Insight Editions · No. 137
Know Yourself
An Explanation of the Oneness of Being
Ibn Arabi / Awhad al-Din Balyani · Translated by Cecilia Twinch
This Sufi treatise interprets the prophetic saying “Whoever knows their self, knows their Lord” through the doctrine that being belongs to God alone.
A study guide to Know Yourself by Ibn Arabi / Awhad al-Din Balyani, translated by Cecilia Twinch. Shared free for personal reading; not for sale and not endorsed by the authors or publishers. Please read and buy the original.
Overview
The book holds an introduction, the treatise, translator's notes, a history of translations and manuscripts, a quotations list and a bibliography.
Argument Map
Figure 1. The treatise's argument from its premise to its practical close.
Figure 2. Whole-book map for the edition.
Chapter Map
Part I. Introduction
Twinch presents the book as "a new translation of the first complete work attributed to Ibn 'Arabi to appear in a western language", and is open that many scholars now give it to Balyani [1]. The introduction's own motto is the treatise's core line: "You yourself are the object of your quest" [1].
Chapter 1. Framing and Manuscript Popularity
What the book offers. Twinch says the short book introduces a view of the world different from many people's, able for some to shatter preconceived notions and open "a compassionate and responsive universe." It reflects a desire to reach beyond peripheral uncertainties and discover a certainty in the oneness of being that "constantly flows through everything that is" [1].
Text and copies. The translation draws on manuscripts from the UK, Turkey and Syria. Their quantity shows more than seven centuries of popularity, and each hand copy may add mistakes, alterations and notes, so the text stays basically the same while titles and attributed authors vary [2].
Figure 3. The manuscript base and its attributions [72 to 74].
Figure 4. Title variants and the authorship confusion [2 to 3, 72].
Titles. The commonest title is Risalat al-ahadiyya (Treatise on Unity), close to Ibn 'Arabi's own Kitab al-ahadiyya or Book of Alif, though the contents differ, which may explain the confusion [2]. Other titles include Treatise on Being, Book of Alif, Book of Answers, Book of the Self or He (huwa), Treatise of Absolute Oneness, On the Secrets of Unity (tawhid), On the Oneness of Being and the Knower of God. Many copies carry as title or subtitle the saying "Whoever knows their self knows their Lord" [3].
Medieval Arabic lacked capitals and punctuation; some manuscripts mark "If someone asks" and "Then the answer is" in reddish brown. This English edition uses layout and italics for speech, Quran and hadith, lists quotations at the back, and keeps translator's notes after the text so the treatise can flow [3 to 4].
| Ibn 'Arabi | Balyani | |
|---|---|---|
| Dates in the book | Born Murcia 1165; died 1240 [4] | Died 1287 [8] |
| Place | Seville, then the East, Damascus [4 to 6] | Shiraz; eleven years on Mount Ligam [8 to 10] |
| Lineage | Heir: Sadruddin al-Qunawi [5] | Abu 'Ali Daqqaq line; Abu Najib al-Suhrawardi; disciple of Shushtari, student of Ibn Sab'in [9 to 10] |
| View of the world | Place of God's self-revelation [11] | Tends to stress its illusory nature [10] |
Figure 5. The two men to whom the treatise is attributed [4 to 11].
Chapter 2. Ibn 'Arabi as the Introduction Presents Him
Life arc. Born Murcia 1165; half his life in the West, half in the East. At eight he moved to Seville, travelling in Andalusia and North Africa. As a young teenager he felt a strong calling, went into retreat, and had a vision under the guidance of Jesus, Moses and Muhammad. He studied scriptures and traditional sciences with many masters and began to write [4 to 5].
Eastward journey. In 1200 he moved east through North Africa, Egypt, Hebron and Jerusalem toward pilgrimage in Mecca. In Anatolia he educated Sadruddin al-Qunawi as spiritual heir; Qunawi later befriended Rumi in Konya. After further travel he settled in Damascus, where he is buried [5 to 6].
Books and teaching. He wrote more than 300 books, about 93 surviving. Many more were attributed to him; research has removed some. Principal works: Fusus al-hikam (Ringstones of Wisdom) and Futuhat al-makkiyya (Meccan Revelations) [6]. Twinch quotes his own line: "The world is imagination, / Yet in reality it is Real" [4].
Oneness of being. He is most famous for teachings on wahdat al-wujud and human perfection. The world is "the exteriorization of a single hidden reality", a divine self-revelation "constantly renewed in different forms at every moment." Human beings can receive the complete revelation and become a complete mirror to Reality. Above all, "the movement of existence is the movement of love for the sake of the revelation of beauty" [6 to 7].
Nasr's claim. Twinch cites S.H. Nasr: it would not be an exaggeration to say Ibn 'Arabi is the most influential intellectual figure in the Islamic world during the past seven centuries, if the whole world is considered [7].
