To What Extent Can Allah Be Known?

Source: The Learning of the Glorious Qur’an, by Ayatullah Misbah Yazdi page 89.
How far can man understand Allah and get to know Him? Sometimes it is said or written that, based on some ayahs and narratives, Allah can never be known at all, and that we are allowed only to use the attributes and the names, stated in the Qur'an for Allah, in our prayers and conversations, though we do not quite understand their concepts. We are allowed to say Allah is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Knowing, the Wise, etc., especially the terms related to the Attributes of Essence, such as: knowledge, power, life, etc. We are only allowed to use these words, but we do not know what Allah's Knowledge , or Power, means.
On the other hand, there are sayings and writings in which it is said that even Allah's Essence can be known, and they offer proofs too.

The Qur'an's Standpoint Concerning Knowing Allah
In this respect what can we ascribe to the Qur'an? Does it say that Allah can never be known, and that people are allowed to use words which they do not understand, or does it say something else? If it does not say so, then to what extent does it say that man can know Allah? A thorough study of the ayahs concerning Allah's attributes and acts discloses that the Qur'an offers concepts understandable by the people. It speaks of things which it expects the people to comprehend and accept. It is not that Allah uses certain words about Himself and tells the people also to use them without having to understand their meanings. For example, when Allah says: "Does He not Know wha( He created? And He is the Subtile, the Aware". [Suratul-Mulk/14] He addresses the people's conscience and reason: Is it possible that the One Who created the world does not know His creation? Does He want by this to say that you should believe that Allah has "knowledge" according to the meaning which you commonly know for "knowledge", or does He want to establish a word whose meaning we do not know? Is that: must you say that Allah has knowledge, though you cannot understand its meaning?
Undoubtedly, the attributes and the names ascribed by the Qur'an to Allah and offered to the people denote that we are to know Allah through these very attributes and names as we understand them. The Qur'an does not want to say: "these meaningless words concern Allah!"
There are, however, many ayahs in the Qur'an and narratives quoting the infallible and pure Imams (A.S.), to the effect that the meanings of the- Divine attributes and names are not understandable to the common people. It is in the Qur'an that: "Therefore do not give likenesses to Allah...[Suratun-Nahl/74]
He enjoins the people not to say Allah is like this or that, because it would be a similitude, a comparison between two things. This is because it is impossible to describe Allah.Another ayah says:..; Glory be to Allah above what they describe!" [Suratul-Mu'minun/91]
That is, whatever description you give for Allah, in the meanings which you understand, Allah is above that, as the attributes and the meanings you say have no connection to Allah. He is above all these descriptions.
The late `Allameh A1-Fayd, in his book "A1-Mahajjatul-Bayda"', quotes the Imam al-Baqir (A.S.) to have said: "Whomever you describe with your fancies and strictest definitions is but a creature like you and belongs to you ".On the basis of such ayahs and narratives some people thought that none of the attributes we give to Allah is true to Him, and that He cannot be described. Allah alone can describe Himself.

