Investigating the Meaning in the Mystical Perception of Ebn-e Torkeh Esfahani

Sain al-Din Ali known as Ebn-e Torkeh Isfahani (770-835 AH) is one of the philosophers and mystics influenced by the school of Ibn Arabi. Therefore, he has explained the meaning, language, and words in the framework of the unity of existence. In the present descriptive-analytical study, the authors have tried to extract semantic explanations and the related components from Ebn-e Torkeh's printed works, letters, and manuscripts and discuss the central concepts of his theory. The results of the study show that the unity of existence has provided a possibility for Ebn-e Torkeh to be able to explain the worldly and abstract dimensions of language together in a dialectical unity, and based on that, to plan the theory of Ish'ar. According to Ebn-e Torkeh, Ish'ar is the goal of human creation. Man is in the place of Ish'ar in the universe. Ish'ar is used in the works of Ebn-e Torkeh to mean to inform. One who does the Ish'ar actually discovers the truths of the universe and learns its secrets. Because all of existence is the word of God and man is the reciter and impersonator of these words. Ebn-e Torkeh seeks to combine the analogical and metaphorical dimensions of the universe, and considers verbal language, which is the extension of Nafs al-Rahman in the Microcosm, to have two aspects of beauty and glory. In this regard, he examines the situation of words with a two-dimensional explanation.

Sain al-Din Ibn Torke Esfahani is one of the mystics and philosophers influenced by Ibn Arabi’s school of thought. In addition to the commentary he wrote on Ibn Arabi's Fusus al-Hekam, he has shown this influence in his various works. The view of existential unity as well as the streaks of literalism is evident in his works; therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to this point in the examination of Ebn Torkeh's view on meaning.
Meaning is one of the concepts that has been discussed in the tradition of Islamic mysticism and has evolved under a central discourse. In the beginning, the theory of meaning had an abstract aspect, and with the emergence of Ibn Arabi, the practical aspect of language was also explained along with its abstract dimension. In other words, the mysticism of existential unity and its dialectical nature has provided a capacity to find an argumentative explanation for the practical aspects of language and meaning and issues related to them. In the view of the mystics of the first mystical tradition, it is God who created the meanings, and the words of human contracts have been degraded several times from their true meanings. Kamal al-Din Hossein Khwarazmi says in his commentary on Masnavi: If the words that were created in the rank of God's oneness do not descend from their position several times, the understanding of any creation will not reach the surroundings of its articles. This results in putting the meaning first over the form. In this way, the truths from the field of discovery and intuition enter the field of acquisition science and are expressed with language.
The spoken language can also tell many of those intuitive facts. In the field of science, the interpretation of mystical facts is not a true interpretation. Because only a reflection of mystical experiences has made its way into the field of science, and basically, mystical experience is inexplicable. Such a perception has always been of interest among scholars.
In interpreting these mystical experiences, human intellect and thought distance themselves from their pure abstraction. This distance is actually the distance of the material world. In other words, those meanings find a new form in the degradation of their identity, which is a reflection of single worlds and, at the same time, is also contaminated by the reflections of external factors. In the definition of this meaning, Mustamli Bukhari believes that this science of thoughts, observations, and revelations is dedicated to being called the science of pointing. So, something appeared in his head, which means the phenomenon of truth, not the phenomenon of non-righteousness. And it is like this that no matter what they express in the language, it is not the exact expression of the truth; Rather, the meaning of the phrase is right (n.d, p. 1135).
The discussion of meaning in the tradition of Islamic mysticism will be incomplete without paying attention to the category of interpretation and its components, so it is necessary to emphasize two points:1) In mystical interpretation, attention is paid to the source of meaning. The literal meaning of interpretation also conveys the same point. Henry Carbon (2008) considers the ultimate goal of mystical interpretation to return the text to its "true and original" meaning. The meaning of this contrast is that the ‘text’ is degraded from an inner meaning and the work of the interpreter is to reach again the inner and original meaning of the text. The words are outwardly disguised and the interpreter must penetrate into their innermost being. In these interpretations, it should be noted that the main meaning of the text is not the same as the figurative meaning of the science of rhetoric; rather, according to his interpretation, the interpretation of the apparent text is returned to its true original meaning, in which the analogies of the apparent text are its codes.
2) Another component is the balance of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm and the equivalent relationship between them. The basis of this idea is the belief in the existence of a kind of correspondence and equivalence between the classes of the world. Generalizing this correspondence and equivalence to the relationship between the parts of the world also makes each phenomenon understood as a representative of something else. Based on this, tanzil and taweel also express the back-and-forth course of meanings in these worlds. Every meaning in the higher world (inner) becomes a phenomenon (text) in the lower world (appearance) as a result of the reduction, and the interpreter tries to discover the inner or truth by interpreting that phenomenon.
In addition, in the continuation of the tradition of Islamic mysticism, the discussion of the spirit of meaning has also been taken care of. This discussion, which has been raised among the commentators and in an effort to understand similar verses, emphasizes the point that words have been established for the souls of meanings. This view indicates a special view of language. In modern linguistics, it is a well-known opinion that each word carries only the meaning in which it appears. For example, when someone uses the word "pen" because the word "pen" is used for a specific meaning, the audience understands the same specific meaning, and it is not possible to choose another meaning from this word without analogy. In contrast to this approach, the mystics, by establishing a rule called the use of words for the spirits of meanings, aim to say that the words are not used for external and objective objects. For example, the pen is not an external object, wood, or colored ink that writes. Rather, the word pen is used for everything he writes. In Jawaharlal Qur'an, Ghazali proposed the theory of the spirit of meaning with an argumentative expression and argues that nothing exists in the realm of martyrdom unless its example exists in the spiritual realm. This view has gradually spread to the commentators of the Qur'an. Interpretations that have an interpretive approach are influenced by this view.
In the present study, after explaining the nature and essence of meaning in the tradition of existential unity mysticism, by analyzing the concepts related to the theory of meaning in Islamic mysticism, we have tried to measure the relationship between the existential unity attitude and its perspective on meaning by examining the works of Ebn Torkeh, while showing the intertwining of his perspective. In other words, the study aims to explain innovative ideas about meaning with the tools of ontology and epistemology of existential unity.

