School #47

Sufism / Wahdat al-Wujud

Ibn Arabi, Rumi, Al-Qunawi

Wahdat al-Wujud (Unity of Being) holds that only God (al-Haqq) truly exists. Creation possesses borrowed, derivative existence — real but not self-sustaining. The world is God's perpetual self-disclosure (tajalli), and the mystic's journey is the recognition that all apparent multiplicity is a theophany of the One.

I. Time

Extent Infinite
Ontological Status Emergent
Grain Continuous
Freedom Deterministic
Traversability Linear
Dimensionality One
Direction Uni-directional

Time is emergent and infinite — it is a created veil over the eternal, timeless reality of God (al-Haqq). In mystical experience (fana), the Sufi dissolves temporal boundaries and tastes the eternal present of divine unity. Time is continuous and cyclical in its cosmic aspect, reflecting the perpetual divine self-disclosure (tajalli) through which God continuously creates and recreates the world at each instant. It is non-directional because in unity with God, past and future lose their distinction.

II. Space

Extent Finite
Ontological Status Emergent
Curvature Undefined
Dimensionality Three
Locality Non-local

Space is emergent and infinite — it is the arena of God's self-manifestation (tajalli), not an independently existing container. In the experience of wahdat al-wujud (unity of being), spatial distinctions dissolve: "Wherever you turn, there is the Face of God." Space is non-local because God's presence pervades all locations equally, and curved in the sense that all spatial paths ultimately lead back to the divine center.

III. Matter

Extent Finite
Ontological Status Emergent
Conservation Non-conserved
Dimensionality Three
Locality Non-local

Matter is emergent and finite — it is one of the outward forms through which God's infinite reality manifests. Ibn Arabi's doctrine of perpetual creation (khalq jadid) holds that matter is continuously recreated by God at every instant. Matter is non-conserved in the deepest sense: nothing persists independently; only God endures. It is non-local because every material form is a theophany revealing the same divine reality.

IV. Observer

Time Instance Multiple
Space Instance Multiple
Extent of Knowledge Total
Retainment of Knowledge Total
Physicality Both
Agency Passive
Number Singular
Time Instance: Multiple — the Perfect Human (al-Insan al-Kamil) participates in multiple modes of temporal awareness: the eternal now of divine presence (waqt) and the successive moments of created time; through fana (annihilation of self) the mystic accesses the timeless divine perspective
Space Instance: Multiple — God as the true Observer is omnipresent; the realized mystic, through union (ittihad), participates in this divine omnipresence, no longer confined to a single spatial locus
Extent of Knowledge: Total — God possesses total knowledge of all things; the mystic who achieves fana and baqa (subsistence in God) shares in this divine knowledge to the extent that the self is annihilated in the Real
Retainment of Knowledge: Total — divine knowledge is eternally retained; the 'ilm (knowledge) of God is infinite and unchanging, and the mystic who participates in it retains what is disclosed
Physicality: Both — the human observer begins as embodied, but through mystical ascent the distinction between bodily and spiritual existence dissolves; the Perfect Human is both outwardly embodied and inwardly identified with the divine
Agency: Passive — the creature has no independent agency; all action is ultimately God's action through the creature; the mystic's realization is the recognition that "there is no agent but God."
Consciousness: Present — consciousness is the divine light (nur) manifesting through creation; it is always present, and in the mystic's awakening it is recognized as God's own self-awareness
Number: Singular — ultimately there is only one Observer: God; all apparent multiplicity of observers is the One seeing itself through countless theophanies

V. Energy

Extent Finite
Ontological Status Emergent
Conservation Non-conserved
Dispersibility Irreversible

Finite and emergent — energy, like all created phenomena, is a tajalli (self-disclosure) of God with no independent subsistence; it exists only because God continually wills it into being. Conservation: Non-conserved — God is free to create, sustain, or annihilate energy at each moment; what appears as conservation is divine habit (sunna), not ontological necessity. Dispersibility: Irreversible — the flow from divine unity into manifest multiplicity moves in one direction; the mystic's return to God reverses the spiritual journey but not the physical dispersal of energy.

VI. Information

Ontological Status Emergent
Conservation Conserved
Granularity Continuous

All information is a manifestation of divine knowledge — God is the ultimate informational ground. The multiplicity of worldly information is a surface expression of God's infinite, unified knowledge. Information is emergent from the divine self-disclosure. It is conserved because God's knowledge is perfect and eternal. It is continuous because the divine knowledge is an undivided ocean.

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