Comprehensive Map of Sufi Esoteric Concepts: The Complete Architecture of Islamic Mysticism

I. FOUNDATIONAL COSMOLOGICAL REALMS

The Five Divine Presences (Al-Ḥaḍarāt al-Ilāhiyyah al-Khams)

1. Hāhūt (‎هاهوت)

The realm of absolute divine essence
Pure unknowability, beyond all attributes
The "He-ness" - ultimate transcendence
No manifestation, no relation, no knowledge possible
The divine mystery (ghayb al-ghuyūb)

2. Lāhūt (لاهوت)

The realm of divinity with attributes
Divine names and qualities
God as knowable, relatable
The divine consciousness
Source of all revelations

3. Jabarūt (جبروت)

The realm of divine power/might
World of spirits and intellects ('aql)
Archangelic realm
Pure light and potency
Bridge between divine and created

4. Malakūt (ملكوت)

The imaginal realm, intermediary world ('ālam al-mithāl)
Realm of souls (arwāḥ)
Angelic domain
World of symbolic forms
Where dreams, visions, spiritual experiences occur
The barzakh (isthmus) between spirit and matter

5. Nāsūt (ناسوت)

The physical/material realm
Human world ('ālam al-insān)
Realm of manifestation (ẓuhūr)
Where spirit takes bodily form
The visible universe

Additional Realms & Cosmological Concepts

Barzakh (برزخ)

The isthmus, intermediary state
Between any two realms
Between life and afterlife
Between opposites (the human as barzakh between spirit and matter)
Where Moses met Khidr

'Ālam al-Mithāl (عالم المثال)

The imaginal world (Henry Corbin's term)
More real than physical but less than pure spirit
Where prophetic visions occur
Resurrection bodies exist here first

'Ālam al-Ajsām (عالم الأجسام)

World of bodies/corporeality
Lowest manifestation

'Ālam al-Arwāḥ (عالم الأرواح)

World of spirits
Pre-existential realm where souls testified

II. DIVINE NAMES & ATTRIBUTES

Tanzīh & Tashbīh (تنزيه و تشبيه)

Tanzīh (Transcendence)

God is utterly unlike creation
Beyond all attributes, comparisons
"Nothing is like unto Him" (42:11)
Via negativa - what God is NOT
Absolute otherness

Tashbīh (Immanence/Similarity)

God reveals Himself through attributes
Divine names manifest in creation
"Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah" (2:115)
Via positiva - what God reveals
Divine presence in all things

The Balance:

Must hold both simultaneously
Pure tanzīh leads to deism/distance
Pure tashbīh leads to pantheism/confusion
The mystic walks the razor's edge

Al-Asmā' al-Ḥusnā (الأسماء الحسنى)

The 99 Beautiful Names
Each name a divine attribute
Each name a theophany (tajallī)
Saints embody specific names
Creation manifests all names

Major Categories:

Jamālī (Beauty) - mercy, compassion, gentleness
Jalālī (Majesty) - power, wrath, might
Names of Essence (dhāt)
Names of Attributes (ṣifāt)
Names of Actions (af'āl)

Al-Ḥaqq & Al-Khalq (الحق و الخلق)

The Real (God) and the Creation
Or: Truth and creature
All existence oscillates between these poles
Creation is the Real made manifest
The Real is the hidden essence of creation

III. THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERFECT HUMAN

Al-Insān al-Kāmil (الإنسان الكامل)

The Perfect/Complete Human
Microcosm containing all levels of existence
Mirror reflecting all divine names
Khalīfah (vicegerent) of God
Prototypically: Muhammad
Potentially: every human soul

Characteristics:

Unites all realms within self
Conscious of divine essence
Manifests divine attributes perfectly
Bridge between God and cosmos
Purpose of creation

Al-Ḥaqīqah al-Muḥammadiyyah (الحقيقة المحمدية)

The Muhammadan Reality/Truth
The first creation (before Adam's body)
Divine light from which all prophets emanate
The cosmic consciousness
Pre-eternal and post-eternal
Not the historical Muhammad but the spiritual archetype

