Light upon Light - Seeking Paths of Clarity in Ibn al-Arabi's Ringstones of Wisdom

1. Light upon Light
Seeking Paths of Clarity in Ibn al-Arabi’s Ringstones of Wisdom

Zaki Mustafa Arain





March 31, 2014
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree
St. John’s College – Santa Fe, NM

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1. Introduction
In the Chapter on Adam of The Ringstones of Wisdom, Ibn al-Arabi sets God’s
first creative act as a self-disclosure. While expanding on this act, he repeatedly uses the
image of the mirror to further our understanding of creation and our purpose. In fact, Ibn
al-Arabi writes that, “He is your mirror for your vision of yourself, and you are His
mirror for His vision of His Names – which are none other than Himself – and the
manifestation of their determinations” (26)
1
, puzzlingly suggesting that self-disclosure is
not limited to God. Later on, Ibn al-Arabi shares with us a Divine Saying which quickly
presents itself as the central theme of Ringstones. Considered to be the words of God
spoken to Muhammad outside of Qur’anic Revelation, God expresses the basis of
creation and more generally the primary movement of Being when He said, “I was a
hidden treasure and I loved to be known; so I created the world and made Myself known
to them.” Self-disclosure as the creative act is explicit in this Saying, but questions arise
when this is taken together with the repeated and unique instances of the mirror symbol.
If self-disclosure is the activity of God, why can man take part in it? God being
Al-ʿAlīm
2
, The Omniscient, surely His self-disclosure encompasses far more knowledge
than man’s, so what are the limits of man’s knowledge of himself and God? There are
moments when the image of the mirror is used to show us that we are a mirror for God,
but there are also examples of Ibn al-Arabi using the mirror to explain that God is a
mirror for us. The mirror is repeatedly used to describe some relationship between God

1
Ibn al-Arabi, Muhyiddin Muhammad. The Ringstones of Wisdom: Fusus al-hikam.
Trans. Caner K. Dagli. Chicago: Great Books of the Islamic World, 2004. [all subsequent
citations of this text will reference page number, unless otherwise noted]
2
I have included the 99 Names of Allah, printed at the end of this essay. These are ways
that Allah named Himself throughout the Qur’an, and encompass a wide range of
qualities that the reader might find interesting.

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and man, and I will explore the role knowledge plays in this relationship. Understanding
God’s knowledge of Himself both through Himself and also through man, first by
looking closely at creation and then moving onto a treatment of the immutable identities
and His Divine Names and finally examining the role of man in the symbol of the mirror
should provide us not only with a picture of Ibn al-Arabi’s tremendously complex
thought, but also a measure of insight into the relationship between man and God.
However, before beginning this large task, it is important to note that Ibn al-
Arabi’s teachings are based upon a set of principles common to all Sufis, principles laid
out in the Qur’an and the Hadith. Whenever Ibn al-Arabi expounds on a subject, he does
it from the standpoint of a devout servant of Islam which is evident by his constant
commentary on Qur’anic verses and references to the life of the Prophet Muhammad.
With this in mind, the way in which one approaches The Ringstones of Wisdom becomes
a question. Should one take him at face-value and seek to understand only what he
writes? Or should we strive to understand his words according to the perspective he was
writing from? It is true that he once wrote, “I follow the religion of Love: whatever way
Love's camels take, that is my religion and my faith”
3
, but it is essential to note that he
never once renounced Islam, and though he is now considered the preeminent Sufi, he
referred to himself simply as Muslim.
What can one make of this? The Ringstones is an extremely difficult book to
wring understanding from, and yet it is strangely amenable in that it seems to be able to
hold up to the reader what that reader desires to glean from it. It is similar to many Holy

3
"The Tarjuman Al-Ashwaq: Translation and Commentary: Poem XI." The Tarjuman Al-
Ashwaq: Translation and Commentary: XI. Trans. Reynold A. Nicholson. Web.
<http://sacred-texts.com/isl/taa/taa14.htm>.