Mistaking the Concept for the Evidence
It seems that those who say that Allah's attributes cannot be understood have mistaken the concept for the evidence. One of the fallacies that occurs to man by way of proving something to somebody is caused through mistaking the concept for the evidence, i.e. the question that belongs to the evidence is ascribed to the concept, of the precept that concerns the concept is ascribed to the evidence.
A concept is the general meaning which we mentally understand, such as the "concepts" of man, light and heat. When we try to explain it we say, for example: man is a living being who has intellect (Rational Being). This meaning can be explained by other meanings. This is called concept.
The evidence is that to whom a given concept is applicable. The outer person, the man, is an evidence. When we explain the concept of fire, we may say that it is a hot substance, or it is a compound of flammable materials with oxygen. But, according to the common definition, we say that fire is a creation that has, by nature, a high temperature. When you imagine the picture of a fire in your mind (that is, something hot), does your mind feel hot? Of course not, because the concept of heat does not burn. That which burns is the evidence ,not the concept. Such kinds of fallacies often occur in discussions and inferences. The versed people can easily recognize the errors of the inference processes. They can even tell why so-and-so philosopher had committed an error on the so-and-so occasion.
In logic there is a technique called "fallacy". Fallacies had been classified so that a thinker may know their kinds and take care not to use them and not to be affected by them.
Nevertheless, those who claim that Allah cannot be known, and that these Attributes are but words which we are allowed to use in respect to Allah, have been afflicted by one of these fallacies. What can be understood from the ayahs and narratives is that the evidences of the Divine Attributes cannot be understood through mental concepts. This does not mean that when these concepts are used in respect of Allah they lose even their original meanings. When we say: "Allah exists", what meaning do we intend? Do we intend the same meaning which is opposite to "non-existence", or some other meaning? When we say: "Allah is Knowing", do we mean that which is opposite to ignorant, or some other meaning? Naturally, we mean their original common meanings. "Allah is Knowing" means the same thing which means not being ignorant. Thus, we do understand the concept of knowledge, but we cannot recognize its evidence.
Knowledge has many evidences. Of the evidences of knowledge we know only few and limited ones. When we ascribe some knowledge to
somebody we ascribe a knowledge similar to ours. But as to the unlimited knowledge, which is the very Essence of Allah, we cannot recognize such an evidence of knowledge. So, that which we cannot understand is the truth of the evidence. We can hear a sound if its wave in certain united frequencies. If it is shorter or longer we will not be able to hear it. Yet, we can imagine a shorter or longer wave. The light which we see must be of a particular wave-length. But if it is shorter or longer, like the ultra violet or the infra red waves, we cannot see them, yet we say that they are lights with shorter or longer wave-lengths. We understand their concept, though we cannot see or hear them. There we say: the wave, and here we say: the wave, too. Here we say: succession, and there we say: succession, too. There we use a mathematical figure, and here we use a mathematical figure, too. The concepts are known, but the evidences of these concepts are unknown to us, because our sight and our hearing are too weak to see such lights or hear such sounds, yet, the concept is the same.
Another example: We understand the concept of knowledge, but the evidences of this knowledge are limited to us, and they appear in particular conditions. Our knowledge is not absolute. Ways of achieving it are limited, too. Through the fingers of our hands we acquire knowledge, and through our eyes and ears, too. Now let us think of a knowledge which has no limits, and it is impossible to acquire, it is the very existence. What concepts can we apply here? The concept of knowledge, the concept of the unattainable, the concept of the unlimited. We do understand these concepts, but we do not recognize their evidences.
Of the evidence of knowledge we recognize only the limited and finite ones. So, when we say: Allah is knowing, the concept in our minds is the same one which we use in respect to our own knowledge, although the evidence of Allah's knowledge is intrinsic, Divine, unlimited, while the evidences of our knowledge are limited and acquired from outside. It is the evidences which differ from one another, not the concepts. In this way, however, these two points of view can be brought closer to one another.

Knowing the Essence of Allah
In the previous discussion I said that Allah's Attributes are His very Essence. Therefore, since we cannot recognize the evidences of the Attributes, likewise we cannot understand the truth of Allah's Essence. The mind has no way to know the One Who has these Attributes, which are Allah's very Essence, as a narrative says: Allah had concealed Himself from the intellects as He concealed Himself from the sight". This concealment concerns, of course, the Divine Essence, not the concepts of the Attributes.
As a matter of fact the function of the mind is to understand the concept. It is the mental faculty which understands the general concepts. The mind can never understand the evidence. The evidence must be found through the experience of the senses, or through an inmate experience, which we call "the intuitive, or visionary, knowledge".
The function of the intellect is to understand only the general concepts. It never recognizes the special, distinguished and ocular thing, except with its general description.
So, we should not expect the mind to recognize the Essence of Allah as an outside ocular being that is the evidence of the Attributes and Names. Nowhere the mind has showed such a talent. Whenever the mind understands something it is of the general concepts. So, how can the Essence of Allah be recognized? Should it be possible to know Him, it must be through the heart, that is, by way of intuitive and visionary knowledge.

