The Heart as it Relates to Knowledge (2/3)

The fifth reason is ignorance of the direction from which the knowledge of the thing sought must be obtained. For the seeker after knowledge cannot obtain knowledge of that which is unknown except by recalling the knowledge that is related to what he desires, so that when he recalls it and arranges it within himself in a special order, to which the learned give the name of 'process of deduction' (tariq al-i’tibar), he will then have found the direction of the thing sought, and its true nature will be clearly revealed to his heart. For the things that are not instinctive, which one desires to know, cannot be caught save in the net of acquired knowledge; indeed no item of knowledge is acquired except from two preceding items of knowledge that are related and combined in a special way, and from their combination a third item of knowledge is gained.[1] This is like the result of the union of a stallion and a mare. Here even as he who wishes to produce a mare cannot do so from donkey, cow, nor man, but from a special source, from male and female horses, and this if there takes place a special union; so also every item of knowledge has two special sources and a way for their combination, and from this combination there is gained the derived item of knowledge that is sought. Ignorance of these sources and of the inner aspect of combining them is what prevents understanding. An example of this already mentioned is the ignorance of the direction in which the object is.

Another example is that of a man who desires to see the back of his neck in a mirror. If he holds up the mirror in front of his face he does not have it placed opposite to the position of the back of the neck, and the back of his neck does not appear in it.

If he holds it behind the back of his neck and facing it, he has turned the mirror away from his eyes and so cannot see either the mirror or the reflection of the back of his neck in it. So he needs another mirror to place behind the back of his neck, with the first mirror facing it in such a way that he can see it, and he must observe the proper relationship between the placing of the two mirrors so that the image of the back of his neck is reflected in the mirror opposite to it, and the image of this mirror is reflected in the other mirror that faces the eye. Then the eye perceives the image of the back of his neck.

So in the hunt for knowledge there are strange ways in which there are devious turnings and oblique shiftings, stranger than those we have mentioned concerning the mirror; and rare indeed upon the face of the earth is he who is guided to the way of clearly seeing through those devious ways.

These are the reasons that prevent the heart from coming to know the real nature of things. Otherwise every heart is innately able to come to know realities, for it is a lordly and noble thing, differing from other substances in the world by this special property and noble quality. To it is the reference in the statement of [God] Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He), “Indeed, We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they declined to bear it, but man [undertook to] bear it.” (Surah Al-Ahzab, 33:72). This refers to his possession of a special characteristic that distinguishes him from the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, by which he is enabled to bear the trust of God the Exalted. This trust is gnosis and divine unity (tawhid).[2]

The heart of every human being is, [in its original constitution], able and capable of bearing this trust, but the causes that we have mentioned prevent it from carrying this burden and arriving at the realization of the trust. In this connection the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, "Every child is born with a natural conformity to religious truth (i.e., of Islam, Fitrah), and it is only his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Magian."[3] The Messenger of God (Peace be upon him) also said, "Were it not that the demons hover over the hearts of the children of Adam they would turn their eyes toward the heavenly kingdom."[4] This is a reference to some of these hindrances, which are the veil between the heart and the kingdom.

To this also is the reference in the hadith that has come down from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)[5].

He said, "The Messenger was asked, 'O Messenger of God, where is God in the earth or in heaven?” He replied, 'In the hearts of His believing creatures.'"[6] There is also a narration (hadith qudsi] that God, the Exalted, said, "My earth cannot contain me, neither my heaven, but the tender and calm heart of my servant can contain Me."[7]

Another narration says that the Messenger of God was asked, "Who are the best of men?"

He replied, "Every believer whose heart is cleansed." They asked, "What is the cleansed heart?" He answered, "It is the God-fearing, pure heart, in which there is no fraud, nor iniquity, nor treachery, nor rancor, nor envy."[8]

On that account ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)[9] said, "My heart saw my Lord when, because of godly fear, He raised the veil." For whomsoever the veil is lifted between himself and God,[10] the form of the material world (al-mulk) and of the world of spirits (al-malakut) is clearly manifest in his heart, and he sees a Garden the width of a part of which is that of the heavens and the earth. Its total expanse is greater than the heavens and the earth, for 'the heavens and the earth' is only an expression for the visible material world, which, although broad in extent and far-reaching in compass, is still but a part of the whole. But the world of spirits is boundless, consisting of those secrets hidden from the sight of the eyes and perceived only by insight. It is true that only a part of it appears to the heart, but in itself and in its relation to the knowledge of God it is infinite. The material world and the world of spirits taken together under one classification are called the Lordly Presence (al-hadra al-rububiyya),[11] for the Lordly Presence encompasses all existing things. For there exists nothing except God, the Exalted, His works, and His Kingdom; and His servants are a part of His works.[12] What appears of this to the heart is, according to some, Paradise[13] itself, and according to the people of reality (ahl al-haqq),[14] it is the means of deserving Paradise. The extent of his possession in Paradise is in proportion to[15] the extent of his knowledge and the measure to which God and His attributes and works have been revealed to him.

(Continued)