The Servant of the Loving One -On the Adoption of the Character Traits of al-Wadûd

Introduction

Pablo Beneito

Nowadays, the proliferation of false expectations, the cult of the personality and all that is

quantitative, the acceleration of the processes of stimulation, the commercialization of ideas and

the confusion of different orders, degrees and forms of love often generate a certain amount of

frustration and obsession in the realm of what Ibn 'Arabî calls "human love". When love is fixed on

a particular object, it can, if it is not accompanied by a deep awareness of the essentially

transcendent nature of love, lead to obsession and alienation. If Ibn 'Arabî's ideas about love were

internalized and borne in mind in our daily life, it could be extremely illuminating and could help to

free us from prejudices and partial points of view, and to transcend limited perspectives.

In what follows, two commentaries by Ibn 'Arabî on the Divine Name al-Wadûd are translated in

their entirety.

The first is the short chapter devoted to this Name in the treatise entitled Kashf al-ma'nâ.[1] The

first section (ta'alluq) explains what the servant is asking for when he invokes this Name, the

second (tahaqquq) explains its meaning with regard to the Divine Reality (al-Haqq) and the third

(takhalluq), explains how, or in what sense, man – as a creature (khalq) – can be clothed in the

characteristics of the Name in question.

The second commentary is the section dedicated to al-Wadûd in the penultimate chapter of The

Meccan Illuminations. In this section, Ibn 'Arabî presents us with a revealing synthesis of his

doctrine on love and explains at greater length what adoption by the servant of the character traits

of al-Wadûd involves. [See the end of the printed article for the Arabic text of the autograph

manuscript[2] in a reduced facsimile reproduction.]

This article also includes a final part on the technical term manassa (or minassa) which has been

used repeatedly in the section translated from the Futûhât makkiyya. In this part we shall comment

on the lexical inter-references of the root n-s-s which, in my opinion, affect the meaning and

symbolic implications of the term.

(I) The Name Al-Wadûd[3] In The Kashf Al-Ma'nâ

1. Relationship (ta'alluq)

You are in need of Him, may He be exalted, so that He allows you to achieve the consolidation of

constant love (wadd) for Him and affectionate love (wadd) for he whom He (God) has ordered you

to love, fixing love for him in your soul (nafs).[4]

2. Realization (tahaqquq)

Affectionate love (wadd) consists in the actual manifestation of love (mahabba), from which it

originates, and in constancy (thabât) in that love. The Quranic verse says, "Have we not made ...

pegs (awtâd) of the mountains?"[5] These pegs (stakes) [which serve as supports for a tent] are

called either watad (pl. awtâd) or wadd, so the term wadd means firmness (ithbât) and constancy

(thabât). Therefore, the Lover (al-Muhibb) is the one whose love is free and pure and is devoted to

the will of the Beloved, whilst the Loving One (al-Wadûd) is the one whose love is constant.[6]

3. Adoption (takhalluq)

If the love (hubb) of Allâh – may He be glorified and exalted – and the love of the one whom He has

ordered you to love prevail in the heart of the servant in every state (hâl) which may arise

unexpectedly from the Beloved (mahbûb), whether it is agreeable to him or not, then that servant

is called loving (wadûd).

(II) The Presence Of Constancy In Love (Wadd):The Name Al-Wadûd[7] [in The Meccan Illuminations]

In the name of God, the All Compassionate and Most Merciful.

1. Indeed faithful love (widâd) consists

in maintaining constancy and persists

even in that state when

disunion agitates and shakes it.

2. When in the face the signs (simât)[8] are shown,

the abode (maqâm) unites us with Him[9]

3. in a solitary riverbed (wâdi)[10]

and a land adorned with flowers and plants.

4. If seen upon His Pedestal[11]

the land's flowers are the sons and daughters.[12]

5. The clarity of daylight (sabâh)

in the face of fear keeps them safe.

Only the arrival of the darkness of night

plunges them in fear.

