The Essence of Reality: A Defense of Philosophical Sufism
The Essence of Reality: A Defense of Philosophical Sufism
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Overview
A groundbreaking exposition of Islamic mysticism
The Essence of Reality was written over the course of just three days in 514/1120, by a scholar who was just twenty-four. The text, like its author ʿAyn al-Quḍāt, is remarkable for many reasons, not least of which that it is in all likelihood the earliest philosophical exposition of mysticism in the Islamic intellectual tradition. This important work would go on to exert significant influence on both classical Islamic philosophy and philosophical mysticism.
Written in a terse yet beautiful style, The Essence of Reality consists of one hundred brief chapters interspersed with Qurʾanic verses, prophetic sayings, Sufi maxims, and poetry. In conversation with the work of the philosophers Avicenna and al-Ghazālī, the book takes readers on a philosophical journey, with lucid expositions of questions including the problem of the eternity of the world; the nature of God’s essence and attributes; the concepts of “before” and “after”; and the soul’s relationship to the body. All these discussions are seamlessly tied into ʿAyn al-Quḍāt’s foundational argument—that mystical knowledge lies beyond the realm of the intellect.
A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781479816613 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | New York University Press |
| Publication date: | 04/26/2022 |
| Series: | Library of Arabic Literature , #80 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 2 MB |
About the Author
ʿAyn al-Quḍāt (d. 525/1131) was a philosopher, mystic, and judge who was born in the western Iranian city of Hamadān. He was the student of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī (d. 520/1126), the brother of the famous Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111). A maverick figure, he was put to death by the Seljuqs at the age of thirty-four, ostensibly on charges of heresy.
Mohammed Rustom (Edited and Translated by)
Mohammed Rustom is Professor of Islamic Studies at Carleton University. An internationally recognized scholar whose works have been translated into over ten languages, he specializes in Sufism, Islamic philosophy, and Qurʾanic exegesis. He is author of The Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mullā Ṣadrā and Inrushes of the Heart: The Sufi Philosophy of ʿAyn al-Quḍāt; co-editor of The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary; and translator of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s Condemnation of Pride and Self-Admiration.
Table of Contents
Letter from the General Editor iii
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
Note on the Text xxiv
Notes to the Introduction xxviii
The Essence of Reality 1
Preamble 2
Introduction: The Reason for Writing This Book 6
Chapter 1 Who Will Benefit from This Book? 16
Chapter 2 A Proof of the Eternal 20
Chapter 3 God's Transcendence 24
Chapter 4 Categories of Existence 26
Chapter 5 Divine Names 28
Chapter 6 Divine Attributes 30
Chapter 7 The Divine Names Are Relations 30
Chapter 8 Necessity, Contingency, Impossibility 32
Chapter 9 Why Did God Effectuate Existence? 34
Chapter 10 The Face of God and Existents 36
Chapter 11 God's Infinite Knowledge 38
Chapter 12 Knowledge Is a Divine Attribute 40
Chapter 13 God's Knowledge Is Changeless 42
Chapter 14 A Glimpse at the Stage beyond the Intellect 42
Chapter 15 The Inability to Comprehend God's Knowledge 44
Chapter 16 True Faith 50
Chapter 17 The Intellect's Proper Place 50
Chapter 18 The Stage beyond the Intellect and Premises 52
Chapter 19 The Inner Eye 54
Chapter 20 Longing for God 56
Chapter 21 Familiarity with the Spiritual World 56
Chapter 22 The Stage of Prophecy 58
