Hany Ibrahim: The Mysticism of Letters: Language and Being in the Teachings of Ibn al-ʿArabī (Part 1)

Why I thought of giving a course on the letters, علم الحروف, when I began, I mean, ever since when I was a young boy learning and memorizing the Qur'an, I was intrigued by the letters, alif, la, meem, ha, meem, ayin, seen, qaf, alif, la, mra, and the mudud of it, noon, just one letter, qaf, saad, This has always intrigued me, and when I began reading in Sufism, I couldn't find something that fulfilled me about the meanings of these letters.

And when I began reading the writings of the Sheikh Sidi Mouhaddine, Back in 1993, I saw him write the first, after the introduction, the first chapter, he spoke about these letters and how he was given an opening, revealing, and he mentioned it, and we will read it together, and how he learned about the science of the letter.

the letters.

Also, when I began reading, as I said, I couldn't find something to fulfill me, to give me the satisfaction, oh, now I understand the science.

And when I asked many scholars and shiuch and Awliya, they used to tell me this is the science of the saints, the Awliya.

And it is given not rationally, but rather it's given as it was given to the Sheikh Saddam Hussein al-Din by Kashf, unveiling.

For example, I was meditating and contemplating and one letter just opened up to me.

And I went and I explained it to one of the shiur.

And they told me, this is how you understand, and this is how these letters are revealed, the meaning of them.

For example, and it was the harf, the yaa.

And when you look, for example, the divine names, and even the Prophet Muhammad, when he was reciting al-Fatiha, it is narrated that he used to make mad, an extension in the yaa.

so why did he do this and as the sheikh said this comes through meditation contemplation and divine opening it's given to you so for example the letter yeah when someone is making a dhikr a remembrance of God and mentioning Ya Rahim for example the unveiling or the manifestation of the divine essence comes in the Ya so the witnessing and meaning comes through the letter Ya like if you take the letter Ya out of Rahim it's Rahim when you put the Ya it's Rahim merciful kabur you take out the yaq place the yaq kabir okay for example the alif also wasi'a extend al-wasi'a by placing the alif so i found out the letters they're a realm a mystical realm that needs to be addressed and made simple and easy for people to begin understanding and delving in the meanings of the Qur'an.

And so

let's begin.