Since our intentions converge upon the quintessence, let us now return by way of conclusion to the metaphysical synthesis we outlined when referring to the eso teric symbolism of the Shahādah. The fundamental idea of Islam, that of divine Unity, implies inevitably the idea of diversity, that is, the idea of the relationships between the One and what seems to invalidate or contradict it; here we shall deal with this problem in a manner that is necessarily concise and without of course losing sight of the fact that a doctrinal outline can offer no more than landmarks, if only for the simple reason that an expression is inevitably something other than the reality expressed. Identity between the outline and the reality is in any case as unnecessary as it is impossible, precisely because this outline is capable of providing perfectly sufficient points of reference; otherwise there would be no adequate and effective symbolism or consequently any doctrine.
The whole problem of creation or universal manifestation is rooted in the very nature of the divine Principle. The absolutely Real projects the world because its infinite nature requires that it also be known starting from and within relativity; to say that God “created” and not that He “creates” is a way of expressing the contingency or relativity of the world, and in a certain sense it is to sever the world from its transcendent Cause. God “wants to be seen” not only “starting” from the world, but also “in” the world and even “as” world: either directly in qualities or indirectly and by contrast in their absence; and He wants to be seen not only by man but also by the lower creatures, who contemplate Him in a certain fashion by their specific form itself—or at least by whatever is positive in their form or state, as the case may be.
Absolute, Infinite, Perfection: these, we might say, are the primary definitions of the divine nature. Geometrically speaking, the Absolute is like the point, which excludes everything that is not itself; the Infinite is like the cross or star or spiral, which prolongs the point and in a sense makes it inclusive; and Perfection is like the circle or a system of concentric circles, which reflects the point or transposes it into extension. The Absolute is ultimate Reality in itself; the Infinite is its Possibility, hence also its Omnipotence; Perfection is Possibility to the extent it realizes a given potentiality of the absolutely Real or realizes all potentialities. Creation or manifestation is an effect of the divine nature: God cannot prevent Himself from radiating, hence manifesting Himself or creating, because He cannot prevent Himself from being infinite.
Divine Perfection is the sum or quintessence of all possible perfections, and we know them as a whole through experience; these perfections are manifested thanks to the Infinite, which offers them existential space—or substance if one prefers—and which actualizes and projects them; and it is thanks to the Absolute that things exist or are not “nonexistent”. The Absolute, imperceptible in itself, makes itself visible by the existence and logic of things; in a similar way the Infinite reveals itself by their inexhaustible diversity; likewise Perfection manifests itself by their qualities, and in so doing it communicates both the rigor of the Absolute and the radiation of the Infinite, for things have their musicality as well as geometry. In other words, when everyday natural experience is combined with metaphysical intuition or faith—and faith always actualizes intuition to a certain degree—the recognition of the positive qualities in things and beings obliges us to acknowledge their archetypes or essences within the divine Order; likewise the inconceivability of limits in space-time obliges us to acknowledge the Infinite in itself; likewise again the fact that the least existence is absolute in relation to its absence—or the fact that physical, mathematical, and logical laws are ineluctable—bears witness in the final analysis to the Absolute and leaves us with no other choice than to accept it.1
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The ternary “Absolute-Infinite-Perfection” is reflected in the progression of numbers: the number one corresponds to the Absolute, the progression itself to the Infinite, and the particular character—the form—of each number to Perfection.2 The progression of numbers is not strictly comparable to an indefinite series of points where one is necessarily first, as if there could be a progression with a beginning but not an end; in reality it is necessary to compare the number one to a central point and the progression to an indefinite series of concentric circles; the center has by definition the value of an absolute and is therefore not a beginning, properly speaking; it is as it were outside number, and yet number is inconceivable without it. The same is true of the unlimited diversity of forms: the central form is circular or spherical, and there is no common measure between it and the square or cube; roundness has something absolute about it in relation to all other possible forms. Another example of existential progression is provided by matter, where the four sensible elements and all the chemical substances and aggregates emerge from ether, which—being simple and inherent in every sensible substance—is the center of this unfolding. Here too the central element cannot be merely a quantitative beginning, so to speak; on the contrary, it is quasi-transcendent in relation to its modalities or projections. The modalities being “infinite” in number, unity or the center must have an “absolute” character.
The ternary “Absolute-Infinite-Perfection” finds its most direct expression in Islamic language in the terms Jalāl, Jamāl, and Kamāl: “Majesty”, “Beauty”, and “Perfection”. Traditionally Rigor or Justice is attributed to Majesty, and Gentleness or Mercy to Beauty; now Beauty like Mercy pertains to the Infinite, and Majesty like Justice to the Absolute.
