Description
The Attributes of Divine Perfection – The Concept of God in Islam
Prologue
The subject matter of this book is derived from “The Most Sublime Purpose in Explaining the Attributes of Divine Perfection”, the treatise by Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali (450-505 AH/1058-1111 AD). The text, reproduced in Arabic and English translation, is complemented by the artwork of the prominent Arab artist and scholar, Dr. Ahmed Moustafa, whose work The Attributes Of Divine Perfection reproduced in this book is explained in the section entitled The Kabah (The Cube) – Symbol Of Truth For Mankind.
It should be stated from the outset that Dr. Moustafa’s representation of The Attributes Of Divine Perfection is not a merely subjective or imaginative illustration but an objective representation of the inherent relationship between the One and the Many, and, more specifically, an embodiment of the well known prophetic hadith: “God (SWT) has ninety-nine names, one hundred minus one. Whoever enumerates them enters Paradise.”
The phrase “one hundred minus one” is not simply a poetic or rhetorical expression synonymous with “ninety-nine”. Superficial counting of the inner cubes might lead one to believe that there are a hundred, not ninety-nine, but the diagrams in the following section clarify how a comprehensive view of the cube (and the various interrelationships between segments derived from different
diagonals) demonstrate that what appears to be the hundredth inner cube of one segment is actually the folding cornerstone of another segment which has been opened in a complementary direction. In other words, the apparent hundredth cube forming the base cube of any opened segment needs to be subtracted from the superficial count of one hundred cubes within that segment once we come to understand the unifying law of the inner property of the cube. Thus, it becomes evident that the phrase “one hundred minus one” is not a rhetorical embellishment but a precise reference to a mathematical reality.
Dr. Moustafa’s depiction of The Attributes Of Divine Perfection is therefore not in any sense a personal conception, invention, speculation or conjecture but is rather a disclosure, unlocking or unveiling of sacred knowledge, an objective rationale uniting the meaning of the hadith with a form which explains, expresses and illuminates it. Its impact lies in the fact that its form is perfectly wedded to its meaning.
The visual depiction of The Attributes Of Divine Perfection makes the relationship between Unity and Multiplicity immediately accessible and palatable to us through its concrete and tangible form, even though there are many layers of meaning which will only reveal themselves to us through prolonged study, contemplation, devotional practice and action.
Dr. Moustafa’s composition illuminates the paradox of the simultaneous Absence and Presence of God, “utterly remote in His limitless glory” (Qur’ān 59:23), yet “closer to you than your jugular vein” (Qur’ān 50:16).
Based on extracts of an earlier essay by Muhammad Jamīl Thomas (Jeremy Henzell-Thomas)
230 pages, including more than 60 compositions, many of them unique to this publication. In Arabic and English.
