PART III
THE
APPLICATION TO THE LIGHT-VERSE
AND THE VEILS TRADITION
(i) THE
EXPOSITION OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE LIGHT-VERSE
We now come to what the symbolism of this Verse actually
signifies. The full exposition of the parallelism between these five classes
of Spirit, and the fivefold Niche; Glass, Lamp, Tree, and Oil, could be
indefinitely prolonged. But we must be content with shortly indicating
the method of the symbolism.
1. Consider the sensory spirit.
Its lights, you observe, come through several apertures, the eyes, ears,
nostrils, etc. Now the aptest symbol for this, in our world of experience,
is the
Niche for a lamp in a wall.
2. Take next the imaginative spirit.
It has three peculiarities: first, that it is of the stuff that this gross
lower world is made of, for its objects have definite and limited size,
and shape, and dimension, and are definitely related to the subject in
respect of distance.
Further, one of the properties of a gross substance whereof
corporal attributes are predicated is to be opaque to the light of pure
intelligence, which transcends these categories of direction, quantity,
and distance. But, secondly, if that substance is clarified, refined, disciplined,
and controlled, it attains to a correspondence with and a similarity to
the ideas of the intelligence, and becomes transparent to light from them.
Thirdly, the imagination is at first very much needed,
in order that intelligential knowledge may be controlled by it, so that
that knowledge be not disturbed, unsettled, and dissipated, and so get
out of hand. The images supplied by the imagination hold together the knowledge
supplied by the intellect. Now, in the world of everyday experience the
sole object in which you will find these three peculiarities, in relation
to physical lights, is Glass. For glass also is originally an opaque
substance, but is clarified and refined until it becomes transparent to
the light of a lamp, which indeed it transmits unaltered. Again, glass
keeps the lamp from being put out by a draught or violent jerking. By what
then, could possibly the imagination be more aptly symbolized?
3. The intelligential spirit,
which gives cognizance of the divine ideas. The point of the symbolism
must be obvious to you. You know it already from our preceding explanation
of the doctrine that the prophets are a "Light-giving lamp."
4. The ratiocinate spirit.
Its peculiarity is to begin from one proposition, then to branch out into
two, which two become four and so on, until by this process of logical
division they become very numerous. It leads, finally, to conclusions which
in their turn become germs producing like conclusions, these latter being
also susceptible of continuation, each with each. The symbol which our
world yields for this is a Tree. And when further we consider that
the fruit of the discursive reason is material for this multiplying, establishing,
and fixing of all knowledge, it will naturally not be typified by trees
like quince, apple, pomegranate, nor, in brief, by any other tree whatever,
except the Olive. For the quintessence of the fruit of the olive
is its oil, which is the material which feeds the lamps, and has this peculiarity,
as against all other oils, that it increases radiance. Again, if people
give the adjective "blessed" to specially fruitful trees, surely the tree
the fruitfulness whereof is absolutely infinite should be named Blessed!
Finally, if the ramifications of those pure, intellectual propositions
do not admit of relation to direction and to distance, then may the antitypical
tree will be said to be "Neither from the East nor from the West."
5. The transcendental prophetic
spirit, which is possessed by saints as well as prophets if it is absolutely
luminous and clear. For the thought-spirit is divided into that which
needs be instructed, advised, and supplied from without, if the acquisition
of knowledge is to be continuous; while a portion of it is absolutely,
clear, as though it were self-luminous, and had. no external source of
supply. Applying these, considerations, we see how justly this clear, strong
natural faculty is described by the words, "Whose Oil were well-nigh
luminant, though Fire touched it not;" for there be Saints whose light
shines so bright that it is "well-nigh"' independent of that which Prophets
supply, while there be Prophets whose light is "well-nigh" independent
of that which Angels 'supply. Such is the symbolism, and aptly does zit
typify this class.
And inasmuch as the lights of the human spirit are graded
rank on rank, then that of Sense comes first, the foundation and preparation
for the Imagination (for the latter can only be conceived as superimposed
after Sense); those of the Intelligence and Discursive Reason come thereafter.
All which explains why the Glass is, as it were, the place for the Lamp's
immanence; and the Niche, for the Glass: that is to say, the Lamp is within
the Glass, and the Glass within the Niche. Finally, the existence, as we
have seen, of a graded succession of Lights explains the words of the text
"Light upon Light."
