The Alchemy of Human Happiness by Stephen Hirtenstein

Author:Stephen Hirtenstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Anqa Publishing
Published: 2017-02-21T16:00:00+00:00

APPENDIX A

The Cycle of Creation according to Ibn ʿArabī

The following table represents the degrees of existence which Ibn ʿArabī formulates in chapter 198 of the Futūḥāt.1 The 28 degrees correspond to the 28 mansions of the moon and the 28 letters of the alphabet, and are linked to 28 divine Names. This cycle of 282 represents the whole universe in distinctive form.

The journey of ‘descent’ begins from the degree of the Supreme Pen, as the starting point of the creative process. The journey of ‘ascension’ begins from the ‘lowest of the low’ (asfal al-sāfilīn), which is the 27th degree, that of the human being: the ascension through each degree consists of contemplating the ‘signs’ of the divine Presence at each level, until each degree has been re-integrated within the human consciousness. The exteriorising journey of creation is re-enacted in the interior of the human being. The full re-assimilation of the 27 degrees is summarised in the 28th degree, which represents the level of the perfect human being.

However, at the same time this schema should properly be regarded as a circle, according to Ibn ʿArabī:

existence (wujūd) is a cycle, and the beginning of the circle is the existence of the First Intellect… and creation ends with the human being, thus completing the cycle. The human being is attached to the Intellect, as the last degree of the circle is joined to the first.3

As he goes on to explain, this means that each degree is like the spoke of a wheel, every part of the circumference being directly attached to the centre, because

the relationship of the Real to all existent things is a single relation, in which there is never any change – everything contemplates Him and receives from Him what He lavishes upon it, the parts of the circumference [each] looking to the central point.’

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