Ch5. E2/4. Ibn Arabi’s Fusus al-Hikam (Seals of Wisdom), Wisdom of Abraham

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[00:00:00]Man, hello. Round two of chapter five of in the previous video I gave you an overview. Um, then I said we're going to get into details, but we're going to do that in two steps. In this video, I'm going to be stepping back and looking at the big picture on what is happening in this chapter. Why did he write this chapter? and what what is he trying to accomplish other than the like specific technicalities? And in the following videos, we're going to go back and examine each specific thing very carefully in the context of commentary.

[00:00:42]In this video, I'm walking you through the commentary of Deirly. the title of the chapter um the wisdom of Abraham um but there is this specific word mama and I said that briefly and moved on uh we're going to dwell a little bit on that because that is the central for the bigger picture that is happening in this video that is not immediately and readily understood um mayama signifies intensified and radical love.

[00:01:17]So while is focusing on that, he's simultaneously focusing on Malu um the divine and the created relationship and how that love creates that bond between the two. In um theology, in Quranic studies, there is usually more emphasis on the fear of God um on worshiping God. But in mysticism, they are there and much respected. But there is more emphasis on the love relationship between the servant and God. And this goes back to the early mysticism in Islam.

[00:02:01]and wi-i which gave rise to a lot of tension between the theologians and the mystics. Forban Arabi love is central especially to his ontology and something enormous is going on in this chapter something that we didn't discuss directly and that is not understandable directly but after this explanation it's going to make sense and it's going to come to light um here in order to show the importance of that love relationship Arabi is um giving us the foundations of the importance and not just importance but the function and purpose of the created realm for God. We usually go the other way around.

[00:02:48]Say, okay, if God is such and such, how that how does that change our lives?

[00:02:54]Anyway goes the other way around. He says, okay, how does creation impact God? What is that relationship?

[00:03:02]Let's study the matter from the perspective of the cause, not from the perspective of the effect. And as Ekram Dei points out, perhaps no other thinker has examined this matter such with such focus um before in the Islamic tradition. At the beginning of this chapter, previous video uh I I pointed I draw your attention to a name meaning divine. Um and Mal is the created or servant. someone who worships that deity that that divine and lohya is uh divinity. So Iban Arabi examines this set of words and the relationship to show that love relationship. But we're going to see how that works and especially from the perspective he's examining it. So the divine designates a god whose attributes are targeted towards the cosmos. We are not talking about the divine essence. We are on the level of names. We are talking about the relational aspect of God not as absolute aspect. So God the divine with respect to his names that that that's the stage not the stage. That's where we are right now.

[00:04:22]The purpose of creation uh was for God to be known. I was a hidden treasure. I wanted to be I desired to be known. So I created the world to be known. We have discussed this on multiple occasions. So uh in chapter one alluded to this but here in this chapter the central theme is love unlike what it seems when you read it. Um so first he's trying to gather his thoughts and his discussions from chapter one then he's going to move into details for Aari. The most crucial dimension of the relationship between God and the created realm is whether there is a purpose well there is a purpose uh the hidden treasure being known but that is the focus for Arabi.

[00:05:08]The ontological purpose of the creation was for God to be known and that is that is very clear he's explicit about this and it gives us a kind of a positive teology showing that we are uh we're dealing with purposes. It's not a random big bang out of nothingness. God the cause willed willed for the creation of the world and it was and he did this to be known and to this te theology there has been several names not just for that for for the whole uh view for example uses that is love oriented attention love oriented orientation love oriented turning meaning that God did all this whole thing um as a love oriented attention towards the cosmos. Other commentators have gone with different uh wordings. For example, there is in the literature uh valitional love oriented cause rooted in essence. Valitional in the sense that we are not on new platonism. In neoplatinism the essence starts that emanation out of necessity. Plutinius says plutinus says in nyad whatever is perfect uh whatever gets perfect becomes productive.

