83. My Yearning to Return Home

Kapitel in diesem Buch

1. Frontmatter i
2. Letter from the General Editor iii
3. Contents ix
4. Acknowledgments xiii
5. Foreword xv
6. Introduction xxi
7. Note on the Text xxxiii
8. Notes to the Introduction xxxvi
9. Preamble 1
10. Introduction: The Reason for Writing This Book 5
11. 1. Who Will Benefit from This Book? 13
12. 2. A Proof of the Eternal 16
13. 3. God’s Transcendence 19
14. 4. Categories of Existence 21
15. 5. Divine Names 23
16. 6. Divine Attributes 24
17. 7. The Divine Names Are Relations 25
18. 8. Necessity, Contingency, Impossibility 27
19. 9. Why Did God Effectuate Existence? 29
20. 10. The Face of God and Existents 31
21. 11. God’s Infinite Knowledge 32
22. 12. Knowledge Is a Divine Attribute 33
23. 13. God’s Knowledge Is Changeless 35
24. 14. A Glimpse at the Stage beyond the Intellect 36
25. 15. The Inability to Comprehend God’s Knowledge 37
26. 16. True Faith 41
27. 17. The Intellect’s Proper Place 42
28. 18. The Stage beyond the Intellect and Premises 43
29. 19. The Inner Eye 44
30. 20. Longing for God 46
31. 21. Familiarity with the Spiritual World 47
32. 22. The Stage of Prophecy 48
33. 23. Faith in the Unseen 49
34. 24. The Path to Faith in Prophecy 50
35. 25. The Stage beyond the Intellect and the Divine Attributes 51
36. 26. The Intellect’s Relationship to Love 53
37. 27. The Lover’s Attraction to the Beloved 54
38. 28. The Last Stage of the Intellect 56
39. 29. “The Incapacity to Perceive Is Perception” 58
40. 30. A Transition 59
41. 31. God’s Essence and Attributes 60
42. 32. The Divine Essence and Its Standpoints 61
43. 33. The Way of the Righteous Predecessors 63
44. 34. Scriptural Evidence 64
45. 35. The Divine Attributes Are Relations 65
46. 36. Nonduality 67
47. 37. A Note on the Eternity of the World 69
48. 38. Divine Causation 71
49. 39. The True Nature of Causation 72
50. 40. An Example Using Natural Phenomena 74
51. 41. The Oneness of Existence and Causation 76
52. 42. An Example Using Mirrors 78
53. 43. The Mirror of the Intellect 79
54. 44. The Forms in Mirrors Are Relations 80
55. 45. A Note on the Limits of the Intellect 82
56. 46. Mirrors and the State of Dreaming 84
57. 47. Divine Power and Human Power 86
58. 48. The Possible and the Impossible 88
59. 49. Possibility Means Contingency 89
60. 50. The Creation of the World and Time 91
61. 51. Clarifications on the Term “World” 92
62. 52. The Eternity of the World in the Eyes of the Recognizer 94
63. 53. Do “Was” and “Is” Apply to God? 96
64. 54. God’s Beginninglessness and Time 98
65. 55. A Hint at Perpetual Renewal 100
66. 56. Perpetual Renewal 102
67. 57. Divine Withness 104
68. 58. A Note on Cosmic Order 106
69. 59. Witnessing Perpetual Renewal 107
70. 60. God’s Coextensiveness in the Eyes of the Recognizer 108
71. 61. The Difference between Knowledge and Recognition 110
72. 62. God-Given Knowledge 112
73. 63. Types of Knowledge and Instruction 114
74. 64. Setting Out on the Path of Recognition 115
75. 65. The Next Step on the Path of Recognition 116
76. 66. Spiritual Companionship 117
77. 67. Felicity 118
78. 68. God’s Generosity toward Me 119
79. 69. Finding a Spiritual Guide 120
80. 70. True Spiritual Guides and False Claimants 121
81. 71. Self-Admiration and Spiritual Guidance 122
82. 72. Back to the Question of Divine Priority 124
83. 73. God’s Withness Does Not Mean Human Withness 126
84. 74. Categories of Proximity and Distance 128
85. 75. The Last “Day” 130
86. 76. The Soul’s Relationship to the Body 131
87. 77. The Soul’s Immortality 133
88. 78. Souls Precede Bodies 134
89. 79. The Diversity of Souls 135
90. 80. The Relationship between the Soul and the Body 137
91. 81. God’s Self-Disclosure 138
92. 82. The Annihilation of My Metaphorical Identity 140
93. 83. My Yearning to Return Home 141
94. 84. In the Divine Presence 142
95. 85. A Final Word about My Journey 143
96. 86. Fleeing from This World 144
97. 87. Unhindered Souls 145
98. 88. Faith in the Afterlife 147
99. 89. The Intellect and the Afterlife 149
100. 90. Faith in the Unseen 151
101. 91. Searching for God 152
102. 92. Striving for Understanding 153
103. 93. The Evident and the Mysterious 154
104. 94. The Coming of the Hour 155
105. 95. The Stage beyond the Intellect Is Accessible to All 158
106. 96. The Intellect and the Stage beyond It 159
107. 97. Overcoming the Desire to Know 160
108. 98. Freedom from Time and Space 162
109. 99. Reaching God 163
110. 100. An Invitation 164
111. Conclusion: On Yearning 165
112. Notes 167
113. Glossary of Names 184
114. Bibliography 187
115. Further Reading 198
116. Index of Qurʾanic Verses 200
117. Index 202
118. About the NYUAD Research Institute 211
119. About the Translator 212
120. The Library of Arabic Literature 213