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Books in this way: violent readers find violence; compassionate readers find peace, and
so on. It is because of this very compliance that one is terrified. While reading, it
becomes frustratingly clear that in order to truly get at the core of Ibn al-Arabi’s text we
must first eliminate our prejudices, desires, and opinions – in short, we must find a way
to eliminate ourselves. Is such a thing possible?
As we are largely uneducated with respect to this text, and since I am certainly
incapable of eliminating myself, what options are left to us in approaching this text?
Having found that an untainted reading is beyond our reach, perhaps the only option
available is to read Ringstones with ourselves firmly in hand. That is, we must recognize
what prejudices we are projecting onto the text in order to safeguard against self-
deception. I recognize a certain prejudice outright: I desire to read Ibn al-Arabi from a
strictly Islamic perspective. And this prejudice actually seems justified, because Ibn al-
Arabi made the decision to write Ringstones as a Muslim. The book, according to Ibn al-
Arabi, was revealed to him in a dream by Muhammad. More convincing than that,
however, is the recognition that this prejudice is perhaps the closest a layman can come to
approaching the book’s initial meaning, for how far can one’s reading go if one doesn’t
understand the most basic allusions to Islam? With this prejudice in mind, and knowing
no other way to reach Ibn al-Arabi’s true meaning, we might finally be able to read The
Ringstones of Wisdom closely and safely.
There is one more curiosity concerning the text that should be covered before
moving on, namely the organization. There are 27 chapters in this book, each with a title
that begins with “Ringstone of the Wisdom” followed by some quality, such as
“Breathing” or “Heart”, and completed with “the Word” of a Prophet. Frankly, each

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chapter title oozes with mystery and mysticism, and upon my first read-through I admired
them, hoping to one day unlock the meaning behind them. There are some moments in
the text where the relationship between the chapter’s title and its content is quite clear,
but there are others which are quite unintelligible. In the interest of keeping ourselves
from possible misunderstandings, it is valuable to try to find some measure of comfort
with these titles before moving on. Islamically, the Prophets were direct signs from
heaven, sent by God to bring them closer to Him, but by way of these same Prophets.
“Every community is sent a messenger [Apostle]”
4
and these Prophets of God possess
within themselves a unique and unrestricted relationship to God, while outwardly their
relationship with God is according to the community they were sent to. In Islam this is
known by the fact that God sent a Book or Scroll to every nation according to their needs.
Islam, according to the Qur’an, is the final religion that God intends to reveal to
humanity, and is seen as the ultimate and perfected religion. The historical presence of
Allah is central to Islam, because the belief in God’s Holy Books is one of the seven
essential beliefs a Muslim must hold to. So if a Prophet was sent to every people from the
beginning of time, why do the religions seem so different? And how can we understand
the relationship of the Prophets to God? Muslims believe that God’s messages and
messengers were wholly dependent upon the disposition of the community they were sent
to. And in line with that, they must follow their role as Prophet externally, while
internally maintaining a more complete knowledge of God.
This is spoken of extensively in Ibn al-Arabi’s chapter on Seth, when he
differentiates between Sainthood and Prophethood, the former dictating an inner

4
Qu’ran 10:47

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relationship with God and the latter, external; he writes that “Every Prophet, from Adam
until the last Prophet, receives only from the niche of the Seal of the Prophets, even
though his clay’s existence may come later in time.” (29) Muhammad is known as the
Seal of the Prophets, and to every Muslim the use of the word “Seal” suggested an ending
or completion, but here Ibn al-Arabi’s use suggests a seal one might find on a ring, a
stone that might have many edges or bezels. He also points out that the Seal of the
Prophet’s reality “is existent, which is spoken of in his words, may God bless him and
grant him peace, ‘I was a prophet when Adam was between water and clay.’” (29)
Altogether, it means that each Prophet was only a Prophet according to what they
received from the niche of the Seal of the Prophets, and likewise a saint according to the
Seal of the Saints.
The Prophets, in receiving from the Seal of the Prophets, are receiving from
Muhammad who is the Perfect Man, who manifests the totality of God’s Names. “He
was, upon him be peace, the best proof of his Lord, for he was given the all-
comprehensive words, which are those things named by the names of Adam.” (277) A
Prophet receiving from the Seal would receive the Names particular to their task and
manifest them and this particular manifestation would be considered “the Wisdom” of
each Prophet.
The “Ringstone” in each chapter title denotes that each chapter is a part of a
whole. A ringstone is simply that, a stone set into a ring which is used to place an imprint
in wax or something similar. It seems to be true that each Prophet possesses a different
and unique ringstone, with a shape and size particular to that Prophet’s Wisdom. Wisdom
being seated in the heart, it then follows that the Ringstone of each Wisdom is the heart

