unity of existence

The prophetic hadith "Mā Arafnāka Haqa Ma'refatek" has such a depth meaning that it can be read from different perspectives. One of them is the aspect of epistemology, which has a great impact on human thought and behavior and forms the basis of every school in philosophy and mysticism. In this article, by studying the documents of this narrative, the relationship between epistemology and theology is investigated, and the specific mystical view of epistemology and central monotheism is analyzed. The interpretation of this narration is presented from the point of view of Ibn Arabi, Saadi and Sheikh Baha'ei. And by using the library method, referring to the first-hand sources, a special interpretation of this hadith is followed. Through logical analysis, it becomes clear that one aspect of this hadith is the recognition of the levels and degrees of knowledge, which is the main criterion for worship and worship, and that every seeker of truth is eager to achieve a higher level of knowledge of truth, even though knowing the essence of truth is impossible, but you can approach him through spiritual conduct.

Annihilation (Fana) is one of the mystical authorities that mystics divide it into three types: intuitive (cognitive), attributive, and existential. The explanation of annihilation is important for mystics and even researchers in mystics. The purpose of this article is to explain the annihilation of attributes in Mulla Sadra’s philosophical theory. The principles used in the explanation are: spiritual sharing of existence, doubt of existence, substantial movement and intensity in existence, and the division of existence into relational and independent. When shared existence is spiritual, there must be a common meaning in the existence of man and God so that that common meaning can be abstracted. Considering the doubt of existence and substantial movement and intensity in existence, potential beings can grow, and this growth has no limit for man to the extent that his attributes can become unlimited. The most important reason narrated for the annihilation of attributes is man's caliphate from God and his being the bearer of the divine trust.

Faiz Kashani (died 1091 AH) was one of the great scholars of the Safavid era who excelled in most of the religious sciences of his time. At the same time, he was a unique mystic and poet who followed mysticism and Sufism in his intellectual foundations and proved and supported those foundations in his works. One of the most important of these foundations is the theory of unity of existence, which has a special appearance in his poetry and he deals with it with artistic expression. This article, using the method of rational analysis and library method and citing primary sources, examines Faiz's view on unity of existence and shows that he paid attention to this issue in his poetry and prose, and in his poems, he has displayed unity of existence, unity of intuition and an important part of his mystical ontology, and shows that he attributes the originality in existence to the truth and adheres to the theory of manifestation and considers beings to be manifestations of the truth.

A contemporary thinker, Mehdi Mohaghegh, has researched in many fields of humanities and Islamic sciences. In the field of Islamic mysticism, there are explorations that are rarely seen. In this article, with the method of logical induction and referring to first-hand sources, an effort has been made to pay attention to this aspect of his research separately. In this way, mysticism can be seen in three places in the researches of this thinker: the first category is the correction of mystical texts, such as the correction of Kashf al-Asrar Mibdi and Ashtranama Attar; Second, wisdom lessons that have also been extended to mysticism, such as the description of the Hikmat Sabzevari system, the description of Hikmat al-Ishraq, and the description of the Theology of Healing; The third is related to mystical subjects or mystical characters in articles and speeches. It is concluded that one of the dimensions of the researcher's researches is mystical and its presentation can be considered. On the other hand, in the evaluation of three currents of thought, one of which is enamored with Sufism and the other one rejects it, the researcher belongs to the third category, which looks at mysticism and Sufism with a critical and quantitative perspective.

Akbar Shah, peace of the whole, Faizi Deccani, Faizi's poems, unity of existence. Faizi is one of the great Persian poets of India and the famous poet of the court of Akbar Shah Gorkani in the 10th century Hijri. Belief in total peace and establishing an atmosphere of reconciliation and religious tolerance between the followers of religions and religions is one of the most important beliefs of Akbar Shah. The formation of the theory of "total peace" and the radical reforms of Akbar Shah's period, simultaneously with Faizi's service in the court, can be considered as the basis of the spread of critical and pessimistic opinions towards Faizi. , with the theme of total peace and the vastness of Mashreb, should be examined in the divan of his poems. The result of the research: the view of the unity of existence from which the unity of religions can be deduced, believers and Hindus call God. Faizi believes in this and his poetry is full of themes of existential unity and the sameness of religions. Contrary to the view of those who considered him an atheist and his religion full of blasphemy, he has a deep view of religion and was very familiar with mystical teach.

