Mystical Experience & Paradoxical Statement (Experience of Meeting God in Speech)

This article argues that the paradoxical language used by mystics is not a verbal trick or a sign of language's failure to express mystical experience, but rather a faithful reflection of the experience itself, which is inherently paradoxical. It reviews competing theories—some claiming paradoxes are merely verbal, others that they result from linguistic inadequacy—and rejects the latter. The author concludes that mystical language is paradoxical because the experience it describes is paradoxical, and language can accurately mirror that experience. The final stage of mystical language is symbolic speech, identified with the experience of Shath, or meeting God in speech, which represents the highest union of mystical experience and paradoxical statement.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The present article attempts to clarify the relationship between the 'mystical experience' and 'paradoxical statement'; the first section is concerned with the main function of the said categories in the realm of language which is removing the language from the routine and spiritless mode and bringing it to life; that is, speaking in a real language and expressing what is in the heart. The second section intends to provide an answer to the following important questions: Is 'paradox' the natural characteristic of the mystical experience, and is it possible to convey the content of the mystical experience solely through the paradoxical statement, or is it possible to convey the same experience through non-paradoxical statement without loss of content? To answer the said questions, this article presents the different theories which address such subjects. According to some of these theories, the paradoxes found in mystical works are simply verbal while the rest introduce the paradoxes present in such works as the results of the incapacity of the language to express the mystical experiences. Refuting the latter, the article comes to the conclusion that the language of the mystics is paradoxical due to their experience being paradoxical, and language reflects the true image of the experience. In conclusion, it describes the last stage of the perfection of the mystical language; that is, the symbolic language which is the very experience as well as the highest rank of the mystical experience — the experience of meeting God in speech, or as it is also called the experience of Shath which is the ultimate link between the mystical experience and paradoxical statement.