Real power can only be found through real existence. This is what "malamah," one of the pillars of Sufism, means: Having the courage to reach absolute individuality on the journey toward reality by going beyond the images.

A scene in the movie of "Birdman" made me question my thoughts about what the real motive that directs human behavior could be. Looking at my opinions shaped through various sources, I have always wondered this: Do religions and metaphysics exaggerate their assertions on the transcendence of human beings, the dignity of the treasure hidden within them, and to what extent they can intellectually reach theoretical and practical perfection?

Ancient thoughts on human beings seem exaggerated and imaginary to modern humans who owe their existence to the "humanist" revolutions. For modern minds, all these are "irrational" materials that can be only used "aesthetically" in literature or art, or they should all be rejected.

When Galileo Galilei claimed that the world was not the center of the universe, it became a marvelous example to show how in reality these kinds of thoughts and assertions could be shattered: The world was not the center of the universe, neither was the human being the goal of existence or the most important part of it. According to contemporary thought, the human is a being who is guided by the most basic and reasonable impulses and whose willpower is under the influence of some unconscious motivations.

In one of his novels, French thinker Jean-Paul Sartre draws attention to the simple urges that direct our willpower by mentioning how he could not pick up a paper lying on the ground and how he could not get rid of this idea all day long. Modern thought simply tells us that however we have desires and powers, we are nothing more than that.

Apart from all these thoughts, a scene in the movie made me think about what, in reality, the motives that direct us are.

The ones who have seen it will remember; the movie skillfully explores the trauma of an actor who lost his fame. The actor tries very hard to revive his fame, moving heaven and earth but nothing brings his fame back. The most bewildering one of his attempts is that he shoots his nose off with a pistol. While he is supposed to use a prop gun, he uses a real one with real bullets so that he can make it onto the covers of newspapers.

Mirror to another

Today these kinds of incidents do not shock people anymore; the incidents narrated perpetually and exaggerated through narration become ordinary and got used to. But this was not the scene that moved me. It was the dialogue between him and his wife. She was complaining to him about his fatherhood just as any wife or mother would do to a husband who was so caught up in his work.

The man stopped for a moment and started talking about the crisis he had been going through: "Last time, I flew here from L.A., George Clooney was sitting two seats from me. We ended up flying through a really horrible storm the plane was rattling, shaking, and all the people on board were crying and praying. And I just sat there. They were crying, I just sat there and I was thinking that when Sam looks at the paper the next morning, it will be Clooney’s face on the page, not mine."

The fact that these types of desires seldom come true or very few people achieve them, is enough to see what is going on inside us. We know that what anyone has can be true for us to some extent because a person is a mirror to another and anyone is a ground from which sprouts what is hidden in another person. That is why we can read the Prophet Muhammad’s hadith "A believer is the mirror of his faithful brother," in this sense.

Strongest motive of men

Let’s get back to the hesitation I felt: Does Islamic thought or any ancient philosophy identify the crisis of men in such an authentic and realistic way? Or do religions underestimate the nature of human beings and neglect the real issues by directing our attention to some unrealistic problems?

If the answer to the first question is positive, it is possible to argue that it has evaluated the problem of men correctly from a wide perspective and has put it forward in an authentic way. That said, it may have used different terms to express the motives directing human beings and has not applied to empirical ways and methods. On the other hand, in Sufi texts, we come across high ideas about the motives of men – especially the desire to be seen – and many other problems of human psychology that can contribute to modern understanding.

In this respect, among the motives that direct human behaviors "lust" or "the power of desire" are mentioned – which can remind us of Sigmund Freud’s theory of libido – and many other issues. Sufi metaphysicians believed that the strongest motive of a human being is the passion he has for his own existence and self. As Ibn Arabi told, "Were it not for the power of desire, no one would even worship God." This motive can be expressed as "the power to rule." This is what is implied when it is said that the delusion of superiority or sovereignty is the reason for this kind of behavior. In short, detailed explanations about the urges hidden inside human beings and the motives that direct them can be found in Sufi texts.

Who am I?

