(feymenu’l-eflec; fetātu’l-ḥayy; rabwatu’l-ḥamrāʾ; first tajalli; second tajalli) Tajalli (tajallī, divine self-disclosure) is to resemble the truthful (ṣādiqūn) in words and actions, and to adorn oneself with the conduct of the truthful. (Lumaʿ, 439)
Sehl said: Tajalli occurs in three ḥāl (spiritual states): The tajalli of the Divine Essence (dhāt) is mukāshafa (unveiling). The tajalli of the attributes of the Essence is the locus of lights. The tajalli of the decree of the Essence is the Hereafter, together with all that is within it. (Taʿarruf, 90)
tajalli-istitār 1023
Istitār (concealment) is when human nature (the human existence) acts as a veil between you and the contemplation of the unseen (ghayb). The meaning of the removal of the veil of human nature is that Allah Most High keeps you under the influxes (wāridāt, i.e., unveilings or tajallī) that come to you from the unseen. For human nature cannot withstand the states of the unseen. Istitār following tajalli is when you are unable to witness it because things have intervened. (Taʿarruf, 91)
Concealment (satr) and tajalli: the common people (ʿawām) are within veils, while the elect (khawāṣṣ) are always within tajalli. When Allah manifests (tajallī) to something, He grants it reverence (khushūʿ). The one whose sight is veiled from realities witnesses Him, while the one who is perpetually subject to tajalli is characterized by His reverence. Concealment is a punishment for the common people, but a mercy for the elect (it appears as punishment to the common, but the elect know it as mercy). For if what is unveiled to them were not hidden from the masses, they would be annihilated before the power of ḥaqīqa (inner reality). Yet, just as it is disclosed to the people of unveiling, so it remains veiled to others. (Qushayrī, 42)
Tajalli is the effect of the lights of the Real (al-Ḥaqq) upon the hearts of those who are worthy of seeing the Real with their hearts, by the decree of acceptance. The difference between this ruʾya (vision) and physical sight is that in this, the one who discloses appears when He wills and disappears when He wills, or appears at one time and not at another. (Hujwīrī, 462)
When Allah manifests through His acts, it purifies contentment (riḍā) and submission. When He manifests through His attributes, it brings awe (hayba) and intimacy (uns).
Istitār, due to the perfection of the strength of the attributes of the qalb (heart), is a sign of the annihilation of the attributes of the nafs (lower self). Tajalli, on the other hand, is the manifestation of God sometimes through His acts, sometimes through His attributes, and sometimes through His Essence. The Real (al-Ḥaqq) has maintained the state of istitār among the elect as a mercy for themselves and for others. Its being a mercy for them is that, by means of it, they can attend to the needs of their own nafs. Its being a mercy for others is that, if they did not have the state of istitār, they would be lost in the state of jamʿ al-jamʿ (union of unions), and it would not be possible for them to be absorbed in the witnessing of Allah, the One (al-Wāḥid) and the Subduer (al-Qahhār).
Istitār, by the perfection of the strength of the attributes of the heart, is a sign of the annihilation of the attributes of the nafs. Tajalli is also among these. Tajalli occurs through acts and attributes, and also through the Essence. The Real (al-Ḥaqq) has preserved istitār among the elect as a mercy for themselves and for others, so that the elect may return to their own affairs by means of it.
If there were no istitār for others, it would not be possible for the elect to benefit from their absorption in jamʿ (union) and from the manifestations of Allah, the One and the Subduer. (khawāṣṣ)
Tajalli is among the non-intellectual unveilings perceived by the intellect, stripped from the limitations of thought and temperament, with the absolute substance. If it is nafsanic, it appears in the nafs after the veils that can be distinguished during ascetic discipline (riyāḍa) and struggle (mujāhada) are lifted, and the nafs is stripped from the limitations of temperament, manifesting as absolute imagination (khayāl). If it is spiritual, it appears after the veils of intellect and nafs are lifted and the breaths of the Merciful (al-Raḥmān) are born. If it is lordly (rabbānī), it occurs either through descent (tanaqqul), ascension (miʿrāj), or the descent of secrets. This type increases with the increase of the levels related to the Divine Names.
Each of the levels of the Divine Names (asmāʾ) of the Real has its own tajalli. The highest of these is the divine tajalli of unity (jamʿ, ahadi, ilāhī tajalli), which grants complete unveiling. Above this, with its levels, is the unveiling of the Reality of Realities (ḥaqīqat al-ḥaqāʾiq), the reality of the nafs and the ʿamāʾ (cloud of unknowing), the divine reality, and the essential tajalli that gives the reality of all of nature. (Inshāʾ, 35)
Satr (concealment) is everything that hides from you the things that occupy you. Satr is said to be the veil of being (matter). Sometimes this is caused by habits and customs, sometimes by being preoccupied with the results of actions.
