God (and what is other than God) in the gnostic view
- Updated On Thursday, 15 January 2015
- Written by A group of writers
- Editor Kawther Rahmani
- Supervisor Sayyed Roohullah Musavi
- Published on Monday, 23 August 2010
- Hits: 467 views
- Hits: How is God's relationship with His creatures recognized in the gnostic view? How does the belief in such a reality effect man's life?
At a number of places in the Holy Quran Allah has directed people to ponder over the contents of the Holy Book and not to pass by them cursorily. In a large number of verses, the universe and the entire creation have been described as Allah's signs because they indicate a great truth. When a man views a red light as a sign of danger, his attention is concentrated upon the danger and he ceases to pay attention to the light itself. If he still thinks of the shape, color and nature of light, then these things will absorb his attention and he will not be able to attend to the impending danger. Similarly, the universe and its manifestations are the signs of their Creator, an evidence of His existence and His power. They have no independent existence. We may look at them from any aspect, yet they indicate nothing but Allah. He who looks at the world and the people of the world from this angle - that is, under the guidance of the Quran - he will perceive Allah alone. He will not be fascinated by the borrowed charms of this world, but will see an infinite Beauty, a Beloved manifesting Himself from behind the curtain of this world. No doubt what the signs indicate is not this world, but the person of its Creator. We may say that the relationship between Allah and this world is not that of 1 + 1 or 1 x 1, but is that of 1 + 0. In other words, this world is a nonentity in relation to Allah and does not add anything to His Essence. As soon as man realizes this fact, his notion of having an independent existence is smashed and he suddenly feels absorbed with the love of Allah. Obviously this realization does not come through the eyes, ears or any other sensory organs or mental faculties, for all organs themselves are mere signs and cannot play any significant role in providing the guidance we are talking about.1 When a man has access to Divine manifestation, and desiring to remember Allah alone, hears the following passage of the Quran, he comes to know that the only path of perfect guidance is that of knowing himself: 'O you who believe, you have charge of your own souls. He who errs cannot injure you if you are rightly guided' (5:105). He understands that his true guide is Allah alone who enjoins him to know himself and to seek the path of self-knowing, leaving all other paths aside. He must see Allah through the window of his own soul and thus achieve his real objective. That is why the Holy Prophet has said: 'He who knows himself knows Allah.'2 He has also said: 'Those of you who know Allah better, know themselves better.'3
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Notes: 1. Imam Ali has said: 'Allah is not that who may be comprehended by knowledge. Allah is He Who guides the argument to Himself' (Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 2, p. 186). 2. A well-known tradition repeatedly quoted in the books of both Sunni and Shia gnostics. 3. Another tradition cited in the books of Sunni and Shia gnostics.