ee erent erat et ees reer mereenetees ee er eens ee ete en ee ee er eee rene) cere Ce ee ee Peed is 5 5 RST anaes Divine Love in Islamic Mysticism Deere eer INCU SURLYDIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM ‘The teachings of al-Ghazali and al-Dabbagh Binyamin Abrahamov J RoutedgecurzonDIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM “The two theories of divine love that ae examined in this book have ther foundations in Greck, Jewish, Christian ‘and Muslim ideas. ALGhavSIi (ewelfth century) was fnflaenced mainly by Plato and tba Sina’ teachings, while alDabbigh thincesth century, who. accepted some GGhazilfan notions, developed a theory of divine love that can he traced back to Neoplatonism. Both scholars created ‘complete theories of divine love that include definitions of Tove its causes and signs, che ways to love God, God’ love for man, and kinds of love. Binyamin Abcahamoy is Professor of Islamic Theology and ‘Qurinic Studies at Bartlan University, Israel. He received is PAD rom Tel Aviv University in 1982‘THE CONCEPT OF SAINTHOOD IN EARLY ISLAMIC MYSTICISM ROUTLEDGECURZON SUFI Bernd Radite and Jobn O'Kane 2 SERIES SUHRAWARDI AND THE SCHOOL OF Series Editor: lan Richard Netton ILLUMINATION Professor of Arabic Studies Mehdi Amin Razavi University of Leeds PERSIAN SUFI PORTRY The RoutledgeCurzon Sufi Series provides short intro- ‘An Introduction to the Mystical Use of Classical Poems lutions to a vareey of facet of the subject which are JT. Bede Bras accesible both tothe general reader and che seudent and scholar in the field. Each book wil be either a synthesis AZIZ NASAFI of existing knowledge or a distinct contbstion to, and Lloyd Ridgeon ‘extension of, knovledge of the particular topic. The to major underlying principles of the series are sound scholar- SUFIS AND ANTI-SUFIS ship and readability “The Defence, Rethinking and Rejetion of Safir in the ‘Modern World BEYOND FAITH AND INFIDELITY Elisabet Sirryeb “The Sufi Poetry and Teaching of Mahmud Shabistari Leonard Lewisham REVELATION, INTELLECTUAL INTUITION AND REASON IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF MULLA ALHALLAJ SADRA Herbert W. Mason ‘An Analysis ofthe ahikmah al“arshiyyah Zailan Moris RUZBIHAN BAQLI [Mysticism and the Rhetoric of Sainthood in Persian DIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM Susm “The Teachings of al-Ghazali and al-Dabbigh Carl W. Ernst Binyamin Abreharnow ABDULLAH ANSARI OF HEART ‘An Early Sufi Master AG. Ravan Forkadiing bid 2003 brdaedportn 1 New Fete an London ECAP AEE ‘smo pated in th USA a Cans Ready arn 2 Wor se Stet Rew Yok NY 1001 Regen print of th Tel Brant ‘Grom ©2005 mayarin Alea ‘Ties Sahn by See Gane Ld, Cambide ind so band reat tay soto Rome Ln pena Wise Al ight reseed, Nop o his book ay be epi apd ude any toy Sy cc chal gather mean no kno or eee inven ing oop 2d eng ay ominon a wing ome planer Tether vo the ccc the nfoematin contain Tet book ae ano cea ea espe ot iby foxy eos oso ht maybe mae Bata ivory Cataloguing Pubtion ats Aer ako ow he brary of Cones Caton in Publison Dats [Sig rece or isobar en que ISN o-7007-167-5 TO OLIVER LEAMAN And with thanks to David Brauner for correcting my EnglishCONTENTS Preface i 1. Inwroduction 1 1 Love in Greek philosophy 1 2 Love in Judaism § 5. Love ix Chrictoity 9 ‘4 Love in lam 13 4. Qurénand Hadith 13 b. Theology 15 & Philosophy 17 4 Mysticiom 25 IL. ALGhazlis theory of divine love in Kitab al Mababba 2 1, Introduction 42 2. Definition, principle and causes of ove $3. 3. The causes ofthe love for God $1 4. The way to love God 59 5. The signs oflove 78 15 God's love for man 83 7 Summary 84 IL, ALDabbagh theory of divine love co 1. The definition of love 88 2 The buonan aspect in te love for God 91 3. The emanazive aspect i the love for God 100CONTENTS 4, Perfection, beaut, and pleasure 105 5. Affinity as a cause of love 113 6, The clasfcation oflove 116 7. Kinds of lovers 121 8. Stations and states of lovers 125 9. ‘The relations between the states 131 10. Summary 135 Notes 137 References and abbreviations 7 Index 187 PREFACE Tone of the earliest works on love in Arabic literature, the author Abi al-Hlasan Alt bn Mubammad al-Daylami (fl Tate fourthftenth century) staes that ‘love is the most famous and the highest siuation among people, be they lite or commoners, ignorant or knowers..”” ALDaylami fexpeesies the fst pare of the common trath that ial its forms love plays an impoctane role in society which is preceded only by the instinct t0 live> Love has been Siscused in various Rls of research, nach a5 psychology, ethics, theology, philosophy, eligi, and medicine. Many such discussions have involved inerdisciplinary elements. ‘And as se shall se, there exist connections between the to basic divisions of love, that i profane and divine lore? Most of the $ifis regard divine love as one of the important stations of as the most important station. Nevertheless, a8 far as we know, complete cheoies of sacred love have not developed in early Islamic mysticism, And this epoch is marked with statements which express diferent aspects of the subject. Theories of divine love have appeared in Sfisim sine the fourthftenth century, Despite ‘the important role that love plays inthe practice and under standing of Sitfsm, research into this topic emains very ‘cunts. Apart fom Bell thorough work, Love Theory in Later Hanbalize Islam, which can help any scholar who inquires into divine love in Islam, and some articles whichdeal with Ibn Sig's episle on love, there are no other works on spac theories of love “The present contribution aims at examining two Saft theories of dvinelove, that of Abi Hiimid Muhammad hn Muhammad al-Ghazili (d. S0S/1111) and of Abi Zayd Abd al-Rabmn ibe Mubammad cl-Ansiri known as alDabbigh (4. 696/129). [chose these two scholars because, unlike earlier Muslim scholass, hoth introduce complete theories of divine love and because, although Al-Ghazali exerts great influence on al-Dabbgh, the later Affe in some hase characteristics of his Sif theory of Aivine love. ‘An introduction presenting the theme in Greek philos- fophs, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam precedes. the ‘iscussion on al-Ghazshi and al-Dabbagh. Within Islam, sacred love as i appears inthe Qur'an, Hadith, cheology, philosophy, and mysticism is then further examined in freater depth. T hope that this introduction supplies Sufficient background to enable the reades even the nom specialise in slamic mysticism, to comprehend the cheeries ff our ewo thinkers I INTRODUCTION 1, Love in Greek philosophy Since Sf divine love in Islam owes much to ancient Greek inking, # starement «0 be proved later, one should ratarally set forth the main features ofthis philosophical tradition. As Singer states, every discusion of love, ‘whether courly love, romantic love or eligious love must begin with Plato, Most ofthe material oa love i found in the Symposium! In this dialogue, Aristophanes sts forth fs myth according to which in the begining the human face was divided into thece sexes, male, female, and hermaphrodite. Each human being was spherical having four hands, four les, and a single head. Since they were powerful, they atacked the gods but were defeated and almost destroyed, only ro be saved due to Zeus! mercy. To prevent future rebellion by dhe spherical human beings ‘Zeus divided each of them into two pars. After that tach part longed for the pact ftom which ie had been Aisconnected. The division of the three sexes explains the existence of heterosexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism; each half of a spherical being longs for the ‘ising hall Ifa man belongs tothe spherical bemg which composed of male and femal, he wil desire a woman, fnd the same understanding applies t homosexuality and lesbianism. "And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole and the desie and pursuit ofthe whole is called love. Socrates goes furtherDIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM. than Aristophanes, who regards love as desire for the half or the whole which are missing, stating that love ie yearning for goodness:* Moreover, eros means man's will to always possess the Good.’ The highest object of love is the Good whichis identified with the absolute hessty. The Good of the Beautiful should he found in all spheres of human life. How a man can find the Good isa theme to ‘which Plato devotes much space in his writings. According to Plato, the lover passes through several phases until he reaches absolute henuty. Plato's lover begins with physical beauty. Then alter freeing himself from looking aa specific ‘beautifal thing oe human being because tere are many, he sees no reason to prefer one to anothee. Therefore, beauty ofthe soul, meaning man's werus, must be estimated more than the beauty of the body. From this stage he moves ro the contemplation of social and moral beauty expeessed in insitorions and noble atvies. Higher than this stage is the stage of acquisition of knowledge and scencesin which a man is fice from contemplating specific instances of beauty whether of bods, soul o society. This fourth stage will nally ring a realization tht there i absolue beauty {in which all features of beauty are included and which does fot change and is eternal, This absolute beauty is one of Plato's Forme or Ieas® Two main characteristics are discerned in Plato's theory of loves The fist isthe deste of the soul to attain union with its beloved, which here means the absolute beauty, and the second is the intellectual process of love. Although the Platonic lover begins his ‘way from material objects, the object of his desie isnot ‘material bur spiritual perfection, and the means lading to such perfection, notwithstanding motivated by emotions” is the intellect which creates knowledge, ‘Platonic eros is basally a love of abstract science more than anything se Theee is a common ground to both Plato and the Ancient Mysteries which isthe salvation of the soul from its hodily prison and its reruen eo its heavenly abode. The diference between them is only in the means: whereas the Mysteries the souls deliverance is attsined through initiations, parifcations, and rituals, in Pato i is through Philosophy.” What characterizes Plato's philosophy isthe ‘ulity of the material world and the world of the Ideas. “Maus function is to move from the sensual word to the ‘world ofthe Ideas, He can do this through the mouvation ‘of eros, the inclination of man’s soul to the spiritual world, ‘which inheres in his soul, because of the latter's divine source, and which is kindled by seeing sensual beauy. The ‘movement is ony upseards the world ofthe Ideas does nat help man eo achieve his goal." ‘Apart from being a motivation for araining God or the absolute good, eros can also be characterized by its being, an acquisitive love; man longs for acquiring what is valuable im his eyes and what he has not. eis not a spontaneous love but # motivated love. Because eros is scquistive, it also egocentric: itis diecred toward the happiness of man.!! Following Plato's doctrine that love is a search for ‘goodness, Aristotle, makes a distinction between three types of love