william chittick on love in rumi and IA

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The Spiritual Path of Love in Ibn al-'Arabi and RumiAuthor(s): William C. ChittickSource: Mystics Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 1 (March 1993), pp. 4-16Published by: Penn State University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20717149 .

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The SpiritualPath ofLove inIhn al-Arabi and Rumi

The paths wherebyMuslims approach God can be classified under threebroad headings: knowledge, activity, and love. In one respect, knowledgeprecedes the other two paths, because Islam, in contrast to certain otherreligions, places primary stresson understanding thenature of things. It issufficientto remember that Islam begins with a statementor a "witnessing"(shahada) which, for uslims, isa self-evidentfact,not abelief: "There isnogod butGod," or, inotherwords, "There isnothing trulyreal but the absolutelyReal."1 In another respect, activity takes pride of place, becauseknowledge tends to become the domain of a relatively small number ofpeople, while allMuslims without exception are expected to observe the"Shariah." This is thename given to thedetailed guidelines foractivityas setdown in themessage brought fromGod byMuhammad-that is, the oranaswell as inMuhammad's "S?nna," his custom orwont, or theway inwhichhe put theKoranic message intopractice. As for love, the later tradition seesitboth asGod's underlyingmotivation forcreating theuniverse and as theinternal human response toGod's love for creation. By following thepath oflove, human beings complete God's creative act.

Although the Islamic tradition recognizes thatGod can be approachedthroughknowledge, activity,and love, itrarelyconsiders the threepaths asseparate fromeach other. Islamic thinking is fundamentally unitary and unitive. Certain authorities and schoolsmay stressone of these approaches overtheother two,but, by and large, they take all three into account. Hence, byspeaking here about the "path of love in Ibn al-'Arabi and Rumi," I do notmean to suggest that these two authors neglected thepaths ofknowledge oractivity. Indeed, in thecase of Ibn al-'Arabi, one canmake a strongcase forgiving knowledge priorityover the other two paths.For themost part, love isnot stressed inearly expressions of Islamic spirituality.However, theKoran speaks of love in a number of key verses thatmake clear its fundamental role. For example, God addresses Muhammadin theKoran with thewords, "Say [to thepeople]: 'Ifyou loveGod, followme, andGod will loveyou'" (3:31). In otherwords, thosewho loveGod mustrecognize theKoran as God's message and follow itspractical and active

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embodiment provided byMuhammad's example. Thereby theywill demonstrate their love forGod, andGod in turnwill love them.But all lovers in Islamic historyhave recognized that theprimarymotivepower thatbrings about love between God and human beings isnot humanlove,but divine love,or thegrace that od gives bywhich people are able tolove him. Hence the authorities read the followingKoranic verse as establishing the basic hierarchy of love: "He loves them, and they love Him"(5:54). First God loves human beings, thenhuman beings love God.Early expressions of Islamic spirituality,whether or not love is stressed,tend to take the form of prayers and supplications or pithy sayings.2 Butfrom the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries-the fifth to the seventh

