Wahdat al-Wujud and Logos of Life:

The Philosophical Comparison

Phenomenology of Space and Time. The Forces of the Cosmos and the Ontopoetic Genezis of Life: Book Two,

Analecta Husserliana, Springer, Vol. CXVII, 2014, pp. 135-149.

Introduction

The comparison between Islamic philosophy and phenomenology is increasing day by day.

The researches are based essentially on the philosophy of Shihabeddin Suhrawardy or Mulla

Sadra. It means that they are based on original Islamic idea or the philosophical expression of the

Islamic principles. An original islamic idea underlying the philosophy of the most the Sufi

thinkers as well as the philosophy of Suhrawardy is the wahdat al-wujud – 'unity of being'. Our

object is to compare the logos of life that can expand the human being’s creative force and limits

of cognition to infinity with the wahdat al-wujud and to demonstrate that the logos of life is the

important part of the wahdat al-wujud. The comparison will confirm also a truth that the thought

is not separate at the level of ideas and every philosophical trend is a path to a world of Idea. The

ways to the peak approach as well as the ideas that are the main essence of the philosophical

trends beyond the framework of the time and space approach and in keeping with each other.

Wahdat al-wujud as the expression of the being

Wahdat al-wujud is the main idea and essence of the philosophy of the tasavvuf. Though it

is attribute to Sufi thinker Muhyiddin ibn Arabi, indeed, wahdat al-wujud exists as a theory on

the basis of the thought of the early Sufi thinkers, especially, Abu Yazid Bistami, Mansur Hallaj

and Shihabeddin Suhrawardy.

What is the wahdat al-wujud that at one moment is considered the same as pantheism, at

another the philosophical trend developed as a result of the Hind or Greek philosophy?

The human mind is able to cognize at the limited time-space framework, what is possible

to compare or to accommodate to this frame. As Sufi thinker Ayn al-Kuzat Miyaneji says: “The

each mean from the marifa (divine knowledge) is possible to describe only by allegorical

expressions”.1 In consideration of this truth we will present our thoughts by comparative method.

Inasmuch as the human being is possessed of many divine qualities and is the “a successive

authority of God upon the earth” the comparison will be through a man.

الميانجي الهمداني ابو المعالي عبد هللا بن محمد بن علي بن الحسين بن علي الملقب بعين القضاة. زبدة الحقائق. تقديم وتحقيق ع.عسيران. طهران. 1

(…Ayn-al-Kuzat Miyaneji. Zubdat al-haka’ik) 76ه. ص. 1431

The main principle of the tasavvuf is the tawhid – the expression of the uniqueness and

oneness of God. Sufi thinkers presenting tawhid in different terms and methods without fail

consider it in two aspects: the essence of God (Zat) and unity of Creator and creation.

In the first case the Sufi thinkers referring to the Holy Koran don’t consider Him as a

Being beyond the mind and discussion. For example, Mansur Hallaj says: “He (God) is beyond

His creation, He doesn’t mix with them, they differ from Him in their created characteristics and

He differs from them in His eternity. His being is His proof. His divine knowledge (ma’rifa) is

tawhid (oneness). His tawhid is His difference; His every description in the thought contradicts

Him. How can the thing beginning from Him mix (hulul) with Him? How can His creation reach

Him?”2 Similar thoughts can be found in most of the Sufi thinkers. Therefore God’s Essence

(Zat) is beyond the concepts time-space or recognition and cognition. In Sufi doctrine it is the

world of Oneness (ahadiyah).

Every human being is unique in his “Ego”, essence, inner world, even his body’s cell. This

is the human being’s world of oneness.

The second aspect of the tawhid or the Unity of Creator and creation is more popular.

Consequently, the researchers leave in the shadows the first aspect or forget about it. It means

that they consider the God’s Essence in the Unity of Creator and creation.

