God’s Transcendence and Immanence

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Ya Ali Madad and Imamat Day Mubarak. On the occasion of the 67th anniversary of our beloved NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini’s (a.s.) accession to the masnat of Imamat, we extend our heartfelt felicitations to global Jamat. Let us reflect upon the Institution of Imamat and offer heartfelt gratitude for the guidance and vision of our present and living Holy Imam.

On this day, may Noor Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam, the 49th direct lineal descendant of the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.), grant peace, prosperity, happiness, barakat, higher spiritual enlightenment, spiritual & luminous tayid (help) and empowerment to the global Jamat as we go through this difficult period. Ameen.

Allâhumâ salli alâ Muhammadin wa âle Muhammad
(O Allah! Bestow Peace on and through Muhammad and his Descendants).

Introduction

This post has six headings :

1. Background on Transcendence and Immanence;
2. Ayat on God’s Transcendence: Surah As-Saffat (37:180);
3. Ayat on God’s Immanence: Surah Qaf (50:16);
4. Human Perfection;
5. Luminous Position of the Holy Imam; and
6. Global prayers and Three Grand Aspirations.

1. Background on Transcendence and Immanence

Transcendence is that aspect of God’s character that recognizes His position above and beyond all that He created. He is Great, Impenetrable, and Matchless. In contrast, His immanence recognizes that He graciously enters into His creation, working and acting within the world that He has made. So let us first read the difference between these two terms using the terminology of Ibn al-Arabi:

Chittick writes:

The Shaykh al-Akbar constantly alternates between these points of view. He maintains that true knowledge of God and creation can only come through combining the two perspectives. He commonly refers to them as (the declaration of God’s) incomparability (tanzih) and (the declaration of His) similarity (tashbih). Tanzih derives from the root n.z.h., which means to be far away from, to be untouched by, to be free from. Hence tanzih means to declare or to affirm that something is far away or free from something else. In other words. tanzih is to declare that God transcends any attribute or quality possessed by His creatures. Tashbih derived from he root sh.b.h., which means to be similar to something else or comparable. It signifies declaring or affirming that something is similar to something else; to compare, to liken. Hence tashbih is to maintain that a certain similarity can be found between God and creation.

Chittick, W. C. The Sufi Path of Knowledge. SUNY Press, Albany, 1989. p. 69

2. Ayat on God’s Transcendence: Surah As-Saffat (37:180)

Let us first read the ayat on God’s Transcendence:

“Subhaana Rabbikaa Rabbil-’Izzati ‘ammaa yasifunn!”
Glorified be thy Lord, the Lord of Majesty, that which they attribute
(unto Him)!

Holy Qur’an 37:180

Here is Ibn al-Arabi’s explanation:

Glorification is to declare the incomparability of the “Lord of inaccessibility above what they describe” (Koran 37:180). “Inaccessibility” requires that true knowledge of Him cannot be attained (II 580.14)

Glorification is a declaration of incomparability. It is not a laudation [praise] (thana) through a positive quality (amr thubuti). He cannot be lauded except through what is worthy of Him. But that which belongs to Him is not shared in common (musharaka) with anything. He can only be lauded through His names, but every one of His names known to us is assumed by the servant as his own trait (takhalluq), and by which he becomes qualified to measure that is appropriate for him. [Hence, there is no name worthy of God’s unique Essence.]

When somebody declared God’s incomparability, his declaration is measured according to his own level, since he does not declare His Creator’s incomparability except in respect of himself, since he only knows himself (III 120:19).

Chittick, W. C. The Sufi Path of Knowledge. SUNY Press, Albany, 1989. p. 71

How is transcendence incorporated in the practice of faith? When we recite ‘Subhan Allah‘ in the tasbi of Hazrat Bibi Fatimat-az-Zahra, Khatun-i-Jannat (‘Alayhi-s-salaam), we are not praising or seeking something from God but we are affirming that is He is above all else. Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam has articulated our esoteric path by teaching us to seek to come closer to He who is above all else through the Light of Hazrat Ali (a.s.). The transcendence of God is maintained in this search.

3. Ayat on God’s Immanence: Surah Qaf (50:16)

Let us first read the ayat on God’s Immanence:

“And indeed We created man, and know We whatever thoughts whispereth his self unto him, and We are nearer to him than his (very) life-vein”

Holy Qur’an 50:16

Here is Ibn al-Arabi’s explanation:

When God’s similarity with the creature is affirmed, the situation appears in a different light. In respect to His similarity. God is seen as immanent and near. He appears in the guise of gentleness, mercy, beauty, generosity, love, forgiveness, pardon, bestowal and beneficence. Because He possesses these attributes, the existence of each creature is a matter of His immediate concern. The human response to this relationship is love, devotion and the desire to move nearer to the Source of light. It is in this respect that human being are created upon God’s form and can actualize the fullness of their theomorphic nature. If in the first respect man is God’s slave, in the second respect he may become His “vicegerent” (khalifa) and “friend” (wali)—two important technical terms.