According to the theory of Existential Monotheism (tawhid wujudi), the reality of existence is exclusive to the Supreme Being, and similar to him, the manifestations and epiphanies are the existence of the divine entity. Although before Mulla Sadra, some mystics and philosophers attempted to approach the argument for Existential Monotheism, Sadra was more successful than others in this field. In his works, he has provided an effective argument (burhan) to prove existential monotheism, through the analysis of causality ('lt) and disability and referring causality to the glory and evolution of the cause in its realms and manifestations.After him, commentators on his works followed his arguments. Mulla Ali Nouri and some of his followers have presented and interpreted the proof of causality and disability analysis based on the duality of cause and effect, and have been able to implement a form of existential monotheism in the field of relational existence and the unity by graduation (tashkik) of existence. From their point of view, existential monotheism means the exclusivity of the reality of existence in the Supreme Being, of course, this existence of a real entity has two levels of existence; One is the order of the divine essence, which is the order of inclusion of multiplicity in unity, and according to the rule of "the Simple Reality of all things", all perfections of contingent existences are related simply in the collective; The second order is the appositive verb and the vast mercy, which is the order of unity in plurality; That is, the rank of "sarian rahmat waseh qayyumiyya ishraqiyyah" (Divine Merciful Enlightenment Series) is a relational possibility in bound entities, and these interrelated existences are nothing more than the degrees of modulation of the same unified act.

According to Sikhism, metaphysics is the study of being and existence in three major aspects: absolute truth, existing reality, and human knowledge of this reality. The ultimate truth can be comprehended when one achieves true vision (darshan). Otherwise, it cannot be described but can only hint at God's attributes, such as being a creator, possessing will, and having a personality to some extent. In Sikhism, the origin of creation is absolute truth. Before creating the world, God was immersed in thought. By creating the world, God seeks a play (Lila), with the world serving as the stage for human struggle. There can be no other intention behind the creation of the world, as God is full, complete, and absolutely perfect. Due to His independence, He does not pursue any intentions or purposes. In Sikhism, human salvation is not achievable through rational and theoretical arguments because a logical entity obtained through reason, disconnected from divine light, cannot accomplish anything unless one connects to the absolute.

"Personal unity of existence" or "unity of existence and existence" refers to the important and controversial theory of mystics and Sufis in the issue of monotheism and God-knowledge. It is known that the originator of this theory in the Islamic world is Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi from Andalusia, however, they were the commentators of the Ibn Arabi school who played a fundamental role in the development and explanation of the various aspects of this view.Even though Ibn Arabi and the scholars of his school emphasized in their various works that they have reached the understanding of the theory of personal unity with the help of the occult and the power of illumination, and others will only come to understand it through discovery and intuition, but they still want to convince the public. Muslims and non-Sufi audiences have relied on some of the Quranic and Hadith texts. Considering the scope of these texts, in this research only five of the most important and significant hadith texts are selected and after presenting the argument and explaining the place of reference of mystics and Sufis, from a rational and hadith point of view, to explain the criticisms and It discusses the ambiguities in it and shows that trying to prove "absolute mystical unity" from hadith texts is difficult but impossible.

