notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
Hello,
How can we reconcile the unity of the divine Essence with the diversity of human perceptions of God?
In particular, if the variety of divine manifestations in people’s hearts is understood to arise from their perceptions, levels of being, and capacities for knowledge, how does this relate to من عرف نفسه فقد عرف ربه?
َّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ
The diversity of human perceptions of God reflects both the Lord’s indescribable greatness and the limitations of those who perceive Him. The idea of the divine Essence manifesting itself is mistaken; what is manifested are God’s signs, names, and attributes. Self-knowledge means recognizing the station of the One who is sought by the Divine Will—that is, discerning God’s will—not a means of knowing the divine Essence.
Each person has perceptions particular to their own capacity. These perceptions belong to the person who perceives them, not to the Peerless, Incomparable Essence.
The multiplicity, differences and variations among perceptions point to the indescribable majesty of the Almighty Lord and to the weakness of those who perceive.
Nothing proceeds from the Divine Essence. To speak of the Essence manifesting itself in this sense is entirely mistaken, for «لم یلد». Manifestation is the appearance of God’s signs and words, likenesses and acts, names and attributes.
Self-knowledge is to perceive oneself as wholly and solely being perceived by the Most Perceptive. In other words, it is an interpretation of the noble verse «الأنعام : 103 لا تُدْرِكُهُ الْأَبْصارُ وَ هُوَ يُدْرِكُ الْأَبْصارَ وَ هُوَ اللَّطيفُ الْخَبيرُ».
Put another way, self-knowledge is to perceive the station of the One Who Wills: that is, for a human being to perceive that they have been willed by the One Who Wills—for it was He who willed, and the human being came to be. Thus self-knowledge is not a prelude to knowledge of God’s Essence; it is a prelude to perceiving the Divine Will.
God knows best, and He knows.