Divine Unity (tawhid) according to the People of Shariah, Tariqah and Haqiqah

The First Foundation: the five roots of religion, namely divine unity (tawhid), divine justice (adl), prophethood, imamate and the events of the hereafter (ma`ad) according to the three degrees of shari`ah, tariqah and haqiqah.
Know that the aim of the prophets and awliya; as we have already explained above on various occasions, is to convey each creational reality to its own specific perfection, in accordance with its capability and receptivity, and to elevate them above the darkness of their imperfection and ignorance through their own measure of striving and exertion. The prophets and the saints are aware that achievement of their aim is only feasible by a perfection of the twin forces of knowledge and action in the roots of the religion (usul), on the one hand, and in the branches (furu`), on the other.
They establish the roots to purify their inward life and to perfect their system of belief, and they establish the branches to purify their outward life and to perfect their actions. They inform the people of the roots and branches of religion by the twin blessings of the outward and inward on the command and with the permission of Allah. Allah refers to this in His Book when he says, `and made complete to you His favours outwardly and inwardly' and thereafter `And if you count Allah's favours, you will not be able to number them;' thus the slave realizes that the blessings bestowed upon him by Allah are in­numerable, both in this world and the next.
The meaning of inner purification is the purification of the impurities of manifest and hidden shirk (associating other than Allah with Allah). The polishing of the mirror of the self from the rust of disbelief and misguided actions is only possible with correct belief in the unity of Allah, in His justice, in imamate and the final day of reckoning. This is indicated in the words of the prophet when he says, `Islam has been built upon five (pil­lars)' and the words of Allah, `Surely Allah does not forgive that anything be associated with Him and forgives what is besides that to whomsoever He pleases.'
Both the words of Allah and those of the Prophet refer to the two kinds of shirk which stand diametrically opposed to the two kinds of tawhid ‑ namely the divine unity and the unity of existence, (which will be described later). The five principles are based upon these two kinds of unity and upon purification from actual or assumed impurity, including the cleansing of the body. But this purification is only possible by means of the five branches, namely prayer, fasting, zakat (payment of the purifying tax), hajj (pilgrimage) and jihad. Hence the Prophet's words: `Islam is built on cleanliness,' and the words of Allah: `Surely Allah loves those who turn much to Him and He loves those who purify themselves.'
The Commander of the Faithful has explained the meaning of purification: `Allah has imposed belief (on the Muslims) as a purification from idolatry (shirk), the prayer as a way of freeing oneself from pride, zakat (the alms‑tax) as a means of provision, fasting as a test of sincerity, hajj as an act of worship which brings one closer to the din (complete life‑pattern) of Islam, the jihad as a glorification of Islam, the enjoining of good for the benefit of the common people, the forbidding of evil as a restric­tion on the foolish, the maintaining of good family relationships as a means of increase in numbers, retribution as a means of sparing people's blood, application of the punishments as a means of maintaining respect for what is forbidden, abstention from drinking wine as a protection for the intellect, withholding from theft as a means of preserving one's integrity, abstention from adultery as a means of maintaining and protecting good lineage, abstention from homosexuality in order that man may go on multiplying, death as a martyr (shahid) to overcome the perverse and the rebellious, abstention from lying as a means of revering the truth, peace as a heaven from whatever inspires fear, imamate as a way of establishing order within the nation of Muslims and obedience as a mark of respect for the Imams.'
Thus, anyone who wishes to purify the outward and the inward in the way outlined above should establish these roots and branches and all they imply, within the framework of the three levels of shari`ah, tariqah and haqiqah. The roots and branches of the people of each of these levels differs from the next ‑ as we have already explained and shall further explain by God's will. Therefore, in the light of this, we must first define the roots and then the branches according to the way of the people of truth and reality; thereafter, we must investigate how they are both applied and define the pillars or the foundation of knowledge and action; we must then explain how they are both contained in the three above‑mentioned levels.

