives isneeded. Ibn ‘Arabî pleads for intellectual metaphysicalperspective which alone corresponds to pure truth and gives firsthand verification. His is a “positivist” approach that takes thewhole of reality – not just the sensory world which is more aconstruction of imagination or a dream than reality for realizersof different mystical and religious traditions – as data of“experience” and employs all the faculties and not just sensesand reason for evaluating the evidences.

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God for Sufism, as for traditional religion and mysticism,is to be identified, in the ultimate analysis, with Life orExistence in all its depths and its mystery or transcendence, theideal pole of man, the Infinite that grounds the finite, theOrigin and the End, the First and the Last, the Manifest and theHidden, the Hearing and the Seeing, the Light of the World andthe darkness beyond light, so close yet so elusive, pureconsciousness that is objectless and still unmanifest,transcendent to phenomenal world yet somehow sustaining andmanifesting or expressing itself in the phenomenal world, notdescribed by this or that when it comes to capture its mysteriousungraspable unrepresentable essence and best expressible throughnegations. It is what It is ("I am what I am"). Concerning it Ibn‘Arabî writes, “There is nothing in Being/existence [wujûd] butthe Divine Presence, which is His Essence, His attributes, andHis acts”19 For him the Absolute determined or limited by Its own Formsis in all beings and constitutes their divine Face for there isnothing other than It, the only One. This is immanence("tashbîh"). The nondelimited Absolute is only for the Absolute (HisFace is only for Him to witness). This is transcendence("tanzîh"). 

Experiencing God for Sufis like Ibn Arabi is to be aware,choicelessly aware, vulnerable, open to the Real, the non-self, theother, the cosmos or what is, to appropriate one modern mystic’sphrase. It is “attention without distraction” as Simone Weil wouldhave it. It is becoming intensely conscious of everyday happenings.It is seeing the world with wide open eyes after cleansing thedoors of perception so that the veils are lifted and one seeseverything as it, Infinite, a locus of divine tajalliyat or epiphanies.The vision that is not egocentric but simply a pure witnessing, apure observance where no desire is projected into the observed, aperception unhindered by conceptual construction of the mind ordesires as the Zen mystics especially emphasize, is experiencingGod. It isn’t achieved; it happens. Rather it is. The Real – Ibn

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‘Arabî’s designation for the Absolute, is and alone is andconstitutes the reality of everything manifest and unmanifest isthe object of all perception, imagination and conception. Ibn‘Arabî is a jnani for whom it is intelligence which saves andintellectual intuition that needs to be actualized for one’sfelicity. Experiencing divinity is not a cognitive encounter withthe objects, this worldly or otherworldly as ordinary cognizingsubject is no longer there when the real sees the Real. God aloneis the witness, the knower and God is perceived by God alone.Seeing God is pure experiencing where experiencer and experiencedhave dissolved as distinct entities. It is pure knowing asdistinguished from ordinary knowledge that presupposes the subject-object or knower-known duality. It is seeing with a still mind. Zikrhelps to achieve such a cleansing of perception and thus visionwithout ego. It is simply seeing things as they are and not as theyappear to manipulating analytical desiring mind. It is whattraditions call as seeing through God’s eyes or disinterestedseeing.

Experiencing God or deliverance for Sufism is not a goal infuture, a search for some metaphysical abstraction, a superterrestrial Being out there, an experience radically distinctfrom other “ordinary” experiences, a secret journey or adventureinto the next world. It is simply conscious experiencing of theworld of phenomena. The vision that is not egocentric but simplya pure witnessing, a pure observance where no desire is projectedinto the observed, a perception unhindered by conceptualconstruction of the mind or desires is experiencing God. It isn’tachieved; it happens. Rather it is. It is not a cognitiveencounter with the objects, this worldly or otherworldly. It isnot a state, a special ecstatic state distinguishable from thenormal conscious state. It is not the revelation from thesupernatural world. The mystic is extraordinarily ordinaryperson. Enlightenment is dropping of all seeking, all futureoriented enterprises. It is simply to be as one is in pristine

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innocence. It is just to be oneself without all conditionings.The Real alone is and constitutes the reality of everythingmanifest and unmanifest is the object of all perception,imagination and conception. Ibn ‘Arabî is a jnani for whom it isintelligence which saves and intellectual intuition that needs tobe actualized for one’s felicity. Experiencing divinity is not acognitive encounter with the objects, this worldly orotherworldly as ordinary cognizing subject is no longer therewhen the Real sees itself through the mirror of cognizingsubject. God alone is the witness, the knower and God isperceived by God alone. Seeing God is pure experiencing whereexperiencer and experienced have dissolved as distinct entities.It is pure knowing as distinguished from ordinary knowledge thatpresupposes the subject-object or knower-known duality. Fleeingto God (through the discipline of senses and transcendence ofdesiring self) for Ibn ‘Arabî is merely a way of expressing theflight from ignorance to knowledge and is not a flight away fromone thing towards another, since there is nothing in existencebut God.

Enlightenment or vision of God is the understanding that theReal alone is and there is no distance between us and It. We arealready there in the lap of God – we have never been away andcannot be away from It. God has never been missed. We haveforgotten or fallen asleep but this doesn’t alter the fact thatGod is our very being, our inmost reality. Man is inwardly Godand outwardly a creature according to Ibn ‘Arabî. The Spirit isdivine and the body is from the clay. God is Reality. The worldis God’s visible face. The real, the obvious, that which isalways with us, has been always with us, will always be with us,is God. God is the Isness of things, the essence of existence. Heis Existence in its totality. God constitutes all pervasiveEnvironment (al-Muhit in the Quranic parlance) in which normal manlives, moves and has his being in. Adam saw God, the essences

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before the Fall as the fog of passions and desires had notblurred his vision. Things are metaphysically transparent; onlywe need to possess the right view as the Buddha said. Theexperiences of love, of beauty, of goodness – all are experiencesof God. For a gnostic all experiences are experiences of God. Thefinite can’t be outside the Divine Infinitude. As the Quran saysGod is both the Manifest (form) and the Hidden (essence). Ibn‘Arabî sees God as Indwelling Life. He defines God as Realityand thus nothing is as evident, as manifest as God and only thefool or the blind can say that there is no God. There is no needto prove God’s existence; we only need to open our eyes to theAll-pervading or All-Encompassing.

Because of the fact that in this existence there is nothingbut God, from which all other so-called existences are derived,the question for Ibn ‘Arabî is not whether God is or where andhow to find Him but, as Chittick says, how can we remove theveils, that prevent us from seeing God?

Akbarian view is something similar to the understanding ofBeing as the ground of all beings in Heidegger and God as Beingof being or power of being in Paul Tillich. Ibn Arabi alsosnatches the “God-given right” to be an atheist. Atheism denies alimited conception of divinity though in itself it is based on anarrow view of Reality. But it is absurd to be an atheist if Godis construed as the Essence of existence, as isness of things, asthe ground of everything, as what is, as Reality.

Hence, in strictly nondualistic view of He is not sought,because the seeker himself is in Him. One can only get lost inHim. And to get lost is to attain Him. Bewilderment is thehighest station and attaining the station of no station is thesupreme attainment. Realizing that everything is perfect thisvery moment or, in Buddhist (Nagarjunian) terminology, thatsamsara is nirvana is realizing God.

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Sufism and Sacral Perspective on theEnvironment

It is generally accepted that environmental crisis hasn’tbeen a serious problem of traditional cultures and premoderncivilizations. Tribal societies, primitive people don’t know it.Mind, reason, civilization, desires, possessions, divisions,conflicts, disequilibrium, disharmony go hand in hand. Intellectas traditionalist perennialist writers conceive it isn’tdistanced from nature. It is a sort of mirror reflecting Reality.It is choicelessly aware of the flow of events. Tribal people areclosest to ‘animals’ in the above defined sense of the term andthat is why they possess ecological health. The animal doesn’tpossess ego-consciousness and thus doesn’t look at the world asthe other, as an object. He lives in the world. He is tuned tothe rhythm of nature. He flows with it.