Islamic centuries-a number of extremely important authors appear whomap out a detailed spiritualpsychology of love.The famousMuhammad alGhazali (d. a.h. 505/a.d. 1111) sometimeswrites about human and divinelove, but his less well-known brother, Ahmad Ghazali (d. 520/1126),devotes most of his relatively shortPersian work, Sawanih, to love as theunderlying, unitive realityof the soul, and thiswork thenprovides inspiration for dozens of later treatises in Persian and other Islamic languages.3Ahmad's disciple 'Aynal-Qudat Hamadani (d. 525/1131) plays an importantrole informulatinga psychology andmetaphysics of love.Perhaps most profound and original in approach-in a period ofmany greatmasters-wasAhmad Sam'ani (d. 534/1140), even though he has remained almost completelyunknown tomodern scholars. The recentpublication ofhis 600-pagePersian commentary on thedivine names has shown that he rankswith thegreatest authorities of Islamic history in the exposition of love'smysteries.4Ibn al-'Arabi andRumi can be considered thegreatestmasters of the tradition ofwriting on divine andhuman love. Ibn al-'Arabi,who wrote prolificallyinArabic, is Islam's foremostmystical theologian and philosopher.5 Hecomposed more than 500 prose works, some of them of enormous length,alongwith tensof thousands ofverses ofpoetry.He was born inMurcia inpresent-day Spain and died inDamascus in638/1240. His younger contemporary,Jala al-Din Rumi, was born inBalkh inpresent-dayAfghanistan andmoved inhis youth toKonya (now inTurkey), where he died in672/1273.6He composed about 65,000 verses ofbreathtakingPersian poetry alongwithanumber of shortproseworks. The Persianate world, fromTurkey to India,looksback onRumi as thegreatest spiritualpoet ofhistory, justas thewholeIslamic world considers Ibn al-'Arabi the greatest theoretician of Sufism,that is, themystical and spiritual dimension of Islam.7Ibn al-'Arabi and Rumi belong to twodifferentcurrents of Islamic spirituality.Each inhis own way marks thehigh point of a tradition.Most formulations of Islamic spiritual teachings afterthemare guided by theirwrit

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ings.One can differentiatetheperspectives of the twoauthors inmany ways,but one can also look at thecommon elements, an especially easy taskwhenconsidering thequestion of love.8 Inwhat follows, Iwill illustratehow Ibnal-'Arabi explains certain dimensions of love's realityand, at the same time,offer few appropriate examples ofRumi's poetical expressions of the sameor similar themes.

Love's CreativityLove cannot be defined, though its effects and consequences can bedescribed. On thispoint Ibn al-'Arabi the theoretician and Rumi the poetagree completely:Love has no definition hrough hich itsessence can be known.Rather, it isgiven descriptive ndverbaldefinitions, othingmore.He who defines ovehasnotknown it, e who has not tasted tbydrinking t own has notknown it, ndhewho saysthat ehasbeen quenchedby it as notknown it, or ove isdrinkingwithoutquenching. (Futuhat I 111.2; cf. II 325.10)Someone asked, "What is loverhood?"I replied, "Don't ask about these meanings"Whenyoubecome likeme, you'llknow;When itcallsyou,you'll tell itstale." (Diwan 29050-51)In thebroadest sense, love can be called themotive forceforGod's creativ

ity.According to a famous saying attributed toMuhammad, the prophetDavid asked God, "Why did you create theworld?" God replied, "I was ahidden treasureand I loved tobe known. Hence I created thecreatures that Imight be known." In one of his many commentaries on this saying, Ibnal-'Arabi tells us that the kind of knowledge that God loved to achievethrough creation was originated in time, sinceGod already knew himselfand all things in eternity:

God "loved tobe known." In accordancewith love for thethings, e turned isdesire towardthemwhile they ere inthestate fnonexistence.They were theroot[of reation]through hepreparednessof theirpossibility. e said tothem,"Be!", and they ame tobe, that emightbe knownby every ort fknowledge.Knowledge originated n time syethad no object, since theonewho knowsbymeans of itwas notyetqualified by existence.9In another passage, Ibn al-c rabi explains themeaning ofGod's love tobeknownwhile commenting on theKoranic verse, "And He iswith youwher

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everyou are" (57:4). Love isa name given toGod's attributeofnever lettingthe creatures out ofhis sight and always being concerned for theirwelfare:

God's lovefor the reatures s attributed othem nrelation otheir eing.He iswith them hereverthey re,whetherthey xist inthe osmos]ornot.Just sheiswith them nthestate f their xistence, o alsohe iswith them nthestate ftheir onexistence, ince they reobjectsofhis knowledge.He witnesses themandhe loves themfor ll eternity,ecause no property omesoverhim that edidnotalreadypossess.On the ontrary,e always loveshis creatures, ust shealwaysknows them. is words, "I lovedtobe known,"giveus knowledgeof thesituation as it is in itself....Though thisworld isfinite,hethings ngendered ithin it re evernew, andtheir ngendering as no end, since thepossibilitieshaveno end.The possiblethings everhad abeginningwithGod, just s their ndlessness s fixedndnecessarywithGod. His Being has no beginning, ohis love for is servants as nobeginning. Futuhat I 329)