2) An Investigation of the Roots
An Investigation of the Roots: according to the way of the people of truth
Know that there are great differences of opinion concerning this matter: some believe that the roots of faith are two in number, that is, affirmation of Allah and His Prophet and certainty of belief with regard to the laws (and the fact that the Prophet ruled by these laws), while the people known as the Ash'arites withhold affirmation of that about which there is disagreement and ambiguity. According to others, the roots of the faith are three in number: affirmation with the heart, the manifestation of this belief on the tongue, and the actions of the limbs ‑ and this opinion is shared by some of the Shi'ahs. The Shi'ahs say that the roots of the faith are three in number: affirmation of the Oneness of Allah in His Essence and justice of His actions, affirmation of the prophethood of all the prophets, and the im­amate: of the infallible Imams.
Other Shi'ahs believe that the number of (the roots of the faith are four in number: divine unity, divine justice, prophethood and imamate. According to the Mu'tazalites, the roots of the faith are five in number: divine unity, divine justice, affirmation of prophethood, the promised reward and retribution, and the enjoining of good and the forbid­ding of evil. Some of the later Shi'ahs also believe this, although they express their belief in (slightly) different terms, namely that the roots of belief are five in number: divine unity, divine justice, prophethood, imamate and al‑ma`ad, the resurrection and return of man to his Creator to face judgment. This is in fact the correct system of belief it is what I prefer and what is preferred by most of the scholars of the people of Allah.
The one who possesses a correct system of belief and perfect faith must also believe in the unity of Allah so that he may free himself from associating others (or other things) with Allah. Moreover, as well as belief in His unity, he must also believe that He is just and Wise, that He does not commit any hateful action and that He is not negligent in carrying out what is incumbent upon Him; by this belief he frees himself from fatalism and the attributing of good and bad actions to Allah, for any such notion would imply oppression of the slaves on the part of Allah ‑ may He be exalted above such a notion. He Himself has rejected this when He says, `And your Lord is not in the least unjust to His servants.' As these two beliefs are dependent upon the existence of the Prophet and the manifestation of his miracle (namely the Qur'an, in order that false belief may be distinguished from correct belief), it is also necessary to believe in the prophet and his prophecy.
The claim of certain people that knowledge of the roots need not be based upon the evidence of the Qur'an and the body of traditions, but rather that it is enough to acquire knowledge of them by means of the intellect, is not true: if the intellect were sufficient in acquiring knowledge of Islam and its roots, every man of sane mind would acquire correct belief and this is not the case. We should not, however, despise the Brahmins and the philosophers who believe only in the validity of the intellect and so do not take into consideration what has been transmitted by narration; (from revelation).
The way of the dutiful Muslim is to know the roots by means of his intellectual faculty, after having established the truth of these roots from the (sayings of the) infallible Prophet or Imam. Moreover, it is not necessary that in doing so he incline towards the way of the Isma'ilis or any other group since this is the true and valid method, the way of the infallible Imams and the early scholars (although not the later scholars). On his death a prophet of necessity leaves his religion and shari`ah in the hands of a perfected and infallible Imam who preserves the shari`ah and establishes its pillars either by coercion, by giving guidance or by instruction. These are referred to as `those in authority' ‑ in Allah's words: `Obey Allah and obey the Apostle and those in authority from among you.'
It is also necessary to believe in the Imam, just as the prophet is a source of grace for the dutiful Muslim, so the Imam is also a source of grace. Moreover, just as the sending of the messenger and prophet is incumbent upon Allah, so too is the appointment and establishment of the Imam incumbent upon Him in the sense that if He did not appoint someone it would imply deficiency on His part. These two roots are dependent upon Allah, that is, His appointment of the Prophet and the Imam; comprehension of these two roots is by reference to the Qur'an and the narrated traditions ‑ and not by means of the intellect, as we have explained above.
There are numerous works on this subject, but it is not approp­riate that we discuss the matter any further in this study. These works are to be found in particular in the sphere of theological debate (`ilm al‑kalam) about the nature of life after death in the section dealing with the roots of religion (usul al‑din). The whole of this topic is nothing but an expression of the prophetic remin­der to man of the Day of Return, of guidance for man so as to know how to prepare for the day of standing (before Allah) and of news of the promised reward and punishment.
