Kūn-The Life-Bestowing Word

Language conference Dec 2003
SSviri: Kun
KUN the Existence-Bestowing Word in Islamic Mysticism:

A Survey of Texts on the Creative Power of Language*
The Poetics of Grammar and the Metaphysics of Language Conference,
Jerusalem, December 2003
Sara Sviri
I Introduction
According to the Qurn, the divine power to create by language manifests through the
command Kun! (Be!). God says: "Our command to a thing when We will it, is to say to it
kun and it is".1 Several verses attest to this mode of creation.2 That a prophet may also be
endowed, with God's permission, with the miraculous power to bestow life is seen in
Qurnic reports concerning Abraham and Jesus: both were able, the one through calling
out (2:260) and the other through breathing (3:49, 5:110), to bring dead and inanimate birds
into life.3 Ever since the "science of the friends of God" (ilm al-awliy) was laid down by
al-akm al-Tirmidh in the ninth century, Islamic mystics have associated empowered
language with the holy man (al-wal, pl. awliy).4 The creative power by kun is an aspect
of this "science." A previous paper concerned with mystical linguistics alluded only briefly
to the possibility that man, too, may be endowed with the creative power of kun.5 I wish to
devote this presentation to a more detailed discussion of speculations and dicta, circulating
mainly in mystical literature, that arise from the claim that kun (or an equally empowered
command), whether spoken by God or by an extraordinary human being, possesses the
power to bestow life and bring forth existence.6
*This paper is a sequel to my previous "Words of Power and the Power of Words: Mystical
Linguistics in the Works of al-akm al-Tirmidh," Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
27 (2002), pp. 204-244. My thanks go to Prof. Meir Bar-Asher for reading a draft of this
paper and for making very useful comments.
1
" " .
2
See 2:117, 3:47, 3:59, 6:73, 16:40, 19:35, 36:82, 40:68 translation of Qur. verses by SS.
3
For the Qurnic foundation of the discourse on miracles, see D. Gril, "Les fondements
scripturaires du miracles en islam," in Miracle et Karma, 2000, pp. 237-249; for early
discussions on prophetic and saintly miracles, see B. Radtke, "Al-akm al-Tirmidh on
Miracles," in Miracle et Karma, 2000, pp. 286-299.
4
Sviri, "Words of Power," especially pp. 206ff.
5
Sviri, ibid, p. 216, notes 38-40.
6
In the context of this presentation I have only sporadically referred to Shite literature; it
is worth noting, however, that the Shite imms, too, were believed to be the recipients of
the power of kun; for the power of the Shite imms in general, see M. A. Amir-Moezzi,
The Divine Guide in Early Shi'ism, trans. D. Streight, New York 1994, pp. 91ff; also idem,
"Savoir c'est Pouvoir: exgses et implications du miracle dans l'Immisme ancien," in
Miracle et Karma, 2000, pp. 251- 286.
SSviri: Kun
In the process of searching for the literary prooftexts relevant for this topic, I have come
upon material that show that such a claim made, allegedly, by fis of previous
generations, is even currently the target of strong criticism by Muslim spokesmen engaged
in an animated combat against fism. Thus, searching for kun on the world-wide-web, a
wondrous and powerful linguistic tool in its own right, I came across a website entitled
"antihabashis.com." This website, it turns out, is devoted to the repudiation of the Absh, a
contemporary fi affiliation whose base is in Lebanon and which sees itself as a new fi
brotherhood following an Ethiopian-born Sheikh, Abdallh al-abash.7 In one of the
"pages" of this website, the following critique can be viewed:
The Absh have spent years urging people to read al-Rif's The Helpful Proof, 8
claiming that it represents the doctrine of Divine Unification (tawd). Look at the
unification in this book: Among other things, it says the following: "God enables the
awliy to operate on9 beings; He makes them say to a thing Be! And it is."10
Aiming their rebuttal against the, allegedly, offensive connection of the Absh with
Amad al-Rif, a twelfth-century fi Sheikh after whom the Rifyya Brotherhood is
named,11 the authors of this online rebuke go on to cite various other sources that portray
al-Rif as making the same claim and basing it, misleadingly according to them, on
7
On the Absh, see Nizar Hamzeh and Hriar Dekmejian, "A fi Response to Political
Islamism: Al-Absh of Lebanon," The International Journal of Middle East Studies 28
(1996), pp. 217-229 (also online: http://almashriq.hiof.no/ddc/projects/pspa/alAbsh.html); see also Nizar Hamzeh, "Islamism in Lebanon: A Guide to the Groups," The
Middle East Quarterly 4 (1997) (http://www.meforum.org/article/362).
8
The reference is to Amad al-Rif's al-Burhn al-muayyid; I have consulted Abd alGhan Nikahme's edition, Beirut 1408h (1987-88).
9
The verbal form for "operating on" is arrafa (also taarrafa); ordinarily it means "to
behave, operate, employ" etc., but in fi terminology, especially in the infinitive forms
tarf and taarruf , it often denotes the supernatural power by which the holy man
'manipulates', 'operates upon', 'disposes of' beings; for an intriguing discussion concerning
taarruf by means of names and letters, see Ibn Khaldn, Shif al-sil li-tahdhb almasil, Beirut 1959, pp. 53ff; F. Meier, in his Introduction to Najm al-Dn Kubr's Fawi
al-jaml wa-fawti al-jall, Wiesbaden 1957, translates taarruf by "Verfgunskraft" = the
power to dispose - see pp. 233ff; cf. idem, Zwei Abhandlungen ber die Naqshbandiyya,
where Meier offers other translations for taarruf : "Machtausbung" (p. 50), "seelischgeistige Wirkungskraft" (p. 115); see also idem, "The Priority of Faith or Thinking Well of
Others over a Concern for Truth among Muslims," in Essays on Islamic Piety and
Mysticism, 1999, p. 643; also R. Gramlich, Die Wunder der Freunde Gottes. Theologien
und Erscheinungsformen des islamischen Heiligenwunders. Wiesbaden 1987, "Die
Verfgungsgewalt," pp. 180-185.
10
) ( "
... .
." see al-Burhn al-muayyid, ed. Abd al-Ghan Nikahme, Beirut 1408, p. 125
(for the full passage, see Appendix, A).
11
On Shaykh Amad al-Rif (d. 1182) and the Rifyya fi brotherhood, see J. S.
Trimingham, The fi Orders in Islam, 1971, pp. 37-40 et passim.
SSviri: Kun
authoritative, even divine, dicta. They point out, for example, that Abd al-Wahhb alSharn, an influential fi master in sixteenth-century Egypt, in his hagiographical Kitb
al-abaqt al-kubr ("The Book of the Great Generations"), ascribes to al-Rif a citation of
a divine tradition (adth quds) in which God allegedly says: "O, sons of Adam, obey me
and I shall obey you; observe me, and I shall observe you, and I shall make you say to a
thing 'Be!" and it will be."12 In fact, on inspection of the source referred to, one finds a
passage which is even more outspoken than the online excerpt. The passage in Kitb al-
abaqt al-kubr reads as follows:

He [al-Rif] used to say: when the worshipper is established in the mystical states,
he attains the place of God's proximity, and then his [spiritual] intention (himma)
pierces the seven heavens; as for the [seven] earths, they become like an anklet on
his leg; he becomes an attribute of God's attributes, and there is nothing that he
cannot do. God is then pleased when he is pleased, and is displeased when he is
displeased. He said: what we say is corroborated by what came down in one of the
divine books: God has said: O sons of Adam! Obey me and I shall obey you, choose
me and I shall choose you, be pleased with me and I shall be pleased with you, love
me and I shall love you, observe me and I shall observe you, and I shall make you
say to a thing Be! And it will be.13
Needless to say that to the pious author/s of the "Antihabashis" website such claims are
absurd, scandalous, and blasphemous; in their opinion they should, therefore, be strongly
refuted and fought.14
Although the Absh do not necessarily claim that their Sheikh possesses the creative
power of kun, the above refutation directed at them inadvertently exposes interesting
12
: ... "
" .
13
See al-Sharn, al-abaqt al-kubr, Cairo 1305, vol. 1, p. 141 on Amad Ab al-usayn
al-Rif: : "

! : : : .

