Prophet Muhammad: A Divine Mercy for the Worlds: Lecture 5
Stages of the Bow of Descent
Author: Sheikh Mansour Leghaei
Stages of the Bow of Descent
To understand the concept of the first creation and manifestation of God, you need to activate your sense of imagination and fly out of the world of matter.
Let your mind go beyond the four dimensions of matter. Now you are in the world of spirit. You may even endeavour to pass the entire contingent world be it matter or immaterial worlds. Muslim mystics consider the stages of life as follows:
1. The stage of the Unseen of the Unseens (the West Griffin : Anqa Maghrib):
In this stage all that is considered is but the essence of Allah without even any Names or Attributes, let alone His creation. This is the stage that no contingent being can ever reach.
2. The Stage of the First Appointment : The stage of Uniqueness: (ahadiyyat)
This is the stage where one being or the appointment of one being can be considered. What we mean by the appointment of one being is that an attribute could be related to God. i.e. an attribute that is the source of all other attributes and beings.
This is the stage of God witnessing His essence for Himself which is called the stage of uniqueness (of God) or the stage of “or nearer”.
3. The stage of the Second Appointment: The stage of the Oneness (the distance of two bows lengths)
This is the stage of all divine names and attributes. All Knowing, All Mighty, All Living and all the names of God is considered at this stage.
After the stage of Oneness is the stage of A`yanneh sabiteh as named by Ibn Arabi. This is the stage of the manifestation of divine names and attributes.
This is the stage of the appearance of the manifestations of divine names and attributes, manifestations which were concealed in the previous stage.
Creation begins from this stage and the question is what would be the first creation.
Some philosophers regarded the first creation or manifestation the intellect for it is immaterial and is not limited to space and time. (Sharhe Manzoumeh vol.2. p58-59)
Other Links:
Prophet Muhammad: A Divine Mercy for the Worlds: Lecture 1
Prophet Muhammad: A Divine Mercy for the Worlds: Lecture 2
Prophet Muhammad: A Divine Mercy for the Worlds: Lecture 3
Prophet Muhammad: A Divine Mercy for the Worlds: Lecture 4
Source: www.ihic.org
Author: Sheikh Mansour Leghaei
