When one accepts separation (tafriqa), it is because one considers all things to exist apart from the Real (al-Ḥaqq); but when one accepts that all things exist through the Real, one is in the state of union (jamʿ). All these indications (ishāra) point to this: Creation (kawn, created things) separates, but the Creator (al-Mukawwin) unites. In this state (ḥāl), whoever is with the Creator alone has gathered (united), and whoever gazes at created things has dispersed.
Thus, separation (tafriqa) is servanthood, while union (jamʿ) is tawhid (the oneness of God). When the servant looks into his heart and manifests his acts of worship, it is separation; but when he considers them as existing through Allah, it is the state of union. Upon reaching the station of fanāʾ (annihilation in God), one attains the state of jamʿ al-jamʿ (the union of union). It is also said: jamʿ-farq (union-separation).
It may be said: To see only the acts of the Real (al-Ḥaqq) is separation; to see His attributes is union; and to see His Essence is jamʿ al-jamʿ (the union of union). (ʿAwārif, 308)
Jamʿ (union) is an indication of the Real without the cosmos... Farq (separation) is an indication of creation without the Real, and it is also said to be the witnessing of servanthood. ...Jamʿ al-jamʿ is to be utterly annihilated in Allah. (Iṣṭilāḥ, 532)
The station of alif (the station of alif) is the station of union; among the Names of Allah, there is a Name, and among His attributes of qayyūmiyya (self-subsistence), there is an attribute. Mubdiʿ, Bāʿith, Wāsiʿ, Ḥāfiẓ, Khāliq, Bāriʾ, Muṣawwir, Wahhāb, Razzāq, Fattāḥ, Bāsiṭ, Muʿizz, Muʿīd, Rāfiʿ, Muḥyī, Wālī, Jāmiʿ, Mughni, and Nāfiʿ are among His active Names. Rabb, Ẓāhir, Wāḥid, Awwal, Ākhir, Ṣamad, Ghanī, Raqīb, Matīn, and al-Ḥaqq are among His Essential Names. Hamza, lām, and fāʾ are among the literal letters. Ẓā, mīm, hāʾ (he), fāʾ, lām, and hamza are among its principles. These have degrees. The manifestation of these degrees is the sixth degree. His sovereignty...