ABSTRACT
Sufism is fundamentally concerned with knowledge, truth and reality. There are two aspects to God’s knowledge, one that refers to His knowledge of Himself and one that refers to His knowledge of His creation. The realities in the divine knowledge become individuated through the Holy Emanation. These realities are called Permanent Archetypes. Qaysari says: Permanent Archetypes have two aspects: They are the forms of divine names and the realities of external entities. The Archetypes remain in the realm of the Unseen, for they are governed by the names the Hidden and the First and do not partake in existence; they remain in the state of sheer potentiality. The ontological status of the Permanent Archetypes is superior to that of the quiddities contemplated in the mind, for it is possible to conceive of a thing without its realization in the external world.
