KNOW YOURSELF
AN EXPLANATION OF THE ONENESS OF BEING

From Arabic manuscripts attributed to Muhyiddin Ibn'Arabi and also to Awhad al-din Balyani
Extract from the translation by Cecilia Twinch

If someone asks: What is the way to knowledge of the self and knowledge 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.

If someone then says: I see myself as other than God and I do not see God as myself.
The answer is: The Prophet meant by the word 'self' your being and your essential reality, and not the self which is called the blaming self or the lower self or the self which is known as the confident and peaceful self. By the self, he was alluding to everything that is other than God, like when he said, O God, show me things as they are, indicating by 'things' whatever is other than God; that is, Make me know what is other than You, so that I may know what things really are - whether they are You or other than You, whether they are eternal and subsistent, or newly happening and temporal.

Then God showed him what is other than Him as Himself, without the existence of what is other than Him. So he saw things as they are, that is, he saw them as the essence of God, who is exalted, without how or where. The word 'things' applies to the self and to other things, because the existence of the self and the existence of things are equal in terms of being 'things'. When you know the things, you know yourself and when you know yourself, you know the Lord. Because what you think is other than God is not other than God but you do not know it. You see Him and you do not know that you see Him.

When this secret is revealed to you, you will know that 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, as we have already mentioned. You will see His attributes as your attributes, your exterior as His exterior, your interior as His interior, your first as His first and your last as His last, without any doubt or uncertainty. You will see your attributes to be His attributes and your essence to be His essence, without you becoming Him and without Him becoming you in the least degree.

Everything passes away except His face, both outwardly and inwardly. This means that there is no existent but Him. Nothing other than Him has being and therefore has to pass away so that His face remains. There is nothing except His face.

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. Their existence remains as it was, without being exchanged for another, and without the existence of the ignorant person being added to, or mixed with, the knowing person: ignorance simply disappears.

Do not think therefore that you need to pass away, because if it were necessary to pass away, that would mean that you are His veil. He would therefore be veiled by something other than Himself. This would require something other than Him having power over Him, which prevents Him from being seen. That is an error and misconception. As we have already said, His veil is nothing other than His oneness and His singularity. That is why the person who has reached the essential truth is allowed to say, I am the truth or Glory to me. No one has truly reached Him, unless they see their attributes to be the attributes of God and their essence to be the essence of God, without their essence or their attributes ever entering into God or coming out of Him and 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 it passed away. Because there is no self except His self, and there is no being except His being. This is what the Prophet was alluding to when he said, Do not curse time, because God is time, and God, who is blessed and exalted, is unblemished by any associate or equal or like.

It is also reported that the Prophet said The high 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. When that is accepted, it is also accepted that your being is His being, and the being of all created things, whether substance or accident, is His being.

When the secret of an atom is discovered, the secret of all created things is made clear, whether they are apparent or hidden. You do not see the two worlds as other than God, without the two worlds and their names and what they name existing - or rather, their names and what they name and their existence are Him, without any doubt. 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, without any condition, since He is the first and the last, the apparent and the hidden and He has knowledge of everything. He manifests Himself in His oneness and hides Himself in His singularity. He is the first in His essence and His self-subsistence and the last in His everlastingness. He is the very being of the name the first and the name the last, of the name the apparent and the name the hidden. He is His own name and what is named. 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. He is free from there being any other than Him. Indeed, other than Him is Him without any otherness, whether this is with Him or in Him, inwardly or outwardly.

Whoever is qualified in this way has innumerable attributes, without limit or end. Just as the person whose physical form passes away is deprived of all their attributes whether praiseworthy or blameworthy, so the person who dies a mystical death has all their attributes, whether praiseworthy or blameworthy, taken away from them and God comes into their place in all their states. The essence of God comes into the place of their essence and the attributes of God come into the place of their attributes. Because of this, the Prophet said, Die before you die, that is, Know yourself before you die. He also said, God says, 'My servant continues to approach Me with free acts until I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing, his sight, his hand .. . ', which refers to the fact that whoever knows their self sees their whole being as the very being of God, without any change in their essence or attributes. There is no need for any change since that person was not the existence of their own essence but was simply ignorant of the knowledge of their self.

