Laṭāʾif (subtle centres) in the

pre-Mujaddidi Naqshibandi Order1

By Dr. Necdet Tosun

Translated by Muhammed F. Bayraktar

Sahl b. ʿAbdullāh al-Ṭūstarī (d. 273/886 or 283/896), one of the first Ṣūfīs, relates that his
maternal uncle taught him a litany while he was still a little child and that while continuing
this litany he felt in his heart and then in his ‘secret’ (sirr) delight.2 This narration shows us,
that the dimensions of the soul [or the stages of consciousness (marāṭib al-ʾidrāk)] called
‘heart’ and ‘secret’ are known to the Ṣūfīs since ancient times and were known to them
through spiritual experiences. Ḥakīm Tirmidhī (d. 320/932) discussed in his Bayān al-Farq
bayna al-ṣadr wa al-qalb wa al-fuʾād wa al-lubb the different dimensions of the soul and their
attributes in detail. According to Tirmidhī, ṣadr, qalb, fuʾād and lubb are intertwine rings of
a whole. Ṣadr is alike to the white of the eye, the qalb is alike to the colours of the eye, fuʾād
alike to the pupil and lubb alike to the light of the eye. The outer ring, ṣadr, is Islam, the qalb
is īmān, fuʾād is maʿrifah and lubb the source for the lights of Unicity (tawḥīd). The more
these stages are deepened, the more the understanding and consciousness is risen. Ṣadr is
the nafs al-ammarah, qalb the nafs al-mulhimah, fuʾād the nafs al-lawwāmah and the lubb the
nafs al-muṭmaʾinnah.3

Some of the Masters of the Kubrawī Order gave detailed information about the dimensions
of the soul (we also could call it: the stages of the nafs or the acts of the heart) and the lights,
which are manifesting themselves. Najm al-Dīn Dāyā (d. 654/1256) said about these lights:
“On the stage of nafs al-lawwamah blue light is manifested, because the light of the soul or
the dhikr is mixed with the darkness of the nafs. Through the brightness of the rūḥ and the
darkness of the nafs blue light becomes manifest. When the darkness of the carnal self is
lessened and the light of the soul strengthened, red light becomes manifest. When the soul
overcomes, yellow light becomes manifest. When the darkness of the carnal self vanishes

1
This is an excerpt from Necdet Tosuns, Bahâeddîn Nakşbend, Hayatı Görüşleri Tarîkatı,
Istanbul 2012.
2
Qushayri, ar-Risālat al-Qushayriyya, I, p. 92-93.
3
Ḥakīm Tirmidhī, Bayān al-Farq bayna al-ṣadr wa al-qalb wa al-fuʾād wa al-lub (pub. Nicholas
Heer), Cairo 1958, p. 35 – 38, 80.
completely, white light becomes manifest. Intermixed with the purity of the heart it
becomes green. When the heart reaches totally purity, a light like the sun starts to shine.”4

ʿAlā al-Dawla Simnānī (d. 736/1336) talked about seven Laṭāʾif and their lights, like laṭīfah al-
kālabī, laṭīfah al-nafs, laṭīfah al-qalb, laṭīfah al-sirrī, laṭīfah al-rūḥī, laṭīfah al-khāfī, and laṭīfah al-
ḥaqqī.5 He also discussed, that there are several forms of dhikr, like the dhikr of the sirr, the
rūḥ and the khāfī and that one can feel the dhikr of it and that the other gives more delight
and pleasure then the one before.6

In the literature of pre-Mujaddidi Naqshibandis the topic of Laṭāʾif seems not to be of great
importance. So is Aḥmad Sirhindī (d. 1034/1624) the first one who introduces a
systematically approach to the Laṭāʾif in this Ṭarīqah, and one of the Successors of Sirhindī,
Mīr Muḥammad Nuʿmān (d. 1060/1650 ?) adds to the system of his Shaykh certain places for
every Laṭīfah in the body of men7. The method of making dhikr with this certain areas and
with focus on them has become the first step in the Mujaddidī way of spiritual education
and its important element. In the Pre-Mujaddidī Naqshibandi literature we can’t find a
systematically approach to the Laṭāʾif, but we see discussions about them based on spiritual
experiences and upon the books of the Kubrawī Shaykhs, which were mentioned before.

