Mirror Ciphers in Islamic Mysticism and Wisdom
Ali Babaei, Abdollah Hosaini Eskandiyani
Journal of The Scientific Mysticism and Literature March 10, 2025 DOI: 10.32955/neujsml202512987 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Key points | Argues that the mirror is a foundational cipher in Islamic wisdom and mysticism for expressing how noetic truths appear in the mind, and that the human mind, as a mirror of the unseen world, should strive to become pure wisdom through its rational faculties or to reflect God. |
Abstract
In Islamic wisdom and mysticism, various ciphers and allegories have been used to explain the meanings and teachings of philosophical and mystical issues. As one of the strongest ciphers in the world of wisdom and mysticism, mirror has been used as a cipher for the recognition of noetic truths, from the foundation of Ibn Arabi's theoretical mysticism and the foundation of the originality of existence of personal oneness of Mulla Sadra to the foundation of romantic mysticism, as well as the teachings of religious texts. The explanation of the cipher, analogy and its relationship with the owner of analogy requires special attention to clarify the reason for the cipher of the mirror and in this article by using descriptive-analytical method we want to investigate this issue. In Islamic wisdom, mirror is a cipher that depicts the way concepts appear in the mind, and just as the absent world is a mirror of the suprasensory world, the human mind is also a mirror of the absent world, and it should try to become pure wisdom by relying on its rational faculties or it reflect God.