Modern man has lost the innocence of animal and that is whyhe is alienated. He doesn’t trust the given as God given. Hecan’t thank Existence for the gift of life. Animals nevercomplain. They are reconciled with their fate. They havesubmitted in the real sense of the word. They can’t rebel. Theydon’t hoard as they are not possessive. They know nothing ofgreed. Animals look at nature without having any ideas, choices,wants, interests. They just delight at seeing creation. They knowno exploitation of nature because they are content with what theyhave, with what nature has bestowed them. The ‘Sufi’ word couldalso have been derived from sufa which means purity and byimplication transcendence. It means renunciation. One renouncesand becomes a faqeer. The Sufi has to renounce all possession orat least attachment to possessions or things.

For the Sufi the Beloved is everywhere. We can see Infinityin the grain of sand. Eternity is here and now. The Garden ofEden is not in a far off country or in the next world but here.

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For the mystic or gnostic every tree is a Boddhi tree. Evenstones have Buddha nature. The Kingdom of God is within us. Whatreligions demand is cleansing of perception. All the prayers andmeditations and japas or azkar are for this end. To live in Godconsciousness or to live according to Tao is a way of living intune with the environment. Here we discuss in detail whatexperiencing God implies and how it relates to the environment.

Experiencing God is experiencing world with open eyes, theeyes unburdened by the past memories or future dreams. It is likelooking at the world with fresh eyes of the child. It is toexperience the world without experiencer. It is pure experiencingwhere experiencer and experienced have dissolved as distinctentities. It is pure knowing as distinguished from ordinaryknowledge that presupposes the subject-object or knower-knownduality. It is seeing with a still mind. Muraqaba, zikr, retreat,and fasting help to achieve such a cleansing of perception, astill mind, a vision without ego. It is simply seeing things asthey are and not as they appear to manipulating analyticaldesiring mind. It is pure seeing or better witnessing. It is whattraditions call as seeing through God’s eyes or disinterestedseeing.

Sufi discipline aims at eliminating the doer and lettingExistence do its will. It is the posture of surrender and trustin the action of the whole. In fact God is the only doer. It isillusion to believe that we are the real agents of action. TheSufi is a hollow bamboo, a flute on which nature plays the notesand what conflict can there be in such a case with environment.He doesn’t look at it egoistically, capitalistically. He believesmore in giving than in taking. His dwellings are usually caves,forests, country sides, or what comes closest to virgin nature.The Sufis have given voice to mute nature. For them chirpingbirds deliver sermons and brooks are books. Even trees arereported to have developed some sort of relationship with him. Hemust be content to be nothing. He must not be to let Existence

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speak through him, to let God play on the note of his life. TheSufi is one ‘who has arisen in the morning and doesn’t knowwhether he will be dead in the evening.’ He is utterly resignedto the present moment. He has no will to be worried about hisstate tomorrow and that is why he is perfectly at peace. He isibn-al-waqt (the child of time) or rather for him time doesn’texist. Not in time but out of time he lives and are executed hisactions. So his relationship with nature can’t be dictated bycalculating utilitarian aggrandizing morality. As the Sufidoesn’t act out of the mind and it is mind which separates manfrom nature and distorts his primal innocence so his actionscan’t be but in tune with nature. He doesn’t flow against thestream. He is at maqami-raza which is a state of absolutesubmission. Not his but God’s will is done and God is thetotality of existence. Transcendence of mind, thought, ideas, egomeans nothing now separates a Sufi from nature, his primal orparadisiacal innocence. Sufism as love affair with the world orwhole (at whatsoever terms it sets as love doesn’t negotiate butwillingly surrenders as it transcends ego boundaries by verydefinition) means he is reconciled with the environment(environment understood in widest sense of the term). He isn’topposed to it unlike Camus but loves it with all his heart andsoul. He doesn’t mourn the fact of being born. He isn’t thereforealienated or rebellious. He delights in creation. He sings thepraises of all forms as they manifest the Essence or God. Allcreation sings the praise of God by virtue of mere existence(which is a state of submission). He joins trees, brooks, birds,and stars in consenting to the state in which God chose him tobe. He doesn’t resent. It is he who experiences innocence ofbecoming. He sees God everywhere, in every atom, in every leafblade. He sings, dances in mad ecstasy because everything comesfrom his Beloved. He accepts every misery as a kiss from theBeloved. Raza, the station of Sufi means total acceptance. He ispleased with God as God is pleased with him. Accepting servant-

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hood means he consents to his creaturely status. He doesn’t wantto be superman, to be God. Rather he chooses not to be at all,chooses to annihilate ego so that only God can say I am. And nothe. It is extremely humility on the part of Mansur when he said,“I am the Truth.” This is because it is God who said this asMansur himself had got annihilated in the experience of fana.

Sufism takes the Quranic statement that God is the onlyDoer, the creator of us and our actions to mean what othertraditions imply by the notion of Non-doing, actionless action orwu wei wei. The Gita and Taoism have explicated this conception. Itis an ideal mode of ecocentric action. Eliminating the doer andletting Existence do its will. It is the posture of surrender andtrust in the action of the whole. In fact God is the only doer.It is illusion to believe that we are the real agents of action.A Sufi is a hollow bamboo, a flute on which nature plays thenotes and what conflict can there be in such a case withenvironment. He doesn’t look at it egoistically,capitalistically. He believes more in giving than in taking. Hisdwellings are usually caves, forests, countrysides, or what comesclosest to virgin nature. The Sufis have given voice to mutenature. For them chirping birds deliver sermons and brooks arebooks. Even trees are reported to have developed some sort ofrelationship with them. He must be content to be nothing. He mustnot be to let Existence speak through him, to let God play on thenote of his life. The Sufi is one ‘who has arisen in the morningand doesn’t know whether he will be dead in the evening.’ He isutterly resigned to the present moment. He has no will to beworried about his state tomorrow and that is why he is perfectlyat peace. He is ibn-al-waqt (the child of time) or rather for himtime doesn’t exist. Not in time but out of time he lives. So hisrelationship with nature can’t be dictated by calculatingutilitarian aggrandizing morality. As the Sufi doesn’t act out ofthe mind and it is mind which separates man from nature anddistorts his primal innocence so his actions can’t be but in tune

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with nature. He doesn’t flow against the stream. He is at maqami-raza which is a state of absolute submission. Not his but hisHeavenly Father’s will is done and God is the totality ofexistence. Transcendence of mind, thought, ideas, ego meansnothing now separates a Sufi from nature, his primal orparadisiacal innocence. Sufism as love affair with the world orwhole (at whatsoever terms it sets as love doesn’t negotiate butwillingly surrenders as it transcends ego boundaries by verydefinition) means he is reconciled with the environment(environment understood in the widest sense of the term). Heisn’t opposed to it unlike Camus but loves it with all his heartand soul. He doesn’t mourn the fact of being born. He isn’ttherefore alienated or rebellious. He delights in creation. Hesings the praises of all forms as they manifest the Essence orGod. All creation sings the praise of God by virtue of mereexistence (which is a state of submission). He joins trees,brooks, birds, and stars in consenting to the state in which Godchose him to be. He doesn’t resent. It is he who experiencesinnocence of becoming. He sees God everywhere, in every atom, inevery leaf blade. He sings, dances in mad ecstasy becauseeverything comes from his Beloved. He accepts every misery as akiss from the Beloved. Raza, the station of Sufi means totalacceptance. He is pleased with God as God is pleased with him.Accepting servant-hood means he consents to his creaturelystatus. He doesn’t want to be superman, to be God. Rather hechooses not to be at all, chooses to annihilate ego so that onlyGod can say I am. And not he. It is extreme humility on the partof al-Hallaj when he said, “I am the Truth.” This is because, asRumi says, it is God who said this as Mansur himself had gotannihilated in the experience of fana.

