Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Manuscript title page in English
- Author’s Preface
- I On the Chapters of the Book
- II May the Word cIshq Be Applied to Love for God and from God?
- III Preliminary Considerations
- IV On the Word Love, Its Derivation, and Its Meanings
- V On the Origin and Beginning of Love and Eros
- VI On the Essence and Quiddity of Love
- VII On the Diverse Views People Hold about Love
- VIII On the Description and Character of Eros
- IX On Praiseworthy Love
- X On Those Who Disparaged Love for Some Cause
- XI On the Effects of Love [and Eros] and Their Signs and Symptoms
- XII On the Signs of Love, Including the Sayings of Unimpeachable Spiritual Authorities among the Mystics and the Righteous
- XIII On the Classification of Love according to Our Opinion
- XIV On the Signs of God’s Love for Man
- XV On the Explanation of the Signs of Man’s Love for God
- XVI On the Signs [of the Love] of Those Who Love One Another in God
- XVII On the Love of the Elite among Believers
- XVIII On the Love of the Commonality of Muslims
- XIX On the Love of All Other Animate Beings
- XX On the Meaning of the Word Shahid
- XXL On the Definition of the Perfection of Love
- XXII On Those Who Died of Natural Love
- XXIII On Those Who Killed Themselves for Love
- XXIV On the Death of Divine Lovers
- Bibliography
- Index of Persons, Peoples, and Places
XIII - On the Classification of Love according to Our Opinion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 October 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Manuscript title page in English
- Author’s Preface
- I On the Chapters of the Book
- II May the Word cIshq Be Applied to Love for God and from God?
- III Preliminary Considerations
- IV On the Word Love, Its Derivation, and Its Meanings
- V On the Origin and Beginning of Love and Eros
- VI On the Essence and Quiddity of Love
- VII On the Diverse Views People Hold about Love
- VIII On the Description and Character of Eros
- IX On Praiseworthy Love
- X On Those Who Disparaged Love for Some Cause
- XI On the Effects of Love [and Eros] and Their Signs and Symptoms
- XII On the Signs of Love, Including the Sayings of Unimpeachable Spiritual Authorities among the Mystics and the Righteous
- XIII On the Classification of Love according to Our Opinion
- XIV On the Signs of God’s Love for Man
- XV On the Explanation of the Signs of Man’s Love for God
- XVI On the Signs [of the Love] of Those Who Love One Another in God
- XVII On the Love of the Elite among Believers
- XVIII On the Love of the Commonality of Muslims
- XIX On the Love of All Other Animate Beings
- XX On the Meaning of the Word Shahid
- XXL On the Definition of the Perfection of Love
- XXII On Those Who Died of Natural Love
- XXIII On Those Who Killed Themselves for Love
- XXIV On the Death of Divine Lovers
- Bibliography
- Index of Persons, Peoples, and Places
Summary
The author of this book said: Love, in our opinion, is of six kinds. The first is God's love towards men. The others are the love of men for God, the love of those who love one another in God, the love of the elite among believers, the love of the commonality of Muslims, and the love of all other animate beings.
Regarding God's love towards men there are differences of opinion. Some say that God's love for a man consists in his granting him success in all his affairs. Others hold that God's love for a man is his guiding him to him, so that to say that God loves every believer and every Muslim means only that he has guided every believer and every Muslim to belief and to Islam.[181] Still others maintain that his love for men is like men's love for him and like your love for yourself,for you are his property, and a wise being loves his property. Moreover, your love for him is like his love for you, because your love for him proceeds from his love. It is also said that his love for you is like his love for himself, because man is his act, but his acts are his attributes, and he loves his attributes. Indeed God loves all his creation in its various degrees.
The preferred opinion on this question is that God's love for men has no image in the souls of men, since it is one of his attributes, subsisting in him eternally, and his attributes have no image in our intellects, just as his essence has no image in our intellects. For our intellects are originated in time, and the originated cannot form any image of the Originator or of the mode of his acts. Rather God's love for his loved ones (awliyāʾ) is known by its signs, which are certain characteristics we shall discuss later in the appropriate chapter.
As for man's love for God, [182] it is God's act in the heart of man. But there are differences of opinion regarding it. Some say that it is an attribute of man, since he is a lover and hence possesses the attribute of love. Others, a branch of the Sufis, say that it is an attribute of the beloved.
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- Information
- A Treatise on Mystical Love , pp. 132 - 134Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2020