oF friendship (pia). According co him there face thre objects of love ~ usefulness, pleasanmess, and spoodness. Each motivates « different kind of friendship. ‘The fre and the second types of friendship are based a sellinterest of the loves, where the lover expects benefits ‘nd pleasure feom the beloved, whereas in the third typeof friendship, which Arisotle calls porfece friendship, the lover loves not because his beloved is useful or pleasant ro him, but because of whae the beloved iy by virwe of his personality. Only viuous persone are intersted in one ‘smother as persons, and nota instrument." Friendship is conditioned by reciprocity and this in turn derives from ‘ationality which exists in srtaous people. Just as Platonic lovers are in love with che Ideas, Aristotle's good men er ‘women love the viuous character? The view that onlyDIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC.MYSTICISM. the good deserves love was disproved later bythe Christian doctrine of agape ‘Another view of Arstodle which is relevant to our discussion isthe view that love isa cosmie free, existing also in mater, which has a deste for che divine, the good, and the desirable, Thus the idea of eros applies to the physical world. He ascribes the motion ofthe heavens to their love for the Prime Mover ofthe Pare Frm.) Jase as the beloved objet moves the lover so the Pure Form moves matter to receive its fotm by being loved. The Pute Form causes the deste of matter to receive form because ofthe Pure Forms pedection. Plats eras turns out to be a cosmic poser inhering i each thing. The parable ofthe ladder which in Plato illstates the ascent of the human soul accus in Aristotle a areal scale of existent in which the lower desires the higher!" This kind of love is one ofthe three kinds mentioned in Neoplatonism, the two others are earthly love, which is expressed in human beings and Animals in the desire for the preservation and continuation ‘of species, and rational lve, the lve forthe Divine and for the immortal forms. “The eros motifs the core of Plotinas thought, according to-which the most important thing i the return ofthe soul +0 God.!” What characterizes the period between Plato and Plotinus isthe discussion ofthe sharp duality Berween the Divine and the material world, and the atempe t0 span both with a series of intermediate beings. The span or bridge is two-way: adescent from God to mate, that isthe ‘creation of the world through a proces of emanation, and also an ascent of man's soul back to God, In other words, All things spring fom the One, the Divine, and eturn tothe ‘One To knove both the worthlessness ofall material things ‘and yet recognize ther divine source™ are two requisites for the soul in order to ascend to the One, Contrary to the Gnostics and the world-despisers,Plotinus admits the beaury ofthe world hue regards it as an image of the INTRODUCTION absolute beauty, whose source is the rational spisitual world.” The true object of love is the beauty of the spiriual world. The more man's soul severs itself from ‘materiality for example, boxy desires, the closer i comes tothe tue beauty. Hence Plotnos identifies the rue beaury with the Good. The vireuous person is the beauifal one. The inner inclination to beauty and goodness, namely e705, ‘motivates the soul to lon for the highest world. Ifa man wishes to attain ths world, he must ascend in reverse order through the sages ofthe emanation, thats, fom beautiful things co the Soul which causes their existence, fom the Soul tothe Intellect, and from the Intellect othe One, But perfect union with the One ean be atained only through ccstasy! 2. Love in Judaism Since divine love is mainly the product of the Judeo ‘Christian tradition? iis worthwhile outlining the basic dlocerines and teachings of oth Judaism and Cheistanity fon love. In both Biblical and Pose Biblical Jadaiv love x the principal axis in the relationship between God and Iseacl" Although there is no theory of divine love in Jewish literature until ehe Middle Ages some significant ‘matis often recur Inthe following we shal efer mainly 0 ‘man's love for God and Goss love for man, the causes of both kinds of love and their expressions Deuieronomy serves a5 an important source for many later authorities, The eause of Israel’ love for God appears 35 Gods request and moreovee as His commandment» Furthermore, lave for Gad is expressed theough carrying ‘out the commandments” This kind of love, which is manifested through the fulfilment of preceps, obedience fnd submission co God's will is called by scholars nonos. Obedience to God is manifested through kesping theDIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM. commandments, because they express God! wil. Sub fervence %0 God's will i also expressed through piety fnd_ devotion which can reach the degeeeof the believer's readies to sacrifice himself or his mose beloved thing in fonder to please God. There is no wonder thus that “Abraham is the best example of such love. Although braham is called in Genesis 22.13 Godefearing, Post Biblical tadition egatds his concent to sacrifice his son the ‘greatest act of love for God. 2 In ike manner, Isaac loves. God, and Jacob i also considered the lover of God. Thus im loving God a believer ~ for example Job — should be ready to suffer and to bear his sufferings in patience," a notion to be found later in Sc Inerature. "The believer loves all what comes from the Beloved, and hence he loves the Tora and studies it. O, how I love your Tora, it is my meditation all the day,” says the poet of Psalms (119.97). That is why his love for God is expressed in the imitation of God's qualities? Howeves the Tora itself serves asa cause for the love of God. In Seder Elite Rebba (ot Tanna de-be Eliyab, a Midrash probably dating from the tenth century, i is stated that i the Gentiles were able to understand che profound meaning of the Tora, they would love God. This Midrash also states that due to their love for God, Israel were ready «0 accept the burden of keeping the commandments." Tsrae loves God because of the miracles He did for chem, and in general because of is greatness and power Ia che ‘weekday morning service iis stated that God's act brings ‘man to love Him: “And You have brought us close to Your freat Name Forever in tuth, to offe praisefal thanks to ‘yusand proclaim Your oneness with love: Elsewhere, in the ame service, it ssa that God will imbue the heat of the Believer with love and awe of Him.” The same idea recurs in the Mussa service of Rosb Hodesh: "You will bring’ them an eternal love. However, the notion IvTRopUCTION Sometimes appears that a believer loves, or should lore od spontaneously, without reason, meaning “without ‘expecting reward. The Misha in Avot says: "Be not like ‘servants who serve thee master for the sake of receiving a reward instead be lke servants who serve cheir master not forthe sake of receiving a reward. And lee the awe of the Heaven be upon you." Here the word ‘ove’ is not ‘mentioned, tthe Rabbis inser i into the interpretation ‘of this paragraph.*¥ The same idea is found in Phil's On Partcalar Laws (194-7) and Midrash ‘Tadsbeb;, both ‘sources repard the buret sacrifice (or the elevation offering, = ‘olab)™ as an expression of disinterested love for God"? ‘We shall rurn now to God!’ love for Israel dividing the theme, as we have dealt with Israel's love for Gog, into causes and expressions. Abo in this issue Desseronomy ‘plays an important roe. One ofthe reasons for God! love {or Israelis His love forthe Fathers and the oath he swore to them: ‘And because He loved your Fathers, He chose their seed after them «Deuteronomy, 4.37) That God's choice means His lovet® is proved from the following verses: The Lord did not set His love'™ pon. you, oF choose you, because you were more in number than any people; For you were the fewest ofall peoples; bat because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn to your Fathers.” (Deuteronomy, 77-8) Whereas Gos! love which originates in His oath co the Fathers is directed co all kinds of lerac persons, be chey good or evil, the notion appears many times that God loves thone who love Him, namely the righteous. See, for cxample, Proverbs, 8.17: "love those who love Me; ard those who seek Me early shall find Me™ Psalms 146.8 "The Lord opens the eyes ofthe bling: the Lord eases those who are bowed downs the Lord loves the righteous. The Apoceypha, to, expresses the idea that God loves thosewho are wronged and those who suffec*” Also whoever Studies the Tora disinterestedly is loved by God. “Rabbi Meir saide Whoever engages in Tora study for its own sake merits many things - . . He is called friend and beloved. 8 However according to Biblical and Pose Biblical texs, God's love for Israel sometimes occurs without reason, without any previous kind of behavior fn the pate of man. God says in Hosea’ prophecy (145): “will love them freely In Jeremiah 31.2, God’ love for Israel appears as everlasting, and asa cesut, He loves them anytime without paying attention ro what they do. Eternal love is not conditioned by any circumstances. Ths view Appeats also in the Apocrypha (Baruch I, 78.3)» God has loved us from eternity... .” And in the Wisdom of Solomon (11.24) i is stated that “You love al he existent, and you do not abhor anything of your creation.’ Hence, Gods love for people does not depend on their acs, 2 notion which is reminiscent of the agape idea which we shall immediately examine. However the universality of Gods love, which appears several times in the Apocrypha, is not so emphasized in the Talmud and the Midrash. AA saying of Rabbi Akiva combines the universal and particular aspects of God's love: “Beloved is man, for he was created in God's image .... Beloved are the people of Israel, for they are described as children of the Omnipeesen..' But preference is given to God's love for ae Gods love for laral is expoeted) in. several ways, the most important. being, Tis choosing of Israel |Denteromony, 4.37), Inthe liturgy, the weekday morsing seqvice, Gad choice is pin sated: "You have chosen us from among every people and tongue. In the Festivals’ service, choice is identical to love: "You have chosen us from all che peoples, You loved wt, and found favor in tn" God's choice is connected in turn with His deliver ance of lsral from Egype as Hosea (11.1) puts it: ‘When ntRopuction Israel was child, then Loved him, an called my son out of Faye? Gods love is also manifested through the sufferings He brings on His Beloved, asa father who punishes his son in ‘order ro educate him. This kind of relationship explains why the lover shoul keep the Beloved’ commandment. ‘The bass of this view is Proverbs 311-12: "My son, do not despise the Lord's instructions nor be weary of his chastsement: forthe Lord repeoves him whom He loves, land He resembles a father who loves hison. This notion ‘recurs also in slams and Job andin Post Biblical iteraare inthe Talmed and Midrash In sum, in Biblical and Post-Siblical Inerarure we find several ideas concerning both God’ love for man and ‘man’s love for God, but these have not crystallized into a theory of love in any of the works cited. Howeves it seems that some signs of the motifs (noms, agape, and even eros) which we shall find in Christanity and. slam ‘were aleady found in early Jewish literate. Our next discussion deals wih love in Christienity according to the New Testament. 