The Heart as it Relates to Knowledge (1/3)

Know that the seat (mahall) of knowledge ('ilm) is the heart, by which I mean the subtle tenuous substance (latifa) that rules all the parts of the body and is obeyed and served by all its members. In its relationship to the real nature of intelligibles (ma'lumat), it is like a mirror in its relationship to the forms (+war) of changing appearances (mutalawwinat).

For even as that which changes has a form, and the image (mithal) of that form is reflected in the mirror and represented therein, so also every intelligible has its specific nature, and this specific nature has a form that is reflected and made manifest in the mirror of the heart.

Even as the mirror is one thing, the forms of individuals another, and the representation of their image in the mirror another, being thus three things in all, so here, too, there are three things: the heart, the specific natures of things, and the representation and presence of these in the heart.

The 'intellect' (al-'alim) is an expression for the heart in which there exists the image of the specific natures of things. The 'intelligible' (al-ma’lum) is an expression for the specific natures of things. 'Intelligence' (al-'ilm) is an expression for the representation of the image in the mirror.

Even as the act of grasping, for example, requires that which grasps, such as the hand, and that which is grasped, such as the sword, and an act bringing together the sword and the hand by placing the sword in the hand, which is called the act of grasping, so also the coming of the image of the intelligible into the heart is called intelligence.

The reality was in existence and so also the heart, but there was no intelligence present, for intelligence is an expression for the coming of the reality into the heart.

Similarly the sword was in existence and also the hand, but there was nothing named 'the act of grasping and taking' present because the sword had not actually come into the hand. It is true that grasping' is an expression for the presence of the sword itself in the hand, while the intelligible itself does not actually come into the heart.

For fire itself does not actually come into the heart of one who knows fire, but that which is actually present is its definition and its real nature that corresponds to its form.

So the comparison of [the heart] with the mirror is more apt, for man himself is not really present in the mirror, but there is present merely an image that corresponds to him, and thus the presence of an image in the heart corresponding to the real nature of the intelligible is called intelligence.[1]

The mirror may not reflect the forms for five reasons: first, a defect in its formation, as, for example, a piece of crude iron before it is turned and shaped and polished; second, because of its dirt and rust and dullness, even though it is perfect in formation; third, because it is turned away, from the direction of the object toward something else, as, for example, if the object were behind the mirror; fourth, because of a veil placed between the mirror and the object; and fifth, because of ignorance of the direction of the object desired, so that it is impossible to place it in front of the position and direction of the object.

Thus too is the heart a mirror, ready to have reflected in it the true nature of reality in all things. Hearts are destitute of the knowledge that they lack only because of the following five reasons.

The first reason is an imperfection in its own nature, such as the heart of a youth that does not reflect intelligible because of its imperfection.

The second reason is because of dullness that is a result of acts of dis-obedience, and the filth from many lusts that are heaped upon the face of the heart, for these prevent the purity and cleanness of heart.

Reality ceases to be manifest therein in proportion to its darkness and the filth heaped upon it. To this the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) referred in his statement, "When [a man] commits a sin something of his intelligence forsakes him and does not return to him again."[2] That is to say, there comes over his heart a dullness whose influence abides forever, even when his purpose is to follow it with a good deed that will erase it. But if he had done the good deed without the preceding evil deed, then the illumination of the heart would unquestionably have increased.

However when the evil deed preceded [it], the value of the good deed was lost, although the heart was restored by it to its state previous to the evil deed, but its light was not increased thereby.

This is an evident loss and an inescapable defect. The mirror that has been stained and then wiped off with a polishing doth is not like that which has been wiped with the polisher to increase its clearness without any previous stain.

So undertaking obedience to God and opposing the demands of the appetites is that which brightens the heart and purifies it. Therefore God, the Exalted, said, “And those who strive for Us— We will surely guide to Our ways.” (Surah Al-Ankabut, 29:69).

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, "God causes him who does the best he knows to become the heir to knowledge that he knows not."[3]

The third reason is that the heart may be turned away from the direction of reality which is sought. For the heart of the good and obedient man, although it is bright, does not have the clear statement of the Real revealed in it, for he does not seek the Real and does not have his mirror opposite to the direction of the thing sought.

Perhaps all of his attention is taken up by the details of bodily submission or arranging the means of his livelihood, and his thought is not free to contemplate the Lordly Presence and the hidden divine realities.

So there is revealed to him only that which he thinks about, whether it is the minute defects of his [religious] works or the hidden faults of the soul, if it is these which occupy his mind, or the interests of gaining a livelihood if he thinks of them. Now if limiting one's attention to works and the details of acts of obedience prevents the revelation of the clearness of the Real, what is your estimation (zann)[4] of one who expends his energies in the lusts and pleasures of this present world and the things connected therewith? And how should true revelation not be denied to such a person?

The fourth reason is the veil. The obedient man who has overcome his appetites and devotes himself exclusively to a certain specific reality may not have this revealed to him because it is veiled from him by some belief that he has held from his youth, and which he has blindly followed (taqlid) and accepted in good faith.

This belief walls him off from the true nature of the Real and prevents there being revealed to his heart anything contrary to the strict interpretation of the doctrines that he has blindly accepted. This too is a great veil that overshadows most Muslim theologians (mutakallimun)[5] and those who are zealous followers of the schools (madhahib),[6] and indeed most righteous men who think upon the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, for they are veiled by their blindly followed creeds that are hardened in their souls and firmly fixed in their hearts, and have become a veil between them and the perception of realities.

(Continued)