Metaphysics sets off from the idea shaped around the dilemma between the sensible and the intelligible world. There is a reality somewhere, but it is neither here nor there and it must be somewhere we cannot reach. When we say reality, we mean the quiddity of each thing and phenomenon, particularly human identity and essence; "here" or "there" means accidents and relations.

The reality of a human being must be beyond his sensible existence; this can be the authentic definition of a human being: a human being has a reality beyond relativity and relations. Moreover, a person does not need the affirmation or testimony of another person in order to comprehend this reality and what makes a person himself is nothing but this reality.

We cannot understand what metaphysics tries to do without questioning this: What if the identities engraved on us or the ones we choose to put on were erased, would there still be something called "myself"? In Islam, Hajj is practiced in order to understand what would be left behind if we get rid of all the attachments and relations we have.

"Tawaf" (encircling the holy Kaaba) is a practice performed to see what will be left of us if we remove each and every identity put on us one by one. As we encircle the Kaaba, things that we undo or from which we detach are the various guises covering our reality; in the words of Nasreddin Hodja, they are the coats we put on us. When we perform Hajj, we try to find out this: When we are freed from our labels and remove our coats, what will be left of us? Metaphysics studies the reality and the quiddity of things, incidents, and entities so that it can reach a clear understanding of the human self. In this respect, the most important question would be this: Does there exist a self that completely belongs to me beyond all these attachments, relations and appearances?

'Sensible' vs. 'true' selves

Here, two terms can help us explain the crisis human beings experience: The contrast between name and label. Our name is given to us to distinguish us from other people. It does not matter if the name is given justly; the name gives the person a specific status and identity. In this respect, it is important to remember that in the dervish orders, a second name is given to the disciple. This second name is given corresponding to the reality of that person by the sheikh/the wise man. And its purpose is discernment, that is, to point out reality.

Apart from separating us from others, the names also become a path for us to reach our reality. On the other hand, there are labels put on us. These are given to us according to how we are perceived by others. We do not choose them; the society imposes them on us. It cannot be said that we have no control over how we are perceived however, when a label is given to us, the name no longer has absolute authority but becomes a part of the label. Labels are imposed on us in favor of "the sensible self" and yet disregarding "the true self." In each case, labels give us a social identity and impose on us a behavioral pattern by limiting us.

The religion advises its followers to abandon labels as they are inadequate to describe a person and generally imply disdain. "Don’t put labels on each other" means "be attentive to the reality of a person, not to his image, and identify him carefully." In this respect, it is a moral duty to believe that each person has a reality and behaves accordingly. Besides, when it comes to our own reality, it does not require the testimony of others; it is our responsibility to find out our own reality.

Sense and image

For all intents and purposes, it is a moral duty for a person to have such a consciousness about his "self" and have a respectful view of himself. On the contrary, it is a great weakness, and even hypocrisy, for a person to see himself as a relative being whose respect depends on the perception of others. When a person accepts this attitude, it means that he prefers the perception of others over his true self. It is because he has another weakness directing him: The passion for power.

In the movie, the actor has a passion for dignity and a sense of power that comes with that. It does not matter if this sense of power is true for him. However, it haunts him and directs all his behaviors until he earns it.

In the modern world, image and perception are prioritized over reality, and reality is imposed as the sole truth which results in the shattering of self-consciousness. Now everyone becomes an image and learns his own reality through the testimony of others; each person starts to depend on the credit and appreciation that he will get from others. This is when we should remind ourselves of the ancient thoughts: Don’t we have an authentic name beyond the labels and images?

One of the most important moral principles of Sufism is the attitude a person adopts in the face of the dilemma of "the self" that depends on image and perception and "the real self." Sufism particularly sees human desires built upon images as "hypocrisy" and finds it the most critical moral threat. Accepting the images as truth per se proves that we are controlled by the desire for power, and it misguides us to leap to conclusion.

Real power can only be found through real existence. That is what "malamah" means: To show the courage of reaching absolute individuality as a "self" by going beyond images. On this path, Sufis find it indispensable to break stereotypes like shame, honor, and such overpraised qualities.