Other names:

Al-Nūr al-Muḥammadī (The Muhammadan Light)
Al-'Aql al-Awwal (First Intellect)
Al-Qalam al-A'lā (Supreme Pen)
Rūḥ al-Quds (Holy Spirit in some interpretations)

Hadith: "I was a prophet when Adam was between water and clay"

Al-Quṭb (القطب)

The Pole/Axis
The supreme saint of each age
Center around which spiritual hierarchy revolves
Often unknown even to other saints
Maintains cosmic order

The Spiritual Hierarchy:

Al-Quṭb/Al-Ghawth (1) - The Pole/Helper
Al-Awtād (4) - The Pillars/Stakes (four directions)
Al-Abdāl (7 or 40) - The Substitutes
Al-Nuqabā' (12) - The Watchmen
Al-Nujabā' (8) - The Nobles
Various other ranks descending to ordinary believers

IV. ONTOLOGICAL & METAPHYSICAL CONCEPTS

Waḥdat al-Wujūd (وحدة الوجود)

Unity of Being (Ibn 'Arabi's doctrine)
Only God truly exists (wujūd)
Creation is His self-disclosure (tajallī)
Everything is divine manifestation
Not pantheism but panentheism
"There is nothing in existence but God"

Clarification:

Not: Everything IS God
But: Everything exists BY God's existence
Only God has necessary existence
All else has contingent existence

Waḥdat ash-Shuhūd (وحدة الشهود)

Unity of Witnessing (Ahmad Sirhindi)
Alternative to waḥdat al-wujūd
God and creation remain distinct
The unity is in perception/witnessing, not being
Maintains transcendence more strictly

Tajallī (تجلي)

Self-disclosure, theophany, manifestation
God revealing Himself in creation
Every atom a tajallī
Never repeats - perpetual renewal
"Every day He is in a new state" (55:29)

Types:

Tajallī dhātī - Essential manifestation
Tajallī ṣifātī - Attribute manifestation
Tajallī af'ālī - Action manifestation

Fanā' & Baqā' (فناء و بقاء)

Annihilation and Subsistence
Central mystical experience

Fanā' (Annihilation):

Fanā' 'an an-nafs - Annihilation of ego
Fanā' 'an aṣ-ṣifāt - Annihilation of attributes
Fanā' 'an adh-dhāt - Annihilation of essence

Death before death
Ego dissolved in divine
"Die before you die"

Baqā' (Subsistence):

Remaining after annihilation
Subsisting in God
Return to world but transformed
Acting as divine instrument
"I am the Truth" (Ḥallāj) - God speaking through saint

Jam' & Farq (جمع و فرق)

Union and Separation
Integration and Differentiation

Jam' (Union):

Experience of unity
Seeing only God
Absorption in divine
Transcendence of multiplicity

Farq (Separation):

Return to awareness of distinction
Seeing creation as creation
Necessary for action in world
Honoring the Law

Jam' al-Jam' (Union of Union):

Highest state
Simultaneous awareness of unity and multiplicity
Seeing God in all AND seeing all as distinct
The balance of tanzīh and tashbīh

V. THE SCIENCE OF LETTERS

'Ilm al-Ḥurūf (علم الحروف)

The Science of Letters
Mystical properties of Arabic letters
Each letter a divine name
Letters as building blocks of existence
Numerical values (abjad)

The 28 Letters:

Correspond to 28 lunar mansions
28 divine qualities
Used in talismans, prayers, divination
Basis of zikr formulas

Key Concepts:

Ḥarf (letter) vs. Kalimah (word)
Ism (name) as power
Kun (Be!) - creative command from letters K-N

Al-Abjad (الأبجد)

Alphanumeric system
Letters have numerical values
A=1, B=2, J=3... etc.
Used for jafr (divination)
Numerology ('ilm al-'adad)

Al-Muqaṭṭa'āt (المقطعات)