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of the Prophet. With every chapter title pointing out the differences in the Prophet’s, it
seems as though it would be best to understand each passage from The Ringstones of
Wisdom according to its chapter heading. But would such a reading coincide with Ibn al-
Arabi’s Islamic perspective?
God is the Light of the heavens and earth. His Light is like
this: there is a niche, and in it a lamp, the lamp inside a
glass, a glass like a glittering star, fuelled from a blessed
olive tree from neither east nor west, whose oil almost
gives no light even when no fire touches is – light upon
light – God guides whoever He will to His Light.
5


Ibn al-Arabi seemed to have this verse in mind when he said that the Seal of the
Prophets possesses a “niche”. By way of concatenation, God’s Light passes through the
niche of the Seal of the Prophets and then is refracted to each Prophet. Though the Light
is different in form, its essence remains constant. So when a Prophet’s Wisdom is spoken
of, it is both different and the same as every other Prophet’s. Furthermore, since the heart
is the location of the Ringstone of Wisdom, and since it is also where the wisdom of
Sainthood is received, a Wisdom might be particular to a Prophet but never exclusive
save for Muhammad who possesses all the Names. And finally, by deciding to approach
this text with an eye towards Islam, it is always best to assume an ultimate Unity, for the
Qur’an says, “Say, ‘He is God the One, God the Eternal. He begot no one nor was He
begotten. No one is comparable to Him.”
6

With these considerations – heavy as they are – in mind, we are now ready to
assess and analyze the initial question of knowledge. We must begin our work, like Ibn
al-Arabi, at the beginning and do our best to wrestle a cohesive and coherent account of

5
Qu’ran, 24:35
6
Qu’ran 112: 1-4

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the relationship between God and Man with respect to knowledge from this dizzying and
slippery text.
2. Creation
“I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known; so I created the world and made
Myself known to them.” While the meaning of this Divine Tradition (hadith qudsi) might
seem apparent, it is in fact quite complex. The Ringstones begin with the Real willing “in
virtue of His Beautiful Names, which are innumerable, to see their identities… to see His
Identity – in a comprehensive being that comprises the whole affair insofar as it is
possessed of existence and His Mystery is manifest to Himself through it” (3). Already
Ibn al-Arabi presents us with a puzzle, not allowing us to understand God as simply
possessing one Identity (‘ayn) or many, but rather that God has both one and many
Identities. Although it is unclear what His singular Identity is, he makes it explicit that
God’s innumerable identities correspond to His Names. We can understand from Ibn al-
Arabi’s opening sentence that existence, from the beginning, is conceived as a theater of
manifestation for His infinite Names, the “comprehensive being” containing the totality
and singularity of His Identity.
Considering the “comprehensive being”, all we know is that it exists so that God
may know Himself entirely, and as a result it must manifest all of His innumerable
Names. However, Ibn al-Arabi writes, “God had existentiated the entire world as a body
made ready, in which there was no spirit, and so it was like an unpolished mirror.” (4) Is
the “comprehensive being” the same as the “unpolished mirror”? If that were so, then the
unpolished mirror would contain all of God’s Names, and all their combinations. Yet
how could that be when God deprived it of His Spirit? Being incomplete, the unpolished

