Ibn Arabi: "Of the name 3Abdullah"

Entrance to the Tomb of Sidi Muhyiddine

From Kitab al “3Abadila“(Those who carry the name 3Abd (slave, servant) + a beautiful Name)

Since the name 3Abd Allah is a comprehensive name for those elevated in ranks, we have made it a translator, as a translator combines many tongues. We then added this name to the Station (Maqam) of a slave who has been awarded one of the Stations of the Divine Names, a Perfected Pupil (Insan Kamel) a Prophet or a Friend of Allah (Wali)*.

*Surat Maryam 19:30 : “ He said: I am 3Abdullah, He gave me the Scripture and made me a Prophet” [Issa (as)].

3Abdullah ibn 3Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn 3Abdullah said:

“Of the Divine Presence, what emerged first is The Name. Of the Letters, the first that emerged is the Ba. Of the Objectified Beings (Mawjudat), the first that emerged is the Intrinsic Essence (Jawhar) and the first to be dyed with the hue (Sibghah*) of the Intrinsic Essence is the Light (Noor). The first Accident (‘AraDd) that emerged was Movement.

The first of His Qualities (Na3at) He allowed the witnessing thereof is Majesty (Jalal). The first that He uttered is “I” (Ana). The first attribute He accepted from the created is Timidity/Modesty (Haya’). The first momentary state of being (Hal) that comes to the created is dissolution, the first knowledge he is capable of receiving is the knowledge of Allah; in that knowledge, he is able to see his own self (Nafs)”.

* Surat al-Baqara 2:138: “A hue from Allah! And who could give a better hue than Allah, if we but truly worship Him?"

He also said, “3alam (Universe) is taken from 3alamat (Sign). For each truth points to a Divine Truth. The existence of the truth is founded on the Truth. Each truth and its Truth must remain coupled. When Allah (swt) remembers the Universe, look to which of the Names He has added to the Universe, it is thus that you can discern which of the Universes Allah addressed”.

He also said, “When al-Haqq (swt) refers to Himself in the singular [I] and refers to you in the plural, that is because of His Unicity and your multiplicity relative to your lack of needless-ness (Ghina) and to the existence of your poverty.

And When al-Haqq (swt) refers to Himself in the plural (Us,We), that is because of the truth of the Divine Names. When He addresses you in the singular it is because He is addressing one meaning (Ma3na) in you and not your totality. Know then whom in you He has addressed and open your hearing to His Divine Address”.

  

He also said, “The multiplicity of paths is due to the multiplicity of truths; only the straight ones He has decreed and those are all the ones which end towards Him”.

He also said: “Petitioning for [His] help is an affirmation of the Kawn (Creation,[ resulting from the command Kun]). The 3aref (Divine Knower) petitions from the standpoint that he is commanded to petition; he knows who the petitioner is and knows Who Knows whom the petitioner is”.

In addition, he said, “The reward of the common people (al 3amat) is according to the deeds and is granted out of the source of Ownership (3ayn al Mulk), while the reward of the Divine Knowers comes from the source of Bestowal/gifting (3ayn al Minnat)”.

And he said, “If a matter/a command (Amr) is established between 2 Divine Names, it will have two differing faces, as each Divine Name has a face that is different from that of another. The matter/command will seek the Name that has accepted it and has shown it Its Face, that is a Station of Truth (Haqq), a Seat of truthfulness (Sidq) * and a majestic rank due to what preceded it and what followed it of the Names...It is preserved from the occurrences of veiling”

*Surat al Qamar 55:54 : “in a seat of truth, in the presence of a Sovereign who determines all things”.

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NB: * The quoted Qur'anic verses are not part of Ibn Arabi's text.

Surat al-Anaam 6:161-163

{ قُلْ إِنَّنِي هَدَانِي رَبِّيۤ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ دِيناً قِيَماً مِّلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفاً وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ } * { قُلْ إِنَّ صَلاَتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ } * { لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَبِذٰلِكَ أُمِرْتُ وَأَنَاْ أَوَّلُ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ

Say: "Behold, my Sustainer has guided me onto a straight way through an ever-true faith-the way of Ibrahim who turned away from all that is false, and was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him."


Ibn Arabi

{ قل إنني هداني ربّي إلى صراط مستقيم } إلى طريق التوحيد الذاتي { ديناً قيماً } ثابتاً أبداً لا تغيره الملل والنِحل ولا تنسخه الشرائع والكتب { ملّة إبراهيم } التي أعرض بها عن كل ما سواه بالترقي عن جميع المراتب مائلاً عن كل دين وطريق باطل فيه شرك ما، ولو بصفة من صفات الله تعالى.

Say, my Sustainer has guided me to the Path of the Unicity of the “Essence”, a Path that is steadfast, never changing, unaffected by the various (spiritual) Ways (Millah) and religions (Nihlah); a way that cannot be abrogated or concealed, neither by any religious regulations nor by any Scriptures. The way of Ibrahim by which he turned away from all other than Him, ascending beyond all ranks, avoiding every Path that may contain a hint of untruth, even if- this particular Path is- adhering to one of the attributes of Allah most high.

