four worlds

[sepiamind]

Images made to illustrate class transcriptions at Jaffe Institute for the book project, which is now on hold while whoever is responsible decides whether to include transcriptions, new prose, or what.

Comments

[iswari]

From this diagram, it appears as if the World of the Prophets is above the World of G-d. How is this explained?

[allida]

I was confused by that as well, but I looked again and here is what I as a laymen in Islam came up with:

The world of the prophets is the place at which man's understanding is in direct contact with the supreme. Its light is not diminished from the light of G**. Thus on the secod diagram, there is no label for world of the prophets since it is concurrent with rather than being above or below the world of the supreme One.

[sepiamind]

I can't say a lot because I don't have the real tasting; Sidi ibn al-Arabi, known as the greatest master (i.e. the greatest teacher given permission by the Lord of the Worlds to make certain things about the reality public), is reported to have said, "When I came to the furthest of my knowing, I had arrived at the shore of the land where the prophets live."

But when including Hahut in a linear diagram, you're right, Shara, it doesn't make sense to label Hahut the world of the prophets and Lahut the world of God. Some people call Hahut "unmanifest absolute" and Lahut "manifest absolute". Most of us have a chance to reach Lahut, following an experience of annihilation, fana, the death to self; only a few, the prophets in the previous age, peace be upon them, and the insan al-kamils in all ages, are allowed entry into Hahut. There the divine command does not merely enter creation but is spoken.

Allah only said KUN, be, once and for all; from our perspective, this manifests as continuous creation.

[humanx]

What does this mean, the density of the light of God?

[sepiamind]

Hi Lynn