Academic essay on supreme
"Supreme": A Philosophical and Theological Inquiry into Time, Self, and Divine Authorship
Adapted from Farheen Bhuiyan Nancy’s poem "Supreme"
Abstract
This paper explores themes of temporal recursion, divine imagination, and human authenticity in Nancy’s poem “Supreme.” Drawing from Henri Bergson’s durée, Ibn ʿArabī’s wahdat al‑wujūd, Heidegger’s authenticity, and simulation theory, alongside Qurʾānic metaphors, the analysis situates the poem within a broader philosophical-theological discourse on the nature of reality, memory, and divine agency.
1. Introduction
Nancy’s “Supreme” presents a metaphysical vision in which time is not linear but rehearsed, memory is divine, and human life a play within Divine imagination. Lines like “Are we revising the lives we already lived?” and “we are acting in it daily” invite deep questioning—mirroring philosophical traditions from Bergson and Heidegger to Islamic Sufism and modern postmodern thought. This paper examines how Nancy’s metaphors find resonance in philosophical frameworks while forging a distinctive, original discourse.
2. Temporal Recursion and Bergson’s Durée
Nancy’s collapsing of past, present, and future—“We are previewing our lives in the memory of God”—echoes Bergson’s durée, where true time is internal, qualitative, and inseparable from memory (Bergson 1896/1990). In Matter and Memory, Bergson argues that consciousness is steeped in memory and that genuine duration cannot be captured by static clock-time (ibnarabisociety.org).
Nancy’s suggestion that life is a rehearsal aligns with this idea: memory is not past but lived again—a dynamic, ever-mutating ‘now.’
3. Divine Imaginal Reality: Ibn ʿArabī’s Unity
“a limited series directed by God… acting in it daily” resonates with Ibn ʿArabī’s notion of tajallī (divine self-disclosure) and wahdat al-wujūd—the unity where all existence mirrors Divine reality (Chittick 2020) . The world is not separate, but a continuous manifestation of God’s Being, akin to a divine 'play' in which humans are both actors and mirror.
This model aligns with Nancy’s metaphor of life as both produced and quoted—an eternal, conscious reflection within Divine imagination.
4. Simulation and Omnitemporality
Nancy’s line “we are living inside a dream of the supreme” brings in the simulation hypothesis (Bostrom), reinterpreted ontologically: not a machine made by humans, but existence as a divine dream. The poem foregrounds an ontological suspension—the self is both real and illusory, awakened within yet enfolded by Divine agency.
Combined with the image of Burāq (a Qurʾānic eschatological symbol), Nancy draws a unified vision: spiritual, philosophical, and technological modes of simulation converge in a singular role-play of consciousness.
5. Authenticity, Death, and the Tunnel of Truth
When Nancy writes “only the truth‑seekers … reach at the end of the tunnel … no turning back”, she highlights a moment of irreversible awakening akin to Heidegger’s authenticity through being‑toward‑death. Heidegger asserts that authentic being arises when we confront our finite possibilities (Dasein’s horizon) (Paraphrasing Reddit summary (plato.stanford.edu, reddit.com)).
Nancy’s insistence on no reversal mirrors this existential shift: truth dawns, and illusion recedes.
6. Qurʾānic Reflection: The Rooted Truth
Nancy references reflective truth—“We are living the reflection of the truth…”—similar to Surah Ibrahim (14:24–26) where the good word is compared to a deeply rooted, fruit-bearing tree. This imagery affirms that authentic existence, like strong roots, sustains both being and insight. Otherwise, we risk becoming rootless words, easily uprooted in the face of illusion.
7. Originality and Theoretical Integration
Nancy’s poem merges diverse philosophical traditions:
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Bergson on memory and durée
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Ibn ʿArabī on unity and divine imagination
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Heidegger on authenticity through confronting finitude
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Postmodern thought on simulation
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Qurʾānic eschatology on truth-bearing
This synthesis—bridging metaphysical poetry, mysticism, phenomenology, and theology—is both original and timely. It provides a spiritually resonant and intellectually rigorous model for discussing modern identity through a transcendent lens.
