Discover the meaning of the term Al-hbaʾ (هباء) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readIt is that in which Allah opened the bodies of the world, while having no actual entity in existence except through the form that was opened within it. It is called the Phoenix in the sense that it is heard of, yet has no existence in its essence, and it is also called prime matter. And since the Haba, considering the arrangement of the ranks of existence, is in the fourth rank after the First Intellect, the Universal Soul, and the Universal Nature, it was designated as a substance in which the forms of bodies were opened, for below its rank is the rank of the universal body. This Haba rank is not conceived except in the manner of conceiving whiteness and blackness in the white and the black; thus blackness and whiteness in intelligibility and sense perception are attached to the white and the black.
It is that in which Allah opened the bodies of the world while having no self-sufficiency in existence except in the form that was opened within it. It is called the Phoenix in the aspect that it is heard of yet has no existence in its essence, and also prime matter. And ﴿scattered dust﴾ meaning: dispersed dust.
It is that in which Allah opened the bodies of the world while having no entity in existence except through the form that was opened within it. It is called the Phoenix in the aspect that it is heard of through its mention yet has no existence in its essence, and prime matter. And since the Haba, considering the arrangement of the ranks of existence, is in the fourth rank after the First Intellect, the Universal Soul, and the Universal Nature, he specified it as being a substance in which the forms of bodies were opened, for below its rank is the rank of the universal body. This Haba rank is not conceived except like the conception of whiteness and blackness in the white and the black (Al-Ta'rifat page 277, Al-Qashani, Istilahat al-Sufiyya, page 45).