The human being has some qualities, characteristics, abilities, talent that present, acquaint

and distinguish Him. Some of them are necessity and inseparable from the human being. They

are his definition. And some of them can be created, changed or lost under definite conditions. It

likes the world of Unity (wahdaniya) where the all names and attributes of God unite around One

Essence. Ibn Arabi says: “God is Oneness in His Essence and Many through His names”.3 Or

“The divine names are infinite as these names are recognized through their manifestation and

their manifestations are infinite”.4

Therefore, the inconsistent and different qualities are to One Essence and it does not mean

that the Essence is contradictory and can be divided. The plurality and inconsistency are only in

attributes and they are to second world – wahdaniyah.

As it is told in sacred hadith: "I was a hidden treasure and wanted to be known, therefore I

created (the world)." It means that Creator is known by His creation. So in this unity the Creator

and creation are necessary each other as source and the mean introducing this source. Naturally,

God wants to be known as well as the creation has a power and ability to know Him.

Thus, all creation is the manifestation of a “Being” – attributes and names of Truth and the

existence of all Universe and its improvement take place in unity with this “Being”. As it is

أخبار الحالج. نشر وتصحيح ل.ماسينيون وب.كراوس, باريس, مطبعة القلم, 1347, ص. 31-32 23 (Ibn Arabi. Fusus…) 90.ابن عربي محي الدين. فصوص الحكم. التعليقات عليه بقلم ابو العال عفيفي. دار احياء الكتاب العربية. 1337. ص 4 Ibid, p. 65.

known from the definition as a term and concept wahdat al-wujud is the name of the Unity of the

Creator and creation or the second aspect of the tawhid.

Logos of Life – as the force of creativity

Logos of Life is the modern term. As Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka writes: “No other

philosopher in history better shows the progressive revelation of the logos of phenomena and the

intrinsic continuity of its path than does Edmund Husserl”.5 But Tymieniecka “pursues a path

different from Husserl’s”: “I came over time to bring out the crucially significant creative

function of the human logos and to substitute it for the all-dominating intentional consciousness

of Husserlian analysis”.6 Should be borne in mind that Husserl wrote his philosophy for man

who “loses faith ‘in himself’, in his own true being. This true being is not something he always

already has, with the self-evidence of the “I am”, but something he only has and can have in the

form of the struggle for his truth, the struggle to make himself true.”7 Indeed, Husserl’s man was

the logical continuation of the Kant’s man who said: “It (a reason) must regard itself as the

author of its principles independent of foreign influences. Consequently as practical reason or as

the will of a rational being it must regard itself as free, that is to say, the will of such a being

cannot be a will of its own except under the idea of freedom. This idea must therefore in a

practical point of view be ascribed to every rational being”.8 No coincidence that Berdyaev

considering Kant’s place in the history of philosophy writes: “Kant’s world is no longer that of

the Renaissance; it lacks the joy of both knowledge and its infinite perspectives. It is bounded by

the speculative awareness of the limitations knowledge and the necessity of its formal

justification. This self-consciousness in the sphere of knowledge is a sure sign that the

Renaissance spirit had exhausted its thirst for knowledge.”9

Indeed, the big ideas and great thirst for creativity existing in Renaissance provided human

being with ample opportunity to search and cognize himself. The human being struggled with

himself turning sometimes to reason and sometimes to religion. Naturally, the growing power of

the reason decided the fate of this struggle. Declaring the divine world transcendent and giving

all chance to search true to reason Kant put an end to this struggle. Husserl advanced and

actualized the importance of the reaching to the ‘pure conciseness’ using the phenomenological

reductions. Consequently, as René Guénon said, “Instead of reaching the top of the truth a man

5 A.-T.Tymieniecka. The Unveiling and the Unveiled // The Passion of the Soul in the Metamorphosis of

Becoming. Edited by A.-T.Tymieniecka, Dordricht-Boston, 2003, p. XXXIII. 6 Ibid, p. XXXVI. 7 Husserl Edmund. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology. An introduction to

Phenomenological Philosophy. Evanston, 1970. p. 13 8 Immanuel Kant. Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, translated by T.K.Abbott, Forgotton

Books, 2008, p. 72 9 Berdyaev. The Meaning of History, New Jersey 2009, p. 162

lowers it to his own level”. It should be noted specially that straying from the subsidiary

conditions and influences and conferring emergency powers on the reason the human being

interrupted his opportunities as spiritual being on the one hand and interrupted his connect with

divine world – the source of his creative power, on the other hand. The Logos of life of

