Distinction (fark), if it is to affirm (isbāt etmek) the Real (al-Ḥaqq), pertains to the attribute of union (jamʿ). For a servant, both the state of union (jamʿ ḥāl) and the state of distinction (fark ḥāl) are necessary. For without distinction, there is no servanthood, and without union, there is no maʿrifa (gnosis, experiential knowledge of God). (Qushayrī, 38)
Jamʿ al-jamʿ (union of union) is a degree above the state of union. In this matter, the Sufis differ according to the diversity of their states and the variety of their degrees. Some affirm both themselves and creation, but see that everything subsists through the Real (al-Ḥaqq). This is called the state of union (jamʿ ḥāl). If the servant is forcibly prevented from seeing creation, loses awareness of himself, loses sensitivity (his senses) regarding all beings other than Allah, and is occupied only with the manifestations (tajalliyāt) that come from the sultan of ḥaqīqa (inner reality) and overwhelm him, this is called jamʿ al-jamʿ.
Jamʿ-fark (union-distinction): Tafriqa (differentiation) is to see all that is other than Allah (mā siwā Allāh) as belonging to the Mighty and Majestic Allah. Jamʿ is to see all that is other than Allah with Allah. Jamʿ al-jamʿ is to become utterly annihilated (fanāʾ) and, at the moment when ḥaqīqa (inner reality) prevails, to lose all feelings regarding anything other than the Mighty and Majestic Allah. (Qushayrī, 39)
Junayd said: To find proximity (qurb) through ecstasy (wajd) is jamʿ; for the servant to become absent (ghayba) within his human characteristics is fark (distinction).
It has been said: Allah united them in maʿrifa (gnosis), and distinguished them in states (aḥwāl).
Jamʿ is the union in which its possessor cannot witness anything other than the Real (al-Ḥaqq). Whenever he witnesses anything else, then that is not jamʿ. Fark is to see what one wishes clearly and distinctly. On this matter, the words of the shaykhs are many. Their aim is this: they have alluded, by jamʿ, to the stripping away of tawḥid (the oneness of God), and by fark, to that which is acquired (kasbī). Thus, there is no jamʿ without tafriqa (distinction).
When Sufis say, "So-and-so is in the very essence of union (ʿayn al-jamʿ)," they mean that the vigilance (murāqaba) of the Real (al-Ḥaqq) has filled his inward being. When he returns to any of his own actions, they say, "He has returned to tafriqa (distinction)." The soundness of jamʿ is by tafriqa, and the soundness of tafriqa is by jamʿ. From all this it is understood that jamʿ is to know by Allah, and fark is to know by Allah's command. Both must be present together.
Muzanī said: Jamʿ is to be annihilated (fanāʾ) in Allah Himself, and tafriqa (distinction) is ʿubūdiyya (servanthood). These are interconnected. A group who claimed to be in the very essence of union (ʿayn al-jamʿ) fell into error. They claimed to have attained perfect tawḥid and, by doing so, abolished action and became heretics (zindīq). Jamʿ is the rule of the spirit (rūḥ), and tafriqa is the rule of the body. As long as spirit and body are together, jamʿ and tafriqa will necessarily exist together.
Wāsiṭī said: When you look at your nafs (the lower self), you are in tafriqa (distinction); when you look at your Lord, you are in the state of jamʿ (union). When you subsist by other than yourself, you have become annihilated (fanāʾ). Then, there is neither jamʿ nor tafriqa!
It has been said: Their (the Sufis') jamʿ is in His (Allah's) Essence (dhāt), and their fark (distinction) is in His attributes (ṣifāt).
(The Sufis) express by jamʿ and tafriqa the following: The servant, by looking at his actions, for his own nafs (the lower self)...