3. Love in Christianity According t0 Nygren, the principal motif in the New Testament is agape. Tis term refers to God's love for man. Age is Gods disinterested love. God loves because of His nature, and His lve is expressed notin getting but in doing ‘good. Beng indiferent tothe objece of His lot, God loves ‘equally the good and the wicked. Wheress Hellenism is « religion which secks God for the sake of man's happiness, and thus ie may be perceived in terms of egocentric, in Christianity salvation comes from God, and thus may be perceived as theocenricity. Although the motif of agape ‘occu in Judaism, Judaism is abo an egocentric religion,DIVINE LOVEIN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM for is basic motif is nomos, that is, man’s love for God is achieved through man’s carrying our of the precepts. “The agape motit can be summed up in four basic principles: a, Agape is spontaneous and unmotivated There is no reason for God's love excepe His nature. The objece of love, that is man, should aot have. special characteristics in order to. be loved by God; b. This Principle is connected with the fist one; agape is Indifferent to value. The evil person reeives Gods love as swell asthe xin. “He makes His sun rise on good and bad alike, and sends the rain on the honest and dishonest” (Mate, 5.45)" €, gape is creative in other words, it ‘creates value in the object of love. When God forgives person, He crestes new situation changing the perso alte; and d. Agape iniates fellowship with God. God’ ct causes 2'man to love Him. Aman canaor love God ‘without His assistance.” Some of Jesus’ parables can be explained in the light of the principles of agape. For example, in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matt, 20. 1-16), the laborers receive equal pay for tanequal work, The housebolder's act is not mocivated by justice or merit, bur by his generosity, just as God's love is not mouvated by justice and merit, but by His enerosiy* The love of the Christian for God is a reflection of Gods love, which by definition mast he spontaneous and unmotivated, Whereas in human love therein egocentric reason, the love for God should not aim 10 attain something; iis submission of man to God. Likewise, the second part of the commandment of love che lve for che neighbor, ischaracterioed by agape. For example, just as God loves the sinners, oa man mast love hs enemies. Ia both kinds of love tis God's love for man which esses him to love God oF his neighbors* ‘A further development ofthe agape motif occurs inthe 10 INTRODUCTION ‘teaching of Paul, the pesecutor ofthe Church who became its disciple and aposte, Paul was fully aware of apape, for he fle that his conversion was caused by God's love. Apart from seemingly making agape the technical term for CCuistan love, Paul identifies agape with the theology of the Cross. This means thar God's love for humanity is ‘expressed through saesifcing His son for the sake of humanity, and more precisely, fr the sake of che weak, che ungodly the sinners, and the enemies. He has reconciled us men to Himself through Christ -..° 2 Cor, .18).°° uly attitude toward man’s love alo’ macks a sift in emphasis away from Jess’ view as i appears in che ‘Synoptic Gospels Contrary to Jesus who places man’s love for God above love for his neighbor, Paul chinks thet the commandment to love one’s neighbor takes precedence. ‘The commandments of the Law ‘are all surmmed up in the one rule, Love your neighbor as yourself (Rom. 13.9) “The final formulation of che agape motif occurs in the Gospel of John who identifies agape with God's essence; ‘God is love means that His love is eternal and exists even ‘without an object. Nygren points out thatif the eternal love ‘of the Father fr the Son isthe protcrype of love, then ane may conclide that che inherent worth ofthe Son makes im the objec of the Fathers lave, and hence God's love for man may not he considered spontaneous and unmotivated ‘That this possibilty holds water is proved by John’s statements which are associated with reasons, for example “The Fathee Himselfloves you, because you have loved me on, 16.2712 Furthermore, when John differentiates Derween the love for the material world, which it forbidden, and the love for God, he inadvertently dlisingushes berween two kinds of objects, thus defining love in terms of the object of love which contradicts the ides of agape a6 a love independent of the value of its ‘object. Another infringement on the agepe motif is "DIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC tYSTICISM partculrism which is expressed in the love among the Chistian brethren; here aso love looses its unmot- vated character, for one loves his acighbor because he is a Christian, not because he ia human being. Thus clements of eros penetrated into the Christian idea of loves? or the reader’ convenience I would like now to sum up the differences between eros and agape in an antithetical arrangement as presented by Nyren.** Erosis acquisitive and Agape sacrificial giving. longing Eros is an upward Agape comes dovn. Eros is man’s way to God. rosin man's effort it ‘assumes that man’s ‘salvation is the work of salvation i is oxen divine love work, Eros is egocentsi ore, a Agapeis unselfish love, it form of self assertion of seeketh noe its own,"it the highes, nobles, ives isl aay sublimest kind. ros seeks to gain ts life, Agape lives the life of God, fe divine, immortalized. therefore dares to Tore Erosis the willto get and Agape is fcedom in giving, ‘possess which depends which depends on wealth fon want and need, ross primarily man's love: God isthe object of love; God is agape. Even Eros, Even when itis when it is ateibuted 0 atebured to God man. ross patterned on human Agape is patterned on love divine love mvtopucrion Eros is determined by the Agape is sovereign in ‘quality the beauty and relation tots object and worth of ts objet is directed to both “the not spontaneous, ht eviland the good’ iis ‘evoked,"'mosvated” spontaneous, “overflowing, “unmotivated.” Eras recognizes value inits Agape loves—and creates ‘object ~ and loves ‘le ts objet. Eros and agape have not remained antithetical for along ‘ime, Having been a pupil of Neo-platonism, Se. Augustine incorporated it into Christan dogma. He states that the Latin word cartas constitutes the combination between eros and agape. Agape is dtected toward man and causes him to love and o long for God propery. Without agape ‘man rans the risk of being involved in earthly love. Thus the function of agape is to purify ers. To a large extent, ‘St, Augustine's carts became the established doctrine of the Catholic church. 4.Lovein Iam 4 Qur’in and Hadith Since our main concer isto examine Islamic thinkers on divine love, we shall considerably widen the scope of our survey of Islamic views on love. We shall examine love in the Qur'an, the Hadith (traditions which go back to the Prophet}, theology, philosophy, and Sufism. The fist ewo sources do not supply us with much material on love. One ‘an discern thre sss: a, The ncmos morif occurs once in ‘manifest way, but many times ehrough che nosion that God loves che righteous and hates the wicked, chat is, He loves those who carry out His commandments. Say: Ifyou BDIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM. love God, follow me, and God wil love you, and forgive your sins (Quen 3.31} "God loves not the evildoers [Quen 3.134). “God loves. the good-doers! (Que’in 3.140}; b- Man’ love for God is conditioned by God's love for maa... God will assuredly being a people He loves, and who love Him ..° (Quran 5.54); and c. An identifcation of belieFin God and love for Him... Those that believe love God more acdenly(Qur'én 2.165). God appears as either lover or beloved in Que‘én 85.14: ‘And He is the Allforgiving, the Altloving (wadid).” Wadd cam be interpreted co mcaa either lover if we regaed the Adjective wadid as nomen agentis (f'l), or beloved, if we ‘Tepatd this adjective as nomen patients (maf fl.” Ts ‘Obvious that such scanty material, at least concerning the plain meaning of the Quranic verses** could not be the source of the grea cheores of divine love which were developed later in Islam. The Hadith adds to the Quen Some other ideas, but also here the information is very limited. I rely on al-Ghazil's inrodvetion to his K. almababba, assuming that he uses the basic and most important tradvions on love. The love for God appears as ‘condition of belie. Asked what belie is, Muammad fansvers: ‘Belief means that God and His messenger are beloved by you more than anything else? Thus belie is described in terms of love. In one tradition the order to love God ~ which is most prevalen in the Bible = appears associated with is reason: Love God, because of the favors THe bestows on you, and love me (that is Muhammad), because God loves me.” Another Biblical aotion is the statement that whoever loves God experiences afin.” Moreover, the lover of God isnot afaid of death, for ic ‘causes him to meet God, Abraham is the model of such ardent love. The Prophet is said to have prayed as follows “0 God, pve me Your love, and the love of those who love You, and the love wshich makes me come close to You, and makes Your love beloved co me more than 4 cold water”? We shall see that these traditions have no influence on al-Ghazal's theory of love, however he brings them forward to comply with his usual order of ‘writing by which he opens each of his books in the Thy” With fragments of evidence from the Qurén and the Hadith b. Theology Notwithstanding. Quranic verses and taditions whose literal meanings indicate thar God loves His cceatures, Some groups of theologians suchas. che Jahmites, Mottaziltes, and some Asharites who denied God's love, identified His love with His will or benefcton.”