One Existence in Many Degrees: Tashkik

One existence — but things differ: Session 3 established that existence (Wujud) is the only reality. But then a critical question arises: a stone exists. A rose exists. A human soul exists. Allah exists. These are NOT the same. How do we explain their differences?

Not separate kinds of existence: The wrong path is to say each thing has its own separate kind of existence, foreign to all others. That would destroy the unity of Wujud that we established in Session 3. The right path is to say existence is ONE reality — but it admits of degrees of intensity. This is Tashkik al-Wujud — the gradation of existence.

Wujud is one in nature, different in degree: In one sentence: Wujud is one in nature, but differs in degree, intensity, and priority. Like light: one reality, infinitely many gradations. There are three ways a word can apply to many things: Tawatu' (equal — the same in every case), Ishtirak Lafzi (equivocal — a shared word for different realities), and Tashkik (graded — the same reality, in different degrees). Wujud is neither equal in all things nor merely equivocal — it is Tashkik: one reality with degrees.

The light analogy: Consider light: sunlight, moonlight, candlelight, the glow of an ember. All are genuinely light — not different kinds of reality, but the same reality of light. Yet they are NOT equal: sunlight is vastly more intense, more luminous, more primary, more capable of illuminating. Now apply this to Wujud: Allah's Wujud, the Intellect's Wujud, the Soul's Wujud, an animal's Wujud, a stone's Wujud — all are genuinely Wujud, all are genuinely real. But they are NOT equal in degree, intensity, perfection, or priority.

The ascending chain: The degrees of Wujud form an ascending chain: matter, then plant, then animal, then soul, then intellects, then Allah — Pure Wujud, at the top. A stone has dim Wujud; a soul has stronger Wujud; Allah is infinite Wujud. One reality, rising higher and higher.

Not pantheism: Tashkik is NOT pantheism — it does not say everything is God. Sunlight does not "mix" with candlelight; they are distinct instances. Allah's Wujud does not "mix" with creation; He remains transcendent. As Imam Ali (as) said in Nahj al-Balagha: Allah is "in all things, not mixed with them" — to be checked. The same fundamental nature is present in each — at different intensities — but the instances stay distinct.

Example

Think of a dimmer switch for one lamp. The light is always the same light, but you can turn it low, medium, or full. A night-light and a stadium floodlight are both light — same reality — but at very different intensities. Existence is like that: one reality, turned up or down. Allah's existence is the light at full brightness; a stone's existence is the same light, turned very low.

Key Terms

• Tashkik al-Wujud (تشکیک الوجود) — the gradation of existence; one reality of Wujud in different degrees of intensity
• Tawatu' (تواطؤ) — a word applying equally to all its cases
• Ishtirak Lafzi (اشتراک لفظی) — a word shared between different realities (equivocal)
• Pantheism (حلول) — the false idea that everything is God; Tashkik is NOT pantheism

Quran or Hadith

Quran 24:35 — "Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth." — to be checked. Tashkik al-Wujud is the philosophical unpacking of this single Quranic verse: one light, infinitely many degrees.

Fresh diagram to be drawn: One lamp with a dimmer switch, shown at four brightness levels — a candle glow, a room lamp, bright daylight, and the blazing sun — labelled "One light, many degrees: stone, rose, soul, Allah".