2.2.8 The Continuous Moment, the Future and
the Past
In the Sufi terminology, the
“moment” means the state “you are always described by, so you are always
under the rule of the moment” [II.538.32]. Ibn al-Arabi notes that the
“moment” exists (now) between two non-existent things (the past and the
future; not as time but as things that have passed or are yet to come [II.538.35],
so it the state in the time being, without any relation to the past or to
the future.
In fact, the current moment of
time is our portion of the single Day; so the single Day with regard to the
whole world is the global reality encompassing all of manifest existence,
including all on earth, at any instant. But with regard to each entity in
the World, it is a moment, since the time of each entity in the World is its
own moment.
However, the issue of whether
the moment has a duration or not is extremely delicate. If we choose to say
it has not, then how can the extent of the entire perceived day be composed
of zero-length moments? We must keep in mind that the number of entities in
the World (N), though very big, is finite. Therefore the single Day equals N
multiplied by the duration of the moment. But if we choose to assert the
actual duration of the “moment” , it would lead to questions already
encountered in earlier philosophers” paradoxes about time, such as “What
exactly happens during the moment?” and “Does the event that takes a moment
pop up at once or gradually?” For if at once, then “Why does it take a
duration?” and if gradually, then “What are the sub-events, and how many are
they?”
The future and the past do not
exist; the real time is only the present, or the current state. On the hand,
the Age is an endless circle that does not have a beginning nor an end for
itself; it is all an “eternally ongoing present” which is called the
continuous now or the continuous existence [II.69.13, IV.362.32].
The science of Time is a noble science, that reveals the secret of Eternity. Only the Elites of Sages may ever come to know this secret. It is called the First Age, or the Age of ages, from which time is emerging.
