ভূমিকা

With a continuous chain of authorities reaching up to Muhammad ibn Ya’qub al-Kulayni, from ‘Ali ibn Muhammad, from someone who reported it, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa, from Muhammad ibn Humran, from al-Fadl ibn al-Sakn, from Abu ‘Abd Allah (A) who said: The Commander of the Faithful (A) said, “Know God through God, the Messenger through the Messengership, and the wali al-amr by his commanding to what is right (amr bil-ma’ruf), his justice and kindness.”[^1] Exposition There is an evident difference between the terms ‘irfan and ‘ ilm , recognition and knowledge.

It is said that ‘ilm (knowledge) in its original sense specifically relates to the universals, and ma’rifah (recognition, gnosis) is specific for that which relates to particulars and persons. They say that an ‘ arif billah (a gnostic of God) is someone who knows God through direct witnessing ( mushahadah huduriyyah ) and an ‘alim billah is someone who attains the knowledge of God through philosophical proofs.

Some say that ‘ilm and ‘irfan differ in two respects; first, in respect of the related object (of cognition), as mentioned above, and secondly, a prior state of forgetfulness is assumed in ma’rifah. Hence when something becomes the object of cognition for the first time, one is said to acquire its ‘ilm , and when something was known and forgotten to be known for a second time, one is said to obtain its ma’rifah.

And the ‘ari f is called ‘arif because of his recollection of his existence and stages of life preceding his natural and mulki existence, and some of the people of the path of wayfaring claim to have remembered the world of dharr. [^2] They say that if the veil of physical nature, which causes forgetfulness and negligence, were to be removed from the wayfarer’s eyes, he would recall the previous worlds through which he has passed.