A thing does not have an ʿilla (cause). For a thing to have an ʿilla would require it to depend on its maʿlūl (effect). The Essence (Dhāt) of Allah Most High is exalted above depending on or being connected to anything. Since He is exalted in this way, it is impossible for Him to have an ʿilla. However, ulūhiyya (divinity) accepts an iḍāfa (relation). If, without intending iḍāfa or nisba (attribution), it is said that one who is perfect and self-sufficient in His Essence is called 'God', the answer is as follows: There is nothing objectionable in the word itself. But ʿilla is not like this. By its original meaning, ʿilla requires a maʿlūl. (Futūḥāt, 1, 82)
According to this group (the Sufis), ʿilla refers to the indications of the Real (al-Ḥaqq) on the tongue of His Messenger. Allah created Adam in His own image. (Bukhārī, Istiʾdhān, 1; Muslim, Birr, 115; Musnad, II, 224, 251) Even if this is not established among the hadith scholars, it is a narration confirmed by kashf (unveiling). The pronoun in 'His image' in the narration refers to al-Raḥmān. In this way, the problem is resolved. This is what explains the aforementioned ʿilla. (Futūḥāt, II, 479)
ʿIlla, in relation to a servant’s act or state (ḥāl), consists of the persistence of his memory, or of a personal image, ishāra (sign), or attribute. (Kāshānī, 131; Jāmiʿ, 90)
ʿIlm/'ulūm (ignorance; servant’s knowledge; practical knowledge; knowledge of the Real; human knowledge; conceptual knowledge; divine knowledge; maʿlūm; fruit of knowledge; taʿallum-i rabbānī; sciences of states; sciences of hearts; sciences of taste)
The fruit of knowledge and maʿrifa (gnosis, experiential knowledge of God) is nearness to Allah.
Abū Yazīd (al-Bisṭāmī) said: O young seeker on the path of knowledge! Seek the knowledge within knowledge. Knowledge is something other than the knowledge you are in. O young seeker on the path of renunciation! Seek the zuhd (renunciation) within zuhd. Zuhd is something other than the zuhd you are in. O young seeker rising on the path of taqwa (God-consciousness)! Seek the taqwa within taqwa. Taqwa is something other than the taqwa you are in.
The circle is the knowledge of the Real (God’s knowledge encompasses everything)... (Ṭawāsīn, 215)
Knowledge is that which is present in its expression, recitation, narration, and bayān (clear exposition). It is possible for the possessor of knowledge to forget, for it is the nafs (the lower self) that carries and memorizes knowledge, and forgetfulness is in the nature of the nafs. A person may forget knowledge or information after memorizing it or after much study. (Bayān, 46)
When knowledge is joined with ruʾya (vision), the unseen is unveiled to its possessor. The servant attains certainty (yaqīn) through knowledge, witnessing (mushāhada), and the reality of seeing with iman (faith). (Bayān, 62)
Knowledge is the nafs’s imagining of the appearances of information in its own essence. If this is so, then the nafs cannot imagine the reality of all reports received by transmission or hearing. In this case, the mentioned matter is not knowledge, but rather iman, affirmation, and acknowledgment. For this reason, the messengers first called their communities to acknowledgment, then asked for affirmation, and then encouraged them to seek knowledge of realities. (Ikhwān, II, 62)
The sciences (ulūm) are of nine types. Four are the well-known sunna (sunnah) sciences known since the Companions (ṣaḥāba) and the Followers (tābiʿūn); five are sciences that appeared later and were unknown to the earlier generations. The well-known sciences are iman, Qur’an, Sunnah, and legal opinion (fatwā). The five later sciences are: grammar and prosody, analogy and dialectic in jurisprudence, the science of rational investigation, knowledge of the causes and chains of hadith, and the science of criticism and validation of transmitters. Only the qualified know these sciences, and their associates learn them from them. They consider the narration of stories and tales to be an innovation (bidʿa), prohibit it, and consider it reprehensible to sit with storytellers. (Kut, I, 166)
Maʿrifa (knowledge) is of two kinds: one is Allah’s knowledge, the other is the knowledge of creation. The servant’s knowledge vanishes in comparison to Allah’s knowledge, for Allah’s knowledge is His attribute, subsists by Him, and His attributes have no end. Our knowledge is our attribute, subsists by us, and our attributes are limited. For Allah has said: "And you have not been given of knowledge except a little" (al-Isrāʾ 17:85).
Knowledge is among the praiseworthy attributes. It has been defined as encompassing and clarifying the maʿlūm (object of knowledge). The best definition is: knowledge is an attribute by which a living being knows itself. As Allah said: "Allah encompasses the disbelievers" (al-Baqara 2:19). And He said: "Allah knows all things" (al-Baqara 2:282).
