Sufi Classics · July 8, 2026

jamālullāh-jalālullāh (Sufi Terminology)

Jamālullāh-i Taʿālā consists of the exalted attributes of Allah and His most beautiful names (asmāʾ al-ḥusnā). This expression is general. If explained specifically, all attributes such as mercy, knowledge, grace, …

Jamālullāh-i Taʿālā consists of the exalted attributes of Allah and His most beautiful names (asmāʾ al-ḥusnā). This expression is general. If explained specifically, all attributes such as mercy, knowledge, grace, bestowal of blessings, generosity, ihsan (spiritual excellence), provision (razzāqiyyat), creativity (khallāqiyyat), and beneficence are jamāl (beauty) attributes. Here, there is also a shared attribute. One aspect of this attribute pertains to jamāl, while the other pertains to jalāl. For example, the name Rabb. This name, in terms of nurturing and bringing into existence, is jamāl, but in terms of rubūbiyyat (lordship) and qudra (power), it is a jalāl name. The names Allah and al-Raḥmān are also like this. The name al-Raḥīm, however, is not; for al-Raḥīm is a jamāl name. You may analogize from this.

Know that although there are many kinds of the jamāl (beauty) of the Real (al-Ḥaqq), Glorified and Exalted is He, it is never without these two types. One of the two is spiritual, consisting of the meanings of the asmāʾ al-ḥusnā and the exalted attributes. This type of jamāl is exclusive to the witnessing of the Real Himself. The second is sensory, and with all its details and varieties, it is the world called the absolute (mutlaq) realm. That absolute realm is the manifestation of absolute divine beauty wherever the manifestation of the divine form occurs. What we call creation (khalq) is the name for these loci of manifestation. Insofar as these are loci of the manifestation of divine jamāl, the world is as if it were both ugly and beautiful. For, from the degree of existence, in order to preserve its rank, assigning ugliness to the ugly kind is from divine beauty, just as assigning beauty to the beautiful kind is also, in order to preserve the degree of existence (wujūd), from divine beauty.

Know that ugliness in things is only notional and does not pertain to their essence. Whatever is called ugly in this world is all notional. If, in this state (ḥāl), you remove the ruling of absolute ugliness from existence by collectivity (jamʿiyyat),

nothing remains but absolute beauty. Do you not see the ugliness of sins? This ugliness appears by way of prohibition. The ugliness of foul odors, on the other hand, is only for those whose nature finds them unpleasant. (Insān, I, 53)

Jalālullāh (the majesty of Allah, Exalted is He) is the manifestation of His Essence, names, and attributes in their original realities. This is a concise definition. In detail, jalāl consists of magnificence (ʿaẓamat), grandeur (kibriyāʾ), glory (majd), praise (thanāʾ), and all the jamāl attributes that pertain to Him. For when there is intensity (shiddat) in the manifestation of jamāl, this is also called jalāl. Just as the beginning of the manifestation of His jalāl upon creation is called jamāl. Thus, whoever says, "Every jamāl has a jalāl, and every jalāl has a jamāl," has alluded to this subtlety. The jamāl of the Exalted Allah in the hands of creation, in terms of its manifestation to them, is either the jalāl of jamāl or the jamāl of jalāl. But absolute jamāl and absolute jalāl belong only to Allah; they are not seen in any other. Creation does not possess pre-eternity (qidam) in this regard. When explaining the jalāl of Allah, we said that, as with His names and attributes, it is also His Essence in terms of manifestation in their original realities. In this witnessing, it is impossible (muḥāl) for anyone other than Him. When speaking of the jamāl attribute, we said that jamāl consists of exalted qualities and the asmāʾ al-ḥusnā. (Insān, I, 54)