The Mystic View on the Possibility of Discussing the Divine Essence and the Criticism of its Opposing Theory (of ‘Allāmah Ṭabātabā’ī)

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Religions and Mysticism, Shahid Beheshti University,Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The main subject of this study is to examine the possibility of discussing the divine essence in Ibn ‘Arabī‘s school of mysticism. The author of this article intends to investigate the possibility of the relative discussion of the divine essence. However, opposing theories such as ‘Allāmah Ṭabātabā’ī’s stance in Al-Rasā’il al-tawḥīdiyya favor the absolute impossibility of talking about the divine essence. In this paper, we examine and criticize the opposing views discussed in Al-Rasā’il al-tawḥīdiyya. The method used in this article is quotation and analysis of the mystics’ opinions about his issue in line with a critical approach to the opposing views (as viewed by this author’s stance to the issue). The relative expressibility of the divine essence from the viewpoint of mysticism and the criticisms of the opponents’ thoughts are among the main findings of this study.

Keywords


 ‘Alī Zamānī, A. (1996), Religious language. Qom, The Office of Islamic Publications affiliated to Qom ῌawzah.
Āmulī, Ḥ. (1994), Tafsīr al-muḥīṭ al-a‘ẓam. Edited by Muḥsin Tabrīzī, Tehran, Mu’assisa al-Ṭibā‘a wa al-nashr.
Āshtiyānī, J. (1993), An interpretation of Qayṣarī‘s introduction to Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam. Qom, Būstān Kitāb.
Fakhr Rāzī, M. (1996), Al-Mabāḥith al-Mashriqiyya. Tehran, Maktabat al-Asadī.
Ḥakīm, S. (n.d.), Al-Mu‘jam al-ṣūfī. Beirut, Dandara lil-Ṭibā‘a wa al-Nashr.
Ibn Aḥmad, A. (2019), Sharḥ usūl al-khamsa. Edited by ‘Abd al-Karīm ‘Uthmān, n.p., Maktabat Wahaba.
Ibn ‘Arabī, M. (n.d.), Al-Futūḥāt al-Makiyya. Beirut, Dāru Ṣādir.
Ibn Fanārī, M. (n.d.), Miṣbāḥ al-uns. Iran, Sangī Publications.
------------------ (1995), Miṣbāḥ al-uns. Edited by Muḥammad Khājawī, Tehran Mulā.
Ibn Qutayba, A. (1981), Ta’wīl Mushkil al-Qur’ān. Edited by Aḥmad Ṣaqar, Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyya.
Ibn Turka, Ṣ. (1981), Tamhīd al-qawā‘id. Iran, Iran Research Institute of Philosophy.
---------------- (2002), Tamhīd al-qawā‘id. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Āshtiyānī, Qom, Būstān Kitāb.
Jāmī, A. (n.d.), Asha‘a al-luma‘āt. Edited by Ḥamid Rabbānī, Tehran, Ḥāmid Rabbānī Library.
---------- (1991), Naqd al-nuṣūṣ fī sharḥ naqsh al-fuṣūṣ. With introduction by William chitik, Tehran, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
Jundī, M. (1982), Sharḥ fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Āshtiyānī, Mashhad, University of Mashhad.
Kākā’ī, Q. (2002), Unity of being in the eyes of Ibn ‘Arabī and Myster Ekhart. Tehran, Hurmus.
Kashānī, A. (2006), Laṭā’ if al-a‘lām fī ishārāt ahl al-ilhām. Cairo, Maktabat al-Thaqāfa al-Dīniyya.
Majlisī, M. (1983), Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut, Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-’Arabī.
Makkī ‘Āmili, Ḥ. (1991), Ilāhiyyat ‘alā hudā al-kitāb wa al-sunna wa al-‘aql. Muḥāḍirāt Shaykh Ja‘far Subḥānī, n.p., Al-Markaz al-‘Ālami lil-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyya.
Mufīd, M. (1993), Al-Āmālī, Qom, Shaykh Mufīd seminar, Murtiḍā Publications.
Nicholson, R. (1984). Notes on Ibn ‘Arabī‘s fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam. Translated by Awāns Awānisiyān. Tehran, University of Tehran.
Peterson, M. et al. (1997), Reason and religious belief. Edited by Aḥmad Narāqī & Ibrāhīm Sulṭānī, Tehran, Ṭarḥ Naw.
Pilin, D. (2004), Principles of the philosophy of religion. Translated by a group of translators, Qom, Būstān Kitāb.
Plato, (1970), Collection of works. Edited by Muḥammad Ḥasan luṭfī & Riḍā Kāwyānī, Tehran, Khārazmī Publications.
Qayṣarī, D. (1996), Sharḥ fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Āshtiyānī, Tehran, ‘Ilmī wa Farhangī Publications.
Qumī, Q. (1995), Sharḥ Tawḥīd Ṣadūq. Edited by Najaf Qulī Ḥabībī, Iran, Mu’assisa al-Ṭibā‘a wa al-nashr.
Qūnawī, Ṣ. (2002), I‘jāz al-bayān fī tafsīr amm al-Qur’ān. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Āshtiyānī, Qom, Būstān Kitāb.
--------------- (1983), Risāla l-nuṣūṣ. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Āshtiyānī, Tehran, Nashr Dānishgāhī.
--------------- (1996), Al-Nafaḥāt al-ilāhiyya. Edited by Muḥammad Khājawī, Tehran, Mawlā.
Ṣadūq, M. (1995), Al-Tawḥīd. Edited by ‘Alī Akbar Ghaffārī & Hāshim Ḥusayinī Ṭihrānī, Qom, Islāmī Publications.
Sayyid Raḍī, M. (1986), Talkhīṣ al-bayān fī majāzāt al-Qur’ān. Edited by Muḥammad ‘Abd al-Ghanī Ḥasan.
Stiver, D. (2005), the Philosophy of religious language. Translated and edited by Abulfaḍl Sājidī, Qom, Institute for Religions and Denominations Studies.
Ṭabāṭabā’ī, M. ῌ. (1986), Al-Rasā’il al-tawḥīdīyya. Qom, Mu’assisa al-Nashr al-Islāmī.
Taftāzānī, S. (1986), Sharḥ al-Maqāṣid. Edited by ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ‘Amīra, Qom, Sharīf Raḍī Publications.