My dear readers,
The Call to Know Ourselves
The phrase “know thyself” is deeply embedded in our shared human inheritance. It appears throughout history in the works of philosophers and across the world’s major religions. An old Delphic maxim reads γνῶθι σεαυτόν (gnōthi seauton, “know yourself”). In the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता (Śrīmadbhagavadgītā), we are taught उद्धरेद् आत्मनात्मानं नात्मानम् (uddhared ātmanātmānaṃ nātmānam, “elevate ourselves via our own mind”) in Sāṅkhya-yoga. In the Qurʾān (41:53), we are asked to look for signs within ourselves:
سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْSanurīhim āyātinā fī al-āfāqi wa-fī anfusihim.In time We shall make them fully understand Our messages [through what they perceive] in the utmost horizons [of the universe] and within themselves…
In Muslim philosophy and mysticism, an oft-quoted saying is frequently attributed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:
مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ فَقَدْ عَرَفَ رَبَّهُMan ʿarafa nafsahu fa-qad ʿarafa rabbahu.One who knows himself knows his Lord—or words to that effect.
I could not verify this as a reliable hadith. It is also attributed to Yaḥyā ibn Muʿādh al-Rāzī. I mention it because it often appears in discussions of “knowing oneself,” while hadith scholars do not regard it as an established narration from the Prophet ﷺ.
The Question Behind This Reflection
Why, then, is this post titled “Know Thyself”? Recent months have witnessed untold suffering unleashed by human beings upon one another, and it is almost impossible not to be heartbroken by the state of our world. In this pain, I returned to the conversation between Allah and the angels in the Qurʾān (2:30), in which the angels ask about humanity’s propensity for corruption and bloodshed:
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَنْ يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَWa-idh qāla rabbuka lil-malāʾikati innī jāʿilun fī al-arḍi khalīfatan. Qālū: A-tajʿalu fīhā man yufsidu fīhā wa-yasfiku al-dimāʾa wa-naḥnu nusabbiḥu bi-ḥamdika wa-nuqaddisu laka? Qāla innī aʿlamu mā lā taʿlamūn.AND LO! Thy Sustainer said unto the angels: “Behold, I am about to establish upon earth one who shall inherit it.” They said: “Wilt Thou place on it such as will spread corruption thereon and shed blood? Verily (we do not question but) extol Thy limitless glory, and praise Thee, and hallow Thy name.” [God] answered: “Verily, I know that which you do not know.”
Allah’s reply is what set me thinking: What does Allah know about humankind that the angels did not know—and that people like me do not know either? There must be a truly compelling reason that justifies humanity’s creation and makes the world, with all its turmoil, worthwhile. The hope of discovering something of that answer is the reason for writing this post.
Human Dignity and the Gift of Creation
Allah says in the Qurʾān:
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ وَحَمَلْنَاهُمْ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ وَرَزَقْنَاهُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَفَضَّلْنَاهُمْ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٍ مِمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلًاWa-laqad karramnā banī Ādama wa-ḥamalnāhum fī al-barri wa-al-baḥri wa-razaqnāhum mina al-ṭayyibāti wa-faḍḍalnāhum ʿalā kathīrin mimman khalaqnā tafḍīlā.NOW, INDEED, We have conferred dignity on the children of Adam, and borne them over land and sea, and provided for them sustenance out of the good things of life, and favoured them far above most of Our creation.
The word كَرَّمْنَا may be translated as “We honored” or “We conferred dignity.” It tells us that Allah has bestowed a great honor upon the human race. Reflecting on this āyah, Mawlānā Rūmī writes:
هیچ «کَرَّمْنَا» شنید این آسمان؟که شنید این آدمیِ پُرغَمانHīch “karramnā” shanīd īn āsmān?Ke shanīd īn ādamī-yi pur-ghamān.“We have honored…” was not addressed to the sky,but to the melancholy Adam.
Allah further says in the Qurʾān, in Sūrah Luqmān:
أَلَمْ تَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ سَخَّرَ لَكُمْ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَاهِرَةً وَبَاطِنَةً وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُجَادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَلَا هُدًى وَلَا كِتَابٍ مُنِيرٍA-lam taraw anna Allāha sakhkhara lakum mā fī al-samāwāti wa-mā fī al-arḍi wa-asbagha ʿalaykum niʿamahu ẓāhiratan wa-bāṭinatan, wa-mina al-nāsi man yujādilu fī Allāhi bi-ghayri ʿilmin wa-lā hudan wa-lā kitābin munīr.ARE YOU NOT aware that God has made subservient to you all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth, and has lavished upon you His blessings, both outward and inward? And yet, among men there is many a one that argues about God without having any knowledge [of Him], without any guidance, and without any light-giving revelation.
This āyah, and several others with a similar meaning, also puzzled me. Are the heavens and the earth truly subservient to us? Or are they subservient only to certain people, such as prophets or saints?
Iqbal tells us that the universe is made for us:
نہ تُو زمیں کے لیے ہے نہ آسماں کے لیےجہاں ہے تیرے لیے، تُو نہیں جہاں کے لیےNa tū zamīñ ke liye hai na āsmāñ ke liye;jahāñ hai tere liye, tū nahīñ jahāñ ke liye.You are neither for the earth nor for the skies;the universe is for you, but you are not for the universe.
