From the Theater to the Tablet: A New Way of Seeing the Universe
For roughly four hundred years, since the time of Newton and later Einstein, the dominant scientific picture of the universe has resembled a cosmic theater.
In this view, reality is composed of three basic elements.
First, there is the stage, a vast container of space and time stretching endlessly in every direction. Second, there are the actors, particles and objects moving across that stage like marbles rolling across a floor. Third, there is the script, the laws of physics that determine how those actors behave.
Even Einstein’s revolutionary theory of relativity did not abandon this structure. It merely showed that the stage itself could bend and stretch under the weight of matter. Space and time were no longer rigid, but they were still treated as a physical arena in which the universe unfolds.
Yet over the last century, cracks have appeared in this picture. At the quantum level, particles do not behave like tiny objects following clear paths. Instead, they appear as strange patterns of correlation and probability. Space and time themselves begin to look less like a fixed backdrop and more like something that may emerge from deeper relationships.
This is the starting point of Information Relational Manifestation Theory (IRMT).
Instead of assuming that space and time come first, IRMT explores a different possibility: that the universe is fundamentally a network of relationships, and that spacetime, matter, and forces arise from the way those relationships remain consistent with one another.
In this sense, the universe may not be a theater at all. It may be closer to a record.
The Universe as a Cosmic Record
In the language of modern physics, IRMT describes reality as a causal network, a structure made of events linked by relationships. These links encode how events influence one another and how information propagates through the universe.
But there is a striking way to visualize this idea that resonates deeply with Islamic intellectual tradition.
The Qur’an describes a reality known as the Lauḥ al-Maḥfūẓ, the Preserved Tablet, a domain in which the decree and knowledge of all things are inscribed. Classical scholars often interpreted this symbol as representing the ordered structure through which creation unfolds.
From this perspective, one might imagine the relational universe as resembling a kind of cosmic tablet, a vast record in which the history of relationships is written.
This is not to say that the physical universe is literally the Preserved Tablet. Rather, the metaphor captures something profound: existence appears less like a collection of objects and more like an unfolding history of relations.
What we call “things” may simply be stable patterns within that history.
The Pen and the Ink
Islamic cosmology often speaks of the Qalam (the Pen) and the Tablet.
In symbolic language, the Pen represents the unfolding of divine command, while the Tablet represents the structured record through which creation becomes manifest.
In a relational universe, one can imagine existence unfolding in a similar way.
Events are continuously added to the relational structure, expanding the web of causal history. Every moment contributes another “line” to the cosmic record. The universe grows not merely by expanding through space, but by accumulating relationships.
Particles, in this picture, are not solid marbles moving through empty space. Instead they appear as stable patterns of resonance within the relational network, persistent structures that maintain coherence as the universe evolves.
In this sense, matter resembles ink patterns in a written text: recognizable shapes formed by the deeper grammar of relationships.
Perpetual Renewal
One of the most remarkable teachings in Islamic metaphysics, particularly in the writings of Ibn ʿArabī, is the idea that creation is continuously renewed.
He writes of tajdīd al-khalq, the renewal of creation at every instant.
This does not mean that the universe disappears and reappears in a crude mechanical sense. Rather, it suggests that existence is not a static object but an ongoing act of manifestation.
Interestingly, modern relational physics echoes this idea in its own way. In IRMT, the universe evolves through a constant flow of informational updates, where new relational events extend the network of reality. The cosmos is therefore not a frozen structure but a living, unfolding process.
What we perceive as continuity arises from the stability of patterns within that ongoing renewal.
Archetypes and Manifestation
In Ibn ʿArabī’s metaphysics, the possibilities of all beings exist in divine knowledge as Aʿyān al-Thābita, the “fixed entities” or archetypal realities of things before they enter into existence.
When these archetypes receive manifestation, they appear in the world as concrete forms.
In a purely scientific language, IRMT describes something conceptually similar. Within the relational network, certain patterns of coherence become stable modes, structures that can persist across the evolving history of events.
These patterns behave like the fundamental particles of physics.
Thus, what we observe as matter may arise from deep structural harmonies within the relational fabric of the universe.
What Questions Is This Research Trying to Address?
Modern physics has achieved extraordinary success. The Standard Model of particle physics explains the behavior of fundamental particles with remarkable precision, and Einstein’s theory of general relativity describes gravity and the large-scale structure of the universe.
Yet despite these successes, there remain several deep questions about the nature of reality that are still unresolved.
The work presented here explores one possible way of thinking about those open questions.
The Relationship Between Quantum Physics and Gravity
One of the biggest challenges in modern physics is that our two most successful theories describe the universe in very different ways.
Quantum mechanics governs the microscopic world of particles and interactions, while general relativity describes gravity and the structure of spacetime itself. Both theories work extremely well within their respective domains, but they are difficult to combine into a single consistent framework.
Many researchers believe that spacetime itself may not be fundamental, but may instead emerge from deeper structures. IRMT explores this possibility by asking whether spacetime might arise from a network of relationships between events.
Why the Laws of Physics Have the Structure They Do
Another open question concerns the origin of the patterns we observe in nature.
For example, the Standard Model contains specific particles, forces, and symmetries that appear remarkably structured, yet we do not fully understand why these particular patterns exist. Physicists have long wondered whether these structures might emerge from deeper mathematical principles.
The relational framework explored here attempts to investigate whether some of these patterns could arise from the internal consistency requirements of an underlying relational system.
The Nature of Spacetime
General relativity treats spacetime as a smooth geometric structure that can bend and curve in response to matter and energy. However, many physicists suspect that spacetime may actually be discrete or emergent at the deepest level.
Several research programs, such as causal set theory, loop quantum gravity, and other approaches, explore this possibility.
IRMT is inspired by similar questions and asks whether spacetime geometry could arise from the evolving structure of relational events.
The Large-Scale Evolution of the Universe
Cosmology also raises important questions.
The universe appears to be expanding, and observations suggest the presence of phenomena such as dark energy and dark matter that are not yet fully understood. While existing models describe these effects mathematically, their deeper origin remains an open topic of investigation.
Within the relational framework, the evolution of the universe is explored in terms of how the network of relationships grows and changes over time.
A Conceptual Exploration
It is important to emphasize that the work presented here is a conceptual exploration, not a finished physical theory.
The framework attempts to organize several ideas around a central question: whether the fundamental structure of reality might be relational rather than object-based.
Whether that idea ultimately proves fruitful will depend on future work, particularly deeper mathematical analysis and critical engagement from researchers in physics and mathematics.
For now, the goal of this project is simply to explore these questions and offer one possible perspective on some of the open mysteries that continue to inspire scientific inquiry.
The Research Papers
The following papers develop the ideas of Information Relational Manifestation Theory across several domains of physics.
Information Relational Manifestation Theory
Introduces the foundational relational ontology of the universe and the principle governing informational consistency between events.
PhilPapers download: Click Here
Quantum Correlations and Gauge Structure from a Discrete Relational Substrate
Explores how quantum correlations and gauge symmetries may emerge from relational information dynamics.
PhilPapers download: Click Here
A Relational Causal Set Framework for the Standard Model
Develops the matter sector by introducing a relational Dirac operator and explaining particle families through spectral structures.
PhilPapers download: Click Here
The Emergence of Gravitation and the Einstein–Hilbert Action
Shows how gravity and Einstein’s equations may arise from informational transport within the relational network.
PhilPapers download: Click Here
Relational Cosmology & Emergence of Cosmic Expansion
Examines how cosmic expansion, dark energy, and the evolution of the universe may emerge from the growth of relational structure.
PhilPapers download: Click Here
Sufis 