"... ;note the similarity of this passage with a Rabbinic dictum from Avot, 2,
4: "Make His will as your will so that He will make your will as His will; annul your will in
front of His will, so that He may annul the will of others in front of your will see Y. Garb,
Manifestations of Power in Jewish Mysticism. Jerusalem 2004, pp. 38ff; I wish to thank Dr.
Garb for this reference as well as for our on going exchange concerning power and
language in Judaism and Islam.
14
In the homepage of the "antihabashis" website, the al-Absh are described thus: "they
are a lost group which associates itself with Abdallh al-abash. They have recently [!]
appeared in Lebanon to exploit there the ignorance and poverty in the wake of the Lebanese
civil wars. They propagate the call to revive the ways of the theologians, the fis and the
Shites in order to destroy the faith and to break the unity of the Muslims, and in order to
avert Muslims from their essential problems" (

) .
SSviri: Kun
material which indeed portray the holy man as a possessor of this extraordinary existencebestowing power. It also shows that the claim for the power of kun is seen today as an
abidingly abusive issue characteristic of fism (and, one should add, of Shism too) that
should be forcefully counteracted. The follow up of this contemporary polemics has been,
therefore, unexpectedly fruitful in unraveling testimonies of claims of possessing the power
to bring things into existence by means of kun.15 These testimonies appear to be mostly
ascribed to eminent fi figures of the twelfth century onwards. Their confident claim that
the fi Sheikh may hold the power of creation, coincides, it would seem, with the
emergence during this period of the fi Brotherhoods (uruq, sg. arqa).16 It may be
suggested, therefore, that within fism such claims reflect the attempt to build up the
figure of the Sheikh of the arqa to nearly divine proportions.17
II Kun and f karmt
That fi sheikhs from early on have been endowed with the power to perform "miracles" is well
known; their marvelous and miraculous deeds are known as karmt (literally: graces) or khawriq
al-dt (literally, events that are beyond the ordinary). These have been discussed and recorded in
many chapters within classical fi compilations18 and have been collected in a special literary
15
For testimonies based on the references mentioned in the "antihabashis" website, see
Appendix.
16
Note, however, the early anecdote related by Sufyn ibn Uyayna (d. 198/813), a
renowned pietist from the town of Kufa; according to this anecdote, recorded in a 3rd/9thcentury text by Ibn Ab al-Duny (d. 281/894), an anonymous and wondrous figure delivers
several divine messages during the ajj. One of these messages is the following: "I am God
the King; when I wish a thing, I say to it Be and it is; therefore come to Me, and I shall
make you such that when you wish [a thing], you will say to it Be and it will be" see Ibn
Ab al-Duny, Kitb al-hawtif (= "The Book of Voices"), Beirut 1993, p. 32 (for the full
text, see Appendix G); a milder, "cleaned up" version of this anecdote appears in the
5th/11th-century compilation ilyat al-awliy by Ab Nuaym al-Ifahn (d. 430/1038-9)
see Beirut, 1997, vol. 7, p. 354, no. 10831; the difference in the tenor of the two versions is
significant: it indicates the restraint, typical to classical fi literature, vis--vis the claim of
kun for human beings; such restraint seems to have become more relaxed in later texts; as
for the early text on hand, it seems to have somehow escaped, quite uniquely, possible
censoring eyes; in any case, it obviously shows that in the early formative phases of Islamic
mysticism such ideas were prevailing can one detect here the echoes of Rabbinic ideas?
Cf. above, note 13 check and adjust
17
For a general orientation concerning the fi Brotherhoods, see J. S. Trimingham, The
fi Orders in Islam, Oxford 1971; also A. Popovic and G. Veinstein (eds.), Les voies
d'Allah: les ordres mystiques dans le monde musulman des origines aujourd'hui. Paris,
1996.
18
See, for example, al-Kalbdh, The Doctrine of the fis, trans. A. J. Arberry: ch. 26 on
"Their Doctrine of the Miracles of Saints," pp. 57-66; also "Discourse on the Affirmation of
SSviri: Kun
genre known as karmt al-awliy19 as well as in hagiographical works in praise of a particular

fi master or group.20 Many miracles have been known to be performed by using "God's greatest
name" (ismu llh al-aam),21 or by special invocations. The concept of the holy man as mujb al-
dawa, he whose call [to God] is answered, has been, from early on, part and parcel of fi
vocabulary and one of the appellations by which the holy man was known.22 Even the feat of
reviving the dead is acknowledged with no apologetics and is amply recorded in fi manuals and
in relevant studies thereof.23 But the use of kun as a creative means employed by humans, albeit
superior and holy, is rather more contentious; not only is the mere thought of it abhorred and
vehemently refuted by the adversaries of fism, but fis themselves seem to shy away from
broadcasting it openly as a holy man's feat.24 Speculations as regards kun and anecdotes
concerning the holy men who have used it tend to be phrased, it seems, with circumspection and
their tenor is reserved and cautious. Even Ibn al-Arab, the Andalusian thirteenth-century mysticphilosopher,25 one of the most outspoken fi authors, writes that the power of kun, or the fact that
inherently man is a creator (khallq), should be approached with the reservation demanded of good
Miracles" in Hujwr, Kashf al-majb, trans. R.A. Nicholson, pp. 218-235; cf. B. Radtke,
"Al-akm al-Tirmidh on Miracles," in Miracle et Karma, 2000, pp. 286-299.
19
See, e.g., Ab Nuaym al-Ifahn (d. 430/1038-9), ilyat al-awliy, Beirut, 1997; alYfi, Aff al-Dn, Raw al-rayn f ikyt al-lin , Cairo 1955; also the fairly late
collection by al-Nabhn (d. 1350/1931), Jmi Karmt al-awliy - I have consulted S. M.
Rabb's edition, Beirut-Sidon 1421/2001; the most comprehensive study to date concerning
the miracles of the Islamic friends of God is R. Gramlich, Die Wunder der Freunde Gottes;
also Badrn, Muammad, Adabiyyt al-karma al-fiyya, Al-Ain, UAE, 2001 (in Arabic).
20
See, e.g., Al-Aflk, Manqib al-rifn, Ankara 1959-61 (in French: Les saints des
Derviches tourneurs, trans. C. Huart, Paris 1978; in English: The Feats of the Knowers of
God, trans. John O'Kane, Leiden-Boston 2002); also al-Rakhw, al-Anwr al-qudsiyya
min manqib al-sda al-naqshbandiyya, Cairo1344/1925.
21
The potency of the Great Name of God used by a wal is displayed, for example, in the
hagiographical accounts on Ibrhim ibn Adham (2nd/8th century), one of the earliest
protagonists of the fi tradition see al-Sulam, abaqt al-fiyya, ed. J. Pedersen, 1960,
p. 15; see also Gramlich, Die Wunder der Freunde Gottes, pp.164-166; for a comparative
study on "the great name of God", see Y. Zoran, "Magic, Theurgy and the Science of
Letters in Islam and their parallels in Jewish Literature," Jerusalem Studies in Jewish
Folklore 18 (1996), pp. 19-62 (in Hebrew); see also Sviri, op. cit., pp. 207f.
22
See, e.g., al-Qushayr, al-Risla, in the section on Marf al-Karkh (d. ca 200/815), p. 9:
"He was one of the great masters, one whose call [to God] is answered and in whose tomb
people look for healing"; see also Appendix, E.
23
See, e.g., Badrn, Adabiyyt al-karma al-fiyya, pp. 150-153; also Michel Balivet,
"Miracles christiques et islamization en chrtient seldjoukides et ottomane entre le XIe et
le XVe sicle" in Miracle et Karma, p. 403; cf. also the literature mentioned in previous
footnotes.
24
For f reservations concerning the use, or abuse, of kun, see Gramlich, Die Wunder der
Freunde Gottes, pp. 184f.; also Sviri, op. cit., p. 216, note 39.
25
See on him C. Addas, Quest for the Red Sulphur, trans. P. Kingsley, Cambridge 1993;
also M. Chodkiewicz, Seal of the Saints, trans. L. Sherrard, Cambridge 1993.
SSviri: Kun
manners (usn al-adab, taarruf) towards God.26 Thus, in chapter Three Hundred Fifty Three of his
Meccan Revelations, "On Knowing the Position of Three Talismanic Secrets," he writes:
Man inherently has the power of kun, but outwardly he has got only the passive
faculty [of being the object of kun]; yet in the world-to-come man will possess the
power of kun also outwardly. It may happen that some men are given it in this
world, but this is not a universal [human] faculty. Among God's men there are those
who hold on to it and there are those who, being courteous towards God, [relinquish
it] as they know that this is not its proper abode27 When God's men see that in this
world this is not a universal law, they relegate the particular law to the universal law
and leave all in its proper abode. This is the state of the courteous ones among God's
Knowers who are constantly present with Him. In this world, therefore, the
courteous [among God's men] is a creator by means of his [religious] deed; not by
means of kun, but rather by means of bismi llh al-ramn al-ram (= in the name
of God the Merciful the Compassionate).28
Najm al-Dn Kubr, a twelfth-thirteenth century mystic from Central Asia, in his Breaths of
Beauty and Revelations of Majesty, seems rather more forthright as regards the human kun.
Kubr's book, essentially a personal account of mystical visions and experiences, is interlaced with
insights and teachings that had emanated, according to his own statement, from direct mystical
26
For his prudence, see also note no. 55 below adjust ; cf. also p. note 16 above - adjust
An example for an exceptional man who, according to Ibn al-Arab, had relinquished the
power to operate on existents (taarruf), is Ab al-Sud ibn al-Shibl, a disciple of Abd alQdir al-Jln (Baghdad, 12th century) see, e.g., al-Futt al-Makkiyya, 1994, ch. 25,
vol.1, p. 452; also Fu al-ikam, 1946, pp. 128-29 (the Chapter on Lot) on p. 129 of the
Fu, Ibn al-Arab explains that he himself has relinquished the act of taarruf not out of
courtesy towards God, but rather out of his perfect mystical knowledge (kaml al-marifa);
through true knowledge one knows that such an act should be employed only when one is
forced to do so by an unavoidable divine command (amr ilh wa-jabr), but by no means
out of personal choice; cf. also Appendix E.
28
. "" "

...
. < >
"... al-Futt al-Makkiyya, 1994, vol. 5. pp. 459460; cf. also Ibn al-Arab's answer to the hundred and forty seventh question of al-akm
al-Tirmidh: "What is the interpretation of the formula bismi llh" (for al-Tirmidh's
spiritual questionnaire, see Srat al-awliy ed. B. Radtke, 1992, p. 28) ibid., ch. 73, vol. 3,
p. 222: "For the worshipper, with regard to bringing something into existence, this
[formula] is like kun for God; by its means certain men bring forth what they will into
existence"; cf. also ibid, ch. 361, vol. 6, p. 5: "no divine scripture and no prophetic tradition
has come down concerning a created being who has been given kun apart from man
specifically; this happened in the time of the Prophet [Muammad], peace be on him, in the
battle of Tabk (9/630): He said, "Be Ab Dharr" and there was Ab Dharr" (for this
tradition, which is well attested to in early historical sources, see, e.g., al-abar, Tarkh alrusul wal-mulk, ed. M.J. de Goeje, 1964, vol. IV, p. 1700; for a discussion on the parity of
bismi llh and kun, see below p. 17f., (around note 56 - adjust).
27
SSviri: Kun
experiences. Describing the characteristics of holiness (or, as it is known in fi vocabulary,

"friendship with God" walya), we read the following:
Know that the wayfarer will be designated as a "friend" only when he is given kun.
Kun is God's command in His saying: "Our command to a thing when We will it is
to say to it kun! and it is" (Qurn 16:40). The wal, however, is given [the power
of] kun only when his will is annihilated in the will of God. When his will is
annihilated in the will of God and his will is the will of God, then any thing that
God wills His servant wills, while the servant does not will anything unless God
wills it. This is alluded to in God's saying: "You will not wish unless God the Lord
of all Worlds wishes" (Qurn 81:29, 76:30).29
Kubr insists, it appears, that possessing the extraordinary creative power of kun is, by
definition, a proviso of being a friend of God, a wal. He hastens, however, to clarify and
qualify his statement:
Pronouncing the kf and the nn [that make up kun] does not transgress the
Creator's privilege, Praise be to Him; it only relates to the speed of the coming into
being [of a thing]. The kf is the kf of existence (= kawn) and the nn is His light
(= nr); thus we find among the traditions: O You who make all things exist! O You
who is hidden [in? by? from?] all things!30
Kubr may not share Ibn al-Arab's preference for deferring the power of kun altogether to
the world-to-come; both mystics, however, despite their cautiousness, agree that to make a
thing exist by means of kun should be reckoned as a power that is within human reach.
They also share the understanding that the secret of the wal's power to use kun
efficaciously lies in the alignment of his will with the divine will; when the human and
divine will are fused, creation may be executed as a simultaneous human-divine act.
III Language, Creation and Hermeneutics in a Historical and Comparative Context
Speech and words play an important role in Islamic thought and culture. Speech, kalm,
and its cognate kalima, word, are laden with meanings and ideas analogous to the numerous
connotations of logos in other religious and philosophical systems. Kalmu Allh, Gods
speech, as we have seen, is an attribute of the divine creative power by which the world and
its beings are created. Kalmu Allh also designates the Qurn, Gods ultimate, non-created
and inimitable manifestation; God's word, or words, being inexhaustible and unchangeable,
29
" : "" "

"
" :
". - Fawi al-jaml wa-fawti al-jall, ed. F. Meier, 1957, para. 175, pp.
86-87; cf. above, p. 3, note 13 (text by al-Sha'r. on al-Rif - check and adjust)
30
"
"! ! : ibid, p. 87.
SSviri: Kun
kalmu Allh signifies also Divine omniscience and immutability.31 In humanity, a species
created in the image of God, it is the power of speech and reason that singles out man of all
other creatures; speech represents language as well as the rational soul; the two are
intrinsically connected. The appellation mutakallimn by which the polemicists and
theologians of Islam are designated, refer both to their power of reasoning and to their
verbal skills of putting forward argumentations and rejoinders in defense of creed and faith.
It is, therefore, clear that traditions and speculations concerning speech and language are
fundamental to Islamic discourse and are exhibited profusely in its various literary
branches: adth collections, Qurn commentaries, grammar, literature (adab), poetics,
theology, heresiography, philosophy, and mysticism. Moreover, the metaphysics of that
compact cluster God's creative power, His speech, His book and His commanding
language underlie the extraordinary interest in the sacred text, as well as in language as
such, in the quest for uncovering the blueprint of the Divine design and wisdom. Thus we
find that, from a very early stage in Islamic intellectual history, Islamic mystics and
thinkers have explored assiduously the nature, structure, and meaning of the cosmos by
means of pondering the nexus of language, text, creation, and order.32 Such investigations
constitute a vital component also of the esoteric and mystical trends in the religious and
philosophical systems of Late Antiquity. The fundamental theme of the ancient Sefer
Yetsira, for example, which views creation as bound up with the twenty-two letters of the
Hebrew language as well as with the first ten numbers, is echoed throughout Islamic
esoteric literature with its similar claims for the twenty-eight (or twenty-nine) letters of the
Arabic language.33 Language speculations are, no doubt, among the clearest examples for
the continuity and flow of these speculative currents from Late Antiquity into early Islam.
A principal element that ties Islam with these pre-Islamic traditions is the notion that
behind the exoteric words and letters of sacred texts lay deep secrets. These secrets, when
deciphered, reveal the blueprint of creation and the design of its wise Creator. Knowledge
31
See, e.g., Qurn 6:115: "The word of thy Lord finds its fulfillment in truth and in justice:
none can change His Words for He is the One Who hears and knows all" (
.)
32
The earliest examples seem to be associated with Shite-Isml circles see, e.g., P.
Kraus, Jbir ibn ayyn: Contribution a l'histoire des ides scientifiques dans l'Islam, Vol.
2: Jbir et la science grecque, 1942 (1986), especially pp. 262ff; T. Fahd, "DJAFR," EI2,
vol. 2, p. 375-377; P. Lory, "La mystique des lettres en terre d'Islam," Annales de
Philosophie, vol. 17 (1996), pp. 101-109.
33
For the ancient, enigmatic Sefer Yetsira (= "The Book of Formation"), see Y. Liebes, Ars
Poetica in Sefer Yetsira, Tel-Aviv, 2000 (in Hebrew); for late antique systems in which
such theories were expressed, see the papers by J. Assman, B. Bitton-Ashkeloni, and Y.
Garb in this volume .Check
SSviri: Kun
of the techniques by which to decipher these secrets can, and should, be gained, but only by
"specialists" who are endowed not only with a penetrating insight and divine inspiration,
but also with exemplary moral qualities and sound beliefs. These specialists constitute an
esoteric hierarchy of philosophers, 'gnostics,' mystics, saints, imms, and holy men. By
accessing, through the sacred texts, the foundations of the divine wisdom and design, they
gain not only knowledge, but also power. Like scientists who learn how to decipher the
fundamental codes of creation they can, ultimately, make use of their knowledge
effectively. The study of language, therefore, can be described as the study of extraordinary
human potencies, leading, no less, to that potency by which non-existents existentiate. In
Islam, the esoteric study of creation, text, language, and power can be condensed into the
study of one word: kun (Be!)34
Al-akm al-Tirmidh, a ninth century Muslim 'gnostic' from the northeastern edges of the
Islamic world, builds his mystical understanding of language, as has already been shown,
on the notion of "Gods perfect word" kalimatu allh al-tmma, or, in the plural form,
kalimtu allh al-tmmt. This expression occurs frequently in supplication formulae; for
example: "by all the perfect words of God, I ask refuge from the evil that He has created"
(adhu bi-kalimti llh al-tmma kullih min sharri ma khalaqa). Although the expression
"the perfect word" or, in the plural form, "the perfect words," does not appear in the Qurn,
its roots are Qurnic; thus Qurn 6:115: "your Lord's word has become perfect (or
fulfilled) in truth and in justice; no one can change His words"35. Al-Tirmidh ponders the
fact that in the first part of the verse "God's word" appears in the singular while in the
second part it comes in the plural. Referring to this seeming discrepancy he writes:
Whether one says Gods perfect word or Gods perfect words both forms stem
from one single notion (manan wid). The singular refers to the totality [of Gods
words] (al-jumla), and the plural refers to the words into which this single word, at
different times, was dispersed and became many; all, however, go back to one
single word.36
The single word, according to al-Tirmidh, is Gods existence-bestowing command kun, the
creative logos ; the multitude of things and beings into which kun is dispersed and which
Although Shite-Ismli speculations are, in general, beyond the scope of this paper, it is
worth mentioning here the significance of kun for early Ismli cosmology, to the point of
aggrandizing kun to the rank of a "deified" entity, Kn , a (feminine?) divine power by
which the world was created; for these early speculations, which are imbibed with Gnostic
and Neoplatonic ideas, see S. M. Stern, "The Earliest Cosmological Doctrines of
Ismailism," in Studies in Early Ismailism. Jerusalem 1983, pp. 3-29.
35
See above, note 28 adjust; see also Qur. 7:137 and 11:119.
36
See Nawdir al-ul, ch. 1, p. 3, ll. 2-5.
34
11
SSviri: Kun
come into existence by its creative potency, they, too, are God's words hence the plural
side by side with the singular.37 Ibn al-Arab, who has been inspired by al-Tirmidh and, in
many senses, has picked up the thread from him several centuries later,38 sums up this
powerful idea in the following statement (which paraphrases Qur.18:109): "All existents are
God's words which will not be exhausted; they are from kun and kun is God's word."39
Kun is a keyword also in other speculations that can be traced back to the ninth century. In
the Kitb al-Zna ("The Book of Loveliness"), for example, a treatise on language written
by Ab tim al-Rz, an eminent Ismli missionary from Rayy who flourished in the
third/ninth-fourth/tenth century,40 in the chapter on the Divine command (amru -llh), alRz makes a striking analogy between kun and the Gospel of John's logos:
His command is His word by which He has created things. Thus He says: "God's
command when He wishes a thing is to say to it Be and it is." By this word God has
created all of creation. In the Gospels, in the opening (ftia) of the beginning of the
book41 [it is written]: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and by this Word God has created all things. This is what was before all things."
Cf. [Pseudo-] Sahl al-Tustar, Rislat al-urf: "The Mother of the Book is the root: it
contains all that was and that will be [then] by means of His saying kun He dispersed
them out of the Hidden" - ... (
)
see Rislat al-urf, ed. M. K. Jafar, in idem, Min al-turth al-f, Cairo
1974, p. 368; see also below, p. 10 (around note 39 adjust)
38
Consider, for example, the answers that Ibn al-Arab wrote to the "spiritual questions"
laid down by al-Tirmidh see the insertion of Ibn al-Arab's answers (in two versions)
into the fourth chapter of Khatm al-awliy, ed. Othmn Yay, Beirut 1965, pp. 142-326;
see also M. Chodkiewicz, Seal of Saints, 1993, ch. 2, pp. 26ff.
39
See Fu al-ikam, p. 142 (the chapter on Jesus):
; also idem, al-Futt al-makkiyya, Ch. 198 (On Knowing the Breath
), Beirut 1994, vol. 4, p. 35.
On al-Rz (d. 322/934), See F. Daftary, A Short History of the Ismailis, 1998, p. 43 et
passim; for the similarities between al-Rz's work and that of al-Tirmidh's and for alRz's explicit reference to al-Tirmidh, see Sviri, op. cit., p. 214, note 31.
41
Check and add: By "Gospel" Al-Rz refers to the Gospel of John, but without
specifying, or knowing of, the authorship of John; his proof-text has been most probably
culled from the Arabic translation of the Gospel, the oldest preserved fragments of Tatian's
Diatessaron, which opens with the famous passage from John check Diatessaron; thanks
go to S. Ruzer and Menahem Kister; for the acquaintance, perhaps even curiosity, of Isamili
scholars with pre-Islamic speculations connecting cosmogony and letters, cf. al-Kirmn
(11th-century), Rat al-aql, where he cites from "the Torah" (in fact, from Pirkey Avot V,
1) the saying concerning the ten "commands" (awmir =ma'amarot) by which the world
was created see more in S. Pines, "Shi'ite Terms and Conception in Judah Halevi," JSAI 2
(1980), p. 223; check Kraus, "Hebrische und Syrische Zitate in Isma'ilischen Schriften,"
Der Islam 19 (1931), 243-263.
40
11
SSviri: Kun
This is the beginning of the Gospels and it is in accord with what is in the Qurn,
except that in the Qurn it is more condensed. The Word that is mentioned in the
Gospels is kun, and this is God's command.42
Here, once more, one can detect the clear reverberations that arise from the association with
pre-Islamic traditions.
Another intriguing example of speculation on kun, supposedly from the ninth century, is
attributed, probably erroneously, to Sahl al-Tustar, an early ninth century mystic, whose
followers resided mainly in the town of Basra. In an epistle titled Rislat al-urf ("The
Epistle on Letters"), Sahl, or, in my opinion, pseudo-Sahl, writes:
When God says to a thing "be" such and such and it is, [what comes into being] is,
in fact, the form of the thing; [the form is] spiritual; it is composed of forces and of
a spirit that were dispersed from the "big kun" which God said to the All. This
spiritual form is the word [that issued] from God in order that a thing may come to
be. It is the truth of that thing which comes into being; it is the [divine] Will that it
should come to be, and this is founded on the [divine] encompassing knowledge.
The philosophers name it the nature of the thing. Some of them name it soul (nafs).
All these [names] are related [to one another in the sense] that it is a divine
command which gives forms to the bodies, watches over them, and protects them
from harm.43
On the level of ideas, the spiritual "big kun" of this excerpt, out of which all existents
dispersed, is reminiscent of al-Tirmidh's distinction between the original divine creative
"word" in the singular and the many existential "words" which issued from it. On the level
of terminology, however, it is hard to tie the two pieces together. As regards al-Tustar
himself, this is even more problematic. Such terms as "the truth of the thing," "the nature of
the thing," "spiritual form," "the big kun," "philosophers" do not tie in with al-Tustar's
42
.)88 :36( " " :

": .
- " .
"" ; the connection between
Gods word and Jesus is borne out by Qur. 4:171:"The Messiah Jesus son of Maryam is
God's messenger and His word that He had thrown into Maryam" (
.)
43
"" "
" "

" Rislat al-urf, ed. M. K. Jafar, in idem, Min alturth al-f, Cairo 1974, p. 367.
12
SSviri: Kun
idiomatic and thought patterns as they transpire from the numerous sources in which his
tradition has been preserved.44
The linguistic, typological and thematic characteristics of the short epistle from which this
passage has been culled call for a review of its ascription to Sahl al-Tustar. This, it is
hoped, will be dealt with elsewhere. It is worth noting here, however, that such speculations
as the Epistle on Letters displays, formulated in a comparable vocabulary, tie in much more
feasibly with ideas and idioms that are found in the writings of "The Brethren of Purity,"
Ikhwn al-af. This group of theosophists from tenth century Basra (or earlier) was known
for its Shite-Isml affiliations and for its Neoplatonic, Pythagorean and Hermetic
leanings.45 In their encyclopaedic "Epistles" (rasil Ikhwn al-af) numerous examples of
speculations on language and on kun can be found. In the concluding and encompassing
epistle (al-risla al-jmia), for example, an intriguing passage shows the Brethren's attempt
to knit together the Neoplatonic system of hypostatic emanations, a system they upheld,
with the Qurnic notion of creation by the imperative kun. Thus, in a rather curious
manner, the Brethren describe the process of creation as a relay of kun from one 'hypostasis'
to another. In their description they also make an analogy between this creative process and
the faculty of speech of human speech in general and of the prophetic discourse in
particular. They write:
The Active Intellect is the face of God that does not change and does not cease it
is the first manifestation. Since this is so, it behooves that this should be the place of
God's word by which He created things as He wished. Its light spread and Its bounty
emanated upon what was beneath it, and thus the Universal Soul became the face of
the Active Intellect Then [appeared] the Prima Materia to which the emanated
light and the power of the word of the first manifestation became attached Then
the Universal Face appeared, and this is the highest sphere. It shone and took its
appropriate position according to the order requisite by Divine Wisdom and by
44
For a thorough analysis of al-Tustar's tradition, see G. Bwering, The Mystical Vision
of Existence in Classical Islam. The Qurnic Hermeneutics of the fi Sahl at-Tustar (d.
283/896.), 1980, esp. ch. 1, pp. 7-42; as for the Rislat al-urf (based on Ms. Chester
Beatty 3168/3), Bwering expresses some doubts whether this is an authentic work by alTustar, but is not categorical see ibid, p. 18.
45
The Brethren's association with Hermetic wisdom is borne out by numerous statements
and references they make see, e.g., the 52nd epistle on Magic, Talismans and the Eye, vol.
4, pp. 461f. of al-Zirikl's edition (Cairo 1928); references to Pythagoras, Hermes
Trismegistos, Aristotle and other pre-Islamic philosophers are scattered throughout their
epistles; for a general overview on the Brethren of Purity, whose provenance, identity and
dating are still debated among scholars, see S. H. Nasr, An Introduction to Islamic
Cosmological Doctrines, Cambridge Ma. 1964, Part I, pp. 25-95; A. Hamdani, "A critique
of Paul Casanova's dating of the Rasil Ikhwn al-af,'" in F. Daftary (ed.), Mediaeval
Isma'ili History and Thought, Cambridge 1996, pp. 145-152.
13
SSviri: Kun
the unceasing attachment of the word to the first limit and its successive,
ceaseless, timeless emanation upon it
Command and prohibition are in the same position as the heart with regard to what
descends upon it from the spiritual senses, as God has said: "The trustworthy spirit
has brought it down upon your heart that you may be one of the warners, in a clear
Arabic tongue" (26:193-195). The spirit descends upon the heart, and then the
power attaches itself to the tongue, whose place is the face, and from it, by speech
(nuq), commands and prohibitions issue. By command (i.e., by kun) existents come
into being, and by speech sayings which report of what was and of what will be
become articulated. The power which is attached to the heart is similar to the fire of
the word that is united by the command (= the creative kun) with the Source of Life.
When the spirit descended upon the heart by [or with?] the First Agent (= the active,
or universal, intellect), it attached itself to its face; it then spoke out kun, and what
the Creator wished was. Then the first face shone and executed the command and
creation appeared. Then the second face took its position (i.e., its rank in the
emanative order) and it, too, spoke out the command that was thrown upon it by the
first [face], and what was below it came to be. Hence the word kun became
constructed of two letters: the kf is connected with the upper realm within the limit
of the first face, and the nn descends into the lower [realm of] entities, which
issues from the first one: this is the kf that brings to completion (as alluded to by
kaml = perfection, completion?) and which leads to the best of all states46
The hermeneutic strategy used at the end of this passage, namely, the breaking down of kun
into its consonantal components in order to draw out of each component the 'meaning'
concealed within it, displays a technique that was widely used by Islamic mystics and
exegetes. Al-Tirmidh, as has been previously shown, used it prolifically alongside other
techniques in developing the 'science' which he named ilm al-awliy the science, or
knowledge, of the Friends of God. Islamic traditions in general, not necessarily mystical
46
... ...
...
... ...
...
: ...
" "

:133 <
>

<
> :133 < > :133
:133 < ...
> ...
- al-Risla al-Jmia, ed. Arif Tamer, Beirut-Paris 1995, vol. 5 of the Rasil, section 46, pp.
357-359; cf. ibid, pp.132f. (note also the insertions of variant readings according to p. 133);
for al-Tirmidh's breakdown of kun into its consonantal components (for him the kf
signifies kaynna, existence, and the nn nr, light ) cf. "Words of Power", p. 216; cf.
also Kubr's deconstruction, above, p. 7 adjust (around note 28)
14
SSviri: Kun
traditions, show that exegetes, from early on, used this technique, or referred to it,
especially in their attempts to decipher the enigmatic letters that appear at the beginnings of
certain Qurnic sras.47 In Islam, this hermeneutical technique does not seem to have
acquired a specific technical term; al-abar, the most celebrated Qurn commentator of
the ninth century, whose commentary adduces much of the exegetical material accumulated
up to his time, mentions several attempts at reading these letters as acronyms and,
consequently, of various attempt at deciphering the message encoded in the acronym. Alabar himself does not commit himself to accepting any one of these propositions, but
refers to the letters under consideration as "lexical letters which, in distinction to ordinary
speech where letters are combined, God left isolated (muqaaa) in order to demonstrate
that each of them contains several meanings."48 The hermeneutic technique based on
deciphering obscure consonantal clusters, however, is much older than the Muslim
third/ninth century commentators. In fact, it echoes a technique which was used for
encoding, as well as for short-hand, in pre-Islamic systems. It is well-known from rabbinic
literature, which itself has borrowed it from ancient Mesopotamian scribal and
hermeneutical traditions. The technical term for it in Jewish sources is notariqon, and in
rabbinic hermeneutic literature it is listed among the measures by which the Torah is
interpreted.49 Other attempts to decipher the enigmatic letters in the Qurn relied on
'numerology,' the science of adding up the numerical value of letter combinations in order
to infer from it encoded information. This science is known in the Islamic sources as isb
al-jumal (or al-jummal) and in Jewish sources as gematria. In early Islam this technique
was known to be mastered by Jews. According to early Islamic traditions, Jews were
consulted as experts in order to decipher the meaning encoded in the enigmatic letters; or,
in the context of the Jews of Medina's polemics against nascent Islam, Jews were said to
47
See, e.g., Sahl al-Tustar (d. 283/896), Tafsr al-Qurn al-'am, 1329h., p. 8,
commentary to 2:1: "a-l-m this is the name of God the most sublime; it contains meanings
and attributes which those whose understanding is by Him know" (
)... ; for more details, see Sviri, "Words of Power", pp. 213ff.
48
See Ab Jafar, Muammad ibn Jarr al-abar (d. 310/923), Jmi al-bayn an tawl alqurn, Beirut 1408/1988, vol. 1, p. 93: "

."
49
For the Mesopotamian antecedents of this rabbinic technique, see Steven J. Liebermann,
"A Mesopotamian background for the so-called aggadic "measures" of biblical
hermeneutics?" Hebrew Union College Annual 58 (1987), pp. 157-225 for this reference
my thanks go to Prof. Moshe Idel.
15
SSviri: Kun
offer such encoding voluntarily and, in doing so, they predicted a short-lived reign for the
followers of Muammad.50
These observations show that the understanding of the esoteric aspects of language in Islam
may benefit from viewing it within a comparative and historical framework.
IV The Breath of the Compassionate
The most elaborate system of thought which brings God and man together in the context of
the creative power inhered in language is offered by Ibn al-Arab in the thirteenth century.
Ibn al-Arab's bold, often daring, thoughts concerning language, letter mysticism and the
creative power of speech are dispersed in many of his works; occasionally they seem to
have been scattered haphazardly, as it were, without any obvious context, almost as though
their author wished to play them down, or even make them inconspicuous, especially when
they could be understood as related to magical acts.51 Nevertheless, a comprehensive and
systematic discussion on language and its creative power is offered in chapter One Hundred
Ninety Eight of the Futt al-makkiyya; it is entitled "Concerning the Knowledge of
Breath." The breath, nafas, is a seminal theme in Ibn al-Arab's system of thought. First and
foremost, it is a divine act; as such, Ibn al-Arab names it the Breath of the Compassionate,
Nafas al-ramn. God's Breath is the releasing, merciful act through which existence burst
forth out of the divine Hiddenness. For Ibn al-Arab creation is seen not only as God's
word, or words, but also as the product of God's exhalation: existents, which were held
within God's Hiddenness in stressful suspension and latency, are released into existence
through his exhaling attribute of rama, Compassion. Inherently, this creative breathing out
is associated with the divine kun. Human speech, in which breath is the operating
mechanism, reflects, or is reflected by, this divine act of breathing out. Thus, in human
beings, too, before letters and words are articulated, they exist as latent essences within the
vapor with which man's entrails are filled before breath or language form. Speech,
therefore, is the ultimate feature by which man bears likeness to God: inasmuch as man
articulates separate sounds by breathing them out, and, when combined, these sounds
become meaningful words and statements, so also God breathes out creation through the
50
See, e.g., the traditions related by the early exegete Muqtil ibn Sulaymn (d.150/767) in
his commentary to Qur. 2:1, Tafsr Muqtil ibn Sulaymn, Cairo 1979, vol. 1, pp. 83-87
and especially p. 85; cf. also al-abar, Jmi al-bayn., pp. 92-93; for the use of this
technique by the early Shites in order to predict the termination of the Umayyad rule, see
M. Bar-Asher, Scripture and Exegesis, pp. 212-213.
51
See, e.g., p. 17, note 55 adjust
16
SSviri: Kun
overflow of generosity and love; hence, as we have seen, the countless existents are all
"God's words":
Letters issue from the breath of the human breather, who is the most perfect of all
created formations; all letters appear through him and by his breath. He is thus on
the divine form, namely, [the form of] the breath of the Merciful. The emergence of
the 'letters of existents' and [the emergence] of the 'world of words' is the same. He
has assigned them to the human breath as twenty-eight letters which affirm what
issued from the breath of the Merciful: the essences of the divine words are twenty
eight, each word has faces.52 They have issued from the breath of the Merciful,
which is the am, the fog in which God was before He created creation.53
Ibn al-Arab goes on to enumerate the 'twenty-eight' divine 'words' which were breathed
out by God from the fog (am) in which, primordially, He was.54 This for him is
analogous to the humid vapor that precedes speech. The first four 'words,' in Neoplatonic
fashion, are the Intellect (aql which is also called "the Pen", al-qalam), the Soul (nafs, also
the Tablet al-law), Nature (aba) and the Primordial Matter (hab, literally, dust). From
here follows a list of twenty-four other cosmic and earthly 'hypostases,' i.e., worlds, or
words, although not necessarily in the order in which they came into existence.55 The list
includes angels (in the twenty-fifth position), Jinns (in the twenty-sixth), humans (in the
penultimate, twenty-seventh position) and, lastly, the martaba, the 'degree,' 'level' or 'rank'.
This curious idiom, which Ibn al-Arab explains as "the end goal (ghya) of every
existent," seems to refer to the principle of purpose, of the telos, of each and every being, as
well as to the principle of order and hierarchy upon which existence is built. In the parallel
The Arabic li-kulli kalima wujh may, simply, mean "each word has aspects," that is,
"meanings" it can thus be understood in the context of semantics; note, however, the use
of "face," wajh, in the cosmogonic context of the hypostatic series of emanations in the
excerpt from the Brethren of Purity cited above, p. 11 (around note 40- adjust!); wajh, face,
would thus signify that each of the twenty-eight hypostatic manifestations "faces" the one
above it and the one beneath it.
53
"
52

" chapter 198, vol. 4, p. 43.
54
For the tradition "God was in a fog" (kna llhu f am) see a al-Tirmidh, 1934,
vol. 11, p. 273 (min tafsr srat Hd); also al-abar, Tarkh al-rusul wal-mulk, ed. M. J.
de Goeje, Leiden 1964, vol. 1, p. 34; for Ibn al-Arab, the am, literally fog, is analogous
to the vapor, bukhr, which is formed from the moistness of the elements and which
precedes human breath and the letters that it produces.
55
Ibn al-Arab writes that, in the same way that one enumerates letters as a-b-g-d-h-w-z
etc., and not according to the order of their articulation points, so also his listing of the
world's constituents simply lists their names, and is not intended as an exposition of the
order by which they came into being (
) ... vol. 4, p. 44.
17
SSviri: Kun
world of cosmic spheres and human sounds (or letters), the first divine "word," the Intellect,
is reflected in the sound 'h,' which is the first distinct sound that comes out of the breath
when it flows out without being hindered by any articulation point; the last "word" in the
existential order, the martaba, is reflected in the sound 'w,' which is labial, and therefore the
farthest from the source of the breath. Between the two phonetic extremities the rest of the
"letters" lie; their sounds are determined by the articulation points (makhrij, maqi)
where the breath is blocked before it moves on. When the first and the last sounds are
combined, they make out the word , huwa, "he" the third person singular. As the breath
moves along the articulation passage, it carries with it from sound to sound the
characteristics and powers of each previous sound. Ibn al-Arab infers, therefore, that the
word huwa () = he, in which the first h () and the last ww () are combined, possesses
the cumulative power of all letters. This, to be sure, alludes to the huwiyya (), the divine
Ipseity; which, by means of this phonetic analogy, is shown to be both the most inclusive
and the most powerful of all existents.56 By analogy, all this alludes to the power that man
holds: since man, in Ibn al-Arab's cosmogony, is the last in the chain of breathed-out
entities (apart from the martaba, or ghya, the principle of telos that pertains to each and
every level and entity), man, necessarily, contains the cumulative power of all other
existents. He is thus the most perfect and most powerful of all entities on all levels of being;
he is, in fact, the goal and aim of existence as such.57 The ww, too, due to its being the
most external and least subtle of all letters, is, paradoxically, the most perfect and most
powerful of all letters.58And here Ibn al-Arab inserts, casually, fleetingly, one of his
56
" ;"for the esoteric

significance of huwa in earlier fi lore, cf. al-Sarrj, Kitb al-Luma, (Bb m qla f fahm
al-urf wal-asm), Beirut 2001, p. 79: "It has been said that the Great Name of God is
Allh, for when the letter A is removed, LLH remains [which means "to God"]; and when
the L is removed, LH remains [which means "to Him"], so the allusion [to God] does not
fall off; and when the second L is removed, the H remains [which is the third person
pronoun] and all secrets are [contained] in the H, as it means He" (

.)
57
"
"...
58
" " ibid., p. 45; for the significant invisibility of
the ww the middle letter in the root k-w-n, the verb of existence in the imperative form
kun, see ibid, p. 57; cf. al-akm al-Tirmidh's notion of "deficient letters", Sviri, op. cit, p.
217; cf. Ibn al-Arab, Rislat al-mm wal-ww wal-nn, in Rasil Ibn al-Arab,
Hyderabad-Deccan 1367/1948 (reprint), p. 5: "the ww contains the characteristics and
powers of all letters because, when the air reaches its articulation point, the ww does not
appear in its own essence only; rather, the air moves through all the [preceding] articulation
points and [the ww] therefore receives the power of all letters." (
18
SSviri: Kun
comments concerning the efficacy of words and says: "For he who knows how to execute a
'deed' by means of letters, it is the same with regard to the 'deed'" the deed, no doubt, is
the magical, or talismanic, act; to the one who knows how to perform such an act by means
of using the correct letters, the ww, it would appear, carries a particular significance.59
V Bismi -llh
Chapter Hundred Ninety Eight of the Meccan Revelations "On the Knowledge of the
Breath" is a remarkable source from which to glean esoteric speculations concerning letter
mysticism in Islam in general and in Ibn al-Arab's system in particular. The elaborate
discussion on kun, its creative power, its connections with the Breath of the Merciful, the
hierarchical order of breathed-out existents and, by analogy, of human breathed-out letters
and words, is only a prelude to a long and elaborate study by Ibn al-Arab of what is the
culmination of speech: sacred formulae of praise of God as well as supplication to God and
the divine names. Before offering a list of chapter-headings on the various topics that he is
going to discuss, Ibn al-Arab refers briefly to kun again and says:
Since mentioning His names is the quintessence of praise, we have mentioned in
this chapter what for us is the same as the word kun for Him, namely, the basmala
(= the formula bismi llh, "in the name of God"). God's people say: "For us, in
bringing acts into existence, the bismi -llh is in the same stance as kun is for
Him."60
Further on, in the fourth section of the ensuing exposition on sacred formulae and divine names, Ibn alArab offers the following insight into the basmala:
The basmala is your saying bismi llh (= in the name of God). For the worshipper
this is the word of the Presence of existence61 and of bringing things into existence;
its stance is equivalent to the word of the Presence62 when He says kun. When the
worshipper acts truthfully by it, what becomes affected by kun becomes affected by

.)
59
" " ibid, p. 45; concerning the efficacy of the
ww, cf. the hint inserted in Rislat al-mm wal-ww wal-nn, p. 10: "he who fathoms the
secrets of ww [knows that, or knows how to make] the supernal spiritual entities descend
by it in a noble way" ) ;(in this
interesting Epistle, Ibn al-Arab explains why he is prudent when it comes to discussing the
efficacious aspects of letters see ibid, p. 8.
60
" " - al-Futt al-makkiyya, ch. 198, vol. 4, p. 47; see
also above, p.6 (around note 26 - adjust)
61
Presence translates the Arabic ara, which, in Ibn al-Arab's terminology, refers to a
"level," "plane," "domain" of being see Chittick, The fi Path of Knowledge, 1989, p. 5
et passim.
62
When ara is introduced on its own with no qualification it, usually, denotes the
Presence par excellence, i.e., the Divine Presence.
19
SSviri: Kun
the basmala. It is as though he is saying: In the name of God existence appears! This
reveals the truth of the genuine beloved's relationship [with God]: God is his ears
and his tongue, and, hence, what comes about by kun, comes about by him (or by
the basmala).63
The somewhat equivocal phrase "in bringing acts into existence" of the first passage is
elucidated by the purport of the second passage: Ibn al-Arab clearly refers in both
passages to the extraordinary ability, displayed by certain people to wit, prophets and the
Friends of God to bring things into existence through the power of the basmala. However,
from further amplification of prophets' and holy men's acts, it becomes evident that all their
activities, be they basic bodily functions, daily acts of worship, or supernatural feats such as
reviving the dead and bringing inanimate objects to life in their case all are enacted in an
extraordinary unique manner. When such men are considered, Ibn al-Arab suggests, it is
evident that all their activities are done through God's agency. By the phrase "God is his
ears and his tongue" Ibn al-Arab alludes to an extra-Qurnic divine tradition (adth
quds), ubiquitous in f writings and attested to also in canonical literature. This tradition
is known as adth al-nawfil, the tradition concerning supererogatory acts, and it
underscores Islamic theory of the Friends of God and their miraculous deeds; in fact, it
offers the key to the extraordinary power displayed by prophets and holy men: since they
are utterly devoted to God and absorbed in His worship, their relationship with God
becomes one of reciprocal love; in this love relationship God, as it were, acts through them
in every sense of the word, in their mundane as well as in their extraordinary activities.64 It
is a mystical union that overrides mystical experiences. In one of its most authoritative
versions, this tradition runs as follows:
"My servant does not come close to Me by means of anything I like better than
the prescribed commandments; yet he goes on coming closer to Me by means of
supererogatory acts until I love him; and when I love him I become his ears by
which he hears, his eyes by which he sees, his hand by which he hits, his leg by
which he walks. If he asks Me for anything, I shall surely give it to him; if he asks
refuge in Me, I shall surely give him My refuge."65
63
"" "
:
" - Al-Futt al-makkiyya, vol. 4, pp. 54f.
64
To this unique love, cf. Ibn al-Arab, al-Futt al-makkiyya, ch. 31, vol. 1, pp. 482-483.
65
..."

"... see a al-Bukhr, Kitb al-riqq (81), bb al-tawu 38, ed. M. L.
Krehl, Leiden 1908, vol. 4, p. 231.
21
SSviri: Kun
Ibn al-Arab now refers to one of the Qurnic passages that relate a miracle of revival:
Jesus' breathing into an inanimate figure of a bird and bringing it to life. Verse 110 of Sra
5 lists, in fact, a series of miracles committed by Jesus:
Then Allh said: "O s son of Maryam! Tell of My favors to you and to your
mother: I supported you with the Holy Spirit so that you spoke to the people in
infancy and in manhood; I taught you the Book and the Wisdom, the Torah and the
Gospel; and when you made out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My
permission, and you breathed into it, and it became a bird, by My permission; and
you healed the blind and the lepers, by My permission; and you brought forth the
dead, by My permission; and when you showed the Children of Israel clear signs, I
restrained them from [doing harm] to you, but the unbelievers among them said: It
is clear magic.
These undisputed miracles provide Ibn al-Arab with a platform from which to assert that
the recurring Qurnic idiom "by My permission" (bi-idhn) is, in fact, equivalent to the
idiom "by My command" (bi-amr) and, evidently, also to the formula "by the name of God
(bismi- llh), that is, by My Name; and since God's command, as we have seen, is to say to
a thing Be! (kun) and it is, then this command, when issued by a tongue which is activated
by God which, in fact, is God's has the same efficacy as when God speaks it directly:
"By My permission" means "by My command"; since I was your tongue and your
eyes, things came to be by you which are not within the power of the one through
whose tongue I do not say [Be!]. In both cases (i.e., whether it is directly through
My saying or yours), the bringing into existence belongs to Me. And bismi-llh is
the quintessence of kun.66
The resurrection of the dead and the other miraculous deeds of Jesus are pondered also in
chapter fifteen of Ibn al-Arab's Fu al-ikam ("The Gemstones of Wisdoms"), the
chapter which is devoted to the prophetic wisdom of Jesus. The discourse on Jesus revolves
around the Qurnic account of his miracles in general, but special place is given to the
revival of the clay figure of the bird. Jesus' birth is in itself a miraculous event. Naturally, it
is associated with the fact that he is God's Word and also with the fact that he was breathed
into Mary; he is "His Word that He threw into Maryam and a spirit from Him" (4:171). The
association of Jesus with "word" and "spirit" connects him also with God's command.
"s," says Ibn al-Arab, "came [out into the world] to revive the dead, for he was a divine
66
"
". - Al-Futt al-makkiyya, vol. 4, p. 55; it is worth
referring here to Appendix B, where Amad al-Rif is described as reviving fried fish
commanding them to arise "by God's permission."
21
SSviri: Kun
spirit. The revival [however] was God's and the breathing was Jesus'."67. And also: "The
power to revive and heal that s possessed came from the fact that Gabriel breathed him
[while] in the form of a man, therefore s [too] revived the dead in the form of a man. If
Gabriel had not come in the form of a man but in a different form, then s would not have
revived unless he were clothed in that form and came out with it."68 The point that Ibn alArab is making becomes apparent when we juxtapose the statement, "In both cases (i.e.,
whether it is directly through My saying or yours), the bringing into existence belongs to
Me," with the statement "The revival [however] was God's and the breathing was Jesus'." It
also transpires from the statement, "When he revived the dead, it was said about him 'he/not
he'."69
The apophatic statement "he/not he" is characteristic of Ibn al-Arab's portrayal of the aporia
that arises from the quandary who, in fact, is the actor in such miraculous deeds. Ibn al-Arab
ponders this aporia and poses the following question: When the creative kun, by which existents
come into being, is performed by a prophet or by a holy man should the creative act be
ascribed to [the unknowable] God and, therefore, its quiddity would remain unknowable? Or is it
the case that God descends upon the 'form' of he who says kun, in which case saying kun is the
'truth' of the human 'form' upon which God has descended and in which it has appeared? 70 To
put it in a simpler way: who is the one who 'breathes out' the existence-bestowing kun? Is it God
in His essence which is hidden and unknowable or is it God in the 'form' of the human
breather? Some mystics, says Ibn al-Arab, uphold the first opinion; others uphold the second,
and still others remain perplexed and unknowing. In fact, he says, the truth of this question can
only be known and determined by 'taste' (dhawq, i.e., by direct mystical experience). To amplify
this point, he relates an anecdote concerning an act of "revival" performed by Ab Yazd [alBism], a celebrated ninth-century mystic. Ab Yazd, the story goes, inadvertently killed an
ant. Full of sorrow he breathed into the ant and it came back to life. "He immediately knew,"
states Ibn al-Arab, "who the breather was, so he breathed. Thus he was on the line of Jesus." 71
67
" " Ibn al-Arab, Fu al-
ikam, ed. A. A. Afifi, Beirut 1946, p. 139.

68
"
...
" - ibid, p. 140.
69
" "ibid, p. 141.
70
. "

" - ibid, p. 142; note the echoes that one can detect here of the dicta attributed to Sahl
al-Tustar adduced earlier cf. above, p. 10 (around note 38 adjust)
71
. "

22
SSviri: Kun
Ibn al-Arab's solution here, as elsewhere, is apophatic. It is both Ab Yazd and not-Ab Yazd
who performed the miraculous revival. Ab Yazd, indeed, performed the breathing into the dead
creature and it was revived, but it was God's breath which breathed through him. For Ibn alArab, such an act exhibits the ultimate and most intimate relationship between man, as the
perfect man (al-insn al-kmil), and God as Creator. God is, indeed, the breather, and man is the
vehicle through which the divine breath operates in the world; but this does not mean that the
man who breathes is nothing more than a mechanical, instrumental vehicle. "He is," as has been
cited above, "on the divine form, namely, [the form of] the breath of the Merciful."72 The perfect
man is thus the accomplished human "form" that is "on the divine form." His breathing and
command, too, acted out in the plane of human existence, are creative and existentiating; without
such "forms," or, in other words, without accomplished human beings such as prophets and the
friends of God, divine acts would not be made manifest. In the last resort, the "he/not he,"
according to Ibn al-Arab's formula, is the core of the science of the holy men; it is also the
solution, hovering in perplexity between the "yes" and the "no," to the quandary regarding these
extraordinary deeds performed by extraordinary men via speech and breath.
VI Conclusion: some methodological considerations
The study of language as a creative power in Islam is exceedingly complex, rich and offers many
researchable angles that have yet to be chartered. It brings to mind the Qurnic verse, 18:108,
often quoted in association with the immeasurable dimension of the divine words: "Say: if the
sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord
are exhausted even if we bring another sea to its aid." In the attempt to chart the impact of
powerful language in Islam, especially in its esoteric context, the ink has not yet been exhausted.
The range of speculations on the correlation of divine and human speech, and the creative power
that such a correlation implies, is vast; the dialectical strategies employed in order to reconcile
human creative power with the rejection of any trace of theosis especially in a comparative
context (e.g., versus the Christian saint, the Jewish Zaddik or, for that matter, the Shite imm)
this, too, is a subject that requires further research. In this paper I have tried to pursue several key
notions within the works of a few seminal figures who were engaged in pondering the nexus of
language, creation and power, be it divine or human. The authors whose speculations I have cited
in this paper The Brethren of Purity, Ab tim al-Rz, Ibn al-Arab, as well as al-akm al-
" see Ibid., p. 142; Ibn al-Arab considered himself, too, to be a wal on the
line of Jesus on the friends of God who are on the line of Jesus, see M. Chodkiewicz, The
Seal of Saints, pp. 76ff.
72
See above, p. 14 (around note 47 adjust) - Al-Futat al-makkiyya, ch. 198, vol. 4, p. 43.
23
SSviri: Kun
Tirmidh, [Pseudo-] Sahl al-Tustar and Najm al-Dn Kubr offer remarkable views on
language and its mysteries; so much so that each of them would merit a separate in-depth study.
The most exemplary, even heroic, study dedicated to one Islamic personality, or to the collective
literary corpus that bears his name a corpus that contributed immensely to linguistic
esotericism in both fism and Shism is, no doubt, Paul Kraus's study of Jbir ibn ayyn.73
For the pursuit of the multidimensional implications of language scientific, magical, creative,
theurgic; in particular, for its implications and use within almost all pre-Islamic religious and
philosophical systems of the Near East in Late Antiquity; and, consequently, for assessing the
abiding vitality of language speculations and practices in the esoteric scene in Islam for all
these aspects Kraus's work, both as exemplum and data base, is indispensable. By focusing, for
this paper, on kun and equivalent formulae of creative power, it has become evident to me that,
for the study of esoteric language in Islam, two distinct perspectives should be employed in
tandem, as has been masterly done by Kraus; the one: the comparative-historical perspective of
the flow of esoteric ideas and techniques from one culture to another and the developmental lines
that these ideas then took in Islam; the other: the thematic and terminological study of the
various components of these techniques and ideas. Both perspectives call for interdisciplinary
and interactive effort, built on sound philological grounds. As the material exhibited in the
Appendix indicates, interactive effort is called for also for studying the phenomena of power, in
particular the power of the friend of God, within the history of Islam itself. From a historical,
developmental aspect, the material used here suggests to me that the notion of the human
potential to use language as a tool for creation, a notion that reverberates with ideas prevalent in
late-antiquity, can still be heard in early Islamic traditions (second/eighth - third/ninth centuries);
then, during the phase that produced the classical fi compilations (fourth/tenth fifth/eleventh
centuries), such echoes become so dissonant with the concept of the oneness and totality of the
divine power, that they are silenced out; they resurface, however, in the phase during which the
fi Brotherhoods emerge and with them also the growing power of the Sheikh of the arqa
(sixth/twelfth century onwards). The material collected for this paper has convinced me that in
studying the emergence of the fi Brotherhoods in the twelfth-thirteenth centuries, to take this
one historical example, the esoteric subtleties concerning practices, techniques, enigmatic dicta,
speculation and terminology, which the texts reveal, should be assessed along the relevant
historical and sociological data culled from them. Questions concerning the growing power of
the Sheikh and its impact on his followers, as well as on Islamic society at large, would thus
73
See P. Kraus, Jbir ibn ayyn: Contribution a l'histoire des ides scientifiques dans
l'Islam. Vol. 2: Jbir et la science grecque. Cairo 1942 (1986)
24
SSviri: Kun
benefit from a multifaceted platform of study and discussion a platform that is wider-ranging
than has been commonly envisaged or taken up so far.
To sum up: questions concerning the creative power of the wal, to the point of assuming the
divine act of creating by kun, open up for the researcher comparative avenues of historical,
phenomenological, anthropological, philosophical, as well as literary and philological character.
The material that has been culled here, limited by the constraints of the presentation as well as by
the limitations of the presenter, has exposed the significance of such a wide-ranging research for
a better understanding of the phenomena of spiritual power in mystical Islam and their
development. As we have seen, these phenomena are not simply antiquated pieces of
information; rather, in the landscape of the contemporary polemics within Islam, they are part
and parcel of a vital and public discourse concerning spiritual and religious power.
25
SSviri: Kun
Appendix
Prooftexts concerning the power of the wal to existentiate by kun and by its equivalents.
A. Al-Rif, al-burhn al-muayyid, 1408h., pp. 124-26:
Dear men! When you seek help by means of God's servants and friends, do not regard this
help and succor as coming from them, for this is idolatry; rather, ask God [to grant you]
what you need by His love for them; [for the tradition says:]: "Many an unkempt, dustcovered, tattered men, who are driven away at the doors were they to adjure God, He
would grant them [their request]" (this tradition is reported by Amad [ibn anbal] in his
musnad, by Muslim [in his sunan] and by others).74 God gives them power to operate on
existents, makes essences transform for them, and, by His permission, makes them say to a
thing Be and it is. s, peace be with him, created a bird out of clay by God's permission,
revived the dead by God's permission. Our prophet and beloved, the master of all masters
of prophets, Muammad, may peace and the best of prayers be with him, a trunk of a tree
inclined towards him and inanimate objects greeted him; in him God brought together all
the miracles (mujizt) that He had dispersed among the rest of the prophets and
messengers. Then the secrets of his miracle (mujiza) were carried on in the friends [of
God] of this people; for them they became graces (karmt) that are transient, while with
him, may peace be with him, [there remains] the abiding miracle (i.e., the Qurn).75
O, my child! O, my brother! If you say, "God, I ask you by Your Compassion," it is as
though you say, "I ask you by the 'friendship' of your servant Sheikh Manr" or another
one of the friends; for friendship (wilya) is a special privilege ("by His compassion He
privileges whom He wishes" Qur. 2:105, 3:74); therefore, beware of ascribing the power
of the Compassionate to the one for whom he has compassion: the deed and the power and
the might are His, praise be to Him; yet the liaison (wasla, literally: means, medium) is His
compassion by which He has privileged His servant the wal. Therefore, when in need,
approach him [the wal] by God's compassion and the love and protection with which He
has privileged the choicest from among His servants, but affirm God's oneness in every
deed, for He is [a] jealous [God].76
!
" > " < :
> < <
>
.
.
.... ...
.
.
74
References to authoritative adth collections have been probably inserted by the