Sufism treats environmental crisis by keeping the sacredalive, by seeing the universe as God’s zahir. Thus numinous isrestored. One can’t take lightly what expresses the immanence of

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God. Nature by being made dependent on supernature becomessanctified, adorable, worthy of not only respect but also oflove. As nature is not other to self, or spirit but itsexteriorization or what amounts to the same as God’smanifestation or revelation, alienation disappears. One seesnothing but God or Self. Nature becomes prayerful, in need ofblessing from man. The Prophet of Islam is the pole or center ofexistence. And blessing him in durood means blessing wholeexistence or life. To be is to be blessed. Man can’t be butsteward if Nature and Khalfatullah in such a view. Earth belongsto God (al-a arda-lillah) not to man and thus can’t be looted,exploited indiscriminately. Man environment relationship becomesI-Thou rather than I-It and this is key to Sufi perspective onenvironment. Since only one or God exists and ego doesn’t so nodualism is there which is at the heart of environmental crisis.Metaphysical unity (expressed in tawhid) means Order, Balance,Harmony, Equilibrium. If we take the famous Lyn White critique ofChristianity for desacralizing nature by overemphasis on divinetranscendence and thus converting nature to a “mere stuff” or therealm of manifestation seriously, Sufism’s emphasis onaffirmative transcendence, on God as Existence implies taking therealm of manifestation seriously as real and partaking ofdivinity in a way. The realm of manifestation represents theShakti of Siva (God) and we can’t separate Siva from Shakti.Orthodox Vedantist tradition doesn’t see the metaphysicaltransparency of phenomenal world and tries to ignore, escape,from it or not be much concerned with its love and preservationby seeing it as illusory or not quite real or authenticexpression of divine immanence. Sufism in contrast reinterpretsMaya in tune with Kashmir Saivism and other affirmative thoughtcurrents resurrects the world’s reality, seeing it as God’sactual pole, His visible face. Understanding of Maya as illusionrather than Shakti implies ignoring the metaphysical transparencyof phenomenal world. Saivism-Tantrism don’t ignore the phenomenal

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world or escape from it. They are much concerned with its loveand preservation as they don’t see it as illusory or not quitereal or authentic expression of divine immanence.

Choiceless Awareness and the Sufi practice ofzikr

To be in zikr is just to be aware choicelessly aware, momentto moment aware about Existence or Reality. Farz-i-dayim (the Sufipractice of constant prayer or perpetual remembrance of God) forSufism is translatable as conscious doing of all actions andbeing choicelessly aware. To keep the track of breaths is to beaware, doing everything as a witness or watcher. The concept ofheightened attention or awareness as the key religious virtue iseloquently argued by Krishnamurti. However many New Age teachersinterpret it in their demythologizing framework. For them to beaware of God is to be primarily aware of the immanent God in thephenomena. Hierarchy of existence and all the five degrees ofdivine presence aren’t exhausted by being merely aware of natureof flowing streams and chirping birds and buzzing bees.

Sufism and Libertine Spirituality

Against Cartesean construction of body and soul Ibn ‘Arabîfollows the traditional ternery division of body, soul andspirit. Because the soul dwells in an in-between realm it mustchoose to strive for transformation and realization. ‘All is ok’or ‘feel good’ spirituality quite popular today is simply asimplification and naivity.The sacred law is important forkeeping the body and soul in the service of spirit. Against thoseextreme idealists and monists who find hardly any reality in bodyand soul, in their great struggles, falls and jumps and in thename of unitarianism declare time to be illusory, the world to bea unreal distraction, the body to be a prison he is for integralview of man which recognizes the rights of body, soul and spirit.

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Below the level of Absolute personal God and finite self of theservant are real. The servant must unceasingly pray. The bodyimposes limitations and therefore man is not God. The Spiritalone is one with God. The body and soul are not. Servitude can’tbe denied, the reality of individual self can’t be wished away aslong as we exist as entities in space and time. Absoluteunification is not possible. God ever remains the exalted. Onemust guard against “spiritual Titanism.” The insights of Semiticreligions and theologies that emphasize our in-between nature –that we are situated between earth and heaven, immanence andtranscendence, time and eternity, beasts and angels, existenceand non-existence and are in Rumi’s words “midway between, andstruggling” – and distinction of the Creator and the created arethere to stay. For Ibn ‘Arabî we are situated in this world butreally belong to the next and are “at a doorway between existenceand non-existence.”

Sufism is not to be identified with or accused of thatextreme monism which disregards distinction and hierarchies thatare real at a certain plane and can’t be whitewashed with thebrush of monism. Failure to respect such polarities as servant-God, world-God, sinner saint and distinct ontological grades thatthe traditional doctrine of hierarchy of existence maintainsamounts to serious misreading of traditional understanding ofUnitarianism of Sufis. Denial of the relative validity of thefundamental distinctions is denial of doctrine itself that onlytranscends rather than fuses diversity of phenomena. There is adistinction between the sinner and the saint, the saint and theprophet, the satanic and the divine, samsara and nirvana for aconsciousness that is still to lose discriminating vision on theway to nirvana. One can’t deny in the name of Unitarian vision theprovisionally real character of these distinctions as long as onelives in the world of multiplicity. It is only a nirvanicconsciousness that can declare that samsara is nirvana. A person

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who only knows samsara and trapped in the dualistic vision can’tdeclare this as several authorities have made clear. Only anirvanic consciousness can assert, from the viewpoint ofeternity, that time is not, that no distinction really exists,that samsara is nirvana. It is not possible for the dualisticconsciousness to assert so. Libertine mystical thinkers such asOsho’s discourse about the illusoriness of ego and thus his callfor its transcendence means that we need to respect the world ofmultiplicity or distinctions at the relative plane. From theviewpoint of Absolute nothing is, the universe of manifestationis not; it is now as it was then. So the world of duality anddistinctions of which theology takes a note and whichconceptualizing intellect takes cognizance is not to be bracketedoff as Osho seems to imply sometimes in his overemphasis onBrahman to the exclusion of Maya. There is no dualism butdualities are there and experienced by everyone. The vision ofthe One doesn’t abolish the duality of Lord and servant as longas the servant continues to live in the world of finitude asRamakrishna used to say. Certain kinds of pain of which flesh isnecessarily heir to don’t cease to trouble the body of even aBuddha as long as he continues to eat and sleep till death.Parinirvana, the beatific vision in its full glory is not possiblein this world. It is death alone that tears the veil completelyas man is no longer fettered by body. Existence is a fetter andwe need to move beyond existence for the consummation ofreligious life. This is the claim of traditional eschatologies.Osho echoes certain libertine claimants of Sufism who argued foran interpretation of wahdatul wujud that nullified the sacred law.

Sufism and the God of Love

Love is the most important component of practicalspirituality.Sufi poetry is quintessentially love poetry. Themost distinctive thing in Sufi view of God is what Jesus meant

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when he called God as lov Ibn ‘Arabî belongs to the ancient,universal, timeless School of Love. The vision of love as thepath to Truth or the Truth itself is presented in these famouslines from Ibn Arabi’s TarjumanuI Ashwaq: “I follow the Way ofLove,and where Love's caravan takes its path,there is my religion, my faith." God created out of love and loveis the cause of every movement, every longing, every endeavour inthe universe. Akbarian Sufi doctrine put in the language of lovestates that "there is but One Reality: Love or Sheer Being, whichmanifests Itself in two forms, the lover and the Beloved." Onequote from the Tanazzulât al-mawsiliyya will suffice to show importanceof love for him “All praise to God who made love (al-hawâ) asanctuary towards which the hearts of all men whose spiritualeducation is complete make their way and a ka'ba around which thesecrets of the chests of men of spiritual refinement revolve.” Hecelebrates both feminine and divine beauty, the former becausethe formless God manifests in all forms and most brilliantly infeminine face. He conceives love as fundamental driving force inthe cosmos. In fact we can call his metaphysics as themetaphysics of love. All love is essentially holy or divine forhim because it is really (though many are not conscious of this)directed towards God who alone is and who is the only Belovedsmiling in every form. He is not averse to physical aspect oflove though he is for progressive Platonization of love; he isfor moving from phenomena to the One which manifests yet hides inthem.

