SUFISM AND TAOISM: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts
by Toshihiko Izutsu 1983
First published 1983 by Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo
This edition is published by The University of California Press, 1984,
Rev. ed. of: A comparative study of the key philosophical concepts in Sufism and Taoism. 1966-67.
=====
First published 1983 by Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo
This edition is published by The University of California Press, 1984,
Rev. ed. of: A comparative study of the key philosophical concepts in Sufism and Taoism. 1966-67.
=====
Contents
Preface by T. Izutsu
Introduction
Part I - Ibn 'Arabi
1 Dream and Reality
II The Absolute in its Absoluteness
III The Self-knowledge of Man
IV Metaphysical Unification and Phenomenal Dispersion
V Metaphysical Perplexity
VI The Shadow of the Absolute
VII The Divine Nam es
VIII Allah and the Lord
IX Ontological Mercy
X The Water of Life
XI The Self-manifestation of the Absolute
XII Permanent Archetypes
XIII Creation
XIV Man as Microcosm
XV The Perfect Man as an Individual
XVI Apostle, Prophet, and Saint
XVII The Magical Power of the Perfect Man
Part II - Lao-Tzii & Chuang-Tzu
I Lao-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu
II From Mythopoiesis to Metaphysics
III Dream and Reality
IV Beyond This and That
V The Birth of a New Ego
VI Against Essentialism
VII The Way
VIII The Gateway of Myriad Wonders
IX Determinism and Freedom
X Absolute Reversai of Values
XI The Perfect Man
XII Homo Politicus
Part III - A Comparative Reftection
I Methodological Preliminaries
II The Inner Transformation of Man
III The Multistratified Structure of Reality
IV Essence and Existence
V The Self-evolvement of Existence
===
XVI Apostle, Prophet, and Saint
The preceding chapter has revealed that the moment we begin to
consider Man on the individual level, we are faced with the exist-
ence of several degrees among men. We have seen also that the
highest of ail human degrees is 'saintship' ( waliiyah). The Saint
( waliy) is the highest 'knower' of God, and consequently (in terms
of the world-view of Ibn' Arabï) of the essential structure of Being.
Otherwise expressed, the Saint is the Perfect Man par excellence.
The central topic of this chapter will be the concept of 'saintship' .1
We may begin by remarking that, in Ibn' Arabï's understanding, the
concept of Saint comprises both Prophet (nabiy) and Apostle
(rasül). Briefly stated, the Saint is the widest concept comprising
Prophet and Apostle; next is the concept of Prophet which com-
prises that of Apostle; and the Apostle is the narrowest of ail. As
al-Qâshânï says, 'every Apostle is a Prophet, and every Prophet is a
Saint', but not vice versa.
On the relation between the three concepts, there is a consider-
ably long passage in the Fu$Ü$ 2 in which Ibn 'Arabï develops his
thought. The argument is very entangled and somewhat confusing,
but the gist of it may be clarified in the following way.
The first point to note concerning the concept of Saint is that
waliy is properly a Divine Name. The fact that waliy is one of the
Names of God implies that it is an aspect of the Absolute. In this
respect, the Saint is radically different from the Prophet and the
Apostle because the words nabiy and rasül are not Divine Names;
they are peculiar to human beings. 'Waliy is a Name of God', as Ibn
'Arabi says, 'but God has neither called Himself nabiy nor rasül,
while He has named Himself waliy and has made it one of His own
Names' .3
Thus waliy is a Divine Name. But even a man, when his know-
ledge of God attains to its highest point, becomes entitled to be
called by the same name; he is a waliy. However, the human waliy
himself, being so keenly conscious of his 'servant-ness' ('ubüd-
ïyah) does not like to make the name publicly his own. For he knows
1111
1 !'
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1
264 Sufem and Taoism
that the word waliy properly belongs to God alone, and that when a
human being becomes a waliy he is supposed to have transcended
his position of 'servant-ness' and have put himself in the position of
Lordship (rubübïyah ). But, whether he likes it or not, it does
sometimes happen that a mystic transcends his position of
'servant-ness'. This occurs by a mystic being completely drowned in
the Absolute and losing the consciousness of his own
'servant-ness' .4
lt is to be remarked that, since waliy is a name common to God
and Man, the walayah never ceases to exist. As God exists everlast-
ingly, the 'saintship' will exist forever. As long as there remains in
the world even a single man of the highest spiritual power who
attains to the rank of 'saintship' - and, in fact, such a man will
certainly exist in every age -the 'saintship' itself will be kept intact.
