Sometimes it is also said that the quest for God and worship...

Sometimes it is also said that the quest for God and worship of God are due to human nature, and counted among the second class of innate things. But here, the topic is knowledge of God. What is meant by innate knowledge of God is either knowledge by presence, some degree of which exists in all humans, and perhaps there is an allusion to this in the noble āyah : ‘Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes.’ (7:176).

It was mentioned in Lesson Forty-Nine that an effect which possesses a degree of immateriality will have a degree of presentational knowledge of its creative cause, even though it may be unconscious or semiconscious and, due to its weakness, improperly interpreted by the mind.2 This knowledge becomes stronger due to the perfection of the soul and the concentration of the attention of the heart on the sacred divine presence and by means of good deeds and worship.

And among the Friends ( awliyā’ ) of God it reaches such a degree of clarity that they see God more clearly than anything else, as is found in the Supplication of ‘Arafah : “Has anything other than You a manifestation that You lack, so that it may manifest You?!” Sometimes what is meant by innate knowledge of God is acquired knowledge.

Innate acquired knowledge is either of a primary self-evident proposition, which is related to the nature of the intellect, or it is of a secondary self-evident proposition, which are what logicians call ‘innate things.’ Sometimes the term is also used in a general way for theoretical propositions ( naẓariyyāt ) which come close to being self-evident, because anyone can understand them with his God-given intellect, and there is no need for complicated technical demonstrations.

Likewise, people who are illiterate and unlearned also can discover the existence of Almighty God with simple reasoning. It may be concluded that innate knowledge of God in the sense of presentational knowledge of Almighty God has degrees, the lowest of which exists in all people, even if they are not completely aware of it, and the highest degrees are restricted to perfect believers and Friends of God.

No degree of this knowledge is obtained by means of intellectual or philosophical demonstration. However, in the sense of acquired knowledge close to being self-evident, this is obtained by means of the intellect and reasoning. Its closeness to self-evidence and simplicity of reasoning does not mean that it is not in need of demonstration.