The doctrine of the unity of being in the works of St. Dionysius the Areopagite and Ibn Arabi

The focus of this study is the identification of commensurabilities and incommensurabilities between the Areopagite and Akbarian cosmologies centered on the doctrine of the unity of being. The Areopagite doctrine of the unity of being includes the following fundamental concepts: the causality of being upon the supra-essential God; the unity of being in God as its cause; the difference between God and creation; triplicity of God; the difference between the divine essence and divine energies; and, the distinction and unity of the divine and human natures in the Lord Jesus Christ. As far as the Akbarian doctrine of unity of being is concerned: God is the ultimate and only truly existing reality, “similar” and “dissimilar” to the seen and unseen cosmos. Within the framework of Akbarian cosmology, the structure of being, the concepts of “isthmus”, “imagination”, “breath” and “cloud”, “divine names” and “entities” are highlighted. The role of divine freedom and love in the creation of the world is discussed. The results of the study show that from the point of view of God as the cause of the cosmos, the Areopagite and Akbarian teachings on the unity of being are largely commensurable. However, incommensurable elements arise in the fields of triadology and christology. The degree of incommensurability of these elements is evaluated.