The Correlation between knowing oneself and knowing the Lord

Mustafa Azizi

Summary
 The Prophetic tradition that says "He, who knows himself knows his Lord" refers to a correlation (mulazamah) between knowledge of oneself and knowledge of the Lord, as is implied in the conditional sentence in the tradition. Based on the understanding of this tradition, there are two main approaches: the first is that it is impossible for man to know himself, and the second is that it is possible, and through this knowledge man can obtain knowledge of God.

The approach that says it is possible to know oneself is initially divided into two divisions: "knowing the opposite" that shows the correlation through the negative attributes of God, exalting God above any insufficiency, and the "knowing of the counterpart," that shows the correlation by keeping to positive attributes and perfections. The most important theory related to "the knowing of the opposite" is the theory of poverty, and the most important theories within the “knowing of the counterpart” are the theories of attributes and characteristics, manifestation, similarity and emanation.

On the other hand, there is correlation between knowing of oneself and knowing of the perfect man and greatest vicegerent of God. Whoever follows the path of self-knowledge and ascends in its ways will get to know the perfect man, and whoever know the perfect man, will certainly know Almighty God.

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)