Chapter 3. Awhad al-din Balyani
Who he is. Also known as Abu 'Abdallah Balyani; Sufi Shaykh from the Shiraz region; little is known for certain outside academic or Sufi circles. Twinch leans on Chodkiewicz and Morris, who both use Jami's fifteenth-century Nafahat al-uns (Breaths of Intimacy) [8 to 9]. Twinch quotes Balyani's poem: "The Truth: you can't see any other than God, / For no doubt both worlds aren't other than Him!" [8].
Figure 6. Balyani's line of teachers as the introduction gives it [9 to 10].
Lineage. Descended from a line back to Abu 'Ali Daqqaq, whose heir was Qushayri (d.1074), author of the Epistle on Sufism that Ibn 'Arabi mentions among the Sufis of Andalusia. Spiritually descended from Abu Najib al-Suhrawardi (d.1168), founder of the Suhrawardiyya. He lived in seclusion on Mount Ligam for eleven years [9 to 10].
Father's saying. Balyani reported that his father used to say: whatever he requested from God he gave to his son 'Abdallah; "what God opened up to me like a little peephole, He opened up for (my son) like a wide-open gate" [10].
Shushtari and Ibn Sab'in. Elsewhere Balyani is described as a disciple of the poet Shushtari (d.1269), outstanding student of the Andalusian Ibn Sab'in (d.1270), born in Murcia like Ibn 'Arabi. Twinch notes differences between their understandings of wahdat al-wujud, yet finds it likely Ibn 'Arabi's thought impressed Ibn Sab'in. One possible difference: Ibn Sab'in and Balyani tend to emphasize the illusory nature of the world; Ibn 'Arabi does not deny the world's reality but sees it as the place of God's self-revelation [10 to 11].
Figure 7. Tension the book itself surfaces [6 to 11, 21, 67].
Chapter 4. The Caution and the Snake
Danger of "Only God". Balyani's insistence has led some commentators to see this book as potentially dangerous when taken without its spiritual and cultural context and practical training. Twinch says that in the present global society each reader must discriminate, yet this does not remove the need for reliable guidance, common sense, rational consideration, intellectual rigour and moral obligations. The book is a brief poetic glimpse from a whole framework; the cautionary tale that follows should be taken into account [11].
Figure 8. The snake story as a sequence [12 to 13].
Figure 9. Full snake story beats from Jami [12 to 13].
Part II. The Treatise
The treatise opens with praise of the One and proceeds by question and answer: "If someone asks ... the answer is". Its single theme is the Prophet's saying, "Whoever knows their self, knows their Lord." Twinch sets the poems in italic lines; the Arabic usually only marks "Poem" where one begins [3, 17 to 53].
Chapter 5. The One Without a Second
God alone. Before His oneness "there is no before unless the before is He", and after His singleness "there is no after unless the after is He." He has no before or after, above or below, closeness or distance, how or where or when, time or moment or duration, manifested existence or place. "And He is now as He has always been." He is the one without oneness and the single without singleness. He is not composed of name and named: His name is Him and His named is Him [17].
Four Names without incarnation. He is first without firstness and last without lastness, apparent without appearance and hidden without hiddenness: the very existence of the letters of those names, without the letters becoming Him and without Him becoming the letters. Understand this so as not to make the mistake of those who believe in incarnation. He is not in anything and no thing is in Him [17 to 18].
Figure 10. The four Names of 57:3, all of them Him [17 to 18, 63].
Figure 11. Opening arc of the treatise [17 to 20].
How He is not known. Not through theoretical knowledge, reason, understanding or conjecture, nor with the senses, the external eye or interior sight. "No one sees Him except Himself"; no one reaches or knows Him except Himself. He knows and sees Himself by Himself. "His veil is His oneness" since nothing veils Him other than Him; His own being veils Him, concealed by His oneness without any condition [18 to 19].
Figure 12. What the opening says God is not, and how He is not known [17 to 19].
Messenger and message are He. No sent prophet, perfect saint or angel brought close knows Him. His prophet is He, His messenger is He, His message is He and His word is He. He "sent Himself from Himself, through Himself to Himself." There is no intermediary other than Him; no difference between sender, sent and one to whom it is sent. The existence of the prophetic message is His existence; there is no other who could pass away, or have a name or be named [19 to 20].
Meaning of the saying. Because of this the Prophet said, "Whoever knows their self, knows their Lord," and also "I knew my Lord through my Lord." What he pointed out is "that you are not you but you are Him and there is no you": not that He enters you or you enter Him, or that you have being qualified by this or that attribute. You never were and never will be, whether through yourself or through Him or in Him or with Him. You have neither ceased to be nor are you existent. You are Him and He is you, without those imperfections. If you know your existence this way, you know God; if not, then not [20].