Yūsuf al-Hamdānī (d. 535/1140) said, the place of Islamic education and enlightenment is
the body, the place of the Īmāns education and enlightenment the heart (qalb), those of the
iḥsān the sirr and rūḥ. After that he describes the difference between the qalb and the sirr as
follows: Qalb is upon to change and wanders around in different realms, but the sirr is not
changing from one state to the other, instead it is staying firmly on the fear and reverence
of the saying “He (Allah) sees you”.8

Bahā al-Dīn Shāh al-Naqshibands (d. 791/1389) saying: “All mirrors of the Masters have two
sides, but our mirror has six sides”9, was interpreted by Ahmad Sirhindī as: “with mirror the

4
Najm al-Dīn, Mirsād al-ʿIbād, p. 306.
5
ʿAlā al-Dawla Simnānī, al-ʿurwa li ahl al-ḫalwa wa al-jalwa, (ed. Najīb Māyil Harawī), Teheran
1362/1983, p. 229 – 230, 326 – 328.
6
ʿAlā al-Dawla Simnānī, Jihil Majlis, (ed. Amīr Iqbāl Shāh, pub. Najīb Māyil Harawī), Teheran
1366/1987, p. 120.
7
Mīr Nuʿmān, Risāla-i Sulūk (pub. Ghulām Muṣtafā Khān), Karachi 1969, p. 7, 10-11.
8
Yūsuf Hamdānī, Rutbat al-Ḥayāt, p. 56.
9
Bukhārī, Anīs al-Ṭālibīn, p. 149; Muḥammad Bȧqir, Maqāmāt, p. 69.
heart of the ʿĀrif is meant. The two-sided mirror is ‘nafs’ and ‘rūḥ’, but the six-sided are the
six Laṭāʾif.”10 He was indicating with this, that the Laṭāʾif are known since these times.

Muḥammad Pārsā (d. 822/1420) accepted ʿAlā al-Dawla al-Simnānīs categorization of the
seven Laṭāʾif without making any changes11 and he went even further and gave many
details about them:

“The Grandmasters said that men’s reality is veiled by seven stages: 1. Satans concealment,
2. Nafs concealment, 3. Qalbs concealment, 4. Sirrs concealment, 5. Rūḥs concealment, 6.
Khāfīs concealment (and this was also called rūḥs concealment) and 7. Ḥaqqs concealment.
The First concealment has a relation to Adam and Adams overcoming and ruling of Satan
happens after that concealment. The second concealment is related to Nūḥ, the third to
Ibrāhīm, the fourth to Dāwūd, the sixth to ʿĪsā and the seventh to Muḥammad
alayhimussalam. The first is also related to Saturday, the second to Sunday, the third to
Monday, the fourth to Tuesday, the fifth to Wednesday, the sixth to Thursday and the
seventh to Friday. Every concealment has it’s own Laṭīfah: the first one is the laṭīfah al-
kālabī, the second the laṭīfah al-nafs, the third the laṭīfah al-qalb, the fourth the laṭīfah al-sirrī,
the fifth the laṭīfah al-rūḥī, the sixth the laṭīfah al-khāfī, and the seventh the laṭīfah al-ḥaqqī.”

“All of these concealments also do have veils. The veil of the first concealment is Satan. This
one is blurred with 10.000 veils and they have to be lifted. The veils are seen here in a red
and bad colour. With the effect of the dhikr the colour will become purple and the human
relations will decrease with it and the colours will intermix with each other and the essence
of the dhikr will leave the veils behind him and will cry: “lā ghayrī”(nothing except me).
This though must be destroyed. This is the station of those who are beginners in the dhikr.
The second stage is the concealment of the Nafs. It’s veil is purple. Again 10.000 veils have
to be lifted and through the heat of the dhikr, the nafs will stop with its actions. The Seeker
will experience a kind of Fanā on this stage and he will be informed about the states of the
deceased. This station is very dangerous for the Seeker, because he will think he’s one of the
people of Kashf and this could lead to ʿujub (self-satisfaction). The third is the stage of the
concealment of the heart. The colours of the veils are like a red agate. Again the Seeker has
to lift 10.000 veils in front of him. He will be steadfast on the spiritual wayfaring and the
secrets of the hidden world will be unveiled to him… The fourth stage is the concealment of

10
Aḥmad Sirhindī, Mabdaʾ wa Maʿād, p. 18 – 20.
11
Pārsā, Tuḥfat al-Sālikīn, p. 362 – 363.
the sirr. The colours are white and again 10.000 veils have to be lifted. The Seeker will
achieve the hidden knowledge (ʿilm al-laddun) in this stage. […]”12