Tymieniecka opened, in some respect, the path from a secluded world to infinite world: “The

logos of life extends its relevancy toward its source, the Divine, on the one hand, and toward the

immeasurable cosmos, on the other”.10 It is important that “The constructive logos of life is

itself, as hinted at above, a fulgurating force, an ever renewed impetus that simultaneously races

and harnesses it the equipoise of a relatively stable form of beingness.”11 Although the words

“the unveiling of the hidden and yet so powerful logos of life is the work of the intuition of the

human mind”12 approach of Tymieniecka to her predecessors but should be borne in mind that

we are talking about the soul opening for spiritual world and about the human being

communicating with logos.

What is the logos?

We have just mentioned at our works that the trajectory of idea's development is circular

and for completing the circle the end should connect with the beginning. İbn Arabi says: “The

one who has a circular movement has no beginning, "from", which clings to him, and no end,

"to", is judged of him. Thus he has the most perfect existence. He "is given all the words" and

wisdoms.”13 S.Khalilov submits the processes in the Western philosophy: “The logical thinking

is one-dimensional space process moving along a coordinate axis. … As distinct from one-

dimensional space (an axis of thought) there are many axes in two-dimensional space (sphere of

thought). Axes are infinite. However, there are not crossing between axes within the logic

thought. The existence of the vertical distinction needs to pass from one level to higher (or

lower) level. By analogy with physical world it requires energetic perfection (for rising) or

energetic illumination (for lowering)”.14 It means that the development along the one-dimension

sphere reinforced by Kant in New Age couldn’t continue for a long time. Indeed, this form of

development is strange and limit for thought and soul. Tymieniecka through her logos of life

converts the thought to the two-dimension sphere and bows it and “restores” thought’s moving

trajectory towards the completion of circle.

“Home Land” and “the Passion of the Earth”

10 A.-T.Tymieniecka. The Unveiling and the Unveiled..., p. XXXVI. 11 Ibid, p. XXXVII. 12 Ibid, p. XXXII. 13 Ibn Arabi. Fusus…, p. 73. 14 S.Xəlilov. Əbu Turxanın «fikir fəzası» təlimi // Fəlsəfə və sosial-siyasi elmlər jurnalı, 2008, No 4, s. 159.

According to philosophy of Sufism the highest top of the trajectory of man’s cognition in

the divine hierarchy – wahdat al-wujud is the world of sovereignty (rububiyah) or, by reference

to Ibn Arabi, ayan al-sabita (not yet visibly exist or the established sources). A man reaching to

this world contained the essences of all being, can penetrate the truth of all creation. The idea if

“confluence of drop with sea” is the artistic expression of our words. Sabit mənbələr ilahi

sifətlərdən doğan ideyalardır, bir növ onların inikasıdır: «Our names are the Names of Allah

since everything is, without a doubt, in need of Him. At the same time, our sources are His

shadow, and not other-than-Him. So He is our he-ness (هوية - huvıyyə), and He is not our he-

ness». [139, 106]. So, rububiyah or the world of ideas or ayan al-sabita is the birth of plurality in

one. The ‘beings’ here don’t exist. It means that they exist in being of One, but don’t exist in

material world. It appears that the human being is ability to return to his “homeland”, by

reference to Sufi term, to the world of ideas through his thought, rational and irrational

cognition. It is important that Mawlana begins his Masnawi with the home-sickness of reed:

"Anyone one who has remained far from his roots,

Seeks return (to the) time of his union.”15

However, although this world is the peak of the development of cognition it is not the last

instance and it is the beginning of the process of returning to society.

Tymieniecka writes in her philosophy about “the world before life” and passion to his first

essence. She calls it ‘Passion of the Earth’: “Living beingness appears as carrying within itself

the prolife schema and life requirements that mother earth possesses. Through this essential

existential network, the project of life appears subtended by the earth’s participation in the forces

of the universe, the cosmos. Hence, we may see living beingness as a filigree, a microcosmic

counterpart of the great macrocosmic horizon”. 16

It should be noted two important details. Firstly, the matter is the same structure and

affinity of the Earth and living beingness or two creations. It means that either two creations

have a structure beyond the matter world or one of them is the part of other. From this point of

view the searching of the part his place in common structure and desire to return there is logical.

