What is Inner Vision (basira)?

16 Sep

God Almighty says: “Inner visions have come to you from your Lord, so whoever sees clearly, it is to the benefit of his own soul, and whoever is blind, it is to his detriment. And I am not a keeper over you.” (Q Anʿam 6:104).

Outwardly, these insights or inner visions (basaʾir) are demonstrations, proofs, and clarities that result from careful discernment. Inwardly, however, insight is an inner vision (basira) that pierces through the veils of the intellect. Inner vision (basira) perceives pure meanings (maʿani), whereas outer vision (basar) perceives receptacles (awani). God opens the inner vision of the servant whom He loves, and a sign of that opening is the shining of the lights within the witnessing heart. These lights continue to shine forth until they cover the bodily limbs and all directions. Thereupon, boundaries and delimitations come to naught with respect to the servant, and he achieves pure servanthood.

The servant’s first foot upon the Path is receiving inner visions (basaʾir) and clearing away the darkness of existent things from his heart. Thereupon the flashes (al-bawariq) and gleams (al-lawamiʿ) become manifest for him in a single flash (al-lamha). He then becomes firmly fixed in witnessing these lights and gains firmness therein (rusukh).

That first ray of inner vision enables you to witness the proximity of the Real to you. As such, you must observe proper courtesy during their manifestation because in that moment you are in the presence of the Generous and Noble Lord.

Then the servant ascends to the eye of inner vision (ʿayn al-basira), which enables him to witness his own non-existence and the existence of the Real. This eye of inner vision is directly tasted when the body of darkness passes away for you, and you subsist by the Lordly light. Thereafter, the servant ascends from this site of witnessing to witnessing the reality of inner vision (haqq al-basira) where he comes to know the liminal reality of neither non-existence (la inʿidam) nor existence (wa-la wujud). This is the spring source where the opposites unite and where union and separation is directly known, and where the reality of “God was and nothing is alongside Him” is directly discovered. If the servant is able to drink from this overflowing ocean, then he stands at the podium of the very reality of inner vision (ʿayn al-basira), which is the station where he directly witnesses the existence of the Real in the presence of neither non-existence nor existence.

— Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi al-Karkari (qs)

More Teachings

Is the Path for Everyone? Yes — here’s why

Choose a Path for yourself. You can be an Adamic human being by virtue of the inblowing of the Spirit within you…or a bestial human being by virtue of the dominance of your bestial body, so that the Spirit’s influence weakens within you. You will then become ignorant of your reality, and you will not draw out the treasure that is buried within you.

The Path and the Name

The seeker must journey from the Haʾ of the Name back to the Alif, bearing in mind their differing levels. Entering unto the singular Alif is achieved through the attributes of the saint, not through those of the believer. Attaching to the elevation of the Alif enables the knower of God to taste the reality of servanthood.

God’s Light is Real — Not Metaphorical

When you strive against your lower self, the reality of this world becomes evident to you, you know that it is non-existent; that it has no existence except through God. Then God provides you with light, and through that light you come to know how close He is to you.

The Mantle of Divine Majesty

A mantle conceals the upper part, whereas a garment conceals the lower part. The higher part of the divine mantle is an allusion to Lordship (rububiyya). This mantle of Lordship comprises two sides: the outer side is the aspect of Lordship, and inner side is the pre-cosmic reality of the Cloud (al-ʿamaʾ).

Three Levels of Being within the Microcosm and Macrocosm

the sensorial human being is the one whose heart is stamped by the forms of the sense-objects. He is marked by a dominant love for the herebelow. Moreover, the spiritual human being is the one whose inward vision (basira) has opened up so that he perceives what lies beyond the sensorial realm.

Fasting the “White Days” of the Lunar Month

The Prophet (s) recommends fasting during these blessed days, and it is said that Ibrahim (s) fasted them as well. The early Arabs called these days the “White Days” (al-ayyam al-biḍ) because the moon is brightest during this period and it achieves its most complete perfection.

Finding a True Master

With manifold arguments and no shortage of nagging, my teachers, father, family, friends, and loved-ones, sought to hold me back from cutting my worldly ties and setting off alone in search of God and a true master; and in their efforts to do so they would attempt to clinch the matter with various rational and religious objections.

Why is the Divine Name the Mirror of the Spiritual Traveler?

The spiritual traveler’s journey through the Name, however, must begin at the last letter Haʾ, which we call the Haʾ of Divine Identity (haʾ al-huwiyya).

Knowledge of God Inspires Reverential Fear of God

Reflective thought that is devoid of the remembrance God (fikr duna dhikr) is a transgression. For true reflection only occurs in the wake of long periods of remembrance (dhikr tawil), once your time has been filled with the invocation.

“I am the Dot”

And this is the dot that is ascribed to the all-inclusive names and divine realities because it is through the basmala that God takes charge over the servant who has realized the station of servanthood and upon whom His names and attributes have become manifest in both his knowledge and his state.

Yousef Casewit

What is Inner Vision (basira)?

The Niche (al-mishkat)

Ayat al-Nur, the Verse of Light