Thus it is necessary for him also to believe in the Day of Return and all that it implies of reward and punishment, which may also be expressed as attainment of perfection, on the one hand, or defi­ciency, on the other; he must believe in this so that he does not neglect any part of the roots or principles (mentioned above) or the branches (to be explained later). The roots are confined to these five and the dutiful Muslim has no need of any more than these. Moreover it is not permissible that he base his worship on less than these, and Allah is more Knowing and more Wise ‑He it is Who says the truth and He it is Who guides to the correct path.
We shall now begin to comment upon each of these roots within the parameters of the three levels, namely shari`ah, tariqah and haqiqah.
The science of divine unity, tawhid, despite its various divisions and types, may be contained within two general divisions: firstly, the tawhid of the prophets and secondly, the tawhid of the saints or friends of Allah. As for the tawhid of the prophets, it is a divine tawhid which is contained in the realm of common or general knowledge; it is therefore the tawhid which is concerned with the calling of men to the worship of an Absolute God and away from worship of a limited and dependent god; it is the tawhid of calling man to the affirmation of One God and the rejection of many gods.
The first kind of tawhid is referred to in Allah's words: `Say O followers of the Book! Come to an equitable proposition bet­ween us and you, that we shall not serve any but Allah and (that) we shall not associate aught with Him, and (that) some of us shall not take others for lords besides Allah' and also His words: `What! Makes he the gods a single god? A strange thing is this to be sure! The second kind of tawhid is expressed in His words: `Surely your Lord is One God' and `So know that there is no god but Allah'; moreover, the phrase la ilaha illa'llah ‑ there is no god but Allah ‑ has the same meaning, that is, it is a rejection of many gods and an affirmation of One God. The words of the Prophet also testify to this: `I have been commanded to fight the people until they say `There is no god but Allah'; indeed these words express the perennial mission to mankind of the prophets and messengers from Adam to Muhammad.
As for the tawhid of the saints (awliya'), it is a tawhid of His existence and of the inward: it is a tawhid of the elite and calls man to witness Absolute (Existence which belongs to Allah) rather than to witness limited or dependent existences. In other words, it calls to the affirmation of the One Existent, the True, the Necessary of Existence ‑ by His Essence ‑ and to the negation of multiple existences which are only possible by His Essence and are at the same time, by their nature, doomed to non‑existence.
This is referred to by Allah's words: `Everything is perishable but He; His is the judgment and to Him you shall be brought back' and also by His words: `Everyone must pass away. And there will endure for ever the Person of your Lord, the Lord of glory and honour.' The words of all the gnostics also reflect the same truth: `There is nothing in existence but Allah, His Names, His Attributes and His Actions. Thus everything is Him, by Him, from Him and to Him' ‑ such is the call of the Saints and the Imams from Seth to the Mahdi.
There are no other kinds of tawhid besides these two because idolatry or polytheism (shirk), which stands in opposition to it, is also confined to two kinds: that is, manifest and hidden shirk. A person may either outwardly or inwardly associate others with Allah: if he or she does so outwardly, as in the worship of idols, cult‑objects, stones, earth, the sun or the moon then it is manifest shirk, since it is so conspicuous to the people of the world.
This is referred to by Allah when He says, `And they have taken besides Him gods, who do not create anything, for they them­selves are created and they do not in themselves cause any harm or profit, and they control not death, nor life, nor raising (the dead).' This shirk is the antithesis of divine tawhid. If, however, he or she inwardly bears witness to the existence of other then ­Him and outwardly affirms this ‑ witnessing contingent exis­tences such as the intellect, the self (or soul), the planets and heavenly bodies, the elements, the various mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms ‑ then it is called hidden shirk because of its inconspicuousness; it is referred to by Allah when he says, `O my two mates of the prison! Are sundry lords better or Allah the One, the Supreme? You do not serve besides Him but names which you have named, you and your fathers' Allah has not sent down any authority for them; judgment is only Allah's. He has commanded that you shall not serve aught but Him; this is the right religion but most people know it not.' This shirk is the antithesis of the tawhid of existence: there is no other shirk besides these two.
