The Harmony of Being | Geometry in Man, Nature, and Cosmos

Proportional roots: (a) the √2 proportion, (b) the √3 proportion,
and (c) the golden mean (Phi) proportion.

Loai M. Dabbour (2012) - Geometry describes the assertions of a mathematical order of the intrinsic nature of the universe. Geometry is the very basis of our reality, and we live in a coherent world governed by underlying laws. Johannes Kepler stated that geometry is underpinning the cosmos, which was based on Plato’s ideas that God created the universe according to a geometric plan. The structure of the universe is determined by and revealed as certain mathematical and geometric constants which represent a confirmation that proportions are the underlying fabric of nature. This can be seen in man, nature, and cosmos.

Root proportions based on the square.

By contemplating geometric proportions, an understanding towards the sacred truth can be obtained since geometric proportions are one of the definitive geometric qualities of life itself. The Holy Quran tells us that man has within himself all what is reflected in the universe - the best proportions. Man is the core of God’s creatures; he possesses the most harmonious proportions, reflecting of the Divine harmony of being. "We have indeed created man in best of forms" – proportions (Surah At-Tin, 95:4). Leonardo da Vinci illustrated the mathematical proportions of the human body, showing that human being exhibits clearly golden mean proportions in his body based on ratios of 1.618.The Vitruvian Man drawn by Leonardo Da Vinci is based on Vitruvius, who believed that if human proportions could be incorporated into buildings, they would become perfect in their geometry. According to Vitruvius, the distance from fingertip to fingertip should be the same as that from head to toe. The sacred mean rules can be seen in the ratios of body parts throughout the human body. The human body contains in its proportions all the important geometric geodesic measures and functions. The proportions of ideal man are at the center of a circle of invariant cosmic relationships.

Proportions of Venus’ and Earth’s mean orbits.

The mathematical harmony of the universe can be seen from the proportions of the planets in our solar system. For example, the ratio of the sacred mean can be seen in the rotations of Venus and Earth around the Sun in that for each five years that the Earth rotates around the Sun, Venus rotates around it eight times. The connection between 5 and 8, both of which are Fibonacci numbers, is the golden mean proportion (8/5 = 1.6). The result of this motion is that Venus draws a pentagon around the Sun every eight years (Figure A). Figure B shows that a circle is drawn, which represents Venus’ mean orbit. A pentagon is constructed inside it and a small circle placed through the arm-crossing points. The radius of this small circle divides the radius of the large one into golden sections and can be used to space Venus’ orbit from Earth’s orbit. It can be seen from the agreement between eightfold and fivefold geometries that eight touching circles are drawn from Venus’ mean orbit. In turn, the circumference circle is enclosing these eight circles, defining Earth’s mean orbit. The ratio of the mean orbits of Venus’s to Earth is the √2 proportion. The geometric representation of these orbits creates the golden mean proportion.

Math for Mystics | # 1

The Pythagorean Definition of God

St. Bernard of Clairvaux: "God is breadth and length, height and depth."

The Essence

Proportion is to Space what Rhythm is to Music

In the sight of the Essence, which is one, the universe is like a single being. The essential unity of the world is the most certain of things but also the most hidden: all knowledge and every perception, however adequate or inadequate, presupposes the essential Unity of beings and of things. 

... It may thus be said that man, who is a microcosm, and the universe, which is a macrocosm, are like two mirrors each reflecting the other. On the one hand man only exists in relation to the macrocosm which determines him, and on the other hand man knows the macrocosm, and this means that all the possibilities which are unfolded in the world are principally contained in man’s intellectual essence. This is the meaning of the saying in the Qur'ān: “And He (God) taught Adam all the names (i.e. all the essences of beings and of things)” (2:31) 

Titus Burckhardt (1953): Introduction to Sufi Doctrine, p. 63-64.

The Beauty of Maths

Sequential Inputs of numbers with 8
1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321
......................................

Sequential 1's with 9
1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 + 10 = 1111111111
......................................

Sequential 8's with 9
9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888
......................................

Numeric Palindrome with 1's
1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321
......................................

