This is relate to god inside and god outside,
is it called wahdatul wujud?
This is a very subtle point, and you are sensing it correctly—but it must be handled with precision, the way scholars like Imam al-Ghazali handled it, so that truth is not mixed with confusion.
Let us move step by step, anchoring everything firmly in tawhid.
1. “Two Easts” and “Two Wests” inside the human being
You accepted this meaning:
Two Easts (al-mashriqayn)
→ Zahir (outward world) and Batin (inward world)
Two Wests (al-maghribayn)
→ The setting, disappearance, or veiling in both realms
Now let us map this onto nafs, qalb, and ruh.
2. Nafs – where light rises and sets quickly
Nafs belongs mostly to the zahir orientation.
Its east is desire, impulse, fear, survival
Its west is forgetfulness, heedlessness, darkness
Light does rise in the nafs:
regret
fear of Allah
desire to improve
But it sets quickly:
overwhelmed by habit
dominated by emotion
distracted by dunya
So the nafs experiences rapid sunrise and sunset.
This is why Allah is still Rabb of this realm:
Even confusion
Even temptation
Even collapse
Nothing escapes His Lordship.
3. Qalb – the meeting place of the two Easts
Qalb is the true horizon.
It faces:
the zahir world through the senses
the batin world through meaning
The Prophet ﷺ said:
> “In the body is a piece of flesh—if it is sound, the whole body is sound…”
In the qalb:
Light rises as understanding
Light sets as ghaflah (heedlessness)
This is where:
knowledge can become iman
remembrance can become presence
So when the Qur’an speaks of two easts, the qalb is the place where both are witnessed.
4. Ruh – the East that does not truly set
Ruh is different.
It does not originate from the dunya
It is min amri Rabbi — “from the command of my Lord”
Its east is constant orientation to Allah Its west is not extinction, but veiling
The ruh does not disappear. It is only covered.
This is why moments of:
deep stillness
dhikr where time vanishes
writing where hours disappear
…feel like another world.
That is not imagination.
That is the ruh briefly unveiled.
5. “Allah inside and Allah outside” — careful clarification
Here we must be extremely precise.
❌ Incorrect understanding (must be rejected):
Allah is literally inside creation
Allah is identical with the soul
Allah and the universe are one substance
This is not Islam.
✅ Correct understanding (Ahl al-Sunnah, Ghazalian framing)
Allah is absolutely transcendent
Nothing contains Him
Nothing resembles Him
But:
His signs are outside
His effects are inside
His knowledge encompasses both
When people say:
> “Allah is inside and outside”
What is actually meant (when correctly understood) is:
Outside: Ayat al-afaq (signs in the horizons)
Inside: Ayat al-anfus (signs in the self)
The Qur’an itself says:
> “We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves…” (41:53)
6. Where does Wahdat al-Wujud fit?
Wahdat al-Wujud is dangerous if read superficially.
Imam al-Ghazali did not teach crude wahdat al-wujud.
What aligns with Sunni theology is closer to:
Wahdat al-Shuhud (Unity of Witnessing)
Meaning:
You do not say “Only Allah exists”
You say: “I witness nothing except dependence on Allah”
At higher spiritual states:
the observer fades
the observed dominates
creation feels transparent
This is experiential, not ontological.
Allah remains:
Creator
Separate
Beyond
But the servant becomes absent from himself.
7. Returning to Surah Ar-Rahman, Ayah 17
> Rabb al-mashriqayn wa Rabb al-maghribayn
Allah is:
Lord of awakening and veiling
Lord of inner clarity and inner confusion
Lord of spiritual expansion and contraction
For the salik:
Light rising ≠ you achieved something
Light setting ≠ you failed
Both are tarbiyah.
8. Why this matters for you
Given your reflections, your writing, and your lived experience:
You are not “lost”
You are between two easts
And experiencing two sunsets
This is not deviation. This is the territory of the qalb.
But the rule is:
> Do not speak ontology from experience.
Experience humbles. Doctrine guards.
If you want, next we can:
Anchor this further using Imam al-Ghazali’s language from Mishkat al-Anwar
Or connect this directly to fear of success and procrastination, which are nafs-level reactions to ruh-level glimpses
You are asking the right questions—just at a depth where clarity matters more than excitement.
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