He who finds himself in this Presence is named 'Abd al-Wadûd, "The Servant of the One who is

Constant in love." God – may He be exalted – has said concerning those who share this presence

that "He loves them and they love him" (Q.|5:|54), and has also said, "Follow me [meaning the

Prophet] and God will love you" (Q.|3:|31). Also in the well-known and reliable hadith (concerning

supererogatory works) God shows that when He loves His servant, God Himself is His servant's

hearing, sight, hand and foot. Thus His faculties become permanent and immutable (thâbita) for

the beloved servant so that, although he may be blind and deaf in the ordinary, physical plane, the

original quality subsists through the veil of apparent total blindness, muteness, or deafness.

Therefore, He (al-Wadûd) is He who gives permanence to love (mahabba)[13] insofar as love is

"loving constancy" (wadd).[14]

[Denominations of the Four Conditions of Love][15]

This attribute [of love] has four conditions which each correspond to a name by which it is known.

These four conditions are called hawà, wadd, hubb, and 'ishq.[16]

1. The first, which, in the descent of this attribute, overcomes the heart, is called hawà, "sudden

desire" or "amorous inclination", in the sense of the expression hawà l-najm which indicates the

descent of a star.[17]

2. Then comes the condition called wadd, the "constant" or "persistent faithfulness in love".

3. Next comes "original love" (hubb),[18] which is "pure love", in which the lover has no will (irâda)

of his own and conforms without reservation to the will of the Beloved.[19]

4. Then comes the so-called 'ishq [blinding and captivating love, binding passion] that consists of

love wrapped around the heart [of the lover] (al-iltifâf bi-l-qalb). This term derives from the word

'ashaqa, climbing, thorned convolvulus (or bindweed) that, twisting in a spiral, wraps around the

grapevine and other similar plants. In this way, blinding love ('ishq) wraps around the heart of the

lover, blinding him so that he can see no one other than his beloved.

Observation:

[Concerning the love of the Creator for His Creation]

How would the artisan not love his own work? We are undoubtedly His work for He has created us

and He has created our sustenance and all that is good for us; how then could He not love us?

God revealed to one of His prophets these words: "Son of Adam! For you I have created all things

and I have created you for me. Do not disperse what I have created for Myself in what I have

created for you.

Son of Adam! In my duty towards you I am the Lover (muhibb). Love me then by reason of my right

over you."[20]

The work itself shows the knowledge that the Maker has deposited in it, His capacity of execution,

His sense of beauty, His own greatness, and His sublimity. [If His work par excellence, the human

being, did not manifest His knowledge] then to whom or in whom or for whom would it become

manifest?

So then, we are as necessary as His love for us, such that His love is for us and we are for His love.

Thus has the Prophet said – God bless and give him peace – in his prayer in praise of his Lord that

"we are through Him and to Him we belong". This is the presence of mutual attachment ('atf) and

of permanence.

[The Ero-Genesis or Love-origin of the Cosmos]

1. Without this first original love

the constancy of love would not be known

and were it not for indigence

the Generous One would not be adored.

2. We are through Him and to Him we belong.

He is the foundation of my constancy (wadd)[21].

3. If God wants an entity to exist (wujûd 'ayn)

having desired that entity for itself (bi-hâ qad shâ'a-hâ)[22]

all resistance fades away.

4. He said to us "Be!" (kun)[23] and we became without delay,

for such a disposition towards existence

is the attribute of all that is engendered.[24]

5. So, the essence of original love

is itself the essence of what comes from it,

whose being the constancy of love (widâd)

outwardly manifests and determines.[25]

Therefore, He loves[26] incessantly and remains constant in His love (wadûd), so that he

continually gives existence to that which corresponds to us and every day is concerned with a new

task;[27] and the name al-Wadûd has no other meaning than this.

Whether in verbal language or in the tacit language of the condition (lisân al-hâl) we incessantly

tell Him, "Do this, do that," and He – may He be exalted – does not stop acting [in answer to our

request]. In fact, we say to Him "do!" by means of His own action in us.[28]

[The Best of All Possible Worlds]

You may think that this way of acting is due to the [Divine] ruse (makr), but Allâh is far above such

an attribution, for it does not belong to Him [considering his absolute divinity] but is rather the

prerogative [ruling property] (hukm) of His name al-Wadûd, since "He is the one who covers (al-

Ghafûr)[29], the Constant in His love (al-Wadûd), Lord of the Throne (Dhû l-'arsh)[30], the Glorious

