The Grade of Uniqueness, the Distinctive Point of Mysticisms of Imam Khomeini and Ibn Arabi

The issue of essence and essential manifestations are among the fundamental topics in theoretical mysticism, which has several corollaries. Mystics unanimously believe that the grade of essence is an invisible issue which is above the intuition of witness and understanding of comprehenders. Therefore, there is no room for discussion about the depth of essence among mystics. Among the issues related to the essential manifestations, the grade of oneness has many commonalities in the viewpoints of Imam Khomeini and Ibn Arabi and his expositor Qeisari, while differences are few. However, with regard to the grade of uniqueness the differences are more than commonalities. It would not be an exaggeration if we consider this grade as turning point and source of many exclusive viewpoints of Imam Khomeini. Imam Khomeini has put forth many exclusive viewpoints about the grade of uniqueness that have not been grasped by expositors and researchers. Hence, attempts have been made in this article to discuss these viewpoints on the basis of his written works. The main objective of this paper is to study Imam Khomeini’s viewpoints about the degree of uniqueness and its relations with different kinds of existences, space, divine names, essential names, keys of invisible, essential divine knowledge, the five images of heart and different kinds of victories of wayfarer in the ascension curve.