Knowing Allah Intuitively?
Is it possible to know Allah visionally, or intuitively? It must be said that this knowledge is of stages. It begins with a weak stage, which is possible for all people, according to our explanation of the ayah of al-Mithaq. It is the weakest stage of the intuitive knowledge, which is present in all human hearts through their intuitive connection with Allah.
The next more perfect stage is seen in the pious believers who are nearer to Allah due to their heart-concentration on worship and obedience to Him. Their innate nature gets more polished, brighter, shiner, stronger, more lucid, more conscious and more active. This stage may happen even to the medium believers.
In the middle of night a believer may be busy with his prayers to Allah, forgetting himself and everything in the world, his heart so near and, so familiar with Allah that his attention is cut off his surroundings. This is the very intuitive natural knowledge which is unveiled in this instance, exposing its light and manifesting animation and activity. The next more perfect stage is the intuitive visionary knowledge which happens to the perfect believers and Awliya'ullah [close servants]. It was a reference to this when the Imam [`Ali] (A.S.) said: "I did not worship a Lord that I did not see."['Tawhid As Saduq", narrative No. 6, p. 100] or when A1-Imam-Al-Husayn (A.S.) said in his prayers on the day of 'Arafah: "Can anybody be so manifest as You are?" [The Invocation of 'Arafah", by Al-'Imam-Al-Husayn (A.S.)] Or: "You made known Yourself to me through everything such that I miss You in nothing;"[The Invocation of 'Arafah", by Al-'Imam-Al-Husayn (A.S.)] i.e. whatever I look at I see You there; and "You are manifest to everything;"[Ibid] i.e. those who want to know'You through other things, perhaps they think that others have a luminosity and a manifestation which You do not have, and they may know You under the gleam of others. What a false notion! Is there any light that is not taken from You? This is a knowledge that happens to Allah's Awliya'. The Imam (A.S.) says: " You had never been absent from my heart so that I should search for You. You had never been unknown to me so that I should seek to know You. Except You there is nothing manifest, unless You Yourself cause it to appear." This is the knowledge specially granted to those who had started their procession in the valley of at-Tawhid and submitted their hearts to Allah's love: "You have removed the others' (effect) from the hearts of those whom You love so that they loved none but You."[Ibid]It is the knowledge confined to Awliya'ullah and the perfect believers. Such people are able to know Allah within the framework of existence. That is, they find themselves under the radiation of the Divine Essence, but they take from it according to their capacities. As a reasonable simile of a concrete matter, bringing it nearer to the mind. Suppose that a beam of light pours forth from a generator like a straight line (disregarding the nature of this light, whether a wave, an atom, or else) connected to its source. If this line finds itself, that is, if it feels and is aware of itself, what does it find? It finds itself a line of light connected to the source: The very moment it finds itself, it finds also its being connected to the source of the light. If it does find itself,it immediately finds the point from which it darts forth. So, it finds the essence of that thing, but within the limit of the point of its connection to it.
Therefore, it is possible to bring about a reconciliation between those who say that the Essence of Allah can be recognized and those who say the contrary. That is, if we say that by recognizing Allah we mean that sort of knowing which takes Him in from all aspects, this is impossible except for Allah Himself. Allah's Essence is limitless. How can a limited being comprehend the limitless Essence of Allah? This kind of knowledge is impossible, not only for me and you, but also for the most honourable creation of Allah, the Prophet (S.A.) and the holy Imam of Waliyyul-'Asr (A.S.) [the 12th Imam], because their existence is also limited, they are created and cannot comprehend the Divine limitless Essence of Allah.
But if by recognizing Allah we mean that some people can reach such high positions that they can find their existent connection with Allah, that a man who can attain to the position in which he can regard his existence as a beam of Allah's light (an incomplete syllogism to make it easier to understand), he is endowed with a visionary knowledge, because his connection is with Allah's Essence.But what kind of connection? We usually think our connections to be materialistic, i.e. we think our connection with others is a kind of connection between two bodies. This kind of connection is impossible with Allah: "He is into things, but not like the entering of things into things." It is a connection which, had it not been for His Will, would have rendered us to nothing.
Once again to use the incomplete syllogism, it resembles the image which you picture in your mind. What kind of connection is there between you and this image? It has been created by your mind, yet it cannot be separated from it. If you tried to separate it from your imagination it would be nothing. Actually, its very consistency depends on its connection with the imagination. That is why the great Islamic philosophers have said that the existence of things is the very connection, not something that is connected. They are the connection itself. However, when one finds oneself in such a state of continually being with Allah, one also finds, in that very point of joining (to say "point" is, of course, incorrect, but we have no other word for it) one's very connection with Allah, though in a very limited manifestation which represents himself. But to want to completely comprehend the Divine Essence, is to want the impossible. Never can a created being obtain such a knowledge of Allah. In other words, to know the Essence of Allah is impossible. But to know the Essence in an aspect, from a particular inlet, from a limited point of view and connection, is possible.
Nevertheless, this also happens in the heart, as the mind is not admitted even to this extent, since its function is confined only to the concepts. Here the talk is about knowing the evidence, the Essence.
Consequently, our answer to the question: Can the Divine Essence be known? is "Yes" in a way, and "No" in the other. If by knowing the Essence of Allah we mean a comprehensive knowledge of His very Essence, it is an impossible knowledge. But if by it we mean that knowledge which visionally occurs in the hearts of Allah's Awliya' and the real gnostics, it is a limited knowledge under the light of existential connection with Allah. This is possible.
As to what is said in the narratives, to the effect that whatever you imagine, no matter how strictly, is but a creature like you, they concluded that you cannot know Allah by your mental power, mental concepts and meanings. This means that Allah, the evidence of the Divine Attributes and Names, which are the very Essence of Allah, cannot be known by means of concepts, which are the creation of the mind.
It seems that this concept is originally taken from an evidence, but everybody, according to the extent of his knowledge of the evidence can make the concept a mirror and a symbol for that evidence. If a person had never been familiar with Allah , neither had any visionary knowledge of Him , whatever he says would be nothing but concepts that refer to an absent being , a being whom he knows to be existing , but he cannot find him.
We may not forget the narration quoted from the Imam as-Sadiq (A.S.) who said: "Whoever alleges that he worships Allah according to the attribute he refers to an absent ...knowing the present himself is before knowing his attribute, and knowing the absents attribute is before knowing him", i.e. your mind extracts concepts from what you know. Such extracted concepts and attributes come later in rank than the essence itself. If we want to know an absentee, we have to know his attributes first in the form of general concepts. So, if it is possible to visionally know Allah-which is actually possible-it will only be in the heart.