III.4 Light and the Spiritual World
The spirit is usually thought of as a supernatural or
non-physical entity, such as a ghost, fairy, or angel. Although they are
treated as two different entities in most religions, the concepts of spirit and
soul overlap to some extent, and they are often confused, but both of them have
a distinguishing ontological priority over the body, and both are believed to
survive after passing away. Spirit is also often used to refer to the
consciousness or personality. The spirit of a living body is ubiquitous non-quantifiable
substance, whereas the soul is the collective character developed by persons as
they grow.
The physical world, in which we are now consciously living,
includes all physical forms such as the stars, planets, sun, moon, earth,
plants and animals, as well as other material forms such as the air we breathe
and water we drink. It also includes our physical bodies, with the eyes, nose,
mouth, brain, and other organs. Nevertheless, we naturally know of the
existence of the spiritual world that manifests itself in many ways all around
us, but on a different plane of being that seems to be made of a different kind
of substance or energy that we cannot directly detect, despite the fact that
some ordinary people have been reported to have seen spirits or ghosts, maybe
through their inner spiritual eyes. The spiritual world, according to many
religions, is the realm inhabited by invisible creatures that could be good or
evil. This includes angels and jinn, as well as the souls of people who passed
away even from the ancient ages.
However, what is most important is that spirits are
responsible for animating the physical bodies of humans as well as animals,
though Ibn al-Arabi affirms that all animate and inanimate creatures do have
corresponding spirits suitable to their composition and level of life or
internal motion. These various spiritual manifestations do not have the same
universal nature or composition. Although he often calls them spirits, Ibn
al-Arabi differentiates very clearly between angels and jinn, since the latter
are made of fire while angels are made of light. Therefore, he often denotes
jinn as fiery spirits while the angels are described as luminous.
Moreover, although they are not normally seen on the
physical level, spirits are in constant interaction and communication with the
physical and psychical worlds, and they can consciously communicate with people
and other material and psychological forms, both while they are sleeping or
sometimes in the state of being awake. For example, at the beginning of the
Meccan Revelations Ibn al-Arabi explains how he met the passing spirit from
whom he took all the wisdom that he delivered in this book, considered to be
the best encyclopedic description of Islamic mysticism, contained in
five-hundred and sixty chapters that are spanned over more than ten thousands
pages. He also explained in other chapters how he met the spirits of some
famous scholars who died many centuries before. In one occasion he also
describes talking to a personified spirit who lived more than forty thousand
years ago [Futuhat, III.549.10].
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.