* Concerning the interpretation of God's love, the Ash'arte theologian al-Juwayni (d.478/1085) introduces ewo views 4. God’ love and contentment means His benefation. "God loves a person’ (abba allah ‘abdar) des not mean feeling sympathy with or inclination toward a man, but granting favors to him. And man’s love for God is txpressed through obedience to Him.” This is because God is too exalted eo ineline to man or to be the object of man’ inclination. Al-juwayni seems to say that God's inclination would indicate that He lacks something, a notion hich cannot be conceived of God who is perlect. ‘Om the other hand, man’s inclination would infinge on Gods transcendence held by the theologians. ALGhazli reasons that the objection ofthe theologians t dine lve 's based on a doctrine which says thae an entity which ‘resembles nothing and nothing resembles it cannot be the object of love.” The Ash'arte theologian al-Riillini (d. 404/1013) explains thar since there is no change i Gods essence, it is impossible to ascribe to Him feelings which enjoin changes in ones essence” b. God’ love is explained as His will. However, tis will i caled love andDIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM. contentment when tis connected with a favor bestowed on ‘man, and when itis connected with punshmene afiting ‘an, itis called angen Tes worth noting that Ss were persecuted for thie theory of love.”” Tn Taymiyya (729/328) does not accept this view. He argues that the identfeation of love with will denies ‘God one of His tributes, and also results in Gods love of injustice, for everything inthe world is willed by Him, For theories of love in Tbn Taymiyya and other Hanbalite “scholars the reader should consul Bells excellent work, We ‘would like, however, cite Bell’ able in which he shows the diferences between che Hanbalites, who represen che rnomos motif on the ane hand, and the Asharites on the ‘ther who identify God love with His will. For will Bell tses the Greek word elem ‘Thelems Nomes God has noanthropo- All he traditional ‘morphic or anthropo-_attbutes of God truly pathic arenbutes. He does apply to him, although not love nor does he they are notto be ‘experience ‘pleasure; the explained. God loves product of love satisfied. and experiences ‘oy? ‘The Koranic references God's love for men is real God's love for men mast and sto be distinguished beinterpreted to mean from the creative aspect bis “wiling good? o ithis wiles a nacual them: ‘consequence of hi lf loves God will good to some God's acts forthe sake of ‘men and evil to others "wise purpose” (a)™® for no cause or purpose. which be loves. God cannot be the object Men can truly love ‘oflove. God in and for himself 16 Man's pleasure in the “The pleasure of the vision beatie wsion isnot che is the result of the result of love satisfied but consummation of man's an independent pleasure love t0 God. ‘created simultaneously. «Philosophy As for the philosophical material, there are two basic ‘works which underpin an introduction to al-Ghazals and ‘Dabbigh’ treatises on divine love, These are: a. the seventh episte of Ras ikhusin al-af? called imébiyyatalishq (On the Essence of Loveland b. Tha Sinds Risila fliabg (An Epistle on Love). The fst Arabic philosopher alKindi(d. 260/873) wrote a treatise ‘on love, but itis not extant." There aze some scatered rnowes on the theme in the famous Neoplatonic work called The Theology of Aristotle, which is acually an [Arabic version of parts of PltinusEnneads.™ These notes concentrate on the ie of beauty. The beaty of material thing is inferior co che beauty of is idea. Beauty originates ‘nthe form, not inthe matte consequent, it exists also in ‘immaterial substances. Since bodily heauty derives from the beauty of the sou, the latter is superior to the former Also the internal beauty ofa human being, the Beatty of ‘character and disposition is preferable ro external beauty ‘The degree of beaury increases according to its place in the cosmic hierarchy of beings. Hence, God is the most beautiful. Just as the beauty of immaterial. beings is superior to the beauty of material beings, so love fo the former, which s intellectual love (= trae love), sprferable to love for the Later Love is regarded in tis work as an cremnal force and moreover, the high worlds identical with Tove” Abo in al-Farabi (d. 339/950) is found no theory of love, only seattered references. Aecording to hin the form ”DIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM. ‘of love exists in the One, and drives from the One in an ‘manative manne The One Himself isthe common object ff the love ofall beings, although each being bas an object fof love which i higher chan isl in the cosmic hierarchy. Tove for the Fist causes human beings to reach a certain amount of conjunction with the separate intelet. In the human sphere, love makes people be connected to and harmonized with each other" Inthe Epistle on the Essence of Love (Risale fi mabiyat aLishq writen by "The Brethren of Purity’, we encounter for the Firs time a theory of love in Islamic philosophy. ‘They present some of the philosopher’ definitions of sh. among which, for example, there occurs the defrition of ishq as “excess in love (frit almababba) and strong inclination (shiddat al-mayl) coward a. species. of the fxistents. and toward a particular thing . . °° The preferable definition according to them i stong longing for union? (sbiddar al-shawg ili alta), Since union is characterized by spiritual inclination and psychic states they put forward the kinds of souls and ther objec oflove ma’ shag). This isthe Platonic division ofthe soul into three faculties or the division into thece kinds of souls: th nuteitveappetitive soul (al-nafs al-nabatiyya al-shab tedniyya) which has as its objects eating, drinking, and Sexual intercourse; b. emotional-animal soul (alnafs alighadabiyya al-bayawiniyya) whose love is directed toward vetoes, overcoming, and leadership; and. rational soul alnafsal-ndtga) which seeks knowledge and virtues. ‘The essential causes (ila pl ‘ial which make man incline toward a certain object of love originate in the stars. Thus love of e person for another i explained, for example, as the result of ther being born in the same sgn of the zodiac. According to the Beethren, the stars have a powerful influence, generally om all the beings beneath the celestial ‘phere of the moon, and particularly on che human “Another teason for love, apart from love for beautiful things, isthe afiniy berween the lover and the beloved (ietigatbayma al-ashigwa'-ma’sbig), a reason which we shall encounter leer inthe writings of bath al-Ghazal and abhigh. For instance, 2 man loves what befits his fenies, and there ae diferences between persons in this ‘concern. Also there is inborn inclination (muci) of effects (inal pl ma'lda) to thei cuss, and inborn compassion ‘of causes fr their effect; ofspring incline ro their parents, and parents have compassion for ther offspring. The weak need the help ofthe strong. In such a manner i is possible to account forthe need of young people ro teachers, and the desite of adults, in nations in which there is passion for Ienowledge, to educate the youth and 0 refine their characte. This explains the inclination of adults to youth”? The love’ of women toward men” is also 2ccounted for by the existence ofthe inborn disposition in ‘women the aim of which i the preservation ofthe human species." “The Brethren detsil many kinds of love, such a6 the love of parents for their chidcen, the love of leaders for leadership, the love of scholars for their work, and so on, claiming that fg were not existent, all the kinds of love ‘would not exist Since love makes man scoeed in various areas, the Brethren considered ita grace bestowed by God fon man which manifests divine providence. As we have Seen, each faculty ofthe sul loves what befits its character However, all these diverse faculties have someching in common; thers s the love for the continuation (bagi) of their specific activities. For example, the perfect state ofthe ‘ational soul is to be aways existent perceiving things as they eeally are, knowing them, and taking pleasure in cis knowledge, The rational souls delighted with knowledge, because knowledge, by vitue of isef, makes the rational soul perfect and brings it to its goal Since the rational soul knows is beginning (mabda’) and its end (ma), it longs 19DIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM. for its Creator as a lover longs for his beloved, But unlike any other lover who longs for his beloved, whoever loves God is given to 2 ceaseless longing, because each day he only reaches an adlitional measure of proximity to God, as the process is presumably endless due God's infinite tssence and attributes. Ths reason is not mentioned by the Brethren but can be easily assumed. We shall se that A-Ghazalt-expreses such an idea” Meeting God is Compared to. seeing Him, but this seeing is nether Connected with form nor with matte. The seen, the thing een, and the means of secing are all lights Very probably, because God appears in the ‘the light vers” (Qur'an 24.35)" as light, the Brethren use. lights as ‘metaphors for spiritual esences. We shall see later in lGhazili the connection between the love for God and secing Him. “The highest goal of the existence of the inboen shqis to awaken man’s soul from the slumber of negligence and folly and make the soul ascend from the material to the tational things from the sensual to the spistual entities which are is source. That is because all che beautiful things are only external phenomens, of more precisely, Jmpressons which are formed by the Universal Soul inthe Prime Matter2® The aim ofthese impressions or forms is to cause the human soul to long for the beautiful forms theough looking at them, thinking. about them, and ‘examining ther states, and finally reaching the essence of, these forms, not thei exteeal appearance, so that when the bodies which are the substrate of these forms are absent from sight, these beloved forms remain inthe soul united with it. Thus beyond the external beau of forms, there s the intemal beat, the speiual form of beauty. According to the Brethren, internal beauty neve disappears. What is really beloved are the characterises of the beloved which {reimprinted inthe lover's essence, hence they always exist and do not change.” 20 INTRODUCTION Concerning the attitude toward beausifl things, the Arethren make distinction between the dit (alka) and the common people (a."amma). When seeing a beautiful thing or a handsome person, the common people long to look at and come close toi, whereas the dite, namely ‘wise people or philosophers (hukama’), long for its wise Drodicer trying to imitate him i their acts. Also, the Common people characterized by imperfect souls, love ‘nly the external aspect of life in this world, whereas the le not only despise this world bue also become ascetic tnd wish the world beyond. Sharing the charscersis of the angels, the members ofthe élite desire ro ascend to the kingdom of heaven which is possible only after the soul leaves the hod. Moreover, the souls of the wise people seek in their acts, knowledge, and virtues to imitate the Universal Soul and hereby to join it In ike manner, the Universal Soul imitates the Crestor in is perception of the celestial spheres, in it seting the stars in moon, and in its producing of beings. Alt acts are motivated by its Tove for the Creator Each member in the hierarchy of beings aspires to possess the virtues which exist in che fchelon above ity and these vietues are given 10 each ‘ember through the process of emanation, or the overflow fayd) which derives fom God and. descends to the Univers Ivelleet and so on. God is the First Beloved (alema’sbigal-qwnca), because all existens long for Him, and because He isthe source of them and the reason of their continuation and perfection. There is no doubr that the motif of erin its Neoplatonic form, plays a decisive role ere. Ibn Sind’s Ridla /P%bg is a more elaborate phil sophical treatise than the epistle of che Brethren. In its broad lines follows the basic idea of the Brethren, which briginates in Neoplatonism, that love the basic principle Of beings, whether animate or inanimate. thn Sins discussion isbuileon several