Sh. Muhyiddin Ibn al-ʿArabī

29c Encountering the Spiritual Realities of the Prophets

At each level of ascent through the spheres, the two companions meet similar scenes – the philosopher is presented with the dry bones of abstract, rational understanding, and the follower is opened up to the flesh and blood of the imaginal realm. The philosopher remains tied back by his intellect (the word ʿaql comes from the same root as ʿiqāl, fetter), and the follower is opened up to multiple dimensions of the divine self-disclosure by encountering the spiritual realities of the prophets.

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Once the two finish traversing the seven spheres, the philosopher is held back from ascending any farther, for intellect, despite its ability to see into the spiritual realms and to grasp tawhīd, has many limitations. The eye of imagination, however, is receptive to realities far outside the scope of intellect, for, as Ibn al-ʿArabī explains, it opens up to the external World of Imagination itself, the only realm of reality that embraces everything other than God.^[22]