Mysterious letters opening certain surahs
Alif-Lām-Mīm, Ṭā-Hā, Yā-Sīn, etc.
Esoteric meanings debated
Keys to hidden knowledge
Divine names in compressed form

VI. STATIONS & STATES

Maqāmāt & Aḥwāl (مقامات و أحوال)

Maqām (Station):

Permanent spiritual achievement
Earned through effort
Stable, enduring
Built upon progressively

Ḥāl (State):

Temporary spiritual experience
Gift from God, not earned
Comes and goes
Fleeting grace

The Classical Stations (varies by author)

According to Al-Qushayrī:

Tawbah (توبة) - Repentance
Wara' (ورع) - Scrupulousness
Zuhd (زهد) - Renunciation
Faqr (فقر) - Spiritual poverty
Ṣabr (صبر) - Patience
Tawakkul (توكل) - Trust/Reliance
Riḍā (رضا) - Contentment

According to others:

Khawf (خوف) - Fear
Rajā' (رجاء) - Hope
Shawq (شوق) - Longing
Uns (أنس) - Intimacy
Ṭuma'nīnah (طمأنينة) - Tranquility
Mushāhadah (مشاهدة) - Witnessing
Yaqīn (يقين) - Certainty

States (Examples)

Qabḍ (قبض) - Contraction/Constriction
Basṭ (بسط) - Expansion/Openness
Maḥw (محو) - Effacement
Ithbāt (إثبات) - Affirmation
Sakr (سكر) - Intoxication (spiritual)
Ṣaḥw (صحو) - Sobriety

VII. THE SELF/SOUL

Nafs (نفس) - The Self/Soul

Seven Levels (from lowest to highest):

An-Nafs al-Ammārah bi-s-Sū' (النفس الأمارة بالسوء)
- The commanding self
- Commands to evil
- Pure ego, unreformed
- Mentioned Quran 12:53
An-Nafs al-Lawwāmah (النفس اللوامة)
- The self-accusing soul
- Conscience awakened
- Reproaches itself
- Mentioned Quran 75:2
An-Nafs al-Mulhimah (النفس الملهمة)
- The inspired soul
- Receives divine inspiration
- Beginning of spiritual perception
An-Nafs al-Muṭma'innah (النفس المطمئنة)
- The tranquil soul
- At peace with divine decree
- Mentioned Quran 89:27-28
- "Return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing"
An-Nafs ar-Rāḍiyah (النفس الراضية)
- The pleased/content soul
- Satisfied with everything from God
An-Nafs al-Marḍiyyah (النفس المرضية)
- The pleasing soul
- Pleasing to God
An-Nafs aṣ-Ṣāfiyah/al-Kāmilah (النفس الصافية/الكاملة)
- The pure/perfected soul
- Complete integration
- Union with divine

Rūḥ (روح) - Spirit

Divine breath blown into Adam
Higher than nafs
Connection to divine
Immortal essence
"They ask you about the Spirit. Say: The Spirit is from the command of my Lord" (17:85)

Qalb (قلب) - Heart

The center, the pivot
Fluctuates (qalb from taqallub = turning)
Seat of faith
Organ of spiritual perception
Can be polished or rusted

States of the Heart:

Qalb salīm (سليم) - Sound/whole heart
Qalb munīb (منيب) - Penitent heart
Qalb mayyit (ميت) - Dead heart
Qalb marīḍ (مريض) - Sick heart

Sirr (سر) - Secret/Innermost Heart

The secret chamber
Where divine mysteries disclosed
Most intimate level
Beyond ordinary consciousness

Khafī (خفي) - Hidden

Even more subtle than sirr
The most hidden aspect

Akhfā (أخفى) - Most Hidden

Ultimate interiority
Where soul meets God directly
Beyond description

VIII. SPIRITUAL PRACTICES

Dhikr (ذكر) - Remembrance

Central practice
Recitation of divine names
"Remember Me, I will remember you" (2:152)

Types:

Dhikr jahrī - Aloud
Dhikr khafī - Silent
Dhikr qalbī - Of the heart
Dhikr lisānī - Of the tongue

Formulas:

Lā ilāha illā Allāh - No god but God
Allāh - God (the supreme name)
Ḥayy - Living
Qayyūm - Self-Sustaining
Hū - He

Murāqabah (مراقبة) - Vigilance/Meditation

Watchfulness of God
Awareness of divine presence
"Worship God as if you see Him"
Contemplative practice

Khalwah (خلوة) - Retreat

Spiritual seclusion
40-day retreats (arba'īn)
Isolation for intensive practice

Samā' (سماع) - Spiritual Listening

Listening to music/poetry for spiritual ecstasy
Controversial practice
Whirling of Mevlevi dervishes
Rumi's method

Fikr (فكر) - Contemplation

Reflection on divine signs
Intellectual meditation
"Do they not contemplate...?" (Quranic refrain)

Tawajjuh (توجه) - Spiritual Direction

Master directing attention to disciple's heart
Transmission of spiritual energy (baraka)
"Heart-to-heart" teaching

IX. THEOPHANIC CONCEPTS

Tajalliyāt (تجليات) - Theophanies

Three Types:

Tajallī Dhātī (تجلي ذاتي)
- Essential theophany
- Manifestation of divine essence
- Rare, overwhelming
Tajallī Ṣifātī (تجلي صفاتي)
- Manifestation of attributes
- God revealing specific qualities
- More common
Tajallī Af'ālī (تجلي أفعالي)
- Manifestation through actions
- Divine acts in world

Kashf (كشف) - Unveiling

Mystical unveiling/disclosure
Direct spiritual perception
Seeing beyond the veil
Not through reason but direct knowing

Shuhūd (شهود) - Witnessing

Direct witnessing of divine
"I was a hidden treasure and loved to be known..."
God witnessing Himself through creation

Ru'yah (رؤية) - Vision

Spiritual vision of God
"You will not see Me" (to Moses) - in this life
Vision in afterlife promised
Vision in spiritual state possible

X. ESOTERIC QURANIC INTERPRETATION

Ẓāhir & Bāṭin (ظاهر و باطن)

Outer/Exoteric and Inner/Esoteric
Every verse has seven levels (tradition)
Ẓāhir - literal meaning
Bāṭin - hidden meaning

Seven Levels (one schema):

Literal
Allegorical
Moral
Anagogical (mystical)
Cosmological
Psychological
Unitive

Ta'wīl (تأويل) - Esoteric Interpretation

"Taking back to the source"
Finding original spiritual meaning
Symbolic interpretation
Dangerous if misused

Tafsīr (تفسير) vs. Ta'wīl

Tafsīr - explanation, commentary
Ta'wīl - interpretation, going beyond literal

XI. LOVE & BEAUTY

'Ishq (عشق) - Passionate Love

Divine love
Overwhelming, intoxicating
Goes beyond rational maḥabbah
"He loves them and they love Him" (5:54)

Maḥabbah (محبة) - Love

Rational, stable love
Foundation of spiritual path
Love of God and love BY God

Shawq (شوق) - Longing

Spiritual yearning
Never satisfied
Increases with nearness
"The yearning of the lover increases with every glance"

Jamāl & Jalāl (جمال و جلال)

Jamāl (Beauty):

Divine beauty
Mercy, gentleness, attraction
"God is beautiful and loves beauty"

Jalāl (Majesty):

Divine majesty
Power, awe, transcendence
Inspiring fear and reverence

Ḥusn (حسن) - Beauty

Beauty as divine attribute
Creation reveals divine beauty
"He who made beautiful everything He created" (32:7)

XII. TIME & ETERNITY

Azal & Abad (أزل و أبد)

Azal (أزل) - Pre-eternity, beginningless
Abad (أبد) - Post-eternity, endless
God exists in both
Creation exists in time between

Dahr (دهر) - Perpetuity

Endless time
"I am Time (ad-dahr)" - Hadith Qudsi
God as source of time

Waqt (وقت) - The Moment

"The Sufi is son of the moment"
Present moment as only reality
Past and future are veils

