According to the orthodox islamic view, the predominant motivation discovered at the core of Iblis being is unabashed evil, albeit capable of clothing itself in an infinite variety of infinite forms. The final verdict rendered by the Sufis who perceived Iblis in this light was "guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt." Moreover, in their estimation, there is no possible hope for his future rehabilitation; Iblis is condemned to an eternity of torment in Hell.
In addition to the above strands of the Iblis motif that were woven into the fabric of the Sufi tradition, a parallel strand has yet to be examined, one that can be traced back to the early periods of Sufism. The underlying presupposition of the Sufi theorists whose works illustrate this parallel development differs considerably from that encountered in the orthodox Sufi texts. While the latter Sufis held that Iblis had earned eternal damnation for himself because of his arrogant refusal to bow before Adam, the former propose a variety of hopeful avenues for the possible rehabilitation of Iblis.
The roots of this branch of the Iblis motif can be found, as Professor Annemarie Schimmel has pointed out, in the writing of Husayn Ibn Mansur Al-Hallaj, especially the chapters Tasin al-azal wa l-iltibas and Tasin al-mashi'a of his work kitab al-tawasin. One of the most striking pedagogical techniques employed by Al-Hallaj in his work is the juxtaposition of opposites; it jolts the reader's mind and forces him to ponder these antithetical spiritual realities anew. The first pair of opposites is made up of Iblis and Muhammad: "The only ones whose preaching was sound are Iblis and Ahmad - may God bless him and grant him peace ! " This sound preaching of Iblis is itself described by Al-Hallaj as a combination of opposites; in the heavens Iblis preached to the angels about obedience and the Path of God, while on earth he taught mankind the ways of Evil. However, the opposites poles become complementary when viewed from the perspective of their ultimate purpose:
Tawasin: Because things are known through the opposites, a fine white silk is woven with a backing of coarse black wool. The angel can point out good deeds to someone and say to him as an abstract statement, "If you perform these deeds you will be rewarded." But he who does not now evil in the concrete, cannot know good.
Ibn Ghanim, in his book titled 'Taflis Iblis', connects the tragedy of Iblis the his essential corrupted nature; Al-Hallaj, on the other hand, sees both Iblis and Muhammad as pivotal characters in the unfolding of the God's divine plan. They are both faithful instruments whose obedience is unswerving, despite the ordeals each must suffer.
Tawasin: Iblis was told, "Bow!" and Ahmad was told "Look!" But this fellow did not bow and Ahmad did not look. He turned his face neither right nor left. "His eye turned not aside nor did wander from its orbit" (Quran 53:17).
This fidelity to God's will forever links Iblis and Muhammad in the eyes of Al-Hallaj. Neither strayed from his appointed course, although each reacted quite differently to encounters with God's amr. Iblis fell back on the resources of his own majestic power and spiritual perfection acquired trough aeons of obedient worship, while Muhammad was overcome by the sense of his own creatureliness and God's overwhelming might. Al-Hallaj does not ascribe moral significance to this difference between the reactions of Iblis and Muhammad. Nevertheless, Iblis is singled out by Al-Hallaj for these two eminent qualities, preaching and single-minded obedience. He is also, in Hallaj's estimation, spiritual model for all Muslims because he, more perfectly than any other created being, witnessed to the Unity and Oneness of God, even at the expense of self-destruction.