Epilogue: the Darkness
Verse
But this symbolism holds only for the 'hearts of true
believers, or of prophets and saints, but not for the hearts of misbelievers;
'for the term "light" is expressive of right-guidance alone. But as for
the man who is turned from the path of guidance, he is false, he is darkness;
nay, he is darker than darkness. For darkness is natural; it leads one
neither one way nor the other; but the minds of misbelievers, and the whole
of their perceptions, are perverse, and support each other mutually in
the actual deluding of their owners. They are like a man "in some fathomless
sea, overwhelmed by billow topped by billow topped by cloud;
darkness on darkness piled!" Now that fathomless sea is the World,
this world of mortal dangers, of evil chances, of blinding trouble.
The first "billow" is the wave of lust, whereby souls
acquire the bestial attributes, and are occupied with sensual pleasures,
and the satisfaction of worldly ambitions, so that "they eat and luxuriate
like cattle. Hell shall be their place of entertainment!" Well does
this wave represent darkness, therefore; since love for the creature makes
the soul both blind and deaf.
The second "billow" is the wave of the ferocious attributes,
which impel. the soul to wrath, enmity, hatred, prejudice, envy, boastfulness,
ostentation, pride. Well is this, too, the symbol of darkness, for wrath
is the demon of man's intelligence; and well also is it the uppermost billow,
for anger is mostly stronger even than Just; swelling wrath diverts the
soul from lust and makes it oblivious of enjoyment; lust cannot for a moment
stands up against anger at its height.
Finally, "the cloud" is rank beliefs, and lying heresies,
and corrupt imaginings, which become so many veils veiling the misbeliever
from the true faith, from knowledge of the Real, and from illumination
by the sunlight of the Koran and human intelligence. For it is the property
of a cloud to veil the shining of the sunlight. Now these things, being
all of them darkness, are well called "darkness on darkness piled",
shutting the soul out from the knowledge of things near, let alone
things far away; veiling the misbeliever, therefore, from the apprehension
of the miraculousness of the Prophet, though he is so near to grasp, so
manifest upon the least reflection. Truly it might be said of such an,
one that "when a man putteth forth his hand, he can well-nigh see it
not." Finally, if all these Lights have, as we, saw, their source and
origin in the great Primary, the One Real, then every Confessor of the
Unity may well believe that "the man for whom Allâh doth not cause
light, no light at all hath he."
And now you must be content with thus much of the mysteries
of this Verse.
(ii) THE EXPOSITION
OF THE SYMBOLISM
OF THE SEVENTY THOUSAND VEILS
What is the signification of the tradition, "Allâh
hath Seventy Thousand Veils of Light and Darkness: were He to withdraw
their curtain, then would the splendours of His Aspect surely consume everyone
who apprehended Him with his sight." (Some read "seven hundred veils;"
others, "seventy thousand.")
I explain it thus. Allâh is in, by, and for himself
glorious. A veil is necessarily related to those from whom the glorious
object is veiled. Now these among men are of three kinds, according as
their veils are pure darkness; mixed darkness and light; or pure light.
The subdivisions of these three are very numerous. That
much only is certain. I could no doubt make some far-fetched enumeration
of these subdivisions; but I have no confidence in the results of such
defining and enumerating, for none knows whether they were really intended
or not. As for the fixing of the number at seven hundred, or at seventy
thousand, this is a matter that only the prophetic power can compass. My
own clear impression, however, is that these numbers are not mentioned
in the way of definite enumeration at all, for numbers are not
infrequently mentioned without any intention of limitation, but rather
to denote some indefinitely great quantity:--God knows best! That point,
then, is beyond our competence, and all I can do now is to unfold to you
these three main divisions and a few of the subdivisions.
1. Those veiled by Pure
Darkness
The first division consists of those who are veiled by
pure darkness. These are the atheists "who believe not in Allâh,
nor the Last Day." These are they "who love this present life more
than that which is to come," for they do not believe in that which
is to come at all. They fall into subdivisions.
First, there are those who desire to discover a cause
to account for the world, and make Nature that cause. But nature is an,
attribute which inheres in material substances, and is immanent in them,
and is moreover a, dark one, for it has no knowledge, nor perception, nor
self-consciousness, nor consciousness, nor light perceived through the
medium of physical sight.
Secondly, their are those whose preoccupation is self,
and who in no wise busy themselves. about the quest for causality. Rather,
they live the life of the beasts of the field. This veil is, as it were,
their self-centred ego, and, their lusts of darkness; for there is no darkness,
so intense as slavery to self-impulse and self-love. "Hast thou seen,"
saith Allâh, "the man who makes self-impulse his god?"and the Prophet, "Self-impulse is the hatefullest of the gods, worshipped
instead of Allâh."
