Know Yourself

The central theme of this book is that there is nothing in existence except the One. According to Ahmed Hulusi, the contingent and the necessary were never separate from one another; in fact, they existed from eternity as one. Indeed, the only difference is that the aspect of unity is real, while that of plurality is illusory. Reality is one, but its names are many and it is this plurality which becomes the cause of multiplicity. He points out further that the only true existence belongs to the One, and it is that One which is visible in all manifestations. ‘Things’ have no existence in themselves except as places of manifestation or reflections of the expressions of primordial Unity.

By presenting intellectual and knowledgeable arguments appropriate for the modern era in this book, Ahmed Hulusi leads the reader through an in-depth study, the purpose of which is to unveil the ultimate secrets and mysteries involved in knowing oneself and knowing Allah.

This book will also address a very important issue that is mostly misinterpreted by the Sufi circles in our present time and this is the concept of the oneness of Allah. Indeed, if you know yourself as nothing, then you truly know your Lord. However, you cannot know your Lord by making yourself nothing. Many a wise man claims that in order to know one's Lord, one must denude oneself of the signs of one's existence, efface identity and finally rid oneself of one's self. This is a big mistake. How can a thing that does not exist try to get rid of its existence? If you think that to know Allah depends on you ridding yourself of yourself; then you are guilty of attributing partners to Allah, the only unforgivable sin, because you are claiming that there is another existence besides Allah, the all-existent.