Rumi often alludes to theHidden Treasure. He points out thathuman beingsmust imitateGod because of the treasuresofdivine potentiality thatareconcealed within their selves:God created theuniverseformanifestation,lest thetreasure fwisdom stayhidden.He said, "Iwas a hidden treasure." isten!Lose not your substance! Make yourself manifest!10In one of his prose works, Rumi explains the significance of theHiddenTreasure in some detail:

God says, "I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known." In other words, "Icreated thewhole cosmos,and thegoal in all of itwas tomakemyselfmanifest,sometimes hrough entleness nd sometimesthrough everity." od isnot thekindofkingforwhom a singleheraldwould be sufficient.ere all the tomsoftheuniverse his heralds, they ould fall short nd be incapableofmakinghimknown.11Rumi epitomizes the idea ofGod's creative loveby comparing theworld toamirror inwhich thebeauty of love isdisplayed:God said to love,"Were itnot foryourbeauty,would I concernmyselfwith themirror of existence?(Diwan 26108)Rumi frequentlypoints to love as thefundamentalmotive forcreation bycommenting on a divine saying addressed toMuhammad: "But for thee, I

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would not have created the heavenly spheres." Here the Prophet-whorepresents theperfection of thehuman state ispictured as theultimate goalof creation, since only throughhuman beings, created inGod's image, is afull and complete knowledge ofGod made possible on the created level.Through them alone can theHidden Treasure be completely known:

Love makes theocean a boilingpot,love grinds down mountains to sand.Love splitstheheavenswith a hundred splittings,love shakes the earth with its outbursts.Pure lovewas pairedwithMuhammad,for its sake God said to him, "But for thee . ..":"Were itnot forpure love,whywould I createthespheres?I raised the celestialwheel on highso thatyoumight grasp love'sexaltedrank."(MathnawiV 2735-37, 39-40)

Love forthe rue BelovedGod created theworld through love, so lovebrings about separation, dis

tinction, and multiplicity. It is the origin of all movement and change.Within the created order, lovekeeps theuniverse ina constant stateof transformation and flux, and because of love, theworld subsists. As Rumi putsit,The creatures are set inmotion by love,loveby eternity ithoutbeginning.The wind dances because of thespheres,thetrees ecause of thewind. (Diwan 26108)God's wisdom through is destinyand decreemade us lovers of one another.That foreordainmentaired allpartsof theworld

and set each of them in love with itsmate....The female inclinestowardsthemaleso that achmay perfecttheother'swork.God placed desirewithinman andwomanso theworldmight subsistthrough heir nion.(Mathnawi II 4400-01, 14-15)Ibn al-'Arabi explains that all creaturely love derives fromdivine love:The Prophet said, "God isbeautifuland he lovesbeauty." . . .Hence God isdescribed as onewho lovesbeauty, and he loves thecosmos,because there snothingmore beautiful than thecosmos. At the same timeGod isbeautiful,while beauty is intrinsicallyovable. o thewhole cosmos loves od. The beauty

