60 AN INTRODUCTION TO SUFI DOCTRINE

of symbolism (Zashbih) which is the complement of
Tanzih.

Sufi masters call the indivisible Unity al-Ahadiyah,
a term derived from ahad, which is the noun meaning
‘““one,” while to the appearance of Unity in its univer-
sal aspects they give the name al-Wahidiyah, derived
from wahid, the adjective meaning “one.” This term
is here translated as “Oneness.”

The supreme and incomparable Unity is without
“aspects’ : it cannot be known at the same time as the
world ; that is, it is the object only of Divine, im-
mediate and undifferentiated Knowledge. Oneness (al-
Wahidiyah) is on the other hand, in a sense a correla-
tive of the Universe and it is in it that the Universe
appears divinely. In each of its aspects—and they are
beyond number—God reveals himself uniquely and
all are integrated in the one Divine Nature.! This dis-
tinction between the Divine Unity and the Divine
Oneness is analogous to the Vedantic distinction bet-
ween Brahma nirguna (Brahma unqualified) and Brahma
saguna (Brahma qualified).

Logically, Unity is at the same time undifferentia-
ted and the principle of all distinctions. As indivisible
unity, in the sense of al-Ahadiyah, it corresponds to
what Hindus call ¢“Non-Duality” (advaita); as One-
ness, in the sense of al-Wahidiyah, it is the positive

1. Various triads can be conceived in the Divine Oneness and 3 is
moreover the number which is the most immediate ‘“‘image’ of Unity. But
none of the triads envisaged by Sufism is strictly analogous to the Christian
Trinity, which is itself logically linked with the descent of the Eternal Word

envisaged according to a perspective wherein consists the intellectual origi-
nality of Christianity.