In contrast to this, the prophethood and apostleship are histori-
cally conditioned, and can, therefore, be intermittent or even disap-
pear completely. 5 As a matter of fact, we know that the chain of
prophethood has historically corne to an end at Mu])ammad, the last
of all authentic Prophets. After Mu])ammad, there does not exist
any longer a Prophet, who is at the same time a Law-giver
(musharri'). After Mu])ammad we have only what Ibn' Arabi calls
'general prophethood' (nubuwwah 'ammah ), i.e., prophethood
without institution of Law, which is nothing other than 'saintship'.
Only this name (i.e., waliy) remains forever among mankind, not
only in the present world but also in the Hereafter. As for the names
which are peculiar to Man to the exclusion of God (i.e., Prophet and
Apostle), they cease to exist with the cessation of prophethood and
apostleship. God, however, has shown special mercy upon his ser-
vants and has allowed to subsist among them 'general prophethood'
which is not accompanied by institution of Law. 6
This passage makes it clear that, in the conception of Ibn 'Arabi,
institution of Law (tashri') constitutes one of the characteristics of
the Prophet. From this particular point of view, he divides the
Prophets into two kinds: (1) those who institute Law (nabiy
musharri') and (2) those whose prophetic activity is done within a
given Law (nabiy musharra' la-hu). The first category is represented
by men like Moses, Jesus, and Mu])ammad, each one of whom
instituted a particular Law by a Divine Command. The second
category is exemplified by those who, like the successive Prophets in
Israel, live and fulfil their prophetic mission within the boundaries
of a given Law instituted by Moses.
Since, as we have seen, the Saint is the widest concept in terms of
extension and is the most basic one at that, there can be no Prophet,
no Apostle unless the' saintship' is first established. The Prophet is a
""'
Apostle, Prophet, and Saint 265
Saint who adds to his 'saintship' one more distinguishing mark;
namely, a particular knowledge of things unknown and unseen.
And the Apostle is a Saint who adds to his 'saintship' and 'prophet-
hood' one more characteristic; namely being conscious of the mis-
sion and capacity of conveying Divine messages to the people who
follow him.
From this we leam that the first requirement for a man to be a
Perfect Man is to be in the rank of a waliy, and that waliiyah is the
mostfundamental and most general attribute of all types of Perfect
Man. What, then, does walayah mean?
Waliiyah implies, first and foremost, a perfect knowledge of the
ultimate truth conceming the Absolute, the world, and the relation
between the Absolute and the world. 7 A man who has attained to
the rank of 'saintship' has a clear consciousness that he is a self-
manifestation of the Absolute, and that, as such, he is essentially
one with the Absolute, and, indeed, ultimately is the Absolute itself.
He is also conscious of the fact that, on the analogy of the inner
structure of himself, all the phenomenal Many are self-
manifestations of the Absolute and are, in the sense, one with the
Absolute. This precisely is the consciousness of the ultimate and
essential 'oneness of Being' (wa}Jdah al-wujüd).
This consciousness of the 'oneness of Being' he obtains only by
being 'annihilated' and completely immersed in the Absolute.
Through the experience of'self-annihilation' he transforms himself,
so to speak, into the 'inside' of the Absolute, and from there sees the
reality of all things by 'immediate tasting'. The concept of 'self-
annihilation' (fana') in this sense plays an exceedingly important
role in the theory of waliiyah. The 'self-annihilation' is, in fact, the
first item in the essential attributes of the Saint.
Ibn 'Arabi distinguishes three stages in 'self-annihilation' .8 The
first is the annihilation of the attributes. This stage is called by Ibn
'Arabi takhalluq. lt means that the mystic has all his human attri-
butes 'annihilated' and in their place 'assumes as his own' (takhal-
luq) the Divine Attributes. lt is, as Bali Efendi tersely describes it,9
'annihilating his attributes in the Attributes of the Absolute'. The
second stage is called tal)aqquq. It means that the mystic has his
essence (dhat) 'annihilated' and realizes (tal)aqquq) in himself his
being one with the Absolute. Bali Efendi 10 describes it as 'annihilat-
ing his essence in the Essence of the Absolute'. The third and the
last stage is called ta'alluq. The word ta'alluq, meaning literally 'firm
adherence', indicates that the man in this state remains firmly
attached to the essential property of walâyah so that he is never
separated from it no matter what he may do in the world of empiri-
cal existence. The state of ta'alluq corresponds to what is more
266 Sufism and Taoism
usually known as the state of 'self-subsistence' (baqâ') which cornes
after the state of fanâ'. In this spiritual state, the mystic regains his
self which he has once annihilated, but he regains it not in himself
but in the very midst of the Divine Essence. In his fully illumined
consciousness, there is no longer any trace of his old persona! ego.