premises: All existents, with 2DIVINE LOVEIN ISLAMIC ACYSTICISM the exception of God, are governed; b. Each existent strives due to natural disposition, toward is pefection; This perfection is given toi by the Pure Good (a-khanr ‘al-mabyl d. Each existent ties t0avoid and to get rid ofits Imperfection; e. This imperfection s identical with evilsand {-Allevl derives fom matter and nonexistence. From these premises Ibn Sind draws che conclusion that each existent has innate love (ishq| which isthe cause of tsexisence. He defines ‘thg as the consideration of something as good And suitable. Each existent loves what is suitable for self in particular and whats suitable fr allexistemsin general Hence, in as much a6 goodness increases, love increases. Since God is the supreme good, He i the highest object of love"? Tove subsists in simple inanimate existents. This group is divided into three parts a. real, matter (al-hayilé al-bagigiyyay bs a kind of form which cannot exist in Sepacation (alsa alla 12 win lah al-giim bi inf b-dbatihd), and c, acidents (a'r). The diference betmeen and cis that bisa kind of frm which constitutes an essential part ofthe substances which exist by virtue of themselves, and hence its regarded as substance, whereas ‘anacciden ienata construe ofthe substance. Now each Of the simple existents has an inborn disposition of love inseparable from it which is the cause of theie existence, Real matter longs for the form when the later is absent, and when it exists real matter loves it. When a form hhecomes nonexistent, real matter hurries to replace it by another fort, being careful not to remain in a state of absolute nonexistence (al"adam almutlag), because ll ‘xistents shy away from absolute nonexistence. The form With which wwe are concemed attaches to its subject Irma’) and rejects what would interfere with its attachment. Moreover, it auheres to its perfections and tntural places when it sin them, and when ie is separated from them, it longs for them. AS for acces, their love is alo expressed through their adherence. to their ssubjocr.* Inthe thied chapter of his epstle Ibn Sin discusses the ‘existence of love inthe vegetative souls. This kind of soul has three parte: the autriive faculty: b. the faculy of ‘growth; and c. the faulty of procreation, Each faculty Strives to achieve its aim according tots function. The bbq txiting in the nutritive Faculty isthe source of its longing for (shaw) the presence of food when the matter needs it, and forts maintenance inthe body. The faculty of growth Tongs for increase in Food in accordance with the measures ‘ofthe nourished body. And the faculty of procreation longs to produce a being lke the source of ts existence" Tikewite, the activity ofthe animal soul including all its facalties is motivated by the existence of an inborn. shy. Just as these faculties have natural desire whose source saa inhorn love, so they have natual aversion whose source is tn inborn detestation. ‘The absence of both desire and Aversion would mean the needlessness of these faculties. Forexample, the external senses guard man against things Which harm him, by not approaching things that are dangerous or threatening to his body. The anger faulty ‘causes man to shy away from weakness and humiliation, because of a desire for revenge and mastery. AS for the petitive part of the soul (jue al-sabodn), love in ie is divided into two parts: a. natural love (shq fab?) Which, for example, causes the mutritire faculty to act ‘continuously so long as there sno hindrance char prevents ‘efeom acting; and b, voluntary love (isy ikhtyar) whose possessor may abstain from his object of love, if there isa object. the love ofthe noble- minded and youth for external beauty, he precedes his ‘explanation by four premises. Ar fst e stares that when ‘each higher faculty of the soul is joined with a lower facaley che later acquies refinement which ir does notDIVINE LOVE IV ISLAMIC MYSTICISM: Ihave hefore, when it acts separately. Thus the rational faculry amproves and refines the actions of the animal faculty. This is the second premise in Ibn Sina’ presen- ‘tion, but its only an example ofthe fist one. According ta the third premise, these is a hierarchy of good things oF things which one desires. Sometimes a thing is good for a purpose, but when considering it with regard 1o a higher purpose itis vcs. A medicine may be good for curing @ litle disease, but may cause a great damage to the whole body. The fourth premise states that both the rational soul ‘nd the animal soul ~the later om aecoua ofits to the forme ~ always love beautiful order, composition, andhierarchysuch as harmonious sounds, and harmonious tastes composed of various kinds of food; But, whereas the source of the animal soul’ activity is inborn disposition, the source ofthe rational soul's activity isis knowledge ‘of high conceptions which one cannot perceive by natate ‘The soul “recognizes thar the closer a thing is 0 the Firs Object of love, the more steadfast inits order, and the more beautiful mits harmoay, and chat what flows Te immediatly attains a greate: degree of unity and of such ‘ualitis as tesul cheretrom, harmony and agreement, ‘whereas on the contrary, the more remote a thing is font Ir, the nearer its ¢o-multiplcty and such characters as follow i i, contrast and disharmony.” Consequently, Thn Sin makes a distinction hetween whoever loves beautiful forms due to animal delight and whocter loves them due fo rational considerations, The latter is beter than the former beeaus, through rational considerations Ihe comes close tothe influence of the First object of love. In most cases whoever posteses harmonious form, which Series from harmonious nature and divine impession, has also excellent vetues.* This is an echo of the Platonic rnotion of the identification of the beautifel with the 00d. The sich chapter of hn Sina’ epstl, ‘On the love ofthe 4 divine souls is he ore of his work. On account of sens ‘or rational perception, the soul loves what benefits it and ‘what causes some advantage oi. Thus animals love food, Thocause food benefits their specific existence (ise alsenjid).™ Likewise, whoever finds that coming closet and being assimilated witha being increases his excellence, ‘ill love this being by his nature.™' Henee, if ene knows the source of all existents, namely the Fast Cause, the ue Good, he wll love him. Ibn Sind identifies existence with goodness, and perecton of existence with perfection fof goodness, therefore the First Cavse which ix the Necessarily Existen: by virtue ofitself isthe Pure Good.!!? The First Cause is the cause of all existnts, their continuance in existeice, and their longing for thet perfections. Since whoever perceives good loves i, the Alive souls lve the Firs Cause, The perfection of angelic fnd human sous ie in two activites: a, the knowledge of the intellgles as they really are withthe aim of imitation ‘of the essence ofthe Absolute Goods! and b.caerying out fof righteous acts. The aim of the assimilation to the [Absolute Good is to come close to I, for from this ‘proximity perfection results. And each existent loves the ‘object coward which ie moves. In fine, each existent has Aan innate love for its perfection, namely the good that fis it, and since its peefecion originates in the Ftst Cause, ie loves the Fire Cause, although ie does not receive is perfection directly from the Fist Cause but through rediators!"* d. Mysticism Each theory of divine ove can be classified as a form of mysticism, for each theory ceaches how to come close to God or to be united with Him. For the purpose of ieoducing the teachings of both. al-Ghavali and 2sal-Dabbigh, whether I Sini’s mystical theory is viewed 4s non-cligious mysticism, as Morewedge sees his iysticia,! or as religious mystic, if we accept the Yew that there is nov mysticism outside the religious Contexts irrelevant, For whatever teachings al Ghazi find al-Dabhigh received from their predecessors, they combined these into religious mystical theory. Another ‘question which is relevant to our discussion is the measure ‘ofthe Neoplatonic fluence on Islamic mysticism. Can we, in our discussion of divin love, accept Morewedge’s view that although Neoplatonism is very close to Sifism in that some general Neoplatonic doctrines, like the doctrine tf emanation, occur often in the teachings of the Sif [Neoplatonist cannor be regarded as the theoretical bass of Islamic mystical thought? Indeed, the Sie doctrine OF the unity of being (wuldar ali), an absolute kind of moaism, contradicts the dualistic ontology of ‘Neoplatonism in which the One isseparae from the work, being a transcendent entity which has no connection to human beings. Morewedge states: ‘It follows from our findings that contemporary scholarship of sfism may salely proceed to deal with sfc exts directly. We question the nevesity of reducing. every arpect of the Islamic ttadition to Greek thought... There is no doubt that Islamic inelleetual thought giew through the cichnowrish- rent it eectved from the Neoplatonic spirit in the ame sense that Aistole's philosophy flourished on a Platonic basis in both cases, howeven, the similarity does not Wwareant a total reductionalism. 7 §ifsm was inlluenced by Greek, Christan’ and Indian culeues, but not to such an extent aso lack any original characteristics. There sno ‘lout that Sie statements and theories of love contribute novel perceptions af lore. One cannot accepe Zachness Categorical statement that “Muslim Mysticism is entirely ‘derivative.""® However, although Morewedge is right in his general estimation, each isue should be examined 2% separately. I agree with his denial of otal reductionalism, bur cannot esape the impremion that Platonism and Neoplatonism play an important role in our subject Detaled and composite theories of Islamic mystic love have appeared only since the tenhvfourth century, Before then mainly utterances and poems on lov are encountered Partial theories exist, but only arly. However, these already advance notions such 48 the reasons of love for God, and the preparatory means to achieve love, which fone finds later within complete theories of love. What characterizes almost all writers is the central. place they assign to love for God in the mystical life.2” Kes impossible ro be exhaustive in surveying euch materiale!2* ‘Therefore Iwill bring only the notions expressed by salient Sif figures who are acknowledged to have influenced later generations [think itis most appropriate to begin with Rabi'aal“Adawiyya (4. 