Tajalli is that which is opened to the hearts from the lights of the unseen. (Iṣṭilāḥ, 534)
Know that the divine tajalli is always without a veil. But it cannot be known as it is. This is used for the world that Allah created by hearing His word while it was still in non-existence. He said "Kun (Be)" and witnessed the existence of the world, but the world could not witness the Real. It is nothing but the veil of non-existence over the most visible of possibles. Just as light is the opposite of darkness, a thing that is itself non-existent cannot perceive that which exists. Where there is light, there is no darkness. So it is with non-existence (ʿadam) and existence (wujūd). When He commanded the world to exist by accepting the capacity in the most possible and rapid way, you see that it exists there. For in it (the world), there is hearing in potential, not in actuality, and likewise there is seeing. When the possible (contingent being) is colored with light, non-existence disappears, eyes are opened, and it sees existence as pure good (khayr maḥḍ). It does not know what He is, nor that He commanded it to exist.
Thus, tajalli expresses to the being that does not see the One who gives it existence, knowledge of Him. When it is colored with light, it turns to existence, sees non-existence, and immediately realizes it. When non-existence spreads from itself like darkness from the sky, and meets light, it says: What is this? The light coming from the right says to it: This is you. If you were light, no form would appear in darkness. I am the light, I am the path by which that manifestation goes. (Futūḥāt, II, 299-300)
According to the Sufis, tajalli is that which is opened to the hearts from the lights of the unseen. This is divided into various stations (maqāmāt). Among the matters of maʿrifa (gnosis) and secrets are the abstract (mujarrad) meanings, lights, spirits whose origin is angels, divine breaths, nature, names, and the elements related to the lights of causes and reasons, which are among the fundamental principles, the mawālīd (beings born from the five presences), the ummahāt (origins that bring these into existence), and the elements that enable their appearance. These are among the stations.
tajalli-istitār 1025 Each of these lights, when it rises from a horizon and reaches the eye of basīra (inner sight) free from blindness, veils, wounds, inflammation, or other eye diseases, is unveiled by means of each of the lights that spread to it, and thus the realities of the meanings become manifest as they are. Their connection with the forms of the words (kalima) that indicate them also becomes manifest. This form (or these lights) gives the reality of things as they are, through witnessing, without leaving room for any illusion or deception.
Together with the essences (originals) of these meanings, the lights that flow toward these essences, the lights that flow before us, the lights that flow behind us with those who follow us, the lights that arise from our iman (faith) and support us, the lights that arise from our characteristics and increase our certainty, the lights that flow above us to benefit us, the lights below us over which we have dominion, and the lights that are our very selves—all these are included. These last lights are the main purpose we announce in our glad tidings and express in our poetry. (Futūḥāt, II, 475)
Satr is a material veil, and sometimes habits, sometimes the results of actions can be a veil (between the servant and Allah). Causes are divine veils. The removal of these veils is only correct together with reflection on the habits and results of actions that caused them. Their removal is their abandonment. Their annihilation is, in reality, their affirmation.
Satr is a general divine mercy for the common people because it is decreed for them to oppose the commands. The common people must act accordingly. They cannot always act with unveiling and tajalli. For they must remain under satr. Therefore, deprivation (restriction regarding satr) has been lifted from the people of divine tajalli. For them, there is no deprivation left. Rather, they are permitted to do as they wish in their actions. (Futūḥāt, II, 543)
Say to the youths of the tribe
Our word is to protect
At the foot of the Najd hills
Saturday is the beginning of tajalli
The highest of the stations
From the abode of joy
Coming from individuality
Upon those red-colored hills
The phrase fetātu’l-ḥayy (Say to the youths of the tribe) refers especially to the spirits appropriate to these souls. Mawʿiduna’l-ḥimā (Our word is to protect) refers to the veil of honor at any of the stations of witnessing, or to the management of this body at the time of separation. Gudayya (the beginning of tajalli) is the beginning of the time of tajalli. This beginning is Saturday, for that day, as mentioned in the report, is a day of rest and relaxation. Rubāʿ Najd refers to the high station. alā’l-rabwati’l-ḥamrāʾ (upon the red-colored hill) refers to the station of beauty, for those who classify colors say that red is the most beautiful color. min jāni bi’d-daʿwā refers to the highest of the stations, and aymanu’l-aflaj to the places of joy. al-ʿālamu’l-fard under the ahadiyya (oneness) is the station of individuality (fardāniyya). (Tercümān, 189)
Satr is a material veil and is anything that veils you from things that occupy you, such as habits or being preoccupied with actions. (Kāshānī, 99; Jāmiʿ, 85)
Tajalli is that which is manifest from the lights of the unseen in the heart. The first tajalli is the essential (dhātī) tajalli. This is the tajalli of the Essence for the Essence alone. This level is the level of ahadiyya (absolute oneness), which has no attribute or form. For the pure existence of the Real (al-Ḥaqq), the absolute existence of the Essence (Jāmiʿ), is the unity of His very essence. For, in terms of being the Real, that which is outside of existence is non-existence.