(al-Majîd)" (Q.|85|:14–15)[31]. He sits on this Throne by virtue of His name the All Compassionate

(al-Rahmân)[32], and the All-Compassionate (al-Rahmân) only actualizes His compassion in the

effusive passion of the lover (sabâbat al-muhibb), who yearns to find his beloved, but whom he is

only able to find by means of His attribute which is the primordial, unlimited generosity (jûd), due

to which the Compassionate grants him existence (wujûd) [in the most perfect way]. Had there

been a possibility of an existence more perfect than the one granted, He would not have been

stingy in depriving the lover of it. As Imâm Abû Hâmid [al-Ghazâlî] has observed in this respect, if

there had been such a perfection and God had kept it to Himself and impeded the possibility of a

greater perfection, this would imply both a lack of generosity in contradiction to His superlative

generosity and an incapacity contrary to His unlimited power, [which would be inconceivable].

[Those Who Love God are the Eye-Pupils of the Cosmos]

God has informed us that He – may He be exalted – is "the one Who forgives and covers, the

Constant in His love (wadûd)" (Q. 85:|14) whose love (mahabba)[33] persists in His concealment,

[34] since He – may He be glorified and exalted – sees us [in His concealment even though we do

not see Him] and, on seeing us, sees His beloved [mahbûb, the object of His love] and in this He

delights and takes pleasure.

The cosmos as a whole is a single Man:[35] this one man is the beloved (wa-l-'âlam kullu-hu insân

wâhid huwa-l-mahbûb) and all of the individuals of the cosmos are the members or organs of this

macrocosmic Man (ashkhâs al-'âlam a'dâ' dhâlika l-insân).

The beloved is not characterized by the love of the person he is loved by, [for such a love does not

convert him into a lover], since it only confers the passive condition of the "beloved" (mahbûb), but

to him whom God has granted to love Him with the same kind of love which God has towards him,

he has granted testimonial vision (shuhûd) and has blessed him with the capacity to contemplate

God in the images of things (bi-shuhûdi-hi fî suwar al-ashyâ').

Those who love God occupy the same position in relation to the cosmos, as the pupil to the eye.

[36]

Even though man has been given many organs, he contemplates and sees exclusively through the

use of his eyes. Therefore, the eyes occupy in him a position analogous to the one that lovers

occupy in the cosmos.

God grants testimonial vision (shuhûd) to those who love Him when He knows they love Him which,

for Him, is direct knowledge [or knowledge of taste] ('ilm dhawq)[37]. His action, with those who

love Him, is His action with Himself, and this is witnessing [the action] in the state of existence (al-

shuhûd fî hâl al-wujûd) which is a beloved for the Beloved (mahbûb li-l-mahbûb). [According to Q.

51: 56] God created the jinn and human beings to adore Him[38] so that He created His creation

especially in order to love Him [actualizing love for Him] (mahabba), for only a lover (muhibb) can

love Him and bow down to Him. Apart from human beings (insân), everything glorifies God with its

own praise,[39] since nothing else can contemplate Him or, in consequence, love Him.

To my knowledge, God does not reveal Himself in the Presence of His name al-Jamîl[40] to any of

His creatures except to human beings and in human beings exclusively. For this reason, the human

being does not become annihilated or lose himself in his love for [God] in His totality,[41] but only

becomes annihilated in his particular Lord[42] or whoever may be the place of manifestation of his

Lord (majlà rabbi-hi).

The eyes of the cosmos are, therefore, its lovers, whatever the apparent object of their love

(mahbûb) may be, given that all of the created beings are places of manifestation (majâlî) or "seats

of honour" [or "the wedding beds"] (manassât) of the revelation of the Truth (tajallî l-Haqq).

Therefore the love (widâd) of all [created beings] is constant: they are "the faithful in love" and He

is the one who constantly loves [and is loved]. But this reality, by virtue of the relationship between

God and humankind (al-Haqq wa-l-khalq) is veiled by the curtain that separates the creation from

the Divine Reality. For this reason, in the verse [Q. 85: 14], the name al-Ghafûr, "the One who

covers", appears with the name al-Wadûd, "the One who constantly loves [and is loved]", in

reference to this protective curtain[43].

