A Research on "He who Knows Himself Verily Knows the Lord"

The life of man essentially belongs to the spirit, which is a divine, immaterial, and immortal essence, and the origin of all the vital faculties of man such as meditation, contemplation, perception, will, speech, and action. What gradually disintegrates and turns to its origin, earth, after the separation of the spirit from the body is the material aspect of man, not the divine essence of him. The divine or immaterial aspect of man enters the path of returning to its Origin, Allah, from the very moment it is created in the material body, and begins to make its journey toward the Creator. The immaterial essence of man is sometimes referred to by the name of "soul" . Geisary is quoted by Sajjadi (1rrr) as saying: "The spirit of man is called soul when its control over the body is concerned." According to Allama Tabataba'i the spirit is sometimes referred to as "I" which is immaterial and indivisible. Therefore, the "I" of every man refers to his spirit or his soul, which is his substantial divine essence that has control over the body, and all the bodily organs are the instruments through which the orders of the "I" are put in practice. The limited control of the "I'"s will over the body is a sign indicating the absolute control of the Lord's Will over the whole universe. Thus, "he who knows himself verily knows the Lord". This is a linguistic translation of the Arabic text. The nature of "self• knowledge" as well as the way of its acquisition are discussed from a mystic point of view in this article.