Know that the appearance of all the prophets and messengers is only for the purpose of calling mankind to the divine tawhid and freeing him from manifest shirk. The appearance of all the Saints and Imams is only for the purpose of calling man to a tawhid of existence and of ridding him of hidden shirk. All those who set out for the Absolute God, leaving behind the dependent or finite gods all those who turn from worship of the creation to worship of the Creator and who utter the words of divine tawhid, `There is no god but Allah' free themselves from manifest shirk, become, according to the shari`ah, Muslims, who believe and affirm the Oneness of Allah. Moreover, both their outward and their inward aspects become purified of the impurity of manifest shirk. This is referred to in the words of Allah when He says, `The idolaters are nothing but unclean.' If he does not do so then he is a mushrik ‑ guilty of shirk ‑ an unbeliever and im­pure both outwardly and inwardly.
All those who set out in the direction of the Absolute Existent leaving behind the dependent and finite existence, all those who turn from witnessing of the contingency of existence to a witnes­sing of the Necessary of Existence and who utter the formula of the tawhid of existence, namely that there is nothing in exis­tence but Allah, rid themselves of hidden shirk and truly affirm the Oneness of Allah; they become gnostics and men of spiritual realization. Moreover, both their inward and outward aspects become purified of the impurity of hidden shirk. This is in accor­dance with the words of Allah, `And most of them do not believe in Allah without associating others with Him.' If a person does not do this, then he is inwardly impure. Some scholars, however, would say that such a person is both outwardly and inwardly impure and their opinion is supported by the words of Allah: `Surely Allah does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him and forgives what is besides that to whomever He pleases.' This judgment applies to man in general and not to a particular group: thus anyone who is a mushrik or idolater, irrespective of whether he is guilty of manifest or hidden shirk, will not be forgiven. But this is an extremely difficult matter to come to terms with for only very rarely will someone be able to free himself of both types of idolatry.
Allah Himself says, `And very few of My servants are grateful' and `And very few are they.' It is for this reason that a gnostic has said: `Freeing oneself from manifest shirk is easier that freeing oneself from hidden shirk. Similarly, arrival at divine tawhid is easier than arrival at the tawhid of existence. This is because the one who commits hidden shirk reckons himself to be among those who affirm the Oneness of Allah ‑ and he reckons this because of his affirma­tion of divine tawhid. At the same time, however, he overlooks the hidden shirk which is veiling him from Allah. The Prophet alludes to this when he says, `The creatures of shirk from amongst my people are more hidden than the black creatures of the ant world crawling over a hard rock on a dark night.'
It is clear that hidden shirk is particular to the mu'minun (the believers) and the muslimun (those who have submitted to the will of God); it cannot be ascribed to the hypocrites and the unbelievers. Hence the words of Allah `And most of them do not believe in Allah without associating others (with Him)'. Moreover, the Prophet must have intended to ascribe this kind of shirk to his people because manifest shirk cannot co‑exist with faith. The Qur'an refers to hidden shirk as `low desire' when Allah says, `Have you then considered him who takes his low desire for his god and Allah has made him err having knowledge.' Allah thus causes him to go astray from the path of knowledge since a person becomes an unbeliever, an idolater and a hypocrite by way of his low desire; it has been said, `If it were not for "low desire", idols would never have been worshipped.'
It has also been said; `No god, other than Allah, has ever been worshipped that is greater than one's base desire.' This is because the unbe­liever tends to the religion of his fathers and forefathers by way of his low desire ‑ becoming thereby one of the idolaters. They are referred to by Allah when He says, `They say: "We found our fathers on a course and surely we are guided by their footsteps." '
We have presented the above principles by way of a brief introduction; we shall now begin a description of each of the different kinds of tawhid particular to each of the three groups.

i) According to the people of shari`ah
This tawhid is divine tawhid, that is, the rejection of many gods and the affirmation of one God (or to express it in other terms the rejection of finite gods and the affirmation of the One Absolute God). This kind of tawhid may be divided into two kinds: one kind which is connected to those of taqlid (imitation of others more learned than they in matters of religion) from amongst the common or ignorant people, and a second kind which is con­nected to those of perception and intellectual reasoning from amongst the elite and the scholars.