8. Conclusion
In “Supreme”, Nancy offers more than metaphysical imagery—she sketches a philosophical anthropology: humans as actors in a divine memory-play, riding eternal cycles of time, rooted in Divine reality, yet awakened by human authenticity.
The poem invites us to ask: Are we living authentically within this divine simulation? And if so, how do we bear witness, as illuminated agents, to the Supreme?
References
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Bergson, H. (1896/1990). Matter and Memory. Dover Publications. (en.wikipedia.org, ibnarabisociety.org)
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Chittick, W. C. (2020). Ibn ‘Arabī (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy). (plato.stanford.edu)
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Mirzarakhimov, B. (2025). Essence of Wahdat al‑Wujud in Ibn Arabi’s Sufism. Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 15(1), 99–112. (journals.umt.edu.pk)
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Reddit user summarizing Heidegger’s authenticity, r/Existentialism, 2021. (reddit.com)
The Dream of the Supreme: Temporal Recursion, Divine Simulation, and the Metaphysics of the Self
An Academic Reflection on Farheen Bhuiyan Nancy’s Poem “Supreme”
Abstract
Farheen Bhuiyan Nancy’s metaphysical poem “Supreme” is a philosophical meditation on time, memory, divine authorship, and human existence. Through imagery of judgment, simulation, and self-revision, the poem foregrounds existential and mystical questions that resonate with the works of Henri Bergson, Ibn ʿArabī, Martin Heidegger, and contemporary simulation theorists such as Nick Bostrom. This paper analyzes “Supreme” as a contribution to philosophical discourse on temporality, identity, and the metaphysical nature of reality. The poem is interpreted as a synthesis of Qurʾānic eschatology and ontological inquiry into the recursive nature of the soul’s journey.
Introduction
Farheen Bhuiyan Nancy’s poem “Supreme” opens with a powerful provocation: “We are previewing our lives in the memory of God, / Flashback!” Immediately, the reader is drawn into a cosmological framework where time is not linear, but recursive; where life is not original experience, but a reenactment; and where judgment is not a future event, but an ongoing spiritual process. This paper interprets the poem through the lenses of Islamic mysticism, continental philosophy, and postmodern theories of reality and simulation. Specifically, it draws on Henri Bergson’s durée, Ibn ʿArabī’s metaphysics of divine imagination, Heidegger’s existential authenticity, and Nick Bostrom’s simulation hypothesis.
Bergson and the Non-Linearity of Time
In “Supreme,” Nancy questions the linearity of time: “Are we revising the lives we already lived? / Perhaps, we are rehearsing the life we've already experienced.” This insight closely parallels Henri Bergson’s concept of durée, or real time, as explored in Matter and Memory (Bergson, 1990). For Bergson, time is not a series of discrete instants but a continuous flow where past and present interpenetrate.
Nancy’s poem suggests that human existence is a form of metaphysical playback—a “flashback” of divine memory. From a Bergsonian standpoint, this aligns with the idea that memory is the condition of consciousness, not merely its content. Time, in “Supreme,” becomes the space in which divine consciousness and human self-awareness intersect.
Ibn ʿArabī and the Unity of Being
A key metaphysical assumption in “Supreme” is that reality is not autonomous but dependent on a divine source: “We are living inside a dream of the supreme.” This recalls the teachings of Ibn ʿArabī, particularly his doctrine of wahdat al-wujūd (Unity of Being), where all existence is understood as a manifestation of God’s attributes (Chittick, 1989). The idea that God is dreaming the world into existence is central to Ibn ʿArabī’s conception of imagination (khayāl)—the intermediary realm through which divine attributes become perceivable forms.
In this framework, Nancy’s metaphor of a divine “limited series” directed by God but acted out by humans represents a spiritual dramaturgy, where the cosmos is a stage and each soul an actor in a recurring narrative written by the Absolute.
