A Comparison Of Sadr Al-Dîn Qunawî’s And Ibn Arabî’s Scheme Of The Rankings Of Existence

Abstract

It is necessary in the theory of Wahdat al-Wujûd, as an attempt at establishing the God-world relationship, to identify the Rankings of Existence (marâtib al-wujûd) in order to identify the ontological rankings of things as well as lay down the aspects of the unity and disparity between the Creator and the creature. In fact, the theory of the “Rankings of Existence” was introduced by Ibn Arabî who sets forth seven such rankings as the following: nondetermination (lâ ta‘ayyun), the first determination (al-ta‘ayyun al-awwal), the second determination (al-ta ‘ayyun al-thânî), the ranking of the spirits (martabah al-arwâh), the world of the similitude (âlam al-mithâl), the ranking of the visible (martabah al-shahâdah), the perfect man (al-insân al-kâmil). The issue of the rankings of existence is very important for Sadra al-Dîn Qunawî for laying down his conception of existence. For these rankings constitute his very view of existence. Qunawî is unclear about the rankings of existence because he sometimes suggests a fivefold classification of existence (non-determination (lâ ta‘ayyun), the world of the meanings (‘âlam al-ma‘ânî), the ranking of the spirits (martabah al-arwâh), the world of the similitude (âlam al-mithâl), the ranking of the visible (martabah alshahâdah), the perfect man (al-insân al-kâmil) and sometimes a sevenfold classification. What I shall try to do here is discuss what the rankings of existence are, how they come into being, whether they are five or seven, showing the relation of Qunawî’s to Ibn Arabî’s scheme of the rankings of existence. In addition, I shall investigate the extent to which this scheme of Qunawî is similar to or different from Ibn Arabî’s.