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ofGod's handiworkpermeateshis creation, hile the osmos istheplacewherehe becomesmanifest.Therefore the oveof thedifferentartsof thecosmos foreach otherderivesfrom od's loveforhimself.(Futuhat I 114.8)Love's motivating forcedoes not ceasewith theexternalization andmaintenance of the cosmos, since theknowledge desired byGod in "loving tobeknown" has not yet been fully achieved. It isnot sufficientfor the cosmos

merely to exist.Although its existencemeans that the jewels of theHiddenTreasure have become manifest as creatures,most of themdo not recognizethemselves forwhat theyare, nor do theyunderstand that theirown lovesand desires reflect od's love. In order for creation to achieve itspurpose,human beings must come toknow that all creatures are nothing butGod'sself-manifestation.They must see themselves and all things in thedivinecontext and recognizeGod inand through thecreatedworld. Hence, justaslovebrings about separation-the creation of the cosmos-so also itbringsabout union, or the returnof the cosmos to itsproper place inGod.In short,all love is set inmotion byGod and directed towardhim. All loveisat rootGod's own love tobecome manifest and be known. In the lastanalysis,God alone is lover and beloved. This is precisely themeaning of thedeclaration of divine unity: "There is no god but God." In otherwords,"There is no realitybut the ultimate Reality," and every lesser reality isrooted inGod's unique Reality. Love, wherever it isfound,manifests divinelove, themother of all love. "There isno god butGod" means that"There isno love but God's." Hence, as Ibn al-'Arabi puts it, "None loves god butGod" (Futuhat II 113.2), and "There isno lover and no beloved butGod"(Futuhat II 114.14). Ibn al-'Arabi tellsus that lovers understand thiswhenthey reach thepoint of seeingGod in everything that exists:The lover ees that e seesGod onlythrough od, not through imself, nd thathe lovesGod only through od, not through imself. t isGod who loveshimself-it isnot the loverwho loveshim.The lover ooks thim inevery xistentthing ymeans ofhim.Hence the over nows that one loveshim buthe.God islover ndbeloved, seeker nd sought. Futuhat I 331.17)Rumi provides many parallel accounts of thevision ofGod's love in all

things.But inkeepingwith his perspective,which isorientatedmore towardpractice than theory,he constantly reminds his readers of the relevance ofhis discussions to theirown situation:

Loversmust seek theBeloved,running n face and head likea flood tohis stream.

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He himselfdoes theseeking, ndwe are likeshadows.All our speakingis theBeloved's words.Sometimeswe rejoice likewater inhis river,sometimes we are bound like water in his jug.At timeswe boil likecarrots na pot-through thoughthe skimsoffthefoam:"Such is theFriend's nature."His mouth to our ear, he whispers,so our soul may at once take on his fragrance.He comes likethespirit's pirit, eavingno escapenever have I seen a spirit as his enemy.He willmelt youwith softness, aking you frail s a hairbut youwould not takethetwoworlds for hair of his.We sitwith theBeloved saying, Beloved,where [ku] reyou?"Drunk, we coo [ku] ntheBeloved's lane. (Diwan 4650-57)Ibn al-'Arabi and especially Rumi constantly remind their readers thatlove forany creaturely thingcan only be love forGod. But people are veiled

by their ignorance fromperceiving the trueobject of their love. Ibn al-'Arabiwrites,

None butGod is lovedin the xistent hings. t ishewho ismanifestwithineverybeloved tothe yeofevery over-and there sno existent hing hat snota lover.The cosmos isall lover ndbeloved, and all of itgoesback tohim_Althoughno lover ovesanybuthis ownCreator, the lover sveiled from imby the loveforZaynab,Su'ad,Hind, Layla, this orld,money,position, ndeverythingovedin theworld. Poets exhausttheir ordswritingabout all theseexistingthingswithout knowing, but the knowers never hear a verse, a riddle, a panegyric, or alovepoem that snot aboutGod, hiddenbeyond theveil offorms.(Futuhat I326.19)

Rumi expresses the same ideaswith thesewords:All thehopes,desires,loves, nd affectionshatpeoplehave for ifferenthingsfather, mother, friends, the heavens, the earth, gardens, palaces, sciences, works,food,drink-all these redesiresfor od, and thesethings reveils.When people leave thisworld and see theeternal ing without theseveils, thenthey illknow that ll these ere veils andcoverings nd that he bjectof their esirewasin reality hat ne Thing. All their ifficulties ill be solved,all thequestionsandperplexitiesthatthey ad intheir eartswill be answered.They will see allthings ace toface. (Fihimafihi35; cf.Arberry, iscourses46)All love is in truth love forGod. Love is good since it is divine, but itremains a deceptive veil so long as lovers do not recognize its true object.This is one ofRumi's favorite themes:

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Love isan attribute fGod inhis independenceloveforanything lse derivesfrom im.The beautyof theothers isgold-plated:outwardly tis light, nwardly moke.When the light oes and the smokeappears,derivative love turns cold.The beauty returns to its source;there remains a corpse-putrid, disgraced, ugly.The moonlightgoesback to themoon,the moon's reflection leaves the dark wall. .. .But thosewho have eyes love themine ofgold.Each day their ove increases,Since themine has no partner n itsgoldness

Hail, OMine ofGold! Inyou there sno doubt.(Mathnawi I 971-975, 79-80)Love isan ever-present reality,but inordinary circumstances ittends tobe

dispersed and wasted because people fall in lovewith theBeloved's reflections.Here we come back to thecentralityofknowledge. Even thoughRumidevotes all hisworks to love,he frequentlyremindsus thattrue lovedependsupon discernment. The lovermust be able todistinguish gold fromgoldplate:

Love makes thebittersweet,love turns opper togold,Love makes dregs intopurewine,love turnspain intohealing.Love brings thedead to life,love makes the king a slave.But thisloveresultsfromknowledge.When did a foolever siton this throne?How can faulty nowledge givebirthto love?Itgivesbirthto love,but lovefor dead thing.When itsees itsobject's color inthething,ithears the beloved's voice in a decoy.Faultyknowledgehas no discriminationitthinks hat ightning s thesun.(Mathnawi11 1529-35)

In short, love forGod grows up out of thebasic declaration of faith, theassertion ofGod's unique reality: "There isno god but God." Since love is adivine attribute, itfollows that"There isno true loverand no truebelovedbutGod." Once the lovers clarify theirvision of things and open the eye oftheir insight, they see things as they trulyare.Then their love is complete,since they live in the joyof experiencing theirown union with theobject oftheir love. As Rumi puts it,

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The joy nd heartacheof lovers she,their wages and salary for service is he.If theywere tocontemplate therthan theBeloved,how could that e love? hat would be an idlefancy.Love is that lamewhich,when itblazes up,burns away all except the everlasting Beloved.With theswordof"no god" love slays"otherthanGod."Look carefully: fter"no god"what remains?There remains "but God," the rest has gone.Hail, O great love,burningaway all others!It ishe alone who is first nd last,all else growsup fromtheeye that eesdouble.

(MathnaweiV 586-591)The Religion ofLove

It isunfair toRumi to tryto systematize his ecstatic vision of love. Theonly realway to appreciate his teachings is to savor his poetry, though, ofcourse, English translations can never be anythingbut pale imitations of theoriginal. Nevertheless, letme offer inconclusion three ofhis ghazals or lovepoems to suggest some of theways inwhich he expresses themysteries oflove. No attempt will be made, however, to explain the images andallusions.12 Nor will I try to prove thatRumi is talking about the divineBeloved rather thana human beloved (the ambiguity is increased inPersianbecause pronouns have no gender). From within theperspective of an Ibnal-'Arabi or aRumi, thisquestion does not arise. Proof enough isprovidedby the declaration of faith: "There isno beloved butGod." As Ibn al-'Arabiputs it in a passage already quoted, "The knowers never hear a verse, a riddle, a panegyric, or a love poem that isnot aboutGod, hidden beyond theveil of forms."13

If someonefalls in lovewith thatsplendorof themeadow,don't wonder thathe's losthis heart in love likeme.Don't speakofpatience-patiencewill never find hewayto theheart thathas been testedby that riend.When loverattles ts hain,the intellect f Plato andAvicenna goesmad.By thespirit f love!No spirit scapes loveeven within-a hundred fortresses, a hundred bodies.If you become a lion, love is a great lion-catcher.Become an elephant-love is amighty rhinoceros!Ifyou flee to thedepthsofawell,love's ropewill bind yourneck like bucket.Become a hair-love is a great hair-splitter.

