The relationship between human love and divine lovein Ruzbihan Baqli’s opinion

Human love, which in Sufism and its critics’ expression usually appears in the phrase “virtual love”, is one of the most challenging concepts in Islamic mysticism. The primacy of Ruzbihan in this arena is in view of the fact that he declines to use the common phrase “virtual love” and instead he uses “human love”. He also emphasizes that experiencing of human love is inevitable for achievement of divine love. Ruzbihan’s opinion arises this question: “what is the epistemological quality of human love that without experiencing it, divine love isn’t achievable. In this research, in order to answer this question, first it will be shown that human love in mystic thoughts isn’t admired only in one paradigm. At least five different paradigms can be found in their thoughts. Then the place of human love in Ruzbihan’s mystic system will be analyzed by explaining the keyword “Tajalli” and the process of “Ta’vil”. Finally Ruzbihan’s initiatives will be expressed and important distinctions between Ruzbihan and other Islamic mystics, who admire virtual love, will be under consideration.