The section of Nihāyāt (final stages) is divided into ten chapters (maqām, spiritual stations). These are: maʿrifa (gnosis, experiential knowledge of God), fanāʾ (annihilation in God), baqāʾ (subsistence in God), taḥqīq (realization), talbīs, wujūd (being), tajrīd (divestment), tafrīd (singularity), jamʿ (union), and tawhid (the oneness of God). (Manāzil, 43)
The nihāya (finality) of prayer is to attain the perfection (kamāl) and reality (ḥaqīqa) of nearness (qurb) to Allah. The nihāya of zakat is to spend everything other than Allah with sincere love for the Real (God). The nihāya of fasting is to preserve the form of creation and that which strengthens it through fanāʾ in Allah. For this reason, it is stated in a sacred hadith: "Fasting is for Me, and I alone will give its reward." (Bukhari, Ṣawm, 2; Tawhid, 35; Muslim, Ṣiyām, 161) The nihāya of hajj is to attain maʿrifa, and after fanāʾ, to realize baqāʾ. For all acts of worship, the stages up to nihāya for the sāliks (spiritual travelers) are set against the maqām of jamʿ of ahadiyya (ahadiyya, unity) and separation. (Kāshānī, 76; Jāmiʿ, 95)
Nihāyāt are: maʿrifa, fanāʾ, baqāʾ, taḥqīq, talbīs, wujūd, tajrīd, tafrīd, jamʿ, and tawhid. (Rihla, 207)
nihāya (nihāyat al-safar al-awwal; nihāyat al-safar al-thānī; nihāyat al-safar al-thālith; nihāyat al-safar al-rābiʿ)
Nihāyat al-safar al-awwal is the removal of the veil of multiplicity (kasra) from the face of unity (wajh).
Nihāyat al-safar al-thānī is the removal of the veil of unity from the faces of inner and intellectual multiplicity.
Nihāyat al-safar al-thālith is the removal of the limitations of the two opposites, the manifest and the hidden, by attaining the ahadiyya (unity) of ʿayn al-jamʿ (the essence of union).
nikāḥ al-sārī fī jamīʿ al-dharārī
Nihāyat al-safar al-rābiʿ is the return from the Real (God) to creation at the maqām of uprightness. This is to witness the existence of the Real in creation by observing, to see the ahadiyya (unity) of union and separation; to see the one and the many in each other, and for creation to be annihilated in the Real (fanāʾ). (Kāshānī, 98; Jāmiʿ, 102)
nikāḥ al-sārī fī jamīʿ al-dharārī (the marriage that permeates all particles), refers to the divine turning (tawajjuh) of the Living (al-Ḥayy, the ever-living Allah) indicated by the saying, "I was a hidden treasure..." This expression points to the state of hiddenness, absence, and absoluteness prior to manifestation and determination, in terms of precedence, pre-eternity, and essence. The phrase "I loved to be known" refers to an essential inclination and intrinsic love, which is the union (wuṣla) between hiddenness and manifestation. The union indicated in the phrase "I loved to be known" is the origin of the marriage that permeates all particles. The unity (wahda) that operates in all levels of determination, where all aspects are arranged and detailed, is not separate from this totality by even an atom. Thus, this unity, by encompassing all multiplicity in all forms (inclusiveness), is protected from all dispersion and fragmentation.
The union of this unity with multiplicity is, first, the union of ahadiyya of the Divine Essence at the level of wāḥidiyya (level), then the ahadiyya of all names in the forms of determinations, and then the relative ahadiyya of wujūd in all levels and existents. This union continues up to the attainment of the result required by love (maḥabba), such as teaching and learning, nourishment and being nourished, male and female, lover and beloved. However, knowledge, which requires knowing and being known, is the first flow (sarayān) of unity in multiplicity, and the manifestation of the triad that requires union (ittiḥād) through the effect, agency (fāʿiliyya), and passivity, by entering into action and being affected by action. This is the nikāḥ al-sārī fī jamīʿ al-dharārī (the marriage that permeates all particles or progenies). (Kāshānī, 97; Jāmiʿ, 102)
(See also: ahadiyya; kenz-i maḥfī; wāḥidiyya)
niʿma/niʿam In reality, blessing is otherworldly happiness. The naming of anything else as blessing is either an error or metaphorical. For example, calling worldly happiness, which has no effect or benefit for the Hereafter, a blessing is a clear mistake. It is correct to use the term blessing for something, but the most correct usage is for what is directed towards happiness in the Hereafter. Everything that leads to and helps attain true blessing does so by means or intermediaries. It is correct to call it a blessing because it leads to true blessing. (Iḥyāʾ, IV, 122)
niʿma/niʿam 773
Naʿīm (blessings) are divided into two: those that are the goal in themselves and those that are means to the goal. The goal is happiness in the Hereafter. Its attainment is directed towards four states: baqāʾ without fanāʾ, joy without sorrow, knowledge without ignorance, and wealth after which there is no poverty. This is the true blessing. (Iḥyāʾ, IV, 126)
Blessing is of two kinds: worldly and otherworldly. Worldly blessing is also of two types: that which brings benefit and that which removes harm. If a blessing brings benefit and welfare, it is a beneficial blessing. This too is of two types: equal in safety and ʿāfiya (well-being).