Ibn Arabi on Silence – Abdur Rahman’s Corner
Peace, one and all…
As an accompaniment to Dr. Walead Mosaad’s excellent lecture series on the spiritual dimensions of fasting, I wanted to share the relevant passages from Ibn Arabi’s book, Hilyat al-Abdal (translated as The Four Pillars of Spiritual Transformation).
Silence (samt)
There are two kinds of silence: firstly, silence of the tongue, which consists of not speaking of other than God the Exalted with other than God the Exalted, altogether; and secondly, silence of the heart, which consists of refraining from all thought occurring in the soul that concerns any created thing at all. The one whose tongue is silent, even if his heart is not, lightens his burden. When someone’s tongue and heart are both silent, his inmost consciousness (sirr) is manifest and his Lord reveals Himself to him. The one whose heart is silent but whose tongue is not is a speaker with the tongue of wisdom. The one who does not possess either a silent tongue or a silent heart is under the domination of Satan and an object of his ridicule.
The silence of the tongue is one of the abodes of everyone and of all seekers (sālikūn). The silence of the heart is one of the [distinctive] qualities of those brought close (muqarrabūn), who are people of true contemplation. The state that silence brings the seekers is safety from all harm, while the state that it brings those brought close is intimate converse [with God]. He who maintains silence in all states has no speech except with his Lord. Complete silence of the tongue within is impossible for the human being: thus if he withdraws from talking with others in favour of converse with his Lord, he becomes delivered, brought close, one who is endorsed in his speech when he speaks, and does so according to what is proper and hits the mark, for he speaks “out of God” (‘an
Allāh), exalted is He. God has said with regard to His Prophet: “And he does not speak out of passion.” Speaking according to what is proper is the fruit of silence, which is refraining from error. Conversing with other than God is an error in every case, and speaking of other than God is bad in every respect. God says: “There is no good in much of their secret
discourse, except for one who enjoins alms-giving or what is equitable or promotes reconciliation amongst people”, observing all their conditions. God also says: “They were given no order except to worship God, pure in devotion to Him.” Connected to the state of silence is the station of Inspiration (wahy), in its various forms.
Silence bequeaths knowledge of God (Allāh), exalted is He.