Chapter 6. Against Annihilation
The common error. Most who claim to know God make knowledge depend on the passing away of existence and on the passing away of that passing away. That is "clearly an error and misconception." Knowledge of God does not require that, "because things have no existence and what does not exist cannot pass away." Passing away implies prior existence. If you know yourself without existing and passing away, you know God; if not, then not [21].
Figure 13. The treatise reading of the saying [21 to 22, 35].
Figure 14. The two paths the treatise contrasts [21 to 28].
Associate = second Lord. Any associate would exist through itself, not through God's being, would not need God, and would be a second Lord, which is impossible. God has no associate, equal or like. Whoever sees anything with God, even dependent on Him by virtue of lordship, has made that thing an associate. Whoever allows anything with God, whether subsisting by itself or through Him, whether passed away or in passing away of passing away, "is far from breathing the scent of self-knowledge." Accepting successive stages of passing away is "polytheism upon polytheism" and not knowledge of the self at all [23 to 24].
Figure 15. How any second being becomes shirk [23 to 24].
The way. If someone asks the way to knowledge of the self and of God, the answer is: it consists in being aware "that God is, and nothing is with Him. And He is now as He has always been." [24]
What "self" and "things" mean. If someone says they see themselves as other than God, the answer is: by "self" the Prophet meant your being and essential reality, not the blaming self, the lower (commanding) self, or the confident and peaceful self. By "self" he was alluding to everything other than God, as in "O God, show me things as they are," where "things" means whatever is other than God: make me know what is other than You so I may know whether things are You or other, eternal or newly happening. Then God showed him what is other than Him as Himself, without the existence of what is other. He saw things as the essence of God, without how or where [24 to 25].
Figure 16. What the treatise says "self" and "things" mean [25].
You are the object of your quest. The word "things" applies to the self and to other things equally as "things." When you know the things you know yourself; when you know yourself you know the Lord. What you think is other than God is not other than God, but you do not know it: you see Him and do not know that you see Him. When this secret is revealed, you know you are not other than God but that "you yourself are the object of your quest. You do not need to get rid of your self." You have not ceased, nor will you cease, to exist, without time and without moments. You will see His attributes as yours, your exterior as His, your interior as His, your first as His and your last as His, without doubt: your attributes His attributes and your essence His essence, "without you becoming Him and without Him becoming you in the least degree" [26 to 27].
Figure 17. The core passage unpacked [26 to 27].
Chapter 7. Ignorance Disappears, Nothing Else
Learning analogy. It is as if a person who does not know something then comes to know it. "Their existence does not disappear, but their ignorance disappears." Existence remains as it was, without being exchanged for another, and without the ignorant person being added to or mixed with the knowing person: ignorance simply disappears [27 to 28].
Figure 18. The learning analogy [27 to 28].
If passing away were needed. That would mean you are His veil, and He would be veiled by something other than Himself, requiring something other than Him to have power over Him and prevent Him from being seen: an error. His veil is nothing other than His oneness and singularity. Hence the person who has reached the essential truth may say "I am the truth" (Hallaj) or "Glory to me" (Abu Yazid). No one has truly reached Him unless they see their attributes as God's and their essence as God's, without entering or coming out, without passing away in relation to God or remaining in God. They see that their self has never been their own, not that it was and then passed away. There is no self except His self, and no being except His being [28].
Figure 19. Why the veil argument blocks fana [28].
Figure 20. Sayings the treatise reads through its premise [28 to 32].
Time and the sick. This is what the Prophet was alluding to in "Do not curse time, because God is time." It is also reported that God says: "O child of Adam, I was sick and you did not visit Me, I was hungry and you did not feed Me, I asked of you and you did not give to Me..." This alludes to the fact that the being of the person who asks is His being; so your being is His being, and the being of all created things, substance or accident, is His being [29].
One atom. "When the secret of an atom is discovered, the secret of all created things is made clear," whether apparent or hidden. You do not see the two worlds as other than God; their names and what they name and their existence are Him. You do not see God as having ever created anything but as being "every day in a different configuration" which sometimes reveals Him and sometimes conceals Him. He manifests Himself in His oneness and hides Himself in His singularity. Just as His existence is necessary, the nonexistence of what is other than Him is necessary. What you think is other than Him is not other than Him. "Other than Him is Him without any otherness," whether with Him or in Him, inwardly or outwardly [30 to 31].
Figure 21. From one atom to all things [30].
Mystical death. Whoever is qualified this way has innumerable attributes without limit. Just as physical death strips praiseworthy and blameworthy attributes, mystical death takes them away and God comes into their place in all states: essence for essence, attributes for attributes. Hence "Die before you die" means "Know yourself before you die." The free-acts saying ("My servant continues to approach Me with free acts until I love him... I am his hearing, his sight, his hand...") refers to seeing whole being as the very being of God without any change in essence or attributes: that person was not the existence of their own essence but was simply ignorant of self-knowledge [31 to 32].