He is only conscious that after having lost his life he now subsists in
the Divine Essence, and that, therefore, it is, in reality, not he who
exists but the Absolute itself. Whatever he does, it is not he but God
who does it. Bali Efendi describes it as 'annihilating his actions in
the actions of the Absolu te'. 11
'Saintship' cornes into existence only on the basis of the experi-
ence of 'self-annihilation' here depicted. And wide indeed is the
consciousness of the Saint who has passed through such an experi-
ence. For he witnesses the astonishing scene of all things merging
into the limitless ocean of Divine Life, and he is conscious that all
this is actually taking place in himself. At the very height of this
spiritual state, the consciousness of the Saint is identical with the
Divine Consciousness which has not yet begun to become split into
an infinity of 'determillations' (ta'ayynnât). 12 Such a man is the
highest 'knower'. And such a man naturally falls into deep silence
(suküt), 13 because the content of the deepest knowledge is ineffable.
Such is the existential ground on which stands 'saintship'. And on
this basis stands 'prophethood' with an additional property, and on
'prophethood' stands 'apostleship' with a further addition. The
Prophet and the Apostle are closely tied to the present world; their
fonctions concern the life in this world, for institution of Law always
aims at regulating the worldly life with a view to letting people
obtain the everlasting happiness in the next world. 'Saintship', on
the contrary, has no such essential relation to the present world.
Thus 'prophethood' and 'apostleship' can disappear from their
subjects, but the quality or title of 'saintship' never leaves its sub-
ject. Those from whom the titles of 'prophethood' and 'apostleship'
disappear become immediately Saints without any qualifications.
And sin ce, in the Hereafter, there can be no institution of Law,
everybody who is in the present world a Prophet or Apostle will
continue to exist in the next world in the rank of 'saintship' .14
As we have just remarked, the Prophet is a Saint with the addition
of a different qualification (i.e., the rank of 'saintship' plus the rank
of 'prophethood'), and the Apostle is a Prophet with the addition of
a further qualification (i.e., the rank of 'saintship' plus the rank of
'prophethood' plus the rank of 'apostleship'). So the Prophet uni tes
in one person two ranks, and the Apostle unîtes in himself three
different ranks. There are thus three different ranks recognized:
'saintship', 'prophethood' and 'apostleship'. The question is natur-
i •.
Apostle, Prophet, and Saint 267
ally raised as to which of them·is higher than which. With regard to
this question, the most problematic point, according to Ibn 'Arabï,
concerns the position of 'saintship'. Against those sufis who regard
'saintship' qua 'saintship' as higher than 'prophethood' and
'apostleship', he emphatically states that it is only when these two or
three ranks co-exist in one person that we can rightly regard his
'saintship' as higher than his 'prophethood' and 'apostleship'.
(When one and the same person unites in him these two or three
qualifications) the man in the capacity of a 'knower' or Saint is more
complete and more perfect than himself in the capacity of an Apostle
or in that of a man who has instituted a Divine Law (i.e., Prophet).
So whenever you hear a man belonging to the 'people of God' saying
- or whenever such a saying is conveyed to you through somebody
else - that 'saintship' is higher than 'prophethood', you must under-
stand him to mean what 1 have just remarked.
Likewise, when such a man declares that the Saint stands above the
Prophet and the Apostle, he is simply talking about one and the same
person. In fact, the Apostle qua Saint is more complete (and perfect)
than himself qua Prophet and Apostle. It is not the case, however,
that a Saint (i.e., a different person who happens to be a Saint) who
follows ( another person who happens to be a Prophet or Apostle in
the community) is higher than the Prophet or Apostle. 15
The last sentence of this passage points out the fact that in case the
three qualifications (Saint, Prophet, and Apostle) do not concern
one and the same person but three different persons, there is a
respect in which the Saint must necessarily follow and be subordi-
nate to the Prophet or Apostle. And this because the Apostle
possesses a knowledge of the particular Law (i.e., 'exterior know-
ledge' 'ilm zàhir) with which he has been sent to his community,
while the Saint has no such knowledge. In what concerns the regula-
tions of the Law, the latter must follow the Apostle of his age.
