Page 28 - Pure Life 40

The Perfect Human in Terms of His Relationship… M. M. Khalfan et al (3
Comprehensiveness of All-
Comprehensiveness) possesses all the
Divine Names. Hence, from one aspect
he possesses an elemental dimension,
and from another a Divine dimension.
That is why it is said that the Perfect
Human who is temporal, is eternal,
perpetual, and everlasting (Ibn ʿArabī,
2024, p. 89). His relation to the world
resembles the ring-stone in relation to the
ring and the pupil of the eye in relation to
the eye (Ibid).
2. Ontological Characteristics
Ontological characteristics are
existential characteristics present in the
Perfect Human, which are related to
three of his ontological dimensions: his
personal dimension, which constitutes
al-Nafas al-Raḥmāni (the Breath of
the All-Merciful), his
ontological relation with God, the
Glorious, which are his stations of
Divine Representation such as the
Greatest Self-disclosure, Greatest
Vicegerency, etc., and his ontological
relation with the creation, which
constitutes of stations of his
sovereignty over the entire creation,
such as the Spirit of the Universe,
Greatest Intercession, and the
Intermediary of Grace.
Literature Review
The ontological characteristics of the
aforementioned three dimensions of the
perfect human have been dealt with
meticulously and accurately in the
works of Ibn ʿArabī (d. 1240), Ṣadr al-
Dīn Qūnawī (d. 1274), and his students
but in bits and pieces. Although they
have mostly delved into the Quranic
verses, there is rarely any mention of
the narrations of the Infallible
Household of the Holy Prophet. Hence
exploring the narrations from the Shi‘i
sources of narrations such as 'Uṣūl al-
Kāfi, al-Iḥtijāj, and ʿUyūn Akhbār al-
Riḍa is significant.
In the works of the later masters of
mysticism, some of the ontological
characteristics of the Perfect Human in
light of the Quran and the Sunnah have
also been taken into consideration.
Examples of masterpieces in this
regard that paved the way for our
research are al-Kalimāt al-Maknūnah
of Fayḍ Kāshāni (d. 1679), Miṣbāḥ
al-Hidāyah of Imam Khomeini (d. 1989)
and two significant works of Ayatullah
Ḥasan Zadeh Amoli with the titles of
Insan-i Kamil az Didgah-i Nahj
al-Balaghah and Nahj al-Wilayah.
Nevertheless, extensive work has
not been done on the subject of our
research despite the abundance of
Quranic verses and narrations of the
Ahl al-Bayt on this subject.
Ontological Characteristics of the
Perfect Human in Terms of His
Relationship with the Universe
1. Rūḥ al-ʿAlam (the spirit of the
universe)
1.1. The Flowing Spirit of the
Universe
In the same way as a body without a
spirit is lifeless, the entire cosmos