I Think, Therefore I Am Witnessing - all about wahdatul wujud, wahdatul shuhud, Mircrosoft grammar check and the cosmic ping pong table

Your separateness and individuality are lost in
the overwhelming Oneness that is God.

How should we phrase this often used-sentence – “God and the Prophet have ….” or “God and the Prophet has…”? This may appear a trivial matter, and the sinner may have way too much free time, but I think it is an interesting question to answer. And to approach this problem we will be applying the Ibn Arabi made-famous dichotomy of the two Wahdatuls. 

Some people say that the concepts of Wahdatul Wujud (the state / unity of creation) and Wahdatul Shuhud (the state / unity of witnessing) are too high and lofty for the contemplation of mere underlings like us. But hey... let's give it a shot, shall we? After all, we have a grammatical problem to solve.

At the level of Wahdatul Wujud there is only one True Reality. One Absolute Existence that existed even before the term ‘exist’ was ever created and understood. So in that context it is “God and the Prophet has…” because we are in fact referring to one True Absolute Person, aka God and no one else but God. Indeed this would apply whenever God is accompanied by any other identity, even you. Your separateness and individuality are lost in the overwhelming Oneness that is God.

At the level of Wahdatul Shuhud, the presence of a witness to God necessitates two separate identities,  God and the Prophet Muhammad. In which case it makes sense that the phrase "God and the Prophet have..." is correct, signifying a plural dimension and the two very different and distinct personalities of God and His Creation (Prophet Muhammad).

So now I have two opposing and seemingly contradictory positions. But which is the best solution that Adab (courtly courtesies and good manners) would require to solve this grammatical puzzle?

In the Microsoft Word™ application, the embedded grammar and spelling-checker already underlined the word ‘has’ in green, in other words, the computer program is telling me that it is grammatically incorrect to use 'has' in context of the subject-verb agreement. The computer is telling me that the correct verb is “have”. So we know that Microsoft Inc is ostensibly at least, Wahdatul Shuhud.

Hehehe.

Personally, I prefer going with “God and the Prophet has…” because the overwhelming single reality is God Alone and that there is only He who is the willing force over all creation. The Prophet is there as the perfection of servanthood, God’s own flawless mirror set against God’s infinite and wonderful Divine Attributes. But to be fair, eminent translators of the Holy Quran have applied the plural verb when God is mentioned with other 'persons' in the form of His angels as in the verse 33:56 -

Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect. (Yusuf Ali)

Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation. (Marmaduke Pickthall)

And then of course, some other translation avoid this grammatical problem altogether by separating the 'subject' God from the angels...

Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [ Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [ Allah to grant him] peace.

(Sahih International)

But to be absolutely honest here, I am happy to be the ping-pong ball being hit across the cosmic ping-pong table, back and forth, back and forth… by the Divine bats of Wahdatul Wujud and Wahdatul Shuhud. Because at the end of the day, even if we are 'thinking' Wahdatul Wujud... that act of thinking itself is a state of witnessing. To paraphase jolly old Rene Descartes - I Think, therefore I Am... Witnessing. 

'existential ping-pong'

Hehehe.

If you are not confused (enough) yet, you might like to read previous posts on the Wahdatul Wujud and Wahdatul Shuhud. You can find them all on the labels cloud on the right hand column of this almanac…

Thank you for coming by, sunshine. I have been wondering where you have gone to.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

PostScript - this posting is a re-written version incorporating earlier postscripts.

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Equations, The Wahdatul-thingy, Ibnu Arabi and the Umbrella...

Oh ho, umbrella is enough, is it?
Wahdatul Wujud that, sunshine!

In an earlier posting entitled 'The Divine Mathematics of Love' (Click Here), this brief equation was sketched…

On a Facebook comment, a reader adjusted the equation thus ….

So I had to contend with two different equations, and the outcomes (Surprise! Surprise!) are different. This is my conclusion (take into consideration that I am bad, bad, bad at maths. In fact, come to think of it, I am bad in general.): -

For this equation the solution must be that the Heart, at all points of the equation must have the value of One. Ergo, 1 x 1 = 1. I call this the Wahdatul Wujud stage. Which speaks of the Absolute Oneness of God, beyond which there is nothing. Not even ‘nothing’. There is only God, and He is One.