This last division may farther be subdivided. There is
one class which has thought that this world's Chief End is the satisfaction,
of one's wants, lusts, and animal pleasures, whether connected with sex,
or food, or drink, or raiment. These, therefore, are the creatures of pleasure;
pleasure is their god, the goal of their ambition, and in winning her they
believe that they have won felicity.
Deliberately and willingly do they place themselves at
the level of the beasts of the field; nay, at a viler level than the beasts.
Can darkness be conceived more intense than this? Such men are, indeed,
veiled by darkness unadulterated.
Another class has thought that man's Chief End is conquest
and domination--the taking of prisoners, and captives, and life. Such is
the idea of the Arabs, certain of the Kurds, and withal very numerous fools.
Their veil is the dark veil of the ferocious attributes, because these
dominate them, so that they deem the running down of their quarry the height
of bliss.
These, then, are content to occupy the level of beasts
of prey, nay, one more degraded still.
A third class has supposed that the Chief End is riches
and prosperity, because wealth is the instrument for the satisfaction of
every lust. Their concern is therefore the heaping up and multiplication
of riches--the multiplication of property, real estate, personal estate,
thoroughbreds, flocks, herds, fields and the rest.
Such men hoard their pelf [riches] underground--you
may see them toiling their lives long, embarking on perils by land, perils
by sea, up-date, down-lea, piling up wealth, and yet grudging it to themselves--and
how much more others! These are they whom the Prophet had in view when
he said, "Poor wretch, the slave of money! Poor wretch, the slave
of gold!" And, indeed, what darkness is in tenser than that which blinds
mankind to the fact that gold and silver are just two metals, unwanted
for their own sakes, no better than gravel unless they are made a means
to various ends, and spent upon things worth spending on?
A fourth class had advanced a step higher than the total
folly of these last, and has supposed that the supreme felicity is found
in the extension of a man's personal reputation, the spread of his own
renown, the increase of his own following and his influence over others.
You may see these admiring themselves in their own looking-glasses! One
of them, who may be suffering hunger and
penury at home, will be spending his substance on clothes,
and trying to look his smartest therein, just in order to avoid contemptuous
glances when he walks abroad!
Innumerable are the varieties of this species, and one
and all are veiled from Allâh by pure darkness, and they themselves
are darkness. So there is no need to mention all the individual varieties,
when once attention has been called to the species. One of these varieties
which we should, however, mention is the sort that confesses with their
tongues the Creed "There is no god but Allâh," but are probably urged
thereto by fear alone, or the desire to beg from Mohammadans, or to curry
favour with them, or to get financial assistance out of them, or by a merely
fanatical zeal, to support the opinions of their fathers.
For if the Creed fails to impel these to good works, by
no means shall it secure their elevation from the dark sphere to light.
Rather are their patron-saints devils, who lead them from the light into
the darkness. But he whom the Creed so touches that his evil deeds displease
him and his good deeds give him pleasure, has passed from pure darkness
even though he be a great sinner still.
2. Those
veiled by mixed Light and Darkness
The second division consists of those who are veiled by
mixed light and darkness. It consists of three main kinds: first, those
whose darkness has its origin in the Senses; secondly, in the Imagination;
thirdly, in false syllogisms of the Intelligence.
First, then, those veiled by the darkness of the
Senses. These are persons who one and all have got beyond that self-absorption
which was the characteristic of all the first division, as they deify something
outside the self, and have some yearning for the knowledge of the Deity.
The first grade of these consists of the idol-worshippers, the last grade
consists of the dualists; between which extremes come other grades.
The first [class], the idolaters, are aware, in
general, that they have a deity whom they must prefer to their dark selves,
and believe that their deity is mightier than everything else, and more
to be prized that every prize.
But the darkness of sense veils from them the knowledge
that they must transcend the world of sense in this quest; so that they
make for themselves from the more precious minerals, gold, silver, gems,
etc., figures splendidly fashioned, and then take those images unto themselves
as gods. Such men are veiled by the light of Majesty and Beauty from the
attributes of Allah and his light: they have affixed these attributes to
sense-perceived bodies; which sense has blocked out the light of Allah;
for the senses are darkness in relation to the World Spiritual, as we have
already shown.
The second class, composed of the remotest Turkish
tribes, who have no organized religious community and no definite religious
code, believe that they have a deity, and that that deity is some particularly
beautiful object; so that when they see a human being of exceptional beauty,
or similarly a tree, or a horse, etc., they worship it and call it their
god. These are veiled by the light of Beauty mixed with the darkness of
Sense. They have penetrated further than the idolaters into the Realm of
Light in the discovery of Light, for they are worshippers of Beauty in
the absolute, not in the individual; and they do not limit it specially
to one individual to the exclusion of others; and then, again, the Beauty
they worship is of Nature's hand, and not of their own.
