10.1. The Real:
He is the Being of 'zero dimension' (0-D): i.e., of no dimensions, which means He is independent of space and time. That is why Ibn Arabi sometimes symbolically indicates God as a dot or a point [III.275], for example as the centre of the circle of creation as we have seen in the cosmogonic diagram in Figure V.1; also, the dot that is used in many characters of the Arabic alphabet, especially the letters ba ( ) and nun ( ). However, 'the Real' here may refer to Allah Himself or also to the Greatest Element who is the Image of Real, or the 'real through whom creation takes place' (al-haqq al-makhluq bihi), and he is the true 'Image of God', as we have discussed in the two preceding chapters. So when we speak about the Real with regard to the creation and spatial dimensions, we usually mean the Greatest Element rather than Allah, since Allah Himself, His Essence, is beyond all descriptions including dimensions.