But there is also a certain respect in which the Saint is superior to
the Apostle. For the Saint not only possesses a complete knowledge
about God and the reality of things ('interior knowledge', 'ilm
bàtin) but also is conscious of the fact that he has that knowledge.
But neither the Apostle nor the Prophet is conscious of it, although
they, too, do possess the same knowledge.
From the fact that 'apostleship' is based on three different con-
stituents there naturally follows that there are differences among
the Apostles regarding their degrees. This is the conception of the
'difference in degrees among the Apostles' (tafâ<J,ul al-rusul).
All Apostles, in terms of their 'saintship', are equal and stand on
the same level, but in actuality they must necessarily differ one from
the other because of their intimate relations with the concrete
11111
1
268 Sufism and Taoism
situations of the age and country in which they live. And the same is
true of the Prophet. The nature and rank of an Apostle is decisively
affected by the conditions, material and spiritual, determining the
situation of the nation of which he happens to be the Apostle.
Likewise, the rank of a Prophet is gravely affected by the amount of
knowledge he actually has.
Know that the Apostles qua Apostles - not qua Saints or 'knowers' -
stand in different degrees, each according to the state of his commun-
ity. For the a mou nt of his knowledge concerning his own apostolic
mission is exactly measured to what his community needs, no more,
no less. And since communities differ from each other in terms
of relative superiority, the Apostles also are higher and lower in
terms of the knowledge of their mission in exact accordance with the
difference that exists among the nations. And to this refers the saying
of God: 'Those Apostles, We have made some of them superior to
others'. (II, 253)
Likewise, (the Prophets) diff er in rank among themselves in accor-
dance with their individual capacities with regard to their persona!
knowledges and judgments. 'And to this refers the saying of God:
And We have made some of the Prophets superior to others'. (XVII,
55)16
In the preceding chapter we have seen that the Perfect Man on the
cosmic level is the 'vicegerent' of God. The same is true also of the
Perfect Man on the individual level. Here on the level of individual
persans, the idea of the Perfect Man is embodied by Saint, Prophet,
and Apostle. These three are the 'vicegerents' (khulafa') of God
because they are the most perfect and most complete loci of
theophany on the earth. 11 They are concrete manifestations of the
'Reality of Mub.ammad' (al-}Jaqiqah al-mu}Jammadiyah) which we
have discussed in the previous chapter. 18
The term khalifah meaning 'vicegerent' is a little ambiguous,
because we ordinarily use it to designate the political head of the
Muslim community, the Caliph. 19 In view of this fact, Ibn 'Arabï
strictly distinguishes between two kinds of khalifah: (1) the 'vice-
gerent of God' (khalifah Allah, or khalifah 'an Allah) and (2) the
'vicegerent (or successor) of the Apostle' (khalifah al-rasül, or
khalifah 'an al-rasül). The 'vicegerent' in the sense of the Perfect
Man (1) is totally different from the Caliph, the historical and
political head of the Muslim community, who assumes the same
name khalifah (2).
God has His 'vicegerents' on the earth; they are the Apostles. As for
the Caliphs we know today, they are ('vicegerents' or 'successors') of
the Apostles, not of God, because a Caliph governs (the community)
strictly according to the dicta tes of the Law of an apostolic origin, and
never goes beyond it. 20
Apostle, Prophet, and Saint 269
There are, however, exceptional cases in which a Caliph, i.e., a
'vicegerent' succeeding the Apostle, is in touch with the very source
from which the latter has drawn his knowledge, and govems the
community according to the inner Law which he receives direct
from God. Such a man is outwardly a khalifah of the Apostle, but
inwardly is a khalifah of God.
