It is clear. In this station, its siblings are the letters hāʾ (h) and lām. All the letters not found in the (other) stations are gathered in it (this station). No circle, domain, simple or composite world is outside its content. (Futūḥāt, I, 109)
Difference (farq) is an indication (ishāra) to creation (khalq) without the Real (al-Ḥaqq). It has also been said that it is the witnessing (mushāhada) of servanthood (ʿubūdiyya). (Iṣṭilāḥ, 532; Futūḥāt, TL, 129) ...It is the opposite of union (jamʿ)... ...If you ask, 'What is jamʿ al-jamʿ?' we say: Jamʿ al-jamʿ is to be completely annihilated (fanāʾ) in Allah at the moment of witnessing Divine Beauty (jamāl). (Futūḥāt, TI, 129)
According to one group, jamʿ is the indication (ishāra) of the one who points to the Real (al-Ḥaqq) without creation (khalq). Abū ʿAlī al-Daqqāq says: Jamʿ is that which cannot be attributed (nisba) to you.
Some Sufis have said: Jamʿ is that which Allah shows to the servant as ḥaqīqa (inner reality) from His own act.
Another group has defined it thus: Jamʿ is the witnessing (mushāhada) of maʿrifa (gnosis, experiential knowledge of God), and its proof is the expression 'iyyāka nastaʿīn' (You alone we ask for help).
One of the Sufis has said: Jamʿ is the affirmation that creation (khalq) subsists through the Real (al-Ḥaqq); jamʿ al-jamʿ is to be annihilated (fanāʾ) from seeing anything other than the Real.
Another has said: Jamʿ is to see all that is other-than-Allah (mā siwā Allāh) with Allah; jamʿ al-jamʿ is to be completely annihilated (fanāʾ) and, at the moment of the predominance (ghalaba) of reality (ḥaqīqa), to be annihilated from feeling anything other than Allah.
Some have said: Jamʿ is to witness the Real's (al-Ḥaqq) governance over all things. Regarding jamʿ and farq, the following poem has been recited:
I came together with Him
separating from myself
jamʿ and farq always follow one another
because of duality
We have mentioned some of what has reached us from the Sufis regarding jamʿ-farq, jamʿ and jamʿ al-jamʿ. According to us, jamʿ is to gather in Him the names and attributes you ascribe to Him, and for Him to gather in Himself the names and attributes He ascribes to you. Then you are you, and He is He.
Jamʿ al-jamʿ is to gather in Him both what belongs to Him and what belongs to you. Everything returns to Him. All affairs return to Him. (Hūd 11:123) 'Unquestionably, to Allah do all matters return.' (al-Shūrā 42:53) What exists in the universe is nothing but His names and attributes. However, some people claimed these names and attributes, and the Real (al-Ḥaqq) followed their claims and addressed them according to their claims. Some of them claimed that the attributes exclusive to Allah are customary, while others claimed that they exist both in the revealed attributes and in the sharia (the sacred law). This approach is considered an innovation (bidʿa) by the scholars of forms (rusūm ʿulamāʾ). (Futūḥāt, TI, 505)
According to some Sufi groups, separation (tafriqa) is an indication (ishāra) that points to creation (khalq) without the Real (al-Ḥaqq). According to Abū ʿAlī al-Daqqāq, farq is that which is attributed (nisba) to oneself. According to some, it is, by virtue of proper conduct (adab), that which allows you to witness the Real (al-Ḥaqq) through your actions. According to others, it is the witnessing of servanthood (ʿubūdiyya) (the perception of servanthood). It has also been said that farq is the affirmation of creation (khalq).
It has also been said: Separation (tafriqa) is to see other than Allah. It has also been said: Separation is to witness the diversity in the states (aḥwāl) of creation (khalq). The station (maqām) of separation is also...
Maiyyah (togetherness) is companionship (ṣuḥba), and companionship is jamʿ. The Exalted Allah said: 'Have you not considered that Allah knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth? There is no private conversation among three but that He is the fourth of them, nor among five but that He is the sixth of them—nor fewer than that or more but that He is with them wherever they are.' (al-Mujādila 58:7) He is One, and He is with everything from one to infinity. If there is one, the second is He, for Allah is with him. Thus, jamʿ occurs. He is, in this ḥāl (spiritual state), al-Jāmiʿ (the Gatherer). If there are more than one, He is with them—not with words expressing the same kind, but rather, it cannot be said that Allah is the third of three; rather, He is the third of two, the fourth of three, or the fifth of four. For Allah is not of the same kind as those added to Him in any way. For there is nothing like unto Him. (al-Shūrā 42:11) (Futūḥāt, IV, 307)
Jamʿ is to witness the Real (al-Ḥaqq) without creation (khalq).
Jamʿ al-jamʿ is to see creation (khalq) as subsisting through the Real (al-Ḥaqq). This is called the state of separation (farq) after jamʿ. (Kāshānī, 41; Jāmiʿ, 80)
The first separation (farq-i awwal) is to be veiled from the Real (al-Ḥaqq) by creation (khalq), and for the forms and marks pertaining to creation to remain. (Kāshānī, 136; Jāmiʿ, 92)
Farq is in the middle of the stations (maqāmāt); it is to go beyond the limit of division (tafarraq). The first subtle jamʿ-farq.