Contents b. Hagigah 14b — The Four Who Entered the Pardes Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam I — the Names beyond enumeration Mystical Theology I.1 — the opening prayer Page-turn model. A leaf = one chapter here; a long chapter would paginate into several leaves. Use ← → or the arrows.
‹ › Hebrew · Chapter 1 b. Hagigah 14b — The Four Who Entered the Pardes Hebrew (original) English
ת"ר ארבעה נכנסו בפרדס ואלו הן בן עזאי ובן זומא אחר ורבי עקיבא אמר להם ר"ע כשאתם מגיעין אצל אבני שיש טהור אל תאמרו מים מים משום שנאמר (תהלים קא, ז) דובר שקרים לא יכון לנגד עיני
The Rabbis taught: Four entered the orchard, and these are they: Ben Azzai and Ben Zoma, Aher, and Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva said to them: When you reach the stones of pure marble, do not say “water, water,” because it is said (Psalms 101:7), “One who speaks falsehoods shall not be established before my eyes.”°
בן עזאי הציץ ומת עליו הכתוב אומר (תהלים קטז, טו) יקר בעיני ה' המותה לחסידיו בן זומא הציץ ונפגע אחר קיצץ בנטיעות רבי עקיבא יצא בשלום
Ben Azzai gazed and died. Of him Scripture says (Psalms 116:15), “Precious in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his devoted ones.” Ben Zoma gazed and was stricken. Aher cut down the shoots. Rabbi Akiva departed in peace.°
Arabic · Chapter 2 Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam I — the Names beyond enumeration Arabic (original) English
لَمَّا شَاءَ الحَقُّ سُبْحَانَهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَسْمَاؤُهُ الحُسْنَى الَّتِي لاَ يَبْلُغُهَا الإِحْصَاءُ أَنْ يَرَى أَعْيَانَهَا،
When the Real — glory be to Him — willed, in respect of His most beautiful Names, which no enumeration can exhaust, to behold their entities (aʿyān) —°
وَإِنْ شِئْتَ قُلْتَ: أَنْ يَرَى عَيْنَهُ، فِي كَوْنٍ جَامِعٍ يَحْصُرُ الأَمْرَ كُلَّهُ.
or, if you prefer, to behold His own entity (ʿayn) — in a comprehensive engendered being (kawn jāmiʿ) that gathers the whole affair…°
Greek · Chapter 3 Mystical Theology I.1 — the opening prayer Greek (original) English
Τριὰς ὑπερούσιε καὶ ὑπέρθεε καὶ ὑπεράγαθε,
Trinity beyond being and beyond divinity and beyond goodness,°
τῆς Χριστιανῶν ἔφορε θεοσοφίας, ἴθυνον ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν μυστικῶν λογίων ὑπεράγνωστον καὶ ὑπερφαῆ καὶ ἀκροτάτην κορυφήν.
overseer of Christian theosophy, direct us toward the unknown-beyond-unknowing and brilliant-beyond-light and uttermost summit of the mystical oracles.°
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⟩ Layers · b. Hagigah 14b Apparatus Doctrinal / school-divergence (preserved = both). Reading A: the optical-illusion test — the pure marble’s gleam looks like crashing water, and to cry “water, water” names falsely (Ps 101:7) and so destroys (the Scholem / Hai Gaon reading). Reading B: the cosmological-exegetical danger of the upper waters of Genesis 1 (the Halperin reading). The body preserves both without adjudicating.
Sugya · the map of readings 7 Gershom Scholem verified The marble / water-water test is an experiential optical test within genuine visionary ascent: at the sixth palace the pure marble's gleam r… David J. Halperin verified The water-water motif is a literary-exegetical figure for the upper and lower waters of Genesis 1 and the firmament, developed in the synago… Elliot R. Wolfson verified The gazing (hetzitz) that governs each sage's fate is a constitutive visionary-cognitive act within a phenomenology of visionary imagination… James R. Davila verified The tradents who developed this material into the Hekhalot corpus are best read as a specific scribal-mystical class, and within their jurid… Ra'anan S. Boustan verified The pseudepigraphic Rabbi Akiva narrator-frame carries martyrological weight, reading the four-who-entered narrative through the rabbinic ma… Peter Schäfer engine The pardes baraita is not originally a report of merkavah ecstatic ascent but a rabbinic allegory about the dangers of esoteric exegesis of … Open the full map of readings → Layers · Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam I Apparatus School-divergence (preserved = both). Reading A: to behold their entities (aʿyān) — the Names’ plurality. Reading B: to behold His own entity (ʿayn) — the plurality folded into the One. Ibn Arabi offers both (“or, if you prefer”); the inner reading is an aspect of the outer, not a substitution for it.
Sugya · the map of readings 3 Ibn al-'Arabi (Muhyi al-Din) review Read a'yan (plural): the Real wills to behold the entified essences of His Names in their plurality — the Names' entities as the objects of … Ibn al-'Arabi (Muhyi al-Din) review Read 'ayn (singular): the Real beholds His own single entity — the Names' plurality (wahidiyya) folded into one self-witnessing (ahadiyya). … Ibn al-'Arabi (Muhyi al-Din) review The apophatic register operates through what the Names cannot reach by enumeration (la yablughuha al-ihsa'): the kataphatic Names are bounde… Open the full map of readings → Layers · Mystical Theology I.1 Apparatus Doctrinal / school-divergence (preserved = leaning-A-with-note). Reading A: “beyond being / beyond divinity / beyond goodness” — apophatic negation-by-excess. Reading B: “super-essential / super-divine / super-good” — the Latin eminence reading (Eriugena, Aquinas). Rendered “beyond” to foreground the apophatic operation.
Sugya · the map of readings 2 Denys Turner review The triple hyper- (hyperousie / hypertheë / hyperagathe) performs negation-by-excess: each kataphatic predicate (being, divinity, goodness) … Latin Dionysian reception (eminence reading) review The hyper- predicates are read in the eminence key: 'super-essential / super-divine / super-good' — the predicates are affirmed at a higher … Open the full map of readings →