Su ch a man is outwardly a follower (muttabi', namely, of the Apostle)
in the sense that he conforms himself (to the Law) in governing the
community: Jesus, for example, when he will corne down to the earth
and govern the world. 21 Another example is the Prophet Mul)am-
mad. And to this refers the saying of God: 'These are the men whom
God has given guidance. So follow their guidance' (VI, 90). A man of
this sort is, in virtue of the way in which he derives (his knowledge)
and of which he is conscious, both 'specially privileged'
and 'conforming' (muwafiq). 22 In this respect he is somewhat in the
same position as the Prophet (Mul)ammad) who, confirming as he did
the Law of the Apostles who had preceded him, confirmed it in his
own name, so that we, his followers, actually follow him (accepting
the Law) as his own, and not as a Law established by some of his
predecessors. In like manner, the 'vicegerent of God' obtains (his
knowledge) from exactly the sa me source as the Apostle.
Such a man is called, in mystic terminology, 'the vicegerent of God',
but, in ordinary (non-mystic) terminology, 'the vicegerent of the
Apostle of God'.
This is the reason why the Apostle of God (Mul)ammad) died with-
out explicitly designating anyone as his khalïfah. He acted in this way
because he knew that among the believers there would appear some-
one who would receive 'vicegerency' directly from his Lord and
thereby become a 'vicegerent of God', while conforming himself
perfectly to the given Law ( established by the Apostle).
One of the key-terms of Ibn 'Arabï' s theory of walayah is the' Seal'
(khatam), meaning the ultimate and final unit of a series. 1 should
like to close this chapter by a brief consideration of this concept,
although the problems it raises mostly go far beyond the scope of
the present book which aims at elucidating the ontological structure of
Ibn' Arabï's world-view.
The term khàtam appears in two phrases: ( 1) the Seal of the
Prophets (khàtam al-anbiyà') or Seal of the Apostles (khàtam al-
rusul), and (2) the Seal of the Saints (khàtam al-awliyà'). In conformity
with the commonly-accepted usage in Islam, the first phrase 'Seal of
the Prophets' designates the Prophet Mub.ammad himself. The phrase
in itself has nothing original aboutit; it is an expression often used in
accordance with the common belief in Islam that the Prophet
Mub.ammad represents historically the last ring of a long chain of
Prophets, there being absolutely no possibility of an authentic Prophet
appearing after him.
270 Sufism and Taoism
By the second phrase: 'the seal of the Saints', which is naturally more
problematic, Ibn 'Arabi means most probably himself, at least as long
as the present world lasts,23 although he does not say so explicitly in the
As Affifi points out,24 Ibn 'Arabi, besides hinting at the idea in
man y places of his writings by ambiguous expressions as, for example,
'the Seal of the Mul)ammadan saintship ( waliiyah mulJ,ammadiyah) is a
man of noble Arab birth, living in our own time' etc., declares in one
passage of the FutulJ,iit al-Makkiyyah: '1 am the Seal of the saintship, no
doubt, (the Seal of) the heritage of the Hashimite (Mul)ammad) and
the Messiah'.
But whether or not Ibn' Arabï really means by the Seal himself,
the problem is merely of a peripheral significance to us. For the
specific purposes of the present work, what is important is the
concept of Seal itself.
The problem turns round the ultimate source of the highest know-
ledge peculiar to the class of the highest 'knowers'.
This (highest) knowledge properly belongs only to the Seal of the
Apostles and the Seal of the Saints. No one of the Prophets and
Apostles obtains this knowledge except from the sacred niche of the
Last Apostle,25 and no one of the Saints obtains it except from the
niche of the Last Saint. 26
The last sentence might suggest the wrong idea that Ibn 'Arabï is
speaking here of two different 'niches'. In truth, however, there is
only one ultimate 'niche' from which ail obtain the highest know-
ledge. For, as al-Qâshânï says,27 if ail the Apostles obtain it from the
Seal of the Apostles, the latter obtains it from his own innermost
'niche', in the very capacity of the Seal of the Saints,28 so that all the
Apostles and the Saints ultimately obtain their Light from the Seal
of the Saints.
As to the relative superiority between the Seal of the Apostles
and the Seal of the Saints, Ibn' Arabi gives his view as follows: 29
It is true that the Seal of the Saints follows externally what the Seal of
the Apostles has established, namely, the Sacred Law. This, how-
ever, does not minimize in any way the spiritual rank of the Seal of
the Saints. Nor does this contradict what I have said above ( concern-
ing ail Apostles obtaining their esoteric knowledge from the 'niche'
of the Seal of the Saints). For (it simply means that) the Seal of the
Saints is in a certain respect lower in rank (than the Seal of the
Apostles) but is higher in another respect.