Figure 22. Free-acts saying read through the premise [32].
Neither existent nor nonexistent. When you know yourself, egoism disappears and you know you are no other than God. If you had independent existence you would need neither passing away nor self-knowledge and would be a lord apart from Him. The benefit of self-knowledge is to know for certain that you are neither existent nor nonexistent, that you are not, never have been and never will be. In this way the meaning of "There is no god but God" becomes clear: no divinity other than Him, being belongs to none but Him [32 to 33].
Figure 23. From self-knowledge to the Shahada [33 to 35].
Chapter 8. Objections, the Name Example, the Poems
| Objection | Reply | Page |
|---|---|---|
| You make His lordship superfluous | He is ever ruler and ruled, creator and created; "all is one and the one is all"; existence and nonexistence of creatures are the same | 33 to 35 |
| How is union possible with one? | Union without union, closeness without closeness, distance without distance | 37 to 38 |
| What are closeness and distance without those? | In those times you were not other than God; you did not know it | 38 |
| The knower is other than God | The knower's knowledge is God's knowledge of Himself | 44 to 45 |
| Is dung or carrion God? | "God forbid"; the talk is for those with inner vision | 48 |
| "Eyes do not perceive Him" (6:103) | No other exists to perceive Him; He perceives Himself | 49 to 50 |
| What are the things you see? | "Each receptacle only exudes what is in it" | 52 |
Lordship not superfluous. He has not stopped being both ruler and ruled, creator and what is created. Creativity and lordship do not need what is created. When He brought creatures into existence He was already endowed with all attributes. No difference in His oneness between the new and the eternal: the new requires His manifestation and the eternal His remaining hidden. Exterior identical to interior, first to last: "all is one and the one is all." He was "every day in a different configuration" when there was no thing other than Him. Existence of creatures and their nonexistence are the same; otherwise something would originate that was not already in His oneness [33 to 35].
Again: know, do not get rid. That is why the Prophet said "Whoever knows their self..." and not "Whoever gets rid of their self...": he knew there is nothing other than Him. Know that your being is neither your being nor other than your being; you are neither existent nor nonexistent. Your being and non-being are His being [35 to 36].
Figure 24. The union objection and reply [37 to 38].
Union without union. Union is only possible between two things, similar (equal) or dissimilar (opposites). He is exalted above opposite or equal. Therefore union lies in something other than union, closeness in other than closeness, distance in other than distance: "union without union, closeness without closeness and distance without distance." In those times of closeness and distance you were not anything other than God, but you did not know yourself. When knowledge comes, you know that it is through God that you know God, not through yourself [37 to 38].
Figure 25. The treatise's example of the name [39 to 40].
Mahmud and Muhammad. Suppose you do not know that your name is Mahmud (name and named being one) and think your name is Muhammad. When you learn you are really Mahmud, you do not stop being who you were. The name Muhammad is simply taken away because of knowledge of yourself. Muhammad never was, so how could anything be known through him? Nothing was taken from Mahmud; Muhammad did not pass away into Mahmud; Mahmud did not enter Muhammad or become incarnated in him. Mahmud knew himself through himself, not through Muhammad [39 to 40].
Figure 26. Knower, known, arriver and seer [40].
Knower and known are one. The knower and the known, the one who arrives and what he arrives at, the seer and the seen are one. "The knower" is His attribute and "the known" His essence; attribute and that to which it is attributed are one. That is the explanation of the saying. Whoever understands is free of the polytheism of polytheism; whoever has not has not breathed the scent of that freedom [40].
Figure 27. Verdict on most of those who know [41 to 42].
Verdict on most knowers. Most of "those who know," who think they know themselves and their Lord and are free of the bonds of existence, declare the way can only be travelled by passing away, then by passing away of passing away. They do not understand the Prophet's saying. Alluding to negation of existence, passing away of passing away, extinction or annihilation is "unadulterated polytheism" because it affirms something other than Him capable of passing away. "May God guide them and us to the right path" [41 to 42].
Chapter 9. The Mirror, the Audience, the Close
Knowledge of self is God's knowledge of Himself. If someone says the one who knows their self is other than God, the answer is: whoever knows their self knows their being is not their being nor other than their being, but the very being of God, without becoming, entering, coming out, or existing along with Him. They see their being as it was before coming into being, without need for passing away. Passing away of something implies it previously existed by itself, which is impossible. The knowledge the knower has of their self is the knowledge God has of Himself, because their self is no other than He. Speech, actions and the claim to knowledge of God are God's through Himself, though you hear and see them as if from that person because of your ignorance [44 to 45].
Figure 28. The mirror passage step by step [45 to 46].