When you know yourself, your egoism disappears and you know that you are no other than God. If you had an independent existence, you would have no need of passing away or of self-knowledge. You would therefore be a lord apart from Him, but there is no lord apart from God, who is blessed and exalted.

The benefit of the knowledge of the self 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: there is no divinity other than Him, being belongs to none but Him, there is no other except Him, there is no god but He.

If someone says: You make His lordship superfluous.
The reply is: I do not make His lordship superfluous, because He has not stopped being both ruler and ruled, just as He has never stopped being both creator and what is created, and He is now as He has always been. His creativity and His lordship do not need what is created or subject to Him. When He brought the creatures into existence, He was already endowed with all His attributes, and He is now as He has always been. There is no difference in His oneness between the new and the eternal: the new requires His manifestation and the eternal requires His remaining hidden. His exterior is identical to His interior and His interior is identical to His exterior; His first is the same as His last and His last is the same as His first and all is one and the one is all. He was described as every day in a different configuration when there was no 'thing' other than Him. And He is now as He has always been, since in reality what is other than Him has no being. Just as in eternity-without-beginning and timelessness, He was every day in a different configuration when no thing existed, so He is now as He has always been, although there is no thing or day, just as there has been from all eternity no thing or day. The existence of the creatures and their nonexistence are the same. If it were not so, it would require the origination of something which was not already in His oneness. That would imply imperfection and His oneness is far more exalted than that.

When you know yourself in this way, without attributing any opposite, like, equal or associate to God, then you really know yourself. That is why the Prophet said, Whoever knows their self, knows their Lord and not Whoever gets rid of their self, knows their Lord because he knew and saw that there is nothing other than Him. Then he pointed out that the knowledge of the self is the knowledge of God. In other words, Know yourself or Know your being, because you are not you but you do not know it. That is, know that your being is neither your being nor other than your being. You are neither existent nor nonexistent, nor other than existent nor other than nonexistent. Your being and your non-being are His being, without any being or absence of being because your being and your non-being are the same as His being and His being is the same as your being and non-being.

So if you see things without seeing anything else with God or in God, but see things as Him, then you know yourself and such a knowledge of the self is knowledge of God, without doubt or uncertainty and without mixing anything temporal with the eternal, whether in Him or through Him.

If someone now asks you: What is the way to union when you assert that there is no other than Him, yet one thing cannot be united to itself?
Then this is the reply: There is no doubt that in reality there is neither union nor separation, distance or closeness, since union is only possible between two things and if there is only one there can be neither union nor separation. Union requires two things which are either similar - in which case they are equal, or dissimilar - in which case they are opposites. However, He is exalted far above having any opposite or equal. Therefore union lies in something other than union, closeness in something other than closeness and distance in something other than distance. There is union without union, closeness without closeness and distance without distance.

If someone asks: We understand union without union, but what does closeness without closeness and distance without distance mean?
Then the answer is: I mean that in those times of closeness and distance you were not anything other than God, but you did not know yourself and you were not aware that you were always Him, without 'you'. When you reach God, that is, when you know yourself in a way that is beyond all condition, you know that you are Him, and you did not know before whether you were Him or other than Him. When knowledge comes upon you, you know that it is through God that you know God, not through yourself.