This interpretation is confirmed by what actually took place in our
religion, namely, by the fact, (for instance) that 'Umar proved to be
superior (to Mul)ammad) in his decision about the right treatment of
the prisoners of Badr and also regarding the fertilization of the
date-palm. A 'perfect' man need not be superior to others in every
Apostle, Prophet, and Saint 271
matter and in every respect. What the (spiritual persans) consider
important is superiority in terms of knowledge about God. That only
is the central point. As for worldly affairs, they are of no importance
at all in the minds (of spiritual persons).
In connection with the problem of the relation between the Seal
of the Saints and the Seal of the Apostles, Ibn 'Arabï refers to a
famous Tradition in which Mul;lammad compares himself to the one
last brick that finishes and completes an entire wall. Then he corre-
lates this Tradition with a vision he had at Mecca in the year 599
A.H.
In this vision Ibn' Arabï saw the Ka' bah, the House of God. The
Ka' bah was built of gold and silver brick ('sil ver brick' being a
symbol of the Prophet, and 'gold brick' of the Saint). The wall of the
Ka' bah as he saw it still lacked two final pieces of brick, one gold and
another silver. Ibn 'Arabï, in the dream, keenly felt that the two
missing bricks were no other than himself. And the construction of
the Ka'bah was brought to completion when he filled the place of
these two bricks.
The Prophet (Mul)ammad) once compared the 'prophethood' to a
wall made of brick which was complete except in one place which was
to be filled by a piece of brick. Mul)ammad himself was that brick.
The important point is that he saw, as he says (in this Tradition), only
one single piece of brick still missing.
As for the Seal of the Saints, he would surely have visions of a similar
nature; he would surely see what the Prophet symbolized by a wall.
(The only difference would, however, be that) he would see in the
wall two bricks still missing, the entire wall being built of gold and
silver bricks. And he would notice that the two bricks that were
lacking in the wall were one gold and the other sil ver. Further, he
would surely see in the vision himself just fit to be put into the place of
these two bricks. Thus he would see that what was meant by the two
bricks completing the wall was no other than the Seal of the Saints.
The reason why he must necessarily see himself as two bricks is as
follows. He is, externally, a follower of the Law established by the
Seal of the Apostles. This fact was (symbolized in the vision by) the
place for the silver brick. But this is only the 'external' side of the Seal
of the Saints, concerning as it does only the legal regulations about
which he simply follows the Seal of the Apostles. But, on the other
hand, in his innermost heart, he obtains directly from God that very
thing in which externally he is a simple follower (of the Seal of the
Apostles).
All this because he sees the state of affairs as it really is. So he cannot
but see the matter in this way. And in this capacity he corresponds,
internally, to the place for the gold brick, for he obtains his know-
ledge from the same source from which the angel (Gabriel) obtains
that which he conveys to the Apostle.
272 Sufism and Taoism
If you have understood what 1 have here indicated metaphorically
you have obtained an extremely valuable knowledge about everything.
Thus every Prophet, (in the long historical chain of 'prophethood')
beginning with Adam and ending with the last Prophet, invariably
obtained his (prophetic Light) from the 'niche' of the Sea! of the
Prophets, although the corporeal existence of the latter was posterior
to others. This because MuJ:rnmmad, in his Reality ,30 was existent
(from eternity). To this refer his words (in a Tradition): 'I was a
Prophet even while Adam was still between water and clay' .31
On the implication of this passage al-Qâshâni makes an interesting
remark. 32 Ibn 'Arabi' s description might be taken to imply the
superiority of the Seal of the Saints to the Prophet Mubammad,
because the position of the latter is symbolized only by one brick,
whereas that of the Seal of the Saints is symbolized by two bricks,
one of silver as the sign of his 'external' subordination to Mubam-
mad, and the other of brilliant gold as the sign of his own Light.
Against this understanding al-Qâshâni warns the reader and points
out that, according to the Tradition in question, the Ka'bah had
lacked one single piece of brick, and that when Mubammad filled
the place the building was completed. This means, he says, that
Mubammad was de facto the Seal of the Saints. Except that
Mubammad himself appeared only as a Prophet-Apostle, and did
what he did only in that capacity, not in the capacity of a Saint. He
did not, in other words, manifest the form of waliiyah.