Secondly, it should be noted that this common structure is the participant of “the project of

life”: “Beyond constituting their own worlds of life? Living individuals essentially partake or

participate in vaster areas of living existence”.17

Consequently, “homeland” and “the Passion of the Earth” are similar to each other.

However there some important differences between them too. Firstly, the “homeland” in Sufism

doesn’t have material manifestation, while in the passion of the earth we are talking about

15 Dar-Al-Masnavi. Translations with Nicholson's Commentaries http://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/book1.html. 16 A.-T.Tymieniecka. The Unveiling and the Unveiled..., p. XXIX. 17 Ibid, p. XXVIII.

defined material place. Indeed, Mawlana presented reed swamp through the language of reed as

the symbolic image of “homeland”. But this is the image of place of idea, the world of spirits.

The second problem in this comparison is the direction of the cognition. Thus, as it seems

from the known Sufi formula – 'ilm al-yakin (the science of certitude) – 'ayn al-yakin (the eye of

certitude) – Haqq al-yakin (the truth of certitude) – the direction is from external world to the

inner world. In the phenomenology of life, on the contrary, the direction is from inner world to

the external world. Tymieniecka constants that the direction of the process of self-

individualization is spiral and headed from the inner to external world.18 Consequently, the

beginning point of cognition process in Sufism moves from the material world through the

divine world to the human being. And in logos of life this process begins from external world

and ends in logos. Indeed, this process is infinite and the competition acceptable only for defined

period or circle.

It is important that “homeland” and “the passion of the earth” exert influence in the first

place on the direction of the cognition and molding of the phenomenon of “Ego”.

The perfect grain of the matrix man

According to wahdat al-wujud the process of creation is the covering of the essence or idea

reached from divine world layer by layer. Every world in the hierarchy of the creation covers

with a layer, in other words, with an additional quality. It should be added that the covering of

the grain with the layers indicates that every being is the complex of ideas.

The human being is also a manifestation of One. Thus, he is as another creation has a main

grain and auxiliary ideas. Indeed, some of auxiliary ideas in defined condition can actualize and

become leading. When one of the auxiliary ideas actualizes, all activity of human being and his

life spin round this idea. Salahaddin Khalilov writes: “As a manifestation of One idea the human

being seems to be variety in different situation. It means that the human being is matrix. At the

same time, this matrix has own common regularity, own foot and the peak, own face”. However,

the grain is grain and the auxiliary idea is auxiliary. When the ideas swap it have an impact on

the process of cognition and on molding of personality – the human being strays from his

essence. No accident that in the philosophy of Khalilov in addition to that human being is the

complex of ideas; he is the matrix and beginning of other structuralization. On the assumption of

this idea philosopher divides the ideas of human being into active and passive parts: “The body

of man is the part of world’s idea and the idea reflected in the nature; it is bearer of passive idea.

The spirit activates it and life is born. The body (human being) through his rational soul enters

18 А.-Т. Тименецки. Человеческое состояние в единстве всего живого // Феноменологические

исследования. Обзор философских идей и тенденций. Российско-американский ежегодник, № 5, 2004,

Владимир-Hanover, c. 7.

the world of active ideas.” Consequently, have in mind the abilities of human being and the

complex of ideas we can consider that the human being is the knot point of the collection of idea.

At the same time he is the point of returning of the process of creation going from God. It means

that enveloping the many of the Creator’s qualities the human being is the ‘collection’ of the

ideas, on the one hand, and he is creator too within the defined limit, on the other.

The human being lives, walks, writes and creates according to his abilities and specificities

and in connection with this the ideas are born in his thought. Some of them are real and some of

them are far from the real life. The probability of their realization depends on the wish and will

of the human being. It means that every activated work is the reflection, formation and

materialization of these ideas. However, although the appearance is perfect, the essence has no

reflected parts; the manifestation doesn’t envelop the all mean. Consequently, the complete

manifestation of the source of ideas of the material and non-material creations and the full

realization of their truth is impossible. According to Holy Koran, the human being as a successor

of God on the Earth and who is created in the image of the Merciful and who is given all the

angels in the service is the most beautiful and highest “idea” among others.