As for the first group, their way is to believe that God is One, that He has no associate to His divinity and no rival or equal in existence, that there is nothing like Him and that He is the One Who hears and the One Who sees. They hold strongly to their belief, aware of Allah's words: `If there had been in them any gods except Allah, they would both have certainly been in a state of disorder' and His words: `Say He, Allah is One. Allah is He on Whom all depend. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And none is like Him.' They also believe that He is the Living, the Knower, the All‑Powerful, the One Who hears, sees and wills, the Possessor of speech and that `not the weight of an atom escapes His knowledge in the heavens or in the earth and He is Cognizant of all things.'
They also believe that any gods other than Him are mere idols (`They do not in themselves cause any harm or profit and they control not death nor life') and that the worshippers of these idols are unbelievers, mushrikun, and cursed wherever they be found. They believe too that it is obligatory to stay well clear of any association with such persons both in this world and the next ‑ as Allah Himself has commanded with His words: `O you who believe! Do not take your fathers and your brothers for guardians if they love unbelief more than belief; and whoever of you takes them for a guardian, these it is that are the unjust' and by His words: `You shall not find a people who believe in Allah and the latter day befriending those who act in opposition to Allah and His Apostle, even though they were their (own) fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kinsfolk.' People who have such a system of belief live within the protection of Islam in this world, they are safe from them­selves, secure in their wealth and in their honour; in the next world their return will be to the generosity and mercy of Allah ‑truly Allah is the Possessor of vast bounty.
The perfect shaykh Abu Isma'il al‑Harawi has indicated this in his book called Manazil al‑Sa'irin: `There are three aspects of tawhid, the first being the tawhid of the common people: this tawhid is made valid by the profession of faith (shahadah); the second kind is the tawhid of the elite which is established by means of the spiritual realities; the third kind is the tawhid which has its source in pre‑creational reality and is the tawhid of the elite of the elite.'
As for the tawhid of imitation (taqlid), it is to bear witness that there is no god but Allah, that He is One and has no associate, that He is One and `He upon whom all depend. He begets not, nor is He begotten and none is like Him.' This is the manifest tawhid which rejects the greater shirk; by it is established the qiblah (the direction of Makkah faced while praying) and the inviolability of life and property; by it lives and property are spared and by it the House of Peace is made distinct from the House of Disbelief; by it the worship of ordinary Muslims is made valid ‑ even if their action and belief is not based on proofs and reasoning.
As for the tawhid of reasoning, it is to establish the Oneness of God by intellectual proofs, showing that to admit of the existence of more than one god is logically inadmissible. If there were two independent gods in existence, then each would be distinct from the other by their essence, while sharing in each other's attributes: each would therefore be compounded of one part which separates and discriminates (from the other) and one part which joins and shares (with the other part). Any compound, however, is a contingency because it is in need of its own part and the part of something else; and if this is the case then it would mean that the Necessary of Existence was a contingent being and this is false, for of necessity He is the One God.
The people of this group are of the station of the tawhid of proofs and scholarly research and not of the station of unity through actual experience. It would be true to say that they are aware of the truth by certain of its aspects only; they will be of the people who are saved (from the Fird) and who will enter the exterior Garden, as promised (to the believers) on the Day of Resurrec­tion. This tawhid is called the tawhid of action because they de­monstrate the (existence of the) Actor by the action and the Creator by the creation. They have no greater aim or destination but this, for such are the limits of their knowledge: `They know the appearances of this world's life, but of the hereafter they are absolutely heedless.'

ii) According to the people of tariqah
After arrival at this tawhid, the people of this group bear witness with the eye of inner vision that God is One, that there is no other than Him in existence and that there is no other Actor but Him. This is referred to in their words, `There is no Actor but Allah' and `There is no Actor other than Him in existence.' The people of this group cease to look to the causes and the chain of events arising from such causes; they rely on Him with a true reliance; they hand over their affair to Him entirely; they are pleased with what comes to them from Him and they are content with it. Hence Allah says, `Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Allah.'