185/801), the mose famous ‘woman mystic ia Islam. Rabéa is disingsished for her emphasising, some views which subsequently played an important role in the Claboration of the doctrine of divine love, As M. Smith ‘writes ‘Though Ralb'a was nor the fst among te Sts to realize thatthe way to God must be sought through love, ‘hewas perhaps the ist olay stess upon the doctrine and to combine with ie the dactrine of Kashf, the unveiling at the end of she way, of the Beloved to His lovers." We shall ee later in al-Ghazil's writings that the culmination ‘ofthe relationship between man and God is man’s seeing God. Riba was also. among the first to hold the doctrine of disinterested love for God which expresses itselt incarrving out God’ wil. Ths idea was a novelty to many ‘Sufi who generally served God for the purpose of gaining Teward or of abstaining from punishment in the world to come. That man should be satisfied with what God dlecces for him, be ita good or evil decree, is another nDIVINE LOVEIN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM element of love which appears in Rébi's teaching and ‘which later Siti elaborate on. Love for God she {iwoted as saying, i all absorbing it leaves no eoom for other love and noe even for hatred. Asked if she saw Saran ts an enemy, she replied in the negative arguing that her love for God occupied all her atention so tha there was no place fr other fclings. 2° To reach such astage, man must Sever his bonds with this work?” leaving the material things fo the sake of ascending tothe spiritual domain in ‘which God is revealed in His perfect beauy.™28. With respect to Ribi'a there is an important point the re ‘ast bea in minds all we say about ber is what later Sif Attribute to het We cannot be sure that these were her ‘wn notions. Howeves, itis oe our aim ro inquire int the historicity of Raia’ statements. Nevertheless, forthe sake ‘of our introduction, we can say that even if her reputed ideas were nat eniely her own, these ateibutions may reflec the teachings ofthe early Sis ‘Shag of Balk (d, 194/810}, contemporary of Rabi'a, scenis £0 have been the fst who established the love for God as the highest station of the mystic: In his Adab al-Ybadit, one ofthe earliest extant Stic texts, he divides the stations of the mystic into four pars a. abstinence Leuba} b fae (kates longing for Paradise (shaveg la al anna) and 4 love, which isthe highest tation tis God ‘who causes man to love Him. Hoseever, only the one who wants to love God, does He enable him to do so. Also ‘Shagig points out that when man reaches the highest station of divine love, he sill remains in the three other stations. All the four stations are compared t0 sources of light, stars (abstinence and fea), the moon (longing for Paradise, and the sun love for God), While he light ofthe sun blots out other sources of lighr, i doesnot cancel them, ‘mother words, while che love for God overcomes aman, it does not cancel his abstinence, fear of God, and longing for Paradise.) Emst rightly observes that ‘in this classification, the term longing (share) i here reserved for Tonging for paradise, while in later discussions of love its another mode ofthe soul's desie for God. Ir seems thatthe taly Sufs™ concen with establishing the primacy of the love of God succeeded in excluding the desite for paradise 35a legitimate goal of mysticism; henceforth, longing can only be directed toward God." ‘One ofthe Best $f who created synthesis berween the religious ordinances and mysticism and who, on some signifiane points, influenced al-Ghazal,"®isal-Harith iba Asad al-Malssibi (243/887), He reportedly eld that che beginning of love for God is obedience to Him (aval al-mababba al-i'a}, whichis the expression ofthe noms ‘motif. However in what is reminiscent ofthe agape moti, ls Mubisib states tha this kind of love derives fom Gods love for man, for God makes people know Him and shows them how to obey Him, although He does not need them. In his view, firm love for God means always remembering Him and His favors in che heart and mentioning them on the tongue, thus encouraging great incimacy (ums) with Him, and breaking off anything which separates man from Him'°* He deine the ove for Gad at intense longing hiddatal-shawg) for Him." Tee lovers, according to him, hope co endure the difficulties of ie in ‘this world and ta sce God in the world o come. Again the secing of God is mentioned in the context of love for God. Dag al-Nan al-Mige (d. 245/859), a contemporary of Mubisibi, connects she love for God with beauty, a notion 20 be developed later by alDabliigh. Asked about the state of che gnostics who become intimate with God (ist masa, he answered: “He (the gnostic) likes (ya"nasu) every fir face (wajh sabil), every beautiful form (stra ‘mala, and every sweet teagrance (ri tayyibal.™ ‘When asked about love, he detailed the contents of love ia a statement characteristic of early Sfsm: ‘(The meaning 2»DIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM of love is) to love what Gad loves, ta hate what God hates, to carry out all ood actions, w@ reject what divert man from God, not to be afraid of one who condemns your behavior towards God, 10 be gentle to the believers and rough tothe unblievers, and to follow God's Messenger in ‘matters of religion.’ In short, love fr God means obedience ro Him. ‘The most distinguished figure in carly. Sis is undoubtedly. Abi al-Qisim Mabammad al-janayd (d 298/910). As Zachner rightly sates, AlJunayd does not teach moniam'*? but dualison of tevzestrial and divine domains which he wanes to bridge without infringement on GGod!s transcendence and absolute unity. Hovsever, he does rot hold absolute dualism, according to which there s no ‘way to perceive God, but believes in geadual revelation of God to man. Like his Se predecessors, his first premises that love for God is the surest way for man’s soul co perctive God, Man can perceive God when he becomes ware of his own divine esence, which, in alJunayd's view is a divine idea. Mans soul has co return t0 its primordial state in order to be with God, a state which finds its expression in Qur'n 7.172. This condition is. accomplished through the anaiilation (fand") of the ‘material aspects of fe, a gradual process, and partcipation in the divine, The goal of man i ro isolate his soul from all material impediments and to ive a divine life Like Plorinus he hos that when a man sees a beautiful hing, he longs forthe spiritual world, wishing to reach it again. Both living n'a material world and intime, and separation from God are the sources ofthe souls agony and suffering. These torments are not the outcome of God’ hatred for rman, bur rather the esule of His Tove, God wanes man's Soul to return cots source asi was before the creation of its body, that i to a pure stae!" Alunayd calls for preserving the religions Inws and condemns those who hold that existing in a high spiritual tae frees the Sif from » INTRODUCTION carrying out the preceps. On the contrary, fulfilling Gods ‘orders causes man to come close to Him.!° Tn some respects the views of al-Hlusayn ibn Mansir alHallij, who was executed in 310/922 for alleged Inereticl belief, area continuation of the views on love of hismasteral-Junayd. Love for al-Lallijs ‘that you remain standing in front of your beloved, when you are deprived fof your qualities sad when the qualification comes from His qualifcation’ This kind of love made the lover, aL Halli utterin moments of ecstasy the formula ‘Tam the [Absolute Teuch’ (ad al-hagg) which to some theologians ‘seemed to convey pantheism, the heresy of which al-al was accused, He Was also accused of believing in inca nation (pul) belie according to which the human and divine natures can be united, In along paragraph fund in al-Daylamt’s Kitb ‘arf (pp. 25-28), al-Hfallaj unlike some early philosophers who regard love as a created centty, states that love is God's essence. Al-Halli) was followed inthis idea bythe Persian mystic Roz Baalt {606/1209).*” The source ofthis idea may go back to early Christianity. St. Gregory of Nyssa (dc. 395 A.D.) sates that the Godhead is Reason, Wisdom, Perfect Goodness, “Truth, and Love, and tha the life ofthe Supreme Being is Toei Tn he ast quarter ofthe fourttenth century treatises on sn characterized by orthodoxy appeared. Among these ‘was Kitab al-luma' fPbtasawwnf writen by Aba Nase alSacrij (78988). This is 2 teassworthy exposition of ‘Site tenets by a Sli who attained a high rank in practical Sallam. The core of al-Sarrjs discussion of divine love is his oven tripartite division of this state which is corroborated by the statements of other Sif: a. The love ‘of the common people mulubbut al-timma) derives fom ‘God's doing good to them and having compassion on them Teisan inborn disposition in man to love his benefactor. In this context, alSarej cites several Sic authorities who 3DIVINE LOVE INISLAMIC MYSTICISM. Fhave dealt with love. The fist is Sumnin bn Hamza (d alter 287/900) nicknamed ‘the Lover (almnbibb) sho, ccording to a-Hujwit, rgacds love as the basis of the ‘way to God and superior to gnosis. Asked what is div Tove, Suman answered char itis pore friendship. ga alxoudd)'** accompanied with continuous remembrance ‘of God for whoever loves something mentions it many times. Ths type of love is conditioned by such speech? Sahl ibn ‘Abdallah al-Tostari (. 283/896) supplements remembrance of God with agreement and obedience to Him and to His messenger (the nomos motif), and the pleasaneness of intimate conversation with God, meaning prayer! bh This isthe state of the versciows and truthful people (alsidigin wa'l-mucahaggigin) which originates in the heart’ contemplation (nagar ab-galb) of Gods. set sifficiency, greatess, power and knowledge. This one loves God because of His stibutes, and not because of His acts for the sake of man, sa disinterested love ie obliges ‘man to uncover the sectets of God (hatk al-astir wa-kashf ‘lasrir) in order © know Him propery. This view is expressed by Abi. al-Hlusayn al-Nost (d. 295/907) "who. Drobably introduced the use of the word ish’ into Sifism." Likewise, Ibrahim al-Khawwis (d. 295/904) Seates that love i effacement of one’ wily atribates, and ‘eed. Ie seems to me that by this statement he means ‘tumingte God alone and thinking only aboue Him without paving attention 10 one's desires and withoue asking any ‘thing feom Him, ©. The love of the righteous and gnostis (al-sidligin swa’t-‘drifin) which resuls from their knowledge of Gods preexistent and uncaused love for them (qudine bub alls bilé ile). Consequently, also their love for Him is uuseaused: One can discern here a Christian influence on he Sie perception of divine love. We are reminded of the ‘agape maxi acording 0 which God's love for man derives 32 istropuction from His eternal aeibuce of love which in tun causes man 10love God without basing his love on personal reasons!" ‘Todescrbe this kind of love al Sarr brings forward Dh alan al-Mig’s statement to the effect thar pure love ‘meat the omiation of love from the heart and the rgacs ‘0 that all things wil be in God and for the sake of Him. ‘Thus Dh al-Nin stems to say that man snot aware of the state of love, for he so absorbed in contemplation of God. Inthe same vein, Aba Ya'gth alist flat the second half ‘ofthe 379 centue tates that love is aot ue unl one goes heyond seving love and comes to seeing the beloved ‘through the annihilation ofthe knowledge of love. This an expression of passing away from one’s self-awareness Ufa, a theme which Laer Sas wil elaborate on in the context of divine love. Al-Janayd explains thatthe essence fof love i the replacement of the lovers ateibutes by the beloved’ attributes sa that all the lovers actions ae carried ‘out by the beloved's attbures; he sees through the beloved’ eves and 50 0n."