The highest position of the human being proceeds, in the first place, from his essence and

his chance to cognize the reason of his creation. It is not accident that human being is the perfect

place of the expression of the logos of life: “The revelation of the logos of life in reality—and its

conjectured reaching Beyond—is a unique state of individualizing/becoming in which the

evolving logos of life acquires its existential plenitude within the full-fledged development of the

human individual”.19 Consequently, the human being is the bearer of the logos in addition to that

he is a possessor of its power and force and the logos acquires through him a new life.

As we noted above the ability of recognition and cognition of the human being is in some

respect the contrary process of creation. However, it should be noted two important details.

Firstly, the human being should find his main idea – grain. Secondly, he should advance to

Absolute proceeding from this idea. Indeed, the discovery of the grain is the beginning of the

cognition.

Both Christian and Muslim thinkers called the “discovery of the grain” the opening of the

inner eyes (basirat= light of the heart) or the turning of the divine light in the soul. For example,

Eckhart writes: “God is born in soul; He creates His Word there, the spirit accepts Him and

transfers Him to the force of the multiform appearances: at one moment in the form of wish, at

the other in the form of good intentions, love or sense of gratitude or in any manifestation of

Him. All His creation is His, not yours; you just accept it as something belonging to Him”. [129,

19 Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka. Before Entering into the Heart of the Matter (Legitimating the Access of Truth) //

The Fullness of the Logos in the Key of Life. Book 1. The Case of God in the New Enlightenment. Springer, 2009.

p. xxxiv

97].20

The highest position of the human being proceeds, in the first place, from his essence and

his chance to cognize the reason of his creation. It is not accident that human being is the perfect

place of the expression of the logos of life: “The revelation of the logos of life in reality—and its

conjectured reaching Beyond — is a unique state of individualizing/becoming in which the

evolving logos of life acquires its existential plenitude within the full-fledged development of the

human individual”.21 Consequently, the human being is the bearer of the logos in addition to that

he is a possessor of its power and force and the logos acquires through him a new life.

As we noted above the ability of recognition and cognition of the human being is in some

respect the contrary process of creation. However, it should be noted two important details.

Firstly, the human being should find his main idea – grain. Secondly, he should advance to

Absolute proceeding from this idea. Indeed, the discovery of the grain is the beginning of the

cognition.

Both Christian and Muslim thinkers called the “discovery of the grain” the opening of the

inner eyes (basirat = light of the heart) or the turning of the divine light in the soul. For example,

Eckhart writes: “God is born in soul; He creates His Word there, the spirit accepts Him and

transfers Him to the force of the multiform appearances: at one moment in the form of wish, at

the other in the form of good intentions, love or sense of gratitude or in any manifestation of

Him. All His creation is His, not yours; you just accept it as something belonging to Him”.22

The highest position of the human being proceeds, in the first place, from his essence and

his chance to cognize the reason of his creation. It is not accident that human being is the perfect

place of the expression of the logos of life: “The revelation of the logos of life in reality—and its

conjectured reaching Beyond—is a unique state of individualizing/becoming in which the

evolving logos of life acquires its existential plenitude within the full-fledged development of the

human individual”.23 Consequently, the human being is the bearer of the logos in addition to that

he is a possessor of its power and force and the logos acquires through him a new life.

As we noted above the ability of recognition and cognition of the human being is in some

respect the contrary process of creation. However, it should be noted two important details.

Firstly, the human being should find his main idea – grain. Secondly, he should advance to

Absolute proceeding from this idea. Indeed, the discovery of the grain is the beginning of the

cognition.