For the second equation the solution (I am thinking) must be that the first Heart must have the value of One, and the second having the value of 0. Ergo, 1 + 0 = 1. And of course this kinda brings the doctrine of Wahdatul Shuhud into the picture, which expresses the state of witnessing by the created (us mankind and the rest) towards the Absolute Oneness of God. And since there cannot be any addition to God (He is after all beyond adding or subtracting in any sense that we know), necessarily the second Heart (you and I and the cat named Moses) must have the ultimate value of 0. Yipee. Just like my form 1 maths teacher who once prophesied, "Taufiq, you will amount to nothing!"

So you can call me Mr.Smarty Pants, but what does this all mean to our daily life? How does this ‘knowledge’ improve our standard of living? But its usefulness on a general basis is limited, because even in a spiritual or theological debate, bringing in the wahdatul effect is like closing the topic down for good, because no sense can came out of it, and really there is no reply to it…

14. Whao.

To bring wahdatul wujud

To confirm your argument

Is to bring a Sun

To light a candle.

In the past I have been gently rebuked by concerned citizens that even Ibnu Arabi (the current Saint-in-station of the wahdatul wujud – wahdatul shuhud dichotomy) warned aspirants of the Path from contemplating this unique dogma which seems to suggest that God must be everything and nothing all at the same time. Are we really here? Are we not here? Is God here? Where is here? As for me, I am not too worried. Because if I see grey skies overhead, I make sure I carry my umbrella…

8. Rainy Days & Wahdatul Wujud

In rainy days,

It is my umbrella that shelters me,

And a beggar is better comforted with coins and food

Than any understanding of Wahdatul Wujud.

And at the end of it all, ‘understanding’ without experience is like having the Kama Sutra manual but going to bed alone every night. It just adds to the frustration, you know?

Have a joyous day, sunshine. And I promise, no more maths after this.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Earlier postings on Wahdatul Wujud / Shuhud:
• Wahdatul-Wujud
• The Magpie and Ibn Arabi, Wahdatul Wujud and Wahdatul Shuhud

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Sinners Dictionary - Annihilation is ...

la la la la la...

It was an abysmally hot afternoon as the Sun was blazing down like a furnace. I was walking near a Sufi dergah (small mosque) when suddenly I came across a Sufi mureed (student) watering himself liberally with a garden hose and pail. "Hot day isn't it?" I commented. The apprentice mystic replied, "This is no mere shower I am taking! I am annihilating myself in the Absolute Oneness of Reality. Haven't you read the Sinners' Dictionary?" Then he continued to quote the definition of 'Annihilation'...

23. Annihilation Is…
The unusual pursuit of extinguishing your flame
Through realizing that no candle exists
Separate from the Sun.
And that all numbers are in truth nothing
But aggregates of One.

"Oh." I muttered, walking away and wondering why oh why do I waste my time talking to these crazy people.

Have a nice warm day, pet.

Pax Taufiqa.

PS - If you are curious, the sinner has posted an earlier rendition about Fana-fillah (Annihilation in the Oneness of God) in the arduously entitled post - 'Abu Bakar, Abu Yazid, the End of Hell Part II, Calvin & Hobbes and My Left Foot' (Click Here).

The Magpie and Ibn Arabi, Wahdatul Wujud and Wahdatul Shuhud

MAGPIE. I am the Magpie of Stories. Welcome to my nest. Here you shall find an assortment of stories, parables and whimsical thoughts and feelings that I collect on a daily basis. Like all magpies, I have an eye for the shiny bling-bling. But to quote J.R.R. Tolkien in his Lord of the Rings trilogy (Book 1, Fellowship of the Ring)...

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

VALUABLE? I therefore cannot guarantee the quality of my writings, some may be worthy of my weight in gold of about 2.75 million Pound Sterling (My writing isn't that good, I am just fat), while some compositions tend to be fluffy white marshmallows - You know, like clouds in the sky. Interesting, but distant and intangible.

KNOWLEDGE OR PERCEPTION? Driving this morning, one of those cloudy thoughts strayed into my head. The world really is based on perception. Good and bad luck, misfortune or a cosmic lottery, sweetness and bitterness, all these values by which we judge our lives are essentially based on perception. In as far as we say we know something (or even someone), we are akin to a stranger, standing at the edge of a huge sea, saying, “Yea, I know you.” We don’t really. We say we ‘know’ but when you go to the root of what is truly being said, what you actually mean is “Yea, I perceive you.”