The mirror. "The faithful one is the mirror of the Faithful One"; he is He in His eye, through His sight, not through your eye, knowledge, imagination or vision. Then if he says "I am God, listen to him, because it is God who is saying I am God," not him. If you had arrived you would understand, say and see what he says and sees [45 to 46].
Do not imagine God is created. To summarize: the existence of things is His existence, without them existing. But do not fall into confusion: do not imagine that God is created. One of those who know has said, "The Sufi is uncreated." This nourishment is only for the person whose nature is larger than the two worlds; for one whose nature is only as large as the two worlds, it is not suitable [46 to 47].
Seer and seen. The seer and the seen, finder and found, knower and known, creator and created, perceiver and perceived are one. He sees, knows and perceives His being by means of His being, beyond any manner of sight, knowledge and perception, without condition [47].
Figure 29. Who the text says it is speaking to [48 to 53].
Dung and carrion. If someone asks whether dung or carrion is God: "God forbid that God, who is exalted and sanctified, should be any such thing." Conversation is with those who do not see dung as dung or carrion as carrion; with those endowed with inner vision, not the inwardly blind. Anyone who does not know their self is blind. "Our conversation is with God, not with other than God." "We are speaking with those who have determination and energy in seeking knowledge of their self in order to know God," who keep fresh in their heart the image of seeking and longing for union, not with those without aim or intention [48 to 49].
Eyes do not perceive Him. The response to Q.6:103 is that it is the very meaning of what is being said: there is no one else in existence, so no one has sight which can perceive Him. If another were conceivable, that other could perceive Him. God informs us there is no other. He who perceives Him is Himself. Eyes do not perceive Him because they are nothing but His being. Whoever says eyes cannot perceive Him because they are transient still does not know their self: there is nothing, and no eyes, which are not Him [49 to 50].
What are these things? These words are for those who see nothing other than God. "Each receptacle only exudes what is in it." Further explanation will not help those who do not see. A hint is enough for the one who has arrived. Others will not arrive "by theoretical teaching, instruction, repetition, reason or learning, but only by putting themselves in the service of an eminent master who has arrived and a wise teacher," following the path to be guided by their light and spiritual will, if God wills [52 to 53].
Figure 30. How the treatise says one arrives [48 to 53].
Part III. Notes and History
Twinch keeps notes out of the treatise so it can flow, then explains key terms: nafs, gender and "He", fana' and baqa', Divine Names, and the letters. History of translations and the manuscripts consulted follow, then the quotations list [55 to 76].
Chapter 10. The Self or Soul (nafs)
The notes open by repeating the treatise's own distinction: the Prophet meant by "self" your being and essential reality, not the blaming, lower or peaceful self [55].
Range of meanings. Arabic nafs can be used reflexively, or mean soul. Occasionally it is used like "spirit" (ruh), but more often as intermediary between spirit and body. Sometimes it names qualities of the human person; frequently it equals what we now call the ego. In the Quran it is also used of God: Jesus says, "You know what is in my self but I do not know what is in Your self" (Q.5:116) [55].
Three levels. While the spirit within is always perfect, the soul may become tarnished. For many Sufis perfecting the self is a path of transformation requiring determination and effort, though only achieved through divine grace [56].
| Level | Arabic | Quran | What the notes say |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commanding / carnal / ego | nafs ammara (bi-l-su') | 12:53 | Lowest: the self which incites to evil |
| Blaming | nafs lawwama | 75:2 | On the way: aware of shortcomings, blames itself |
| At peace / tranquil | nafs mutma'inna | 89:27 | Level of perfection: the soul at peace |
Figure 31. The three levels of self in the translator's notes [55 to 56].
Chapter 11. Notes on Gender: He
"They" for persons. Twinch uses gender-neutral "they" for a single human person, including in "Whoever knows their self knows their Lord," where Arabic man means whoever / everyone who / anybody who and is not gender-specific. In the rest of the Arabic sentence the masculine predominates by grammar. Rabb (Lord; also cherisher, sustainer, educator) is masculine; nafs is feminine, so subtleties in the saying do not appear in English [57 to 58].
He for God as active. When God is referred to as an ontologically active aspect of the one Reality, "He" continues. The ultimate ineffable Reality is without gender. In Arabic the primordial Essence is grammatically feminine; the active principle is masculine: the dynamic movement from absolute unknown hidden Reality toward manifestation. The prophetic saying Ibn 'Arabi loves: "I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known, so I created the world..." In relation to that moving principle the human being is receptive, like the part to the whole [58 to 59].
Figure 32. Gender and identity notes [57 to 59].
Huwa and huwiyya. Arabic has no neutral "it." When someone is present we say "you"; "he" is used when the person referred to is absent. Huwiyya (He-ness or it-ness) refers to the essential self or divine identity [59].
Lamborn Wilson remark. On Weir's opening passage, Peter Lamborn Wilson notes that if "God" and "He" were replaced by "reality" and "it," and "prophetic message" by "quantum theorems," one might mistake the lines for a discussion of quantum mechanics [59].
