From Remembrance to Presence: Exploring the Degrees of Divine Awareness
Introduction: Redefining the Meaning of Remembrance
In common understanding, “remembrance” is often viewed as a mental process of recalling something that has passed, such as retrieving an image or an event from the past. However, in the depths of spiritual experience, remembrance takes on a deeper and more vital meaning. It is not merely recollection, but “invocation” — that is, bringing the reality of a thing into active and effective presence within awareness, in a qualitative shift that transforms the human being from a passive rememberer of the past into an active participant in drawing truth into the present. This subtle distinction is not a play on words, but the cornerstone upon which the entire structure of spiritual awareness is built. The essence of true remembrance is the “revitalization of present invocation.” A person can only remember what has already occurred, because what has not occurred is impossible and therefore cannot be invoked. From this standpoint, our journey begins by exploring the fundamental difference between remembering the outward form of events and remembering their inner truth.
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1. The Essence of True Remembrance: Between Form and Truth
Activating spiritual memory does not lie in retrieving the details of events, but in the ability to transcend their outward manifestations (forms) and penetrate their latent essence (truth). This distinction is not merely an intellectual exercise, but the core of spiritual perception itself, for focusing on truths rather than forms is what opens the doors of insight.
To clarify this distinction, eloquent illustrative examples are presented:
- The incident example: If a group of people witnesses an incident, some may recall its formal details precisely — the color of the car, the speed of events, the sound of the collision. Yet this “formal remembrance” may overlook the “truth” of what occurred, such as the truth of heedlessness that led to the incident or the fragility of existence revealed within it. Only the witness who perceives this truth has truly remembered.
- The greeting example: The act of raising the hand in greeting is a “form” bound to a specific temporal, spatial, and cultural framework, and may not be understood in another context. The “truth” of the act — conveying peace and safety — however, is a trans-dimensional reality that can be perceived even without the accompanying form.
From this we derive a fundamental principle: “The essence of remembrance is remembering the truth of the matter.” Spiritual memory is not concerned with recalling the superficial forms of contextual molds, but with the truth of what occurred. When we remember the stories of past nations, the lesson does not lie in knowing their names or the outward details of their actions, but in grasping the essential truth that governed their fate — such as the truth that following desire led them to a dire end. Perceiving this truth is true remembrance, which illuminates insight. This understanding of the truths of others naturally leads us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and how our inner truths manifest through our actions, which brings us to the concept of “shākilah” (inner disposition).
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2. Embodying Truth: From Disposition to the Perfection of Embodiment
Once it is understood that the essence of awareness lies in focusing on truth rather than form, the next stage is to understand how this truth manifests in the world through our existence. Our actions and forms are not random; they are direct expressions of our inner reality, as indicated by the noble verse: “Say: each acts according to his own disposition” [Al-Isrāʾ: 84]. This verse is a strategic key to understanding that the outward form is the embodiment of the inner essence.
Here emerges the concept of “beautiful embodiment.” This term does not refer to physical beauty, but carries a deeper and more precise meaning: “the completion of embodiment.” Completing our embodiment is the explicit equivalent of “invoking the Divine Names,” and it is the highest divine purpose of human existence. The purpose of our existence is not unveiled until our form is completed in a way that fully expresses our truth.
To illustrate this, the speaker offers an analogy: for a speaker to convey a meaning to an audience, it is not enough for the meaning to be present in the mind; it must be properly formed through sentences, letters, and words. The perfection of formal expression is the only means by which meaning can appear fully. Likewise, the human being cannot fulfill the purpose of existence or behold the “complete picture” until embodiment is completed and form becomes a perfect expression of truth. This striving toward the completion of embodiment naturally leads us to understand the realms in which divine truths manifest — known as the Divine Presences.