Iraqi perfectly expresses Akbarian understanding of Shahdah’smetaphysical content in his Lam’aat by saying “There is no lovebut Love.” In the end he reduces everything to this statement ofIraqi. Iraqi’s following lines also express the same vision:“Expressions are many but Thy loveliness is one;

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Each of us refersto that single Beauty." Sufi poets in general often choose tospeak of Reality or Absolute in terms of Love. Akbarian Sufidoctrine put in the language of love states that "there is butOne Reality: Love or Sheer Being, which manifests Itself in twoforms, the lover and the Beloved." One quote from the Futûhât willsuffice to show how great a lover he is. "By God, I feel so muchlove that it seems as though the skies would be rent asunder, thestars fall and the mountains move away if I burdened them withit: such is my experience of love " For him love is the universaland unifying theme in his worldview. He wrote in the Tanazzulât al-mawsiliyya: “All praise to God who made love (al-hawâ) a sanctuarytowards which the hearts of all men whose spiritual education iscomplete make their way and a ka'ba around which the secrets ofthe chests of men of spiritual refinement revolve.” LikeNietzsche his justification for life is ultimately aesthetical ashe argues for transcendence of good-evil binary at metaphysicalplane and sees fundamental motivation of creation in divine wishto share its creative joy and beauty. His exegesis of the hiddentreasure is aesthetic as God appears to be an artist who needs toexhibit his work of art for the contemplation of others. For himthe world of manifestation is nothing but the activity of love asGod loved to be known or share his love (the Good tends todiffuse as Augustine puts it) and created the world, a mirror ofHis attributes. The world is the “other” to God so that he couldsee mirror Himself. In a way it is His object of love. The worldsare markers or traces of the incessant loving activity of Godthrough unveiling by means of creation/ manifestation. Becausethe different worlds or realms of manifestation are Divine Self-determinations they acquire a reflection of Divine Existence andthis “reflection is the movement of life called love." He says:“No existence-giver ever gives existence to anythinguntil it loves giving it existence. Hence everythingin wujûd is a beloved, so there are nothing but loved

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ones.”20 Ibn ‘Arabî is not the one who could countenance dualismof body and soul and saw the body as the vehicle of spirit andthus essentially divine. There is a divinity in physical touch asTantrism and Kashmir Shaivism particularly emphasize and Ibn‘Arabî would agree.

As opposed to every romantic and dualistic understanding oflove, Sufism envisions love as lying at the centre of reality asis the case in Plato, world mystical traditions and in fact inall religions. Love and self-denial go hand in hand. The denialof the self is the cornerstone of all religions. This allows thehigher self, the Spirit, the Inner man in us to take reigns andthe triad of values, Goodness, Beauty, Truth are then realizedand life becomes transformed from its otherwise alienated,fragmentary, fear ridden, sorrowful, restless state to LifeDivine, which is integrated, blissful life that radiates peaceand love. The attributes of divinity are appropriated by thetraveler on the path. Religions build on this transformed visionof life and worship God as Love, Beauty, Goodness and whateverbeautiful names or aspects that there are. Mystics of diversehues agree that there are two selves, one illusory or limitingand the other real, knowing which one knows everything. Love hasbeen traditionally one of the chief means of approaching thegreat King. Self transcendence achieved through love is the cruxof Sufi vision as it is of the esoteric religion and wisdomtraditions of the world.

The Question of Belief and Atheism

What is ordinarily called faith or belief is understood somewhatdifferently by Sufism. It is no longer consent to a proposition(though at one level it appears to be so) but how one takesexistence. Here it is a quality of being and not a matter ofdispute at all. Perfection of faith is accompanied by tasting ofGod - "dhawq" of sheer Being. The mental or philosophical

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concept of Being is not the issue but experiencing God's Being as'tasting' (dhauq). Religion is thus ultimately a discovery, apersonal discovery and most modern criticisms of it areunwarranted in his scheme. S. H. Nasr has remarked that if itwere possible to teach metaphysics to everyone there would havebeen no agnostic or atheist around.21 If God is Reality, bothexistence and what transcends existence, both Being and Non-Being, it is indeed difficult to disagree with Nasr. Ibn ‘Arabîpresents such a view of God as Reality with great force and it isindeed difficult to disagree with him for even a die-hardskeptic. Accepting Tillich’s statement that God is Being (whichis Akbarian position more or less) makes atheism impossible asone professor who attended Tillich’s famous lecture on symbols offaith remarked. Personal Godism (Absolutizing personal orqualitied God or Saguna Brahman, identifying Ishwara withParamatma, Being with Beyond-Being, understanding God only as aperson and taking literalist view of basic “proposition” oftheology) is the heresy of exoteric theology of which Ibn ‘Arabîthe metaphysician is not guilty. His metaphysical understandingof God as Infinite and All-Possibility subsumes everything andtranscends mere believing posture and theistic/atheistic binary.God isn’t an epistemological problem at all for him. Butrealization of our true theonomous nature is the issue andreligion is meant to lead towards that goal.

Philosophy as Spiritual Discipline

Philosophy as an abstract philosophical discourse based onrationalistic scientific method and its methodically obtained“truths” is what Sufi thinkers like Ibn ‘Arabî often critique.Philosophy implies for all of the ancients a moral conformity towisdom: only he is wise, sophos, who lives wisely as Schuonnotes.22 Philosophy in the traditional Orphic-Pythagorean senseis wisdom and love combined in a moral and intellectual

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purification in order to reach the “likeness to god.” It iscontemplation of Beauty and Good. This is attainable by gnosis.By philosophizing ancients meant “both noetic activity andspiritual practice” and if philosophy is the knowledge of thenature of things as for Heraclites or the knowledge of theChangeless and of the Ideas as for Plato or the knowledge offirst causes and principles, together with the sciences that arederived from them as for Aristotle and sages alone can be truephilosophers as oriental traditions generally maintain then Ibn‘Arabî qualifies as one of the greatest philosophers of history.The Greek word nous covers both spirit and intellect (intellectus,‘aql) of Medieval Christian and Islamic lexicon. Platonicphilosophy, understood as a spiritual and contemplative way oflife leading to illumination or enlightenment; an intellectualdiscipline based on intellection culminating in union (henosis)with ideal Forms is what Ibn Arabi relates with instead of morerationalistic Aristotelian view or extremely narrow freespeculative inquiry and rationalism of moderns. Philosophy,understood in the above sense of the term, has ever been aliveand is not dead pace Derrida and Rorty. It is mysticism andtraditional metaphysics that can come to the rescue of philosophyin the postmetaphysical postmodern age and reclaim for it itslost dignity and sanctity attacked by science inspired positivismand linguistic turn in philosophy. Akbarian understanding ofphilosophy calls for revival even if he has often been perceivedas a critic of philosophy rather than a contributor to it. Itcan’t be denied that he had not very seriously read philosophersand was not even much interested in reading them. But the centralrole of Logos doctrine in his scheme, his great respect forintelligence/Intellect, his conceding that if properly pursued byemploying the faculty of imagination and instrument of heart aswell with reason – in short reason illumined by Intellect –philosophy can hit the right target all imply that he can beplaced in the history of philosophy. Of course Western paradigm

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in philosophy can’t accommodate him as a philosopher in his ownright because of its own prior commitment to exclusive rationalinquiry alone that needs no dabbling with polishing the mirrorwith the help of virtues as the normative mode of philosophizing.For oriental traditions western rationalistic philosophy willhardly qualify as a philosophy proper and if we judge the tree bythe fruits it appears that it indeed is the case. Westernphilosophy having severed its ties with the pursuit of wisdom andsubstituted thought for intellection has been reduced tolinguistic analysis and analysis of concepts and handmaiden ofscience and in fact is claimed to be dead by many postmoderns.