Review of the Literature:

In the mysticism of existential unity, several issues related to meaning have been considered. The first is the discussion of how to put words and the relationship of meaning with God. The next issue is the two-dimensionality of language and the explanation of meaning in its context.
Some mystics of existential unity, such as Shabestari, under the influence of Ibn Arabi, have paid attention to both the material and abstract realms of language. Two-dimensional attention to the nature of language makes both the practical nature of language not to be neglected and its deep origins to be explained. In the mysticism of existential unity, the ontology of meaning is taken into consideration and the question is answered whether meaning is an objective matter outside the mind or is equivalent to the mental concept of the word. Mystics consider the concept of mind to be different from meaning and believe that meaning is something determined beyond the mind. In mysticism, the existential unity of the whole world is the manifestation and degradation of the truth of the world, and every phenomenon, including language, must be examined in relation to the truth of existence. If we consider the meaning to be subjective, the relationship between the mind and the word will be disconnected and the mind and the word will not be affected. But in mysticism, the existential unity of meaning is not an incidental matter; rather, it is a matter of length and in connection with the truth of existence. In this view of existential unity, the meaning is the scientific form that God has given to the interior of a phenomenon.
In Ibn Arabi's view, the signification of a word is not separate from the signification of letters, whether spoken letters or written letters (both external and internal letters). Also, the meaning of linguistic words, whether written or spoken, is not separate from the meaning of existential words (phenomena). Ibn Arabi's view on the meaning of words originated from his theological view. In other words, Ibn Arabi's point of view originates from the sum of God's nature and attributes in that they are on the one hand the mediator and link between the nature of God and the world, and on the other hand the mediator and link between the nature of God and man. In this view, the duality of essence and attributes, as well as the duality of step and occurrence, which is caused by the difference of opinion about the linguistic meanings (inherent or conventional meaning of words), is eliminated. According to this view, the phenomena of existence are the words of God. And because they appear objectively, they are connected with occurrence. And since the human language is the outward representation of the word of God, the conventionality of the signification in the human language will only be a matter of credibility. if the meaning of human language is like this, the meaning of divine words, which is actually the innermost part of human language, will not be based on convention. In the view of existential unity, existence has many levels which are called plurality in manifestations. But a unity connects these multitudes, which is its soul. And what exists in the abundance of the universe is the existence of God (Ibn Arabi, n.d, p. 38-39). This view also extends to Shabestri's Gulshan Raz. Shabestari's point of view also has innovations in explaining the meaning and implication of words (Shabestri, 2004, pp. 13, 75).

The aim of the present study is to analyze Ebn Torkeh's semantic and linguistic explanations in accordance with his epistemology and ontology of existential unity with a descriptive-analytical method. In this regard, all the works of Ebn Torkeh have been examined and an attempt has been made to explain Ebn Torkeh's semantics under his ontology and epistemology. From the ontological components, the balance of the Microcosm and the largest world, expression, and emergence, and from the epistemological components, inspiration and fantasy, perception of meaning, meaning, and silence have been mentioned. Also, the components of poetry and consciousness, gestural expression, the placement of words and the two-dimensional nature of the language indicated the compatibility of the two sides of Ebn Torkeh's ontology and epistemology.

By examining the works of Ebn Torkeh and the ontological and epistemological analysis of his works, we come to the conclusion that Ebn Torkeh is firstly influenced by Ibn Arabi and Shabastri and in some cases he repeated their same point of view. The view of existential unity on the existence and truth of the world and its generalization to the world of human existence, in other words, establishing a balance between the greater world and the Microcosm within the framework of the view of existential unity, is the most important approach of Ebn Torkeh in his explanation of meaning. In this view, the universe is multidimensional and all the multitudes are the words of Allah, whose true meaning has been scientifically determined in the unseen identity, and words are one of these multitudes and are at the end of the arc of descent. In his opinion, the meaning is related to the real and main subject of the words. And he examines the words like the manifestation of God in three forms and on three levels.
In Ebn Torkeh's epistemology, the role of imagination is its discovery of occult meanings. The discovery of the Macrocosm has a questioning nature that Khatam-ul-Rasul is at the highest level or the level of total revelation. Man is in a position of awareness in the universe. The reciter actually discovers the truths of the universe and learns its secrets; Because all existence is the word of God and man is the reciter of these words.
Ebn Torkeh, following the fusion of similarity and metaphorical aspects of being, considers the language of Malfuz, which is the extension of Nafs al-Rahman in the lower world, to have two aspects of beauty and glory. The glorified form is related to the common sense of the words and the glorified state is related to the true meaning of the words. According to the first method, the position of Ish'ar is two-fold in the view of Ebn Torkeh, which means that having reached this position, he has made his perceptive powers capable of receiving the lower meanings and he can also find the jewel of the lower letters. The first aspect is related to the order of spirits and the world of the unmarried, and the second aspect is related to the Book of Allah and understanding the meanings of the words contained in it.
Ebn Torkeh considers verbal forms to be a continuation of the emergence of existential expressive forms (ayan shabiteh). And Malfouz's language and, in his words, verbal forms have an inherent meaning, but in the passage of centuries and the development of customs, inherent meaning and the subject of the original letter have been forgotten.