| Excerpts From Kashf al Mahjub |
| Reason goes as far as possible to attain knowledge of God, but fails; Man grows restless and raises his hands for supplication and relief of his soul; when thoroughly exhausted, God grants their wish: His power becomes theirs and they enjoy and rest in peace in garden of intimacy. However, reason again comes to fore and tries to gain control, but fails again, becomes distraught and it abdicates. Then God clothes it in the garment of service (khidmat) and says to it: |
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| (Pages:267-277) |
| Gnosis of God |
| �While thou wert independent thou wert veiled by the faculties and their exercise, and when these were annihilated thou didst fail, and having failed thou didst attain.� |
| Egoism and Gnosis |
| False Pretension |
| It is also impossible, because in such a case everything which is known in this way must be known by all rational persons, and we see some of rational persons deny the existence of God and hold the doctrines of assimilation (tasbih) and nullification (tatil). Moreover, if it were so the principle of religious obligation (taklif) would be destroyed, for that principle cannot be possibly applied to objects of intuitive knowledge, such as one�s self, the heaven and the earth, day and night, pleasure and pain, etc. Some aspirants consider the absolute certainty (yaqin), which they feel, say: �We know God intuitively,� giving the name of intuition to this certainty. Substantially they are right, but their expression is erroneous, because intuitive knowledge cannot be exclusively restricted to those who are perfect; on the contrary it belongs to all rational persons. |
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| God causes man to know Him through Himself with a knowledge that is not linked to any faculty, in which the existence of Man is merely metaphorical. Hence to Gnostic egoism is utter perfidy; his remembrance of God is without forgetfulness, and his gnosis is not empty words but actual feeling. |
| Gnosis is result of inspiration (ilham) |
| It is impossible, because gnosis supplies a criterion for distinguishing truth from falsehood, whereas the inspired have n such criterion. If gnosis is to be judged and verified by the standard of the sacred law, then gnosis does not depend on inspiration, but on law and prophecy and Divine Guidance. |
| Knowledge of God is Intuitive (daruri) |
| Certainty (yaqin) |
| Man�s certainty in gnosis may be now greater and now less, but the principle of gnosis is neither increased nor diminished, since in either case it would be impaired. You must not let blind conformity enter into your knowledge of God, and you must know Him through His attributes of perfection. This can be attained only through the providence and favor of God who has absolute control of our minds. |
| The gnostic�s affirmation of a means is a sign of dualism (zunnar) and regard to anything except the object of knowledge is polytheism (shirk). When a man is doomed to perdition in the Preserved Tablet, nay in the will and knowledge of God, how can any proof and demonstration lead him aright? Dhu `l Nun the Egyptian has said, �Beware lest thou make pretensions to gnosis,� |
| �The Gnostic pretend to knowledge,
But I know ignorance: that is my knowledge.� |
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| Do not claim gnosis, least thou perish in thy pretension, but cleave to the reality thereof, and thou mayest be saved. The real gist of gnosis is to know the Will and the absolute power �qadar� of God. When it is realized that everything is duly possessed by God and is under his due control, he is left with no business with mankind. All veils are gone as ignorance is annihilated and this life is made equal in rank with life hereafter. |
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