It ignites that place. The word kadih (derived from the phrase Kadeha'n-nāre bi'z-zinād, meaning 'to strike fire or spark') refers to the one who kindles fire. (Luma, 419)
Tawāli is the full emergence of the lights of tawhid (the oneness of God) in the heart of the people of maʿrifa (gnosis), resulting in a tranquility in the heart due to the effect of these lights. Just as, when the sun rises, one can no longer see the stars that are still present in the sky.
Tawāriq is that which enters the heart of the people of ḥaqīqa (inner reality) through the ear and renews the realities within. It is reported that one of the shaykhs said: 'One of the sciences of reality enters my ear, but I do not allow it into my heart until I present it to the Book and the Sunnah.' In the lexicon, tawāriq means stars that rise at night. (Luma, 422)
The first manifestation of brilliance is lawāʾih. Then comes lawāmiʿ, and after that, tawāli. Lawāʾih is like lightning; it appears and disappears instantly. As the poet said: 'We were apart for a long time, and when we met, his greeting was farewell to me; he passed by our house's door in haste.'
like one who has caught fire, what harm would there be if he entered inside?
lawāʾih-lawāmiʿ-tawāli-tawāriq-shawāriq-kādih
Lawāmiʿ is clearer than lawāʾih and does not disappear as quickly. However, it lasts for two or three periods, as in the verses: 'The eye weeps, not satiated with gazing, and the night covers us with its noble veil, while the day wraps us in its fleeting cloak.' Tawāli is more enduring, stronger, dispels more darkness, and removes doubt more effectively, but it is still subject to disappearance, not of the highest degree, and not permanently abiding. When it occurs, it quickly vanishes and may disappear for a long time.
The rulings of these meanings—lawāʾih, lawāmiʿ, and tawāli—differ. Some, like twinkling stars that vanish, leave no trace behind when gone, as if the night were perpetual. From others, a trace remains; even if the light departs, its effect persists. The person in this ḥāl (spiritual state) lives in the blessing of its light after the galaba (overcoming) of the state has subsided, awaiting its return until it appears again, and when it does, he lives in the state he finds. (Qushayri, 44)
Lawāʾih, though fleeting, is proof of the intended meaning.
Lawāmiʿ is the manifestation of light in the heart, provided its benefit endures.
Tawāli is the emergence of the lights of maʿrifa in the heart.
Tawāriq is the wārid (spiritual influx) that comes to the heart during nocturnal supplication, either as glad tidings or prohibition. (Hujwiri, 467)
Tawāriq, bawādi, bādil, wāqiʿ, kadih, tawāli, lawāmiʿ, and lawāʾih all carry closely related meanings. One could elaborate at length on this topic, but all these terms express essentially the same meaning and refer to things that precede and initiate spiritual states. If the state is firmly established, it encompasses all these names and meanings. (ʿAwārif, 311)
Lawāʾih is that which opens the apparent mysteries for ascent from one state to another. According to us, lawāʾih are divine lights that manifest not in the sense of negation or denial, but in the sense of affirmation, when they cannot be recorded by the eye.
Tawāli are the lights of tawhid that arise in the heart of the people of maʿrifa and efface other lights. Lawāmiʿ are the lights of manifestation that occur in two or similar periods. (Istilāh, 535)
In the terminology of this group (the Sufis), tawāli are the lights of tawhid that arise in the hearts of the gnostics and efface other lights. These are the lights of rational proofs, not of prophetic or unveiled proofs. Tawāli efface the lights of unveiling. The tawhid desired and required by Allah from His servants is only the tawhid of rank, which is that He alone is God, and there is no god but Him. Clear proofs have been established for this. (Futūḥāt, II, 383; Asfār, 167)
According to the Sufi group, lawāʾih is that which opens the apparent mysteries for ascent from one state to another. According to us, lawāʾih are essential and divine lights that manifest not in the sense of negation, but in the sense of affirmation, when they cannot be recorded by the eye. The lights of divine names that appear after observing their effects are known by those very lights. To ascend from one state to another means not to return to the previous state after moving to a higher one. By this, we mean the state that comes from divine influxes and knowledge of Allah. These influxes are also stations. (Futūḥāt, II, 487)
Lawāmiʿ is above taste, for it increases over the initial state. It is below drinking (shurb), for drinking may or may not continue until satiation. If the lights of manifestation occur in two or similar periods, this is lawāmiʿ. This lawāmiʿ occurs not in essential manifestation, but only in relational manifestation. If lawāmiʿ occurs in relational manifestation, it lasts as long as that relation continues. Relations are brief, and their occurrence is short, for divine acts do not leave them. Everything except the self-subsisting entities is a quickly vanishing accident. These accidents last for two or similar periods: the first for the emergence, the second for the meaning gained by its brilliance.
When lawāmiʿ flashes, it produces dahsha (awe) in the one upon whom it flashes. Since the time of separation from the manifestation is near, he waits for this lawāmiʿ to come so that the awe may depart, the state may be lifted, and he may accept what the lawāmiʿ brings. By waiting, I mean the succession of lawāmiʿ. When acceptance occurs, and its ruling passes, that lawāmiʿ disappears, and as a result, either a similar or an opposite lawāmiʿ comes.