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3. The Divine Presence: The Realm of Truth and Its Central Axis
The “Divine Presence” is not a physical place, but a spiritual field or realm in which a specific divine truth manifests and concentrates. Understanding this cosmic structure is essential for perceiving how divine manifestations are organized and interact. Every divine truth, such as wisdom or mercy, has its own presence.
Each presence has a “pole” (quṭb), which functions as a center or axis of attraction and concentration for that truth. For example, the “Presence of the Wise” is the realm to which all forms and actions expressing divine wisdom return and from which they emanate. The pole — the Name “The Wise” in this case — grants this presence its coherence and draws all related manifestations into existence.
A subtle hierarchical relationship governs this system:
- The presence is قائم upon the pole.
- The pole is قائم upon God.
- God is the One who establishes the poles.
This can be understood through the analogy of the body. What grants the body its coherent existence is not merely functional meaning, but the reality of bodily perfection, which operates as an existential pole. Without this perfection that draws the organs into an integrated unity, the body could not exist at all. Likewise, the pole is the essential truth that summons the presence into existence and makes the manifestation of its realities possible.
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4. The Absolute Source of Truth: Between Truth and Illusion
To fully understand the presence and its pole, we must return to the first principle: the nature of truth itself and its supreme source. Spiritual metaphysics is founded upon a fundamental rule that distinguishes truth from illusion: “What issues from God is real, and what does not issue from Him is illusory.”
- The source: God is the source that has no source. This may appear to be a “logical exception,” but it is a necessary one, for it is the standard by which all truths are measured.
- Illusion: Accordingly, illusion is defined as “that which has no extension to the Truth.” Any idea, existence, or action that is not connected to the divine source is, in essence, illusory.
This principle finds its deepest expression in the testimony of unity: “There is no god but God.” This testimony is not merely a religious declaration, but a profound existential affirmation.
- It negates all forms of illusory divinity that did not issue from the true source.
- More profoundly, absolute negation of divinity can only be performed by the true God Himself. A limited being, regardless of its stature, cannot encompass existence in order to negate every possible deity with certainty. Such comprehensive negation presupposes an absolute and all-encompassing nature — qualities belonging only to the God who is affirmed.
Understanding that truth is that which has extension and connection to God leads us to the practical path of realizing this connection in life, which is clarified in the final section.
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5. The Path of Connection: From Focus to Naming
After journeying through understanding remembrance as recalling truth, embodiment as manifesting that truth, presence as the realm of manifestation, and Truth as the ultimate source, we arrive at the practical path that unites all these concepts: the path of connection to God.
The presence is a means of connection, and this connection requires one essential act: focus. Focus here is not mere mental attention, but a profound spiritual process of filling one’s soul with the presence of a specific divine Name. When the seeker focuses on invoking the meaning of the Name “The Wise,” for example, the entire being becomes filled with that truth.
The ultimate result of this concentrated focus is a deep existential transformation: the human being becomes “named.” That is, one becomes connected to a Divine Name within oneself, transforming the human entity into a living embodiment of that Name. Whoever connects with “The Wise” becomes wise in actions, perceptions, and decisions.
This is not merely a result, but the completion of the journey itself, where form and truth unite completely. The “completion of embodiment” is the perfection of outward form, and “naming” is the full realization of inward truth. Here, form becomes a clear mirror reflecting truth without veil, and the circle that began at the start of the article is completed. As the eloquent expression states: “When the attribute intensifies, you become the one described by it.”
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Conclusion: The Journey of Complete Awareness
This has been an intellectual and spiritual journey that began by redefining remembrance, moving from superficial recollection of forms to the perception of essential truth. From there, we learned that this truth must be embodied through the completion of existence to realize the divine purpose of creation. This pursuit led us to understand the Divine Presence as the realm of manifestation, and connection through focusing on the Divine Names. Ultimately, the circle is completed when form and truth unite, and the human being becomes, through this connection, a living embodiment and bearer of a Divine Name — thus fulfilling the journey of complete awareness from remembrance to presence.
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