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mirror must be something else entirely. Knowing that the “comprehensive being” must
reflect both God’s singular Identity as well as His innumerable identities, it seems that
the unpolished mirror reflects only His infinite Names and lacks the capacity to reflect
His singular Identity. Polish must be added to complete and perfect His reflection, and
that polish is man.
In this, then, we see that man plays a unique role of manifesting God’s singular
Identity, and so creation can be a complete reflection of God. And this is stated when Ibn
al-Arabi writes, “The situation required that the mirror of the world be clear, and Adam
was the very clearness of this mirror and the spirit of this form” (5), where Adam
represents the archetype of man. But is man a manifestation of His totality, encompassing
and reconciling the singular and the innumerable, or is man’s role simply to manifest the
singular Identity of God? Since Ibn al-Arabi did write that men “…are His mirror for His
vision of His Names – which are none other than Himself” (26), it seems that man is not
just the mirror polish but the mirror itself.
God is Al-ʿAlīm, The Omniscient, and as a result possesses absolute knowledge of
Himself through Himself, and also possesses qualified knowledge of Himself through
that which qualifies. Ibn al-Arabi states that God is “manifest to Himself in a form
accorded by the locus seen” (3) and that God “is Manifest to Himself in the forms of the
world, and thus is existence perfected. And so the motion of the world is that of the love
for perfection, so understand.” (262) It is to be understood that God manifests His Names
in every possible configuration, in the interest of perfection and completion. Furthermore,
the desire for the qualified knowledge, which necessitated the world’s creation, is

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obtained by God’s observing His reflection in the innumerable and unique mirrors of
mankind.
God elevates man above all creation by virtue of man encompassing God’s
totality, and because it is through man that God witnesses Himself. “He is Man, who
comes to be and is beginningless, who is perpetual and endless in his makeup, who is the
separative and unitive Word, and who is the subsisting of the world through his
existence.”(6) Ibn al-Arabi underlines the fact that man is God’s medium, but also points
out the subtle polarizing character of man. God’s statement of “I was a hidden
treasure…” is tremendously important at this juncture. When “I” is uttered it necessitates
self-awareness, a reflection of Himself to Himself that was made possible by the creation
of man, through whom He sees Himself. As was said before, God knows Himself
absolutely but not in a qualified sense. So where He was previously Absolute, He then
became qualified as well as a result of the first “I”. His Divine Names unfolded from
nonexistence to existence, through the theater of manifestation man provided, but the
Names have relevance only within the context of creation.
What does it mean that God is Ar-Rahīm, The Merciful, if there is no object of
His Mercy? He is Al-Malik, The Sovereign, but that is meaningless without a kingdom.
He is Al-Wāhid, The One, but His Oneness demands multiplicity in order to be complete.
It is man’s role to be the polarizing factor in God’s self-disclosure, to be that which
manifests all the relational qualities of God – His Names – and in the manifestation unify
the polarized factors. “All of the Names, which are divine forms, are manifested in this
makeup of man, and the function of encompassment and synthesis is achieved through

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his existence.” (6) Man, then, in encompassing the innumerable relational qualities of
God, embraces his own opposing nature as unifier and separator.
3. Immutable Identities
Now, as mentioned above, it is by virtue of His Omniscience that God manifests
His Names in man. Every possible configuration of Names is manifest in creation and
man is determined by these possibilities. Ibn al-Arabi speaks of these possibilities as none
other than immutable identities (‘ayn-i-thabita), placing a special emphasis on their role
in God’s knowledge. For it is in His mode of Knowledge – in the presence called
Knowledge – that the immutable identities are created as individuated forms of His
Names.
Of the knowledge of God, we say that it is eternal, and of
the knowledge of man we say that it comes to be. So
contemplate what is brought about the act of placing this
determination in relation with this intelligible reality, and
contemplate as well the connection between intelligibles
and concrete existents. For just as knowledge determines
what subsists through it, such that one calls it “knower”, so
too does the possessor of the quality determine knowledge
as coming to be in the case of what comes to be and eternal
in the case of the eternal. Each one is determining and
determined. (10)

Immutable identities do not have existence as such. In so far as God contemplates
Himself absolutely He knows His singular Identity, but the very act of knowing places
this in the presence of God’s knowledge which demands a qualified and determined
knowledge, which in turn gives rise to the innumerable immutable identities. These forms
of God’s qualities remain in the presence of God’s knowledge, immutable (thabita –
fixed, established) in eternity and not qualified by existence. The immutable identities
must remain immutable; otherwise they would be variable and would create a state of

