‛ABD AL-KAR ĪM AL-JĪLĪ: Taw ḥīd, Transcendence and Immanence by NICHOLAS LO POLITO A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology and Religion School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham September 2010 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The present thesis is an attempt to understand ‛Abd Al-Kar īm Al-Jīlī’s thought and to illustrate his original contribution to the development of medieval Islamic mysticism. In particular, it maintains that far from being an obscure disciple of Ibn ‛Arab ī, Al-Jīlī was able to overcome the apparent contradiction between the doctrinal assumption of a transcendent God and the perception of divine immanence intrinsic in God’s relational stance vis-à-vis the created world. To achieve this, this thesis places Al-Jīlī historically and culturally within the Sufi context of eighth-ninth/fourteenth-fifteenth centuries Persia, describing the world in which he lived and the influence of theological and philosophical traditions on his writings, both from within and without the Islamic world. A whole chapter is dedicated to the definition of the controversies that afflicted Islamic theology and philosophy over the issue of anthropomorphic representations of God and the relevance that this had on the subject of divine immanence and transcendence. Al-Jīlī’s original contribution to this discussion, summarised in the concept of the Perfect Human Being , is illustrated with the editing and translation of one of Al-Jīlī’s works, The Cave and the Inscription, followed by annotations to the book. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made. And he spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he was glad. But for a long while they sang only each alone, or but few together, while the rest hearkened, for each comprehended only that part of the mind of Ilúvatar from which he came, and in the understanding of their brethren they grew but slowly. Yet ever as they listened they came to deeper understanding, and increased in unison and harmony. (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, book I) A doctoral thesis on ‘Abd Al-Kar īm Al-Jīlī is an exercise in the understanding of a paradox that has afflicted the Islamic world since its inception: how to reconcile God’s indisputable transcendence and God’s perceived immanence. The former is God’s “otherness” that distinguishes the divine Being from the created universe, while the latter is assumed in the same act of creation and in the professed divine presence in the world, in history and in the life of every human being. Al-Jīlī’s in my opinion unique contribution to the debate is here analysed against the background of numerous attempts by others to overcome the impasse generated by the paradox. This paradox constitutes the axis around which the whole structure of this dissertation revolves. As an illustration of Al-Jīlī’s thought on this subject, I have reproduced, edited, translated and explained one of the author’s literary works, Al-Kahf wa-al-raq īm. I am grateful to my supervisor, Prof David Thomas, for encouraging me to pursue this line of research; to the Diocese of Birmingham for giving me the opportunity to take it on; to Michael Mumisa, Wageeh Mikhail and Dhiaa Al Asadi for their assistance in the work of translation; to my family for their patience and support. I hope that this work may contribute to the shedding of some light on a medieval Sufi theologian, philosopher, poet and mystic still largely ignored by much of the relevant scholarship in this field. I also hope that increased knowledge may obtain deeper understanding, and deeper understanding may contribute to an increase “in unison and harmony.” TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction……………………………………………………………….. 1 1. ‛Abd Al-Kar īm Al-Jīlī………………………………………………… 9 1. His background……………………………………………….. 10 2. His writings…………………………………………………… 25 2. Interpreting Al-Jīlī…………………………………………………….. 47 1. The legacy of Ibn S īnā, Al-Suhraward ī and Ibn ‛Arab ī………. 49 1.1 Ibn S īnā……………………………………………………. 49 1.2 Al-Suhraward ī……………………………………………... 55 1.3 Ibn ‛Arab ī…………………………………………………...57 2. The Sufi context……………………………………………….. 70 3. Symbolism of the Arabic script………………………………... 84 4. Persian mysticism…………………………………………….... 93 4.1 Persian Sufism……………………………………………... 93 4.2 Sh ī‛ism……………………………………………………... 