Without 8
12345679 x 9 = 111111111
12345679 x 18 = 222222222
12345679 x 27 = 333333333
12345679 x 36 = 444444444
12345679 x 45 = 555555555
12345679 x 54 = 666666666
12345679 x 63 = 777777777
12345679 x 72 = 888888888
12345679 x 81 = 999999999
......................................

Sequential Inputs of 9
9 x 9 = 81
99 x 99 = 9801
999 x 999 = 998001
9999 x 9999 = 99980001
99999 x 99999 = 9999800001
999999 x 999999 = 999998000001
9999999 x 9999999 = 99999980000001
99999999 x 99999999 = 9999999800000001
999999999 x 999999999 = 999999998000000001
......................................

Sequential Inputs of 6
6 x 7 = 42
66 x 67 = 4422
666 x 667 = 444222
6666 x 6667 = 44442222
66666 x 66667 = 4444422222
666666 x 666667 = 444444222222
6666666 x 6666667 = 44444442222222
66666666 x 66666667 = 4444444422222222
666666666 x 666666667 = 444444444222222222
......................................

A Magic Square of order n is an arrangement of n² numbers, usually distinct integers, in a square, such that the n numbers in all rows, all columns, and both diagonals sum to the same constant. Building on the work of Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Buni, in about 1510 Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa wrote De Occulta Philosophia expounding on the magical virtues of seven magical squares of orders 3 to 9, each associated with one of the astrological planets.

Saturn = 15 4 9 2 3 5 7 8 1 6

Jupiter = 34 4 14 15 1 9 7 6 12 5 11 10 8 16 2 3 13

Mars = 65 11 24 7 20 3 4 12 25 8 16 17 5 13 21 9 10 18 1 14 22 23 6 19 2 15

Sol = 111 6 32 3 34 35 1 7 11 27 28 8 30 19 14 16 15 23 24 18 20 22 21 17 13 25 29 10 9 26 12 36 5 33 4 2 31

Venus = 175 22 47 16 41 10 35 4 5 23 48 17 42 11 29 30 6 24 49 18 36 12 13 31 7 25 43 19 37 38 14 32 1 26 44 20 21 39 8 33 2 27 45 46 15 40 9 34 3 28

Mercury = 260 8 58 59 5 4 62 63 1 49 15 14 52 53 11 10 56 41 23 22 44 45 19 18 48 32 34 35 29 28 38 39 25 40 26 27 37 36 30 31 33 17 47 46 20 21 43 42 24 9 55 54 12 13 51 50 16 64 2 3 61 60 6 7 57

Luna = 369 37 78 29 70 21 62 13 54 5 6 38 79 30 71 22 63 14 46 47 7 39 80 31 72 23 55 15 16 48 8 40 81 32 64 24 56 57 17 49 9 41 73 33 65 25 26 58 18 50 1 42 74 34 66 67 27 59 10 51 2 43 75 35 36 68 19 60 11 52 3 44 76 77 28 69 20 61 12 53 4 45

  

The order-4 magic square in Albrecht Dürer's engraving Melencolia I is believed to be the first seen in European art. The sum 34 can be found in the rows, columns, diagonals, each of the quadrants, the center four squares, and the corner squares (of the 4 x 4 as well as the four contained 3 x 3 grids). This sum can also be found in the four outer numbers clockwise from the corners (3 + 8 + 14 + 9) and likewise the four counter-clockwise (the locations of four queens in the two solutions of the 4 queens puzzle, the two sets of four symmetrical numbers (2 + 8 + 9 + 15 and 3 + 5 + 12 + 14), the sum of the middle two entries of the two outer columns and rows (5 + 9 + 8 + 12 and 3 + 2 + 15 + 14), and in four kite or cross shaped quartets (3 + 5 + 11 + 15, 2 + 10 + 8 + 14, 3 + 9 + 7 + 15, and 2 + 6 + 12 + 14). The two numbers in the middle of the bottom row give the date of the engraving: 1514. The numbers 1 and 4 at either side of the date correspond to, in English, the letters 'A' and 'D' which are the initials of the artist. Dürer's image was distributed widely, and travelled as far away as India, where the Mughal miniaturist Farrukh Beg referenced the work in his 1615 miniature The Old Sufi.