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relativity, which is completely contrary to God’s unique Absoluteness. They are the
forms of infinite, immutable, fixed possibilities of Qualities, and have no existence other
than their status as fixed possibilities. The immutable identities also represent the
possibilities of God’s knowledge, as each immutable identity is a possible combination of
Qualities.
As a result of God’s desire for qualified knowledge of Himself, and because that
knowledge can only come to be through granting existence to the immutable identities,
the manifestation of the immutable identities is a process of coming to be. God places,
then, in the “unpolished mirror” of creation His Most Holy Effusion, and breathes spirit
into the world manifesting His Names according to their determinations. Like light
through a stained-glass window, His Self is manifested according the immutable
identities. And as the immutable identities come to be, or “unfold”, His knowledge of
Himself is perfected by the inclusion of the eternal and temporal. It is not only His
knowledge that is perfected, for Ibn al-Arabi writes that
He is Manifest to Himself in the forms of the world, and
thus is existence perfected. And so the motion of the world
is that of the love for perfection, so understand. Do you not
see how He relieved the divine Names of the absence of
their effects’ manifestation in the identity called the world?
Indeed, ease is loved by Him, and He only attains to it
through formal existence, both exalted and lowly. (262)

The relief that God provides His Names is curious, as it highlights the agency
involved in creation. The above quotation would have us believe that God acted upon His
Names and as a result His Names manifested, which brings to mind a verse Rumi relates
in his Spiritual Verses: “We were not: there was no demand on our part; yet Thy Grace

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heard our silent prayer and called us into existence.”
7
However, as mentioned in the
Word of Salih, that “the Real most high acknowledges that the bringing into being
belongs to the thing itself and not to the Real.”(120) It is in this way that the immutable
identities come into being, as the Command of “Be!” initiated the actualization of His
“hidden” aspect into Existence. This process of His Holiest Emanations (His Command
of “Be!”) and His Holy Emanation, or His Breath, establishes the portion of
manifestation each of His Names can lay claim to as well as allowing them to determine
the immutable identities. His Breath is a complicated phenomenon, as it is through His
Breath that the Divine Names first determine themselves, and those Names determine
mankind through the immutable identities. This is evident when Ibn al-Arabi writes,
“That by whose existentiation He first granted release for lordship – through His Breath,
which is attributed to the All-Merciful – was the world, which is required by lordship in
its reality as well as by all of the divine Names.” (126)
4. Divine Names
It is important to remember that the Names are, in a certain sense, distinct from
God as Allah and al-Haqq (The Real). In fact, these are quite subtle and delicate
distinctions. He is, according to Ibn al-Arabi, “the Majestic and the Beautiful, the Hidden
and the Manifest, the First and the Last. These are none other than Himself,” (32), but the
transitive property does not seem to apply to the Divine Names.
God, because He was a “hidden treasure”, possesses an unknowable and
unnamable aspect that is completely beyond our understanding. This is clear when we

7
Rūmī, Jalāl Al-Dīn. Spiritual Verses: Masnavi-ye Ma'navi. Trans. Alan Williams.
London: Penguin, 2006. Line 640. Print.