According to this, when it is said that Qays loved Laylâ, the name Laylâ refers to the theophanic

place[44] and the same is true when it is said that Bishr loved Hind, Kuthayr loved 'Azza, Ibn

¯Durayh loved Lubnâ, Tawba loved al-Akhyaliyya, or that Jamîl loved Buthayna.[45]

All of these are "bridal chambers" (manassât) of the self-disclosure of the Truth [which for the

lovers is manifested in the beloved].

[Ultimately Only God is Loved][46]

It is possible for lovers not to know the name of the one they love. It may happen that someone

sees another person and falls in love with him without knowing who he is, or his name, his lineage,

or where he lives. By its own essence, love drives him to find out the name of the beloved and to

discover his dwelling-place so that he may begin to frequent it. When the beloved is absent, the

lover has knowledge of him through his name and his relationships, and asks for him when he

cannot see him. Thus is our love for Allâh – may he be exalted – We love Him in His epiphanies

(majâlî) and in this particular name (ism khâss) which is "Laylâ" or "Lubnâ" or whoever it may be,

without having consciousness that it is the same divine Reality ('ayn al-Haqq) [that we love]. In this

case we love the name [for example Laylà] and we do not know her real essence which is the

Truth. In relation to the created, [as we have already seen] one might know and love the entity

('ayn), possibly without knowing its name, but real love refuses to accept this and is only content

with the knowledge of the name, that is to say, the Beloved.

Among us are those who already know Him in this world and those who do not know Him until they

die whilst loving something in particular. So, at the removal of the veil (kashf al-ghitâ')[47] it is

revealed to them that in reality they did not love any other than Allâh – but they were veiled by the

name of the creature (ism al-makhlûq) – in the same way that the servant of the creature ('abd al-

makhlûq) here is the one who adores it without knowing that, ultimately, in a manner unknown to

him, he only adores God.

Thus, the object of his adoration might be called [with the names of the goddesses] Manâ, al-'Uzzâ,

or al-Lât,[48] but when he dies and the veil is removed, he knows with certainty that he did not

adore any other than God, and understands the meaning of the Word of God who said: "Your Lord

has decreed" – that is to say, has resolved (hakama) – "that you only adore Him" (Q.|17: 23).[49]

Likewise, if the idolater ('âbid al-watn) does not believe that divinity (ulûhiyya) is within the idol in

a certain way (bi-wajh),[50] then he will not adore it. It may also happen as a result of the veil that

covers reality – according to the Divine Word "al-Ghafûr al-Wadûd" – that the idolater does not

recognize Him [in the idols] although they are nothing but His names (asmâ'). For this reason, [in

the verse 13: 33] the Truly Adored One (ma'bûd haqîqî) said in the same situation, when the

polytheists ascribed their adoration to epiphanic places (majâlî) and to the seats of honour

(manassât) in which He has revealed Himself, "Say: Name them! (sammû-hum)", since on naming

them they would know them, and on knowing them, they would distinguish between Allâh and

whoever they would name, as the receptacle of His epiphany is distinguished from the One who is

manifested in it, in such a way that, establishing the adequate distinction, we say that the second

is the place of the manifestation of the first.

[The Unity of Love: a Unique Essence]

1. Such is the situation if you understand it well:

If you are in Him, then you are you.

2. In truth you are the bridal chamber

where the Truth (manassât al-Haqq) reveals Himself,

but you are not you when you are.

3. You conquered the one you wanted so much[51]

and thus, since you knew the one you adored

4. now you know he is neither Laylâ nor

Lubnâ[52] but rather He whom you well know.

5. If from yourself you see His love

then you can contemplate Him being you.

Since the lover only loves himself

as everything is You, everything is You.