Chapter 12. Passing Away and Remaining
The notes restate the treatise's attack on fana' of fana', then supply the classical frame the treatise refuses as a condition of knowledge [60].
Oneness in Islamic thought. Unity of God is often discussed as oneness of actions, oneness of attributes and oneness of Essence. Among Sufis a major topic has been passing away of the individual's existence and of the very idea of passing away, so that only the Real remains. Successive levels: ultimately the only actor is God; all names and attributes belong to God; even a person's individual essence is an individuation of the One Essence. These stages are passing away of actions, of attributes, and of the separate self in the Essence [60 to 61].
Figure 33. The stages behind fana' and baqa' in the notes [60 to 62].
Figure 34. Classical fana frame the notes supply [60 to 62].
Quranic base. Fana' and baqa' rest on "Everything on earth passes away, but the face of your Lord, both majestic and magnanimous, remains" (Q.55:26-7), and on "Everything passes away except His face" (Q.28:88). The face reveals identity and refers to essence or reality [61].
Early master. Ibn 'Arabi mentions: "passing away is the annihilation of he who was not whereas remaining is the subsistence of Him who has always been." Fana' may also be translated annihilation, ceasing to exist, non-being, vanishing, perishing, obliteration, self-effacement, extinction, absorption. In this book it is often the passing away of existence (fana' al-wujud) [62].
Chapter 13. Divine Names and Letters
Q.57:3. "He is the first and the last, the apparent and the hidden and He has knowledge of everything." "The first" is origin and what comes before; "the last" what comes after until return to origin: at a particular time and also constantly at every instant. Apparent / hidden are also exterior / interior, outer / inner, manifest / non-manifest [63].
Ibn 'Arabi on appearance. At every moment the hidden essence appears in a different form according to its place of appearance: apparent in all we see while remaining hidden. Since there is nothing but God, He is seen everywhere: "Wherever you turn, there is the face of God" (Q.2:115). Twinch flags that 2:115 appears after "Everything passes away except His face" in a few manuscripts, but only one of the manuscripts used in this translation contains this verse. Yet God remains beyond perception (Q.6:103): transcendent and immanent, uniting all opposites [64].
Same and different. Names are the same as what they name insofar as they describe aspects of one object; different insofar as each has its own characteristics. Ibn 'Arabi: the oneness (ahadiyya) of God with regard to the divine names that require us is the oneness of the many; with regard to His being beyond need of us and His names, the oneness of essence (ahadiyyat al-'ayn). The name the One (al-ahad) applies to both [64 to 65].
Figure 35. Two senses of ahadiyya from the notes [65].
Letters. Both Ibn 'Arabi and Ibn Sab'in (thought to have influenced Balyani) knew the science of the letters. Each name is a combination of letters. Through His word "Be!" (Q.16:40) God brings things into manifestation; speech takes place through the breath of compassion [65 to 66].
Figure 36. The letters of huwa, which spans all letters [65 to 67].
Figure 37. Letters from Be! to huwa [65 to 67].
Alif, ha, waw. Alif, first letter, numerical value one, is silent by itself: unimpeded breath as a straight vertical line; pronounced only with hamza, a pause or hiatus between silence and speech. First pronounced letter is ha, phonetically most interior, from chest to throat. Last articulated is waw, most exterior, on the lips. These two make huwa, uniting first to last, interior to exterior. Huwa encompasses all letters, origins of words, and flows through existence; its dynamic quality explains why the ontologically male "He" translates it. One title given this book is The Book of Alif, also the title of Ibn 'Arabi's different Book of Unity [66 to 67].
Closing quotation. Ibn 'Arabi: "There is nothing in existence except God, His names and His actions... So existence is all real." [67]
Chapter 14. History of the Translations
Figure 38. The treatise in western languages [69 to 71].
Figure 39. Western reception chain [69 to 71].
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1901 | T.H. Weir's English version in JRAS from Glasgow Hunterian MS attributed to Ibn 'Arabi; he also used four other MSS, mostly Balyani/Balbani, one Berlin to Suyuti. Footnote gives pp. 809-75; bibliography gives pp. 809-25 [69, 81] |
| 1911 | RAS also published Nicholson's Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, certainly by Ibn 'Arabi [69] |
| 1907, 1911 | Abdul Hadi (Ivan Agueli), who initiated Rene Guenon and founded Al-Akbariyya in Paris 1911: Italian in Il Convito, then French in La Gnose. He heard of an English version mid-translation ("I don't know where, or when, or by whom") and was inwardly convinced the author was Ibn 'Arabi despite Balyani attributions [70] |
| 1982 | Michel Chodkiewicz, Epitre sur l'Unicite Absolue, assigns the work to Balyani [71] |
| 1986 | James W. Morris confirms Chodkiewicz in JAOS [71] |
| 2011 | Twinch keeps both names on the cover: alternative authorship introduced, Ibn 'Arabi's name still helps identify the work [71] |
Chapter 15. Manuscripts Consulted
Figure 40. Manuscripts Twinch consulted [72 to 74].
