THE PARADOX OF PROXIMITY TO THE INFINITE: AN EXPLORATION OF SIDRAT AL-MUNTAHA, “THE LOTE TREE BEYOND WHICH NONE MAY PASS”

Hannah Bigelow Merriman Kalliopeia Foundation, San Rafael, California

Sidrat al-muntaha, typically translated as “the lote tree of the bound- ary” or the “the lote tree beyond which none may pass,” is a mys- terious threshold described in Islamic tradition as the tree that the Prophet Mohammed encountered at the climax of the mi’raj, his leg- endary nocturnal ascent through the seven heavens. When I fi rst came across the lote tree in the Qur’an, I was immediately intrigued by its foreboding name and presence at the culmination of the Prophet’s heavenly journey. I was drawn to explore the lote tree more deeply, but found very little written on the subject in English. Th is only increased my curiosity about this elusive symbol. As I contemplated what lim- ited information I could fi nd, however, I realized that this was in fact appropriate. Th e lote tree, I began to understand, represents the limit of human knowledge. Th e lote tree that can be grasped intellectually cannot be the lote tree of the boundary referred to in the Qur’an as “of the Signs of his Lord, the Greatest!” (Th e Holy Qur’an, Al-Najm 53.18).1 On the contrary, I began to realize that to approach the depth of meaning of this symbol, the proper mode is not cognition but imagi- nation. My experience is that by following Mohammed’s mystical ascent with the imagination, some glimmer of that moment of inti- macy refracts into consciousness to open what Sufi poets have called the “eye of the heart.” So with the lote tree; if approached with the reli- gious imagination, this mysterious symbol casts a light upon an essen- tial potential in the human being. Focused through the lenses of its linguistic, Qur’anic, and interpretive contexts, the light becomes still more clear. Th is paper represents the fruits of my eff orts at“ seeing” the

1 Unless otherwise noted, all Qur’anic citations are taken from Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s translation of Th e Holy Qur’an. 340 the paradox of proximity to the infinite lote tree of the boundary, and an off ering in the hopes that this subject may prove as illuminating for the reader as it has been for me. Drawing from scriptural and interpretive traditions, this paper approaches the lote tree of the boundary as representing a state of mystical nearness to God. Aft er providing contextual descriptions from the Qur’an and hadith (sayings or traditions of the Prophet Mohammed), the lote tree’s meaning is explored through the themes of boundary-marking between the created and uncreated divine realm; the Prophet’s proximity to and eventual crossing of this boundary; and the ensuing theophanic revelation. Qur’anic references and hadith literature form the primary sources of this exploration, with Sufi com- mentary and etymological analysis of the Arabic terms providing a more nuanced texture of the Prophet Mohammed’s experience.

I The Prophet Mohammed’s Night Journey

In order to examine the Prophet’s experience of the lote tree, it is nec- essary to place it in the context of the entire mi’raj. Th e mi’raj is the term for the Prophet Mohammed’s ascent through the seven heavens to God’s throne, which occurred during the isra‘, the nocturnal mys- tical journey—oft en called the “night journey”—of the Prophet. This journey is referred to twice in the Qur’an,2 but is greatly embellished in the hadith and later Islamic literature. Th e night journey occurred in 620 CE, ten years aft er Mohammed had begun receiving Qur’anic revelations through the angel Gabriel. Much like the earliest revela- tions, the night journey was unexpected. Mysteriously awakened by Gabriel, tradition holds that Mohammed was given a magical winged animal called buraq that carried him from Mecca to the temple mount in Jerusalem, referred to in Arabic as al-masjid al-aqsa, or the “fur- thest mosque” (Armstrong 138). From there, Mohammed ascended through the seven levels of heaven. Th e order of the events during this ascension varies across the hadith literature, but the main episodes are consistent: along the way Mohammed met with previous prophets (including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus) and led them in prayer; he was asked by an angel to choose between milk and wine, and he negotiated with God the number of daily prayers required for Muslims.

2 See Sura Al-Isra 17.1 and 17.60, and Sura Al-Najm 53.13–18.