Surrounding Distinction in the Saenoddin Ibn Torke and Spinoza's Thought

Mysticism in Islamic and western tradition has been raised many important issues about God, nature and being as a whole especially human being and his relation to God and to himself. Of course, these issues have been noticed also by other thinkers and traditions other than mystical traditions, but in this article we will try to notice to the mystical tradition in Islam and western. So, the most important subject for this article is the quality of the relation between human and God. We will notice to two famous thinkers in Islamic and western mystical traditions, Saenoddin Ibn Torke and Spinoza. As we already said, the relationship between God and His creatures, especially with human beings, have been noticed in the Islamic and western mysticism and many books has been written on this issue. For mystics it is important to believe to the God's transcendence and at the same time, believe to this idea that God is in a real relation with His creatures. Indeed, mystics for explanting the possibility of relationship between God and His creatures, and also for preserving God's transcendence beyond creatures, paid more attention to this issue. Saenoddin Ibn Torke, one of the prominent mystics in the eighth and ninth AH, have been noticed to this issue by using the term Surrounding Distinction. We can see in the Spinoza's writings, issues like the Ibn Torke's Surrounding Distinction in his mystical writings. Both thinkers have been paid attention to the issue of God's nature, His attributes and His relationship to creatures. And also both thinkers by using the kinds of distinctions, tried to show that the distinction between God and His creatures, in not a contrasting one but a Surrounding one. In another word, both try to demonstrate the transcendence and incarnate (albeit not materiality) for God. Surrounding Distinction is an important concept in Islamic mysticism that mystics by using it have been tried to solve the challenging problem about the possibility of relationship between God and His creatures. Of course, they have been explained different kinds of distinction: confrontational distinction and surrounding distinction. The first kind is a metaphysical or philosophical distinction and is between two things that have characterizes differently, so one is characteristically different from another. In confrontational distinction, there in only Otherness between two things and there is not Identity between them. But, on the other hand, there is another kind of distinction that, as we said, is raised by mystics and for them is most important from confrontational distinction that is philosophically or metaphysically distinction. The necessity of surrounding distinction for mystics is in this problem that many humans sometimes say something about the relation between God and themselves but maybe they understand this relationship as an identical one. But this is not the same thing that mystics have in mind. For them God has direct relation to His creatures but God is not His creatures and is not identical with them. So this is one of most important issuers for Islamic and western mystical traditions that try to show that God is not identical with His creatures but has a direct and real relationship with them. This approach in mysticism helps to mystics for interpretation the quranicverse and many Hadiths in Islamic tradition. Also mystics can demonstrate that mysticism is not characteristically paradoxical.
Spinoza too like some of Muslim mystics, explained different kind of distinction and try to show that God has direct relation to His creatures but God is not His creatures and is not identical with them. Of course, there are different interpretations on the Spinoza's view on God and His relation to creatures especially to human beings. Two kinds of these interpretations that are most important from other interpretations are logical interpretation and causal one.                
 In this article we will try to compare between Ibn Torke and Spinoza's thought on the Surrounding Distinction between God and His creatures, according to their books. These two thinkers have similarities in their view on the Surrounding Distinction between God and His creatures. Methodically Ibn Torke and Spinoza use a compositional method means a composition of their philosophical, religious and mystical traditions. But Spinoza is in Cartesian tradition and so notice to the philosophical and geometric methods in his writings. In addition, there are some differences in Ibn Torke and Spinoza's view on God and His attributes so this subject affected on their explanation on the relation between God and His creatures.