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There is a profound significance in the fact—at first sight paradoxical—that Islam, jealous as it is of the unity of God and so scrupulous in its fundamental formulations, places at the head of each sūrah the quasi-Trinitarian formula, “In the Name of God, the Clement, the Merciful”, and that it employs this formula on every occasion as a consecratory blessing. We think we have already provided the key to this enigma: when we speak of the Absolute we speak by the same token of the Infinite and the Perfect.3 Rahmah—a term most often translated as “Clemency”—implies more profoundly, like the Sanskrit term Ānanda, all the aspects of Harmony:4 Goodness, Beauty, and Beatitude; and Rahmah is integrated into the divine Essence itself inasmuch as it is fundamentally none other than the radiating Infinitude of the Principle, an identity the Koran expresses by saying: “Call upon Allāh or call upon al-Rahmān; to Him belong the most beautiful Names.”5
For one cannot appeal to the One without Mercy responding.
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God is manifested in the world, as we have said, by the miracle of existence, the gulf between the least grain of dust and nothingness being absolute; He manifests His Infinity a priori by the cosmic container space-time, which has no imaginable limits, any more than do the multiplicity and diversity of its contents; and He manifests His Perfection by the qualities of things and beings, which bear witness to their divine archetypes and thereby to the divine Perfection.
This triple manifestation constitutes divine “Outwardness”, which is expressed by the Name “the Outward” (al-Zāhir). According to Sufis the Shahādah comprises two meanings, depending on whether we are considering transcendence or immanence: first, the truth that God alone is real, in contrast to the world, which—being contingent—is illusory; second, the truth that no existence can be situated outside of God, that all that exists “is not other than He” (lā ghayruhu), or else the world would not exist. The first meaning corresponds to the mystery of the “Inward” (al-Bātin) and the second to that of “the Outward”.
It is not true that we cannot know what God is and can only know what He is not; but it is true that we cannot imagine God any more than we can hear light or see thunder. On the one hand space and time, then the existence of things, and then their qualities “prove” God; on the other hand they “are” God, but seen through the veil of “Outwardness” or “Distance” (bu'd), hence contingency. This veil produces by definition the privative or subversive phenomenon of evil, which is the ransom of projection outside the Principle, a projection that is nonetheless necessary and finally benefic inasmuch as “I was a hidden treasure, and I wanted to be known”, universal Radiation being the very consequence of the “Sovereign Good”.
The Absolute or the Essence intrinsically comprises Infinitude; it is as the Infinite that it radiates. Divine Radiation projects the Essence into the “void”, but without there being any “going out” whatsoever, for the Principle is immutable and indivisible, and nothing can be taken from it; by means of this projection upon the surface of a “nothingness” in itself nonexistent, the Essence is reflected in the mode of “forms” or “accidents”. But the “life” of the Infinite is not only centrifugal; it is also centripetal: it is alternately or simultaneously—depending on the relationships considered—Radiation and Reintegration; Reintegration is the apocatastatic “return” of forms and accidents into the Essence, but without there being anything added to the Essence, for it is absolute Plenitude. Moreover, and even above all, Infinitude—like Perfection—is an intrinsic characteristic of the Absolute: it is as it were its inward life or its love, which by overflowing, so to speak, prolongs itself and creates the world.
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Certitude and serenity: the fundamental intention of Islam is contained in these two words. For everything begins with certitude: certitude with regard to the Absolute (Wujud al-mūtlaq), “necessary” Being, which projects and determines “possible” existences; certitude with regard to what, being necessary, cannot not be, whereas contingencies can either be or not; and serenity through finding one’s roots in what is.
Certitude is salvific to the extent it is objectively lofty and subjectively sincere, that is, to the extent its object is the Absolute, not mere contingency, and to the extent its subject is the heart, not thought alone. This certitude is the very essence of man, encompassing the whole of his being and all his activity; man was made for it, and he is man because of it.
Certitude produces serenity, which penetrates the soul, being the radiation of liberating certitude. Serenity is to certitude what the Infinite is to the Absolute or what Possibility is to Reality or Totality to Unity. Certitude and serenity are prolonged in faith.
Certitude, serenity, and faith: by this necessary and free Being, which alone gives a meaning to all that is, both in the world and in man, and which is Light, Peace, and Life.