The science of opposites, which plays such a central role in Al-Hallaj's vision of Iblis, undergoes amplification and refinement at the hands of another Sufi martyr, 'Ain Al-Qudat Al-Hamadani, who was put to death at Hamadan in the year 525 A.H./1131 C.E. At the heart of 'Ain Al-Qudat's perception of Iblis and his role in the spiritual life lies a paradox. It is the insight that God's condemnation and distancing of Iblis because of his refusal to bow have earned Iblis cosmic stature and proximity to the Divine Presence. The images employed by 'Ain al-Qudat to express this paradoxical intimacy of cosmic opposites - God and Satan - are unique and multifaceted.
'Ain Al-Qudat pinpoints the tension of cosmic opposites within the Muslim profession of faith itself, the la ilaha illa 'llah (There is no god but God!). The realm of "la illah" (there is no god) is the realm of falsehood and negation, the realm of all that seduces the soul of the mystic away from God. Truth and security are discovered only within the circle of "illa 'llah" (but God), after "la ilah" has been traversed and left behind once and for all.
Tamhidat: "La" is the circle of negation. One must place his first step within this circle, but he should not stop here nor dwell here. For if the traveller halts at this station or finds tranquility here, he becomes an associationist, a wearer of the "zunnar". O what a tale there is about "la ilah"! You find that every hundred thousand traveling seekers of "illa 'llah" have set foot in the circle of "la" of negation, in their ardent desire for the jewel of "illa 'llah". But if they take as their goal the inferior desert of God, the guardian of the Divine Presence of "illa 'llah" confounds and perplexes them.
Who is the guardian and chamberlain of the Divine Presence of "illa 'llah"? None other than Iblis. He has earned this position of honor because of his unfailing obedience to God and his jealous protection of the experience of intimacy with the Beloved. In addition, he is, as 'Ain Al-Qudat describes, the best qualified and most adept at testing mankind in order to separate those who truly worthy of access to the divine Presence from those whose dedication and fidelity are but superficial and easily snatched away. These latter souls find themselves trapped within the circle of "la" where they continue they worship their nafs and carnal desires rather than God.
Without Iblis' permission, therefore, no one can attain to God. Moreover God has definite need for Iblis in this role of doorkeeper, for, if the king has no chamberlain, everyone, indiscriminately, would have access to the royal presence regardless of individual merit. Of what value would intimacy with the lord be if it were open to the deceitful as well as the tested lover.
By distinguishing between the pretenders and the sincere, Iblis is performing the essential function of preserving the Divine Presence from desecration while at the same time acting as a principal agent in the unfolding of God's plan for humankind. In this role as agent of the divine will, Iblis is linked by 'Ain Al-Qudat with Muhammad because both are the chief preachers on the Path of God, the difference being that Muhammad's preaching invites men and women to submit to the divine will while Iblis draws mankind away from God. However, Iblis, like Muhammad, is but an obedient instrument in the hands of the Almighty.
Tamhidat: Iblis was retained to watch over the door of the presence of the Almighty and was told, "You are My lover. Be jealous about My threshold and keep strangers out of My Presence."
'Ain Al-Qudat employed the imagery of light to express more dramatically both the intimate relationship between Iblis and Muhammad and the radical tension between them. Whereas the light of Muhammad is the blinding brightness of the sun of Truth and the pure light of gnosis which springs from the eternal East, Iblis is the black light of the moon which springs from the eternal West. The image of the black light is also closely entwined with Iblis role as chamberlain of the Divine Presence; the Divine Presence is the actual source of Divine Light, and it can only be attained by passing through its opposite, the black light of Iblis.
The light of Iblis became black because God cursed him and bestowed the title of Kafir, unbeliever, upon him for all eternity. Yet this curse is paradoxically described as the chamberlain 's robe of honor, for it is the mark of Iblis perfect obedience and his willing embrace of the role of divine instrument. Likewise the sword of this black light who reigns over the domain of "la" and jealously guards "illa 'llah" from intruders, is the sword of God's own divine power: "By Your Power, I will surely seduce them all !" (Quran 38:82).
'Ain Al-Qudat takes pains to emphasize that both Muhammad and Iblis spring from God and reflect concrete attributes of the Divine, mercy and anger. Only in the unknowable essence of the Absolute is the tension between these two opposites resolved; on the experiential plane of lived reality these attributes are in conflict, although they do depend upon each other in one important respect: it is only through one that the other can be known and experienced.
Tamhidat: But have you ever realized that God has two names ? One is "The Compassionate, The Merciful" and the other "The Omnipotent, The Imperious". From the attribute of overpowering might He brought Iblis into being, and from the attribute of mercy, Muhammad. Thereupon, the attribute of mercy became Ahmad's food, and the attribute of might and anger, the food of Iblis.
The essences of both Muhammad and Iblis are, therefore, grounded in the divine essence, even though they express two conflicting and opposite poles of spiritual reality. This should not be seen as a contradiction, 'Ain Al-Qudat cautions, for just as water is the cause of life and growth for fish, and the cause of death to other beings, so the light of God is the catalyst for enlightenment and truth in the essence of Muhammad and the catalyst for darkness and straying in Iblis. both are responses to the creative will of God, and neither Iblis nor Muhammad can claim for himself the power to lead aright or the power to lead astray, because both salvation and condemnation are brought to completion through the power of God's will.