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understand that the knowledge available to man is limited to knowing God in His Divine
presence. But man is encouraged to look for knowledge of God through knowledge of
Himself, as is evident by Muhammad’s Saying, “Whosoever knoweth himself knoweth
His Lord.” (39) And the knowledge one can gain from that is limited to what The Real
(al-Haqq) grants: “…God’s knowledge of him, in all of his states, is what he is in his
identity’s state of immutability prior to its existence, and he knows that the Real grants
him nothing but what the knowledge of his identity grants Him, which is what he is in his
state of immutability.”(23) Yet from this unknowable aspect, God manifested Himself to
Himself through Himself. So does this mean complete self-knowledge is impossible and
as a result our knowledge of God is as well?
Differentiation of God’s Names occurs when God Breathed His Holy Emanation
into creation. The Names differentiate themselves from The Absolute Divine aspect of
God and from one another. Such differentiation happens because of the Qualities inherent
in the Names, and for each Name there is a portion of manifestation apportioned to them.
For example, Ibn al-Arabi writes that “the Real shows Mercy but is not shown Mercy.
Mercy has no determination over Him,” (125) which demonstrates that the Real
possesses a larger portion of manifestation and determines the “subordinate” Names.
Allah is the Name which establishes His Divinity and the relationship between the
Creator and created, necessary and contingent, Lord and servant. Allah, however, is a
name with certain limits. By its very nature, it has a mutual dependency upon that which
worships it as divine, in much the same way that “Lord” designates a particular
dependence upon a servant; one is not possible without the other. Al-Haqq, however, is

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not beholden in such a manner, and in this way the Real takes possession of a portion of
manifestation unavailable to Allah.
The innumerable Names determine the immutable identities in every combination
possible. As stated earlier, the immutable identities must exist in every possible
combination because it is through them that God manifests Himself and His creation.
Since His Knowledge is always seeking perfection, the immutable identities must possess
the totality of God’s qualified knowledge of Himself. For in the Divine Presence “nothing
is repeated at all, due to its scope.” (31)
5. Mirrors
In the Word of Seth, Ibn al-Arabi says of the mirror, “It is similar to what one
finds in a visible mirror: when you see a form in it you do not see it, although you know
that only there do you see forms – or your own form. Now, God has manifested this as a
similitude, employing it to represent the self-disclosure of the Essence, so that the object
of self-disclosure will know that he does not see Him” (25). This underlines the idea that
knowledge is subject to the thing known, and that the Essence can only disclose itself –
and know itself – to the degree determined by the preparedness of the object. In fact Ibn
al-Arabi expands on this theme when he says, of God, “Whosoever qualifies Him denies
Him in what is other than that by which he qualifies Him, yet drawing nearer to Him
through that by which he qualifies Him when He discloses Himself.” (128)
For example, if we qualified God by claiming He only presents Himself to us in
the form of the sun, we would be denying Him utterly for “God most high has turned our
attention, concerning our knowledge of Him, to contemplating the created, and has said
that He will show us His signs within it. He has shown Himself to us through us.” (11)

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However, if the sun were out we would praise God for His brightness, and likewise
mourn His absence at night. In such a way we would draw nearer to Him, despite our
qualified understanding. The Folk of the Known, however, deny God nothing and so
witness Him in all His forms, acting as perfectly polished mirrors without the blemish of
wrong opinion or ignorance. “From himself he knows himself, and his self is not other
than the Selfhood of the Real.” (131)
The mirror of creation is necessary in order for God to know Himself completely,
His knowledge encompassing His Absoluteness and His relativity. His infinite Names
manifesting in the world, in every combination, give rise to this knowledge. This is why
man was brought into existence, to provide a mirror to God of Himself, a possible
reflection determined in non-existence by the immutable identities. The Image of God,
that is the innumerable Names, is manifest completely in man, the “comprehensive
being” being a vessel for the particular and infinite combinations of his Qualities.
…concerning [the world’s] manifestation in His Image, and
in order for you to acquire knowledge, God most high has
turned our attention, concerning our knowledge of Him, to
contemplating the created, and has said that He will show
us His signs within it. He has shown Himself to us through
us. We describe Him by no quality without ourselves being
that quality, although this is not the case for that necessity
which is unique to the Essence. When we know Him
through ourselves and from ourselves, we attribute
everything to Him that we attribute to ourselves, and to this
point the divine sayings have come down to us on the
tongues of the interpreters. He described Himself to us
through us. (11)

Every creation is a unique emanation of His Image, consisting of His Qualities,
although a created being’s qualities differ from God’s with respect to necessity and
contingency. God is One and is Absolute so creation, being many and determined, is

