ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Philosophical Instructions Lesson Sixty-Five: The Divine Attributes Introduction Regarding the limits of human abilities to know God, and the attributes which can be attributed to the divine essence there are various tendencies, some of which go to one extreme and some to another.

For example, relying on some ambiguous verses of the Qur’ān and narrations attributed to the Prophet ( ṣ ), some relate attributes and actions of material existents, such as sadness, happiness, going and coming, and sitting and rising, to God the Supreme. They are called in technical terms mujassimah (those who believe in corporeal attributes) and mushabbihah (those who believe in the similarity between God and creatures).

Others have absolutely denied the power of man to know the essence and attributes of Almighty God. They rely on another set of narrations and verses of the Qur’ān, and they take the attributes and actions related to God Almighty to be negative. For example, they have interpreted knowledge as the negation of ignorance and power as the negation of weakness. Some have even expressed the view that attribution of existence to God, the Supreme, does not mean anything but the denial of nothingness!

In the midst of this, there exists a third tendency which chooses a way between the extremes of similarity and abstraction. This tendency is agreeable to reason and is confirmed by the Immaculate Imams (Peace be upon them). We shall explain something about this tendency. The Limits to Knowing God It was previously said that knowledge of God, the Supreme, may be divided into two types: presentational intuitive knowledge, and acquired intellectual knowledge.

Presentational knowledge has different levels, the lowest of which exists in every human being, and with the perfection of the soul and focusing the attention of the heart, it becomes strengthened, until it reaches the level of the knowledge possessed by the Friends of God ( awliyā’ ) who see Him with the eye of the heart more clearly than any thing and prior to every thing.

But, in any case, the presentational knowledge of any*‘ārif* (gnostic, mystic) is measured by his existential relation and the relation of his heart to God, the Supreme. No one is ever able to completely comprehend the divine essence and know Him as He Himself knows Himself.