[00:06:43]The eternally perfect is eternally productive. For Arabi uh that is not the case. It's not that because God is perfect therefore out of necessity he must be productive. No he chooses he wills. So it is valitional. It is valitional. It is wilt. It is love oriented and it is the first cause but it is not outside of the essence. It is rooted in the essence. Meaning that there was no external compelling of the essence to do so. There is agency. God wills and that will is internal to the essence not external. Therefore there is no compelling something coming from outside. um for foreign creation. This implies that the cause of all divine acts is God himself and importantly he it is willed and this suggests that creation was not accidental. There was a choice and there was valition. The question of what does it mean for God to will something is just too much of a discussion. Theologians have been talking about that. philosophers have been talking about that, but that's not the purpose of this video. So, I'm going to set that aside. Let's just be happy with that. God wilt. What that willing means is u too deep of a discussion.

[00:08:06]There is scholars in theology and philosophy discussing um the necessity and versus uh the absolute free will of God. God could do anything and he was free to do anything he wanted. How did he then will to do certain things? What does it mean for God to will? That is the central question. Um there are different directions. We don't need to engage with them. But these endeavors are problematic.

[00:08:41]I'm not saying that the whole discussion should be set aside, but it is problematic in the sense that the scholars have been historically um looking at the matter from a human lens. When we are talking about valition, they do what? They bring their own assumptions of what it means for humans to will. Therefore, let's see whether God wills like this or not. Or whether God has um freedom. Well, what does freedom mean? It means that you can do whatever you like. So, but how are you analyzing this? You're analyzing from the perspective of your experiences, norms, and everything you have as a human. So how how are you applying those to upstairs? Um so that's a problem and God is necessary, God is such and such.

[00:09:27]We are you see we bringing our own thoughts and just projecting them upward. Um expecting God come and fit into those frameworks. Um Arabi does not outright reject um absolute free will um necessity but uh for example like in his works we see uh talking about God as that is absolute agent. So there is freedom and sometimes at times feels like we're talking about absolute freedom but he doesn't support the absolute volunteerism of the theologians saying that God can do anything anything he wants and we saw this in the previous video. Remember that he was interpreting the Quranic verse. We're going to get into that today maybe next video. Um if God wanted to guide he would guide everyone. Um well the theologians say look God could have done that says wait he could have or he would have.

[00:10:36]We're going to take a closer look at that verse says this doesn't mean that God literally could have.

[00:10:45]And the problem there is um not because of God but because of us in our fixed entities we have certain um capacities aptitudes and God's knowledge of us is derived from those realities. Our reality tells God who we are uh what our choices are and just Abraham is going to take God pours existence into that. So it's not in this strict sense that God would have guided all of us because it is not according to in theat in the aptitude of all of us to be guided.

[00:11:24]That's going to bring certain questions.

[00:11:26]I know it's in your minds but they are in your minds but uh set them aside for now. For now let's take it in terms of this for God would have but he wouldn't.

[00:11:38]God's absolute freedom. This is the key sentence. God's absolute freedom does not mean that he can do whatever he he he he wills regardless of the known thing. There is a principle and there is a place an entity on which that principle is applied. This is a very very important topic. Let's focus. There is a principle. there is an object or an entity or thing on which this principle is going to be applied. It's not that God applies whatever principle to whatever entity. That entity's capacity is also influential. So the that principle is applied to that entity or that thing or being proportionate to the aptitude of that entity. That's very important. So God acts per what he wishes of course but that is not absolute volunteerism that reason and theology is telling us they say God is the omnipotent he can do whatever he like no says Arabi you see he's not having that absolute mentality he's willing he's being omnipotent respects your aptitudes as well this discussion is rooted in his understanding of um possibilities and um mahiat essences realities um in Arabic terminology realities our aptitudes and our realities is a determining factor for Arabic God's creative act consists in knowing and knowing is much more complex than just that doing something in a one-way way knowledge knowing is determined by the known and it conforms to it. What what is known is us and we have a reality we have our aptitudes and that knowledge of God which is his creative act coming to us conforms to that reality.