For Ibn ‘Arabî modern rationalistic philosophy pursued insecular contexts and for mundane pursuits is not the philosophyproper of which prophets are the teachers as the Quran says. TheProphet teaches hikmah among other things according to the Quran(65:2). Ibn ‘Arabî stood for the wisdom of the prophets as hismost famous book shows. Ibn ‘Arabî expressed by means of reasoncertainties “seen” or “lived” by the immanent Intellect, as didthe best of Greeks.23 Cracks, crises and emasculations of thediscipline of philosophy in the modern West could have beenavoided if the West had not opted for Latin Averrorism andCartesian rationalism and consequent dualisms and irresolvableproblems that still haunt its epistemology and other areas likeontology. Philosophy as a pathway to communion with God is whatOrphic-Phyhtagorean-Platonic tradition upheld and is not merely arational pursuit for it. Ibn ‘Arabî agrees. The “Orphic”-Indianconception of philosopher as one who seeks release from the wheelof cyclical term concur with both the vision of perennialists andescapes postmodern critiques. Logos of which Ibn ‘Arabî speaksfigures in Plato, Neoplatonism and the perennialists is notrenderable exclusively as reason or discursive reasoning(dianoia). That has been scrutinized by intutionists andpostmodernists

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Sufism and the Debate over Interpretations

Sufism has a pragmatic answer to the nagging problem ofinterpretation that has bedeviled postmodern philosophies. Aslong as one approaches a text as an object and seeks for anyhidden or final meaning and tries to establish his own standpointon that basis one may not get anywhere. Meaning is experienced orrevealed to a traveler on the path. One only needs to polish themirror of the heart and it will reflect the truth, plain andsimple. True knowing is being the object of knowledge. Truth isnot in words but in states and stations induced on contemplatingthese words. Sufis reiterate time and again that God is to betasted rather than discussed and this (dis)solves the problems ofinterpretation for good. Ibn ‘Arabî offers a challenge to alltheologians and critics to develop that higher perception hecalls unveiling (kashf). From his perspective the enterprise ofhigher criticism applied to elucidation of sacred texts whichmake no reference to moral purification or polishing the mirrorof self is laughable venture. Unless the sacred text is revealedafresh to one’s heart nothing can illumine its real meaningaccording to him. Modern civilization dictates terms to realityand doesn’t let reality to dictate and this is its undoing.Sufism stands for premodern view which privileges the rights ofthe Reality against us but which modernity rejected byemphasizing individualism and subjectivism which dictate terms toReality and advocates a discipline that silences the mind so thatthe unknown shall speak. Our problem is we are not receptive tothe revelations of the Real. Modernism is arrogantly afterinterpretations, questioning and refining them but the encounterwith the Real in all its nakedness eludes him. Because of hisdenial of intellectual intuition and revelation of any nontextualsupralinguistic knowledge postmodernists like Derrida are unableto transcend the relativistic plane of language. Analyticalphilosophical tradition too is trapped in the cobwebs of language

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and linguistic analysis. These imply that he is denied thedeliverance by truth or self realization as understood in theSufi worldview. The Faustian man, obstinately committed toperpetual interpretation, doesn’t open himself to reality as hasbeen remarked by many a critic of modernism. He dictates terms toreality and doesn’t allow himself to be consumed/annihilated byit which is universally recognized as the condition of enteringthe higher life, life divine or birth in the kingdom of heaven asa jivan mukta. It is only modern civilization which is ever anxiousto speak to reality rather than allow reality to speak to realityrather than allow reality to speak to it and that accounts formodern man’s obsession with the realm of interpretation. Hedoesn’t taste the Real as he has chosen to alienate himself fromit; he wishes to eliminate the element of mystery and thus thesacred from the world. Life as a mystery invites us to bedissolved by it, consumed by it. Modernity throughrationalization and familiarization and consequentdescaralization of the world has ceased to feel the extent of themystery of what we ordinarily deem to be familiar things; to seephenomena as symbols of deeper reality of God. The more heinterprets, the more he loses contact with the Real.

Sufi Inclusivism against TotalizingNarratives

The Unitarian Sufism leads to an all-inclusive point ofview, which is not limited to the world of nature, or tohumanity, to science, economics or religion, but which sees allof these as faces of a single reality described by the doctrineof unity the kernel of which is, in the apt words of Young,

love and the love of that love, which is movement and life, and theperfection of completion, simple, positive, joyful news of theirintrinsic and inseperable unity with their origin, offering freedomfrom the tyranny of the thought of otherness, in exchange for the

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certainty in one, absolute and all-embracing Reality, to Which, toWhom all service is due.24

Rumi has magnificently expressed the ideal of Sufiinclusivism.

There is neither body nor soul for I am the Soul of Souls.

I have expelled duality from myself. I have seen the two worldsas one.

Let me seek One, say One, know One and desire One.

Sufism and Secular Activism

Sufism is neither moralism nor a system of ideas or doctrines.It is neither otherworldly nor ascetic. It is neither ahistoricalnor ignorant of social treality. It talks of man and not of theGod of exoteric theology. It is no argument against Sufism thatit has been misused and misappropriated by escapists, occultists,begger-priests, charlatans, magicians and even the State Powers.More people have been killed in the name of Marxism in 50 yearsthan in the history of religion in 1000years but that is noargument against Marx either. Religion is not what religiondoes. Neither is Sufism what Sufism does or is done in its name.Mysticism/Sufism has, in the deepest sense, nothing to do withdoing. Lao Tzu puts it so well. Nonaction accomplishes allactions and is the hardest “action” as Taoism says. Modernity isall action and that is why much sound and fury. Religion in itsesoteric view concerns with being rather than doing. Mysticism isquality and secular movements such as Marxism are all quantity.Marxism is collectivism and religion or mysticism neitherindividualistic like Capitalism nor collectivist butsupraindividual. History is ample witness that both individualismand collelectivism have been dangerous.

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Man doesn’t live by bread alone and surely not for bread. Heearns bread for something else and it is to that something towhich religion concerns itself. Marxism concerns with man’ssocial self while as the individual to the individual self.Marxism limits itself to the temporal and the contingent thoughit thinks that there is nothing that transcends them but religionhas its eye on the eternal and even grants that people knowbetter about the worldly matters and should resolve them bycollective effort. The spirit in man transcends history butMarxism refuses to look beyond history and asserts that what isnot manifested in history is for all purposes unreal.

Why is religion, especially the mystical religion, perceivedas enemy of a socialist or communist state? It is an opium. Itlulls workers to sleep. It is thus antirevolutionary. It iscomplicit with capitalism. It too exploits in the name of Godwhen it extracts wealth from gullible masses. It creates falsesubstitutes like the goods of the otherworld so that people don’ttake the problems of this world very seriously. It encouragesdetachment that conflicts with the spirit of active involvementneeded for changing the order of the world. It reconciles peopleto present ills by attributing them to fate or karma. It saysresist not evil and believes that change of heart in thecapitalist will do the needful. It is false consciousness orinverted view of the world. It merely provides consolation andnot real help. It is not against private property per se. Briefcomments on all these points are in order.

First of all let it be made clear that we need to distinguishbetween religion and mysticism and it is the later which is heredefended and it is also assumed (but not argued as that is aseparate issue) that it represents the core of religion. We alsoneed to distinguish between sentimental mysticism andintellectual mysticism. Guenon has remarked that there is nomysticism in the traditional East. Sentimentalism is modernphenomenon and associated with exoteric Christianity. Mysticism

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is based on Intellect as distinguished from reason and itsdiscoveries are absolutely certain as there is no role ofindividual, his feelings and psychical processes in intellectualintuition. Ideally one shouldn’t talk of mysticism but ofmetaphysics – not the post-Aristotelian and Cartesean one but theone that concerns itself with the supraphenomenal but not theabstract by means of a supraindividual suprarational facultycalled Nous or Intellect, is not speculation but experience andis as precise a science as mathematics with as concrete anapplications as physics in all the domains of life from arts andcrafts to sciences and cultural expressions. Theology should beautology otherwise it is wide off the mark. Theism is far fromthe pure truth of metaphysics. The existence of personal God ishardly an issue. Buddha is the metaphysician. The SupremePrinciple is not Being but something that transcends being orexistence.

