Can’t understand Fusus al-Hikam

Question:

Salamalaykum
My incomprehension of the last couple of pages of the Fusus al-Hikam is damaging my faith, for a year now since reading it.

“The Divinity which conforms to the belief is created by he who concentrates on It, and It is his own work.”

“..But this..Name the Last..is none other than the determination of God that the adorer ‘creates’ in his ritual orientation, be it by his intellectual vision, be it by his dogmatic belief.”

“The Divinity conforming to the belief is that which can be defined, and it is That, the God, which the heart can contain. For the Absolute Divinity cannot be contained in anything..”

After reading this I keep thinking of God as something I’m imagining/’creating’ in my imagination/part of my imagination. And when I hear saints talk about God being in their hearts I get confused. If it’s possible to help, please help!

Answer:

wa `alaykum salam,

Leave it and read instead the introduction of the Risala Qushayriyya where you will see the same concept mentioned in more hadithic language, namely that “whatever you imagine Allah to be He is beyond that.” Preferably read it in the original Arabic.

Hajj Gibril Haddad


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