| Collection | Shelfmark / note | Attribution in the book |
|---|---|---|
| Glasgow Hunterian | No. 456; pre-1713 (Petis de la Croix ex libris); Kitab al-Ajwiba / Kitab al-Alif | Ibn 'Arabi [72] |
| British Library | Add. 16839; Or. 3684 (fi wahdat al-wujud...) | Balyani; one calls him Pole of Poles [72 to 73] |
| Damascus Assad | 6897 (dated 1813); 7965 (est. 16th/17th c.); formerly Zahiriyya Z1, Z2 | Balbani / Balyani [73] |
| Suleymaniye | Shehit Ali 1344; Yazma Bagislar 5935; principal dateable 1542 | Split [73 to 74] |
| Bursa Inebey; Ankara National | Both listed as Genel 4420 | Split; possible duplication flag [73] |
Three of the Turkish copies are entitled Risalat al-ahadiyya. Twinch used three of Weir's five manuscripts plus the Damascus and Turkish sets [72 to 74].
Chapter 16. Quotations in Order of Appearance
Figure 41. Main scriptural and prophetic threads [75 to 76].
| Saying | Kind |
|---|---|
| Whoever knows their self, knows their Lord | Hadith (attributed) |
| And He is now as He has always been | Hadith |
| I knew my Lord through my Lord | Hadith |
| God is, and nothing is with Him | Hadith |
| O God, show me things as they are | Hadith |
| Everything passes away except His face | Q.28:88 |
| I am the truth | Hallaj |
| Glory to me | Abu Yazid al-Bistami |
| Do not curse time, because God is time | Hadith |
| I was sick and you did not visit Me... | Hadith qudsi |
| Every day in a different configuration | Q.55:29 |
| He is the first and the last, the apparent and the hidden... | Q.57:3 |
| Die before you die | Hadith |
| My servant continues to approach Me with free acts... | Divine saying |
| There is no god but God | Shahada |
| The faithful one is the mirror of the Faithful One | Hadith |
| Eyes do not perceive Him but He perceives the eyes... | Q.6:103 |
Synthesis
Key Takeaways
- The whole treatise unfolds one saying: "Whoever knows their self, knows their Lord" [17].
- God has no before, after, where or when; "He is now as He has always been" [17].
- His name and His named are Him; the letters of the Names do not become Him [17 to 18].
- "His veil is His oneness"; nothing else veils Him [19].
- He sent Himself from Himself through Himself to Himself [19].
- "You are not you but you are Him and there is no you" [20].
- What never existed cannot pass away [21].
- Making knowledge depend on fana' affirms a second being [22 to 24].
- Associate, even dependent, is a second Lord: polytheism upon polytheism [23 to 24].
- The way: "God is, and nothing is with Him" [24].
- The "self" of the saying is your being, not a level of the soul [25].
- "You do not need to get rid of your self" [26].
- Attributes and essence seen as His, without you becoming Him or Him you [26 to 27].
- Only ignorance disappears; existence remains [27 to 28].
- If fana' were needed you would be His veil [28].
- Hence "I am the truth" and "Glory to me" may be said [28].
- "Do not curse time, because God is time"; the sick whom you did not visit is He [29].
- One atom understood reveals all things [30].
- Other than Him is Him without otherness [31].
- "Die before you die" means know yourself first [32].
- Neither existent nor nonexistent: sense of La ilaha illa llah [33].
- Lordship is not made superfluous: all is one and the one is all [33 to 35].
- Union without union; Mahmud never was Muhammad [37 to 40].
- Knower, known and knowing are one [40, 47].
- Most who teach fana' of fana' still affirm a second [41 to 42].
- Abandon intellect; understand by unveiling [43].
- The knower's knowledge is God's knowledge of Himself [44 to 45].
- Faithful one mirrors the Faithful One; if he says I am God, listen [45 to 46].
- The Sufi is uncreated; nourishment only for a nature larger than two worlds [47].
- Dung and carrion: God forbid; talk is for inner vision [48].
- Eyes do not perceive Him because there is no other [49 to 50].
- Each receptacle exudes what is in it; arrival needs a living master [52 to 53].
- Authorship disputed; cover carries both names [1, 71].
- Read with the snake story in mind [12 to 13].
