Spirituality Studies 113 Nina Bilokopytova emphasized its synthesis of legal, theological, and mystical thought. Within these interpretations, spiritual development often appears as a structured process of moral cultivation. However, the coding results suggest that al-Ghazālī’s emphasis on mudāwama (Ar. “constancy”) and tajdīd al-niyya (Ar. “renewal of intention”) introduces a different temporal dynamic. Ethical practice is not simply a step toward higher realization but a continuous activity through which the spiritual state is repeatedly re-established. As al-Ghazālī (2017, 214) states: «قليل دائم خير من كثير منقطع» – A small but constant practice is better than a large but intermittent one. From this perspective, repetition functions as the structural mechanism through which spiritual stability is maintained. The recursive character of ethical practice thus complements and extends the traditional interpretation of alGhazālī’s thought as a program of moral cultivation. 4.3.3 Ibn Arabī and Ontological Recursion Interpretations of Ibn ʿArabī have typically focused on the metaphysical implications of tajallī and the relationship between fanāʾ and baqāʾ. In his influential study The Sufi Path of Knowledge, William Chittick describes divine self-disclosure as an infinite process in which “the Real reveals Himself in an endless series of ever-renewed theophanies” (Chittick 1989, 52–55). Similarly, Henry Corbin interprets theophany as a fundamental ontological event through which the divine reality becomes manifest in the world (Corbin 1969, 184). The coding results presented in this study support these interpretations but also clarify their temporal implications. If divine manifestation is continuously renewed, then spiritual realization cannot reach a definitive endpoint. Instead, the seeker participates in an ongoing process of ontological unfolding, in which each moment brings a new disclosure of the divine. In this sense, Ibn ʿArabī’s metaphysics provides the most radical expression of recursive temporality within the analyzed corpus. 4.3.4 Rūmī and Poetic Recursion Rūmī’s Mathnawī has frequently been analyzed from literary and symbolic perspectives. Scholars such as Leonard Lewisohn describe the work as a vast narrative structure in which stories function as vehicles for spiritual instruction (Lewisohn 1999). While this literary dimension is undeniable, the coding results reveal that the poem’s repetitive motifs also perform an important structural function. The recurring themes of loss, longing, remembrance, and renewal create a rhythmic pattern through which spiritual experience is continually reactivated. In this context, poetic repetition becomes a means of sustaining spiritual awareness. Rather than simply illustrating doctrinal ideas, the poetic form itself participates in the recursive structure of spiritual transformation. 4.3.5 Modalities of Recursive Temporality Taken together, these observations suggest that recursive temporality is not expressed uniformly across Sufi texts but appears through distinct modalities corresponding to different domains of spiritual discourse. Ethical manuals, metaphysical treatises, and poetic works each articulate the recursive dynamic of the path in their own way. Synthesizing the preceding analysis, it becomes evident that recursive temporality in the Sufi tradition is not a uniform structural constant but manifests through different modalities depending on the authorial perspective and semantic domain. In al-Ghazālī’s practical discourse, ethical repetition functions as a mechanism for stabilizing the spiritual state; in Ibn ʿArabī’s ontological logic, it appears as the infinite and continuous unfolding of being; in Rūmī’s poetic form, repetition becomes a means of experiential intensification. Similarly, in the early Sufi corpus of al-Qushayrī, recursive temporality is embodied in the structure of maqām and ḥāl as a constant interplay between disciplined practice and spiritual experience. The table below summarizes these modalities.
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