Both Christian and Muslim thinkers called the “discovery of the grain” the opening of the

20 Экхарт М. Духовные проповеди и рассуждения / Перев. с нем. М.В.Сабашникова. Санкт-Петербург:

Азбука, 2000, c. 97. 21 Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka. Before Entering into the Heart of the Matter…, p. xxxiv 22 Экхарт М. Духовные проповеди и рассуждения, c. 97. 23 Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka. Before Entering into the Heart of the Matter… p. xxxiv

inner eyes (basirat= light of the heart), the turning of the divine light in the soul or illumination

as in philosophy of Suhrawardy. For example, Eckhart writes: “God is born in soul; He creates

His Word there, the spirit accepts Him and transfers Him to the force of the multiform

appearances: at one moment in the form of wish, at the other in the form of good intentions, love

or sense of gratitude or in any manifestation of Him. All His creation is His, not yours; you just

accept it as something belonging to Him”.24

Ayn al-Kuzat, who says, that the source of ma’rifa (divine knowledge) opens in the inner

world of human being25, writes: “How much more you open your chest for believe in unseen

truth (gayb), your inner world will so much more illuminated with light which you have never

witnessed. Know that it is a trace of traces opened after the frame of mind”.26

Tymieniecka who writes about the communication of human being with logos and divine

force adheres to this position. In the searching of the truth she takes as a beginning point a life

which is compared with the “state cannot be identified with any one experience and yet it

underlies all experiences” and which is the “spark of life”.27 This state, in other words, the

communication with logos is the creation, at the same time, is the returning to his first essence.

Consequently, the process of cognition departs from the crossing or unity of the divine

power with the conscience of the human being. Simply, a man should be find his essence and to

be ready for the state of crossing. It is not accident that Salahaddin Khalilov says: “The human

being wishes to feel the world as a whole should become a bearer of the idea on an universal

scale. He should be mix with great, absolute, infinite and eternal idea”.28 In Sufi philosophy it is

the development or perfection of soul (nafs) and isolation from all the material pleasure.

Miyaneji writes: Know that there are a lot of stages… It is important for True that one of the

creations who is in this world without isolating from its cover of form (in material world – K.B.)

can reaches the stage beyond the mind. The reaching thing cannot be introduced anybody neither

in this world nor in the other. It is true, real and witnessed by Gnostic (arif)”. 29

Similarly, the human being should pass some specifics of his soul for recognizing logos:

“The human soul, through which all has to pass, the mind, the intellect, may see the logos clearly

or dimly, through a glass darkly, or deviate from its rays. Hence, numerous philosophical

attempts reach it only fragmentarily.” 30

Thus, both in wahdat al-wujud and in logos of life the soul is only participant of the

24 Экхарт М. Духовные проповеди и рассуждения…, c. 97. 25 Ayn-al-Kuzat Miyaneji. Zubdat al-haka’ik…, p. 67. 26 Ibid, p. 92 27 Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka. Before Entering into the Heart of the Matter…, p. xxxiii 28 S.Xəlilov. Insan-Matrisa // Fəlsəfə və sosial-siyasi elmlər jurnalı, 2004, No 4, s.116. 29 Ayn-al-Kuzat Miyaneji. Zubdat al-haka’ik…, p. 97. 30 A.-T.Tymieniecka. The Unveiling and the Unveiled..., p. XXI.

preparation stage of the process of cognition. Then it should be away from the process and make

way for spirit. If this does not happen and the human being can not correctly detect his point of

departure, the process of cognition may be dim and without result.

The trajectory of the development of “Ego”

The second stage that is moving from the grain to Absolute, is considered by philosophers

differently: the discovery of the inner true of “Ego”, the recognition of the divine power and

ideas and i.e. Indeed, they are various expressions of a True. The moving to the Absolute is the

direct contact of God with the human being and recognition of the truth beyond the rational

world. Referring to this thesis we will explain the process in detail.

The process of cognition beginning from “Ego” – from the main idea, grain of the human

being rises to the crossing point with the divine truth and returns.

A cognition circle completes and a new one begins. The last

moment is the unity of the end and beginning, completion of the

circle, the returning of the human being who is in unity with

absolute Being to his essence and beginning of a new process. The beginning and end point of

every new circle coincide but every new circle wider than previous. At the same time every new

circle opens a higher stage of the diagonal line from God to a man. This is the formation of the

new glance to the first point and to the self-cognition. Here are observed two processes. The

human being approaches to his essence and discovers a deep layer, on the one hand and rises

closer to the divine truth, on the other.

