Ibn Arabi Unveiling the Secret of the Most Beautiful Nmes

Through revelation God taught us His Most Beautiful Names so that we could call upon Him and remember Him with them. We do this by means of meditation or remembrance of God (dhikr). Ibn Arabi describes the process as connection, realization and assuming the trait that can be understood as knowledge, process and action. We can only speak of assuming the character trait of a name when we are true servants of God, truly conscious of the fact that everything comes from Him and returns to Him. If we are not in a state of servantness as we begin to assume the qualities of the names, any assumption of a name is only illusory and a pretension. When we are faced with a special need, we enter the phase of the connection to the name whereby we gain knowledge of the particular quality of a specific name. We do this either through an internal or external verbal remembrance (dhikr). The connection expresses a request that the quality of the name be granted to us. The remembrance is not a mechanical repetition. It is a conscious remembrance that comes with each breath. Our remembrance may be accompanied by rhythmic physical movements, breathing awareness or by listing or visualizing. We invoke the name preceded by ya, not al.