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Become a kebab-love is a spit.Love is theworld's sanctuary, hesourceofall justice,even if twaylays the intellects fman andwoman.Silence!For speech'shomeland isDamascus, theheartwith such a homeland,don't call it stranger.(Diwan, ghazal#920)

What would happen, youth, ifyoubecame a lover ikeme?-every daymadness, everynightweeping.His image not out of your eyes for one instanttwohundred lights eachingyoureyesfrom hatface.You would cutyourself fffromyourfriends,youwould wash yourhands of theworld:"I have detachedmyselffrommyself,I have become entirely ours."When I mix with thesepeople, I amwaterwith oil,outwardly oined, nwardly eparate."Leaving behind all selfish esires,youwould becomemadbut not anymadness that physiciancould cure.Iffor n instant hephysicianstastedthisheartache,they ould escape their hains and tearup their ooks.Enough! Leave all thisbehind, seekamine of sugar!Become effaced n that ugar likemilk incandy.(Diwan,ghazal#244)

Ifanyoneasksyou abouthouris,showyour face and say,"Like this."If anyone speaks to you about themoon,riseup beyond the roof nd say,"Like this."When someone looksfor fairy rincess,showyourface tohim.When someone talks ofmusk,let loose your tresses and say, "Like this."If someone says to you,"How do clouds part from themoon?"Undo your robe,buttonbybutton,and say, "Like this."Ifhe asksyou about theMessiah,"How couldhe bring the ead to ife?"Kiss my lipsbeforehimand say, "Like this."When someone says, "Tell me,what does itmean tobe killedby love?"Showmy soul tohimand say, "Like this."

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If someone in concernasks you about my state,Show himyour eyebrow,bent over double, and say, "Like this."The spirit reaks awayfrom thebody,then again it enters within.

Come, show the deniers,enter the house and say "Like this."Inwhatever directionyou hearthecomplaintofa lover,That ismy story, ll of it,byGod, like this.I am thehouse of every ngel,my breasthas turned lue like theskyLift up your eyesand lookwith joyat heaven, like this.I told thesecret funion with theBelovedto the east wind alone.

Then, through hepurity f itsownmystery,theeastwindwhispered, "Like this."Those areblindwho say,"How can the servant reach God?"Place thecandleofpurityinthehand of eachand say, "Like this."I said, "How can thefragrance fJosephgo from one city to the next?"The fragrance fGod blew fromtheworldofhis Essence and said, "Like this."I said, "How can thefragrance fJosephgive sightback to theblind?"Your breeze came and gave lighttomy eye: "Like this."Perhaps Shams al-Din inTabrizwill show his generosity,and inhis kindnessdisplayhis good faith, ike this.(Diwan,ghazal #1827)

William C. ChittickStateUniversity ofNew York at Stony BrookNotes

1.On the general Islamic stressupon knowledge, cf.F. Rosenthal,KnowledgeTriumphant:TheConceptof nowledge in edieval Islam (Leiden:Brill, 1970).2. For examplesofsupplications, f. Ali bnal-Husayn, l-Sahifat l-sajjadiyya:ThePsalms ofIslam, trans.W.C. Chittick (Oxford:OxfordUniversity Press, 1988).There were also certain igureswhose liveshave been lookedback upon as expres