Fāni Khoei (deceased 1846) is a mystical poet and a comprehensive sage who shows in his written works, especially in his poems, that mystical themes have been his constant preoccupation. For this reason, he gives importance to precise points in theoretical and practical mysticism and defends the theory of the unity of existence with different expressions more than any other concept. Then, following the Khorasani and Iraqi style, and following Sana'i, Attar, and Molavi, he performs art in the field of divine love. It also follows the Sufi path by fighting against the ego and pluralistic thought and he looks at Imam Ali (a.s.) from a mystical point of view and gives more importance to poverty as well as death and survival in mystical authorities. It clearly expresses its dependence on Shiite mysticism and draws the philosophy of human life in love for the eternal beloved. For this reason, this wise poet can be considered one of the great Shiite mystics in Persian literature.

One of the common but incorrect views about Ibn Arabi's theory of the unity of existence is to attribute this view to all Sufis, or at least to the Sufis of the 7th century A.H. onwards. Ibn Arabi, with his pseudo-philosophical design of the unity of existence theory, led to an unprecedented schism and fragmentation between the Sheikhs and Sufi families, until he put the strong relationship of murid and moradi under the spotlight. In many sects, the elder of the tariqat considers this opinion to be the monotheism of the Qur'anic Samadi, and the disciple calls it blasphemy in the tariqats of Kobaruyeh, Nematullahiyyah, Rifaiyya, Chishtiyyah, Suhrwardiyyah, Shazliyyah, Kobaruyyah, Naqshbandiyyah, Qadiriyyah, etc. Opposition to Ibn Arabi's theory of the unity of existence and being and its accessories and results arose to the point where it can even be said that Ibn Arabi's theory of the unity of existence and existence in Sufism is an unpopular point of view and should not be attributed to all Sufis. The following essay has used a library method to reinterpret monotheism in the eyes of the elders of the Sufi sects, and for this purpose, it has gone to the most prominent leaders of each of these tariqats and has shown that a large number of prominent Sufi leaders and elders agree with the theory of the unity of Ibn Arabic has opposed or interpreted it to other views such as the unity of intuition.

One of the common but incorrect views about Ibn Arabi's theory of the unity of existence is to attribute this view to all Sufis, or at least to the Sufis of the 7th century A.H. onwards. Ibn Arabi, with his pseudo-philosophical design of the unity of existence theory, led to an unprecedented schism and fragmentation between the Sheikhs and Sufi families, until he put the strong relationship of murid and moradi under the spotlight. In many sects, the elder of the tariqat considers this opinion to be the monotheism of the Qur'anic Samadi, and the disciple calls it blasphemy in the tariqats of Kobaruyeh, Nematullahiyyah, Rifaiyya, Chishtiyyah, Suhrwardiyyah, Shazliyyah, Kobaruyyah, Naqshbandiyyah, Qadiriyyah, etc. Opposition to Ibn Arabi's theory of the unity of existence and being and its accessories and results arose to the point where it can even be said that Ibn Arabi's theory of the unity of existence and existence in Sufism is an unpopular point of view and should not be attributed to all Sufis. The following essay has used a library method to reinterpret monotheism in the eyes of the elders of the Sufi sects, and for this purpose, it has gone to the most prominent leaders of each of these tariqats and has shown that a large number of prominent Sufi leaders and elders agree with the theory of the unity of Ibn Arabic has opposed or interpreted it to other views such as the unity of intuition.

Mystical language and the help of mystery and symbol in the expression of intuitive experiences are considered as one of the important propositions of mystical works. In this research, the authors intend to answer the fundamental question in a descriptive-analytical way that what is the use of mysticism language and cryptic functions in clarifying the issues of self-knowledge and unity of existence in Golshan Raz and what is Shabestari's purpose in this application? The results of research show that in the realm of mystical semantic and idiomatic system, the code of "I" is not specific to human beings and all beings have "real" in proportion to their perfection, and in human relation, the address of "I" is the soul. "Illusion" is the most important factor that prevents the observation of the absolute truth, and Shabestari places special emphasis on leaving the "illusory appearance". The confusion of human beings due to having delusions in the material world is an important point in mystical teachings that Shabestari has raised in the transition from Shari'a to the path and semantics of its illusory manifestations. In the code of "unity of existence", he, based on Ibn Arabi, considers the "heart of the mystic" as the place of change of divine manifestations, which recognizes the truth through continuous changes; so the mystic soul is no longer his own "human" soul, but is exactly the same as the identity of his "aspect".