Chittick, W. C. The Sufi Path of Knowledge. SUNY Press, Albany, 1989. p. 24

Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam addresses as his beloved spiritual children and he has nurtured all of us, individually, in the material, spiritual and luminous domains of our existence. He has shown all the attributes listed above and each one of us has a potential of becoming enlightened and achieve human perfection. Let us now read about human perfection from Ibn al-Arabi’s perspective.

4. Human Perfection

Chittick writes:

God created the universe to manifest the fullness of His generosity and mercy. Through the cosmos, Being displays the infinite possibilities latent within Itself. But It only manifests Itself in Its fullness through perfect man, since he alone actualizes every divine character trait, or every quality of Being. He is the human individual who has attained to the total actualization of his theomorphism, such that the name Allah shines forth in him in infinite splendor.

The real fullness of the perfect man’s existence must be sought in inward domains, the innumerable intermediate worlds that lie between the sensory shell and the divine kernel. … In perfect man the microcosm and the macrocosm have been become one through inner unity. In other terms, the macrocosm is the body, perfect man the heart. In him all things are bought together, whether divine or cosmic. Just as Allah is the “all-comprehensive name” (al-ism al-jami), so perfect man is the the “all-comprehensive engendered thing” (al-kawn al-jami) in which the divine names receive their full manifestation on every level of the cosmos.

In perfect man can be seen the unity of the dynamic and static dimensions of Ibn al-Arabi’s cosmology. As an existent thing who lives on every level of the cosmos, perfect man embraces in himself every hierarchy. But as a human individual who has come into existence and then returned to his Creator, he has tied together the Origin and the Return, He lives fully and consciously on all levels of descent through which light becomes separate from Light and on levels of ascent through which light retraces its steps and human intelligence rejoins divine knowledge. He is the part and the Whole, the many and the One, the small and the Great, everything and All. Just as he turns around God, so does the cosmos turns round about him.

Chittick, W. C. The Sufi Path of Knowledge. SUNY Press, Albany, 1989. p. 30

5. Luminous Position of the Holy Imam

Let us first read the following tawil:

Ta’wil of word ‘Abad’ (Timelessness, Hazaratu’l-qudus):
‘The sacred Sanctuary, i.e. the greatest treasure of secrets is in the light of the forehead of the manifest Imam, where God has gathered together all things related to intellect, knowledge, recognition and spirituality. The same sacred light also rises in the forehead of the perfect arif (a knowledgeable person) for the sake of recognition. Thus, azal (pre-eternity), abad (post-eternity) and other realities are gathered together and centered in the enclosure of the light of the forehead.’

Tawil number 13, A Thousand Wisdoms: An Encyclopaedia of Tawil, p. 25

Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam exists in four places; (1) in this world (Nasut), he has a body; (2) in the Spirit world (Malakut), he is a great soul; (3) in the world of Light (Jabarut), he is a great light; and (4) in the world of Oneness, he is Monoreal (i.e., he is at a place where all realities become one reality). Therefore, as we have performed the baiyat of the Holy Imam, we can also be actually present with him provided we develop relationships with him at all these levels. Therefore, it is most important for the murid to first know about the four levels of recognition of the Holy Imam and then make an effort to develop himself/herself to his/her full potential. Al-Hamdulillah, even this barakat is in the treasury of Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam and we should do our utmost to carry the Holy Imam’s light in our foreheads!

6. Global Prayers and Three Grand Aspirations

Through the barakat of recitation of Holy Quran, Qasidas, Holy Ginans and voluminous prayers and Angelic Salwat by many, many individuals of the global Jamat, O Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam, bless the global Jamat with:

1. Spiritual and luminous tayid (help) to advance materially, spiritually and intellectually;
2. Sunshine in our spiritual hearts and actualization of the inner vision of the Truth;
3. Empowerment to present a Material Nazrana of time, knowledge and financial resources;
4. Empowerment to present a Spiritual Nazrana in the form of a pure heart which is in a state of constant dhikr; and
5. Empowerment to present a Luminous Nazrana in the form of a sound heart (qalb-i salim) which is in a state of constant dhikr and enlightenment.

May Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam expand every murid’s spiritual heart, fill it with his NOOR and enable it to perform the spiritual prostration of the heart on this festive occasion!

Imamat Day Mubarak!

Ardent Prayers for Spiritual Advancement

Angelic Salwat Supplication

Let us now start supplicating with angelic salwat, Allâhumâ salli alâ Muhammadin wa âle Muhammad (O Allah! Bestow Peace on and through Muhammad and his Descendants) to our beloved NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam for mushkil aasan for material and spiritual upliftment.

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful