Three levels of Knowledge 3xIlm

1) There is the person who possesses intellect (dhu'l-aql, the man of 'ilm al-
yaqin); he is the one who conceives the creatural as being what is manifest,
apparent, exoteric and the Divine as being what is concealed, hidden, esoteric.
For such a person, the Divine is a mirror reflecting the creature but he does
not see the mirror; he only sees the form that is manifested therein.
2) There is the person who possesses vision (dhu'l'ayn, the man of 'ayn al-
yaqin). And conversely, unlike the first, he sees the Divine as what is manifest,
visible; and the creatural as what is concealed, hidden, not apparent. Well
then, for this person the creatural is the mirror reflecting the divinity, but he
as well does not see the mirror; he only sees the form that is manifested
therein.
3) Then there is the person who at once possesses intellect and vision (the man
of haqq al-yaqin). He is the hakim mota'allih, the mystic theosopher, the
"hieratic" in the Neoplatonic sense of the word. This person simultaneously
sees the divine in the creature, the One in the many; and the creatural in the
divine, the multiplicity of theophanies in the Unitude that "theophanises"
itself. He identifies the unitive Act of Being (1 x 1 x 1, etc.) in all the beings
actualised in as many monads or unities. The henadic unity that monadises all
the monads and constitutes all the beings in multiple unities does not blind
him to the multiplicity of epiphanic forms (mazahir) in which this Unitude of
the primordial One is epiphanised. Here the mirrors reflect each other.13
Although this person (a disciple of Suhravardi and Ibn Arabi) has read neither
Plato's Parmenides nor its interpretation by Proclus, he finds himself at the
very stage that Proclus' initiatory teaching -- revealing the secret in the
theogony of theParmenides -- wishes to lead the initiate (myste). This
observation will prove to be important for the dénouement of the paradox of
monotheism.

16th Rajab al-Assab 1440H

The Three Levels of Knowledge

During the Holy month of Rajab al-Assab, our focus naturally turns towards our
spirituality and our relationship with Allah (SWT). In this series of meditations, we
will focus on the tafseer of Surah at-Takathur, in order to help us with this shift in
our focus, so that we can all reap the rewards of this Holy month, as much as
possible, in sha Allah.

Yesterday we discussed the benefits of knowledge by meditating on the wisdom

from Amirul Mumineen (AS). Today, we will examine the three levels of knowledge
in Islam. These levels are:

1. Ilmal Yaqeen (knowing through association)

2. Aynal Yaqeen (knowing through perception)

3. Haqul Yaqeen (knowing through experience)

In order to explain these different levels, let us use the following example.

A person is walking, and they see smoke. They immediately assume that there
must be a fire nearby, as they know that smoke comes from fire and, consequently,
have associated that understanding with the smoke that they are seeing.

They know from the smoke that there is a fire and have ilmal yaqeen.

They then walk to where the smoke is coming from and they see the fire itself.
They now have perceived this fire through their own senses and know that it is
there.

This perception leads them to having aynal yaqeen, as they have seen it
themselves.

Finally, although very unlikely, they then want to test that this fire is real and place
their finger close to it. Their finger gets burned by the fire and they have
experienced the fire itself.

This experience of being burned by the fire gives them haqul yaqeen.

We go through these three levels of knowing in anything that we learn: first we

know of it, then we perceive it with a surface level understanding and, finally, it
becomes a part of us as we experience it in our own life.

May Allah (SWT) guide us towards deepening our own knowing so that we have a
deeper understanding of this world, through ilmal yaqeen, aynul yaqeen and haqul
yaqeen. Aamin.

All three levels of YAQEEN are given in this Surah

Surah 102. At-Takaathur – The Relentless Greed

[Author’s Note] This is the 102nd Surah and it has 8 verses. ‘Takathur’ denotes the
greed for amassing more and more wealth and material possessions, mutual
rivalry
and show-off, and racing after ‘things’ rather than good deeds.

With the Glorious Name of God, the Instant and Sustaining Source of all Mercy and
Kindness

102:1 Relentless greed of material gains distracts you [from the real purpose of
life.
57:20]
102:2 Until you go down to your graves.
102:3 Nay! But you will come to know!
102:4 Again! You will come to know.
102:5 Nay, only if you could have certain knowledge.
102:6 You would see it now, the Insurmountable Barrier (in the way of your
progress).
[29:54, 79:36, 82:16]
102:7 Finally, you will see it with sure vision.
102:8 Then, on that Day you will be questioned what you did with the boon of life.
[21:13]

17th Rajab al-Assab 1440H

Ilmal Yaqeen – The First Level of Spiritual Knowledge

During the Holy month of Rajab al-Assab, our focus naturally turns towards our
spirituality and our relationship with Allah (SWT). In this series of meditations, we
will focus on the tafseer of Surah at-Takathur, in order to help us with this shift in
our focus, so that we can all reap the rewards of this Holy month, as much as
possible, in sha Allah.

Yesterday we discussed the three levels of knowing in Islam, ilmal yaqeen, aynul
yaqeen and haqul yaqeen. We used the example of a person seeing a fire to explain
the different levels of knowing.

Although it is easy to have these levels of knowing about something tangible in this
world, how can we have the same level of knowing about something intangible that
is not in this world?

Whilst we can see the smoke, the fire and feel the heat of a fire in this world, how
can we have the same depth of knowing about the greatest fire of all, the hell-fire,
when we can neither see its smoke, the hell-fire itself or feel its heat in this world?

In the fifth and sixth ayahs of Surah-at-Takathur, Allah (SWT) begins to explain this
to us.
Allah (SWT) says ‘Kalla law ta'lamoona 'ilmal yaqeen. Latara-wun nal jaheem’ (Nay,
were ye to know with certainty of mind, (ye would beware!) Ye shall certainly see
Hell-Fire!).

In these ayahs, Allah (SWT) mentions the first level of knowing, ilmal yaqeen and
says that if we had certainty of mind, we would beware as we would see the Hell-
fire (by seeing the smoke from it). This smoke is evidence of the hell-fire and the
more smoke that we see, the closer we know that we are to it, as we associate
more smoke with closeness to a fire.

How exactly would we see this smoke? Very simply through our acts of Taqathur,
the acts which take us further from Allah (SWT) and, consequently, closer to the
smoke that tells us we are close to the hell-fire.

May Allah (SWT) give us the spiritual understanding to have certainty in our mind
regarding that which is Taqathur and take us closer to the hell-fire. May we use
ilmal yaqeen to associate acts of Taqathur with closeness to the hell-fire, so that we
abstain from them and, consequently, distance our self in this world from that
which brings us close to the hell-fire and, on the day of judgment itself, be saved
from the hell-fire itself. Aami