The metaphors of Islamic mysticism and philosophy are not merely poetic ornaments but are indicative of a peculiar way of thinking. The Sufis have, for instance, spoken of the experience of the Black Light–the light of bewilderment: when the divine light fully appears in the mystic’s consciousness, all things disappear instead of remaining visible. Such is the experience of fana–a blackout of everything until the mystic perceives that this blackness is in reality the very light of the Absolute-as-such, for existence in its purity is invisible and appears as nothing. To discover the clarity of this black light is to find the green water of life, which, according to legends, is hidden in the deepest darkness–baqa, persistence in God, is concealed in the very center of fana.