Tymieniecka called it self-individualization, in other words, a life being individualizes

itself through self-cognition and recognition its place in macrocosm. In this process can be

witnessed two directions that regulate each other: meeting with Logos and discovery of the

stages of man’s matrix. The creativity is between them, in their crossing. The own process

begins from a three-stage development of the soul. In the first stage the soul considers himself

and “the lived world”, asks “Who am I?” and Where am I headed?”31 and identifies itself. In the

second stage the human being seeks the Beyond, ideal, “perfect beauty”, “ultimate truth”, justice.

Tymieniecka writes: “Our being, once emancipated from routine opinions and charmed by

subterranean fermentations, turns itself towards the infinite.

Our ardor takes as its object burdens beyond the narrowness

of ongoing existence; it is oriented toward more elevated

goals than those of ongoing life”.32 In the third stage – “in

31 Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka. Logos and Life. Book 2, The Three Movements of the Soul. 1988, p. 53. 32 Ibid, p. 71-72.

– Logos

– The process

of cognition

– Man

–– God

––– divine truth

–– the process of

cognition

––– Man

sum, the soul lays the groundwork for the life of the spirit”33. Here the soul is lonely from the

standpoint of humanity, but acquires a direct contact with Beyond. This spiral development lasts

till logos.

It should be noted a moment. According to Tymieniecka, the soul recognizes itself – its

“Ego” in macro world and rises beyond the material world, but doesn’t return to himself. Indeed,

in the first stage the human being discovers “three generative matrixes …of life in becoming.” 34

But this is horizontal development. Why horizontal? These matrixes complete each other and in

fine, perfect the life of human being – a situation limited by time and sphere: “each of which

originates a specific sphere marking the evolutionary type of beingness: first, the “womb of life”

is found processing the organic forces from prelife conditions in attunement with the available

generative material and with relevance to terrestrial and cosmic forces; second, there is the

matrix of the “sharing-in-life”, which deploys the rationalities of the vital significance of living

beings and matrix of the “creative forge,” which nourished by the bursting forth of human

creative virtuality and spontaneity in the incessant inflow and outflow of intergenerative forces

processed by the human mind, brings the logos of life to its climatic completion.”35

Thus, in wahdat al-wujud the human being rises beyond himself to find and cognize his

“Ego” and returns with new truth to himself after crossing with divine line. This movement is

circular. The end point of his rising is the first point of his essence. Indeed, the formula of Sufi

cognition ends with Haqq al-yakin (the truth of certitude). It is not accidence that Khalilov

reproaches the Sufi philosophy for ending on the top: “Although opened a new opportunity for

activity (more honorable life) on the new level, the human being confuses his being point with

the end one and death. And his with after the discovery of Truth is death36. In consideration of

words of philosopher we analyze the essence of Sufi philosophy from the different perspective

and suggest that the trajectory of cognition process “fall down” after top and a man returns to his

“Ego”.

The other important moment in this process is the culmination. As mentioned above, in

wahdat al-wujud this moment is the crossing point of the trajectory of cognition with the divine

line. This point is the absolute unity and contact with divine true and witness of True. When the

human being returns, his every word is lower than essence and doesn’t include it completely.

Consequently, in Sufism the descriptions of this situation are advised to keep a secret. We can

assume that the well-known phrase “Ana-l-Haqq” of Hallaj is the cognition of human being

isolated in the world of idea from all external influences his main idea. The same process occurs

33 Ibid, p. 87 34 A.-T.Tymieniecka. The Unveiling and the Unveiled..., p. XXXVIII. 35 Ibid, p. XXXVIII. 36 S.Xəlilov. Sufi zirvəsi: son, yoxsa başlanğıc? // Fəlsəfə və sosial-siyasi elmlər jurnalı, 2006, No 3-4, s.119.

in the recognition of the Logos too. Tymieniecka writes: “The various levels of the logos, of the

constructive logos of the phenomena, are uncovered in a progression that is, as it were,

perpendicular to them; marking the phases of the itinerary, the progress ‘onward,” so to speak,

goes hand in band with the horizontal discovery of the individualizing structures of living beings

(their concatenations within an existential complex, etc.).37 It is important that the recognition is

in perpendicular – crossing moment and the individualization is in horizontal direction.

