Description of Man as Microcosm

microcosm-man is deeply related with the fact that man is the ultimate stage of evolution. This idea is pioneered by Jalalluddin Rumi considered by Muslim scholars as the modern phenomenon. Six centuries before Darwin, Rumi released his theory of evolution believed as the most interesting and comprehensive compared with other scholars’. The universe evolved slowly from the lowest stage; the mineral, plant and animal stage, to the highest stage; man. Rumi told “I died as mineral and became plant, I died as plant and resurrected as animal, I died as animal and resurrected as man” 4 Rumi believed the persistence of evolution is going beyond the man stage. This faith states the existence of soul and here-after life. Rumi stated the evolution begun from “the universe’s love” it in that time is merely a potency to the God as the true reality. Due to the God’s motive of creating universe is love, the love infiltrates into all width and breadth of the universe, therefore, the universe is fulfilled by a love to the creator. Love believed as the universal force is becoming the power moving the universe. 5 Coelho is along with the idea of the love as the moving force of the universe: “Yes, that what’s love is. It is what makes the game become falcon, the falcon become man, and man, in his turn, the dessert. It’s what turns lead into gold, and makes the gold return to the earth” p. 152 Coelho implies trough the shepherd’s conversation with the wind that shepherd does not understand what love is. Coelho agrees with what remarked that creature can evolve into higher creature to come closer to God. If they are 4 Ibid. vol. iii, p. 219 5 Jalaluddin Rumi, The Mathnawi of Jalaluddin Rumi, vol. v, trans. Nicholson, London: Luzac Co Ltd, 1977 p. 231 23 still so far away they will come closer, closer, and closer. Stones pose in the material world will add their capacity of selfness to come closer to God until becoming trees that pose in plant world. Because they are far away in stand, they multiply their capacity; in result they reach the animal world as inhabitant. The animal feel dissatisfaction of being so tiny from the God’s place, they develop their capacity in order to achieve the higher level that then called as the human world. Human being recognized as the highest level of natural evolution is along with his capacity and possibility to be the closest creature to the Beloved, due to their representation of the universe microcosm. And everything happens as consequence of the love’s power effect in the universe. Coelho states again about the power of love in the creation context. “This is what we call love”…”when you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand what’s happening, because everything happens within you …” p. 155 Coelho implies the potency and possibility of being everything, when love colors somebody, the changes will happen in them self not in the other. Love is God’s main cause of creating universe, so the man with his own power pointed as the microcosm can do anything as well. “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” p. 23 In The Alchemist, the King Salem told the shepherd to follow what he wants, because the entire universe will help him to make it true. The reason the universe will help what man wants is the fact that man is the ultimate goal 24 of the evolution. Man also is regarded as the little brother of the universe, because he is born in the very latest compared with other objects. The universe knows man as the representation of him, because he behold inside man there are all aspect by universe built and created. Through this novel Coelho will convince the reader that everything in the universe has a soul means that everything is living, there is none of the God’s creature is death, because the term “death’ used to indicate the process of shifting the world. Furthermore it is impossible for sun to give the life force to all things on earth, if the sun itself is died. 6 It is the same as the stone is died becoming impossible to multiply quality of itself in order to reach the higher level where it poses now regarding the process of evolution stated above. Coelho states: …that everything on the face of the earth had a soul, whether mineral, vegetable, or animal – or just a simple thought. p. 82 If everything is life, it will justify what the process of evolution that Coelho and Rumi offer. The ingredients of all things in the universe belong to man will be the truth, if there is no inanimate being. Animate beings grant the process of creating man as the microcosm.

B. Description of Man as Theomorphic Creature

Man is basically a theomorphic that means, behind his weakness and limitation, a man has a “thing” inside himself then we know it as the divine attributes. This case does not mean that a man is same with God physically, 7 6 Mulyadi Karthanegara, Menembus Batas Waktu, Bandung: Mizan, 2002 p. 22 7 The ideology that creates God resembling man’s attributes in order to make God more easy understood and conceived. This ism describe God like man such having hand, 25 because His essence is eternal and constant. It is different from man’s that is mortal and changing. According to Sayyed Hossein Nasr, in the tradition of God creating Adam, that first man became the mirror reflecting names and attribute of God consciously. There is something sacred malakuti inside man, which that man’s condition permits him to be holier than angels. Even, reaching the particular borders of having the divine attributes in high amount. 8 The man who has the divine attribute is called in Islamic thought as the universal man insan kamil. 9 The universal man level indicates the position of this species in the universe that is as the mirror of God. According to Sufis, the universe is not but the manifestation of God’s attributes, therefore every aspect of this universe is to manifest and reflect the God’s attributes that is along with each level of creature existence. The higher level the more God’s attributes are reflected and manifested. The mineral things such stones are also reflecting God’s attribute, but it matches with its level. A dust contains millions of atom, and every atom consists of incredible nuclear force reflecting the greatness of God jalal. 10 If we get back to our discussion about the man concept that he consist of all aspect of the universe, this is easily to comprehend that he can reflect and manifest all God attributes in contrast with other creature that enable only reflecting some few of God’s attributes. 11 This is not all man can be in that face, leg, anger, head, wife, family and other. In other word the ism treats God as man alike. See. Lorens Bagus, Op. Cit. p. 59 8 Sayyed Hossein Nasr, Islam Dalam Cita dan Fakta, Jakarta: Lappenas, 1981 p. 4 9 ……………………..., Suffi Essays, London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd. 1973 p. 43 10 Mulyadi, Menembus….Op Cit. p. 53 11 Ibid. p. 54 26