According to him (Ibn ʿArabī), maʿdan (source) is the intellect, while mulk (dominion) is imagination (ḥayāl). Imagination is subordinate to the intellect. According to his claim, the intellect is derived from the very thing that is the origin of imagination. The Messenger (resūl) receives from imagination (the world of imagination). For this reason, in his view, the Messenger is superior to the prophet (nabī). If the characteristics attributed to the prophet were as they say, and if, far from being superior, he (the Messenger) were not of the same kind, how could what they say be attainable for each of the believers (muʾminīn)? Prophethood (nubuwwa) is a state beyond this. (al-Furqān 25:80)
One of the levels of existence (marātib al-wujūd) is also maʿdan. Minerals are of many kinds. All of these are maʿdūm
They consist of various vapors and fumes that emerge from within the earth. (Marātib, 38)
maʿdūm/maʿdūmāt Maʿdūm (nonexistent) is that which does not exist and whose existence is impossible. If, when you destroy something, its existence is still possible, it is not called maʿdūm but mafqūd (lost). (Lumaʿ, 415)
Knowledge is the inner reality (ḥaqīqa) in the nafs (self) that is related to maʿdūm (nonexistence). The existent (mawjūd) is that whose reality is thus, or is thus when it exists. This reality is knowledge.
Maʿdūm is divided into four categories: Maʿdūm that is considered absolutely impossible to exist, such as God having a partner or a child, or a camel passing through the eye of a needle.
Maʿdūm whose existence is not necessary but becomes obligatory by preference and choice, such as an individual of a single species or the blessings of Paradise prepared for the believers.
Maʿdūm whose existence is possible, such as sea water being sweet or something sweet being bitter.
Maʿdūm whose existence, apart from being another entity of its kind, is never truly possible by choice; by this, I mean that among all these, there is that whose existence is possible, but whose coming into being by choice is not possible. By this, I mean a second individual of the same kind and more than that. Furthermore, just as reality fixes knowledge and negates management, so too does it fix and freeze will, removing preference. (Inshāʾ, 10)
Maʿdūm is that which can never truly exist and into which knowledge cannot penetrate (i.e., it is not the subject of knowledge). For it is not a thing that knowledge could concern itself with. Knowledge is only related to what exists. For it is inconceivable that pure nonexistence could be the subject of knowledge. For it has no form, is not qualified by any attribute, and has no reality other than the determination of its nonexistence. Pure nonexistence produces nothing in the human nafs (self). If it were to produce something, it would then be existent. Nonexistence, in all its aspects, can never exist eternally. There is no possibility (imkān) of inverting realities. Do you not know the affirmation that Allah Most High has no partner? So, if you reflect on what is decreed for you in your nafs (self), and the fact that Allah has no partner becomes a reality in your qalb (heart) and is correctly established, then you will find nothing in yourself but oneness (waḥdāniyya). That is existent and is what the self accepts and knows. (Inshāʾ, 11)
(See also: wujūd-'adam)