For Sufism heaven and hell are now or never. The beyond ofwhich the religion talks mysticism brings here and now, inhistory. It is the whisperings of the Holy Ghost or Spirit thatmake all of us worshippers of beauty, truth, love and justice. History refutes the assertion that religion lulls people tosleep. Perhaps all great revolutions in history could be tracedto the influence of religion. Prophets have been, generallyspeaking, social rebels, politically dangerous and that is whymostly mocked if not executed. They have challenged theestablishment and existing socio-political-economic set up whilestanding for the oppressed, the sinners, the masses. The same isthe case with mystics. They have been persecuted by both the paidofficials of exoteric religion and the State. They have denouncedriches and in many cases taken arms against the State. They havepreached if not fought against the haves, the ruling class. Ofcourse religion degenerates soon and as Stalin replaces Marx so apope replaces Christ and Yazeed replaces Umer. Religion is hardly

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anywhere in sight today. In a generation only one or two live itin its true spirit as Simone Weil observed. In the degeneratedpopulist form of Marxism Marx would not have counted as a Marxistas Christ is imprisoned rather than welcome when he arrives onearth in Dostoevsky’s novel. It is in the name of religion thatpeople have dethroned many regimes. Jihad is an instrument toforcefully implement revolutionary spirit of religion. Bydefinition it is directed against oppressors regardless of creedor colour or region. Any struggle carried for the sake of justiceand freedom from oppression without any selfish motive canqualify as Jihad. Sufis have ben leading from the front strugglesagainst injustice from Hasan Basri to Shah Ismail and Abdul QadirJirzi. Mysticism has actively struggled against the self thatseeks private property. Mystics have been reported to selleverything for society even when society in turn made nocommitment to share its wealth with him. Jesus rejected privateproperty as did his Russian disciple Tolstoy. Prophet’scompanions shared everything with their brothers. Augustineidentified charity as the essence of scripture. Buddhism prefersbegging to hoarding. Priestly class has often been complicit with exploitingruling class. That is why prophets like Jesus denounced them.Islam has no space for intermediaries. Sufism categoricallyleaves out all intermediaries stating that God is the onlyTeacher and that God is here and now and human heart is histemple. Of course mystics/Sufis have been pacifists and have notadvocated violence in meeting enemies. Marxism is more effectivein meeting an enemy which understands no language other thanviolence. But mysticism can act as a counterforce againstindiscriminate use of violence. If Lenin and Stalin were mysticsas well they would not have allowed so much violence to beunleashed. Mystics do well to make us remember that it is after

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all life which should count above everything. If politicianscared about purity of means as well the world would have been adifferent place. Violence achieves only short term results. Thechange of heart achieves great results. Ashoka’s change of heartmeant much for many people. Marxism imagines only war butmysticism believes that peace too can be an option sometimes toachieve the result. Psychology tells us that violence breedsreaction and thus more violence. If the world can’t be convertedin the name of love it can’t be ever peaceful. Peace can’t endurethere. We must war against capitalism with full force but we mustwork for transformation of the culprit self that ultimately makescapitalist a capitalist. That people could be transformed onlarge scale and make the world a better place is evidenced inhistory. This is what the Prophet of Islam achieved thoughMarxist reading would see only immoral calculative businessmentality everywhere even in the self denying martyrs and mysticsand prophets. Marxist critics have straight away dismissed what theycall as Oriental indifference or detachment towards socialconcerns. But how can they explain that Krishna urges Arjuna tofight, Rama is a great warrior, karma yoga and hatha yoga havebeen Oriental inventions. The life of action is not incompatiblewith the life of detachment at spiritual plane. Witnessingconsciousness or spirit is not involved in action but transcendsaction. But efficient self is the agent of action and efficientand appreciative selves, to use the terminology used by Iqbal,are one self really. The famous parable of two birds from theUpanisads and other traditions makes the point of two selvesadmirably well. Detachment in spirit is not incompatible withinvolvement of body and soul in the world of action. Salvationitself needs great effort or involvement. Nothing is unreal orunimportant for a struggling soul. Buddha is actively involved inmaking his vision realizable for others. His nirvana doesn’t makehim uncritical regarding oppression of Brahmins etc. Some mystics

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have led active military life. Vivekananda, Aurobindo and manyother great names in contemporary Indian mysticism were allaction centric. In Islamic history many reform movements havebeen launched by Sufis. Many active resistance movements inhistory have been spearheaded or masterminded by Sufis. Islam’smost dynamic thinkers have been mystical minds. The 20th

century’s greatest Muslim philosopher of action and the one whohad deep historical sense and political commitment, Iqbal, wasessentially a Sufi thinker. The history of Sufism eloquentlyrefutes most of Marxist and humanist criticisms of religion andmysticism.

Islam, among other Oriental traditions, has been criticized asfatalist. Sufism is especially vulnerable to fatalist readingaccording to most Orientalists. One may remark here that thedoctrine of fate has been gloriously misunderstood by Caudwelland other Marxist critics. Far from reconciling people to theirpresent sorry state it presupposes freedom to transform one’scondition for the better. It is scientific statement of the lawof action and reaction at moral plane. It is largely verifiableby recourse to insights of psychology. There is no permanent soulor personality named So and so that could reincarnate in Orientalreligions. Lord is the only transmigrant as Shankara saysaccording to orthodox belief. Animistic conception of rebirth isforeign to traditional religion. Islam has been very vocalNondualism clearly implies that there can be no real bondage tokarma. It is all illusory when seen from the perspective of aliberated soul. Even if karma is understood in populist sense itcan be read to goad one to action as it asserts importance ofaction, either good or bad. Higher fatalism, which Iqbal sees inIslam, is there even in Nietzsche and Marxism in a way. The thingis to affirm life despite perception of economic determinism andthis is what Marxism preaches. Fate understood in metaphysicalterms is, as Iqbal says, the inward reach of a thing, adesignation for latent or potential possibilities It is

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realization of inner riches. It is unfolding of spirit in historyin accordance with a law of its own development. Fatalism cannotbe an excuse for sloth or indifference. Consistent nondualismsees neither sin nor karma nor fate. It is extremely subtleposition that mystical traditions maintain which even scholarstrained in traditional thought may miss not to speak of Marxistcritics who have prior assurance that all doctrines are at theservice of ruling class or capitalist or pious fraud or inventedto console one’s felt impotence at the face of hostile reality.How casual one can be in understanding the other is illustratedin Marxist dismissal of religion. Marx was not so casual and sounsympathetic as his later followers.

Religion has no need to be apologetic about its key claims.It asserts them with absolute certitude and conviction. The Quranasserts that God is irresistible. None can resist him, not evenan atheist Nietzsche or a Marx. God can’t possibly be doubted.God is manifest truth. The problem is that few people understandwhat the term God stands for and why to be a skeptic is to be afool as the Bible says. Either we have to state that the Bibleand the Quran are stating a plain lie or attempt to understandwhat they mean by the term God. In simple terms God is thewitnessing consciousness, the elusive thing inside us thatasserts “I.” God is also synonymous with Reality/ Truth. How isit possible to be skeptical of Ibn Arabi’s formulation ofdoctrine concerning God if we grant his fundamental premise ,derived from the Quran, of God identified with the Reality orHaqq.

