1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

bridges the periphery with the Centre of all things. Man is also dual-natured. He is both soul and body, at once physical being and spirit. He comprises both the higher, spiritual and angelic self; and the lower, animal, and repre­ hensible self. While he is the crown of creation, and was created with the best of mould, he is also capable of commiting injustice both to others and to himself. Thus, in Islam man is called insan - one who forgets. It is when man for­ gets his Divine Covenant with God that man becomes cruel and unjust. The Universe With regard to the relatively real, the Universe is hierarchical in structure, compris­ ing various levels of existence, the spiritual, imaginal and phenomenal. Everything that exists in the universe takes it existence and attributes from the Divine Reality. As main­ tained by Islamic metaphysic, the universe is Theophany - it reflects the Divinity in the mirror of created form. The universe is the speech of God, articulated within the "Breath of the Merciful" and gives news of God through its signs which is the phenomena of nature. It is an open book, a panorama of sign (ayat) and symbols that man is constantly exhorted to study and contemplate so that he can gain the knowledge of higher Truth. In sura 41:53 the Quran states: "Soon we will show them our sign in the further regions of the earth and in their own soul, until it be­ comes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord dith witness all things? " The Islamic Root Of Traditional Malay Art To appreciate how’ profoundly Islam has penetrated the thought, art and culture of the traditional Malay society, let us study the following philosophy of Malay wuodcarving which succinctly captures the Malay's under­ standing of the ontological interrelationship between God-Man-Universe. Tiunbuh berpunca Puncapenuh rashia Tumbuh tidak menunjak lawan Memenjattidak menwuthawan Tapi berlengkarpenuh mesra. The first twro verses allude to the fact that the whole universe or cosmos including man, owes its origin to God - the Supreme Creator (hence, "tumbuh berpunca"). However, at the level of Divine Essence (Zat) God is Tran­ scendent, Unknowable, Ineffeable, Inexpress- ible-the "Mystery of all Mysteries." (Thus, "punca penuh rashia"). The remaining follow­ ing three verses, refer to the concept of the universe as the mirror that reflects the Divine Qualities and Attributes such as Merciful, Benevolance, Beauty, Majesty, Perfection. Hence, "tidak menunjak lawman, tidak memaut kawTan tapi melingkar penuh mesra" - refer to some of the Attributes of God w’hich pertain to His Beatitude. In his paper entitled 'The Concept of the Beautiful (Indah) in Malay Classical Literature and Its Islamic Roots," V.I. Braginsky, w’rites, "God attributes are therefore Divine Names, manifested in the external wurld. There are twTo aspects of Divine Names the one opposed to the other, under the general heading of Beauty (al-Jamal) and Majesty (al-Jalal). Hence an Hadith that affirms that "God is Beautiful and He loves Beauty."