[00:13:55]It is influential and influenced.

[00:13:58]Therefore forbi one cannot speak of absolute will and unrestricted freedom once the realities and possibilities are negated for existence itself becomes meaningless. Again this whole discussion is puzzling because we still thinking with anthropomorphic um lenses. Um especially like for us choosing means there being options and us choosing one from amongst many. But does it work like that for God? Well, that that's a whole different thing.

[00:14:33]It's not that there were choices on his table and he chose from amongst them. Or was it? That's the whole point. You see, we we're thinking with human mentalities. God gave us that free will, but there are principles that apply to our free will. There are principles that apply to our ethics. But why should God be bound by those frames? But those by those definitions and principles by willing to be known God moved towards bringing the world into existence. And this movement is generally um described by Arabi as a turning and technically in Sufism not just but that is love oriented turning is is used that God had a love oriented turning has uh important implications.

[00:15:31]um one of one of them relates to understanding of being the first and the last. So based on this if the initial movement is in love, God's love to be known, that movement for creation, then the following uh and the resulting movements are also in love. This uh is the view that consistently brings up. Um given that the whole movement is started with love and for love. Um the following movements are in love whether we realize it or not. He says the movement of uh stars, the movements of planets, human actions, whatever movement there is in the creation is initiated with love. to repeat considering uh the first movement of God's creation his loving to be known um every movement in creation is a love oriented movement this love could be u operative in in and through different laws physical um spiritual but those are those are not the ultimate cause of that movement for Arabi Whether you know it, whether you realize it or not, you're acting in love.

[00:16:48]Whether the planet knows it or not, the planet is moving in love, whatever um the apparent laws are. Now, another important thing is this for Arabi like in Islamic mysticism, we have this um discussion that every level of being or every being um longs for the perfection of the higher higher being. And this is again a love oriented movement. You strive to become perfect. Um minerals towards animals, animals towards human da da da.

[00:17:24]um for that that that sure that c that teology of perfection is a reason but there's also something more operative in that um love for perfection and that's not just your will but for divine attributes what does he mean is this remember the first sentence in chapter one of u vus he said god want to see the essences of his attributes and names on an all comprehensive being. Um so the perfection under discussion here is not just for being perfection. It's the perfection required by those attributes to become embodied. What is important here is to um highlight the love relationship between um the created and the divine. You see here we are getting closer and closer to understanding of how creation functions for God. How we are looking from cause to the effect. God created the world.

[00:18:39]God wanted to do such and such. But now how does that creation get back to God?

[00:18:45]We are there now. You see the perfection of those attributes function by their being determined coming from and becoming embodied in creation. That's how the creation gets back to God. Creation according to Narabi makes the divine not essence be careful makes the divine in the level of relational names.

[00:19:11]Creation makes the divine divine.

[00:19:16]He said explicitly we saw this in the previous video. If there is no uh sinner that was my example actually what does mean for God to be forgiver in practice than in theory not in knowledge. If there is no human or animal to be needing feeding, what does it mean for God to be uh the giver?

[00:19:38]We says make the divine divine. We make the name level God. God God not the essence that is absolute. That is transcendental. That is not up for question. We're in that relational level. A relation of dependence exists between the pair. A dependence that applies both to knowledge and existence.

[00:20:03]Another thing um says and Gonavi expands is this um kind of a fundamental principle. I'm quoting Gonavi. If a thing by virtue of its essence entails a certain state, it continues to entail it so long as its existence persists. Abnabi reinforces this continuity with relation in relation to God. If God loved to create, if God loved to know, he continues by God we mean the essence. That essence still entails that love. It still entails that wish to be known and it still entails creation. So creation was not a first time act. It is continuing. He's loving to impart his knowledge. He is creating for that purpose. So long as God's essence endures, he will continue uh bringing beings into world.