The third class say, our Deity must be in His essence
Light, glorious in His express image, majestic in Himself, terrible in
His presence, intolerant of approach; and yet He must be likewise perceptible.
For the imperceptible is meaningless in the opinion of these. Then because
they find Fire thus characterized, they worship it and take it unto themselves
as lord. Such are veiled by the light of Dominion and of Glory, which are, indeed, two of the Lights of Allah.
The fourth class think that, since we have control
over fire, kindling or quenching it at will, it cannot serve as divinity.
Only that which possessing the attribute of Dominion and Glory and has
us under its absolute sway, and is withal very higher and lifted up-only
this avails for divinity. Astrology is the science that is celebrated among
this folk, the attribution to each star of its special influence: so that
some worship Cynosura and others Jupiter, and others some other heavenly
body, according to the many influences with which they believe the several
stars are endued. These, then, are veiled by Light, the Light of the Sublime,
the Luminous, the Potent; which are also three of the Lights of Allâh.
The fifth class support the fourth in their fundamental
idea, but they say that it does not befit their Lord to be describable
as small or great among light-giving substances, but He must be the greatest
of them; and so they worship the Sun, which, they say, is the Greatest
of All. Such are veiled by the Light of Greatness, in addition to the former
lights; but are still blent with the darkness of the Senses.
The sixth class advance higher still and say, The
sun has no monopoly of light; bodies other than the sun have each one its
light. So, as the deity must have no partner in lightfulness, they worship
Absolute Light, which embraces all lights, and think that It is the Lord
of the Universe, and that all good things are attributable to it. Then,
since they perceive the existence of evils in the world, and will by no
means allow them to be attributed to their deity, He being wholly void
of evil, they conceive of a struggle between Him and the Darkness, and
these two are called by them, as I suppose, Yazdân and Ahriman; which
is the sect of the Dualists.
This must suffice for the exemplification of this division,
the classes whereof are more numerous than those we have mentioned.
Second, those veiled by some light, mixed with
the darkness of the Imagination. These have got beyond the senses,
for they assert the existence of something behind the objects of sense,
but are unable to get beyond the imagination, and so have worshipped a
Being who actually sits on a throne. The meanest grade of these is called
the Corporealists; then all the various Karrâmites, into whose writings
and opinions we cannot go here, for to multiply words thereon were bootless.
But the highest in degree are those who denied to Allah corporality and
all its accidentia, except one--direction, and that direction
upwards; for (say they) that which is not referable to any direction,
and cannot be characterized as either within or without the world, does
not exist at. all, since it cannot be imagined by the imagination. They
failed to perceive that the very first degree of the intelligibilia takes
us clean beyond all reference whatsoever to direction and dimension.
Third, those who are veiled by Light divine, mixed
with the darkness of false syllogisms of the Intelligence, and who
worship a deity, that "Heareth, Seeth, and hath Knowledge, Power, Will,
Life", and transcends all directions, including direction upwards; but
whose conception of these attributes is relative to their own; so that
some of them may even have declared outright that His "speech" is with
sounds and letters like ours; while others advanced a step higher, it may
be, and said, "Nay, but it is like our thought-speech, both soundless and
letterless."
Thus, when they were challenged to show that "hearing,
sight, life", etc., are real in Allâh they fell back on what
was essentially anthropomorphism, though they repudiated it formally; for
they utterly failed to apprehend what the attribution of these ideas
to Allah really signifies. Thus they, say, in regard to His will, that
it is contingent, like ours; that it is a demanding and a purposing, like
ours. All of which opinions are well-known, and we need not go into further
details with regard to them.
These, then, are veiled by several of the divine Lights,
mixed with the. darkness of false syllogisms of the intelligence., All
such are various classes of the second division, which consists of those
veiled by mixed. light and darkness.
3. Those
veiled by Pure Light
The third division are those veiled with, pure Light,
and they also fall into several classes. I cannot enumerate all, but only
refer to three.
The first of these have searched out and understood
the true meaning of the divine. attributes, and have grasped that when
thee divine attributes are named Speech, Will Power, Knowledge, and the
rest, it is not according to our human mode of nomenclature. And this has
led them to avoid denoting Him, by these attributes altogether, and to
denote Him simply by a reference to His creation, as 'Moses did in his
answer to Pharaoh, when the latter asked, "And what, pray, is the Lord
of .the Universe?" and he replied, "'The Lord, Whose Holiness transcends
even the ideas of these attributes,' He, the Mover and Orderer of the Heavens."