Rumi in his works, especially Masnavi Ma’anavi, states that the unity of God is compatible with manifestation, purification, and transcendence of God and one can believe in all of them. This is contrary to some other philosophical views like pantheism and those who believe in incarnation and union. Rumi even believes that such a viewpoint can give a better and closer image of God defined in the religious concept. The methodology in this study is descriptive and analytical and it is attempted to prove the belief of Rumi in the unity of existence, first. Then, the sub-principles and traces of this belief in his works are determined and investigated. The unity of existence is the fundamental principle of his school. How he explains and proves the principle, based on the manifestation and purification of God based on, is the question especially answered here. Accordingly, his mystical school and the moderate method of his thoughts are introduced, first. Then, based on the unity of existence, the unity is divided into horizon and souls. Afterwards, the status of essence and the status of Divine names and attributes are shown to be different. The sub-principles and consequences of this belief is resemblance at the same time as purification and purification at the same time as the resemblance. These consequences are also clarified during the study.

Abd-ul-Rahman Jaami is one of the poets who have been familiar with the works and thoughts of Ibn Arabi and has been influenced by him. One of the poems from Jaami’s ‘Haft Orang’ is the Tuhfat al-Abrar, which is based on the thoughts of Ibn Al-Arabi particularly his ‘Unity of Existence’. Jaami is one of the first poets to provide explanations on the thoughts of Ibn Al- Arabi regarding unity of Existence and has been highly influenced by his thoughts. One of these effects is the oxymoron, i.e., unity and multiplicity, assimilation and dissimilation, the outer and the inner, etc. related to unity of Existence. In the present study, an attempt has been made to show Jaami’s perspective on unity of Existence and its exemplification (tashbih or attributing human characteristics to God) and tanzih (not assigning human features to God or differentiation between God and human), the world and human being, the inner and the outer (appearance, etc.) in the extended poem of Tuhfat al-Abrar. Although Jaami has acted paradoxically in this regard, he seeks to find a unified conclusion in his mind.  The results of the present study showed that, he has been under the influence of Ibn Al- Arabi in reaching this conclusion and these two mystics (i.e., Ibn Al- Arabi and Jaami) express their thoughts and ideas paradoxically.

The unity of existence is one of the complex issues raised in mystical schools. Showing the depth of attention of scholars in the Islamic world, the present paper is a comparative study of the views of the Hindu school and Islamic mysticism. In Hinduism and Islam, three interpretations of the unity of existence have been offered: 1. The universe is a single personal existence and all objects in the universe are considered as its components. Some Islamic theologians have attributed this view to mystics. 2. The universe is a single personal existence, and multiplicities and other objects are nothing more than illusions and mirages. This view is attributed to some Sufis. In both of these interpretations of the unity of existence, some words of the Hindu school are used. 3. The universe is an infinite and endless single personal existence that leaves no room for others, and pluralities are the manifestations of that single personal existence. In this view, the attribution of pluralities to existence is permissible. In the relationship between existence and pluralities, the single personal existence plays the role of a stational conditional mood, and the difference between pluralities, i.e. one plurality is superior to the other, is in analogical gradation. This interpretation is the view held by most Muslim mystics and is also derived from the words of Hindu mysticism.

In this article, which is dedicated to the study of concepts, terms and metaphors of Ibn Arabi's works; An attempt has been made to review and study the structures and elements of mystical schools in the works of the Integrators of the ninth century, relying on the works of Shah Daei Shirazi, one of the great integrators of Persian literature. Studies show that Shah Daei, in his treatises and poems, paid much attention to the two currents of romantic formalism and semantic-argumentative currents after Ibn Arabi and made great efforts to synchronize them together. In addition to explaining his existential unity on the works of Shabestari, Hamwiyah and Rumi, he has also given a scientific explanation of Ibn Arabi's thoughts; Also, by expressing the terms of theoretical mysticism, he has proved the issue of the unity of existence in an argumentative way. In many cases, he has used help from others to explain her meanings and has combined reasoning and literary taste.