Muḥammad Pārsā also relates, that his Shaykh Shah al-Naqshiband said regarding the verse:
“…and I will make remembrance of you…”13: “Allahs remembrance of his servant means, that he
opens his servant the different levels of making the remembrance of God.” Muḥammad
Pārsā says, that these different levels are the tongue, the heart, the sirr and the khāfī. He also
said, that some Ṣūfīs were the opinion that the sirr is higher then the heart and the soul,
while others hold it higher then the heart but lower then the soul and again others
regarded the sirr and the soul and the heart the same but as essences of each other. 14
Yaʿqūb al-Jarhī was the opinion, that “the one who has purified himself has reached salvation” 15
was hinting to the dhikr of the tongue, the heart, the soul and the sirr.16

Ḥusayn b. Ibn al-Yamīn al-Ḥusaynī17 said regarding the Laṭāʾif: The Muḥaqqiqūn said, heart,
soul, sirr and khāfī are the names of the subtle centers of human understanding… On some
level it is called heart, and when it is cleaned from human qualities it is called soul, and
when it is purified more it is called sirr and when it is developed more it is called khāfī… the
Laṭāʾif do not differ in their essence, but are all the same in essence, but do have different
qualities and states. This is the opinion of the majority of the Masters. But for some the
difference is in the essence – that means, every Laṭīfah differs from the other in essence.”18

Bāqībillāh (d. 1012/1603) said like ʿAlā al-Dawla Simnānī and Muḥammad Pārsā that men
has seven Laṭāʾif and listed their names, but didn’t give any details about them.19 Murīdī Tāj
al-Dīn Naqshbandī (d. 1050/1640) is giving more details about them. According to him, in
the dhikr of the heart the one remembering has in his heart The Real One and also the
Creation, while in the dhikr of the soul the thought about being in the presence of the Lord

12
Ibid., p. 377 – 381. The same words were repeated by Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Khazīnī,
Jawāhir al-Abrār min Anwāj al-bihār, p. 67a – 68b.
13
2/152.
14
Pārsā, Qudsiyya, p. 37. See for the Ikhtilaf regarding the Ḥusayn b. Ibn al-Yamīn, Mirʾāt al-
Badāyī, p. 47a.
15
87/14.
16
Jarhi, Tafsīr-i Yaʿqūb al-Jarhī, p. 189.
17
Ibn al-Yamīn in the Naqshibandi Order is from the Kāsāniyya and his name is Mawlana
Aka Shibirgānī (d. 1004/1595 – 96) and this person could be his son.
18
Ḥusayn b. Ibn al-Yamīn, Mirʾāt al-Badāyī, p. 45b – 46b.
19
Bāqībillāh, Kulliyāt-i Bāqībillāh, p. 111.; Dihlawī, Kalimāt al-Ṣādiqān, p. 169.
overcomes the thought about the creation. In the dhikr of the sirr he only feels himself
being in the Presence of his Lord and can’t perceive the creation – and in the dhikr of the
khāfī he can’t even feel himself and only the One Remembered exists.20 Muḥammad Akram
b. Muḥammad ʿAlī Barāsawī speaks about Tāj al-Dīn Naqshibandīs method of dhikr and says
the Dhikr of “Allah Allah” has to be placed on every Laṭīfah so that the whole body is
brought to the dhikr itself and gives after that details about the places of the Laṭāʾif: (The
name of the first Laṭīfah is not mentioned, but it is assumed that nafs is meant) it is a bit
above the stomach and it’s light is yellow; the heart Laṭīfah is beneath the left breast and it’s
light is red; the place of the rūḥ is beneath the right breast and it’s light is white; the sirr
Laṭīfah is between heart and rūḥ and it’s light is green; the khāfī is on his forehead beneath
the hairline and its light is black; the place of the akhfāʾ is on the head, and it’s light is also
black.21 But because Tāj al-Dīn himself is not giving any informations about the places of the
Laṭāʾif in his own works, we have to be careful regarding the Informations Barasāwī is
giving. In the era of the Mujaddidiyyah different places of the Laṭāʾif were given and also
different colours and it is very reasonable, that this was based upon their own spiritual
experience […].

20
Tāj al-Dīn Naqshibandī, Jāmiʿ al-Fuʾād, p. 19a.
21
Muḥammad Akram b. Muḥammad ʿAlī Barāsawī, Manāḥij al-Sālikīn, p. 81-82.