*" The lover loses his identity and ‘becomes identical to the beloved. Also here fandis clearly expressed. "Another atempe to reconcile orthodoxy with Safism was made by Abi al-Qisim al-Qushayei (d 465/107} who was commited to the Ash'aite theology I his al-Rsia ‘lm Uabagawewuf, be expreses the theological view thar we ‘an ascribe to God not love but only wil His will ean be Interpreted to mean either punishment, of compassion, or love, ascording to the character of the object willed. If His will connected with punishment, iis called anges However if iis connected with general favors, iis called compassion, and the connection t0 specific favors, such 8 benefacion, meant love, Like ocher theologians, al-Qushaysi denies the ascrption ofthe characteristics of human love to God. Thas God does not incline toward, of feel an intimate liking to individuals" Al-Qushayei sums up his view of man’ love for God as follows ‘Mahabba is 3DIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM 4 state which man feels in his heart to0 delicate to be expressed in words!" This state causes man o recognize the greatness of God, to prefer to please Him, to be unable to tolerate His absence, to be excited because of His pretence, t0 find no rest without Him, and to experience tntimacyin the heart by continuous remembrance of Him. “Man's love for Gad does not imply inclination and perfect perception (ithe)... for God is exalted above al Attainment, perception, and comprehension. It is more Appropriate to describe the lover of God as annihilated in the Beloved than to describe him a+ perfectly knowing the Beloved"! The rest of akQushayr's chapter on Jove constitutes an anthology of Yifie statements on love some of which we have aleady seen, These include love a¢ obedience, love as absolute devotion to the beloved, love fs annihilation of one’ self and the reception of the beloved's identity, There is ‘no coherent theory in al-Qushayes presentation, but we can discern an incl ‘ation toward regarding love as 2 station which changes ‘mani self in such a way tha he loses his own dispositions and takes on the spiritual constitution of his beloved. In this cegard, ic seems thar he was inluenced by the teaching ofal-Junayd, Also in his definition and description fof shaw (longing for), he docs not deviate from his predecessors. ‘Another work of moderate Sfism is Abi Talib aL-Makki's (d. 386/996) Oiit alu (The Food of the Hearts) which influenced alGhatili to a great extent ALMakki considers love for God one of the highest ations (magdmdt) of the gnostcs® It is a favor bestowed initially by God on his sincere servants, and this favor causes them to love Gad, This not love in the ‘meaning of agape, God's spontaneous love, for al Makki ‘easly points out that God loves the pure people and those who repent, but not all che peopl, among them the ‘vidoes, His view i reminiscent ofthe Biblical view. eis 4 worth noting that love as God's favor is inconsistent wich Mabammad’s ordinance to lose God, for ordinance connotes man’ endeavors, whereas favor connotes git. ‘AUMakki fails to reconcile different, inconsistent, and sometimes contradicting traditions on love. According 0 al-Makki, each believer in God loves lim, and the measure fof the believers love depends on the degree of his belie. Basing himself on Qur'an 2.165 “Those that believe love God more atdendy,"% he concludes that as. elit increase, Jove increases; that love has diffeent ranks the highest of which applies o those who imitate God's attributes, such as knowledge, compassion, tolerance and $0 on. Howeves he does aot define clearly what be means by belie.” and moreover, elsewhere he seems 10 contradic himself when stating that belie s conditioned by love meaning that one cannot belive in God unless one loves Him. 'AL-Makki devotes much space to the signs of love for God. To mention (dbikr'** God many times especially at ight, t0 wish t0 meet (igi?) Him even if the encounter involves death to love His speech (kala all, chat isthe Quen), co: make excessive efforts to satify His wil, 0 practice the acetic way of ie (zu), ro think about His favors, to patiently endure His tials (abr) to be content with Fis deerees (rd) are all sigs of love. But the most distinguished sign is the preference of God to any other thing, thats, one loves God more than one loves anything tls, thus overcoming all human desires. [ALMakki aio streses the idea, which we have seen in Rabbinical Jadtsm, that worship of God oue of love is better than’ worship because of fea. A certain ‘Ali ibn al-Muwaffig is sad to have seen in a dream Ma'rit 1-Karkhi*” looking at God. He was told that God let arkh look at Hie il the Day of Resuerectin for “he ‘worshipped Him not out of fear of Hell, and nor our of Tonging for Paradise, but out of love for Fim. 3s“Tosum up, al: Makki’s chapter on divine love i ill ke al-Qushayrs, a workeof compilation; there sno attemp to develop a theory of love out of the various materials although the chapter includes basic ideas which we shall find in later Sif works, “The first book on divin love extant nowadays, kta ‘tf abalif alma if ‘a ali al-ma’tif, was seit by the Sil Abi al-Hasan ‘Alf ibn Mubammad al-Daylami (fate fouctvtench century). This work consists of an anthology ‘ofthe views of philosophers, theologians, mystics, and che futhor's own contribution on divine love. What concerns tus here is mainly the ideas of al-Daylami and the Sis on loves”? Some references to the notions of other authors us wil be brought in the discussion on alGhazali snd al-Dabbagh. ‘AlDaylami divides love into five kinds according to the kinds of loves. Thus the hierarchy of lover begins at the lowest level with animal kind (naw babimi) of love sssociated with base people. This love seems to be sensual lave. Above i stands the natural kind of love (nao abi), that of the commoners, No distinction is made between the last two kinds, We can only assume that animal love involves only the senses and sextal desire, wheteas natural Tove contains emotional elements. The élite, the third rank, havea spiritual kind (naw rint oF love, and the gnosties (ahLal-ma'rif) the fourth rank have a rational kind (naw ‘agi of love. In the fifth, the highest rank, al-Daylami places the people of unity (ab a-tawbid a having a divine kind of love naw™ ia. Also here the essence of each of the tree last ranks i not explained nor the differences between them. When treating the cause of love our author becomes rmofe informative. Acording to him, God revealed to this world an ides, or form nae) called beauty sus) and atcached thisidea ta particular thing and called he later beautiful (hasan). Then God willed o reveal things which 36 ‘would face the beauty and che beautiful in order to make his scret manifest. Therefore He revealed whoever finds 3 thing. Beautiful (alzmustasin), and He called his ac, ‘namely, finding something beautiful ists), love and the ‘agent ofthis et lover” The thing thats found beatifl (al musta is called the beloved. According ro Que'in verses and tradition cited by al-Daylami, is evident that he follows Plato in identifying the good with the heautifal Platonic and Neoplatonic i also the view that beautiful things derive their beauty from the universal beauty (al us al-bulf).1 The notion expressed by l-Daylami that universal beauty is located near God may be 2 conclusion derived by the author from dhe Neoplatonic doctrine of emanation according t0 which the more a substrate is nearer to the One the more i 3s spiritual. Obviously local presence is irrelevant co a. spciual entity” The measure of Beauty is establshed according 9 the measure of nearness to the universal beauty. The indication of the proximity of @ thing 40 the universal beauty isthe measure ofits delicacy; the more a thing is delicate, the more itis beautiful, For example, the eye = the most delicate organ, hence itis the most beaut, i is the most receptive of beauty, and the acts of spirit are ‘most manifest ine. With regard vo the criterion of nearness to God, the intellects the most beatiful hing fortis the nearest to. God, and it takes is beauty from the ltters source without a mediator Tike other Sif thinker, al Daylanst deems the natueal love, namely human love," the basis from which the people of stations (abt al-magdat) ascend to divine love. He poins out that a man is qualified for natural love when his soul is pure and delicate. Ascension to the divine love ‘means the search for the perfection ofthe soul whch is ‘equivalent reaching it source. This kind of soul fds its est only after meeting God fr the est of each thing isin its completion (ait Aull shay ‘onda tamamibi, andthe aDIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM. ‘competion of the believer is atained through conjunction ii)! with Goa ‘Our author sates that the source of love les n God, for He has a permanent atebute (sf gama) of loves God loves Himelf because of Himself (or for Himself) and by Himself (habbo rafal lina bina. Thus God's love for Himself** means that love, lover and beloved are one entiy. Just as other attributes of God, such as ‘compassion and power, passed co human beings, meaning that He implanted these attribures in people, aso love passed, but itwas heist attribute implanted in man. Love is depicted by al-Daylami as a luminous entity (ma'nan ‘uiranyy) which came into being and was divided into three pars lover, beloved, and love. When asked how one cntity can be thre, he answers by refering t che leer ‘if the basis ofall letters, whose name is composed of three letters, namely aif, in, and fi. Altematively, the frst letter can be regarded as the sum of love, “beloved and Tove’, by changing che pronunciation of alf lim, and {Inthe verh form it can be pronounced aia, measing, “he loved (ahabla), and hence it designates the ‘lover. As 4 noun if fe means ‘a beloved. Now the ver alla it he ‘combined berween) denotes God's ace berween them which is love, Also concerning numbers, alDaslami shows that Alf uit x composed of three pars, namely, ones, teas, and hundreds," That love derives from God a light is mentioned by al-Dabbagh, but nether he nor al-Ghazalt tne eters or numbers co demonstrate che unified feature of love Tn the fourth chapter, al-Daylami farther elaborates on the subject of love as luminous entity which derives from God's anvibute of love through emanation and descends to the Intellect and then 10 the world of spi ri) which in turn causes love to reach the woeld of natu (‘lam gab In its descent love changes to some degree Whenever i reaches each lower level it gradually lose its 38 purity So when natare brings love 10 composed bodies, the Jawer's purty is mingled with che bodies turbidity. Light is now mixed with darkness, thus a thd thing i created ‘which s nether pure light nor pure darkness. This explains ‘why:love in humnén: beings in expreted im dileeat aad contradictory states, such as nearness and remoteness"? Elsewhere al-Daylami makes a distinction between prase- ‘worthy love (wiahabba mala) and blameworthy lose (vmababba madhyaiona). The former category is love which remain in ts pi, ts luinousness, its eady spirituality, ‘while the later is love which is mingled with animal passions* Ie seems to me thae al-Daylami developed for the fis ime in Islam a theory of divine love Based on Platonic and Neoplatonic iden Although the hasc sim ofthis surey isto bring Forward aLDaylamis views on divine love, iis worth noting that he ‘urns oar attention 0 Sife works no longer extant. Sach a ‘work. is Abi Sa'idAbmad iba Muhammad al-A‘abis (d, 340/952) Ikbelaf al-nis PLmababba from which aLDaylami leams that people were divided into seven ‘groups with regard to the essence of love, those who held that: 1. Love is obedience; 2. Love is passionate feeling: 3. Loveisseings 4. Love is knowledge: 5. Love isa natural things 6. Love is will, and 7. Love is a mixture, Each group is divided into subgroups. For example, in the first group there are those who hold that love is obedience to God and making efforts for the sake of Him, and those ‘who believe that love means thanking God for His favors!" ‘A compilation of early Sie views on love for God accompanied with many poems and stories isa Iter work (Lawns amusiral-qulib) composed by_ Abi al-Ma'ai "Adal “Abd al-Malik alii al Baghdadt (4. 