tabāʾiʿiyya (Sufi Terminology)

Tabāʾiʿiyya (the attributes in the material realm that are subject to the divine attributes): Allah has been worshipped on account of His four attributes. For these four divine attributes—namely, life, knowledge, qudra (power), and will—are the basis for the fanāʾ (annihilation) of wujūd (existence). Their manifestations (places where they appear) in the material world are heat, cold, moisture, and dryness. Moisture is the manifestation of life; cold is that of knowledge; heat is that of will; and dryness is that of power. The ḥaqīqa (inner reality) of these manifestations is the very thing described by Allah with these attributes. When the divine subtlety present in these manifestations shines forth over other natural spirits, and the traces of these four divine attributes become determined, then, when they come into direct contact with heat, cold, moisture, and dryness in the existence, it becomes clear from the perspective of divine capacity that these attributes are the meanings of the aforementioned forms, or the spirits of their shadows, or the outward aspects of their manifestations. For this secret, these natures have been worshipped. (Insān, II, 78)