The Relationship between Man and the Supreme Entity on the Basis of Mystic Ontology

Oneness of being is one the most important issues of theoretical mysticism. It means that there is just one being and the pluralities are His self-manifestations because His infinity leaves no space for others. On this basis, mystics’ proposition about the degrees of existence including the essence, the cognitive determination of the world of God and the entification of the world of creation has no contradiction with the oneness of being; they are rather considered as the states of God. The pluralities are related to God in two ways: hierarchy and specific face. Hierarchy refers to the mediators of divine grace and the specific face, which was specified by Mohie El Din for the first time, to the direct relationship with God. The basis of the mystics’ analysis of this relationship is the oneness of God and the quality of its attribution based on which He has presence in all pluralities which are His restricted manifestations. On the basis of special face, God has relation with everything in proportion to its capacity. Nevertheless, for the majority of people this door is closed due to the limited capacity of this world but it may be opened with special efforts and through gaining internal purity. With special face, God is closer to man than himself and, because of the predominance of laws of obligation, has more truth than him. In fact the relation of every entity with God is through its existent entity. The present article is an attempt to explore the relationship between man and God on the basis of the principles of mystic ontology in a careful and comprehensive manner.