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Texte de Bilal Mohammed:
The most famous Delphic Maxim is "Know thyself". It was inscribed on the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. Due to the extent of Hellenic culture's influence on the Near East, some have argued that this maxim is the basis of the saying "Whoever knows himself knows his Lord." (من عرف نفسه فقد عرف ربه)
And indeed, a similar saying appears in the writing of Clement of Alexandria (d. 215 CE). He says. "If one knows himself, he will know God; and knowing God, he will be made like God, not by wearing gold or long robes, but by well-doing, and by requiring as few things as possible."
Whether Clement or even the ancient Greeks were basing this idea on a previous revelation (and perhaps putting their own ideas into it) is anyone's guess. Later Muslim sources attributed the quote to the Holy Prophet. While the wording (lafth) of this saying does not have a strong attribution to the Prophet Muhammad (s), the Quran may actually be a basis for it.
Allah says, "And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves." (59:19). This may be taken as a contrapositive statement if we rightly infer that knowing God will cause one to know themselves (and vice versa).
Perhaps a more direct example was given to me by my Scottish friend, who brought my attention to this verse: "Who would be averse to the way of Abraham except one who makes a fool of himself?" (2:130) The way (milla) of Abraham is monotheism. This verse is saying that anyone who denies God is only fooling themselves, as every self has been predisposed to the knowledge of God. Thus, whoever truly knows himself will come to know his Lord.
Another verse that pertains to this is "And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me." (51:56) In various exegeses, including that of Mujāhid (d. 722 CE), and in a Shīʿī report going back to Imam al-Ḥusayn, "worship" here means "know" (يعرفوه). Knowing or recognizing God (gnosis) is therefore, according to this commentary, the object of creation.
The actual lafth of this saying differs based on the source. In its differences, there sometimes are different implications:
1. The saying is attributed to Sahl b. ʿAbdullāh al-Tustarī (d. 896 CE) in Ḥilyat al-Awliyā’ by Abu Nuʿaym al-Isfahāni (d. 1038). He quoted the full saying as follows: “If one knows the enemy, one knows his Lord. If one knows himself, one knows his status with his Lord. If one knows his mind, one knows his state between him and his Lord. If one knows sacred knowledge, one knows his journey. If one knows the world, one knows the Hereafter ... Whoever knows himself, knows his Lord ... “Whoever defines himself for the sake of his Lord, his Lord defines him for the sake of himself.” (translated by Justin Parrott) ن أبي نعيم قال سَهْلَ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ رحمه الله إِذَا عَرَفَ الْعَدُوَّ عَرَفَ رَبَّهُ وَإِذَا عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ عَرَفَ مَقَامَهُ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَإِذَا عَرَفَ عَقْلَهُ عَرَفَ حَالَهُ فِيمَا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ رَبِّهِ وَإِذَا عَرَفَ الْعِلْمَ عَرَفَ وُصُولَهُ وَإِذَا وَسُئِلَ سَهْلٌ عَنْ قَوْلِهِ مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ فَقَدْ عَرَفَ رَبَّهُ قَالَ مَنْ عَرَّفَ نَفْسَهُ لِرَبِّهِ عَرَّفَ رَبَّهُ لِنَفْسِهِعَرَفَ الدُّنْيَا عَرَفَ الْآخِرَة
2. Yaḥyā b. Muʿadh al-Rāzi (d. 871), who was attributed with the original saying by Ibn Samʿānī (d. 1166).
3. Ibrahīm b. Adham (d. 782). In Ḥilyat al-Awliyā’ by Abu Nuʿaym, Sharīk asks him, "What happened between ʿAlī and Muʿawiya?" Ibrahīm b. Adham wept. Sharīk regretted asking his question; until Ibrahīm raised his head and said, "Whoever knows himself becomes busy with himself, and whoever knows his Lord becomes busy with his Lord rather than with others." (عن شريك قال: "سألت إبراهيم بن أدهم – رحمه الله - عما كان بين علي ومعاوية - رضي الله عنهما – فبكى، فندمت على سؤالي إياه، فرفع رأسه فقال: (إنه من عرف نفسه اشتغل بنفسه, ومن عرف ربه اشتغل بربه عن غيره ))
4. Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350) offers the following interpretation: "Whoever knows the weakness of himself knows the strength of his Lord, and whoever knows his limitation knows His Lord's power, and whoever knows his insignificance knows His Lord's glory, and whoever knows his ignorance knows His Lord's knowledge." (أن من عرف نفسه بالضعف عرف ربه بالقوة، ومن عرفها بالعجز عرف ربه بالقدرة، ومن عرفها بالذل عرف ربه بالعز، ومن عرفها بالجهل عرف ربه بالعلم)
The original saying was read by Muslim philosophers in at least two different ways. For Ibn ʿArabī and Mulla Sadra, the saying was metaphysical: they saw the self as a locus of God's manifestation (man being made in His image). But if one looks to some of the contrasting versions of this saying, it appears to be comparing the limitedness of man with the limitlessness of God. Man, according to this understanding, is not a locus of God's manifestation, but an object of contrast to God.
May Allah allow us to know Him in the way He would like us to know Him.