The vision which Ibn 'Arabi saw in Mecca was formed in the
world of Imagination on the basis of this historical fact. Mubammad
was de facto the Seal of the Saints, but since he did not manifest
himself as such, there still remained the necessity for another persan
to appear as a historical phenomenon in the capacity of the Seal of
the Saints. Otherwise expressed, the 'saintships', with Mubammad,
remained to the last 'interior'. This 'interior', i.e., hidden, 'saintship'
has corne to light only with the appearance of the Seal of the Saints.
Regarding the difference between the Seal of the Saints and the
rest of the Saints, Ibn' Arabi remarks that in the former the 'saint-
ship' is something essential while in the latter it is something that
must be 'acquired' first. And this is the reason why ( according to
al-Qâshâni) 33 the 'saintship' of the former is called 'solar saintship'
(waliiyah shamsiyah) while that of the latter is called 'lunar saint-
ship' ( waliiyah qamariyah).
Notes
1. In this book I use provisionally the words 'saint' and 'saintship' as the English
equivalents of waliy and walâyah respectively. Whether the meaning of the Arabie
word waliy is covered by the English word 'saint' is another question.
Apostle, Prophet, and Saint 273
2. Fu$., pp. 160-169/135-136.
3. Fu$., p. 168/135. See for example the Qoran (II, 257) where we read: 'God is the
waliy (close, protecting Friend) of those who believe'.
4. Fu$., p. 167/135.
5. Cf. also FU$., p. 34/62.
6. FU$., p. 167/135.
7. The concrete content of such a knowledge is precisely what we have analytically
discussed throughout the preceding pages.
8. FU$., pp. 168-169/136.
9. p. 168.
10. ibid.
11. p. 169.
12. FU$., p. 89/88.
13. FU$., p. 34/62.
14. FuL p. 169/136.
15. Fu$., p. 168/135-136.
16. Fu$., p. 162/132.
17. Fu$., p.259/207.
18. Cf. Chapter XIV, (IV).
19. The English word Caliph is itself nothing but an Anglicized form of khalïfah.
20. Fu$., p. 204/162-163.
21. The reference is to the eschatological figure of Jesus. According to the Muslim
belief, Jesus will descend from Heaven once again at the end of the present world,
and will govern the world by the Sacred Law of Islam. In that state, Jesus will be
formally a 'vicegerent' of Mul)ammad, while deriving his knowledge from the same
source from which Mul)ammad received his Law. Jesus will be, in that state, the Seal
of the Saints.
22. 'Specially privileged', because he is conscious of the fact that he has received
directly from Godan inner Law by which he governs the community, but 'conform-
ing', at the same time, because outwardly he owes his Law to his predecessors.
23. 1 say 'at least as long as the present world lasts' because, as we saw above (cf.
note 21), at the very end of the present world, in the eschatological situation, Jesus
will corne down to the earth and assume the function of the Seal of the Saints. This
latter is called the 'general saintship' (walâyah 'âmmah) as distinguished from the
274 Suftsm and Taoism
'Mul)ammadan saintship' (waliiyah mulJ,ammadïyah). Regarding this distinction, see
the relevant passages quoted from the Futû/:tiit by Dr Osman Yahya in his edition of
al-Tirmidhï: Khatm al-Awliyii, Beyrouth, 1965, p. 161, Footnote 53.
24. Philosophy, pp. 100-101.
25. 'Niche' (miskhiit) symbolizes the Divine Light in the deepest core of the saintly
heart; the Divine Light is nothing other than the 'Reality of Mul)ammad'.
26. p. 34/62.
27. p. 34.
28. We have observed above that by the 'Sea! of the Saints' Ibn 'Arabi means
himself. But here al-Qâshâni seems to be saying that the Sea! of the Apostles, i.e.,
Mul)ammad, was also the Sea! of the Saints. This, however, is nota contradiction. As
we noticed before in discussing the 'Reality of Mul)ammad', in the consciousness of
Ibn 'Arabi, 'Mul)ammad' is not only a historical individual person but a cosmic
principle of creation, and the two aspects seem to be constantly present in bis mind
when he speaks about 'Mul)ammad'.
29. pp. 34-35/62-63.
30. Reference to the above-mentioned 'Reality of Mul)ammad'.
31. p. 35/63.
32. p. 36.
33. ibid.