How marvellous is the Qur'ân in establishing correspondences between the Divine Names and the

states!: "He [God] is the One who covers (al-Ghafûr), the Constant in His Love (al-Wadûd), the Lord

of the Throne (Dhû l-'arsh), the Exalted One (al-Majîd), Who always does what He wants (fa''âlun li-

mâ yurîd)[53]. Thus He is the Lover and "the One who does what he wants," so that he is also the

Beloved one (mahbûb) since the beloved does what he wants with his lover.[54] The lover obeys

and complies with all that his beloved requires of him with total conformity, since the lover is the

one who is faithful in his love (wadûd), that is to say, the one who is constant in the requirements

and conditions that the actualization of love (mahâbba) requires. In fact the essence [of both the

lover and the beloved] is single[55] as re¦ected in the aforementioned passage in the Qur'ân, in

which the Constant in love (wadûd) [attribute of the lover] is also "the One who does what he

wants" [attribute of the beloved]. Consider then how marvellous and subtle is this divine

suggestion, "and say: My Lord! Increase my knowledge!"[56] "And God says the Truth (al-Haqq)

and indicates[57] the way" (Q. 33: 4).

(III) The Lexical Inter-Reference in The Root Of The Term Manassa

Having concluded the section about al-Wadûd, I will now brie¦y analyse the implications and lexical

inter-references of the term manassa which the author has employed repeatedly in the text. This

commentary may serve as an example of the expressive possibilities of the text and of the

technical nature of this ocean of polyvalences into which the interpreter dives.

Derived from the verb nassa, which means "to elevate", "to show" (with ilâ "to attribute", "to

indicate", "to fix"…; with 'alâ "to make the bride sit on her seat of honour", "to order"…), manassa

means the "bridal chamber", "seat of honour", "podium", "throne"…. The term thus designates a

place of elevation and manifestation. Ibn 'Arabî uses it in an analogous sense to the term mazhar,

place of manifestation (zuhûr) or majlà, the support of the epiphany (tajallî). However, the term

manassa alludes to the image of the beloved, with her face covered and elevated in her seat of

honour during the public ceremony, who after the wedding celebration will take off the veil in her

bridal chamber as a newlywed: hence his specificity and poeticality in the epithalamic, amatory

context.

Due to this and to an affinity with The Song of the Songs or The Spiritual Song of St. John of the

Cross, I have preferred to keep, when possible, this marital imagery.

In Arabic the word 'arûs, which Ibn 'Arabî uses in other texts to indicate the same marital

relationship, is ambiguous and might refer to the groom as well as the bride. This fact allows either

the lover or the beloved to occupy the position of wife or husband in the metaphor. Let us

remember that in the Akbarian doctrine of love it is ultimately God Himself who is the lover and the

beloved. For example, in one of his Mafârid[58] he says:

To my own soul (nafs)

I was wed

and I was my husband

while I was my wife.[59]

Hence, manassa can mean (1) a place of elevation and manifestation as well as (2) a wedding

chamber where the newlyweds meet. As we shall see, the term can also mean (3) the creative

recitation of the text in which activity and receptivity coincide.

As already mentioned, in one of its meanings, nassa signifies (with the preposition ilâ) "to

determine", "to fix (in writing)", and from there nass comes to mean "text". Hence, "the place of

elevation in which the beloved is manifested" (manassa) could also be "the place of the revelation

of the text". This revealed text would be, in this sense, the wedding chamber in which the beloved

– essence and meaning – unveils herself to the lover or would be the inspired recitation of the text

in the state of theophanic prayer when it is God himself who recites His own Word.

Thus the term manassa allusively designates the Qur'ân as theophany and the bridal chamber of

lover and beloved, united in the reading of the revealed text.

(Translated from the Spanish by Amy Franklin and Cecilia Twinch)

Notes

[1] See Ibn 'Arabî, El secreto de los Nombres de Dios (Kashf al-ma'nâ 'an sirr asmâ' Allâh al-husnâ)

(ERM, Murcia, 1996), pp.|107 and 188–90.

[2] MS. Evkaf Müzesi, Volume 33, folios 1b–4b.

[3] The Loving One, the One who is Constant in His Love, the One who is Faithful in Love, the

Affable One, the Affectionate One.

[4] That is, primarily, the Prophet Muhammad – one of whose names is Habîb, "Beloved" – as the

supreme representative of the human condition, the Perfect Man par excellence, Seal of universal

prophecy in the horizontal, historical dimension and Muhammadian Reality or Light, from which the

universe was created, in its vertical, cosmic dimension.

[5] (Q.|78:7) "Have we not made of the earth a bed and of the mountains pegs (stakes) (awtâd)?"