The real Sufis have not looted credulous masses; rather theyhave spent everything for them and used to distribute food by wayof free langar, provide accommodation in khankahs for the poor whocouldn’t afford hotels. They have not made spirituality theirmeans of livelihood though they did accept free gifts. They havenot taught people to glorify themselves instead of God when theirproblems got solved presumably due to their prayers. They have

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not liked the shortcuts of drugs or bhang to transcend ordinarymode of consciousness. They have not thought themselves to begods and have aspired for the station of ubudiyyat (servanthood). The critics of Sufism need to note that Sufism is not anideology; it is not occultism and faith healing business. It isnot an opium that lulls the suffering victims to politicalinertia. It is not a theory about anything but realization,tasting. It is not a philosophical school among other schools buta darsana or vision. It is not one particular interpretation ofIslam that rivals other interpretation but the core, the essenceof all approaches that contribute in any sense towardselucidation of truth or reality behind the words or symbolized bythe words. It doesn’t negate theology but only verifies it at ahigher plane and gives it more universal and deeper metaphysicalgrounding. Sufism is not a system of beliefs but a code ofdiscipline for the self and it is open to anybody and its claimscan by verified or tested by anyone serious enough to make allkinds of sacrifices for the discovery of truth. Very few dare tobe such great adventurers of the territory of spirit as very fewcan sell everything dear to them (or detach themselves from them)that is prerequisite for the knowledge of truth or God maynecessitate. Sufism is not pir parasti and grave worship. Itworships the Living God (al-Hayy), the principle of all life. Itacknowledges ultimately no external authority of pir but findstrue guide or sheikh within.

Islam is a religion which has characteristically emphasizedsobriety, affirmative transcendence, law and balances the rightsof the body as well as the soul and spirit, deed and idea oraction and contemplation, time and eternity, historical and themetahistorical, the self and the other or non-self, this worldand the otherworld, the dualistic plane of ordinary consciousnessand unitary plane of higher consciousness. Sufism as understoodby such masters as Qayshari, Junaid, Ibn Arabi, Ghazali,Sirhindi, Shah Waliullah and others has been true to this spirit

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of balance between different poles of reality. Great masters ofSufism have always been critical of corruptions in Sufi practiceat the hands of ignorant dervishes, addicts, madmen, occultists,guardians of the shrines, womanizers, so-called pirs posing asSufi masters and libertine pseudoSufis. Modern forms of samawould be loathed by most Sufi authorities. Just a few remarks ofIbn Arabi on his contemporary dervishes:"They have no knowledgeof the prohibited (al-harâm) to make them return"; and "They don'tknow the conditions of the sunna or the obligatory works, theyaren't even fit to serve as a servant in the toilets." Ibn QayyimJawzi and such things as the chapter on Sufism in Talbeesi Ibleeshave great value for separating the satanic from the divine inwhat poses as Sufism. Most pirs selling amulets and involved inthe business of djinns are not real Sufis. Most of true Sufis arehidden – extraordinarily ordinary persons – whom you can’t guesseasily as being elevated souls. A very simple test of a good Sufiis his character and how far he has appropriated the states ofpatience, love of fate (amor fati), trust in God etc. He can’t beself centred. Apparently supernatural things, predictions, mindreading, faith healing can’t be trusted as evidence of beinggenuine Sufi. Self praise and boosting are indications of one’sdegradation. Genuine Sufis have no interest to be respected,praised, served and in money minting. They respect shrines butare not asthan parast as the greatest shrine is the human heart andGod’s residence is there only. They will help the poor more thanthey will be interested in celebrating urses with great pomp. Theyare not great debaters to be interested in takfeer of rivals, todispute doctrinal matters, to slander other believers. Theybelieve only in themselves – even Gabriel is a prey in their net– so they cannot be accused of shirk. They will not readily begeven God for mundane things – their prayer is not petition – notto speak of going from asthan to asthan. They are more interestedin saving their souls rather than in processing the files of theclients regarding worldly matters.

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The relevant question is not is Sufism true but are we trueto ourselves. Who can disagree that we need to know ourselves? Ifwe know ourselves we know God. The question is do we know ouressence, our real self. Answering that question and answeringthis question we answer all questions. Fools debate while thewise people enjoy the feast that God is serving every moment. Godis not a thing to be debated or argued but something to berealized or tasted or enjoyed.

Sufism and Metaphysical Meaning of Prophet

According to Sufism Muhammad is primarily significantand understandable in metaphysical/ontological terms.Metaphysically Muhammad is the principle of manifestation. Godin his transcendence would be unknowable and practically of nointerest to man if He had not expressed/manifested in the worldof forms, if there were no immanent divinity. Immanence ispossible by virtue of the principle called the light of Muhammadin Sufi metaphysics. Nothing can compare, in world literature, tothe grandeur and beauty of na’t (poems in praise of Muhammad)literature. Islamic tradition has given 99 names to the Prophetwhich express the most beautiful, magnificent and multifacetedaspects of existence or life. Thus Muhammad is more than ahistorical person. He is the metaphysical basis of the world ofmanifestation. In Iqbal’s words the Prophet is the First and theLast, the Centre around which everything moves, the raretreasure in whose quest are all existents. For the Sufis everyflower that blooms, every bird that chips, every child thatsmiles, every blade of grass that grows proclaim the grandeur ofthe Prophet. Life is a supreme value and the Prophet is themetaphysical ground of life. All our endeavors, whether we knowit or not, are ultimately directed to affirm and promote life andthus praise the Prophet who is understood as the Pole ofexistence. Our breathing, despite us, goes on and thus we go on

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blessing the Prophet. Wherever and in whatever form life dancesand smiles there the Prophet is blessed. The Prophet symbolizeslife, larger life, richer life, life glorified (that is deeperimport of his name Muhammed which means the praised one). TheProphet, existentially interpreted, is the ideal pole of man, theprinciple of transcendence and freedom of Spirit that makesauthentic life possible. The Prophet is the positivity ofmanifestation as he is the principle of Manifestation. This isthe import of traditional understanding of the phenomenon ofMuhammad or Noori Muhammadi. For Islam it is the Light of Muhammadthat is the principle of existence, otherwise things would nevercome from their archetypal abyss to the world of forms. Durood isa means of reenchanting the deserted garden of the world. Durood,understood at its deepest spiritual/metaphysical level, is ameans of integration, individuation and dealienation. It connectsus to the depths of larger life, to the ground of our being. Thelife of care that is open to Being, to use Heideggerianterminology, is what durood aims at. Iqbal has expressedmetaphysical understanding of the Prophet in his poem “Zouq-o-Shouq.” All endeavours are for realizing the station of Muhammad,all seeking is seeking of Muhammad, all roads lead to Mecca.History is moving prophetword. The electron, the earth, the sun,the galaxies all revolve round the centre called Muhammad. Thisis something which gnostics and lovers can understand. One couldpossibly deny transcendent invisible God but who could denyMuhammad because esoterically and metaphysically understood he isthe principle of manifestation or existence and thus our verybreathing. ‘I see none but zulfi yaar everywhere’ exclaims a Sufi.Who is not moved by beauty and it is Muhammad, the Sahib-al Jamalthat is attracting us in a beautiful object. That is why beautyhas saving or liberating power and why God loves beauty. TheProphet is life’s sweetness, its music, its rasa, its bliss andits celebration. Being that which manifests or unveils Essence isthe green in the trees red in the roses and gold in the rays of

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the sun. He is this life in its positivity, in its totality. Andhe is the silence of the darkness. And he is the joy of lightabounding life of the world. “In the rapturous vitality of thebirds, in their splendid glancing flight: in the swelling of budsand the sacrificial beauty of the flowers: in the great andsolemn rhythms of the sea” – there is the Muhammedan Light forthe Gnostic or Aarif, for those who see with the eyes of God, whosee their Beloved everywhere, those who have found eternity hereand now. What ordinary people call life or existence or beautythe lovers of God call Muhammad. And let it be clear life islived only by lovers in its fullness. God is love. God is everblessing Muhammad according to the Quran. Understood in itsdeepest metaphysical sense this means God is blessing existenceor life. That is why everything is said to be ever busy inglorifying God and in praising/blessing Muhammad. To be is tobless existence by very definition. So who can afford to denyMuhammad? Someone (such as atheists) could afford to beincredulous towards transcendent invisible Divinity but there canbe no escape from the very air we breathe, the very sun thatillumines our darkness, which are there because of God’simmanence in the world or because there is Muhammad, thePrinciple of Manifestation. The same applies to other traditionsand their understanding of Christ/ Buddha etc.