SNOW WHITE AND THE APPLE. If you notice in the previous sentence, the word ‘perceive’ begins with the word ‘I’. For the mystical aspirant, ‘I’ is a poison – the accursed apple offered to Snow White by the wicked Queen! The saints say that ‘I’ is intended only for God. Only He is the true ‘I’, the One, the Eternal and Absolute (Ahad and Samad). Therefore the ‘I’ in me is the human ego, which desires to be the master, and in its almost infinite disguises, it will claim credit in everything that I do, think and desire. It is the Bitter Enemy to the first wing of the Muslim declaration of faith - “I bear witness that there is no god but God.”

WHAT?! Hehehe. Yes, smarty-pants, you noticed the contradiction in my story above. After all, if the ‘I’ in you cannot exist, then how will you ever go about witnessing anything, what more God? The state of witnessing which some refer to as ‘Wahdatul Shuhud’ (State / Unity of Witnessing) exists – but only as a necessary condition to bear witness on the Almighty Beautiful and Absolute nature of God. We are like mirrors. And we are suppose to reflect the infinite loveliness of our Creator. And this analogy goes bouncing back to the Sufi fans of old Ibn Arabi who says that the entire reason for Creation was given when God said that...

“I am a Hidden Jewel and I wanted to be known”.

IBN ARABI. The poor old Andalusian Saint. He was much criticized for what he taught and wrote in his life time. Even nowadays, there are many people who just don't get him*. The wise and learned says that his exposition on the mirror image of Wahdatul Shuhud, which is called Wahdatul Wujud (State /Unity of Creation or Oneness) is an aberration, an innovation (read heresy) of traditional Islamic lore. They say that the poor guy got all messed up in his head reading the totally 'unIslamic' tomes and manuscripts of Greek knowledge, reintroduced back to Europe by the Andalusian Umayad Caliphate – via Arabic translations of Greek books in Baghdad (capital of the co-existing Abbasid Caliphate), then transported thousands of miles back to Europe through Andalusia and Cordoba. I suspect however, that his critics are not so much concerned by the theological aspect of his pronouncements, but rather the practical implications. People will get confused, they say. Anything can be proven right and wrong. Good and evil loses all meaning, and everyone can have a one-way ticket into the asylum. In a manner of speaking, they are right. But that doesn’t mean that Ibn Arabi was wrong. Oh no.

BACK TO THE MAGPIE. I am told by a saint that dear Ibn Arabi got a lot of grief simply because he was talking about stuff not intended for his time. You know, he’s that kid in school, who wants to share (or show off) his profound understanding of applied physics that you will only learn when (and if) you are smart enough to apply into rocket science college. And Ibn Arabi was not just studying the rocket science of God, but he is right up there sitting on the pointy end of the rocket cone! Is it then a wonder that scholars of his time were scratching their head at the sight of him flying into the stratosphere and breaking away from the earth’s orbit, while muttering “What the…!?”

Ibn Arabi and the ‘I’ in the Sky
O’ seekers!
O’ aspirants of the divine!
If I have become like a bird
With the sky, the stars and the moon
As my constant companions,
Do not then wonder and ask of me
What I perceive.
For what I am looking at is the same thing
That you all are looking at,
But my view and perception is
Very different!
For I do not see with the eye in my body,
I have seen the ‘I’ in Truth, Love and Mercy.

WHATEVER... Well, that’s it, my friends. I started this posting with a magpie who changed into Aragorn son of Arathon, thereafter amending into ol’ Arabi and then transmogrified into the ‘I’ in the Sky. Is it transcendental wisdom? Or is it simply a fairy tale widowed of any sense of reality? All I can tell you is "Nuts, I am hungry!’"... Ah, so much for Wahdatul Wujud. Back to being the regular ol’ witness. And no operatic audience of the Divine, just acknowledging that I am just me as another hungry magpie in a world of hungry magpies.

Have a nice day, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.

Footnotes:-
Related Posting – Please see Wahdatul-Wujud (Click Here) and Ground Zero Mosque and the Ornament of the World (Click Here)
Caveat - * I am not saying I get Ibn Arabi. I don’t get him at all. But as a magpie I spied him to be a shiny golden ring on the dressing table of Saints. And as per my nature, I stole him away and flew him back here to my nest. I am sure I am not supposed to be stealing, but I cannot deny my nature - I am a thieving old magpie!
Poems – Ibnu Arabi and the ‘I’ in the Sky is freshly recorded today.

Toons - The swag carrying magpie is from sbritt!