Moses and Khidr: Consciousness Between the Two Seas of Reason and Intuition

Laleh Bakhtiar

Paperback

9781567446791

And an analysis based on Quranic Psychology

There have been many commentaries over the centuries on the story of the meeting of Moses and “someone more knowledgeable than he” at the junction between the two seas, one sweet (reason) and one salty (intuition). However, most of the commentaries assume that the story refers to Prophet Moses ﷺ whereas the Quran does not mention that it was Prophet Moses.

Clear arguments are presented in this analysis that the meeting occurred before Moses was granted prophethood and even questions if the Moses in this story is the Moses who became a prophet. In addition, most commentators assumed that the story took place in real time, whereas according to the analysis it occurred in a dream as “someone more knowledgeable than Moses”, designated as Khidr by most commentators, who is someone who appears in dream visions. He has knowledge of that which proceeds from the Presence of God without human intermediary (‘ilm laduni).

This work contains three commentaries. The first is by Seyyed Qutb, a commentary based on “reason”. The second is by Abd al-Razzak Kashani, a follower of Ibn Arabi, a commentary based on “intuition”. The third commentary is actually a case study of what begins as a narration and quickly becomes an analogue that is analysed based on Quranic psychology.

According to Kashani, Moses is the symbol of the “heart”. In Quranic psychology, the “heart” refers to consciousness (nafs al-mulhamah or the inspired soul). The analysis is, then, the journey of consciousness from the sweet sea to the salty sea, from reason to intuition.

Contents

Part 1: The Sweet Sea of Reason

Part 2: The Salty Sea of Intuition

Part 3: An Analysis Based on Quranic Psychology

- Introduction

- Stage 1 of the Soul: Soul-Body

- Stage 2 of the Soul: Soul Evolving from Animal to Human

- Level 1 of the Greater Struggle

- Level 2 of the Greater Struggle

- Level 3 of the Greater Struggle

- Stage 3 of the Soul: Soul-Spirit/Intellect

- Phase 1 of Purifying Consciousness: Inspiration by Reason

- Phase 2 of Purifying Consciousness: Reason Gives Way to Intuitive Proof

- Phase 3 of Purifying Consciousness: Direct Vision