96 4.3 Pre-Islamic Persian philosophies……………………………98 5. Other non-Islamic philosophical influences on Al-Jīlī………...102 5.1 Hellenistic influences………………………………………102 5.2 Hindu/Buddhist traditions.....................................................107 3. Controversies about God’s transcendence……………………………..114 1. The Mu ‛tazilites ……………………………………………….116 2. The Ash ‛arites …………………………………………………122 3. The Mushabbiha ……………………………………………….125 4. Al-Jīlī…………………………………………………………. .130 4. Al-Kahf wa al-raq īm …………………………………………………...138 1. The text in Arabic………………………………………………142 2. Translation…………………………………………………..….166 3. Annotations……………………………………………………..223 5. Al-Jīlī’s originality……………………………………………………...271 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...286 Glossary……………………………………………………………………...294 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………301 SYSTEM OF REFERENCING AND TRANSLITERATION FROM ARABIC Throughout the present work the Harvard System of Referencing has been adopted (with minor adaptations): author-date system in the body of the thesis, with full reference provided in the Bibliography. With respect to reprints, the date of the original publication is given in square brackets. English quotations from the Qur’ ān are my own translation. For transliteration from Arabic - except when quoting authors using a different method - the Library of Congress system has been adopted (adapted), as illustrated below: ,(س ) s ,(ز ) z ,(ر ) r ,(ذ ) dh ,(د ) d ,(خ ) kh ,(ح ) ḥ ,(ج ) j ,(ث ) th ,(ت ) t ,(ب ) b ,(ا a (initial ,(ﺀ )’ h ,(ن ) n ,(م ) m ,(ل ) l ,(ك ) k ,(ق ) q ,(ف ) f ,(غ ) gh ,(ع ) ‘ ,( ) ṭ ( ), ẓ ,(ض ) ḍ ,(ص ) ṣ ,(ش ) sh (ي ) y ,(و ) w ,(ه) ة a (at in iḍāfa and ah after alif have been ignored). Article: al- (“sun” letters have been ignored). Long vowels: ā ( alif and a.maq ṣūra ) ī ū. Short vowels: a i u. Diphthongs: aw ay iyy ( ī if final) uww ( ū if final). Initial hamza : omitted. Some common Arabic names usually quoted in English dictionaries may not be transliterated (e.g., Sufi). 1 INTRODUCTION In an age when the first casual encounter with an author often happens by typing the title of a book on an Internet search engine, it is not at all surprising that enquiring with curiosity on the evocative and intriguing phrase The Perfect Man one should make the acquaintance for the first time with the name of ‘Abd Al-Kar īm Al-Jīlī. The reason why this is not surprising resides in the fact that Al-Jīlī – poet, philosopher and mystic - is well known by Muslims and Islamic scholars the world over, primarily for his seminal work Al- Ins ān Al-Kāmil. Arguably Al-Jīlī deserves more attention and study on the part of scholars than footnote quotations or partial references to his major work and to his self-confessed admiration for that titan of Muslim mysticism, Mu ḥyī Al-Dīn Ibn ‘Arab ī, his spiritual and philosophical master, two hundred years his senior. On the other hand, his obvious devotion to the Andalusian mystic and insistence to refer to him in nearly everything he wrote is probably the reason why his own original contribution to an Islamic spirituality should be lost to many, and be overshadowed by such a gigantic figure as that of Al- Shaykh Al-Akbar . He is nevertheless considered by some to be “undoubtedly the most original thinker and the most remarkable and independent mystical writer … in the ‘school’ of Ibn ‛Arabi” (Knysh 1999, p. 232). The present work consists of an attempt to familiarise the reader with the figure of Al- Jīlī, placing him historically and geographically in the world that shaped him as a mystic and a man of letters. A man of his time, one cannot overestimate the importance that an understanding of the historical circumstances that stand as backdrop to his life and work, have for a correct interpretation of his message. A man of culture, this work will also try to 2 define - if broadly - some of the main cultural influences that have played a role in his formation and in the development of his ideas, as well as the influences derived from his own Muslim faith in the context of the Sufi medieval mystical traditions. The main thrust of this dissertation, however, will reside in a description of what I consider his original contribution to a debate that has plagued the Muslim world for centuries on the apparent paradox to be found in faith in a transcendent God and in the pious Muslims’ perception of a universe imbued with a divine presence not at all detached from, but interacting instead with the created order. Therefore, this dissertation proposes that the issue of the relation between God and the contingent order is central to his philosophy, extending to arguments on the significance of anthropomorphic representations of God in the Qur’ ān and in tradition.