ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Philosophical Instructions Lesson Thirty: The Levels of Existence Positions on the Unity and Plurality of Being We know that the individual unity of every entified existent is not contrary to the real plurality of all existents. Likewise, the continuous unity of the material world is not contrary to the plurality of material existents, a plurality which is obtained in the shadow of the multiplicity of different forms.

We also know that the unity of the order of the world does not mean its real unity. However, the individual unity of the world, taken to be a living existent having a spirit, cannot be established, and on the assumption that it could be established, it would be an accidental unity. Any way, the subject of unity in the three mentioned suppositions pertains to the natural world, or at most, to the world of contingent beings.

The question now is whether or not a unity can be proven for all being, including the sacred Divine Essence. In this regard, four positions may be indicated: The position of the ṣūfīs, who consider real existence to be limited to the sacred Divine Essence, and they consider all other existents to have a metaphorical existence. This position is known a ‘ waḥdat-e wujūd wa mawjūd ’ (the unity of existence and existent).

This position appears to be contrary to what is obvious and [given by] consciousness. However, it is possible to give this position some sort of interpretation, according to which it can be taken as a form of another position, the fourth position, to be mentioned below. The position of Dawwānī, which considers [unity] to be demanded by the ‘divine temperament,’ which is known as ‘ waḥdat-e wujūd wa kathrat-e mawjūd ’ (the unity of existence and the plurality of existents).

According to this position, true existence is specific to God, the Exalted, while ‘true existent’ also includes creatures, but in the sense of ‘being related to true existence,’ not in the sense of ‘having true existence.’ Likewise, some [morphological] respectivals also convey this meaning, for example, tāmir , which is derived from tamr (date), which means date-seller and is related to dates, and the expression mushammas , which means something upon which the light of the sun shines, derives its meaning from shams , the sun, and the relation to the sun here is obvious.