Endless differences and conflicts between the followers of religions and denominations seriously damage the social and religious life of religious people and question the current state of the religious community. The fundamental presuppositions of Islamic mysticism, which are based on the knowledge of the existential realm of God and man, are the key to paving the way for human peace and tranquility. Explaining the basics of the nature of mystical teachings plays a key role in the peaceful coexistence of the followers of religions and denominations, and the establishment of solidarity, unity and lasting peace among Muslims. Mystics consider self-purification to be the cause of spiritual peace and vitality in the life of society and a manifestation of external peace. Emphasizing the goal of freedom in the advent of the prophets, they seek the piety and freedom of the followers of denominations and believe in the internal unity of religions based on the unity of existence and the validity of the pluralities. The mystical attitude, while acknowledging differences and endorsing internal unity, properly plays a unifying and connecting role not only in the internal components of Islamic civilization, but also in human beings. In this article, we try to explain the effective components of mystical unificationism (unity of existence, self-cultivation, introversion and free thought) on the unity of mystical society by referring to some mystical attitudes with a descriptive-analytical approach and to show their role in shaping the attitude of solidarity and social unity in Islamic society

Imam Khomeini and Meister Eckhart are two well-known Muslim and Christian mystics, respectively. In their mystical views, the spiritual traveler’s soul will finally be annihilated in God’s being. In this article, we are concerned with whether the doctrine of annihilation (fanā’) has the same intellectual foundations in their views? Their views are comparatively considered in analytic-inferential terms in order to learn about the nature of the soul’s annihilation. One common assumption made by both is the soul’s immateriality, which prepares the ground for an account of the soul’s epistemic annihilation. The soul’s journey begins with love in the views of Imam Khomeini and Eckhart. For the former, the annihilation and transformation occur in the traveler’s soul through a manifestation of divinity at the stage of Oneness (Aḥadiyya), while for the latter, annihilation occurs at the stage of Unity (wāḥidiyya) which is higher than the stage of divinity and existence. At any rate, the manifestation of divinity and the intuition of the Lord occur at the stage of divinity or Eckhart’s stage of Unity, which is for Imam Khomeini the stage of divine determination. For this reason, annihilation is the soul’s epistemic and existential transformation and its being affected by divine names and attributes, rather than the destruction of the soul. For both of these intellectuals, the major accomplishment through the soul’s annihilation is the “intuition of the unity of existence,” in addition to the soul’s emptiness from anything but God.

he theory of the unity of existence is one of the most fundamental doctrines of Islamic Sufism and mysticism. According to Muslim mystics, the only true existent is God, and creatures are manifestations and modes of this true existent. The idea was there since the formative period of Islamic mysticism, and found its more accurate accounts after Ibn ‘Arabī’s emergence. Shaykh ‘Alā’ al-Dawla Simnānī—an influential mystic in the 14th century—rejected this theory. In this paper, I deploy an analytic method to consider and criticize Simnānī’s objections to the theory of the unity of existence, after preliminary remarks about his life and work as well as the circumstances of his time. Thus, I argue that Simnānī has criticized Ibn ‘Arabī’s view of the unity of existence and believed in the unity of intuition, instead, because of his belief in the necessity of the separation between Islamic doctrines and Indian religions such as Buddhism for purposes of preventing distortions in Islamic monotheism; because of his failure to grasp the depths of Ibn ‘Arabī’s words about the absolutely unconditioned existence which involves exaltation of God; and because of his confusion of various considerations of existence. Moreover, Simnānī does not believe that the unity of intuition is the ultimate stage of mystical journey, taking the last stage to be that of servitude.