Suppose, for example, that you do not know that your name is Mahmud, or that what your name designates (your named) is Mahmud - for the name and the named are in fact one and the same thing - and that you think that your name is Muhammad. If you then learn that you are really Mahmud, you do not stop being who you were. The name Muhammad is simply taken away from you because of your knowledge of yourself - that you are Mahmud and you were only Muhammad by ceasing to be yourself. Because ceasing to be presupposes the affirmation of the existence of what is other than Him, and then whoever affirms the existence of what is other than Him has attributed an associate to Him. Nothing has been taken away from Mahmud: Muhammad did not pass away into Mahmud and Mahmud did not enter into Muhammad or come out of him, nor did Mahmud become incarnated in Muhammad. When Mahmud knew himself, that he was Mahmud and not Muhammad, he knew himself through himself and not through Muhammad. Because Muhammad never was, so how could anything be known through him?

Therefore the knower and the known, the one who arrives and what he arrives at, and the seer and the seen are one. 'The knower' is His attribute and 'the known' is His essence, and 'the one who arrives' is His attribute and 'what he arrives at' is His essence. In fact, the attribute and that to which it is attributed are one. That is the explanation of the saying, Whoever knows their self, knows their Lord.

Whoever understands this example knows that there is no union or separation. The knower is He and the known is He, the one who sees is He and what is seen is He, the one who arrives is He and what he arrives at is He. No other than He reaches union, no other than He separates from Him. Whoever understands this is free of the polytheism of polytheism, and whoever has not understood this has not breathed the scent of this freedom from polytheism.

Most of 'those who know', who think that they know themselves and their Lord and think that they are free of the bonds of existence, declare that the way can only be travelled by passing away, then by the passing away of passing away. That is because they do not understand the saying of the Prophet and, believing themselves to be free of polytheism, they allude sometimes to the negation of existence, that is, to the passing away of existence, sometimes to the passing away of passing away, and sometimes to extinction or annihilation. All these expressions are unadulterated polytheism because whoever accepts that there could be anything other than Him which is subsequently capable of passing away, then of passing away from passing away, affirms that there is something other than Him, and whoever affirms that is a polytheist. May God guide them and us to the right path.

      You thought you were you,
      But you are not you and never were.
      For if you were you, you would be a lord
      And the second of two. Stop what
            you were thinking.
      Between His being and your being
            there is no difference.
      He is no different from you nor
            you from Him.
      If you say in ignorance you are other,
            you are stubborn,
      But if your ignorance disappears,
            you are submissive.
      For your union is separation,
            your separation union,
      And your distance is closeness -
            through that you become suitable.
      Abandon the intellect and understand
            by the light of unveiling,
      So that what you are safeguarding
            does not escape you.
      Do not debase yourself by associating
            other with God,
      For associating other with
            God is debasing.

If someone says: You point out that your knowledge of yourself is the knowledge of God, but the one who knows their self is other than God. So how can that which is other than God know God and reach union with Him?
The answer is: Whoever knows their self knows that their being is not their being, nor other than their being, but that they are the very being of God, without their being becoming the being of God or entering into God or coming out of Him, and without their being existing along with Him or in Him. They see their being as it was before coming into being, without the need for passing away, effacement or the passing away of passing away. For the passing away of something implies that it was previously existent and that in turn implies that it exists by itself and not by the power of God, which is clearly impossible. It is evident that the knowledge that the knower has of their self is the knowledge that God has of Himself, because their self is no other than He.

By the word 'self', the Prophet meant 'being'. The being of the one who reaches this spiritual level is no longer their being whether inwardly or outwardly, but it is the very being of God. Their speech is His speech, their actions are God's actions and their claim to the knowledge of God is their claim to the knowledge God has of Himself through Himself. But you hear this claim as though coming from that person, you see their actions as though coming from them, you see them to be other than God, just as you see yourself as other than God because of your ignorance of your real being. For the faithful one is the mirror of the Faithful One, so he is He in His eye, that is, through His sight. For if his eye is God's eye and his sight is God's sight, without any condition, he is not He through your eye or your knowledge, understanding, imagination, thought or vision, but he is He in His eye, His knowledge and His vision. Then if he says I am God, listen to him, because it is God who is saying I am God, not him. But you have not reached the point that he has reached, since if you had arrived at it, you would understand what he says, you would say what he says and you would see what he sees.