ʿIlmullāh (divine knowledge) is the single knowledge by which Allah knows both what exists and what does not exist. No one shares with Him in this knowledge. This knowledge is indivisible and inseparable from Allah. The order in His acts is proof of His knowledge, for a sound and perfect act requires its agent to possess knowledge. Allah’s knowledge contains secrets and encompasses outward things. (Hujwīrī, 16)
Maʿrifa-i insāniyya (human knowledge) must be related to Allah and knowing Him. Knowledge of outward and inward acts performed according to time and circumstance is also obligatory for the servant. This knowledge is divided into uṣūl (principles) and furūʿ (branches), each having an outward and inward aspect. The outward of uṣūl is the kalima of tawhid (the oneness of God); its inward is the realization of maʿrifa. The outward of furūʿ is practice and training in transactions; its inward is the correction of intention. Neither can stand without the other. The reality of outward without inward is hypocrisy; the reality of inward without outward is heresy. The outward of sharia (the sacred law) without inward is caprice; the inward without outward is whim. (Hujwīrī, 17-18)
Abū’l-ʿAlāʾ Sakkāfī said: Knowledge is life for the heart against ignorance and light for the eye against darkness. That is, knowledge gives life to the heart against the death of ignorance. For the darkness of kufr (disbelief), the light of the eye of certainty is knowledge. The heart of anyone ignorant of maʿrifa is dead due to ignorance. The heart of one ignorant of sharia is sick due to ignorance. In this state, the hearts of disbelievers are dead, for they are ignorant of Allah. The hearts of the heedless are sick, for they are ignorant of Allah’s commands. The hearts of the heedless are also dead, for they are unaware of Allah’s commands.
Abū Bakr Warrāq Tirmidhī said: Whoever abandons zuhd and is content with only kalām (theological discourse) becomes a heretic (zindīq). Whoever abandons the knowledge of warāʿ (scrupulousness) and is content with only jurisprudence becomes a transgressor (fāsiq). The meaning is: whoever is content with the words of tawhid and does not turn away from its opposites becomes a heretic. Whoever is content with sharia and jurisprudence without warāʿ and taqwa becomes a transgressor. That is, pure tawhid without practice and struggle is determinism (jabr). The muwaḥḥid (one who affirms tawhid) should be a determinist in word and a predestinarian in deed, so that his path between jabr and qadar is sound. (Hujwīrī, 22)
Knowledge that does not have certainty (yaqīn) about its soundness is not knowledge. When knowledge is attained, its absence is as if seen with the eye. For this reason, the believers (muʾminūn) will see Allah in the Hereafter with the same attribute by which they know Him today. If they see Him otherwise, it is either because their vision tomorrow is unsound or because their knowledge today was incorrect. Both are two aspects of disagreement in tawhid. For the knowledge people have of Him today is sound, and their seeing Him in the Hereafter is also sound.
Thus, ʿilm al-yaqīn (knowledge of certainty) is like ʿayn al-yaqīn (eye of certainty). Whoever claims that knowledge will vanish in vision should know this is impossible, for vision is an instrument and means for the realization of knowledge, just like hearing and other senses. As long as knowledge does not vanish in hearing, it cannot vanish in vision. What the Sufis mean by ʿilm al-yaqīn here is knowledge of divine commands and worldly dealings. By ʿayn al-yaqīn they mean knowledge concerning the state of agony at the time of departing the world. By ḥaqq al-yaqīn they mean knowledge of the unveiling of vision in Paradise and the witnessing of its states. (Hujwīrī, 463)
ʿIlm al-yaqīn is the degree of the scholars’ uprightness in the rulings of matters. ʿAyn al-yaqīn is the station of the gnostics (ʿārifūn) as a result of their readiness for death. Ḥaqq al-yaqīn is the place where the friends (awliyāʾ) attain fanāʾ (annihilation in God) as a result of turning away from all things. (Hujwīrī, 463)
The scholars of uṣūl (principles) saw no difference between knowledge and maʿrifa, saying they are one and the same. However, they stated: it is permissible to call Allah 'ʿālim' (knower), but not 'ʿārif' (gnostic).
The shaykhs of the Sufi path, however, called the knowledge that is accompanied by practice and state (ḥāl)—and which expresses their states—maʿrifa, and its possessor ʿārif. Knowledge that is abstracted from meaning and devoid of practice is called ʿilm, and its possessor ʿālim.