editor/s or copyist/s.
75
The Qurn is considered the most extraordinary and inimitable of all miracles that were
vouchsafed on prophets; this is why, with regard to Muammad, al-Rif reverts to talking
of a "miracle" (mujiza) in the singular; it is obviously the power of this unique miracle, the
Qurn, God's word, which runs through the awliy and allows them to commit marvelous
deeds, karmt.
76
This double-edged theology of miracles and human power is reminiscent of Ibn alArab's discussion see above, p. 19, around note 60 adjust)
26
SSviri: Kun
: :! !
.)74:3 1:5:8( > < :

.
B. Al-ayyd Muammad, Qaldat al-jawhir fi dhikr al-ghawth al-Rif wa-atbihi alakbir, Beirut 1301, p. 73:
A man asked Sheikh Amad al-Rif: What characterizes the 'established' man (i.e., the
man who has reached stability in his friendship with God)?
He said: He is given the comprehensive power to operate on all existents.
He asked him: And what is its sign?
He said: He would say to the leftover of these [fried] fish here, "Arise, by God's permission,
and move on," and they would arise and move on.
Then the Sheikh pointed to the frying pan that he was holding in his hand and said: O fish,
arise and move on, by God's permission!
No sooner had he said these words than those leftovers jumped into the sea like wholesome
fish.77
: . : :
. :
:
.
C. Ibid, p. 145:
Sheikh Amad al-Rif said to Sheikh Shams al-Dn Muammad, may God sanctify his
heart: O Muammad, the seeker will not attain that which he seeks unless he withdraws
from his lower-self, from the acquired habits of the senses, and from all desires, permitted
or otherwise. Then God will give him the power to operate on the existence of His existents
and worlds. When he gives him power to operate on the existence of His existents and
worlds, He gives him power to operate on absolute existence; and when He gives him
power to operate on absolute existence, then his command becomes God's command, so
that when he says to a thing Be, it is.
:

...! > <
D. al-Sharn, Abd al-Wahhb, Kitb al-abaqt al-Kubr, Cairo 1305, vol.1, p. 141:
He [al-Rif] used to say: when the worshipper is established in the mystical states, he
attains the place of God's proximity, and then his [spiritual] intention (himma) pierces the
seven heavens; as for the [seven] earths, they become like an anklet on his leg; he becomes
an attribute of God's attributes, and there is nothing that he cannot do. God then is pleased
when he is pleased and is displeased when he is displeased.
77
This extraordinary revival story is associated, no doubt, with Qurn 5:110, where Jesus'
miracles are enumerated, and where the phrase "by God's permission" recurs several times
see above, p. 18 around note 59 adjust; clearly, it is also reminiscent of the miraculous
revival of the fish in sra 18: 61, 63; for al-Rif's revival of a child, who was trampled to
death by fis dancing in ecstasy, by saying to him: "Arise, man, sit and pray," see alNabhn, Jmi Karmt al-awliy, Beirut 2001, vol. 1, pp. 438-39.
27
SSviri: Kun
He said: what we say is corroborated by what came down in one of the divine books: God
has said: O sons of Adam! Obey me and I shall obey you, choose me and I shall choose
you, be pleased with me and I shall be pleased with you, love me and I shall love you,
observe me and I shall observe you and I shall make you say to a thing Be! And it will be.
:

: : .
! :
...
E. Ibid, p. 102
Among them (the f Sheikhs) was Mamshdh al-Dnawar.78 He said: For the last
twenty years I have lost my heart with God; and for twenty years, due to good manners
towards God, I have relinquished saying to a thing "Be!" and it was.
One of them said: The meaning of "I have relinquished saying to a thing Be and it was" is
this: Mamshdh was mujb al-dawa (namely, one whose call to God is answered);
whenever he appealed to God, his call was answered. Eventually he lifted all this to God
and went along by God's will not by his own will, and he stopped therefore appealing to
God.79
: ...

...
" " :
.
F. Ibn Ajba, q al-himam f shar al-ikam,80 p. 488-89:
It is written in the [books of] wisdom: "O, My servant! I have made existence and all that it
includes bow down to you. By My support to you, you are I, and by what I have
conferred on you, I am you; therefore, live forever; none shall vie for your place.
O, My servant! I have rent the veil for you and have opened the door for you; I have shown
you the most amazing command; give, therefore, [the message] to your noble people, even
if they name you "magician" or "impostor"; I have given you all created beings let them
say "This is nothing but fraud" (38:7).
O, My servant! I have made you say to a thing Be! And it is. Why worry that they name
you "magician" or "madman" when you drink from the nectar of Kawthar (= a river in
Paradise) while they say, "this is nothing but magic of old" (74:24).
78
Mamshdh al-Dnawar (d. 299/911), a Persian fi master of the 3rd/9thcentury; see on

him al-Sulam, abaqt al-sfiyya, 1960, p. 318-320.
79
Not surprisingly, the section on Mamshdh in al-Sulam's abaqt al-sfiyya does not
record his kun feats; it does record, however, an anecdote according to which by saying "l
ilha ill llh" ("there is no god but God") to a barking dog, Mamshdh brought about the
dog's death; curiously, this is an example for the destructive rather than the creative power
of language; for the topic of relinquishing kun out of courtesy towards God, see above, p. 5,
around note 23 adjust; for the discrimination of classical Sufi literature, see above note 16
80
Ibn Ajba (d. 1809), an 18th-century f author who wrote a popular commentary on the
ikam (= aphorisms) of Ibn Allh al-Iskandar, a 13th-century f of the Shdhiliyya
brotherhood; the above passage is culled from the commentary to the 9th section of Ibn
Allh's communication with God (munjt), which is appended to the end of the ikam.
28
SSviri: Kun
When, in His bounty and kindness, God chooses a servant from among His servants, He
brings him near to Him and elects him to enter the Presence of His holiness. There the
servant becomes as one in God and for God, his command is by God's command until no
fleck [of attention] remains in him for another, and nothing veils him from God. He whom
his Lord loves, whom He elects for the Presence of His holiness, God becomes his ears
and his eyes, his helper and protector in all his circumstances and abodes.
:
...
.

.)7:38( " ":

...)84:74( " ":
...
.
... ...
G. Ibn Ab al-Duny, Kitab al-hawtif, p. 32:
Sufyn ibn Uyayna related:
During the circumambulation [of the Kaba in the ajj] I saw a man handsome, wellattired, and towering above the people. I said to myself: It behooves that such a one will be
holding knowledge. I approached him and said: "Would you teach us something or say
something?" He did not answer till he finished his circumambulation. Then he stood by the
Prayer Place [of Abraham], prayed behind it performing two bowings hastily, and then
turned to us and said: "Do you know what your Lord has said?" We said, "What has our
Lord said?" The one whose name is "the calling voice" (al-htif) said: "I am God the King
who does not cease; come to Me and I shall make you kings who do not cease." Then he
said: "Do you know what your Lord has said?" We said: "What has our Lord said?" He
said: "I am God the living who does not die; come to Me and I shall make you the living
who do not die." Then he said, "Do you know what your Lord has said?" We said, "What
has our Lord said?" He said, "I am God the King who when I wish a thing, I say to it Be
and it is; come to Me and I shall make you [such that] when you wish [a thing] you will say
to it Be and it will be."
: : . :
: : .
> " < : :
" " : " ": ."
" : " :" . " :
" :"
."

Kūn-The Life-Bestowing Word

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KUN the Existence-Bestowing Word in Islamic Mysticism:

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abaqt al-kubr reads as follows:

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genre known as karmt al-awliy19 as well as in hagiographical works in praise of a particular

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experiences. Describing the characteristics of holiness (or, as it is known in fi vocabulary,

" : "" "

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.)88 :36( " " :

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" ;"for the esoteric

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" " Ibn al-Arab, Fu al-

ikam, ed. A. A. Afifi, Beirut 1946, p. 139.

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References to authoritative adth collections have been probably inserted by the

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Mamshdh al-Dnawar (d. 299/911), a Persian fi master of the 3rd/9thcentury; see on

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