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intrinsically limited in the extent to which it can manifest God’s Names. Creation is
contingent upon His Being, and although creation is necessary insofar as each particular
creation contributes to God’s infinite knowledge of Himself, that necessity is itself
dependent upon that which necessitates it. Thus, as God is self-sufficient and creation is
needful of Him, creation is limited in itself as determinations of the Essence.
The Names give rise to immutable identities, which are intelligible though possess
no concrete existence. These are the unique combinations of Names which are God’s
object of knowledge, “Know that universal entities, though not possessing existence in
themselves, are still known and intelligible in the mind” (8). The infinite Qualities of God
cannot possess existence in themselves because they require a theater of manifestation, a
surface on which they can project themselves. Ibn al-Arabi continues by saying that
“there is a determination of concrete existents which stems from this universal reality as a
function of what the realities of these individual existents require” (9). The “requirement”
put upon the “individual existents” is that of God’s desire to know Himself completely.
More specifically this could mean that As-Salam, the Peace, might require a specific
manifestation, or even a specific combination with other Names. “Indeed, ease is loved
by Him,” (262) and in this way God is manifest in all possible ways. The immutable
identities unfold themselves, from the eternal non-existence to the temporal concrete
existence which is the created world.
For example, the immutable identity that corresponds to oneself and determines
one’s states throughout life is constantly unfurling with each of God’s Breaths. On the
one hand, it was determined in non-existence outside of time according to God’s desire to
know Himself in every possible way. On the other hand, one determined one’s own

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immutable identity, for Ibn al-Arabi writes that “Nothing is granted by God to contingent
things except what is granted by their essences in their states. They have a form in every
state, and their forms differ due to the diversity of their states. Therefore the self-
disclosure differs, due to the diversity of their states.” (90) God, here, is manifesting
Himself according to what one demands of Him, the demand itself being determined by
the self-disclosure received. For instance, when one wishes to maintain an awareness of
oneself, their state asks for the manifestation of Al-ʿAlīm and receives it, but they wished
for knowledge because their immutable identity produced that state in them, all according
to what man determined for himself in eternity. Again, Rumi’s verse is helpful here
because his account seems to be aligned with this perspective. Special attention should be
paid to the phrase “our silent prayer”, because that heavily suggests that man did play a
large role in determining the immutable identities that dictate our lives.
Perhaps now we are equipped to untangle the quotation considered at the
beginning of this endeavor which stated that “He is your mirror for your vision of
yourself, and you are His mirror for His vision of His Names – which are none other than
Himself – and the manifestation of their determinations.” (26) By choosing to disclose
Himself to Himself through the world, His Knowledge demanded that self-reflection is
essential. That is, in the interest of perfecting His Knowledge, God must present Himself
to Himself in a qualified and relative way, that includes man presenting himself to
himself in a qualified way as well. For man’s knowledge of himself contributes directly
towards God’s Knowledge, because man’s self-disclosure is in fact the manifestations of
God’s Names to those very same Names. It is this way that man and God reflect each
other, in knowledge and movement. However, the highest form of knowledge seems to

19. Arain - 18

involve polishing the mirror of every man’s heart. Polishing one’s mirror entails perfect
submission, seeking visions of God in everything, and denying Him nothing. Such a
pursuit requires and achieves an annihilation of one’s self, in favor of the Divine Self.
Such annihilation is likened to a reunion, by Rumi, and when the specter of the self looms
once again the taste of Him lingers.
How can I understand the things around me
when my companion’s light is not around me?

But Love demands that these words shall be spoken;
how can a mirror be without reflection?

Do you know why your mirror tells of nothing?
The rust has not been taken from its surface.

Reflect upon this story, my dear friends;
its meaning is the essence of our state.
8




















Bibliography

8
Rumi: Lines 32-35

20. Arain - 19

Ibn al-Arabi, Muhyiddin Muhammad. The Ringstones of Wisdom: Fusus al-hikam. Trans.
Caner K. Dagli. Chicago: Great Books of the Islamic World, 2004
Rūmī, Jalāl Al-Dīn. Spiritual Verses: Masnavi-ye Ma'navi. Trans. Alan Williams.
London: Penguin, 2006. Line 640. Print.
A., Abdel Haleem M. The Qurʼan. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
"The Tarjuman Al-Ashwaq: Translation and Commentary: Poem XI." The Tarjuman Al-
Ashwaq: Translation and Commentary: XI. Trans. Reynold A. Nicholson. Web.
<http://sacred-texts.com/isl/taa/taa14.htm>.

