Ibn Arabi’s theory about the Divine Names is central to his cosmology and ontology for the

following reason: They have a dual ontological reality as on one hand they point to the

oneness of the essence and on the other hand they point to the multiplicity of the Creation.

According to Ibn Arabi, the Divine Names function in six main ways. First, he clarifies how the

Divine Names perform is to make known the relationships between God and the cosmos.

Second, he explains how the universe is a barzakh between God and absolute nothingness.

Third, he demonstrates how the hierarchy of the Divine Names is organized in such a way that

helps one to understand that how the human soul is an idea of God that desired existence.

Fourth, Ibn Arabi mentions how the Divine Names allow human beings to attain human

perfection. Fifth, he describes how the root of the Divine Names talk about the Creator of the

universe and that the veils are hindering the Source of the universe. Sixth, in the nature of

the Divine Names conflict exists in the universe which are connected to God. And he

concludes that to truly know the Essence is impossible, but the sense in which human beings

can know God is the Divine presence which is how the Divine essence relates to absolute

nothingness in an infinite number of ways.

First, Ibn Arabi’s system talks about how we can know the relationship between the Creator

of the cosmos and the universe through the Divine Names. The relationship is known through

the Name that means relationships and the Name of the Name which means the Names of

Relationships (Chittick, 34). For instance, the actual name “Creation” is the relationship

between the Creator and the Creation that gives rise to the name “Al-Khaliq”. “Al-Khaliq” is

not a thing ,but the name of the names which is self disclosure (“tajalli”) by God through

scripture which is the revelation (Chittick, 19). For example, God himself discloses the name

“Al-Jabbar” (The compeller) (Chittick, 34). Moreover, all the ninety-nine Divine Names are

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given to us by God and are Names of the relationships. If the ninety-nine names were just

names (things) then plurality could be associated with God.

Second, Ibn Arabi system emphasizes that according to the Divine Names, the “Al-Khaliq”

(Cosmos) which are the Divine acts is everything in the universe is a unique, never repeating

mixture of “Al-Haqq” (God) (Chittick, 49) and absolute nothingness. Ibn Arabi talks about how

the Divine Names point to both the essence and the cosmos which acts as a bridging function

that is known as the “Barzakh”. The Barzakh is the imaginary world that lies between the

spiritual (“tajassud al-Arwah”) world and the corporeal (tarawhun al-Ajsam) world (Chittick,

15). Everything in the cosmos is “He” and “Not He” (Chittick, 12). This means that on one hand

everything other than God is not being, not Knowledge, not power. On the other hand, the

Quran mentions “Whither over you turn, there is the face of God” (Chittick, 12). This means

that the attribute “Power” is reflected in the cosmos through the creation of the volcanoes,

seas, human beings and other creatures (Chittick, 9). Therefore, the cosmos was created by

God as it was the only way the creatures of the universe can know (root word from “All-

Knowing”) him. The phenomena that the creatures of the cosmos are existent and non-

existent at the same time may manifest the attributes of God.

Third, Ibn Arabi talks about how the Divine Names and the whole universe is organized

hierarchical which helps one to understand that the human being’s “nafs” (souls) was an idea

in the mind of God. The hierarchy allows one to differentiate one name from another name.

The highest level belongs to the name “Allah” which is not part of the level and whose

definition is the one who transcends (root word from “Al-Mutaali” (Transcendent) (Chittick,

35) the world (Chittick, 47). This means that human beings cannot know the meaning of Allah.

However, the cosmos which is the creation are related to the Divine Names. For instance, the

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reason why the Divine name “Al-Rahman” (Merciful) (Chittick, 34) precedes the name “A-

Khaliq” (Creation) lies in the fact that the first to exist was God who has mercy on the “nafs”

which desire physical existence. For example, the name “Al-Rahim” (Compassionate) is a

virtual reality unless it comes into being (Chittick, 34). God through the Divine Name “Al-

Muhyi” (Life Giver) (Chittick, 36) brings the “nafs” into being in the cosmos so that its effects

can be seen. In other words, Ibn Arabi often refers to how Human beings are loci of

manifestations. Thus, the “nafs” has the tendency to move closer to the light of God by

assuming the divine attributes. Or it can move further away from God by not assuming the

divine attributes.