In this way they attain to the stations of reliance, of submission, of contentment and the like. Allah refers to this when He says: `And whoever trusts in Allah, He is sufficient for him; surely Allah attains His purpose; Allah indeed has appointed a measure for everything.' In this way they arrive at the rank of the tawhid of attribute after the tawhid of action; by it they merit the station of the garden of attributes and the station of contentment ‑ which is the highest station in the tawhid of attributes. Allah Himself says, `And the best of all is Allah's goodly pleasure' and the Prophet refers to this with the words, `Contentment is the greatest of Allah's doors.' Shaykh Abu Isma'il al‑Harawi has also referred to this, saying: `As for the second kind of tawhid ‑ namely that which is established by truths and realities ‑ it is the tawhid of the elite; it is the tawhid of the abandonment of manifest causes, rising above intel­lectual arguments.
This means that there is no bearing of witness based on rational proof, there is no seeking of causes for one's reliance on Allah and no seeking of means in the attainment of one's salvation. Thus the people of this group witness the supre­macy of the Real in His Power and Knowledge; they bear witness to His placing of all things in their rightful place, His connection to these things by their longing for Him, and His invisibility with respect to them by virtue of their form and structure. This tawhid lends to the inner knowledge of causes and the abandon­ment of the phenomenal world.
The difference between this kind of tawhid and that of the people of shari`ah is that that of the latter is a tawhid of factual knowledge belonging to the common people and the former is the tawhid of actual experience belonging to the elite. The first allows one to rid oneself of manifest shirk and the second of hid­den shirk ‑ which is the greater and more difficult of the two. As for the vast difference between this tawhid and the tawhid of the elite from amongst the people of Allah, it is that the tawhid particular to the people of tariqah is based on reliance, submission and contentment, together with the attainment of the correspond­ing stations, the taking on of the character of Allah and the adopting of His qualities. This way is connected to the tawhid of attributes and this way implies a Giver of attributes, an object which may be described as possessing those attributes and the attributes themselves. Yet this notion in turn denotes multiplic­ity, or rather it is multiplicity itself. In the same manner the multiplicity may be seen in the notion of the Relied upon and the one who relies, likewise in the One who is content with and the contented. It is clear that between multiplicity and tawhid there is a great distance.
The tawhid of the elite of the elite is based on total annihilation, complete extinction and a passing beyond all stations, levels and all manifestations of the contingent or phenomenal world, even beyond existence itself and all that it implies. This is referred to by their words: `Tawhid is the abandonment of anything which is extraneous (to His sole existence).' What a difference then between this kind of tawhid and that! What a difference between the one who continues by himself and the one who is annihilated in his Lord: `That is Allah's grace; `He grants it to Whom He pleases and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace.'
In His noble Book Allah also speaks about `the knowledge of certainty', `the source of certainty' and `the truth of certainty', thus indicating thereby these three kinds of tawhid. And they are indicated by the terms `submission', `faith' and `certainty' or the terms `companions of the left', `companions of the right' and `those who strive (by their good deeds) for His proximity'. The Prophet has also referred to the people of these different levels when he says, `This world is forbidden to the people of the next and the next world is forbidden to the people of this and they are both forbidden the people of Allah.'
This means that the station of taqlid has placed the people of the first group among the people of this world: they do not go beyond it because of the greed with which they seek after this world and because of their miserliness and cupidity with respect to the material comforts of this world. Moreover, it is well known that `love of this world is the source of all wrong actions.' Thus it is correct to associate the people of this group with this world ‑ for this is the reality of their situation. Allah refers to them saying, `They know the appearances of this world's life, but of the hereafter they are absolutely heedless.'
The station of realization, the spiritual rank and the tawhid of experience ‑ a degree superior to that of mere factual know­ledge ‑ places the people of the second group amongst the people of the next world: they have gone beyond outward appear­ances, witnessing the object of their desire ‑ as it actually is ‑by the eye of inward vision. This is referred to by Allah Who says: `Say: this is My way: I call to Allah, I and those who follow Me being certain.'