At first glance the differences of two trajectories which coincide with each other on major

moments it can be misunderstood. Salahaddin Khalilov writes: “The thought can go till defined

limit or bounds; with approaching to bounds the difficulties increase. The thought concentrates,

focuses on and returns. (We don’t know when we return). The moving turns into rotation.

Indeed, may be it is spiraling movement. It means that there exist elements of both movement

and rotation.”38 Consequently, in the development the movement and rotation coincide. If we

present a man not as a point, but as matrix, it will be visible that the movement is spiraling. As

we mean the grain of the human being and describe him as a point, the movement likes

concentric circles unite in one point.

Both in schemas every new stage is the more concentrate of the God-man contact and

approaching to Absolute True and a chance of receiving more force from divine power.

According to wahdat al-wujud and logos of life the human being is strong with the divine power

only in the material world – in the last stage of the creation process – in the “life” that is limited

by defined time and space. The approaching is mean more use of this power. Tymieniecka

writes: “The force of the Logos manifests itself in the logos’ effusion of life. It acquires “shape”

in its performance and is then intuited through that performance, from the inside, as it were. First

of all, logos, the reason of reasons and the sense of everything, is not simply a set of principles

articulating “matter.” It is above all a force, a driving force that through its modalities is

accountable not only for the incipient instance of originating life in its self- individualizing

process but also for the pre-origination, pre-ontopoietic ground and for the subsequent striving

toward the abyss of the spirit”. 39 Indeed, Tymieniecka in contrast to her predecessors keeps a

path for human being’s mind to the beyond of material world and attributes his activity and

especially his creativity with logos and extends the place of thought. She writes: “From its

creative fulcrum, human beingness as the microcosm brings about the world of life – the world

of life stretching outward through the earth to the cosmos. And prompted by its growth as

created by the logos of life, it brings its own spontaneities forth from its innermost core to

surpass the world of life and advances toward the last horizon, one that escapes any phenomenal

37 A.-T.Tymieniecka. The Unveiling and the Unveiled..., p. XXXII. 38 S.Xəlilov. Elm haqqında elm. Bakı, “Azərbaycan Universiteti” nəşriyyatı, 2011, s. 308. 39 Anna-Teresa Tymyiniecka. The Fullness of the Logos in the Key of Life. p.33

grasp.” 40 The force receiving from the Absolute – Logos becomes apparent both in man’s

activity, cognition and creativity – the human being’s ability to create and present an idea closer

to its essence increases.

In fine the detail should be noted is the limit of the cognition process – the limit of rising of

“Ego”.

As it seems from the schema of wahdat al-wujud, the Essence (Zat) of God is beyond the

trajectory of cognition and He defines the limit of this process. It should remind that it is world

of Oneness (ahadiyah) and it is beyond of all imagine and thought. As Holy Koran says: “They

encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills” (Koran 2/255). So, the

human being knows only what He will and all beyond it is transcendent.

Similarly, the same situation is necessary in logos of life. In spite of the logos is the source

of man’s creativity “Yet logos is itself one.” 41

Conclusion

Thus, it became clear, that there are some common moments between wahdat al-wujud and the

logos of life and it is normal. Since the paths leading to the truth and his essence, necessarily unite. We

should especially note the essence of the phenomenology of life. The logos of life is the reconstruction of

the “communication” of the scientific spirit isolated from the divine world and interrupted since Kant,

with the divine infinite. On the other hand, it is a contact with the East and especially with the Islamic

philosophy. Indeed, the Absolute true is One and doesn’t divide into poles. Just change the name and

form of expression. As a result of such a comparison it is possible to advance an idea that the

logos of life is a new form of manifestation of the wahdat al-wujud accordance with the modern

Western philosophical view.

40 A.-T.Tymieniecka. The Unveiling and the Unveiled..., p. XXXIX 41 Ibid, p. XXI.