Source Text
He is told, “If it were not for you, the mysteries would not exist nor would the lights shine.”4
The one who stays with the image is lost, and the one who rises from the image to the reality is rightly guided.”11
As Ibn ‘Arab! explains elsewhere, the purpose of spiritual ascension is not to reach God - for He is never apart from us - but simply for Him to show some of His wonders and indications.13 He writes: [God] says, “I only made him journey by night in order that he see the signs, not [to bring him] to Me: because no place can hold Me and the relation of all places to Me is the same. For I am such that [only] ‘the heart of My servant, the man of true faith, encompasses Me’, so how could he be ‘made to journey to Me’ while I am ‘with him wherever he is’ ?!”14
According to a prophetic tradition often quoted by Ibn ‘Arabī, “I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known, so I created the world …”. This love to be known is not a static goal but a constantly unfolding revelation.
Yet Ibn ‘Arab! is clearly aware of the universal value of these revelations, for he is repeatedly told to inform others of what he has seen, “… tell the servants what you have seen, so that you awaken their longing for Me and fill them with desire for Me, and you will be a mercy for them.”18
The necessity to inform others involves not only a reminder but a warning. From the inside, the wall that encircles the Garden of Truth appears as pure mercy in the knowledge of the Divine Unity, while from the outside ignorance makes it appear as threat and punishment.
Moreover, Ibn ‘Arabī’s writings generally stress the all-encompassing Mercy of Being which excludes no one.20 Hell may then be seen as the suffering which burns off impurity so that what is real can return to itself.
At the end of the final contemplation the contemplator is warned that whether he follows what he has been told or not, either way he must perish,22 that is, he must wake up from the illusion of a separate existence, which he can control according to his lower desires, and acknowledge the singular existence of the Real. Then he must follow the order, that is, persist in being true to his Reality.
You are yourself the cloud veiling your own sun! So recognize the essential Reality of your being!l23
Beyond the vicissitudes of all that is transitory, the light that is constant continues to shine: When the star of the Real rises and enters into the servant’s heart, the heart is illuminated and irradiated. Then bewilderment and fear disappear from the possessor of the heart, and he gives news of his Lord explicitly, through hints, and by means of various modes of informing.24
AI Summary
Contemplation of the Holy Mysteries by Ibn Arabi presents key insights from the Sufism tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
- [To be expanded]
Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
This entry was generated from Readwise highlights. Expand with additional context as appropriate.