It illuminates, albeit with difficulty. Such a person is regarded as purified, one who has attained aptitude. For among the awliyāʾ (walī / awliyāʾ, friend[s] of God), there are those whose light has reached a state where it almost illuminates independently of the prophets (anbiyāʾ); and among the prophets, there are those who are almost independent of the angels. (Mishkāt, 86)
The nafs (the lower self) and the ruh (the spirit) are the places where the devil and the angel first reside. The angel instills taqwa (God-consciousness) into the qalb (the heart), while the devil instills evil into the nafs. Thus, the nafs desires that the qalb constantly commands the limbs to do evil. In the body, there are two other faculties called reason ('aql) and desire (hawā). These act according to the will of whoever dominates them. The ruler is tawfīq (divine enabling grace) and ighwāʾ (misguidance).
In the qalb, there are two shining lights: knowledge and iman (faith). All of these are the instruments, senses, and tools of the qalb. The qalb, like a sovereign, is situated among these tools. They are like armies coming to the sovereign, or polished mirrors. These tools surrounding it show the outside world, and the sovereign (with their help) sees the outside and undertakes the necessary struggle. (Gunya, 1, 102)
The ruh is the source of goodness, and the nafs is the source of evil. Reason ('aql) is the army of the ruh, and desire (hawā) is the army of the nafs. Tawfīq (divine enabling grace) is the helper of the ruh, while khidhlān (abandonment, the force leading to evil) is the helper of the nafs. The domain of both armies is the qalb. (Adāb, 33)
Our discussion on the breathing of the ruh returned, and the shaykh said by way of ishāra (allusion): Jibrīl (Gabriel) is derived from Rūḥ al-Qudus (the Holy Spirit). That is, the spirits of animals and plants are particles of light (nūr) that arise from the Active Intellect (ʿAql al-Fāʿil).
When asked about the connection between these, he replied: Everything that moves in every part of the lower world (dunyā) is derived from the wing of Jibrīl.
When the shaykh was asked how this order is, he said: Know that the Real (al-Ḥaqq), Glorified and Exalted is He, has many great kalima (words). Luminosity (nūrāniyya) is born from His words, that is, from the alchemical lights of His Noble Countenance. These words are above one another... By words, he means intellects. That is, they are the essences of intellects, which are lights overflowing from the Necessary Existent (Wājib al-Wujūd, i.e., Allah). Some of these are superior to others in degree, rank, and honor. He sends down from the Real a word than which there is none greater. The nisba (relation) of that word, its light and manifestation among other words, is like the relation of the sun to the other planets.
This meaning is expressed in a report from the Messenger of God (peace be upon him): If the face of the sun were manifest, there would be an existent worshipped besides Allah. From the light of this word, another word emerges. The First Intellect is responsible for the causation of the Second Intellect, the Second for the Third, and so on, until it reaches perfection (kamāl) at the number ten. For Allah has said in the verse: "They are ten in all" (al-Baqara 2:196).
This One that comes after the One continues in this way until the words are completed. The last of these words is Jibrīl, and the spirits of the sons of Adam arise from this last word. (Jibrīl, 150)
Among all these overpowering lights, our father, the Lord of the talisman of our kind, the source of the effusion for our souls, the one who completes the knowledge and practical perfections of our souls, is Rūḥ al-Qudus. This is what the sages (philosophers) call the Active Intellect (ʿAql al-Fāʿil). All of these are mujarrad (abstract) divine lights. The intellect itself...