{ قل إن صلاتي } أي: حضوري بالقلب وشهودي بالروح { ونسكي } أي: تقرّبي أو كل
 ما أتقرّب به بالقلب { ومحياي } بالحق { ومماتي } بالنفس كلها { لله } لا نصيب لي ولا لأحد غيري فيها لأني قمت به له بالفناء فلا وجود لي ولا لغيري حتى يكون لي حظ ونصيب { ربّ العالمين } أي: له باعتبار الجمع في صورة تفاصيل الربوبية { لا شريك له } في ذلك جمعاً وتفصيلاً { وبذلك أُمرت } أي: أُمرت أن لا أرى غيره في عين الجمع ولا في صورة التفاصيل حتى أعمل له كما وصفني تعالى بقوله:

{ مَا زَاغَ ٱلْبَصَرُ وَمَا طَغَىٰ }

[النجم، الآية: 17] فهو الآخر والمأمور، والرائي والمرئي { وأنا أوّل المسلمين } المنقادين للفناء فيه بإسلام وجهي له باعتبار الرتبة في تفاصيل الذات وإلا فلا أول ولا آخر ولا مسلم ولا كافر.

Say My prayer : means my presence with my Heart and my witnessing with my soul;{نسكي} my approaching Him, and everything my heart uses to approach [through and with], my life by al-Haqq and the death of the totality of my Nafs, all are for Allah: meaning that neither I nor any other have any part of it. For I undertook evanescence (Fana’) only for His sake: There is no existence for me or for others within this Path . 
All this is for Him, the Sustainer of all the Universes ( Rabb- al- Alameen) : in the totality of all His Attributes and in their detailing. This, I was commanded meaning: I was commanded to see no other than Him in the high rank of "Togetherness of the Essence"* and not in the Shape or details of the creation (Sufiyya: the outer form (Surat) of creation)**. All this, in order that I may act in and towards Him as He has described me [The vision did not deviate nor did it exceed the limit : al-Najm, 53:17]. He is simultaneously the Other and the One who is commanded, the Seer and the One who sees. [And I am the first of those who submitted], those who are led to evanescence in Him as I surrender my face and my direction to Him (Wajh). For the Highest rank is within the details of the Essence where ultimately there is no first and no last, no one who surrendered and no one who covered the truth.
*Ayn al Jam3’ (Eye/Essence of Togetherness)

** Seeking Allah’s attributes and deeds in the universe is a lower rank of gnosis, worshiping the outer manifestations (Surat) even if created according to His own Surat is limiting ourselves. We must aim further along in time, space and spiritual knowledge towards the Essence.
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A very moving recitation of the verses from Shaykh Ragheb Mustapha Ghalwash, Syria 1969 (item 2)

http://www.archive.org/details/GhalwashSyria

"Al-Haqq ravished me" (Jadhb): Emir Abd el Kader

Mawqif 7

Al-Haqq ravished me away from my (illusory) Self and brought me closer to my real (Self); the disappearance of the earth has led to the disappearance of the heavens (1). The All and its parts have become one. The vertical and the horizontal have been annihilated (2). The supererogatory works have given way to the obligatory works (3) and all colors have returned to the pure primordial whiteness (4).

The voyage has reached its term and anything other than Hu has ceased to exist. Attributions, considerations and relations having been abolished, the original state has been reestablished:
" Today I have lowered your lineage and raised My lineage (5) ".

The words of al-Hallaj were said to me, with the difference that he himself had uttered them while in my case, they were uttered for me. Those words whose meaning is understood and accepted only by those who deserve them; those words which are misunderstood and rejected by those in whom ignorance prevails.

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(1) The earth and the heavens represent respectively the Manifest Universe ('Alam al-Shahada) and the Hidden Universe ('Alam al-Ghayb) to which correspond microscopically, the world of the flesh and that of the spirit. Their disappearance here is a consequence of their resorption into the Principle.

(2) This use of technical language was first seen in Hallaj : verticality:refers to the spiritual world that of the pure concepts and divine commandments; horizontality: refers to the physical world of the creation.
The annihilation of the geometrical dimensions refers to the return to the Initial Point.

(3) The annihilation of the supererogatory acts refers to the extinction of the individual will and its identification with the Divine Will in the thought of Ibn'Arabi.

(4) Symbolically, the colors are due to an artificial tainting (insibagh) of the original white Light.

(5) Hadith Qudsi reported by Ibn 'Arabi in "The Ringstones of Wisdom" (Fusus al-Hikam) and discussed at length in the Chapter : "Ringstone of Prophet Hud".
Our relationship to al-Haqq is closer than any other relationship because it is the relationship to our most intimate self. All other relationships disappear in presence of Allah (swt), Surat al- Mu'minoon: 23: 101: " For when the trumpet is blown, that day there shall be no kinship any more between them, neither shall they question each other."
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This is from the book of "Mawaqif"  ( Spiritual halts/Pauses ) of Emir Abd al-Kader on the description of the state of being ravished (Majdhub)

I have used the French translation of the " Ecrits Spirituels" of M. Chodkiewicz (including the footnotes) and the English translation of "The Ringstones of Wisdom" of Caner Dagli which is highly readable and contains excellent glosses.