Sarmad (سرمد) - Timelessness

Beyond time
Eternal now
Divine consciousness

XIII. GNOSIS & KNOWLEDGE

Ma'rifah (معرفة) - Gnosis

Direct experiential knowledge
Knowledge of God through God
Beyond intellectual knowing
Highest form of knowledge

'Ilm (علم) - Knowledge

Intellectual knowledge
Can be taught and learned
Foundation but not destination

Ḥikmah (حكمة) - Wisdom

Practical spiritual knowledge
Right action flowing from understanding
Integration of knowledge

'Irfān (عرفان) - Mystical Knowledge

Persian term for gnosis
Comprehensive mystical knowing
School of Islamic philosophy (especially Iranian)

Fiqh al-Bāṭin (فقه الباطن)

Inner jurisprudence
Understanding inner meaning of Law
Esoteric understanding of Shariah

XIV. PROPHETIC & SAINTLY CONCEPTS

Walāyah/Wilāyah (ولاية) - Sainthood

Being a friend (walī) of God
Divine protection and guidance
Spiritual authority

Nubuwwah (نبوة) - Prophethood

Office of prophet
Ended with Muhammad
But walāyah continues

Ibn 'Arabi's doctrine:

Wilāyat al-khāṣṣah - Special sainthood (after prophethood)
Wilāyat al-'āmmah - General sainthood (under prophethood)

Khatm al-Wilāyah (ختم الولاية)

Seal of Sainthood
As Muhammad is Seal of Prophets
Jesus as Seal of Universal Sainthood
Mahdi as Seal of Muhammadan Sainthood (some interpretations)

Baraka (بركة) - Blessing/Spiritual Power

Divine grace flowing through saints
Can be transmitted
Present in holy places, objects, persons

XV. METAPHYSICAL CONCEPTS

Qidam (قدم) & Ḥudūth (حدوث)

Qidam - Eternity/Pre-existence (God's quality)
Ḥudūth - Temporal origination (creation's quality)
Distinction between Creator and created

Wujūb & Imkān & Imtinā' (وجوب و إمكان و امتناع)

Wujūb - Necessity (God's existence)
Imkān - Possibility/Contingency (creation's existence)
Imtinā' - Impossibility (logical contradictions)

Jawhar & 'Araḍ (جوهر و عرض)

Jawhar - Substance
'Araḍ - Accident/attribute
Philosophical distinction

Al-Aḥadiyyah & al-Wāḥidiyyah (الأحدية و الواحدية)

Al-Aḥadiyyah (Absolute Oneness):

Divine essence in itself
Beyond all distinctions
Even beyond unity as concept
Pure singularity

Al-Wāḥidiyyah (Unity):

Divine oneness containing multiplicity
One God with many names
Unity of the Many

XVI. SPECIAL TECHNICAL TERMS

Ḥaqīqah, Ṭarīqah, Sharī'ah (حقيقة، طريقة، شريعة)

Sharī'ah (شريعة) - The Law:

Exoteric law
Social regulations
The boat

Ṭarīqah (طريقة) - The Path:

Mystical method
Sufi practices
The ocean journey

Ḥaqīqah (حقيقة) - The Truth/Reality:

Ultimate reality
Direct knowledge
The destination

Relationship: "Shariah is the boat, Tariqah is the ocean, Haqiqah is the pearl"

Ḥaqq & Majāz (حق و مجاز)

Ḥaqq - Reality/Truth
Majāz - Metaphor/Symbol
Everything either reality or pointer to reality

Wārid (وارد) - Incoming

Spiritual inspiration
Thought/experience from God
Unsought grace

Istidrāj (استدراج) - Gradual Seduction

False spiritual experiences
Tests appearing as gifts
Leading astray through apparent miracles

Karamah (كرامة) - Miracle of Saint

Charismatic gift
Not earned, not sought
Can be trap if becomes focus

Mu'jizah (معجزة) - Miracle of Prophet

Greater than karamah
Proves prophetic mission

XVII. COVENANT & PRIMORDIAL CONCEPTS

Mīthāq (ميثاق) - Primordial Covenant

"Am I not your Lord?" - "Yes!" (7:172)
Pre-existential testimony
All souls witnessed before creation
Source of spiritual nostalgia