The second mount higher than these, inasmuch as
they perceived that the Heavens are a plurality, and that the mover of
every several Heaven is another being, called an Angel, and that these
angels form a plurality, and that their relation to the other Lights Divine
is as the relation of the stars to all other visible lights. Then they
perceived that these Heavens are enveloped by another Sphere, by whose
motion all the rest revolve once in twenty-four hours, and that finally
The LORD is He Who communicates motion to this outermost Sphere,
which encloses all the rest, on the ground (say they)
that plurality must be denied of Him.
The third mount higher than these also, and
say that this direct communication of motion to the celestial bodies must
be an act of service to the Lord of the Universe, an act of worship and
obedience to His command, and rendered by one of His creatures, an Angel,
who stands to the pure Light Divine in the relation of the Moon to the
other visible lights; and they asserted that the LORD is the Obeyed-One
of this Angelic Movent, and that the Almighty must be considered the universal
Movent indirectly and by way of command only (amr),] but not directly
by way of act. The explication of which "command" and what it really is
contains much that is obscure, and too difficult for most minds, besides
being beyond the scope of this book.
These, then, are grades all of which are veiled by Lights
without admixture of Darkness.
4. The Goal of the Quest
But those who ATTAIN make a fourth grade, to Whom, in
turn, it has been made clear that this Obeyed-One, if identified with,
Allâh, would have been given attributes negative of His pure Unity
and perfection, on account of a mystery which it is not in the scope of
this book to reveal; and that the relation of' this Obeyed-One to THE REAL
EXISTENCE is as the relaxation of the Sun to Essential Light, or of the
live coal to the Elemental Fire, and so "turned their faces" from him who
moves the heavens and him who issued the command (amara) for their
moving, and Attained unto an Existent who transcends ALL that is comprehensible
by human Sight or human Insight; for they found IT transcendent of and
separate from every characterization that in the foregoing we have made.
And these last are also divided. For one class the whole
content of the perceptible is. consumed away--consumed, obliterated, and
annihilated; yet the soul itself remains contemplating the absolute Beauty
and Holiness and contemplating herself in her beauty, which is conferred
on her by this Attainment unto the Presence Divine in them, then, the seen
things, but not the seeing, soul, are obliterated.
And they are passed by others, among whom are the Few
of the Few; whom "the splendours of the Countenance sublime consume", and
the majesty of the Divine Glory obliterate; so that they are themselves
blotted out, annihilated. For self-contemplation there is no more found
a place, because with the self they have no longer anything to do. Nothing
remaineth any more save the One, the Real; and the import of His word,
"All perisheth save His Countenance," becomes the experience
of the soul. To this we have made reference in the first chapter, where
we set forth in what sense they named this state "Identity," and how they
conceived the same.
Such is the ultimate degree of those who Attain. Some
of these souls had not, in their upward Progress and Ascent, to climb step
by step the stages we have described; neither did their ascension cost
them any length of time; but with their first flight they attained to the
knowledge of the Holiness and the confession that His sovereignty transcends
everything that it must be confessed to transcend. They were overcome at
the very first by the knowledge which overcame the rest at the very last.
The onset of God's epiphany came upon them with one rush, so that all that
is apprehensible by the sight of Sense or by the insight of Intelligence
was by "the splendours of His Countenance utterly consumed". It may be
that that first was the way of Abraham, the Friend of Allâh, while
the latter was the way of Mohammed, the Beloved of Allâh.
Allâh alone knoweth the mysteries of their Progress
and of their Stations on the Way of Light.
Such is our account of the classes of the veiled by the
Veils; and it were not strange, if, after all these Stations were fully
classified and the veils of the Pilgrims Mystical were fully studied, the
number of classes were found to amount to Seventy Thousand. Yet, if you
look carefully, you shall find that of them all not one falls outside the
divisions which we have set forth. For, as we have shown, they must be
veiled by their own human attributes or by the senses, imagination, discursive
intelligence; or by pure light.
This is what has occurred to me by way of answer
to your interrogations, though, these came to me at a time when my thought
was divided and my mind preoccupied, and my attention given to other matters
than this. May not my suggestion be, then, that you ask forgiveness for
me for anything wherein my pen has erred or my foot has slipped? For
'tis a hazardous thing to plunge into the fathomless sea of the divine
mysteries; and hard, hard it is to assay the discovery of the Lights Supernal
that are beyond the Veil.
THE END
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