494/1100), f Shafite judge and preacher known as al-Shaydhala.!* Although his principal theme is divine love, the author Sometimes uses illustrative examples from profane love. 39DIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM ‘The real meaning of love is frequently staed as obedience anid total submission 0 God,” and as absolute devotion ‘to Bim in such a manner that love to anything other than God is considered idolatry (shirk). ‘Man has to prefer the Beloved to anything else and to leave everything except the Beloved ithir abmabbi ‘alt alkull wa-tarkal-ull id al: mabab). Hence, one ofthe tracs sign of love is the continuance of the remembrance of God. Also lave ‘means to fee intimacy (rs) and to rejoice (sud) with the Beloved alone.*" God's love for man isa perpeval favor which causes man to love God. Passing away from one's consciousness and’) occupies relatively a very marginal place.1?® On the basisof Quen verses, the author counts ten conditions for mans love for God (shuria-ahabba), sich as repentance, purity, prayer, justice, forbearance, ‘without giving any rationale for hs list and is hierarchy** Strangely enough in the ist ofthe ten pincpal elements af love larkin almapabba), he again mentions piety (tagud) and forbearance (gar) which appear in the list of the conditions. Another inaccuracy occurs 2 the end ofthe book in which al-Shaydhala enumerates ten degrees Isard of love, each containing thece stations (mart) and love occupies the eighth degre. Even the last portion (of this book (fols. 1762-2226), which seems to be Imprinted by the authors personal couch more chan other orn does no suey swith he Beiming of thery The aim of the preceding survey as we mentioned atthe ‘outset is to give sufficient background to the teachings of hoth al-Ghazill and al-Dabbagh. Inthe light of what has teen tad and che eferences which wil beadduced inthe following analysis, we can suggest the possibilty that the Greek philosophical eradtion both directly, dhrough twanslations of philosophical writings into. Arabiey or inditeedy, through Muslim philosophers or Christian mystics and philosophers, playsan impareanc ole inthe 40 IvTRODUCTION formulation of Muslim mystical thought on sacred love. ‘We can scarcely point toa significant Jewish inucnee on “Muslim mystical thought concerning this topic. Thave not entered into the moot question ofthe possibility of Indian influence on. Muslim mysticism,!*” because this would require a separate lengthy discussion for which we have no space here. In Zachner’s view, some geeateaely Muslim smytis, such as Aba Ys issamiy adopted Indian ‘ideas on divine love! Anyhow, we should always bear in ‘mind chat thinkers might have developed their ideas and ‘theories quite independently, though these may be found in other cultures, atl AL-GHAZALI’S THEORY OF DIVINE LOVE IN KITAB AL-MAHABBA' 1. Introduction Al-Ghazali discussed divine love in several writings? but the full exposition of his ideas concerning divine love ‘oeurs in Kisth ab-mababba in the Ibyd. Therefore the following inquiry will describe and analyze this book. Inthe opening section of this book, afer the laudatory paragraph, al-Ghazali expresses the view, known from cali sources, that the love for God (almafabba) isthe imate goal of all stations (aleghina al:gupud min ‘lamagavad), the rest ofthe sation, being ether preli- nares to love for God {repentance (treba), forbearance (Gaby) and asceticism (cuba), or its results. longing (haw), inimacy (uns), and contentment (rida Con: teary t0 other stations, whose occasional rarity does not ‘cause one to disbelieve inthe posibilty oftheir existence, belie in love for God is rare to such an extent thar some theologians deny the possibilty ofits exstence daining that divine love has meaning oaly as devotion to the ‘obedience of God > According to them, the real meaning of love for God is conceivable only when used metaphorically Consequents says al-Ghazil, they also cancel the stations ‘which result fom love for God. Therefore he feels himself ‘obliged to uncovee the ue meaning ofthis love" ‘As a rule, alGhazali begins his discussions on the stations with citations of religious pieces of evidence. a AL-GHAZALI'S THEORY OF DIVINELOVE Againse the deniers of sacred love, he states chat the ‘Maslin community agrees unanitmosly (mains thatthe love for God and His messenger is an obligation (ard)? rence, how can God oblige people to catry out what does fot exist? Morcoves how can one interpret love 10 ‘obudience, while obedience follows love? The Qur'a (5.54) attests t0 the existence of lover... God will assuredly bring a people He loves, and who love Him...” ‘Another verse (2.158) teaches not only the existence of lose, bu also its different ranks: But those that believe lose God more ardently.” Al-Ghazali is satiied with citing only wo verses, and he doesnot develop a discussion beyond his statement that thee two verse prove both the existence of love for God and its various degrees ka addivion he cites traditions according to which ths love is prerequisite for hei in God,” an obligation imposed by the Prophet, a cause of meeting Godin the aftedife and a ‘cause of happiness. \ few statements of Jesus and some Sis stressing the value of love for God follow. Ie semis ifcance ta these traditions and sarements for him these ace only a kind of formal introduction ~fr they area plainthing (amr 2ihir. Moreover, these da not even serve as pointe of departure for further discusion. Because the real meaning of love is hidden, the core of his presentation sto find tae). “However inthe course of his discussion he sometimes cites traditions as corroboration for his arguments, 2. Definition, principles and causes of love ‘The second chapter entitled “The explanation of the real meaning (bagiga) of love, is causes and finding the real ‘meaning of man’s love for God! reveals al-Ghazalfs basic plan, that is, to explain firs the real meaning of loves its conditions and causes, and then to investigate the real aDIVINELOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM. ‘meaning of love when applies to God. AMGhazili brings forward three basic principles for understanding love a. Love is preceded by knowledge (ma'rifa)'® and perception (unil).!* Consequent, and contrary to thn Sind, love is characteristic of only animate beings which can ‘perceive! ‘The objects one perceves are either Consent with one's nature and give one pleasure, oF Jncompatible with one's nature and cause one pain. There are aso objects which neither give pleasure nor cause pain. ‘When man perceives objects which give him pleasure, he loves them, and when he pereives objects which cause him pain, he hates them. Objects which neither give pleasure, ror cause pain are neither beloved nor hated. AL Ghali Cefines love as the inclination of one’ nature toward the objece which gives pleasure (mayi a-ab' il a-shay’ cl malidede), When this inclination becomes strong i i called ‘ish (passionate love). ». Since love follows knowledge and perception and perception is divided according 10 the object perceived {onudrak) ~ each sense perceives a kind of object and each Kind of object gives a diferent kind of pleasure (the eyes pleasure sto see beautiful things, and the ears pleasure is tolisen to good and shythmically balanced sounds and so fon) ~there are various kinds of lve according eo the five senses. Hence, the source of love ix internal, such as the senses but it arises a «result of an external stimu. AlGhazalh emphasizes the tole of pleasure; one loves something, because it gives him pleasite; one loves to see beautiful Forms, to hear music!” and so on, However, men and animals share the pleasures given by the ie senses, tnd what partcularizes the human being i the sith sense called inellece (gl), or light (mir), o heart (galb) oF insight (Gasra barna.!® The peteeption of this faculty is stronger than the perception of the five senses. For ‘example, the inteller's perception is stronger than the ALGHAZAU'S THEORY OF DIVINE LOVE perception of the sense of sexing: And the things percsived bby the inelet are more beautiful than those perceived by the senses. This is a statement al-Ghazali does not yet prove, except bya tradition in which the Prophet says that the was evoked to love thre things inthis word: perfume, women and prayer, But prayer caused him spiritual pleasure (qurrat al-ayn), which al-Ghazli deems the treatest pleasure. This statement serves him only 4 assert thar the intellect perceives divine things which cannot be perceived by the senses, and that only whoever resits himself to the perception ofthe five senses may deny divine love, for God cannot be perceived by the senses.” © AL-Ghazll puts forwaed another inner element which helps us ro understand the phenomenon of love. Its well known that a man loves himself and loves another person for the sake of himsel. Now, alGhazli asks achetorcal {question sie conceivable that a man should love another person because ofthe laters essence, and not forthe sake ‘of himself? Those who are feblesminded think thara man loves another person, so longas he receives some benefit for himself from the other AL-Ghazili does not ageee with the denial of dsincerested loves this kind of love is conceivable and existent, Here al-Ghazal hegins to explain the cases ‘of love and its devision. The essence (dhat, nafs) of every living being is its first object of love, which means that thee is natural inclination in man to the continuance of his existence (dawam alsewid) and an aversion to his non-existence (adans}2° This is explained by. the fact that naturally the object beloved is that which fits the lover and there is ‘nothing more fing man than bimself andthe continuance ofhis existence. One loves the continuance of his existence and hates death and killng not only because of one's feat ‘of what happens after death or one’ wariness of the death agony, but because of one's hatred for non-existence. Non- existence, thus, is hated by virtue of islf, so that if man 45