Frameworks
| Framework | Elements | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Rejected path | Fana', fana' of fana', extinction, annihilation | 21 to 24, 41 to 42 |
| Proposed path | Recognition: ignorance removed, being unchanged | 26 to 28 |
| Three selves (notes) | Commanding, blaming, at peace; not the saying's meaning | 25, 55 to 56 |
| Four Names | First, last, apparent, hidden (57:3) | 17 to 18, 63 |
| Name example | Muhammad (false label) and Mahmud (real) | 39 to 40 |
| Letters of huwa | Alif, hamza, ha, waw; Be! and breath of compassion | 65 to 67 |
| Oneness stages (notes) | Actions, attributes, Essence | 60 to 62 |
| Two ahadiyyas | Of the many; of essence | 65 |
Figure 42. The book's frameworks around its one saying.
Figure 43. Whole-book map (synthesis reprise).
A closer look
- The translator notes that Balyani and Ibn Sab'in stress the world's illusory nature while Ibn 'Arabi treats it as real self-revelation [10 to 11]; the treatise's "things have no existence" [21] sits closer to the first view than the notes' closing quotation, "existence is all real" [67].
- The treatise answers objections mainly by restating its premise, and says further explanation will not help those who do not already see [52].
- It calls the fana' teaching of "most of those who know" unadulterated polytheism [41 to 42], a sharp verdict on fellow Sufis.
- The snake story shows the risk of acting on "Only God" without training [12 to 13].
- Textual points: the Bursa and Ankara manuscripts are both listed as "Genel 4420" [73]; Weir's article is given as pp. 809-75 in a footnote [69] and pp. 809-25 in the bibliography [81]; Q.2:115 appears in only one manuscript used [64].
- Twinch keeps Ibn 'Arabi on the cover for identification even while reporting Chodkiewicz and Morris for Balyani [71].
Who's Who
| Person | Role in the book |
|---|---|
| Ibn 'Arabi | Attributed author; born Murcia 1165, died 1240 [4] |
| Awhad al-din Balyani | Probable author; Sufi of Shiraz, died 1287 [8] |
| Cecilia Twinch | Translator and introducer; Senior Research Fellow, MIAS |
| Shushtari | Poet; Balyani's teacher, died 1269 [10] |
| Ibn Sab'in | Shushtari's teacher, born Murcia, died 1270 [10] |
| Sadruddin al-Qunawi | Ibn 'Arabi's spiritual heir; friend of Rumi [5] |
| Jami | Author of Nafahat al-uns, died 1492; source for Balyani bio [9] |
| Qushayri | Daqqaq's heir, died 1074; Epistle on Sufism [9] |
| Abu Najib al-Suhrawardi | Balyani's spiritual ancestor, died 1168 [9] |
| Hallaj; Abu Yazid | "I am the truth"; "Glory to me" [75] |
| Michel Chodkiewicz, James W. Morris | Assign the work to Balyani [71] |
| T.H. Weir, Abdul Hadi (Ivan Agueli) | Earlier translators, 1901 and 1907/1911 [69 to 70] |
| Rene Guenon | Initiated by Abdul Hadi; Al-Akbariyya context [70] |
| S.H. Nasr | Quoted on Ibn 'Arabi's influence [7] |
| Peter Lamborn Wilson | Quantum remark on Weir's opening [59] |
| Bulent Rauf | Introduced Twinch to the work in the early seventies [acknowledgements] |
Glossary
| Term | Meaning in the book |
|---|---|
| ahadiyya | Oneness; of the many (names that require us), and of essence (beyond need) |
| ahadiyyat al-'ayn | Oneness of essence |
| alif | First letter, value one, silent breath; also a title variant (Book of Alif) |
| associate (shirk) | Anything placed beside God; a "second Lord"; polytheism upon polytheism |
| baqa' | Remaining; subsistence of Him who has always been |
| fana' | Passing away; the treatise rejects it as a condition of knowledge |
| fana' al-wujud | Passing away of existence |
| hamza | Pause or hiatus between silence and speech on the alif |
| huwa, huwiyya | He; He-ness, the divine identity; spans interior ha and exterior waw |
| nafs | Self or soul; here, one's being (not the three psychological levels) |
| nafs ammara, lawwama, mutma'inna | Commanding, blaming, peaceful self (Q.12:53, 75:2, 89:27) |
| rabb | Lord; cherisher, sustainer, educator (masculine) |
| Risalat al-ahadiyya | Commonest title: Treatise on Unity |
| ruh | Spirit; sometimes near nafs, more often above it as intermediary pair |
| tawhid | Unity / oneness (as in some title variants) |
| unveiling | Light by which one understands beyond intellect |
| wahdat al-wujud | Oneness of being / unity of existence |
About this book
Know Yourself: An Explanation of the Oneness of Being by Ibn Arabi / Awhad al-Din Balyani, 2011. This is a chapter-by-chapter study of the book, with summaries, maps, tables and diagrams; short quotations keep their page references. It is shared free for personal study, is not for sale, and is not endorsed by the author or publisher. Please read and buy the original.
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