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sionsof love,thegreatexamplebeing al-Hallaj (d.a.h. 309/a.d.922).Cf. L.Massignon,ThePassion of l-Hallaj:Mystic andMartyr of slam,4 vols. (Princeton: niversity ress, 1982).3. Cf. Sawanih: InspirationsromtheWorldof ureSpirits,translated. Pourjavady(London:KPI, 1986).4. Rawh al-arwah fi shar hasma} al-malik al-fattah, ed. N. Mayil-Hirawi (Tehran:Intisharat-ilmi wa Farhangi, 1368/1989).See alsoChittick,"Ahmad Sam'ani onAdam's Fall," Persian Sufism rom itsOrigins toRumi, ed. L. Lewisohn (London:Khaniqahi Nimatullahi, forthcoming).5. On Ibn al-'Arabi's ife, orks, and teachings, eeC. Addas, IhnArabi ouLa quitedu soufreouge Paris:Gallimard, 1979);W. Chittick, heSufiPath of nowledge: bnal-Arabi'sMetaphysics of magination Albany:SUNY Press, 1989); "Ibn al-'ArabiandHis School," IslamicSpirituality: anifestations,ed. S. H. Nasr (NewYork:Crossroad, 1990),pp. 49-79; H. Corbin, CreativeImagination ntheSufism of bnArabi (Princeton: rincetonUniversityPress, 1969).6. Cf.A. Schimmel, AmWind, You AreFire: TheLife andWork ofRumi (Boston:Shambhala, 1992); The TriumphalSun: A Study of theWorks ofJalaloddinRumi(London:Fine Books, 1978);W. Chittick,TheSufiPath of ove: TheSpiritualTeachings f umi (Albany: UNY, 1983);"Rumiand theMawlawiyya," IslamicSpirituality: anifestations,pp.105-126.7. I use the word "mystical" here with some hesitation. Most expressions of Sufism,even thosedeeply imbuedwith theperspective f love,arefundamentallyognitiveor "gnostic" in theetymological ense).To theextentthattheterm"mysticism" sassociated with emotionalism, sentimentality, and anti-intellectualism, it does notexpress Sufism's basic goals. Of course Sufism has its own currents of sentimentality,but these do not represent itsmainstream. For various reasons why the term "mysticism" snotquite appropriatefor ufism,seeChittick, aith andPracticeof slam:ThreeThirteenthCentury ufi Texts (Albany:SUNY Press, 1992),pp. 165ff.8. For some of the differences between their perspectives, see Chittick, "Rumi andtheMawlawiyya" in slamicSpirituality: anifestations,esp. pp. 113-117; "RumiandWahdat al-wujud,"TheHeritage ofRumi, ed.A. Banani andG. Sabagh (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, forthcoming).9. Futuhat II 167.12. Ibn al-'Arabi calls the immediate effect ofGod's love for creationthe Breath ftheAll-merciful," hile the ndividual reatures rethewords thatbecome articulated ithin theBreath (cf. hittick, ufiPath of nowledge,p. 126).10.Mathnawi, ed. and trans. . A.Nicholson (London: uzac, 1925-40), V 3028-29(my translations).11.Fihimafihi, ed. B. Furuzanfar Tehran:AmirKabir, 1348/1969), p. 176-177.For a translation of the passage in context, see A. J.Arberry, Discourses ofRumi (London: JohnMurray, 1961),pp. 184-185.12. Explanations formany of them anbe found inmy SufiPath of ove.

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13.One shouldperhapsmention inthis ontextthe ontroversyhat urrounded bnal-'Arabi's short collection of poetry called Tarjuman al-ashwaq, which he dedicatedto a beautifulPersian maiden calledNizam whom hemet at theKaaba inMecca.Afterwritingthepoemshewas accusedofhavingbeen overcomebyprofane ove. Inreply,he wrote a longcommentary n thecollection,explaining its imagery. fcourse,thosewho sawwith the yeof insight idnotneed the ommentary,nd thosewhowere predisposedto ccuse themystically nclined fevil intentionsere not impressed.Cf. R. A. Nicholson, The Tarjuman al-Ashwaq (London:Luzac, 1911);H.Corbin, CreativeImagination, p. 136ff.; hittick,"TheWorld of Imagination ndPoetic Imagery ccordingto Ibn al-'Arabi,"Temenos 10 (1989),pp. 99-119.

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