Departaure of the Gonostic from his homeland

In Chapter 230 of “Futuhat Makkiyah,” Shaykh al-Akbar expounds on the departure of the gnostic from their homeland. This departure signifies the relinquishment of their potential, as the possible realm constitutes their true homeland. Through the process of unveiling, they come to recognize their essence as truth. However, the truth’s homeland lies beyond the bounds of possibility, prompting them to forsake their actual homeland.

During the period when the possible realm served as their abode, and their entity was fixed (ʿayn thābit), they heard the divine command ‘Be.’ Swiftly transitioning into existence, they sought to behold the One who granted them being. Thus, in their pursuit of witnessing the Real, they bid farewell to the realm of non-existence.

Yet, upon actualization, when their eyes opened, the Divine revealed to them the intricacies of existence within the forms of possibility. Paradoxically, they failed to perceive the ultimate truth for which they had come into being. At this juncture, I reflected: “When my gaze falls upon this unfamiliar existence, it evokes a sense of foreignness akin to a stranger recalling their homeland.”

Furthermore, the gnostic expressed a desire to return to non-existence. In their state of non-being, they felt closer to truth than in their current existence. The quest now lies in transitioning from annihilation in truth to permanence within truth—an endeavor that leads back to the non-existent state from which they initially emerged. Thus, the sense of foreignness persists, bestowed upon the individual by divine grant (FM mss 18, p 63b)

[ Futuhat al-Makkiyya - Shaykh Ibn al-Arabi ]