21. Arain - 20

99 Names of God
Allah The Greatest Name
Ar-Rahman The All-Merciful
Ar-Rahim The All-Beneficent
Al-Malik The Absolute Ruler
Al-Quddus The Pure One
As-Salam The Source of Peace
Al-Mu’min The Inspirer of Faith
Al-Muhaymin The Guardian
Al-’Aziz The Victorious
Al-Jabbar The Compeller
Al-Mutakabbir The Greatest
Al-Khaliq The Creator
Al-Bari’ The Maker of Order
Al-Musawwir The Shaper of
Beauty
Al-Ghaffar The Forgiving
Al-Qahhar The Subduer
Al-Wahhab The Giver of All
Ar-Razzaq The Sustainer
Al-Fattah The Opener
Al-’Alim The Knower of All
Al-Qabid The Constrictor
Al-Basit The Reliever
Al-Khafid The Abaser
Ar-Rafi’ The Exalter
Al-Mu’izz The Bestower of
Honors
Al-Mudhill The Humiliator
As-Sami The Hearer of All
Al-Basir The Seer of All
Al-Hakam The Judge
Al-’Adl The Just
Al-Latif The Subtle One
Al-Khabir The All-Aware
Al-Halim The Forebearing
Al-’Azim The Magnificent
Al-Ghafur The Forgiver and
Hider of Faults
Ash-Shakur The Rewarder of
Thankfulness
Al-’Ali The Highest
Al-Kabir The Greatest
Al-Hafiz The Preserver
Al-Muqit The Nourisher
Al-Hasib The Accounter
Al-Jalil The Mighty
Al-Karim The Generous
Ar-Raqib The Watchful One
Al-Mujib The Responder to
Prayer
Al-Wasi’ The All-
Comprehending
Al-Hakim The Perfectly Wise
Al-Wadud The Loving One
Al-Majíd The Majestic One
Al-Ba’ith The Resurrector
Ash-Shahid The Witness
Al-Haqq The Truth
Al-Wakil The Trustee
Al-Qawi The Possessor of All
Strength
Al-Matin The Forceful One
Al-Wáli The Governor
Al-Hamid The Praised One
Al-Muhsi The Appraiser
Al-Mubdi The Originator
Al-Mu’id The Restorer
Al-Muhyi The Giver of Life
Al-Mumit The Taker of Life
Al-Hayy The Ever Living One
Al-Qayyum The Self-Existing
One
Al-Wajid The Finder
Al-Májid The Glorious
Al-Wahid The One
Al-Ahad The Unity
As-Samad The Absolute
Al-Qadir The All Powerful
Al-Muqtadir The Creator of All
Power
Al-Muqaddim The Expediter
Al-Mu’akhkhir The Delayer
Al-Awwal The First
Al-Akhir The Last
Az-Zahir The Manifest One
Al-Batin The Hidden One
Al-Walí The Protecting
Friend

22. Arain - 21

Al-Muta’ali The Supreme One
Al-Barr The Doer of Good
At-Tawwab The Guide to
Repentance
Al-Muntaqim The Avenger
Al-Afu The Forgiver
Ar-Ra’uf The Clement
Malik al-Mulk The Owner of All
Dhul-Jalali
Wal-Ikram The Lord of Majesty
and Bounty
Al-Muqsit The Equitable One
Al-Jami The Gatherer
Al-Ghani The Rich One
Al-Mughni The Enricher
Al-Mani’ The Preventer of
Harm
Ad-Darr The Creator of The
Harmful
An-Nafi The Creator of Good
An-Nur The Light
Al-Hadi The Guide
Al-Badi The Originator
Al-Baqi The Everlasting One
Al-Warith The Inheritor of All
Ar-Rashid The Righteous
Teacher
As-Sabur The Patient One