To summarize, the existence of things is His existence, without them existing. But do not fall into confusion and do not let these allusions lead you to imagine that God is created. One of those who know has said, The Sufi is uncreated. It is like that after the complete unveiling and dissipation of doubts and conjecturing. But this spiritual nourishment is only for the person whose nature is larger than the two worlds. As for the person whose nature is only as large as the two worlds, it is not suitable for them, for it is greater than the two worlds.

Finally, you need to know that the seer and the seen, the one who finds and what is found, the knower and the known, the creator and the created, the perceiver and the perceived are one. He sees, knows and perceives His being by means of His being, beyond any manner of sight, knowledge and perception and without the existence of the form of sight, knowledge and perception. Just as His being is beyond all condition, so the vision, knowledge and perception which He has of Himself are without condition.

If someone asks: How do you view all the repulsive and desirable things? For example, when we see dung or carrion, do we say it is God?
Then the reply is: God forbid that God, who is exalted and sanctified, should be any such thing. Our conversation is with those who do not see dung as dung, or carrion as carrion. We are only speaking with those who are endowed with inner vision and not with those who are inwardly blind. Anyone who does not know their self is blind and does not see. Until their blindness and lack of vision disappears, they will not grasp these meanings. Our conversation is with God, not with other than God and not with the inwardly blind. Whoever reaches this spiritual station knows that they are no other than God. We are speaking with those who have determination and energy in seeking knowledge of their self in order to know God, and who keep fresh in their heart the image of their seeking and longing for union with God, and not with those without aim or intention.

If someone objects: God has declared that Eyes do not perceive Him but He perceives the eyes, He is the subtle and well-informed one, yet you maintain the contrary, so what you are saying is not true.
Then the response is: Everything that we are saying is the very meaning of God's words, Eyes do not perceive Him, but He perceives the eyes, that is, there is no one else in existence, so no one has sight which can perceive Him. If it were conceivable that there were someone other than Him, then it would follow that this other could perceive Him. But God has informed us in His saying Eyes do not perceive Him that there is no other except Him. This means that no other than He perceives Him, that is, He who perceives Him is Himself. There is no other than He. He is the one who perceives His essence, not another. Eyes do not perceive Him because they are nothing but His being. Whoever maintains that eyes do not perceive Him because they are transient and what is transient cannot grasp what is eternal and everlasting, still does not know their self. For there is nothing, and there are no eyes which are not Him. He perceives His own being without the existence of perception, without condition and without other.

      I knew the Lord through the Lord
            without doubt or uncertainty.
      My essence is really His essence
            without lack or imperfection.
      There is no otherness between them
            and my self is the place where
                   the invisible appears.
      Since I have known myself
            without mixture or blemish,
      I have reached union with my beloved
            without distance or closeness.
      I received a gift overflowing
            without any giving or intermingling.
      My self did not vanish in Him
            nor does the one who vanished remain.

If someone asks: You affirm God and you deny the existence of everything else, so what are these things that you see?
The answer is this: These words are for those who see nothing other than God. We have no discussion with those who do see something other than God, for they only see what they see. Whoever knows their self sees nothing except God, but whoever does not know their self, does not see God. Each receptacle only exudes what is in it. We have already explained a great deal and if we explained more, whoever does not see will still not see, understand or comprehend; but whoever does see, sees, understands and comprehends already. A hint is enough for the one who has reached union. As for the person who has not reached union, they 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 spiritual path in order to be guided by their light and progress by means of their spiritual will, and reaching in this way what they are seeking, if God wills.

May God grant us success in what He loves and in what satisfies Him in word and deed, knowledge and practice, light and guidance. He has power over everything and is able to respond to every request. There is no power or ability except in God, the sublime, the magnificent.

Peace and blessings on the Prophet, his family and friends.