The counterpart of the celestial sphere is phlegm, and the counterpart of the terrestrial globe is longing (sevda). (Marātib, 36)
One of the Marātib-i wujūd (levels of existence) is the kūrra-i māʾiyya (the water-sphere). This is a particular celestial sphere, called the water-sphere, whose nature is cold and moist. Know that Allah, the Exalted, created these spheres close to one another due to the connections between them. He created the water-sphere and the air-sphere close to each other because of the moistness that allows them to interpenetrate, and likewise, He created the earth-sphere and the water-sphere close to each other because of the coldness that allows them to interpenetrate. Through this connection, they influence one another. Just as nothing can affect another without a connection between them, it is also impossible for two things without a connection to unite. This connection may be essential (dhātī), qualitative (waṣfī), or active (fiʿlī). Each of these may be either necessary (muṭlaq, i.e., inseparable from it) or accidental (ʿāriḍī). (Marātib, 37)
One of the Marātib-i wujūd is also the kūrra-i turābiyya (the earth-sphere). This is the sphere called the earth-sphere, which is the locus of the manifestation of the effects of creation (and is under the influence of the celestial realm). When there is an effect or movement in the spheres above, as is known to the people of knowledge, the same effects and movements occur in the earth-sphere as well. If it were not for the concern of prolonging the discussion and entering into the subject of philosophy, we would explain all of these and the main things affected, and how one thing, as the effect of another, comes into being, and how something can be its own cause. However, this is contrary to what reason prescribes, for according to reason, the cause (ʿilla) and the caused (maʿlūl) must be different, so a thing cannot be its own cause.
According to us, such a thing is not necessary. Sometimes a thing is the effect of a cause different from itself, and sometimes it can be the effect of itself as the cause. This depends on the spiritual taste (dhawq) that Allah opens to whomever He wills among His servants (i.e., it is something that can be known through direct experience).
One of the Marātib-i wujūd is also the mineral realm. Minerals are of many kinds. All of these are the masālik-i jawāmiʿ al-isniyya / masālik-i jawāmiʿ al-ashyāʾ, that is, they consist of various vapors and fumes that emerge from within the earth. (Marātib, 38)
One of the Marātib-i wujūd is also the animal (living being). The philosophers have defined it as a body that moves by will and grows. According to us, it is nothing other than a rūḥ (spirit) that has become intertwined with the body. If the body were to be disintegrated and perish, and the rūḥ were to manifest in the world in a form corresponding to the body with which it had been mixed, then we could name this rūḥ, according to its form, as a horse, a human, or any other living being. (Marātib, 39)
One of the Marātib-i wujūd is also the human being. The levels of existence are completed with him, the cosmos attains kamāl (perfection) through him, and the Divine (al-Ḥaqq), in terms of His Names and Attributes, is manifested in the most perfect sense. In this ḥāl (spiritual state), the human being is the last in rank but the highest in degree of perfection among created beings. Other beings are not like this. As we have explained before, the human being comprehends both the summarized (ijmālī) and detailed (tafsīlī) realities of al-Ḥaqq and of creation (al-khalq), both in terms of judgment and ...