Fiṭrah (فطرة) - Primordial Nature

Original human nature
Born in state of Islam (submission)
Can be covered but not destroyed
Why truth "resonates"

Dhikr & Ghaflah (ذكر و غفلة)

Dhikr - Remembrance
Ghaflah - Heedlessness/Forgetfulness
Spiritual life as remembering primordial covenant

XVIII. BREATH & DIVINE MERCY

Nafas ar-Raḥmān (نفس الرحمن)

The Breath of the Merciful
Divine exhalation creating cosmos
"And He breathed into him of His spirit" (15:29)
Creation as God's breath

Raḥmah (رحمة) - Mercy

Primary divine attribute
"My mercy encompasses all things" (7:156)
Creation itself as mercy
Existence as gift

XIX. CIRCLES & CYCLES

Dā'irah al-Wujūd (دائرة الوجود)

Circle of Existence
Emanation and return
From God, through creation, back to God
Qaws an-nuzūl (arc of descent) and Qaws as-su'ūd (arc of ascent)

Dawr (دور) - Cycle

Cyclical time
Return of patterns
Renewal (tajdīd)

XX. OBSCURE & ADVANCED CONCEPTS

Al-A'yān ath-Thābitah (الأعيان الثابتة)

Permanent Archetypes (Ibn 'Arabi)
Eternal possibilities in divine knowledge
Before actual existence
Divine ideas/forms

Al-Fayḍ al-Aqdas & al-Fayḍ al-Muqaddas (الفيض الأقدس و الفيض المقدس)

Al-Fayḍ al-Aqdas - Most Holy Effusion
- Divine essence manifesting names
- Internal divine process
Al-Fayḍ al-Muqaddas - Holy Effusion
- Divine names manifesting creation
- External creative process

Ḥaḍrah (حضرة) - Divine Presence

Immediate presence
"In presence" (fī l-ḥaḍrah)
State of awareness of divine proximity

Istiḥālah (استحالة) - Transformation

Alchemical spiritual change
Lead to gold
Ego to spirit

Tajrīd & Tafrīd (تجريد و تفريد)

Tajrīd - Stripping away
- Removing attachments
- Spiritual nakedness
Tafrīd - Isolation/Singularization
- Being alone with God
- Ultimate intimacy

Wahm (وهم) - Delusion

False imagination
Illusion taken as real
Major obstacle

Hal (حال) as "State of Bewilderment"

Divine intoxication
Overwhelmed by divine
Temporary madness of love

XXI. MEETING OF TWO SEAS (Majma' al-Baḥrayn) - Extended

Quranic Source: 18:60 - Moses seeking knowledge at "meeting of two seas"

Literal: Junction of two bodies of water

Esoteric Meanings:

Meeting of Knowledge Types:
- Exoteric (ẓāhir) and Esoteric (bāṭin)
- Moses's law-knowledge meets Khidr's direct-gnosis
Meeting of Two Realms:
- Visible and invisible
- Material and spiritual
- Nāsūt and Malakūt
The Human as Barzakh:
- Body (one sea) and Spirit (other sea)
- Human is the meeting point
- Conscious integration of opposites
Alchemical Union:
- Solar and Lunar
- Masculine and Feminine
- Active and Receptive
Resurrection Point:
- Where Moses's fish came to life
- Symbol of spiritual resurrection
- Dead becoming alive

XXII. ADDITIONAL PROFOUND CONCEPTS

'Aql (عقل) - Intellect

First creation in some accounts
Divine reason
Human rational faculty
Must be transcended but not rejected

Hawā (هوى) - Whim/Base Desire

Lower passions
Following ego
"Have you seen one who takes his desire as god?" (25:43)

Jihād al-Akbar (الجهاد الأكبر)

The Greater Jihad

Wednesday, 12 November 2025

Map of Sufi Esoteric Concepts: