The Attributes of the Noble

It looks like the same thing pierces through this façade of reality all the time.

< The Attributes of the Noble>

"the author of this discourse, Muhammad al-Tusi, had it in his mind to write a concise treatise describing the ways of the awliya' and the methods of the seers according to the principles of the wayfarers of the Path (tariqah) and the seekers of the Truth (haqiqah) and one based on the principles of reason and tradition, containing the subtle theoretical and practical points that constitute the kernel and essence of that discipline."

- Nasir al-din Tusi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasir_al-Din_al-Tusi

"Ittihad is not what some shortsighted people imagine, that it is the becoming one of the creature with God, the Exalted. Greatly exalted is He above that!'

Rather, it means seeing all as Him, without being constrained to say that everything other than Him is from Him and so all are one.

Rather, his vision is so illumined with the light of His manifestation, Exalted is His station, that he does not see other than Him, there remaining no seer, seen, or sight, and all become one.

At this stage, it is known that the one who decläred "I am the Truth" and the one who said, "Glory be to Me, how great is My majesty," did not claim divinity but negated his egohood and affirmed the ipseity of Someone other than himself, and this is the desired goal.",

- Nasir al-din Tusi

"In wahdah (oneness) there is no wayfarer or wayfaring, way and destination, search, seeker, and the sought, and everything perishes except His Face. This matter has neither an affirmation and its explanation, nor a negation and its explanation; for affirmation and negation are opposites and duality is the source of multiplicity.

Here there is neither negation nor affirmation, neither negation öf negation nor affirmation of affirmation, neither negation of affirmation nor affirmation of negation. And this is called fana (annihilation), for the return of creation is by fana even as its origin was from adam (non-existence)"

Nasir al-din Tusi

circa 44:49 @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5oSOsnxzgY Tusi: The Greatest Astronomer in History? - Let's Talk Religion

43:42 than meets the eye on the one hand is smileism itself while of course strongly emphasizing reason and intellect also

43:49 has a quite strong mystical side there's an inherent mysticism in the doctrine of

43:54 the Imam and the esoteric interpretations and practices are certainly sometimes mystical in

44:00 character in fact in the SAU there's a section where the role of the Imm is expressed

44:06 in quite mystical ways and where the doctrines of the ismileies whom he calls the people of unity are presented as

44:12 almost monistic in character quote in the eyes of the people of unity there is

44:18 neither this nor that neither truth nor falsity neither multiplicity nor oneness

44:23 neither resurrection nor religious law neither outward nor inward neither origin nor return everything is he and

44:31 apart from him there exists nothing nothing in nothing suffice it not that

44:37 thy lord is witness over all things and furthermore there is actually another work in which Tuzi tackles the

44:44 question of mysticism and mystical experiences like union and fa more

44:49 headon this is a work called the osaf lashra the attributes of the noble the

44:55 attribution of this work to Tuzi isn't agreed upon by everyone partly because it seems to differ so much from his

45:00 approach in other works but that in itself isn't really reason enough to reject it as authentic in the preface to

45:06 the book Atuzi claims that is a kind of companion to his earlier work of ethics thei that we talked about and clearly

45:13 states what his intention with the book is quote "The author of this discourse Muhammad Atusi had it in his mind to

45:20 write a concise treatise describing the ways of the ayah and the methods of the seers according to the principles of the

45:26 wayfarers of the path and the seekers of the truth and one based on the principles of reason and tradition

45:32 containing the subtle theoretical and practical points that constitute the kernel and essence of that discipline

45:39 what follows is a discourse in six parts each containing six subp parts that

45:44 discuss different requirements on the mystical or spiritual path such as faith and sincerity aestheticism and seclusion

45:52 patience and thankfulness contemplation of oneself and the external world and many other features and once one reaches

45:59 the higher stations of the path such things like love and complete submission to the reality of God the seeker can

46:05 experience union it with God the oneness of all being and the annihilation fa of

46:12 the self or ego here it becomes clear that Tuzi has a quite sophisticated and

46:17 proper understanding of the intricacies of the Sufi doctrine on union and annihilation quote it is not what some

46:25 short-sighted people imagine that it is the becoming one of the creature with God the exalted greatly exalted is he

46:32 above that rather it means seeing all as him without being constrained to say that everything other than him is from

46:39 him and so all are one rather this vision is so illumined with the light of his manifestation exalted as his station

46:46 that he does not see other than him there remaining no seer seen or sight and all become One at this stage it is

46:54 known that the one who declared I am the truth and the one who said glory be to me how great is my majesty did not claim

47:00 divinity but negated his egohood and affirm the absidity of someone other than himself and this is the desired

47:08 goal speaking of the highest stage of fa or complete annihilation of the self Tuzi

47:14 says in wa oneness there is no wayf farer or wayfairing way and destination

47:21 search seeker and the sought and everything perishes except his face this

47:26 matter has neither an affirmation and explanation nor a negation and explanation for affirmation and negation

47:32 are opposites and duality is the source of multiplicity here there is neither

47:38 negation nor affirmation neither negation of negation nor affirmation of

47:44 affirmation neither negation of affirmation nor affirmation of negation and this is called fa annihilation for

47:51 the return of creation is by fa even as its origins was from Adam non-existence

47:57 this is clearly not some critical philosopher or theologian that presents a bad straw man picture of Sufi

Awsaf al Ashraf - The Attributes of the Noble

Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

Introduction

Prelude

Concerning the Starting Point of the Journey and its Requisites

Section One: On Faith

Section Two: On Steadfastness

Section Three: On Intention

Section Four: On Truthfulness

Section Five: On Penitence (Inabah)

Section Six: On Sincerity (Ikhlas)

On the Removal of Obstacles and Hindrances from the Wayfarer's Path

Section One: On Repentance

Section Two: On Zuhd

Section Three: On Poverty (Faqr)

Section Four: On Self-Discipline (Riyadah)

Section Five: On Self-Scrutiny (Muhasabah) and Watchfulness (Muraqabah)

Section Six: On Godfearing (Taqwa)

On Wayfaring in the Quest of Perfection, and the States of the Wayfarer

Section One: On Solitude

Section Two: On Contemplation

Section Three: On Fear and Grief

Section Four: On Hope

Section Five: On Patience

Section Six: On Thankfulness

On the States That Occur During Wayfaring Before the Attainment of the Goal

Section One: On Aspiration

Section Two: On Longing

Section Three: On Love

Section Four: On Gnosis

Section Five: On Certainty

Section Six: On Rest

Concerning the States of Those Who Attain Realization

Section One: On Tawakkul

Section Two: On Rida

Section Three: On Taslim

Section Five: On Ittihad

Section Six: On Wahdah

On Fana