In Arabic, the expression awtâd al-ard, lit. "stakes of the earth" means the "mountains". Ibn 'Arabî

quotes this verse in order to point out the semantic connection of the term watad, pl. awtâd, "peg

or stake of a tent", with the term wadd which, in addition to "loving constancy", also has this

meaning of "stake". Based on this synonymous connection, Ibn 'Arabî interprets wadd as "a love

which fixes and consolidates".

[6] Ibn 'Arabî distinguishes between sympathy or loving inclination (hawà), affection (wadd) which

is its consolidation (thabât), love (hubb) which is detached and free from its own will in favour of

the will of the Beloved, and passion ('ishq). Cf. Fut. IV, p.|259 (lines| 28–30).

Nevertheless, in another passage the Shaykh explains that affection does not only designate

consolidation of sympathy but "it means the constancy of love (hubb), of passion ('ishq) or of loving

inclination (hawà)." Cf. Fut. II, p.|337.

[7] Futûhât makkiyya, Cairo, 1329|h (reprinted Beirut, undated), pp.|259–61. This edition has widâd

instead of wadûd which appears in the Bûlâq edition, Cairo, 1293|h, pp.|333–5. In the autograph

only the name (al-wadûd) is mentioned and, after the poem, we read hâ¯dihi hadrat al-wadd (see

folio 1b).

In the first and third of the three poems included in the text, both of which rhyme in tâ', one notes

a particular repetition of the use of the second person singular (anta), characterized by this same

letter tâ' which is written with two diacritical points.

The middle poem rhymes in dâl. It is interesting to observe that in the name wadûd – written w-d-

w-d – [6 + 4 + 6 + 4 = 10 + 10 = 20 = kâf = kawn (creation) = 2 (minor system) = second person]

the same letters are repeated twice.

The repetition of the sequence "w-d" indicates constancy as well as parity and unity in the lover-

beloved duality.

[8] With this term (sing. sima) with the root w-s-m like wasîm (beautiful), wassama (to hurry to the

reunion of pilgrims in Mecca) and mawsim (season, time) the author is referring to the Quranic

term sîmâ, with the related root (s-w-m) and an analogous meaning, "… Their distinctive marks are

on their faces (wujûh – a word used in the verse), as a result of prostration …" (Q.|48:|29). "… In

‘high places' (al-A'râf) there will be men who will recognize each one by his distinctive marks

(sîmâ) …" (Q.|7:|46). This passage (7:|46 and ff.) refers to those who dwell in the Garden.

[9] Lit. "and to Him."

[10] This wâdî, "riverbed" or "watercourse" (active part. of the lexical root w-d-y, a root which by

analogy refers back to that of wadd, w-d-d) may allude to the waters upon which, according to the

hadith, the Divine Throne is raised. There, there is no companion (anîs) because there is only One.

[11] Ibn 'Arabî represents the Pedestal at the foot of the Divine Throne as a circle which,

encompassed by the greater circle that represents the Throne, includes in its turn the seven

heavens and seven earths of the cosmos. The two feet of the Creator, symbolizing the creative

duality of the opposites, rest on this Divine Pedestal.

This is also an allusion to the verse which says, "To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on

the earth … His Pedestal (kursî) encompasses the heavens and the earth …" (Q.|2:|255).

If the name al-Rahmân – which, like the Name Allâh integrates the totality of the Names (see Ibn

'Arabî, El secreto de los Nombres de Dios 1–2) – corresponds to the all-comprehensive reality of the

Throne ("al-Rahmân is sitting on the throne …", Q.|20:|5), the different names and the opposition of

the contraries (Interior/Exterior, etc.) correspond to the dominion of the Footstool or Pedestal.

[12] Possibly an allusion to the active spirits (arwâh fâ'ila) and natural bodies (juthuth tabî'iyya)

which are born as a result of the marital union (nikâh) of the "heaven" – active principle, and the

"earth" – passive principle. "If the ‘water' (sperm) of the agent of union (nâkih) predominates over

the ‘water' of the passive receiver of the union (mankûh), the fruit of this union is masculine (the

child is male), so that active spirits appear; if the reverse is the case, the fruit is feminine (the child

is female), so that receptive and passive natural bodies appear." Fut. IV, p.|266.

[13] The support or place-time in which the original love is actualized.

