Marātib al-ulūhiyya (degrees of divinity) are five in number: the Essence (dhāt), the attributes (ṣifāt), the names (asmāʾ), the acts (afʿāl), and the judgments (aḥkām). (Nafahāt, 54)
marātib al-wujūd (degrees of existence): aḥadiyya (absolute oneness); ʿaql-i awwal (the First Intellect); essential names and attributes (asmāʾ wa-ṣifāt nafsiyya); majestic names (asmāʾ jalāliyya); beautiful names (asmāʾ jamāliyya); active names (asmāʾ fiʿliyya); animal; sphere of air (kurrat al-hawāʾiyya); sphere of water (kurrat al-māʾiyya); sphere of fire (kurrat al-nāriyya); sphere of earth (kurrat al-turābiyya); kursī (the Footstool); lordship (mālikiyya); rubūbiyya (divine lordship); sphere of Mars (samāʾ Bahrām); sphere of the Moon (samāʾ Qamar); sphere of Jupiter (samāʾ Mushtarī); sphere of the Sun (samāʾ Shams); sphere of Mercury (samāʾ ʿUṭārid); sphere of Saturn (samāʾ Zuhal); sphere of Venus (samāʾ Zuhra); abstract nature (ṭabīʿat mujarrada); ulūhiyya (divinity); wāḥidiyya (unity); dhāt (essence).
Among the degrees of existence, one is the level of the Divine Essence (dhāt al-ilāhī). This level, due to certain aspects, is called the "ghayb al-ghayb" (the unseen of the unseen), because the Absolute Sacred Essence (Allah) is sanctified from all other relations (nisba) and manifestations (tajallī). For this reason, Sufis have called this level the "simple Divine Essence," since expressions are incapable of describing it and indications (ishāra) fall short of reaching the boundary of its domain. Therefore, this level is called "ghayb munkataʿ al-ishārāt" (the unseen where indications cease) and the place where all indications are cut off.