The possessor of lawāmiʿ always quickly returns to the sensory world. Lawāmiʿ only comes by divine knowledge, not by worldly knowledge. Thus, its characteristic is purely divine. When a person finds a knowledge arising in his state, this is lawāmiʿ. For the varieties of manifestations are many, and their rulings are diverse. (Futūḥāt, II, 547)
Tawāli is the first thing to appear in the servant's heart from the manifestations of the divine names. Due to the illumination of his heart, the servant's akhlaq (character) and attributes become beautiful. (Kashani, 64)
Lāʾiha or lāʾima (Jami') is a light of manifestation that appears and disappears. It is also called bāriqa and khāṭira. (Kashani, 72; Jami', 94)
Lawāʾih is the plural of lāʾiha. The meaning that appears from the world of exemplars is also called lawāʾih. The appearance of ʿUmar to Sāriya is an example of this—a material unveiling. According to the first meaning, it is a spiritual unveiling that occurs by the grace of Allah. (Kashani, 73; Jami', 94)
lawāʾih-lawāmiʿ-tawāli-tawāriq-shawāriq-kādih
Lawāmiʿ are radiant lights that appear to those at the bidaya (beginning) stage whose nafs (lower self) is weak. Therefore, they reflect from the imagination to the common senses and become observable by the external senses, appearing to them like meteors, sunlight, or moonlight, illuminating their surroundings. These flashes occur on the Night of Power (Kashani); they may result from the predominance of lights of wrath and threats to the nafs, hence they appear reddish; or from the predominance of lights of grace and promise, hence they appear green and pure. (Kashani, 74; Jami', 94)
Tawāli, lawāmiʿ, and lawāʾih are like lightning and lights. These are the qualities of those at the beginning of the heart's ascent. Though of the same kind, first comes lawāʾih, then lawāmiʿ, then tawāli. However, they differ in intensity, weakness, and permanence. Lawāmiʿ is clearer than lawāʾih and does not vanish as quickly. Lawāʾih sometimes appears, but if it is concealed, it does not persist. Tawāli is more lasting than lawāmiʿ, stronger, more enduring, and dispels darkness more. (Rawda, 514)
If something arises in the heart due to a maʿsiyya (sin), and it arises compulsorily and hastily, it is from Satan. If something arises in the heart due to turning to a particular direction, it is from the nafs. Sometimes it is from both the nafs and Satan, and from both, sin emerges. Understand! If something good arises in the heart and is followed by obedience, it is good. If something evil arises and is followed by sin, it is evil. (Qawānīn, 87)
The lawāʾih that flash before the eye are not a negation, but a positive essential witnessing. For a negative attribute is perceived not by the eye but by the intellect. What is perceived by the intellect does not enter into lawāʾih. The lights of divine names, when their effects are observed, are known by their lights, i.e., their lights indicate those names. Thus, a divine name is a spirit without an effect, and its effect is its form.
The eye can see only the form of a name, just as it can see Zayd's body. Thus, the one who says, 'I saw Zayd without interpretation,' speaks truly. This is correct in the state where there is a managing spirit hidden within Zayd and this spirit has a bodily form.
Thus, the effect of divine names is the form of those names. It is correct for one who observes these effects to say that he observes the names. The lawāʾih of the names unite the observed effect with the name, which is the spirit of that effect. (Asfār, 163)
Tawāli effaces the lights of unveiling. This is the tawhid desired and sought by Allah from His servants. This tawhid is a tawhid of rank, meaning that (as a state in the servant's belief) He alone is God and there is no god but Him. Clear proofs have been established for this.
Some intelligent people, due to their own faculties, possess an excess that itself is a proof. This excess in some temperaments brings an increase to their composition. This surplus of tablets (lawh/elwāh) leads them to contemplate the Essence of Allah. However, the Lawgiver has forbidden contemplation of Allah's Essence. Yet, the intellect persists in this contemplation, exceeds its bounds, wrongs itself, and brings proofs for its claim. These are the lights of tawāli, which deem the divine Essence worthy of being such or such. They negate the relation of all contingent things to Him. They limit Him, not in the absolute sense indicated by the lights of proofs, but in a restricted sense. Thereafter, they equate the statements about His attributes with those about His Essence.
In this matter, the rays of their lights, i.e., the paths of proofs mentioned in rational knowledge, have become diverse. Then they turned to contemplating His acts, and in this too, they differed according to the diversity of the rays of their lights (i.e., the people of rational investigation deal not with the lights themselves, but with their rays, and as the rays differ, so do their views, whereas the lights themselves do not change). (Asfār, 167)
Lawāʾih is like lightning in its rapid disappearance. Lawāmiʿ is clearer and more lasting than lawāʾih, lasting for two or three periods, but eventually ceases. The people of lawāmiʿ are between spirit and body, and between unveiling and veiling. Tawāli is more lasting and powerful, dispels darkness better, and is more effective in removing doubt. (Jami', 254)
lawh/elwāh (the first tablet; the second tablet; the tablet of ḥikma (wisdom); the fourth tablet; the tablet of judgment/the fifth tablet; the sixth tablet/the tablet of ʿubūdiyya (servitude); the seventh tablet)
The First Intellect (ʿAql-i Awwal), the Tablet (Lawh), and the Pen (Qalam) are simple substances that distinguish entities. These are abstract lights (mujarrad), not perceptible but only conceivable. According to us, the ruh (spirit) and qalb (heart) are also among these substances. They do not decay, perish, disappear, or die; they only leave the body and, as mentioned in religious sources, await to return to the body they left on the Day of Qiyāma (Resurrection). (Risāla, 8)
The Tablet is the place where writings and registers have a lifespan until a certain time. (Istilāh, 538)
The Pen and the Tablet are the first realm of recording and writing. Their reality permeates all beings, whether celestial, terrestrial, spiritual, or material. Allah preserves the knowledge in the knower through them. As the Prophet said, 'Record knowledge in writing.' For this reason, Allah wrote the Torah with His own hand. The Messenger of God and all the prophets appointed scribes of revelation from this noble source. As Allah the Exalted said: '...honorable scribes, they know whatever you do.' (al-Infitar 82:11-12) (Futūḥāt, II, 217)
All sciences, by virtue of being contained in their essence, are the light of the intellect, and the tablet is the detail.