Experiencing Taw1jid
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Experiencing Taw1jid Ibn ~rabtand the Power ofImagination By Adil S. Dhanidina A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree ofMaster of Arts Institute ofIslamic Studies McGill University Montreal, Quebec, Canada August 2004 cg Adil S. 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The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Table ofContents DE DICATION .................................................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... v ntJSUMÉ .......................................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ vii TRANSLI'l'ERATION TABLE ..................................................................................... viii IN'r1l0DUCTION: "Show Us Things as They Are" ........................................... 1 • Tanzlh & Tashblh ..................................................................................................... 1 • TawlJld ..................................................................................................................... 3 • Ibn 'ArabI ................................................................................................................. 5 • The Scope of This Study ......................................................................................... 8 • Ibn 'ArabI: BriefHistorical Background ................................................................ 9 • Survey ofScholarship ............................................................................................ 12 1 - TUEOLOGY: "God Wams Vou about His Self" ........................................... 14 1.1 The Essence: Allah................................................................................................. 14 1.2 The Divinity: Allah ................................................................................................. 16 1.3 The Divine Names .................................................................................................. 18 1.4 The Divine Names and Oneness ............................................................................. 19 1.5 The Object of TawlJld ....... .................... ................................ ...... ....... .................... 22 1.6 The Secret of Tanzlh and Tashblh..... ......... .... ... .... ...... ................... ............. .......... 23 1.7 The Logic ofRelationships .................................................................................... 25 1.8 The Divine Name as the Barzakh .......................................................................... 27 1.9 The Divine Name as the Lord ................................................................................ 29 1.10 The Divinity as the Barzakh? ............................................... .... .... ................... ...... 30 2 - EI~IS'l'EMOI.. OGY: "The Possessor ofTwo Eyes" .............................................. 33 2.1 Reason .................................................................................................................... 34 2.2 Imagination ............................................................................................................ 39 2.3 Imagination and Reason ......................................................................................... 42 2.4 Imagination vs. Reason .......................................................................................... 43 2.5 "The Possessor ofTwo Eyes" ................................................................................ 46 2.6 Knowledge of Self and Self-Knowledge ................................................................ 47 3 - ON'.'OLOGY: '''HelNot He" ............................................................................ 49 3.1 Being/Existence ...................................................................................................... 49 3.2 God: ManifestlNonmanifest ................................................................................... 51 3.3 The Thing's (Non) Existence ................................................................................. 53 3.4 Immutab1e Entities ................................................................................................. 55 3.5 Mazhar: Tanzlh and Tashblh .................................................................................. 57 3.6 "HelNot He" ........................................................................................................... 59 3.7 Imaginai Existence ................................................................................................. 60 3.8 Tawl}ld· An Ontological Object? ........................................................................... 62 3.9 The Mirror of Muqammad ..................................................................................... 65 4 - COSMOLOGY: "The Imaginai Barzakh" .................. ...... ..................... .... ....... 68 4.1 First Cosmic Level: Supreme Barzakh ................................................................... 68 4.2 Second Cosmie Level: Imaginai Barzakh ............................................................... 70 4.2.1 Imagination and Dreams ......................................................................................... 73 4.2.2 "Earth ofReality" ................................................................................................... 74 4.2.3 "Earth of Reality" and Religion ............................................................................. 76 4.2.4 The Subtie ImaginaI Body ...................................................................................... 78 4.3 Third Cosmic Level: Soul as Barzakh .................................................................... 80 4.4 Cosmic Khayiii: Universe and Soul ........................................................................ 83 :; - COSMOGONY: "Divine Sadness" ...................................................................... 85 5.1 Divine Names and ai-A yan ai-Thiibita .................................................................. 86 5.2 Existentiating Sigh .................................................................................................. 88 5.3 Theophanie Imagination ......................................................................................... 89 5.4 Imagination within Imagination ............................................................................. 91 5.5 The Goal of Creation: The Perfect Man ................................................................. 92 5.6 The Right Attitude about Creation ........................................................................ 94 6 - PSYCHOl.. OGY: "The Continuous Ascent ofthe Sou]'· ................................... 95 6.1 Manifesting the Divine N ames ... ..... .... ......... ...... ............... ............................ ......... 95 6.2 Spiritual Hermeneuties ........................................................... ............... ................. 97 6.3 Greater Preparedness .. .................. ................................. ........ .... ........... ................ 100 6.4 New Creation and Coloring of the Soul .............................. ...... ........................... 10 1 6.5 A Shared Prayer .................. ......... ......... ......... ...... ............................