Chapter 23 Faith in the Unseen 60
Chapter 24 The Path to Faith in Prophecy 60
Chapter 25 The Stage beyond the Intellect and the Divine Attributes 62
Chapter 26 The Intellect's Relationship to Love 64
Chapter 27 The Lover's Attraction to the Beloved 64
Chapter 28 The Last Stage of the Intellect 68
Chapter 29 "The Incapacity to Perceive Is Perception" 70
Chapter 30 A Transition 70
Chapter 31 God's Essence and Attributes 72
Chapter 32 The Divine Essence and Its Standpoints 74
Chapter 33 The Way of the Righteous Predecessors 76
Chapter 34 Scriptural Evidence 78
Chapter 35 The Divine Attributes Are Relations 78
Chapter 36 Nonduality 80
Chapter 37 A Note on the Eternity of the World 82
Chapter 38 Divine Causation 84
Chapter 39 The True Nature of Causation 86
Chapter 40 An Example Using Natural Phenomena 88
Chapter 41 The Oneness of Existence and Causation 90
Chapter 42 An Example Using Mirrors 92
Chapter 43 The Mirror of the Intellect 92
Chapter 44 The Forms in Mirrors Are Relations 94
Chapter 45 A Note on the Limits of the Intellect 96
Chapter 46 Mirrors and the State of Dreaming 98
Chapter 47 Divine Power and Human Power 100
Chapter 48 The Possible and the Impossible 102
Chapter 49 Possibility Means Contingency 102
Chapter 50 The Creation of the World and Time 104
Chapter 51 Clarifications on the Term "World" 106
Chapter 52 The Eternity of the World in the Eyes of the Recognizer 108
Chapter 53 Do "Was" and "Is" Apply to God? 110
Chapter 54 God's Beginninglessness and Time 112
Chapter 55 A Hint at Perpetual Renewal 116
Chapter 56 Perpetual Renewal 118
Chapter 57 Divine Withness 120
Chapter 58 A Note on Cosmic Order 124
Chapter 59 Witnessing Perpetual Renewal 124
Chapter 60 God's Coextensiveness in the Eyes of the Recognizer 126
Chapter 61 The Difference between Knowledge and Recognition 128
Chapter 62 God-Given Knowledge 130
Chapter 63 Types of Knowledge and Instruction 132
Chapter 64 Setting Out on the Path of Recognition 134
Chapter 65 The Next Step on the Path of Recognition 136
Chapter 66 Spiritual Companionship 136
Chapter 67 Felicity 138
Chapter 68 God's Generosity toward Me 138
Chapter 69 Finding a Spiritual Guide 140
Chapter 70 True Spiritual Guides and False Claimants 140
Chapter 71 Self-Admiration and Spiritual Guidance 142
Chapter 72 Back to the Question of Divine Priority 144
Chapter 73 God's Withness Does Not Mean Human Withness 146
Chapter 74 Categories of Proximity and Distance 148
Chapter 75 The Last "Day" 150
Chapter 76 The Soul's Relationship to the Body 152
Chapter 77 The Soul's Immortality 154
Chapter 78 Souls Precede Bodies 156
Chapter 79 The Diversity of Souls 156
Chapter 80 The Relationship between the Soul and the Body 158
Chapter 81 God's Self-Disclosure 160
Chapter 82 The Annihilation of My Metaphorical Identity 162
Chapter 83 My Yearning to Return Home 164
Chapter 84 In the Divine Presence 164
Chapter 85 A Final Word about My Journey 166
Chapter 86 Fleeing-from This World 166
Chapter 87 Unhindered Souls 168
Chapter 88 Faith in the Afterlife 170
Chapter 89 The Intellect and the Afterlife 172
Chapter 90 Faith in the Unseen 174
Chapter 91 Searching for God 176
Chapter 92 Striving for Understanding 176
Chapter 93 The Evident and the Mysterious 178
Chapter 94 The Coming of the Hour 180
Chapter 95 The Stage beyond the Intellect Is Accessible to All 184
Chapter 96 The Intellect and the Stage beyond It 184
Chapter 97 Overcoming the Desire to Know 186
Chapter 98 Freedom from Time and Space 188
Chapter 99 Reaching God 190
Chapter 100 An Invitation 190
Conclusion: On Yearning 192
Notes 197
Glossary of Names 210
Bibliography 213
Further Reading 221
Index of Qur'anic Verses 223
Index 225
About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 234
About the Typefaces 235
Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature 236
About the Editor-Translator 241