You cannot speak of the ‘I’ unless you speak of the ‘you’, since you are delimited by encounter, i.e. meeting face to face. One meets the other, thus both are defined. You are formed by relationship, and if you are frantically egocentric, you perceive the other as a mirror of you. Whenever you do not have pathological preference for yourself you accept the other to a certain extent, though you might not embrace him/her, however the other makes you in your depth and makes himself [/herself] at the same time through you. And whenever the other welcomes you in truth, you both transcend to above. Then God would be [truly] the maker of [both of] you, while each of you is formed through perceiving God, thus you see God in the other or you see something divine in him/[her].
You cannot relate to God unless you bring the other near God as if you are offering a sacrifice, i.e. you draw the other to God in order that you receive him/[her] from God. Thus both of you become like “the day when it lights up”. (Sūrat Al-Layl [The Night]: 2)
The others are not a dark mass. Every person in the others’ group becomes lighted whenever he/[she] knows the others as persons interlaced through love, or at the least through the vigilance of each soul, as the Orthodox say in their liturgy. Thus, everyone is in the heart of the other and therefore is distinguished from the congestion of the mass in order to perceive each person of the group as unique. This is the difference between a group of people and the flock of sheep. You count every animal in the flock and then you add the one to the other and that would be a matter of calculation. None of the flock differs from the other and in case you want to distinguish any of them you need to stamp it on the skin. As for human beings, each is unique and there is not another identical person to anyone. Seven billion people are today and none of them is identical with another. Uniqueness is a human attribute and God sees everyone as unique not only in the face but also in the heart. God does not have patterns for human souls, and it is not the case that the one soul dissolves in the other in order to unite with it.
This was a heresy that the church considered infidel in order to safeguard the unique person. In the Kingdom, we remain in encounter and in love, but we do not dissolve in one another since love sustains the other and it does not dissolve him/[her].
There is no aversion in your independence from the other. Independence consolidates the self and the other. Human souls are not compiled corpses like the bodies. They are always in encounter because of the grace poured upon each of them. God embraces them in God’s life-giving tenderness without overlooking any of them lest it dies.
Minds are different and they disagree most of the times, since the mind is subject of both confounding and perturbation and it gets harmed by other minds, which renounce it. Humanity is grounded on opposing or contradictory variations. Thus, the mind gets weakened, in addition to the lack of its initial absolute, and this is explained by the dissimilarity of minds.
However, the human being is not ‘other’ because of his/[her] mind. In his/[her] general formation the other is different than you. He/[she] might be your neighbor [or friend] even when you disagree in opinion and you do not despise him/[her] because of his/[her] being different. Little minds do this. For the wise, intellect is not a reason for sentimental or existential collision since existence, in its depth, is about the heart. This was true for the Biblical aspect, in its two testaments, and also for our Fathers. You recognize the encountering self as the other since it differs from you to the extent of love. Nevertheless, your self embraces the other’s self whenever you can give freely, without assuming control over the others in your depth. “So, exhort, you are a mere exhorter; you are not supposed to dominate them” (Sūrat Al-Ghāshiyah [The Overwhelming Day]: 21-22)
This is the meaning of dialogue, which is founded on the recognition that the other exists, for he/[she] is a talking creature, and because the other loves you at the times of need. The other acknowledges you and you acknowledge him/[her] in order that the light might be manifested through the encounter. Intellect is not about prescription. It is an encounter. The other serves the truth that you carry, and the truth flourishes through the other. The truth is manifested through the affiliation of the different consciences whether intentionally or unintentionally through love, and both help in interconnecting the truths, one to the other.
Love presumes your belief that God has entrusted you some things (from Him) and has entrusted your dialogue partner also some things (from Him) and these things could have been convergent. Love, in this sense, is a bridge between a depth and another though views might differ. Whenever we approach [the other] in wisdom and great purity, diversity does not cause enmity since you know that the other is God’s beloved one like you are and that the other may be the means that brings a great heart and a limited mind together. Thus, you embrace the other with supplication and set him/[her] in the amplitude that God has bestowed upon you.
Here a reference to the so-called enemy comes. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven”. (Mat.5: 43-45)
Most people have problem with loving the enemies because of their concentration on the solitary ego, in which there is no space for the other. The ego is proprietor of existence. It drives the opponents away from existence, thus it kills them mentally. As long as they are out of my sight, they are out of the whole world.
As one might doubt in the commandment, forgiveness seems to be grounded on the words of Jesus of Nazareth: “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven”. You cannot accept your enemy as you accept your brother unless you admit that the enemy is a son [/daughter] of the One who is in heaven and that he/[she], is forgiven by God and has an equal value to God as you have and as you also live in divine forgiveness. Whoever is a son [/daughter] of God is necessarily a brother [/daughter] to you. Then, you do not see the enmity of the other; rather you see him/[her] within the sphere of divine forgiveness, within which you likewise are, as forgiven.
Through love, the enemy is a friend to you and his/[her] face is covered by divine light. The other is not only the one who loves you but also the one who hates you. Each of them is a brother [/sister] to you, since brotherhood descends from heaven, no matter he/[she] or you feel. You and the other are in the family of the Father, in which all turbulence vanishes, and the soul faces the soul, since each is the mirror of that loving God.
Translated by Sylvie Avakian-Maamarbashi
Original Text: “الآخرون” –An Nahar- 28-07-2012