[14] That is, insofar as wadd signifies watad, "stake" and thus "fixity".

[15] In the section that follows, the author does not deal with the Divine Attributes or the Names

which are attributable to God, but with the manifestation of the states of love in the human being,

presented here in a progressive way.

[16] The author deals with the same theme in Chapter 178 of the Futûhât, entitled fî ma'rifa

maqâm al-mahabba, vol.|II (edn Beirut), pp.|360–2. See the French version Le traité de l'amour,

trans. M. Gloton, ed. Albin Michel (Paris, 1986) and the extracts translated by M. AsSn Palacios, El

Islam cristianizado, pp. 426–18.

[17] It would therefore be analogous to the state indicated by the expression "to fall in love".

Nevertheless, the Arabic root may also indicate an ascending movement.

[18] Or "germinant" and "seminal love", since habba means "seed".

[19] It is illuminating to be aware of this meaning, considering it is God Himself who attributes the

condition of Lover to Himself and responds to the demand of the creatures as the Mujîb, "the One

who responds".

[20] Ibn 'Arabî quotes these words as coming from the Torah. See William Chittick, The Sufi Path of

Knowledge (Albany, NY, 1989), p.|391, n.|13. It may be a tradition from some rabbinical

commentary.

[21] That is, "of my loving constancy", in the sense of watad, "stake" or "peg" with which the ropes

of a tent are fixed.

[22] Bi-hâ may refer to the essence-eye ('ayn): when God wants an eye-entity to be found – that is,

to receive existence – He sees it and wants it through this very eye.

[23] As has already been mentioned, the numerical value of the name wadûd, in what is called the

greater calculation, is 20. This is also the numerical value of the letter kâf which refers to the suffix

of the second person (ka). However, in writing – which is what counts in the sum of the letters – the

terms wad(d) [6 + 4] and hub(b) [8 + 2] give the same total [= 10].

[24] The attribute itself of the engendered being is this condition as predicate, the reception of the

creative command.

[25] Fa-'ayn al-hubb 'ayn al-kawn min-hu: therefore, the entity of creative love (hubb) is the same

entity as the engendered being which derives from it. Original love is identical to the being

engendered (kawn) from it and constancy of love (widâd) determines it and causes what is

engendered/predicated to manifest.

[26] Also "is loved", since the form fa'ûl is both active and passive. The name al-Wadûd, when it

refers to God, therefore means lover-beloved.

[27] An allusion to the Quranic verse 55:|29. That is, every day and at every instant He is occupied

with the renewal of creation.

[28] Note the circular nature of the creative process: He responds to the request which His own

action causes in the created one, so that demand and reply, activity and passivity, coincide and

correspond to each other like the images on both sides of a mirror.

[29] On this interpretation of the name al-Ghafûr, commonly understood as "the Indulgent One",

"the One who Forgives", see El secreto de los Nombres de Dios, n.|35, p.|145, and n.|16.3, p.|331.

In this context, al-Ghafûr, which is associated with al-Wadûd which follows it in the text, is the One

who covers or veils the Divine constancy, the immutability of His love and His will, the One who

veils the Throne and keeps hidden the fact that it is He Himself who is, in fact, epiphanized in every

lover and beloved.

[30] In my opinion, the first poem of this section is based on and inspired by the scriptural

con¦uence of the names Wadûd and Dhûl-'arsh in this verse – let us remember that for Ibn 'Arabî

no detail of the Quranic text, which is providentially inspired, escapes the Divine consciousness.

[31] In both the Futûhât and El secreto de los Nombres this name (al-Majîd) is commented on after

the al-Wadûd, and it also appears in this order in the traditional list by Walîd (see D. Gimaret, Les

noms divins en Islam; Paris, 1988).

[32] An allusion to Q.|20:|5.

[33] The actualization of love.

[34] Thus in the autograph and the Beirut edition, fî ghaybi-hi. In the Bûlâq edition it reads "or in

Himself" (fî'ayni-hi).

[35] Universal Man, created in His image, is the lover and beloved of God.

[36] In Arabic, the pupil is literally called "the man of the eye".

[37] In order to understand this passage it is necessary to bear in mind the hadiths relating to al-

Ihsân and supererogatory works (nawâfil).

