The Imaginal World ('Ālam Al-Mithāl) in The Philosophy of Shāh Walī Allāh Al-Dihlawī

The Imaginal World ('Ālam al-Mithāl) in the Philosophy of Shāh Walī Allāh al-Dihlawī
Author(s): FUAD S. NAEEM

Source: Islamic Studies, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Autumn 2005), pp. 363-390
Published by: Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad
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Islamic Studies 44:3 (2005) pp. 363-390
The ImaginaiWorld ('Akm al-Mitha?) in the

Philosophyof Sh?hWall Allah al-Dihlaw?
FUAD S. NAEEM
Introduction
One of the greatest obstacles impeding the understanding of traditional

our time is theCartesian
philosophies, spiritualdoctrines, andworldviews in
mind/body dualism that does not acknowledge nor seeks to comprehend
realms that standoutside thisparadigm.Even if this compartmentalizationof
existence intomind and body is broadened to spirit andmatter or soul and
body, it still suffersfrom the same dilemma of two irreconcilableopposites
without any intermediarynexus between them.The situation that results is
that, in the modern West, even many representativesof religion posit a
completely dualistic vision of world and God which cannot explain the
complexityofGod's interaction with and real presence in the cosmos.God is,
in a sense,banished from the cosmos resultingin a deisticworld without the
presence of angels,miracles, visions, and all aspects of reality that pertain
neither to the Transcendent God nor to physical matter. The world thus
ceases to be sacred, even for a believer. The traditional teachingsof religion
become myth or allegory insteadof theirbeing perceived as higher realities,
for that remains themost accessible explanation for them.Much more can be
said about the impoverishment of the modern worldview due to the
aforementioneddualism and the lack of an intermediaryworld that could
connect this physicalworld to the otherworlds and man to higher realities
and ultimately toGod.
The West knew of such a world in the form of the vast and majestic
world of the angels developed by Christian mystics and scholastic
a
philosophers in theMiddle Ages. In the Islamicworld, the vision of such
world has been thoroughly developed and expounded by countless sages
(hukam?) and spiritualmasters down the centuries. It has been named '?lam
al-mith?l,theworld of similitude,or '?lam al-khay?l,theworld of imagination.
Henry Corbin, the foremostexpositor of thisworld as it occurs in Islamic

364 FUAD S. NAEEM
theosophy and philosophy toWestern audiences, translated it as mundus

imaginalis, the imaginaiworld.1 Corbin sought to reintroduce this realm to
Western philosophy in order for theWest to gain access again to answers to
the innumerableunanswered philosophical questions thathave arisen in the
wake of Cartesian dualism, and earlier,Latin Averroism, and thereby, to
reintroduceto themodernWest what he termedtheworld of theAngel. The
reintroductionof thisworld into contemporaryphilosophy in theWest as
well as in thosemodernized segmentsof the Islamicworld thathave lost touch
with this dimension of realitywould be a great step towards a proper
understandingof traditional,pre-modernworldviews and the renewal of the
senseof the sacredwhich is sorely lacking in themodern world. In specifically
the Islamicworld, where modernism and puritanical literalism (oftencalled
fundamentalism),which shares some of the philosophical assumptions of
modernity, are stillgaining strength,the idea of the '?lamal-mith?lis essential
to bring back a proper understandingof an essentialdimension of the Islamic
Revelation. This dimension is related to all thosematters in religion, such as
Heaven, Hell, and their scripturaldescriptions,angels, demons, andmiracles,
that are unintelligible tomodern thought,precisely because theypertain to a
realm that liesneither in thematerial nor the spiritualworlds but partakes in
both of them,aworld thatmodern thoughtdoes not take account of.
What, then, is theproper definitionof the imaginaiworld that is neither
corporeal nor spiritualyet partakes of both, being situated as a barzakh or
intervalbetween the two.A concise but thoroughdefinitionof it is given by
the great Indian Sufi [S?fl] and scholar Mawl?n? Ashraf 'Ali Th?nvi
(d. 1362/1943),who stands directly in the line of Qutb al-D?n Ahmad ibn
'Abd al-Rah?m, better known as ShahWall Allah al-Dihlaw? (1113/1703
1176/1762), the renowned Indianmetaphysician, Sufi, and religious scholar
whose treatmentof the imaginaiworld is the object of this study.Th?nvi
defines the '?lamal-mith?las follows:
a
Theimaginai world ('?lam al-mith?l) is world which is situated between the
world of the seen ((?lam al-shah?dah) and theWorld of the Unseen ??lam al
ghayb).It is also known as the Isthmus(barzakh).Through allusions in the
Qur'an and hadtthand theexpositionsof theFolk ofUnveiling (ahial-kashj)^its
1
Practically all of Corbin's work deals with the imaginaiworld in one way or another but see
particularly, Spintual Body and Celestial Earth (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989),
alsoAlone with theAlone: Creative Imagination in theSufismofIhn 'Arabi (Princeton:Princeton
University Press, 1998); The Voyage and theMessenger: Iran and Philosophy (Berkeley:North
Atlantic Books, 1998); Avicenna and theVisionary Recital (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1988); and Swedenborgand EsoteHc Islam (WestChester, PA: Swedenborg Foundation,
1995).

THE IMAGINAI.
WORLD ('?LAMAL-MITH?L)INTHE PHILOSOPHYOF SH?HWAL?ALL?H
365
existence(wuj?d)has been proven.From the timeof death till theDay of

Resurrectionthis iswhere one dwells and it is this (the imaginai
world) thatis
made manifest in dreams. And the teachings of certain saints reveal that this is a
world with extension but not matter. Thus, due to its possessing extension, it
resembles theworld of bodies ('?lam al-ajs?m) and due to its being non-material,
it resembles theWorld of Spirits ('?lam alarw?h). Since bodies possess both
extension and matter and Spirits are free from both extension and matter, this
world (the imaginai world) partakes in one attribute of each.2
The idea of the '?lamalmith?l has a long and richhistory in Islam before
ShahWall Allah whose treatmentof thisworld is the object of this study.Its
origin lies in theQur'?n and especially in theHadith, as ShahWall Allah
demonstrates,but itwas alluded to in itsdeveloped formby Abu Hamid al
Ghazz?l? (d. 505/1111) and fully elaborated for the firsttime and given the
titleof '?lam al-mith?lby Shaykh al-Ishr?q Shih?b al-D?nYahy? ibnHabash
al-Suhrawardi (d. 587/1191). Suhraward?discussed the imaginaiworld only in
terms of the microcosm. Muhy? -D?n Ibn al-'Arabi (d. 638/1240) fully
expanded and elaborated on the doctrine of the imaginaiworld, speakingof
both a microcosmic andmacrocosmic imaginaiworld.3 Sadr al-D?n al-Sh?r?z?
betterknown asMulla Sadr? (d. 1050/1640) furtherdeveloped this themeand
also fullyapplied the doctrine of the imaginaiworld to Islamic eschatology.4
ShahWall Allah was the inheritorboth of Ibn al-4 Arabi andMulla Sadr? and
integratedthephilosophy of the latterinto a Sunn? context. ShahWall Allah's
exposition of the '?lamalmith?l is, therefore,indebtedespecially to both these
figures.As a great synthesizer,ShahWall Allah was able to synthesize the
ideas of the intellectualfiguresand schools that came before him inwhatever
subjecthe treated.The same can be said of his treatmentof the '?lamalmith?l
It has a furthersignificancedue to the factthatShahWall Allah, in addition to
being a hakim and Sufi,was also a Sunn? religious scholar and theologian of
great repute. In this capacity, he was able to integratethe notion of the
imaginaiworld into the corpus of the transmitted sciences (al'ul?m al
naqliyyah) as well as incorporating it into philosophical Sunn? kal?m. The
2
Ashraf 'Ali Th?nv?, al-Takashshafquoted inMa'?Hfi Hakvm al-Ummat, ed.Muhammad 'Abd
al-Hayy Sidd?q? (Karachi: S.M. Sa'?d Company, 1985), 644. The translation fromUrdu ismy
own.
3
SeeWilliam Chittick, The SufiPath ofKnowledge: Ihn al-'Arab?sMetaphysics of Imagination
(Albany: SUNY, 1989); Idem, Imaginai Worlds: Ihn al- 'Arabi and theProblem of Religious
Diversity (Albany: SUNY, 1994). See also Henry Corbin, Alone with theAlone: Creative
Imagination in theSufismofIbn 'Arabi.
4
See Idem, The Voyage and the
Messenger:Iran and Philosophy,and SeyyedHossein Nasr, "Mulla
Sadr?: His Teachings" in S.H. Nasr and O. Leaman, eds.History of Islamic Philosophy:Part I
(London: Routledge, 1996).

FUAD S. NAEEM
366
religious sciences and kal?m in the Indian Subcontinent,unlike inmost other

parts of the Islamic world, still utilize this very important idea due to the
tremendousinfluenceof Sh?hWall Allah.
Sh?hWall Allah's many works bear themarks of hiswide knowledge and
depending on the capacity fromwhich he was speaking and thenature of the
audience, he elaborates his philosophical and doctrinal ideas differently.In
certain of his works, he writes as a metaphysician in the line ofMulla Sadr?
and the school of Ibn al-'Arabi; at other times he writes as a Sufi or a
theologian or a muhaddith (scholar ofHad?th). Hence, his treatmentof the
'?lamal-mith?l is also undertaken fromdifferentangles and points of view in
differentworks. In addition, he treats almost every aspect of the Islamic
tradition, both of the transmittedsciences (al-'ul?m al-naqliyyah) and the
intellectual sciences (al-cul?m al-'aqliyyah) and within the latter he deals
extensivelywith everythingfrom ontology to cosmology to angelology to
eschatology.The '?lamal-mith?lplays an importantrole in everyone of these
differentbranches of his philosophy. In this study, only certain of these
brancheswill be treated,namely,metaphysics and eschatology,two subjects in
which he extensivelyillustratestherole and importanceof the imaginaiworld.
His very elaborate angelology,prophetology, and cosmology all employ and
demonstrate the imaginai world with great depth and breadth but
unfortunately lie outside the scope of this study. After discussing his
metaphysics and eschatology,his integrationof the '?lam al-mith?l into the
religious sciences will be briefly examined.
TheWorks of ShahWall Allah

A thorough and systematichistory of Islamic philosophy as well as the
intellectualsciences (al-'ul?mal-'aqliyyah)in the Indo-PakistaniSubcontinent is
yet to be written. ShahWall Allah isundoubtedly the best known intellectual
figurefrom this Indian heritageof Islamic philosophy.He is also perhaps the
only IndianMuslim intellectualfigure,along with Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi
(d. 1034/1624),well-known in theWest. Even then,he is known in theWest
and amongmodernized Muslims primarilyas a religious "reformer"and socio
political figureand not as a hakim,philosopher, and Sufi,which he principally
was. It is difficultto describe in a fewwords the great significanceof Sh?h
Wall All?h for the South Asian Islamic tradition in all its facets in the
transmittedreligious sciences as well as theology,philosophy, and Sufism. It
might sufficeto say that almost every important religious and intellectual
school or figureof the Indo-PakistaniSubcontinent that came afterhim was
significantlyinfluencedby him. He was also one of the very few Indian
Muslims whose influencespread to the restof theMuslim world, includingthe

WORLD ('?LAMAL-MITH?L)INTHE PHILOSOPHYOF SH?HWAL?ALLAH
THE IMAGINAL
367
Arab world and theOttoman world.

The fact thatShahWall Allah was primarilyametaphysician andmystic
is borne out amply by hiswritten output.Many of hismost importantworks
treatof various facetsof traditionalmetaphysics, philosophy,mysticism, and
theology.Among his more metaphysical and philosophical works, most of
which also treatthe subjectof this study,the imaginaiworld, are:
a in
1. Al-Khayr al-Kathir (Abundant Blessings): metaphysical treatise Arabic of
ten chapters dealing with such questions as the nature and reality of Being,
theNames of God, the relationships between man and God, knowledge of
God, the nature and characteristics of prophecy and sanctity, eschatology,
as well as many other topics. The final chapter concerns the integration of
Ash'arite theology into the theosophical scheme of Sh?h Wall Allah rooted
in the doctrines of Ibn al-'Arabi andMulla Sadr?.
2. Sata'?t a short but very important treatise in Persian which
(Radiances):
outlines the gradation of Being in Sh?h Wali Allah's metaphysics. It also
deals with many other ontological and cosmological questions and is
especiallyusefulforan outlineof ShahWali Allah's eschatology,including

the role of the imaginai world in the final becoming ofman.
3. Flashes):A smalltreatiseinArabicwhich is Sh?hWali
Lamah?t (Lightning
Allah's best known work on philosophy. It extensively deals with the
question of Being (wuj?d). It also addresses various other philosophical and

as the creation of the world, the nature of the
cosmological questions such
cosmos, the angels, and the prophets.
4. one of Sh?hWali Allah's most
Tafl?mat-iIl?hiyyah(Divine Instructions):
and philosophical works due to its
important metaphysical
and treatment of a vast number of topics. It consists of
comprehensiveness
anieles and letterswritten in both Arabic and Persian by Sh?h Wali Allah at
different times dealing with many important metaphysical and
questions. It contains Sh?h Wali Allah's celebrated

philosophical
reconciliation of an issue that had created great controversy in the Indian
Subcontinent, that of the opposition between wahdat al-wuj?d (Unity of
of
Being) of the school of Ibn al-'Arabi and wahdat al-shuh?d (Unity
Consciousness) of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi.
God): thisisoften
5. Hujjat Allah alB?lighah(TheConclusiveArgumentfrom
called the magnum opus of Sh?h Wali Allah and certainly deserves the title
as far as the integration of the transmitted (naqti) sciences with the
intellectual ?aqli) sciences is concerned. It is not one of the author's main
metaphysical works but integrates traditional philosophy with theology and

Hadlth sciences with great elaboration. It is also significant as a "philosophy
of religion," to use Hafiz Ghaffar Khan's description5, inwhich Sh?h Wali
5
See Hafiz A. Ghaffar Khan, "ShahWali Allah: An Analysis ofHis Metaphysical Thought"
(Unpublished Ph D thesis,Temple University, 1986).This is the best systematicintroductionin

FUAD S. NAEEM
368
Allah expressly affirmshis intention of rationally explaining the reason and

meaning behind religion as such as well as theDivine injunctions contained
in the Islamic Revelation.
6. Al'Bud?r al-B?zigh?h(FullMoons Rising on theHorizon): This is an
important but underrated work which is a kind of summary of theHujjat>
but goes further in its treatment of metaphysical questions. It also serves a
good and fairly comprehensive summary of the philosophy and teachings of

Sh?h Wall Allah. It serves as an important compendium of Shah Wall
Allah's teachings on ontology, the nature of man, and the nature and
meaning of religion.
Many of the above-mentionedworks as well as a few others exist in

English translation.Unfortunately, these translations,mostly made in the
Indo-Pakistani Subcontinent, are not always up to scholarly standards and
even if the philosophical understandingof the translatoris sound, as in the
case ofG.N. Jalbani, themain translatorofWall Allah's works intoEnglish,
the precise renderingof a philosophical work of the calibre of Sh?hWall
All?h's works requires deep understanding of both Islamic and Western
philosophy as well as deep knowledge of philosophical terminologyin both
the original language,Arabic or Persian, and English. Translations byWestern
scholars like J.M.S Baljon, who translatedTa'w?l al-Ah?d?tb6and alBud?r al
Bazighah,7 and Marcia Hermensen, who ably translated the encyclopedic
Hujjat Allah al-B?lighah? although of a higher quality, sometimes sufferfrom
insufficientknowledge of the philosophical and mystical terminology and
ideas in the original textsof Sh?hWall All?h, which require a deep grounding
in thewhole Islamic philosophical and intellectualtraditionwhich Sh?hWall
All?h representsand continues, and also in the precise renderingof his terms
in contemporary philosophical English. Baljon has also rendered a great
service to studentsof Sh?hWall All?h bymaking available a comprehensive
full-lengthstudyof Sh?hWall All?h, Religion and ThoughtofSh?hWall Allah
ad-Dihlawi 1703-1762? for the first time,which emphasizes his ideas and
philosophy, in contrast to the jurisprudenceand social and political views
anyWestern language to Sh?hWali Allah as a philosopher and metaphysician in the long

traditionof Islamic philosophy and theosophy.
6
J.M.S. Baljon, tr.A Mystical InterpretationofPropheticTales by an Indian Muslim: ShahWali
Allah's Ta'w?lal-Ah?d?th (Leiden:EJ. Brill, 1973).
7
Sh?hWali All?h, FullMoons Appearing on the Horizon (Al-Bud?ral-B?zighah),tr.J.M. S. Baljon
(Lahore: Sh.Muhammad Ashraf, 1990).
8 .
Sh?h Wal? All?h, Conclusive Argumentfrom God (Hujjat Allah al-B?ligha), tr.Marcia
Hermansen (Leiden: EJ. Brill, 1996).
9
J.M.S Baljon, Religion and ThoughtofSh?hWatt All?h ad-Dihlaw? 1703-1762 (Leiden: EJ. Brill,
1986).

THE IMAGINAL
369
discussed in most articles and works written on ShahWall Allah in both

English andUrdu. More recently,two importantstudieshave been published
on ShahWall Allah, Muhammad al-Ghazali's studyof his social and political
philosophy, The Socio-PoliticalThought of Sh?hWall Allah10 and Mahmood
Ahmad Ghazi's study of the historical role of Sh?h Wall All?h and his
intellectualand religious successors,Islamic Renaissance in SouthAsia 1707
1867: The Role of Sh?hWall All?h andHis Successors.11 There ismuch scope,
as
however, for further scholarly translations well as studies of themany
differentfacets of Sh?h Wall All?h's teachings and especially of his rich
intellectuallegacy.
The Imaginai
World intheMetaphysicsof Sh?hWal? Allah
Sh?hWal? All?h's teachingson the doctrine of the imaginaiworld (r?lamal
mith?l) are scattered throughout his works. As mentioned, it plays a
significantrole inmany branchesof Sh?hWal? All?h's teachings,especiallyhis
metaphysics, eschatology,prophetology and angelology. In all thesedomains
it servesas the facultyand realm throughwhich the corporeal and incorporeal,
thematerial and the spiritualare joined and in contactwith one another.For
thesepairs are opposites andwithout an intermediary,remain opposed to one
another. In Heu of this, the c?lamal-mith?l serves as an isthmus (barzakh)
between the two. As Sh?hWal? All?h writes: "The '?lam al-mith?l is an
intermediatespace (barzakh)between the empiric(al) and divineworld."12 Sh?h
Wal? All?h's whole vision of thenature of existence ispermeatedwith the idea
of the imaginaiworld, for the two topics that all his writings are based upon
are God and man, and therefore, the relation between the two. In both God's
movement towards man and man's return to God, the (?lam al-mith?l has an
importantrole to play as both a means formanifestation and a means for the

final becoming of man. It is the place where the celestialmeets the earthly.
Sh?hWal? All?h views man's becoming as a cyclical processwith the descent
from theDivine to theworld and an ascent back again to theDivine and in
both these journeys the (?lamal-mith?lplays the role of turningthe spiritual
intomaterial and turning thematerial into spiritual.As Sh?hWal? All?h
writes of the imaginaiworld as a "power which acts as an intermediary
between theWorld of Incorporeityand theCorporeal World and possesses
10
Muhammad al-Ghazali, The Socio-PoliticalThought of Sh?h Wali Allah (Islamabad: Islamic
Research Institute,2001).
11
Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi, IslamicRenaissance in SouthAsia 1707-1867: The Role of Sh?hWatt
Allai) andHis Successors(Islamabad: IslamicResearch Institute,2002).
12
Sh?hWali Allah, Ta?im?t-i Il?hiyyah,I: 220, quoted in J.M.S. Baijon, Religion and Thought of
Sh?hWalt Allah, 22.

FUAD S. NAEEM
370
thepotentiality to turn an attributeof the immaterialinto an attributeof the

material, and vice versa.''13Thus, the imaginaiworld is very relevant to both
themetaphysics and eschatology of Sh?hWall Allah, in as much as all that
descends fromGod to theworld passes through the imaginaiworld and all
thatascends toGod passes throughthe imaginaiworld.
The '?lam al-mith?l, then, is a world, where spiritual realities assume
bodily formbefore they aremanifested on, or descend to, earth.All that is
destined to appear here in theworld below firstismanifested in the imaginai
world, an idea thathas many implicationsin thewritings of ShahWall Allah,
aswe shall see. Speaking of thenecessityof the imaginaiworld for theprocess
ofmanifestationhe says:
If therewere no such intermediate power, the effects (of the Divine Names and
Attributes)would not intertwinewith the formsas theyshould; the formof

mind as the formof Zayd would not
Zayd which is conceivedin the (divine)
materialize, and no material form could have emanated from al-Rahman, Who is
"14
purely "incorporeal.
The '?larnal-mith?l,therefore, has an eminent role to play in the cycle of

manifestation. It is the very power bywhich the spiritual and incorporeal is
able to be determinedandmanifested as thematerial and the corporeal.And it
is the link between the supra-formal worlds and theworlds of form. In Shah
Wall Allah's cosmology, followingPeripatetic Unes, themacrocosm is called
theUniversal Soul (al-nafsal-kulliyah).'Tor thenafskulliyah,"saysWall Allah,
"the '?lam al-mith?lperforms the functionof khay?l (imagination)."15 This is
highly consequential, for thenafskulliyah,themacrocosm, is theplane of the
manifestation of all cosmic possibilities,and thesepossibilitiesare generatedby
the imaginativepower of the nafskulliyah itself, which is the '?lamal-mith?l
So it is from the power of imagination,which proceeds from the imaginai
world, that possibilities are actualized. Shah Wall Allah gives a further
example of this process through the storyof the generation of Eve through
Adam:
Sensual tendencies were also alive inAdam. So he began to hanker after a female
13
Sh?hWal? Allah, al-Bud?r al-B?zighah,tr.J.M.S. Baljon, 28.
14
ShahWal? Allah, al-Bud?r al-B?zighah,26, quoted inBaljon, Religion and ThoughtofSh?hWatt
Allah, 22. The Divine Name al-Rahm?n plays a very importantrole in themetaphysics of Sh?h
Wali All?h. It is through thisName that thewhole macrocosm comes into being and it is the
Seal of theDivine Names and theWord ofGod. For more on its role and significance,see ibid.,
12-29.
15
Sh?hWali All?h, Tafhlm?t, 1: 163,quoted in Baljon, Religion and ThoughtofSh?hWali All?h,
22.

WORLD {'?LAMAL-M/TH?L)INTHE PHILOSOPHYOF SHAHWAL?ALL?H
THE IMAGINAL
371
of his kind, and in his excited state he imagined the form of a female.
Accordingly, out of his imaginative vision, woman came into existence.16
Furthermore, complementing this vision of the creative imaginationof

theUniversal Soul (nafekulliyah) is its direct connection with theDivine
Throne. It is theDivine Throne where all thatwill be manifested in the
phenomenal world is firstdetermined and after that, descends to the nafs
kulliyah and is shaped in an imaginai form, and then is manifested
phenomenally in theworld. In thisway, ShahWall Allah, being a religious
scholar and theologian as well, preserves the fundamentalIslamic vision of
everythingproceeding from and depending upon God at all times as well as
the hierarchy of Being that accompanies thisvision.He also says, "the '?lam
al-mith?l is an extensiveplane inwhich all theAttributes ofGod, mentioned
in theHoly Books, assume an exemplary representation(tamathtbul)."17 This
elegantly summarizes all that has been said above about the functionof the
f?lamal-mith?l.The Names and Attributes of God, being relations between
theworld andGod, arewhat bring theworld into being.18The tam?ththulin
the imaginaiworld of each Divine attribute is the prototype of what is
manifested through that attributeby God in theworld. ShahWall Allah
alludes to thisdoctrine in anotherway by statingthat the imaginaiworld is a
world of pr?figurationwhere thingsand events are shaped in the sameway
thatan architectdraws the shape of a house on a piece of paper beforebuilding
it in the empiricalworld.19
In this connection of the imaginaiworld being the intermediarythrough
which forms aremanifested and the potential is actualized, Sh?hWall Allah
explicitly criticizes the Peripatetic view, which lacked the concept of the
imaginairealm:
As we have mentioned, the Peripatetics did not rest until they had credited the
Celestial Spheres in theirmotion with being themediating power for the effusion
of forms from al-Rahm?n and for the operation of universal causality.20 But, in
16
ShahWali Allah, Ta'w?l al-Ah?dith,13,quoted in ibid., 106.
17
Sh?hWall Allah, Tafhtm?t, 1:194, quoted inBaijon, Religion and Thought ofSh?hWatt All?h,
22.
18
For an excellent introductionto the relationsbetween theDivine Names and theworld in the
'irfani(gnosticor theosophical) tradition,seeChittick, The SufiPath ofKnowledge, chs. 1-2.
19
ShahWall Allah, Taftim?t, 1: 224, quoted in Baljon, Religion and Thought ofSh?hWatt All?h,
23.
20
The Peripatetics (mashsh?*in)among the Islamic philosophers, followingAristotle, held that it
was the principle of motion (of the Celestial Spheres) that brought the physical world into
existencebecause throughmotion, thepotential became actual.

FUAD S. NAEEM
372
truth it is themediating power (of the '?lam al-mith?l) which issues forth upon
the formswhich make itmanifest.21
Immediately following this passage, ShahWall Allah ranks in termsof

decreasing levelsof perfectionthe imaginaipowers (khay?l)of theThrone, the
Celestial Spheres, and themicrocosm (orman). In each of these, the things
that appear reflectthe qualities and affectsof their immediateprinciple and
cause,which is in theworld above them.To cite an example, ShahWall Allah
states:
Incorporeal entities (arw?h) descend upon this (intermediate) power; accordingly,

the shapes and colours of the former become perceptible; then the (divine)
Decree descends upon theCorporeal World.22
This passage brings out two importantelementsof the imaginairealm in

Sh?hWall Allah. One, itdescribes thenature of the '?lam al-mith?lwhich is
notmaterial yet shapes and colours exist in it.Two, it is theplace fromwhere
destiny is prefigured before it arrives at the level of themacrocosm and
microcosm. This has many religious implications,as we shall see.How is it
that there can exist a world with no matter butwhich nonetheless possesses
qualities such as colour and shape thatwe always find inmatter. The secretof
thishas already been described above invariousways and especially in that the
imaginaiworld is a world with extension but not matter. Another way of
saying this is that it is a world that does not admit quantity, the defining
characteristicofmatter, but quality alone.23ShahWall Allah furtherclarifies
the nature of the '?lam al-mith?l in a passage fromHujjat All?h al-B?lighah,
where he attemptsto give a broad definitionof the imaginaiworld thatwould
be intelligibleeven to theologians and religious scholars: "Be informedthat
many traditionsof theProphet indicate that a non-elementalworld exists in
which abstractmeanings are representedby quasi-bodily formscorresponding
to them in quality."24He also states of its nature that "theWorld of
Pr?figuration['?lam al-mith?l]ismade of amaterial of extremerefinement...
By its "beingmaterial," we mean that It is excluded from thatwhich has no
existenceoutsidemental conception; by "extremelyrefined"we mean thatIt is
of a qualitywhich is immunefromthe stainand grossnessofworldly life."25
21
ShahWali All?h, al-Bud?r alB?zighah, 29.
22
Ibid., 29.
23
For an insightfuldiscussion of the relation ofmatter and quantity aswell as their relation to
quality, seeRene Guenon, The Reign ofQuantity and theSigns of theTimes (Ghent,New York:
Sophia Perennis, 2001), chs. 1-4.
24 .
Sh?hWal? All?h, The Conclusive Argumentfrom God (Hujjat Allah al-Baligha), tr.Marcia
Hermansen, 37.
25
Sh?hWall All?h, al-Bud?r al-B?zighah,191.

THE IMAGINAL
373
The closest innormal human experience to the experienceof the imaginai

world is theworld of dreams,which, like the imaginaiworld, has form and
extension but no matter. This is the most commonly given example to
illustratethenature of the imaginaiworld in the Islamic theosophical tradition
and ShahWall Allah also gives similarexamples inhiswritings.
As faras the role of the '?lamal-mith?lin theDivine decreeing of destiny
is concerned, it has already been alluded to in the idea that all that ismade
manifest in the corporealworld firstmanifests itselfin the imaginaiworld.
ShahWall Allah has a very elaborate and complex doctrine concerning the
Decrees of God and human destinywhich is closely tied to his extensive
angelology, for it is the angelswho are directly involved in themanifestingof
the destinies of human individuals and communities. There is a mutual
interplaybetween God andman passing through the angels and the imaginai
realm in the sense that prayer, good intentionsand actions, rise up to God
fromman, while grace (tawfiq),blessings,help, or wrath, punishment, and
afflictiondescend fromGod toman. In this constant interactionthe trafficis
not one-way, so to speak, and ShahWall Allah greatlyelaborates thismystery
ofDivine grace and human endeavour,which combine to shape thedestinyof
man. Itmight sufficeto give a couple of brief examples of this in connection
with the '?lam al-mith?l in ShahWall Allah's treatmentof the subject.He
statesthat the '?lamal-mith?l,"servesfor themanifestation of both theWorld
of ImmaterialEntities ('?lam al-arw?h) (above it) aswell as the formsreflected
from thematerialworld (below it)."26 The angels thatare themain inhabitants
of the '?lam al-mith?l,al-mala*al-a'l? (the high angels, theHeavenly Host),
receive impulses from above concerning both that a certain event occur on
earth at special place and time and also the inspirationof thehearts ofmen in
order to guide themboth physicallyand spiritually.Similarly,impulsesriseup
from theworld below to the '?lamal-mith?l, which are able to block theway
of theDecrees ofGod descending from the '?lamal-jabar?t (World ofDivine
Domination). This can happen, for example, throughprayer, inwhich case an
event decreed is blocked, such as an affliction,if the prayer risesup from the
heart of a believer and is accepted, such as one seekingGod's refuge from
All such reversalshappen and other direct encountersbetweenGod
affliction.
and man take place at the level of the '?lam al-mith?l. Sh?h Wal? Allah
beautifully illustratesthe interactionbetweenDivine Grace and human effort,
which meet in the imaginaiworld:
This is comparable to vapours ascending from the earth that reach an intensely
cold stratum of air. Being dressed with the dress of rain at that region, they pour
26
Idem, al-Bud?r al-B?zighah, 152,quoted inBaijon, Religion and Thought ofSh?hWati Allah, 21.

FUAD S. NAEEM
374
down on the earth; and appear effective in causing grass to grow and in refreshing
the air.27
Much more can be said about the role thatthe imaginaiworld plays in the
metaphysics of ShahWall Allah and especially in the relation betweenGod
and man, including the role it plays in the lives of prophets, in Divine
theoph?nies (tajalliy?t)on earth, in visions,dreams, andmiracles, in theworld
of the angels and itsrelationswith thatofman. Two more metaphysical topics
he treatsconcerning the (?lamal-mith?l that should be mentioned briefly in
order to be comprehensive.One is the importanceof the '?lamal-mith?lin the
nature and becoming ofman, a topic thatwill be furthertreatedin the section
on eschatology. Concerning this, Shah Wall Allah writes: "man has an
existence in theWorld ofDivine Omnipotence (c?lamal-jabar?t)yan existence
in theWorld of Incorporeal Entities [{?lam al-arw?h]> an existence in the
World of Pr?figuration ['?larn al-mith?l],and an existence in theCorporeal
World ['?lam al-ajs?m]"2*The human being, thus, is linked to all the levelsand
orders of being. The second topic concerns the differentkinds of imaginai
worlds and differentkinds of imaginai forms.Concerning the differentkinds
of imaginaiworlds, Suhraward? had posited only a microcosmic imaginai
world. Ibn al-'Arab? expanded this to both amicrocosmic and a macrocosmic
imaginaiworld which Mulla Sadr? crystallizedinto c?lamal-khay?lal-muttasil
and al-munfasil, the former microcosmic and subjective, the latter
macrocosmic and objective. Sh?hWall Allah also followed Ibn al-'Arab? and
Mulla Sadr? in discussing different levels of the imaginaiworld. As for
differentkinds of mith?lt forms,ShahWall All?h also treated this in detail,
speaking of, for example, absolute similitude (mith?l),determined similitude,
and actualized or bodily similitude.It ishoped that thiswill sufficeas a general
overview and introduction to the role of the imaginai world in the
metaphysics of Sh?hWall All?h.
Eschatology
The eschatology of Sh?hWall All?h is one of the crowning achievementsof
his work. In it,he is able to completely synthesizetheQur'?nic doctrinesof
the lifeafterdeath and the finalbecoming ofman with traditionalphilosophy
and theosophy (hikmah).His eschatological teachingsare some of the richest
and most elaborate on the subject in the annals of Islamic literature.Their
richnesscomes from the fact that they incorporatethewhole of theQur'?nic
27
ShahWal? All?h, Tafhlm?t, 1: 220, quoted in Baljon, Religion and ThoughtofSh?hWatt All?h,
23.
28
Sh?hWal? All?h, al-Bud?r al-B?zighah,tr.J.M.S. Baljon, 29.

THE IMAGINAL
375
and Prophetic teachingson the lifehereafterwith the doctrines developed in

the long Islamic intellectual tradition,which includes theoretical Sufism
?irf?n),philosophy, theosophy (hikmah),and kal?m.
The '?lam al-mitb?l has a very importantrole to play inWah Allah's
eschatology.As the barzakh between theDivine and the human, between the
earthly and the celestial, the imaginaiworld has a prominent place, as
mentioned, in both thedescent ofman fromGod to theworld and his ascent
from theworld to God. If themetaphysical doctrines of ShahWal? Allah
mainly concerned the descent, his eschatological writings are mainly
concernedwith the ascent and returnofman to hisOrigin. ShahWal? Allah's
shortbut very importanttreatiseSata'?t,which he stateshe received through
inspiration (ilh?m),expounds in a syntheticand summaryfashion the cyclical
process of man and his final becoming and end. Before dealing specifically
with the role of the imaginaiworld in the lifeafterdeath, itwould be very
useful to examine brieflyShahWal? Allah's descriptionof the cyclical process
of man as he summarizes it in Sata'?t:
It has been known from veridical vision, that every individual who comes in the
visible world has to go through a cyclical process. In the beginning, he was an
abstract, pure intellect.When the appointed time comes, he comes to the visible
world from the place which is themost superior imaginative creation [nash'ah].
The way of his first appearance is that the Abstract pure in relation to its own
draws his similitudinary
specification, picture in the similitudinary
[mith?lt]
world ['?lam al-mitb?l] and in the faculties of the celestial spheres and those of
the Sublime Assembly [al-mala* al-a'ta]. That time it is said: "God has written
what has happened and what is to happen," and that drawn picture is called "The
Clear Writing" and "The Guarded Tablet." After that, he enters into the various
stages of theWorld of Similitude. The earthly causes are thenmade to obey for
his appearance and a fixed time is specified for it (his appearance) in thematerial
world. When that fixed [time] comes he appears in the material form and
completes the duration of his life. Thereafter, thematerial form separates from
the earthly parts and he stays on the perceptive faculties of both the celestial
same
spheres and the Sublime Assembly. After that, he ascends through the
process he had descended from, till he reaches the same point. That time, he
throws off the unclean form from himself and becomes the same pure intellect he
originally was.29
This passage beautifully summarizesShahWal? Allah's cyclical doctrine

ofman. Man is in his origin a pure intellectand thendescends to the imaginai
world, fromwhence he comes to this lowerworld. After a short stayhere, he
2'
ShahWall Allah, Sata'?t, tr.G.N. Jalbani (Hyderabad, Sindh: Sh?hWall Allah Academy,
1970), 25.

FUAD S. NAEEM
376
ascends again to the imaginaiworld and then ascends furtherto the intelligible
world and is once againwho he was in thebeginning,a pure intellect.In both
his descent and his ascent,man passes throughthe imaginai realm. It is to the
second of these? the returnof man to his Origin ? that ShahWall Allah
turnsrightafterthepassage justquoted. In this treatmentof Sh?hWall Allah,
itmight be appropriate to take this text, the Sata'?t, as our guide for the
eschatologyof Sh?hWall Allah due to its clarityand thoroughness.Yet there
are dimensions of ShahWall Allah's eschatology thatare notmentioned in the
Sata'at. Therefore, gleanings fromotherwritingswill be used to support the
main ideas presented in Sata 'at.
Sh?hWall Allah states that thereare three stages afterman's death: one,
the stageof thegrave; two, theDay ofGathering (Hashr); three,Paradise. Shah
Wall Allah expounds in detail the firsttwo stages,but refusesto say anything
substantialabout the thirdstage,statingthat it is better to remain silentabout
itsmysteries. So his eschatological doctrinesmainly concern the first two
stages, both of which are found in the descriptions of the afterlifein the
Qur'?n andHadlth, and both of which are situated in the '?lam al-mith?l,
according to Sh?hWall All?h. Beforewe move further,itmight be askedwhy
the thirdstagedoes notmentionHell, usually thoughtof as the counterpartof
Paradise. The answer to this,Sh?hWall All?h gives, by saying that,contrary
to popular belief,Hell aswell as theGates of Paradise, are located on the level
ofHasbr, and he also states that there will come a time when every last person
will be takenout ofHell and brought intoParadise.
Let us begin by Sh?hWall All?h's descriptionof the stateofman afterhe
dies as explained in theSata'?t:
When men die by natural death, they still retain with themselves as much
portion from their natural spirits [nasamah] as could be a steed for the Soul and
remain in the Intermediary world ('?lam al-barzakh) retaining the knowledge, the
states and the faculties which remained imprinted upon their natural spirits
(nasamah). The man at that time becomes like a rider whose horse has been taken
away from him, or like a writer whose hands have been cut off. This is the same
human being with his constitution and attributes save that his hands and feet are
broken off.30
When aman dies, his body fallsaway but his nasamah,which is a pneuma
containing thephysical and psychic dispositionsofman, andwhich Sh?hWal?
All?h describes as an isthmus(barzakh)between the body and the spirit (r?h),
Wall All?h also describes thisprocess in Peripatetic termsby stating
survives.
30
Ibid., 25-26.

THE IMAGINAI. WORLD ('?LAM AL-MITH?L) INTHE PHILOSOPHY OF SH?H WA LI ALLAH
377
thatwhen man dies, thevegetativeformslips away but the animal soul cleaves
to the nasamah. He also states: "When a man dies, the pneuma a
undergoes
regenerationand the emanationof theDivine Spiritgenerates in it a faculty,in
what remains of the sensuscommunis,which is enough to permit adequate
hearing, sight, and speech throughhelp from theWorld of Images." In the
stage of the graveman subsistsby his nasamah,which grows everweaker as
time elapses afterdeath. In this state,man "can only perceivewith thehelp of
inner senses such as the hissmushtarak (sensuscommunis),wahm (power of
abstraction) and idr?k (logical comprehension)."31It is only these inner senses
that are attuned to the imaginaiworld and as the body has died and fallen
away,man remainswith these sensesalone and thereforeexists in the imaginai
world, the phenomenal world having slipped away fromhim. For example,
the hissmushtarakwhich enables one to hearwithout an ear, seewithout an
eye, and so on, in the afterlifewill produce mith?ti formswhich are of the
same kind as those inwhich jinn or angels appear on earth. Commenting
furtherupon this as well as introducingthe aforementionednotions of the
lesser and greater, or subjective and objective imaginaiworlds, ShahWall
Allah summarizes thewhole experienceofman in the stageof the grave in his
Sata'at:
In the worldly life the natural faculties of man according to his natural
disposition are turned towards the visible world, because the mainstay of his
living is eating and drinking. In the intermediary world the attention of his
intellectual and practical faculties is drawn towards the Similitudinary world
[(?lam almith?t],mostly towards its restrictedformwhich constituteshis

imaginative faculty.He sees his firmly-settled faculties in the form of imagination
or fancy, and this is what the nature of the Intermediary world also requires.
Sometime his attention is diverted towards the Absolute Sim?itudinary world,
but this, however, depends on the capability of an individual. At times, the
are inspired
angels of the lower rank [al-mala* al-s?fit] put in charge of the spirits
one with
by the Sublime Assembly [al-mala* al-a'la] to deal with the buried
one understands their dealing and sees
gentleness or with violence. The buried
themin Similitudinary forms,andknows themas commandedbyGod.
[mith?lt]
In short, he continues in this state of dream right up to the Day of the Last
Judgment.32
This passage sumsup the teachingof ShahWall Allah concerningthe first

stage afterdeath, that of the grave. Let us examine its salient points one by
31
ShahWal? Allah, al-Khayral-Kath?r,4, quoted in Baljon, Religion and Thought of ShahWatt
Allah, 97.
32
ShahWali Allah, Sata'?t, 26.

FUAD S. NAEEM
378
one. Firstly, Sh?hWal? Allah here statesthat the facultiesofman in the stage
of the grave are attuned to the imaginaiworld justas in Ufe theywere attuned
to the phenomenal world. Furthermore, the imaginaiworld that they are
generally attuned to is the restrictedimaginaiworld, khay?l al-muttasilof
Mulla Sadr?,which concerns the subjective realityof themicrocosm that is
man. Sh?hWall Allah divides the '?lamal-mith?linto two kinds, the absolute
and the restricted,or theobjective and subjective,very similar toMulla Sadr?.
The likenessof the firstto the second is like thatof the lightof the sunwhen
we see the sun itselfto the lightof the sunwhich fallson a particularplace on
the ground. One of the fundamentaldifferences,according to Sh?h Wall
Allah, between the stageof the grave and thatof theDay ofAssembly is that
the firstcorresponds to themicrocosmic, subjective form of the '?lam al
mith?l and the second to itsobjectivemacrocosmic form.Sh?hWal? All?h also
posits the possibilityof some being able to penetrate to the objective imaginai
world even during the stage of the grave.Most, though,will be in a state
?
similar to a dream statewhich isnot interruptedby awakening like earthly
dreams are? until theDay ofResurrection.On thatDay, thatwhich will be
witnessed will be objective reality, "and not of a subjective character like a
dream."33
One of themain functionsof the stageof the grave, as described in the

a a
Qur'?nic and Prophetic sources, is that of kind of purgatory and place
where the good is rewardedand the evil punished, to put it simply.ShahWal?
All?h devotes a great deal of attention to this question. As a famous hadtth
states,angelswill appear to theone who has died,with beautifulfacesand silk
ifone is blessed and with dark faces and hammers ifone is accursed.These,
and all other happenings in the gravedescribed inHadtth and experiencedby
those thathave passed from this life,are all happenings in imaginaiform.The
judgmentthatwill be passed in thegravewill concern only accidentalnegative
traitsand bad habits that are fastenedto the exterior (z?hir) of the nasamah
while on the JudgmentDay the deep-rooted and essential vices tied to the
interior (batin)of the nasamahwill be punished.34InHujjat All?h al-B?lighah,
Sh?hWal? All?h devotes awhole chapter to thedescriptionsof different kinds
of people in differentkinds of state in the '?lamal-barzakh,which corresponds
to the stage of the grave. Since theworld of the grave is like a dream from
which one does not wake up until theResurrection,meanings will take on
form like theydo in dreams and the contentsof the soulwill be externalized.
For example,
a savage person may see a beast
mauling him, a miser may see
33
Idem, al-Bud?r al-B?zighah, 153,quoted inBaijon, Religion and ThoughtofSh?hWalt Allah, 98.
34
See Sh?hWall All?h, Tafhim?t, 2: 61, quoted in Baijon, Religion and Thought of Sh?hWalt
Allah, 97-98.

THE IMAGINAI.
WORLD V?LAMAL-MITH?L)INTHE PHILOSOPHYOF SH?HWAL?ALL?H
379
vipers and scorpions, and so on. Other typesof personsmay join theworld of
the angels and become angels themselves,as it is stated in the hadith , "I saw
Ja'far ibn Ab? T?lib as an angel with wings flying in Paradise with the
angels."35Yet others may become devils clothed in robes of darkness
surrounded by representationsof vile pleasures.36Concerning those who
identifiedthemselveswith their bodies completely, Sh?hWall ?ll?h states,
"Death is not the complete disengagementof their souls from their bodies,
rather the soul separates frommanaging, but not imagining.Due to this the
soul thinks . .. that it is thebody itself,to thepoint that ifthebody is crushed
or cut the soul is sure that this happened to it."37From these and other
accounts Sh?hWal? All?h gives, it becomes obvious that the stateof a person
in the imaginaiworld afterdeath directly reflectsthe nature and stateof his
soul.
Sh?hWall All?h, due to hismulti-facetedinterestsand capabilities,often

wrote his works fromdifferentpoints of view and even according to different
intellectual schools. This can be seen in two of his works that extensively
discuss eschatology,al-Bud?r al-B?zighaband Sata'?t, both ofwhich have been
quoted above. The former incorporates a basically Peripatetic cosmology
within Sh?hWal? Allah's general theosophical framework.The latter, the
result of veridical vision according to Sh?hWal? All?h, ismore gnostic and
metaphysical in nature and is directly in Unewith figuresUke Ibn al-'Arabi
andMull? Sadr?. This makes Sh?hWal? All?h's expositions in theseworks
complementaryratherthanopposed. Such a complementarityis clearlyvisible
in his treatmentof the second stageof thehereafter,theCongregation (Hashr),
in these two respectiveworks. Therefore, itmight be useful to give both these
accounts and analyze the important points within them.
In al-Bud?r al~B?zighah, Sh?hWal? All?h describes the process of the

culmination of the stage of the grave and the unveiUng of the stage of the
Hashr.
When, in thismanner, some time has passed (in the grave), the function of the
nasamah becomes disrupted, whereas the human rational soul [al-nafs al-n?tiqah]
a
begins to awake from deep sleep. It becomes entirely self-reUant (i.e.
independent from the nasamah) and the residue of the nasamah becomes
subservient to the intellect of the (rational) soul. The reason for this is that the
on which the nasamah depends, has been stopped for a long time;
supply of food,
35 . .
Sh?h Wal? All?h, The Conclusive Argumentfrom God {Hujjat All?h al-B?ligha), tr.
Hermansen, 103.
36
Ibid., 104.
37
Ibid.

380 FUAD S. NAEEM
thatevents
will takeplace in the
World (ofPr?figuration) which
['?lamal-mith?t]
require the dissolution of all that is related to the elements; and that the
characteristic properties linked to the nasamah consist of limited knowledge and
? as time
improper habits goes by, all these characteristic properties change into
"universale," and there is an uninterrupted trickling down (of knowledge) from
theUnseen World. At thatmoment, theWorld of Pr?figuration will be disclosed
to man. The World of Pr?figuration is a universe full of knowledge in which
there is no no error, and no
ignorance, forgetfulness. It is like this because it
serves for themanifestation of both theWorld of Immaterial Entities ('?lam al
as well as the colours reflected from thematerial world. "It leaves out
arw?h)
nothing small or great, but takes account thereof (Qur'?n 18:47). Then
knowledgewill descendupon him fromthe

World ofPr?figuration,
andhewill
become, so to say, a representative of theWorld of Pr?figuration. The scenes he
will witness appear, commensurate with his being drawn to the World of
Pr?figuration, his encounter with Its realities, and the dissolution of what had
remained ofwicked habits and evil deeds in the nasamah?1
This passage discusses in detail the happenings during the time from the
end of the stageof thegrave to thedawning of the stageofHashr. As the stage
of the grave elapses, thenasamah growsweaker andweaker in its structureand
itsqualities. Consecutively, thenafsn?tiqah awakens and gains in strengthand
expands completely through the '?lam al-mith?l.The nasamah disintegrates
due to its connectionwith man's earthlynature and itsbeing the connection
man moves further on from his worldly
between man's spirit and his body. As
Ufe and body in the cycle of existence,the less thenasamah has a hold on him.
The nafsn?tiqah,which ShahWall Allah describes as thebarzakh between the
nasamah and the 'aynth?bitah,the root of archetypalindividuality,andwhich
is thekernel of a man's personality,and also thehuman formcommon to all
men, takes itsplace due to itsuniversality.The singularitiesand particularities
of a man are transformed into universals that are applicable to man as such, in
this stageofHashr. This is connected bothwith thepassing ofman from the
subjectivemicrocosmic imaginaiworld to theobjectivemacrocosmic imaginai
world and with what is described in the IslamicRevelation as theDay when
all that is in the souls ofmen will be laid bare. The passing from the firststage
of the lifeafterdeath to the second is a passing fromsubjectivityto objectivity.
This is why in the firststage the accidental psychic traitsof man will be
revealed to him and it is only in the second thathis trueobjective qualities and
viceswill be revealed.This iswhy on theDay of Judgment,inwhich thevery
nature ofman which is constitutedof the nafsn?tiqah, is judged, and not his
accidental qualities or faults,which are exhausted in the grave. Concerning
38
ShahWal? All?h, alBud?r al-B?zighah,tr.J.M. S. Baijon, 190.

THE IMAGINAL WORLD C?LAM AL-MITH?L) INTHE PHILOSOPHY OF SHAH WAL? ALL?H
381
this,ShahWall Allah states:

Be assured that theworld of the grave is nothing other than the remnant of this
world, but there thisknowledge filter[sic] down frombehind a veil. The
determinants (ahk?m) of each soul are manifest to each individual on his own
there, unlike the events of the Day of Assembly [Hashr], The events of theDay
of Assembly appear to the souls once they have ceased to exist through the
determinants particularized for separate individuals while they remain subsisting
through the form of the (whole) human species.39
On the process of the manifestation of the qualities inherent in the nafs

n?tiqah. ShahWall Allah adds:
By nature theWorld of Pr?figuration[alam almith?t]has an assimilative
a
predisposition for every divine mystery and capacity for representing it in the
shape of a body. Consequently, the bad and good qualities inherent in the
rational soul [al-nafs al-n?tiqah], and its inclinations, become manifest there . . .
gradually, these figurations fade away, and in the end they have completely
vanished. Now, the rational soul is allowed to adopt the original human form,
i.e. the shape of the Archetype ofMan [imam] with all its internal and external
characteristics.40
Here, Sh?hWall Allah describes furtherstageswithin theDay ofHashr.

Firstly, themanifestation in objectivemith?lt formsof the essentialqualities,
positive or negative, ofman as present in his nafs n?tiqah, the kernel of his
individuaUty,insteadof the subjectivemith?lt formspresent in theworld of
the grave.After this,thesemith?lt formswill cease andman will be reabsorbed
into the archetype (im?m) of the human species. Sh?hWall All?h also states
elsewhere41 that at the Resurrection man an intellectual and psychic
acquires
power and a body specific to the human form since he has been rid of his
particular body and psychic disposition and that there no one will have
infirmitiesof any kind in body ormind even ifthey sufferedfromthese in the
world.
Sh?hWal? All?h gives a complementaryaccount of the coming of the
Day ofGathering (Hashr),aswas mentioned, in theSata'?t:
When the other appointed term comes, the Similitudinary [mith?lt] faculties
enter into the spirits by way of necessity, because of the individual's having gone
see through the
through the various stages of the Similitude. Then he will
Absolute Similitudinary form those of his deeds and character which were
39
Sh?h Wali Allah, The Conclusive Argumentfrom God (Hujjat Allah al-B?ligha), tr.M. K.
Hermansen, 105.
40
ShahWall Allah, alBud?r al-B?zighah,tr.J.M.S. Baljon, 175.
41
See Baljon, Religion and ThoughtofSh?hWatt All?h, 99.

382 FUAD S. NAEEM
or the disapproval of the Sublime Assembly

preserved, and will find the approval
as the case may be. Both theGuidance and the Scheme [tadb?r] of
(al-maUs'al-a'la)
God working in the universe will appear there in the Similitudinary form.Many
persons here will have one and the same perception, because the line of the
one and the scheme of the Similitudinary faculties is also one.
specific form is
Many individual characteristics [ahk?m] which were borne by the nasmic
faculties will disappear here. This day is called the "Day of Mutual Meeting".
"Raised high above ranks the Lord of the Throne sends by His command the
one of His pleases, thatHe may warn
spirit (of inspiration) to any servantsHe
will (all)comeforth:
(men)of theDay ofMutualMeeting,theDay whereon they
Not a single thing concerning them is hidden fromGod* (Qur'?n 40:15-16).42
Here Sh?hWall Allah describes in anothermanner, thenature of theDay

ofAssembly (Hashr)which a soul arrivesat afteremergingfrom theworld of
the grave.Wall Allah also alludes to various stagesof the imaginaiworld, the
two main stages of which have been discussed as the microcosmic and
macrocosmic stages.The Day ofHashr concerns the second,where man will
not be alone but allmankind will gather,as the religious textsstate.Sh?hWall
Allah also describes how many will have the same perception on thisDay due
to two reasons: one, allmen, being ridof theirsingularitiesassociatedwith the
nasamah, are dominated by the specifichuman form,thenafsn?tiqah.; two, all
possess imaginai faculties,and just asmen in thisworld see the same physical
objects and hear the same sounds due to the similarityof theirvisual and
auditory faculties, they would have the same imaginai faculties. Every man
would see objectively in imaginaiformhis essentialcharacterforall secondary
and accidental traitshave alreadybeen exhausted in theworld of thegrave and
have fallenawaywith thenasamah.This iswhy Sh?hWal? All?h states(see the
quote n. 41 above) that theywould see "thoseof his deeds and characterwhich
were preserved"? those being preserved precisely being those which are
essential.
The question of imaginaifacultiesalso introducesthe idea of thevarious
ontological levels of the body, which include the imaginai (mith?lt)body,
which is discussed by the laterhukam?' such asMull? Sadr? andwhich is also
followed by Sh?h Wal? All?h. In the following passage, in which he is
discussing the intelligenceof man and its two kinds, the kind innate to all
livingcreaturesalthough differingin capacity and thekind that is specificto
man and is unveiled to him byGod, Sh?hWal? All?h also discusses thevarious
formsand bodies ofman inhis finalbecoming:
The other(thesecondkindof intelligence)
isgrantedbyhisLordwhen thecloak
of his earthly form [nash'a] is thrown back from his shoulders and he returns to
42
ShahWal? Allah, Sata'?t, 26-27

THE IMAGINAL
WORLD ('?LAMAL-MITH?L)INTHE PHILOSOPHYOF SH?HWAL?ALL?H
383
Him in a shape fromtheWorld of Pr?figuration [c?lamal-mith?l]stillblended

with his earthlyform.Then (hewill repairto his Lord) in a shape fromthe
World of Incorporeal Entities [(?lam al-arw?h] now still blended with elements of
theWorld of Pr?figuration. Again, after some time, he will emerge from the
and then(hewill repairtohis Lord) in a shapefromthe
World ofPr?figuration
World of Subsistent Essences ['?lam ala'y?n]) again still blended with elements
from theWorld of Incorporeal Entities. Yet again, after some time, he will leave
theWorld of Incorporeal Entities.. .43
Here, ShahWall Allah alludes to the doctrine developed at lengthby

Mulla Sadr? of the various statesof the body inman's Ufe afterhis worldly
death. After death, as we have seen in ShahWall Allah's exposition of the
world of the grave, the soul becomes increasinglyexternalized, in a manner
akin to dreams at first,where this also happens, but more and more
objectivelyuntil theDay ofHashr where the soul completely externalizesinto
an imaginaibody with imaginai facultiesof perception. Sh?hWall Allah says
that in thisworld there are predications (ahk?m)which pertain only to the
body and otherswhich pertain only to the soul but that in the lifehereafter,
all predications are applicable aswell to thebody justas to the soul so thatone
may say: '"My body understands' like one says 'My mind understands.'"44
Closely related to the idea of various bodies and formsof man in different
worlds is the doctrine thatman contains all the levels of existencewithin
himself, from the lowest to the highest and the corollary of this is thatman
has an existence in everyworld in the hierarchy of Being.When he passes
throughtheotherworlds afterdeath,he does not possess a body that isnot his
but rather his soul externalizes itself in accordance with the nature of the
world it finds itself in. Therefore, man's existence in the hereafter, and
specificallyhis Resurrection on theDay ofHashr, is not a new existence, "a

new life that startsfrom the beginning," rather,says ShahWall Allah, "it is
a of a former genre of existence .
. . Were it otherwise,
simply completion
people on thatDay would be differentfrom thosewho led an earthly lifeand
could not be punished forwhat theyhad done."45 In Sata'?t, Sh?hWall Allah
furtherdiscusses the stateof the body and its imaginainature on theDay of
Hashr:
On the"Day ofMutualMeeting"many humanbeingswill taketheirbodies,the

even though to a smallest extent (to the
origin ofwhich was, however, preserved
43
Ibid., 35-36.
44
Sh?hWali All?h, al-Khayral-Kathlr, 3, quoted in Baijon, Religion and Thought of ShahWatt
Allah, 99.
45
Sh?hWall All?h, Hujjat Allah alB?lighah, 1: 37, quoted in Baljon, Religion and Thought of
Sh?hWatt Allah, 99.

384 FUAD S. NAEEM
extent of the root of the tail) as a vehicle for their souls. This will not be in away
as itwas in the beginning, but for the purpose that, itmay serve as a mirror for
predications[ahk?m\so that, the lengthof the

the Similitudinary[mith?lt]
muezzin, thewhiteness of the face of the happy, the eating and drinking could be
clearly represented. All thiswill take place by way of necessity, because ofman's
having passed through the various stages of the Similitude. When the elemental
life is destroyed, it is but necessary that this individual should come under the
Similitudinary faculties, and there the Similitudinary predications will make their
appearance thoroughly well.46
In the above passage, Sh?hWall Allah, in addition to discussing the

imaginaibody, mentions some of the imaginai forms thatwill appear on the
Day ofHashr, like the brightnessof the faces of the blessed or theiracts of
eating and drinking.These andmany other phenomena thatwill occur at the
Resurrection are all mentioned in theQur'?n andHad?th. Sh?hWal? All?h
very closely relieson theseScripturaland Prophetic descriptions,explaining in
the lightof theosophy (hikm?h).He hasmuch to say on the symbolismof the
happenings of theDay of Judgment.For example,he states:
a corresponding bodily form . . Most

.
Conceptual matters (ma'am) can take on
occurrences of the 'Gathering' will be of this kind . . .There the souls (nufils) all
alike will witness (conceptual) objects that have assumed a visible form;
accordingly,theguidancepromulgatedthroughthemission of theProphetwill
be represented by a basin (hawd), and deeds forwhich souls are held liable will be
.. .47
represented by weights, and so on
Sh?hWal? All?h also states:"In thisplace, theReckoning, theBalance, the

Fountain and the things like the Scroll and the Bridge will come into
appearance," the various objects theQur'?n andHad?th describe concerning
the Day of Resurrection. Wall All?h continues the same passage with a
description of the state of the inhabitantsof the third stage after death,
Paradise, aswell as thevision ofGod:
Here theGreat Manifestation [al-Tajalli al-A'zam] will appear in a Similitudinary

a
form worthy of its rank, form inwhich it had never appeared in theworld at
any time nor it had occurred to themind of anyone. People will see it openly
and the complete mercy flowing from the fountain of goodness will descend on
them. And all the necessary things of life like eating, drinking, and having
intercourse with women, will take certain forms, because all these were the
46
ShahWal? Allah, Sata'?t, 28.
47
Idem,Hujjat Allah al-B?lighah, 1: 37, quoted in Baljon Religion and Thought of Shah Watt
Allah, 99.