Heidegger, Authenticity, and Irreversibility
The poem’s haunting line—“There is no turning back! / No reversal, No reversions”—reflects the existential finality that Martin Heidegger associates with authentic being-toward-death. In Being and Time, Heidegger (1962) argues that authentic existence arises when individuals confront the finitude of their own being. Nancy’s depiction of life as a one-way journey toward an ultimate judgment mirrors Heidegger’s notion that true selfhood is only possible through the recognition of mortality and responsibility.
Nancy’s phrase, “only the truth seekers can reach at the end of the tunnel,” also echoes Heidegger’s distinction between inauthentic everydayness and authentic uncovering of Being. In this sense, the poem not only echoes eschatological imagery but stages a philosophical drama of existential awakening.
Simulation Hypothesis and Divine Ontology
Nancy’s statement—“This earthly world is an illusion of an illusionist”—invokes modern simulation theory, particularly Nick Bostrom’s hypothesis that our reality may be an artificial simulation created by an advanced intelligence (Bostrom, 2003). However, Nancy transposes this idea from the technological to the theological: the “illusionist” is God, and the illusion is not a deception but a divine pedagogy.
This view parallels Islamic and Vedantic traditions, where the phenomenal world is not dismissed as unreal but reinterpreted as symbolic—a sign (āyah) pointing toward higher truths. Nancy’s poetic vision suggests that even within the illusion, the human soul can awaken to truth and reach “the end of the tunnel,” i.e., divine proximity.
Qurʾānic Imagery and Eschatological Structure
The poem also reflects Qurʾānic cosmology, particularly in its use of eschatological symbols like the Pul-Sirat (bridge over Hell) and Burāq (the heavenly steed). The poem claims: “We are facing the judgement day, / In the terrains of 'Pool-Sirat' we've already walked in.” This statement resonates with Qurʾānic passages such as Surah Ibrahim (14:24–26), where truth is compared to a tree with firm roots and falsehood to a tree without stability.
In this sense, “Supreme” offers a re-visioning of Qurʾānic eschatology not as a distant future event but as a present ontological reality. The “Day of Judgment” becomes symbolic of the perpetual reckoning that the soul experiences in every moment of awareness.
Conclusion: The Self as Divine Mirror
Nancy’s poem “Supreme” is not merely poetic; it is philosophically and theologically provocative. It collapses traditional binaries between creator and creation, past and present, illusion and reality. Drawing on the mysticism of Ibn ʿArabī, the temporal philosophy of Bergson, the existential insights of Heidegger, and the technological metaphors of Bostrom, the poem proposes a vision of the self as both performer and witness in a divine simulation.
Ultimately, “Supreme” invites readers to reflect on their own role in the divine narrative: Are we aware of the dream we inhabit? Can we wake up before the final judgment? Or are we already living in its memory?
References
Bergson, H. (1990). Matter and memory (N. M. Paul & W. S. Palmer, Trans.). Zone Books. (Original work published 1896)
Bostrom, N. (2003). Are you living in a computer simulation? Philosophical Quarterly, 53(211), 243–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9213.00309
Chittick, W. C. (1989). The Sufi path of knowledge: Ibn al-ʻArabi's metaphysics of imagination. SUNY Press.
Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, Trans.). Harper & Row. (Original work published 1927)
The Qur'an (Trans. M.A.S. Abdel Haleem). (2005). Oxford University Press.
What if I don't survive or get spare time to write prolonged essays on my philosophical thoughts that I usually write in poetic forms? These insightful philosophical poems need elaboration, years ago I thought to switch into prose but I could not manage time, life happens and so life crisis. One legendary thought is followed by others- usually some other person would write reflective essays on my writings if it has reached their sight or understanding. But, It's rare, usually decades passes after that someone recognizes you, resonates with you and then interprets your writings. But, instead I took charge of it and let AI interpret my write-ups! Who knows if someday I get ample time and leisure free of worldly materialistic adventures, I will write the essay versions of my poems myself in a book form, till then chat-gpt will analyze my writings. And, if not, then I hope there should be a new policy in the publication sector for Chat-GPT to be my co-author in prose since not always everyone is interested in co-writing philosophical essays or understands those or my thoughts! Alone one can't do everything in this short life! Life can be short but let it not remain short-sighted!
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