[38] From this we may gather that the jinn, insofar as they are worshippers, may also be lovers.

[39] An allusion to Q.|17:44. However, in Perfect Man the praise which God addresses to Himself

takes place, that is, the praise to God with His own praise.

[40] The onomatophany of the Infinitely Beautiful One, whose all-encompassing beauty

corresponds to manifestation.

[41] That is, in the wholeness of the manifestations of God or the names contained in the all-

comprehensive name Allâh.

[42] That is, in the name of God or the onomatophany which rules his state at that moment.

[43] Without which, according to the well-known hadith of the veils of Light and darkness, the

glorious lights of the Divine face would annihilate the reality of the creatures.

[44] Laylâ is therefore the onomatophany of al-Wadûd, the Beloved.

[45] All of these are famous pairs of archetypal lovers in Arabic literature.

[46] Next the author deals indirectly with the names of God, the lordly names which are the

"relationships" which govern the actuality of the servant and with the progressive knowledge of

Him which man acquires as a result of his aspiration.

[47] An allusion to Q.|50: 22.

[48] An allusion to Q.|53: 19–20 (a verse which, according to tradition, has been abrogated).

[49] Regarding this, Ibn 'Arabî says, "Men have many beliefs about God / and I profess everything

that they profess," that is, I profess them all. Fut., edn. Bûlâq, III, p.|131.

[50] Or "manifesting a face of the divinity".

[51] In the hadith of the Hidden Treasure two variations appear: arâda and ahabba. Here arâda is

used in this meaning of "to want". However, it also means "mean" and, in this sense, the verse

would be translated, "the one to whom you referred, or whom you meant: (with the meanings of

love…)". Ultimately, all the loved-beings are signifiers of the same ultimate meaning, the Single

Lover-Beloved.

[52] Laylâ ("Night") is the name of the well-known Bedouin beloved of Qays who is proverbially

known in the entire Islamic world as Majnûn-Laylâ, "the one who is mad for love of Laylâ". Sufi

authors have made these two characters, who appear repeatedly in love poetry, into the paradigm

of the lover and beloved whose human love is transformed into love for the divine.

Lubnâ [bint al-Hubâb al-Ka'biyya (d.687)] is the name of the famous beloved of the poet Qays b.

¯Durayh. Her name, which has the lexical root l-b-n, like the word laban (milk), alludes to

knowledge ('ilm), due to a hadith which Ibn 'Arabî often quotes and comments on with respect to

symbolic interpretation. It refers to a dream-vision in which the Prophet drank from a bowl of milk

which he then passed to his companion 'Umar and then interpreted the milk (laban) as a symbol of

knowledge. On this hadith, see for example W. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Knowledge, s.v. (pp.|119

and others).

[53] Q.|85:|14–16. This expression again refers to the hadith of the Hidden Treasure. God does,

creates or manifests what He wants (irâda), what He loves (hubb).

[54] The author uses mahbûb here instead of muhibb. I think "lover" is clearer in the context.

[55] Both are one and the same reality.

[56] Q.|20:|114. See the complete verse which contains a suggestion addressed to the Prophet

which illustrates a fundamental aspect of Ibn 'Arabî's hermeneutic procedure in conformity with the

descent of revelation, "Do not hurry in the recitation [of the Qur'ân] before its inspiration has been

completely communicated to you, and say …".

If one here understands bi-l-qur'ân to mean the "reading" or reception of the Qur'ân, the verse

constitutes a hermeneutic hint: in the inspired interpretation, the contemplative "receives" the

meaning and lets himself be guided. It is not therefore a question of minutely examining the text

philologically, but of remaining open to divine inspiration.

[57] Ibn 'Arabî ends most of the sections of this chapter and many of his other writings with this

Quranic saying. One might say that this formula is a kind of literary hijjîr [inspirational Quranic

verse or "sign" intimately connected to the very heart of the particular traveller and to his personal

"migration" (hijra) towards the Real] of the author's. In this context it is perhaps significant to point

out that the verb used here, "guide" or "direct", also means "to lead (the bride) to the husband".

[58] Single, independent verses.

[59] Ibn 'Arabî, al-Dîwân al-kabîr, edn. Bombay, undated, p.|25.