Knowledge and Love: The Two Elements

It is the characteristics of Sufism that its expressions often hold the balance between love and knowledge. An emotional form of expression more easily integrates the religious attitude, which is the starting point of all Islamic spirituality. The language of love makes it possible to enunciate the most profoundly esoteric truths without coming into conflict with dogmatic theology. Finally, the intoxication of love symbolically corresponds to states of knowledge, which go beyond discursive thought. There are also expressions, which, though not arise from an attitude of love , nonetheless evoke because they reflect an inner beauty, which is the seal, set by Unity on the soul. It is from this unity that clarity and rhythm spring, whereas any kind of mental crispation and vanity of speech contradicts the simplicity and so also the transparence of the soul in relation to truth.

Some Sufi writers, such as Muhyi-d-Din Ibn ' Arabi, Ahmed Ibn al 'Arif, Suhrawardi of Aleppo, al-Junayd, and Abu-l-Hasan ash-Shadhili, give evidence of an attitude which is fundamentally intellectual. These writers look on the Divine Reality as the universal essence of all knowledge. Others, such as 'Omar Ibn al-Farid, Mansur al-Hallaj, and Jalal ad-Din Rumi, express themselves in the language of love. For them the Divine Reality is, first of all, the limitless object of desire. But this diversity of attitude has nothing to do with any divergence between different schools, as some have believed who consider that the Sufis who used an intellectual language had been affected by the influence of doctrines foreign to Islam such as neo-Platonism, and that only those who represent an emotional attitude are the mouthpiece of the true mysticism, which derives from the perspective of monotheism. In fact the diversity in question derives from diversity of vocation : different vocations quite naturally graft themselves on to different types of human genius and all find their place in true tasawwuf; the difference between an intellectual and an emotional attitude is merely the most important and the commonest of the differences that are to be found in this domain.

Hinduism, which is characterized by an extreme differentiation of spiritual methods, makes an explicit distinction between the three ways of knowledge (jnana), love (bhakti) and action (karma). This distinction is in fact to be found in every complete tradition. In Sufism the distinction of the three ways corresponds to the three main motives of aspiration towards God- knowledge or gnosis (al-ma'rifah), love (al-mahabb'ah) and fear (al-khawf). But Sufism tends rather to synthesis than to differentiation to these ways and in fact in " classical" Sufism a certain equilibrium of the intellectual and emotional attitudes is noticeable. Doubtless the reason for this lies in the general structure of Islam, which is founded on Tawhid, the doctrine of Oneness, and so gives an intellectual orientation, which is imposed, on all varieties of the spiritual life. As for love, love is born spontaneously wherever the Divine Reality is felt or contemplated.