Sufism and Mysticism of Joy

We need to consider in greater detail the charge of pessimismagainst Sufism. Sufism has been widely misunderstood on thispoint. Granted that early Sufis were quite aloof from worldlypursuits and detested political life and overemphasizedtemptations of this world. They didn’t heartily laugh as they weretoo cautious regarding the dangers on spiritual path. The fear ofhell was too real to let them sleep well at times. However thedominant note in most Sufis is one of exultation and ecstasy.

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Having accessed a kind of joy that would make kings abandon theirthrones instantly if they could have a glimpse of it the Sufishave nothing to fear according to Rumi. They are not moralists orpreachers because, as Rumi says, the job of the Sufi is to danceas it is the Prophet’s prerogative to preach. The followingobservations of Underhill in her classic study of mysticism applypreeminently to Sufism where there was no scope for monkhood, foravoiding or escaping the world of form and colour and where thedominant tradition has been one of affirmative transcendence. Whatcharacterizes Sufi poetry above all is the theme of love and thehighest joy known to man is in the experience of love.

In the lives of the great theopathic mystics we find, asUnderhill notes, an amazing superabundant vitality, enhancement ofman’s small derivative life by the Absolute Life.25 The history ofmysticism testifies to the great vitality, the great fruitfullives of works, active creative life of mystics. Mystics have notgenerally been deniers of the world, morons with diminished lifeenergy. The mystic is reborn into new, intense, vigorous, creativeand veritable life, life of action even though contemplationitself is a sort of action. Quietist mysticism isn’t the whole ofmysticism. Prophetic mysticism has been primarily activist. Themystic is ideally the ruler of the world as the great mystic Platohas taught this. God who represents Life force itself worksthrough the mystic, the latter having become a medium for thesame. Ideally mysticism has sought the Reality “which seems fromthe human standpoint at once static and dynamic, transcendent andimmanent, eternal and temporal: accepted both the absolute Worldof Pure Being and the unresting World of Becoming as integralparts of its vision of Truth, demanding on its side a dualresponse.”26 The mystic inwardly is just witnessing consciousness,far from the madding crowd, unidentified with samsaric becoming.But outwardly his career can be one of “superhuman industry.”Transcending existence he dominates it being a son of God, amember of eternal order, sharing its substantial life as Underhill

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points out.27 The twofold character of Godhead, described byRoysbroeck as “Tranquility according to His essence, activityaccording to His Nature: absolute repose, absolute fecundity” isreflected in the life of the mystic who has communed with theAbsolute. “To be a mystic is simply to participate here and now inthat real and eternal life; in the fullest, deepest sense which ispossible for man. It is to share, as free and conscious agent –not as a servant, but a son – in the joyous travail of theUniverse… He is the pioneer of Life on its age long voyage to theOne: and shows us, in his attainment, the meaning and value ofthat life.28 I again reproduce a lengthy quote from Underhill onthe meaning of mysticism, which consists in glorification andcelebration of life in all its beauty and splendor.

Its exultant declarations come to us in all great music; its magicin the life of all romance. Its law – the law of love – is thesubstance of the beautiful, the energizing cause of the heroic.All man’s dreams and diagrams concerning a transcendent perfectionnear him yet intangible, a transcendent vitality to which he canattain – whether we call these objects of desire God, grace,being, spirit, beauty, “pure idea” – are but translations of hisdeeper self’s intuition of its destiny; clumsy fragmentary hintsat the all-inclusive, living Absolute which that deeper self knowsto be real. 29

Mysticism is to know the beauty, the majesty, the divinity, thesplendour, of the living World of Becoming. It is to participatein the “great life of the All.” It is an attitude of gratitude toLife Principle (which traditions call as Spirit), acceptance ofAll or Totality or Existence and appropriating this Cosmic Will.Mysticism finds and celebrates the revelations of the TranscendentLife not in some remote plane of being, in metaphysicalabstractions, in ecstatic states, but “in the normal acts of ourdiurnal experience, suddenly made significant to us. Not in thebackwaters of existence, not amongst subtle arguments and occult

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doctrines, but in all those places where the direct and simplelife of earth goes on.”30

In Sufism we find this theme of joy and celebration of ordinarylife. There is a saying in Sufi circles of Kashmir that meansnurturing a family is a saint’s business. There is another Persiansaying that means “hands busy with the work and heart busy withthe Beloved.” They have been productive in other spheres of lifeas well. They have been great craftmen, soldiers, authors,thinkers, poets, jurists, scholars in the history of Islam.

ConclusionIslam has been nurturing a mystical tradition that has been

in principle opposed to quietism or that ideal of renunciationthat involves escaping from the world into a forest or desertsolitude. A full blooded world affirming and celebratory propheticactivist mysticism that expressed itself in diverse formsincluding secular pursuits of all kinds is what Islamic traditionhas bequeathed to the world. A socially conscious mysticism iswhat has been especially the idea following the example of theProphet and Ali who have been supremely active on secular front.Spirituality in Islam is an adventure into the mysterious,beautiful, peaceful, blissful world. It is creative, aesthetic anddynamic way of life. It is living life soulfully, joyfully. It isan attitude of thanksgiving to the giver of life. It makes itpossible to enjoy life in all its depths and heights.

References

1 Qtd. in Qaisar, Shahzad, Metaphysics and Tradition, Gora Publications, Club Road, Lahore, 1998:132

2 Stace, W.T., Time and Eternity, Princeton University Press, 1952: 2.

3 Qtd. in Perry, Withall N., A Treasury of Traditional Wisdom,Bedfont, 1979.

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4 Ibid5 Ibid6 Ibid.7 Ibid.8 Addas, Claude, Quest for the Red Sulphur: The Life of Ibn ‘Arabî , trans.

Peter Kingsley, Islamic texts Society, Cambridge ,1993: 293)9 Twinch, Cicila, “The Circle of Inclusion,” 2004 (from the

website of MIAS).10 Ibn 'Arabī, al-Futûhât al-makkiyya, 14 volumes, O. Yahia (ed.), al-

Hay’at al-Misriyyat al-‘Âmma li'l-Kitâb, Cairo, 1972–91 Vol II:563.11 Perry, op.cit.12 Perry, op.cit.13 Perry, op.cit.14 Iqbal, M. The Reconstruction Of Religious Thought in Islam Ed. &

Annot. Saeed Sheikh, Adam Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi, 1997.

15 Ibid., p. 123).16 Ibn Arabi, op. cit. pp. 449-50).17 Iqbal, M., op.cit. p.12218 Iqbal, M., p12219 Ibn Arabi, op.cit., II:114.20 Ibn Arabi, op.cit., IV 424-2121 Nasr, S.H, The Need for A Sacred Science, SUNY, New York, 1993:

9)22 Schuon, Frithjof, The Essential Frithjof Schuon,ed. S.H., Nasr,

World Wisdom Books, 2005, p.13623 Uzdavinys, Algis, (Ed.), The Golden Chain: An Anthology of

Phythagorean and Platonic Philosophy, Pentagon Press,138. 24 Young, Peter, 1999, “Ibn '‘Arabî : towards a universal point

of view,” (from the website of MIAS.25 (Underhill, Evelyn, Mysticism, E.P. Dutton &Co. New York,

1961: 429.26 Ibid., p.429.27 Ibid., p.434

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28 Ibid., 44729 Ibid., p.447.30 Ibid., p. 449-50.