In another couplet, he qualifies who the true inheritors of this universe are:
عالَم ہے فقط مومنِ جاںباز کی میراثمومن نہیں جو صاحبِ لَوْلَاک نہیں ہےʿĀlam hai faqat momin-e jāñ-bāz kī mīrās;momin nahīñ jo ṣāḥib-e Lawlāk nahīñ hai.That godly man receives the world’s bequest who risks his life in ceaseless quest;that man can claim no faith at all who does not live up to the Prophet’s call.
For the expression لَوْلَاک, see the explanatory note at the end of this post.
Between Clay and the Angels
The Qurʾān repeatedly draws attention to humanity’s lowly biological origins. It describes the human being as created from clay (ṭīn) or dust (turāb), for example:
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍWa-laqad khalaqnā al-insāna min ṣalṣālin min ḥamaʾin masnūn.AND, INDEED, We have created man out of sounding clay, out of dark-slime transmuted.
Yet in Qurʾān 17:70, Allah speaks of humanity’s distinction above most of creation. Some exegetes argue for humanity’s superiority over all creation, including the angels. I believe that human beings as a whole are not superior to the angels, who were created from divine light. Yet Allah has given human beings a potential—His Spirit, as referenced in Qurʾān 38:72—through which we can surpass all created beings, including angels. This deserves another post; if readers would like clarification, I can explain why I understand it this way.
Despite these lowly origins, human beings possess the potential to rise above all creation. This appears in the following poem attributed to Saʿdī:
آدمیزاده طُرفه مَعجونیستاز فِرِشته سِرِشته و ز حَیوانگر کُنَد میل، این شَوَد بِه از اینور کُنَد رای، آن شَوَد پَس از آنĀdamī-zāda ṭurfa maʿjūnī-st,az firishta sirishta va-z ḥayvān.Gar kunad mayl, īn shavad bih az īn;var kunad rāy, ān shavad pas az ān.What a strange elixir is man:a compound of the angel and the animal.Moving toward the former, he can surpass all angels;approaching the latter, he sinks lower than the animals.
Iqbal develops this idea in a couplet rich with historical and literary allusion:
خاک گَشتن مَذهبِ پروانگیستخاک را آب شو که این مَردانگیستKhāk gashtan mazhab-e parwānagī-st;khāk-rā āb shaw ke īn mardānagī-st.To reduce oneself to dust is the destiny of the moth;your courage, O man, lies in overcoming your lowly origins.
The Struggle Against the Lower Self
The key to fulfilling our true destiny, then, is to master our baser instincts rather than allow them to rule us. Yet we so often fail to do this. Allah tells us in Qurʾān 80:17–23:
قُتِلَ الْإِنْسَانُ مَا أَكْفَرَهُQutila al-insānu mā akfarahu.[But only too often] man destroys himself: how stubbornly does he deny the truth!Qurʾān, ʿAbasa 80:17 · Audioمِنْ أَيِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُMin ayyi shayʾin khalaqahu.[Does man ever consider] out of what substance [God] creates him?Qurʾān, ʿAbasa 80:18 · Audioمِنْ نُطْفَةٍ خَلَقَهُ فَقَدَّرَهُMin nuṭfatin khalaqahu fa-qaddarahu.Out of a drop of sperm He creates him, and thereupon determines his nature.Qurʾān, ʿAbasa 80:19 · Audioثُمَّ السَّبِيلَ يَسَّرَهُThumma al-sabīla yassarahu.And then makes it easy for him to go through life;Qurʾān, ʿAbasa 80:20 · Audioثُمَّ أَمَاتَهُ فَأَقْبَرَهُThumma amātahu fa-aqbarahu.And in the end He causes him to die and brings him to the grave;Qurʾān, ʿAbasa 80:21 · Audioثُمَّ إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْشَرَهُThumma idhā shāʾa ansharahu.And then, if it be His will, He shall raise him again to life,Qurʾān, ʿAbasa 80:22 · Audioكَلَّا لَمَّا يَقْضِ مَا أَمَرَهُKallā lammā yaqḍi mā amarahu.Nay, but [man] has never yet fulfilled what He has enjoined upon him!Qurʾān, ʿAbasa 80:23 · Audio
Verily, we have not fulfilled what was enjoined upon us. We were created for a higher purpose, not to indulge our baser selves, and for a permanent resting place—not for this ephemeral world. Jāmī laments in one of his famous works:
دِلا، تا کِی در این کاخِ مَجازیکُنی مانندِ طِفلان خاکبازی؟تُویی آن دَستپَروَر مُرغِ گُستاخکه بودَت آشیان بیرون از این کاخDilā, tā kay dar īn kākh-e majāzī,kunī mānand-e ṭiflān khāk-bāzī?Tuʾī ān dast-parwar murgh-e gustākh,ke būdat āshiyān bīrūn az īn kākh.How long, my soul, in this false world wilt thouPursue the childish play which charms thee now?Thou, dainty bird, wast bred with care to rest,Far from this vain earth, in a sweeter nest.
The question we must ask ourselves is, indeed: How much longer?
Explanatory Note: لَوْلَاكَ
The expression لَوْلَاكَ means “were it not for you.” It is a literary reference to a well-known hadith qudsī in which Allah is reported to have said to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:
لَوْلَاكَ لَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْأَفْلَاكَLawlāka la-mā khalaqtu al-aflāka.Were it not for you, I would not have created the heavens.
This hadith is the subject of considerable debate. The wording is not regarded as an authentic narration from the Prophet ﷺ. Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī is quoted as saying: “Though Ibn Isḥāq al-Ṣaghānī says this is fabricated, even so I say its meaning is authentic even if it is not a hadith.” See the reference and further discussion.