As for the people of the third group, their station of annihila­tion, their rank of the inward within the inward, their member­ship of the elite of the elite and their tawhid of the essence places them among the people of Allah and His chosen ones. This is because they have gone beyond the outward and the inward; by this I mean the material and angelic worlds, the world of the unseen and that of witnessing, and they have arrived at the goal by the Essence of all things ‑ which is the Real, the Truth. They witness Him by His light, in a manner befitting (His majesty), and, like the gnostic, they say, `Praise to the One, whom no one reaches except by Him.' Likewise they would say, like the Prophet, `I saw my Lord by my Lord' and `I know my Lord by my Lord.' As Salman was of this station, the Prophet said of him, `Surely the Garden yearns more strongly for Salman than Salman for the Garden;' this is because the Garden is of the next world and Salman is of the people of Allah, who are many ranks above the people of the Garden. Thus it is not surprising that he does not yearn after that which is lower than him, for to descend from something higher to something lower indicates imperfection. This is referred to by the Prophet when he says, `The good actions of the righteous are the wrong actions of the intimate.'

iii) According to the people of haqiqah
The arrival of the people of Allah at the station of the two kinds of tawhid mentioned above means that they do not witness other ­than Allah in existence and that in reality they know no other but Him: this is because His existence is true and essential and the existence of other than Him is contingent, phenomenal and exposed to destruction at any moment. Allah refers to this in His words: `Everything is perishable but He; His is the judgment and to Him shall you be brought back,' and His words: `Every­thing on it must pass away. And there will endure forever the Person of your Lord, the Lord of glory and Honour.'
This destruc­tion and disappearance is not dependent upon a particular time or period ‑ as some of those who are veiled from these realities have claimed ‑ rather it has always been happening from be­fore endless‑time and will continue to happen to eternity in exactly the same manner ‑ just as the waves disappear back into the sea and the drops of rain dissolve into the ocean despite our intellectual conception of them as distinct entities since, in reality, the waves and droplets have absolutely no separate exis­tence; the true existence is only that of the sea and the waves are in a state of self‑destruction and disappearance. Such a notion is entirely rational and may be understood by every sane person, indeed, it is also a phenomenon that may be perceived by the senses of everyone. The following lines of verse also express this idea: The sea is as the sea of old; truly the action of the waves and the rivers Does not veil you from their real form, for the very forms therein are veils.
Thus, just as the one who realizes that in reality there is no existence but that of the sea (the waves and raindrops being non‑existent and time‑bound and thus doomed to extinction and disappearance), will say that there is nothing in reality nor in outward manifestations but the sea, so he who witnesses the Real, the creation and the creational manifestations for what they actually are, he who realizes that the creation and all phenomena are in fact non‑existent (since at any moment they are doomed to destruction and disappearance), is also permitted to say that, in reality, there is no existence save that of the Real. This is the meaning of their words, `The one who continues (in Allah) continues forever and the one of annihilation is still in a state of annihilation.' Allah refers to this when He says, `Yet are they in doubt with regard to a new creation.'
According to the gnostic, contingent existence is maintained by the Spirit of the Merciful, by the input from real existence at every moment (into the manifest world of disappearing forms) and by a corresponding moment by moment acceptance of this existence (on the part of the existences of this world).
The reality of this contingent existence is difficult to com­prehend for it is of an extremely subtle nature. Allah refers to this when He says, `And you see the mountains, you think them to be solid, and they shall pass away as the passing away of the cloud.' Contingent existence may be understood from the way in which fruits grow bigger at every moment although the senses are not able to perceive this growth (likewise the imperceptible coming into being of the fruit, its existence prior to ripeness and its eventual disappearance from the tree).
There is a similar likeness in the way water moves to form waves: at every moment they are also in a state of disappearance; moreover, others like them are simultaneously coming into being by the power of Allah and the perfection of His handiwork. Every time contingent exis­tence is in need of continuing its outward existence the Real extends existence to it from the Spirit of Mercy such that its existence outweighs its non‑existence; moreover, this existence is in accordance with its own essence and not with that of its causer or bringer into being. This bestowal of existence manifests to sensory perception in the disappearance one form, its subsequent transformation by nourishment and food into another, and by the faculty of breathing. As for the mineral world, the celestial spheres and the domain of the spirits, the intellect judges them to be of continued unbroken life by the predominance of the existence lent to them. Man's inner vision, however, judges every contingent existence to be a new creation at every moment. Thus, in the vision of the gnostic who witnesses the Real or existence as it actually is, there exists nothing but the Real Himself.