THE IMAGINAI. WORLD ('?LAM AL-MITH?L) INTHE PHILOSOPHY OF SH?H WA LI ALL?H
385
requirements of the human form and not the peculiarity of one individual or the
other. They will find pleasure in each of them. Every pleasure refers to a certain
act of goodness which they had taken care to look after .. .48
Shah Wall Allah has a vast gnostic and metaphysical technical

terminologywhich is his own andwhich needs to be studied in itsown right.
In the passage above, he speaks of themanifestation inmith?ti form of the
SupremeTheophany (al-Tajalltal-A'zam). Sh?hWall Allah defines this term in
hisHaw?m?, a gnostic commentaryon theHizb al-Bahr of ShaykhHasan al
Sh?dhil?, as "a summary (barn?maj) of the realitiesof the Self-Existent,and
thereforealso a summaryof thedivine tajalliyy?tand a talismanof thewisdom
of the of theMerciful God."49 In the same treatise,he also states, "In the
opinion of Ibn al-'Arabi the name of this reality is al-haqiqa al
mubammmadiyya."50 He also calls it the "shadow of theDivine Essence"51and
"an exemplary representation (timth?l)of It in theUniverse."52 This is the
manifestation ofGod that theblessedwill see only theDay ofResurrection in
imaginai form. This acquires a great significancefor Shah Wall Allah for
following Ibn al-4Arabiand his school, he statesthatGod will take the form
thatHis servant imagineshim to be, or in his own words, "notGod will be
transformedfrom one shape into another on theDay of Resurrection, but
men will seeHim in differentshapes."53 He furtherexplains thisdoctrine of
theLord and his vassal,54the origin ofwhich is a had?thqudst inwhich God
declares thatHe is asHis servant imagineshim to be,55and how each man
perceivesGod according to his own qualities and beliefs:
The belief of human individuals in their Lord and the knowledge they have
about Him have a limit for each one of them which they cannot cross. On the
Day of Resurrection God will manifest Himself in the form of that limit. It will
be a universal and general emanation of which, when it appears to them, they
48
Sh?hWal? Allah, Sata'?t, 27
49
Idem,Haw?mi',5, quoted inBaljon, Religion and ThoughtofSh?hWal? Allah, 32.
50
Sh?hWali All?h, Haw?mi1, 7, quoted inBaljon, Religion and Thought ofShahWatt Allah, 33.
51
Sh?hWal? All?h, Tafhlm?t, 1: 64, quoted in Baljon, Religion and Thought ofSh?hWatt Allah,
33.
52
Sh?hWali All?h, Tafhlm?t, 1: 191, quoted in Baljon, Religion and Thought ofSh?hWalt All?h,
33.
53
Sh?hWall All?h, Ta'wll al-Ah?dith,103, quoted in Baljon, Religion and Thought ofSh?hWatt
All?h, 100.
54
For more informationon thisdoctrine, seeH. Corbin's Creative Imagination in theSufismof
Ihn 'Arabi-,andW. C. Chittick, The SufiPath ofKnowledge.
55 am as
"I My servant thinks I am" It has been relatedby al-Bukh?ri;Muslim, al-Tirmidhi and
IbnM?jah. See, FortyHadlth Qudsl, tr.Ezeddin Ibrahim andDenys Jonson-Davies (Cambridge:
IslamicTexts Society, 1997), 18-79.

386 FUAD S. NAEEM
will have no doubt. They, however, will differ in the identification of that very
emanation. Thus everyone will see it in a form corresponding to his particular
belief... theywill see them (that is, the particular emanations of God) with their
own eyes, as when aman keeps a red glass before his eye, and sees everything as
red, or keeps a green one, and sees everything as green, while the thing seen is the
same in both the cases.56
After the stage of theDay ofHashr, comes the stage of Paradise. The
witnessing of God as the SupremeTheophany is itselfalreadyParadise. Sh?h
Wall Allah states that theGates of Paradise,mentioned inmany ah?dith, still
pertain to the stageofHashr, as does Hell, but Paradise properly speaking is
beyond it. In more than one place, as soon as this stage arrives,ShahWall
Allah chooses to stay silent about the topic, saying,for example, "Afterthat
[that is, theDay ofHashr and the appearance of Tajall? al-A 'zam] therewill
occur something about which I will not speak, following the example of the
lawgiver,may peace and blessingsbe upon him."57He does open thedoor to
the unfolding of the furtherbecoming of man by stating that Paradise
comprises of levels or degrees and the bliss therein is of differentkinds.He
statesthat inParadise, "bliss consistsof two degrees: 1) Physical indulgencesin
the formof food, drink, and sexual intercourse. All this is imprintedupon the
World of Pr?figuration ('?lam al-mith?t), due to the fact that It functionsas a
mirror for theCorporeal World. 2) Being attractedto higher regions."58 With
this second possibility Sh?hWall Allah indicates the furtherascent ofman,
just as he affirmsthe literal truthof theQur'?nic descriptionsof Paradise in
the imaginaiworld. These worlds beyond the imaginaiworld are higher
worlds, which Sh?hWall All?h refersto, for example, in the passage from
Sata'?t quoted above59where man finallybecomes thepure intellect?aql) that
he originallywas. He explains somethingsimilar in another elegantpassage, in
which he again describes the cyclical process of man's existence and how
eventuallyeven thenafsn?tiqah,which relieson thenasamah in itsearthlyUfe
and on amith?ltmode of existence inParadise, ceases to be andman returnsto
his Origin. Baljon summarizes it fromSh?hWall All?h's Tafh?m?t-iIl?hiyyah
(1: 227) as follows:
The very beginningof humanUfe iswhen a tinypiece (nuqta)ofGod's love

becomes an individual nafs n?tiqa and it is transported to theworld here below.
After its earthly life it experiences a second birth and becomes a jewel for the
56
Sh?hWali Allah, Lamah?t, 65.
57 . .
Idem, The Conclu?ve Argumentfrom God (HujjatAll?h al-B?ligha), tr. Hermansen, 111.
58
Sh?hWali All?h, al-Bud?r al-B?zighah, 192.
59
See n. 32 above.

WORLD ('?LAMAL-MITH?L)INTHE PHILOSOPHY
THE IMAGINAL OF SH?HWAL?ALLAH
387
rays of God's World of Omnipotence ['?lam al-j?bar?i]. The nafs n?tiqa becomes
a mere appendage like a sixth finger of a man's hand. Finally, the
nafs n?tiqa is
annihilated, the jewel hidden and the rays vanish. At that moment God
terminates the journey. The cycle (dawra) has come to an end. The tiny piece
(nuqta) of God's love has returned to its beginning, and it relaxes from the
hardships of the journey.60
World and theReligiousSciences

The Imaginai
No discussion of Sh?hWall Allah's exposition of the imaginaiworld in his
writings would be complete without mentioning his integration of
theosophical,Sufi, and philosophical terms,includingthe idea of the imaginai
world, into the corpus of the religious sciences (al-'ul?m al-naqliyyah).Since
this is a vast topic on its own, a very brief introductionto this synthesisof
Shah Wall Allah will be given here. Shah Wall Allah was a renowned
muhaddith, as well as trained in tafsvr, fiqh, and other religious sciences.He
was also very well-versed in kal?m. In almost every topic he discusses, the
notion of '?lam al-mith?l is present in the discussion. The reason for this is
that this intermediary world iswhat connects theDivine to the human and
therefore,religion,which descends from the Divine to the human, and
throughwhich man ascends to the Divine, cannot be explained without
recourse to this intermediary world. Whenever theDivine descends or man
ascends, the '?lam al-mith?lmust be passed through.Thus, it becomes a key
idea forShahWall Allah in explainingreligionas such aswell as in explaining
innumerabledifferenttopics relatedto religion.
The importance ShahWall Allah gives to the '?lam al-mith?l can be
witnessed by the fact that inHujjat All?h al-B?lighah,his main work on the
reconciliationand synthesisof the intellectualand the transmittedsciences,he
devotes thewhole second chapter to thisworld. In ithe summarilydefines its
nature and then quotes many pages of ah?dith supportingand demonstrating
the existenceof the '?lamal-mith?l. Many of theseah?dith concern topics that
Sh?hWall Allah discusses elsewhere inmore detail andwhich directly involve
the '?lam al-mith?l, for example, the reality of theQur'?n, eschatological
events, thedescent ofGabriel, the ascent (mi'r?j)of theProphet, and events in
the livesof the prophets.After narratingtheseah?dith,he statesthat thereare
threeways of interpretingthem: one, to accept their literal truth, inwhich
one is obliged to accept the existenceof the '?lam al-mith?l, two, to accept
these events as onlymanifest to theperception of he who views thembut not
present in thephenomenalworld; three,to take them asmetaphors conveying
othermeanings. Sh?hWall All?h states the superiorityof the firstpoint of
60
Baijon, Religion and ThoughtofShahWatt Allah, 101.