Fourth, Ibn Arabi’s system emphasizes the understanding that human perfection is achieved

through the manifestation of the Divine attributes. Prophets were human beings just like any

human on the planet, but what differentiated both of them is level of divinity that the

Prophets attained through manifesting the Divine Names. The manifestation of the divine

names is known as “takhalluq” (assuming the traits) which comes from the root word

“Khuluq” (Chittick, 21). Ibn Arabi refers to human beings as “Empty Shells” that are

considered not to be divine when they enter the world, but have the capabilities of acquiring

divinity to some degree (Chittick, 20). For example, the good character traits such as

generosity, forgiveness and patience corresponds to the Divine attributes “Al-Karim”, “Al-

Ghaffar” and “Al-Sabur” could be adopted by human beings just like Prophet Muhammad

who had manifested these attributes (Chittick, 20). Human Beings spend their lives to

cultivate these Divine attributes. Once these traits are adopted, man is referred to as the

“perfect man” (Chittick, 30).

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Fifth, Ibn Arabi says that the roots of Divine Names, which are the attributes, helps one to

understand that veils are hindering the origin of the universe. According to Ibn Arabi,

attributes such as “iftiqar” (poverty and need) (Chittick, 44) tells us that the people in the

universe are so dependant on secondary causes that they don’t realize that the people are

poorer only towards God and in need of Him only (Chittick, 45). God in the essence of God

doesn’t need anything as he is “Al-Ghani” (Independent) (Chittick, 24). But God has a need in

the respect of the Beautiful Names (Divinity) which demands the cosmos (Chittick, 24).

Human Beings in reflecting God answers the question from where they need comes from. Ibn

Arabi tells us that the people think they need the secondary causes such as water, food and

shelter, which are the combination of Being and Not Being that attracts the non existent part

of human beings. But in fact, the veil that we humans have to remove is to realize that all we

need is God as He is the primary causer of the secondary causes. Therefore, the need for God

will help us to understand our own existence and return back to God as the Being seeks Being.

Sixth, conflict that exists in the nature of the Divine Names in the cosmos is connected to God.

For example, God is referred to as “Al-Muntaqim” (Vengeful) as well as the Al-Ghafur

(Forgiving) (Chittick, 36). Both these names are contradictory to each other. Furthermore,

since everything in the universe has a “Do” and “Do not”, the cosmos is a great collection of

these relationships between God and Absolute nothingness but some of these relationships

is contradictory. Therefore, the conflict is inherent in the universe which arises from how God

interacts with the absolute nothingness. Thus, the cosmos is created by God in certain ways

in which the Divine names relate to each other in the same way to God but in relationship to

each other they relate in different ways. This is where the disharmony in the cosmos comes

from.

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Finally, Ibn Arabi concludes that the only thing we know about God is that he is the Creator

of the Universe and that the human beings are the objects of the Creator. Also, the only way

the human beings were created is through nothing. Human Beings can approach knowledge

about God in a limited sense. Moreover, he states that the Divine Names are multiplier in

their properties, but not in their existence. One one hand, they point towards God in the same

way. For instance, God is one. But in relation to the cosmos, the Divine Names are related in

multiplier ways. Moreover, Ibn Arabi explains that multiplicity is not intrinsic to the attributes

of the Names but are multiplier in the location where they manifest themselves. The location

refers to where everything in the universe is a unique, never repeating mixture of God and

absolute nothingness.

In conclusion, Ibn Arabis System of cosmology and ontology, the Divine Names play two

central roles. On way points to the oneness of God and the other points towards the

multiplicity of the cosmos. He effectively builds the argument by mentioning how the Divine

Names act as relationships or as a Barzakh which is between God and the cosmos. God in the

true essence is behind the Barzakh and cannot be known by the human being’s due to their

limited Knowledge. Moreover, the Divine Names exist between Divinity and nothingness. The

cosmos which was created out of nothingness came to temporary physical existence for the

purpose of knowing God.

The cosmos became a source through which God can be known to all his creatures. Human

Beings by manifesting the attributes of God in the cosmos can know the essence of God in

one aspect which is that he is the Creator of the universe. The Divine Names which branch

out of the essence in existence in a hierarchical manner in the universe becomes relationships

through which man can know God. Thus, all the Divine names which are ninety-nine in

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number in the universe are synonymous with the name God and denote the oneness of the

essence. However, in respect to the cosmos the Divine Names form multiplier relationships

in the universe.

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 References

1. Chittick, W. C. (1989). The Sufi path of knowledge: Ibn al-ʻArabi's

metaphysics of imagination. Albany, N.Y: State

University of New York Press.

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