This vision of the Real is sometimes expressed as existence and sometimes as essence. This notion is lent support by the consensus of the gnostics who say, `There is nothing in existence but Allah, His Names, His Attributes and His Actions; every­thing is Him, by Him, from Him and to Him.' On investigation we realize that this same meaning is expressed in the words of Allah, `He is the First and the Last and. the Ascendant (over all) and the Knower of hidden things, and He is Cognizant of all things' and His words, `Is it not sufficient as regards your Lord that He is a witness over all things? Now surely they are in doubt as to the meeting of their Lord, now surely He encom­passes all things.' In other words, the person or thing which encompasses is in no way separate from that which is encompas­sed and that which is encompassed is not separate from the encompasser. Allah emphasizes this when He says, `Any way you turn there is the face of Allah;' by consensus the `face' referred to here is the essence and thus we may read: `Anywhere you turn in the contingent phenomenal world, there is His essence and His existence,' This is evident since the encompasser only encompasses by the presence of the thing encompassed ‑ `And Allah encompasses all things.'
The tawhid of action means the removal from one's vision of any actor or action, such that one arrives at the One True Actor, the Originator of all actions. In this way one establishes the intellect in the unity of action. The tawhid of attribute is an expression of the removal of every attribute and object possessed of attributes from one's vision until one arrives at the One True Possessor of attributes ‑ the Originator of all attributes and objects possessed of attributes. In this way one establishes one's inner vision in the unity of attribute. As for the tawhid of essence, it is an expression for the removal of any essence or existence from one's sight, such that one arrives at the One Absolute Existence, the Pure and Immaculate Essence, that is the Bringer into existence of all existences and the source of all essences. In this way one establishes one's spiritual vision in the unity of existence and essence ‑ becoming thereby a perfected gnostic, a man of realization and arrival, at the station of abode and firmness, above which there is no station. This station is referred to in their words, `There is no other village after Abadan.'
The Prophet has referred to these three kinds of tawhid in his supplication, which is well known to the elite and the common people: `O Allah I seek refuge from Your punishment by Your mercy, I seek refuge from Your wrath by Your contentment and I seek refuge from You by You.' The first part of the supplication refers to the tawhid of action, the second to the tawhid of attribute and the third to the tawhid of essence. The people of this science have also divided tawhid into three types, calling the person of the first `the possessor of intellect', the person of the second `the possessor of sight' and the third `the possessor of intellect and; sight.' This is because the third gathers and comprises the other two and takes precedence over them.
We shall finish this study by mentioning another of the gnostic sayings, namely: `The possessor of intellect is he who sees creation in a manifest way and the Truth in an inward way, the Truth being for him a mirror of creation: by the veiling of the mirror with the manifest pictures it contains, the Absolute is veiled by limited and dependent creation. The possessor of sight is the one who sees the Truth in a manifest way and the creation in an inward way. Thus for him creation is the mirror of the Truth: by the appearance of the Truth in creation and the disappearance of the creation in the Truth, the mirror disappears by means of the picture. The possessor of intellect and sight is the person who sees the Truth in creation and the creation in the Truth. He is veiled from neither of them by the other, rather from one aspect he actually sees the existence of the Inventor of existence in a real way and from another aspect he sees the creation; he is not veiled by multiplicity from witnessing the aspect of the Inventor of existence, the One, and is not disturbed from witnes­sing, in the multiplicity of the creational manifestations, the Oneness of the Essence which emanates from them. The perfect shaykh Muhyi al‑Din ibn 'Arabi says in the following verse: Thus in creation is truth itself, if you possess sight, And in the truth is creation itself, if you possess intellect.
If you possess both sight and intellect, then you see Nothing therein but One thing, albeit in different forms.
Since, as we have already indicated, there is no station above this noble station Shaykh ibn 'Arabi has also said in his Fusus; `If you have tasted of this, you have tasted the goal above which there is no other goal for those of creation. Thus do not hunger or tire yourself out in trying to rise higher than this level, for there is absolutely nothing above it: there is only pure non‑exis­tence after it ‑ may Allah bestow upon us and you arrival at this station, by (the blessing of) Muhammad and his noble fam­ily.' We shall now conclude our description of the three kinds of tawhid; and Allah is more Knowing and more Wise; He it is Who says the truth and guides to the correct path.