Thus, Sufis call those who only possess knowledge of expression and words, memorizing their forms without grasping their meanings, 'ʿālim'. Those who possess knowledge of the meaning and reality of a thing are called 'ʿārif'. For this reason, when this group wishes to belittle their peers, they call them 'ʿālim'. This appears as a reproach to the common people, but the Sufis’ intent is not to disparage them for acquiring knowledge, but rather to criticize them for abandoning practice and conduct. For the ʿālim subsists by his nafs, while the ʿārif subsists by his Lord. (Hujwīrī, 464)
Knowledge is to know the realities related to this world and the Hereafter and to the intellect. These are beyond the senses, and other animals do not share this with humans. Necessary and universal sciences are among the characteristics of the intellect. For example, a person judges that a man cannot be in two places at once. This is a judgment a person can make about every individual, whereas sense perception can only know some individuals. The intellect’s judgment over all individuals is something added to the perception of the senses. If it is necessary, this becomes clearer. (Iḥyāʾ, II, 9)
Intention (niyya), will (irāda), and resolve (qaṣd) are similar terms with the same meaning. Intention is a state and attribute of the qalb (the heart). It includes two aspects: knowledge and action. Knowledge precedes action, for knowledge is the basis and condition of action. Action follows, as it is the result (furūʿ) of knowledge. Every action—every movement and stillness—is voluntary. Action is completed by three things: knowledge, will, and qudra (power). A person cannot will what he does not know; he must have knowledge of what he will do. He cannot act without willing; he must will it. The meaning of will is the qalb’s orientation toward what it deems suitable now or later. Some situations suit a person, others do not, by nature. A person is inclined to do what suits his nafs and to avoid what harms it. Thus, to do what is beneficial and avoid what is harmful, one must necessarily know what is beneficial and harmful. (Iḥyāʾ, 90)
Knowledge is the nafs al-nāṭiqa al-muṭmaʾinna’s (the rational, tranquil soul’s)—even if alone—contemplation of the realities of things, their forms abstracted from matter, qualities, quantities, substances, and essences. The ʿālim is the one who encompasses, perceives, and imagines. The maʿlūm is the essence of what is imprinted in the nafs. The nobility of knowledge is according to the nobility of the maʿlūm. The rank of the ʿālim is according to the rank of knowledge. Without doubt, the most virtuous, exalted, superior, and noble of maʿlūms is Allah, the Creator, the Originator, the Real, the One. Knowledge of Him is knowledge of tawhid. This is the most virtuous and perfect of all knowledge. Acquiring this knowledge is necessary and obligatory for all rational beings. (Risāla, 4)
Knowledge is of two kinds: one is revealed (sharʿī), the other rational. Most revealed sciences are rational in the eyes of the ʿālim. Most rational sciences are revealed in the eyes of the ʿārif. (Risāla, 12)
Human knowledge is acquired in two ways: first, through human learning (taʿallum-i insānī); second, through divine learning (taʿallum-i rabbānī). The first is the customary way, which is sensory. All rational beings prefer this way.
Divine learning is of two types: the first comes from outside the person, through learning; the second comes from within, through contemplation (tafakkur). Inner contemplation, in terms of learning, is external. Taʿallum is when a person learns from another; tafakkur is when a person benefits from the Universal Soul (al-Nafs al-Kullī). The Universal Soul is more effective and powerful in teaching than all the world and rational beings. Sciences are gathered in potential in the foundations of souls, like seeds under the earth. The jewel is at the bottom of the sea or at the center of the mine. Taʿallum is the desire to bring this from potentiality to actuality. Taʿlīm (teaching) is to bring it from potentiality to actuality in itself.
The soul of the learner (mutaʿallim) is similar to the soul of the teacher (muʿallim), and its relation to the teacher brings it closer to him. In other words, the ʿālim is like the farmer by benefiting others with his knowledge, and the mutaʿallim is like the earth by benefiting from the ʿālim’s knowledge. Potential knowledge is like a seed; actual knowledge is like a plant. When the soul of the mutaʿallim reaches perfection, it becomes like a fruit-bearing tree or a jewel brought up from the sea. When bodily forces dominate the soul, the mutaʿallim needs much more learning for a long time, enduring hardship and fatigue to seek benefit. When the light of intellect overcomes sensory attributes, he ceases to learn much and is content with little contemplation. The soul of one who accepts contemplation attains in one hour what the soul of one who finds it difficult to accept contemplation cannot attain in a year of learning. (Risāla, 19)
Knowledge and worship are two essences. Everything you see, read in the works of authors, learn from teachers, hear from preachers, and what researchers investigate, all relate to these two. Even the revelation of books, the sending of messengers, and the creation of the heavens, the earth, and all within them are for knowledge and worship.
In essence, knowledge is superior to worship. However, the servant needs worship along with knowledge; otherwise, his deeds are in vain. Knowledge is the tree, worship its fruit. The nobility of the tree is original, but benefit is realized through its fruit. Thus, the servant must have a share of both. (Minhāj, 6)
Practical knowledge (ʿilm-i ʿamalī) is of three types: first, knowledge of the nafs’s attributes and character, which is ascetic discipline and struggle against desire. This knowledge is the main aim of this book. With it, you learn how to live with your family, children, servants, and slaves. These are also your dependents, parts, and forces, like your servants. Likewise, the forces of your body must be well managed in matters of desire, anger, and others. Managing and controlling the inhabitants of a city is learned in this way. For this reason, the science of jurisprudence is often intended by this, and this knowledge relates to a quarter of the acts of worship of the nafs. The science of judicial etiquette also deals with this. A quarter of topics such as marriage, trade, and taxes are also completed by this. The main task of these three sciences is to train the nafs, manage the body, and observe justice. When justice is thus achieved, it extends to the subjects (raʿiyya) more distant than family and children. (Mīzān, 42)
The loss of your religion occurs through four things: first, not acting on what you know; second, acting on what you do not know; third, not learning what you do not know and remaining ignorant; fourth, preventing people from learning what they do not know. (Fath, 24)
Tawhid is in the qalb, zuhd is in the qalb, taqwa is in the qalb, maʿrifa is in the qalb, knowledge is by the qalb.