388 FUAD S. NAEEM
view and dismisses the third.He thenquotes at lengthfromal-Ghazz?l?'s Ihy?'

(Ul?m al-D?riyinwhich the latterdiscussesvarious levels of interpretationof
such events (theparticularpassage being concernedwith the lifeof thegrave).
It is in this passage that al-Ghazz?l? lays the groundwork for the later
unfolding of the doctrine of the imaginaiworld, by referringto a different
kind of sense thatwitnesses maiak?ti matters and thesematters themselves
being of a differentkind than earthlyones.He also suggeststhat the contents
of the soul are externalized in the grave, forexample,destructiveattributesof
soul transformedinto snakesand vipers.
Throughout the rest of theHujjat, which covers everythingfrom the

creation of theworld, to the nature of the Spirit (R?h) to the necessity of
requital of acts, to social and political philosophy, to the attainmentof human
felicity,to thenature of piety and sin, thenature of prophecy, the reason for
religion and the differentreligions,andmany other topics, ShahWall Allah
refersto the '?lamal-mith?lto bring togetherthe (aql?point of view with the
naqll point of view, as can be seen superbly in the discussion of eschatology
above. To conclude, an examplemight be useful in the introductionof this
vast topic. One of ShahWall Allah's most interestinguses of the imaginai
world is his discussion of thenature of religion, itsnecessity, thenecessityof
differentreligions, the reasons for theirdifferences,and so on. He says, for
example, that religion (din) exists as an archetypal reality in the imaginai
world and ismanifested at different times and places in different forms due to
thenature and requirementsof the timeand thepeople that it is being revealed
to.61This is undoubtedly one of themost direct expositions of religious
pluralism in the Islamic tradition.He discusses this not only in his more
esoteric works like Lamah?t and Sata'?t, where the discussion of other
religions ismore metaphysical, but also in hismore accessible andwidely-read
works like theHujjat, inwhich he devotes twenty chapters to the subject.
Here and inmany otherworks, he also discusses the revelationof the laws of
theSharVah in relation to the '?lamal-mith?l
Throughout his writings Sh?h Wall Allah endeavours to support his

metaphysical and philosophical ideaswith verses from theQur'?n and with
the sayingsof theProphet (peace be on him),more so perhaps than any other
philosophical figurein the Sunn!world. In this,again, his function is similar
in the Sunn!world asMulla Sadr?'s is in the Sh?'iteworld, although the latter
is a much more systematicphilosopher, of synthesizingall the sources of
61
See ibid., 171, note 1. Sh?hWall All?h's exposition of questions related to religiousdiversity
can be found inmany of his works. See, for example, his Hujjat Allah al-Balighah,Book 6,
Chapters 54-57, and al-Bud?r al-B?zighah,Discourse 6,Chapters 1-4.

WORLD {'?LAMAL-MITH?L)INTHE PHILOSOPHYOF SH?HWAL?ALLAH
THE IMAGINAL
389
wisdom, whether intellectualor revelatory,at a timewhen these sourceshad

fullycrystallizedas separatebranchesof the Islamic tradition.
Conclusion
The doctrine of the (alamalmithal thatShahWall Allah elaborates is of the

utmost significance for historical, philosophical, and spiritual reasons.
Historically, thisdoctrinewas a central featureof laterIslamic thought,which
relied on it for the explanation and elaboration ofmany facetsof the Islamic
Revelation, particularlythe subtleworlds and theirconnection to thephysical
world aswell as questions of eschatology.This doctrine,which can be seen to
have its roots in an implied form in the Qur'an and theHadith, was
commented upon by al-Ghazz?l?, firstdetailed by Suhraward?Maqt?l, then
elaborated fullyby Ibn al-'Arabi, findingitsmost complete articulation in the
writings ofMulla Sadr? and Sh?hWall Allah. The tremendous importanceof
the imagination in traditional Islamic civilization is demonstrated by the
significanceof this doctrine in Islamic thought,theosophical and Sufi. It can
also be seen in the influenceof thisdoctrine inmore practicaldomains, such as
the artsof the Islamicworld, particularlyliterature,
music, miniature painting,
and architecture.
Philosophically, this doctrine, in addition to its importance in Islamic

intellectual history where it became a central component of the Islamic
worldview, is of great importanceformodern thoughtfor it offersan escape
from themind/body dualism, which despite being increasinglychallenged,
still remainspart of the pre-eminentintellectualframeworkinwhich modern
mankind envisages itself and the cosmos. The prevalence of this dualism as
well as an empiricistepistemology inhibitmost discussions about one of the
most pertinent topics of the contemporaryworld, the relationof religionand
science.Much of thediscourse related to science and religion suffersfrom the
lack of a philosophical methodology in general and the almost complete lack
of non-modern philosophicalmethodologies and doctrines in particular.This
lack, particularly that of a doctrine of the imaginaiworld, whether in its
Islamic or itsother formsfound in almost all traditionalreligions,often results
in religionbeingmade amatter of faithalone and deprives itof all rationaland
philosophical support, intellectualitybeing considered the provenance of
science alone. The introductionof the imaginaiworld to such discussions
could ground discussions about religiousmatters intellectuallyand also break
the unilateral limits imposed by a scientistic absolutism that admits the
empiricalworld alone as real and considers themethods of knowing this
empiricalworld as the sole form of real knowledge. An alternative to this
truncatedontology and epistemology is presented by traditionalphilosophy

390 FUAD S. NAEEM
and theosophywhich envisages a hierarchy of levels of being, of which the

physical world is only the lowest level, and modes of knowing, of which
empirical knowledge is only themost outward mode. This paradigm is of
great importance in understandingreligiousand traditionalworldviews and is
also a key to understandingspiritualrealitiesdiscussed in religious scriptures
and thewritings of themystics. Spiritually,thedoctrine of the imaginaiworld
can open doors to understandingdifferentaspects of man's inner spiritual
journey and the experiences and encounters that he may undergo. It also
revealsGod's presence in and interactionwith theworld aswell asman's final
becoming afterhis sojourn in thisearthlyUfe ends.As such,on all these levels,
thedoctrine of the imaginaiworld remainsa central threadof Islamic thought
inurgentneed of revival and a key tounderstandingthemulti-layered levelsof
reaUtyand knowledge not addressedor recognized inmodern thought.
Sh?h Wall AU?h's contribution to this doctrine also highUghts his
importance in the history of Islamic thought and philosophy. His place in
Islamic intellectual history needs to be further understood and his
philosophical and mystical writings furtherexplored and analyzed so that a
proper articulationof his philosophical views can be presented and seen in the
light of the Islamic intellectual tradition, so many branches of which he
synthesized. The larger tradition of Islamic philosophical, mystical, and
theosophical thought in the Subcontinent also awaits further research
beginning with a preliminarymapping of the main figures and schools
involved in this tradition.


The Imaginal World ('Ālam Al-Mithāl) in The Philosophy of Shāh Walī Allāh Al-Dihlawī

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The Imaginal World ('Ālam al-Mithāl) in the Philosophy of Shāh Walī Allāh al-Dihlawī

Author(s): FUAD S. NAEEM

This content downloaded from 194.214.27.178 on Mon, 9 Sep 2013 12:51:33 PM

The ImaginaiWorld ('Akm al-Mitha?) in the

One of the greatest obstacles impeding the understanding of traditional

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theosophy and philosophy toWestern audiences, translated it as mundus

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existence(wuj?d)has been proven.From the timeof death till theDay of

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religious sciences and kal?m in the Indian Subcontinent,unlike inmost other

TheWorks of ShahWall Allah

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Arab world and theOttoman world.

especiallyusefulforan outlineof ShahWali Allah's eschatology,including

question of Being (wuj?d). It also addresses various other philosophical and

questions. It contains Sh?h Wali Allah's celebrated

metaphysical works but integrates traditional philosophy with theology and

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Allah expressly affirmshis intention of rationally explaining the reason and

good and fairly comprehensive summary of the philosophy and teachings of

Many of the above-mentionedworks as well as a few others exist in

anyWestern language to Sh?hWali Allah as a philosopher and metaphysician in the long

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discussed in most articles and works written on ShahWall Allah in both

importantrole to play as both a means formanifestation and a means for the

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thepotentiality to turn an attributeof the immaterialinto an attributeof the

Attributes)would not intertwinewith the formsas theyshould; the formof

The '?larnal-mith?l,therefore, has an eminent role to play in the cycle of

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Accordingly, out of his imaginative vision, woman came into existence.16

Furthermore, complementing this vision of the creative imaginationof

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Immediately following this passage, ShahWall Allah ranks in termsof

Incorporeal entities (arw?h) descend upon this (intermediate) power; accordingly,

This passage brings out two importantelementsof the imaginairealm in

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The closest innormal human experience to the experienceof the imaginai

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This content downloaded from 194.214.27.178 on Mon, 9 Sep 2013 12:51:33 PM

and Prophetic teachingson the lifehereafterwith the doctrines developed in

This passage beautifully summarizesShahWal? Allah's cyclical doctrine

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[(?lam almith?t],mostly towards its restrictedformwhich constituteshis

This passage sumsup the teachingof ShahWall Allah concerningthe first

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One of themain functionsof the stageof the grave, as described in the

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Sh?hWall All?h, due to hismulti-facetedinterestsand capabilities,often

In al-Bud?r al~B?zighah, Sh?hWal? All?h describes the process of the

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knowledgewill descendupon him fromthe

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this,ShahWall Allah states:

On the process of the manifestation of the qualities inherent in the nafs

Here, Sh?hWall Allah describes furtherstageswithin theDay ofHashr.

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or the disapproval of the Sublime Assembly

Here Sh?hWall Allah describes in anothermanner, thenature of theDay

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Him in a shape fromtheWorld of Pr?figuration [c?lamal-mith?l]stillblended