IV

KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE

IT is characteristic 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 corres-
ponds to states of knowledge which go beyond discur-
sive thought. There are also expressions which, though
they do not arise from an attitude of love, none the less
evoke love 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-l1-Hasan ash-Shadhili, give evidence of an
attitude which is fundamentally intellectual. These wri-
ters 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 Rimi, express