66 AN INTRODUCTION TO SUFI DOCTRINE

As for the action of ““creating’ in the sense of the
Arabic word khalaga, it is synonymous with “assigning
to each thing its proper measure.” This, transposed
into the metaphysical order, corresponds to the first
determination (fa‘ayyun) of possibilities in the Divine
Intellect. According to this meaning of the word
khalg, ‘“‘creation” can be envisaged as logically preced-
ing the “production to existence” (ijad) of these same
possibilities. Thus cosmogony can be described in this
way: first God ‘“conceives” the possibilities suscepti-
ble of manifestation in a state of perfect simultaneity
and assigns to each its “‘capacity ”’, (qadr) to develop in
a relative mode; then He brings them forth to exis-
tence! by manifesting (zahara) Himself in them. Thus,
in His quality of Creator (Khalig), God operates a
choice of the possibilities to manifest. And so it is
that creation appears inasmuch as it is related to the
Divine Person (an-Nafs) conceived by analogy with the
human person and designated by attributes such as
Judgement (al-hukm), Will (al-iradah) and Action (al-
fi‘l); now the anthropomorphism of these expressions
is only an “allusion” (isharah) and not a limitation of
the perspective in question. There is, however, a meta-
physical perspective which is wider and considers
things in relation to the Infinity of the Divine Essence.
In the sight of the Infinite all possibilities are what

1. Moreover the Divine Naimie of Creator (al-Khaliq) is deemed to be
hierarchically superior to that of Producer (al-Bari) as this in turn is superior
to the Name of He-Who-Gives-form (a/-Musawwir), and this is the order in
which these three Names are enumerated in the Quran (L1V, 23), for form is
secondary in relation to existence. This also shows that the finst ‘determina-

tion >’ of possibilities, according to the metaphysical meaning of the word
khaliq, is beyond form.