Laṭāʾif (Arabic:اللطائف) are special organs of perception and psycho-physiological functioning inSufi spirituality. Depending on context, thelaṭāʾif (plural) are also understood to be the experiential qualities or forms of those perceptions and functions.[1]
The underlying Arabic wordlaṭīfa (singular) means “subtlety” and the phraselaṭā’if-e-sitta means “six subtleties” (although the number oflaṭāʾif can differ depending on the specific Sufi tradition).
When realized (or activated or awakened or illuminated (tajalli)),[2] thelaṭāʾif are understood to be part of Man's spiritual “Organ of Evolution”,[3] known asQalb (Heart) (See "Disambiguation: Qalb (Heart) orlaṭīfa").
This integration of thelaṭāʾif into Qalb is considered by some Sufi orders -- especially theNaqshbandi -- to be a central part of the comprehensive spiritual development that produces the Sufi ideal of a Complete Human Being (Al-Insān al-Kāmil).
Not all Sufi orders teach about thelaṭā’if. Of those which do, descriptions and understandings can differ depending on the specific Sufi lineage and exponent representing it.
In addition, individual Sufi teachers (seeSheikh (Sufism)) sometimes understand aspects oflaṭā’if theory and practice according to how thelaṭāʾif have been uniquely revealed to them.[4]
In general, there are at least three major historical understandings of thelaṭāʾif:
According to the view of the Kubrawi Order there are sevenlaṭā’if. They are understood cosmologically as “descending” levels through which reality is created and structured.[5][6]
In the process of spiritual development, the Sufi student is understood to “ascend” back through these levels progressively (see ontologicalArcs of Descent and Ascent in Sufism).
The attainment of each level is associated with the activation/realization of a corresponding spiritual organ/capacity, interpreted symbolically throughIslamic cosmology and theprophets and messengers in Islam.[7]
In ascending order they are:
According to the view of the Mujaddidīyya branch of the Naqshbandi order there are fivelaṭāʾif.[8] The reception of eachlaṭīfa’s “spiritual energy” from its corresponding cosmic realm is interpreted symbolically through the prophets and messengers in Islam, similar to the interpretation of the Kubrawi order:
In this understanding, thelaṭāʾif all have their physical association in the chest and so are said to be “of the Heart” (Qalb, the potential human “Organ of Evolution” -- see "Disambiguation: Qalb (Heart) orLaṭīfa").
According to the Punjab tradition within the Naqshbandi order, which emphasizes modern-day psychological aspects of Sufism,[9] there are fivelaṭāʾif:[2]
| Laṭīfa | Sufi Tradition | Color Association | Physical Association | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qalb | Kubrawi (1) | Red | (?) | Kubrawi:[5] |
| Qalb | Naqshbandi (Mujaddidiyya) (1) | Yellow | below left breast | Mujaddidiyya:[10] |
| Qalb | Naqshbandi (Awaisi) (1) | Red | below left breast | Awaisi:[11] |
| Qalb | Naqshbandi (Punjab) (1) | Yellow | left side of body | Punjab:[2] |
| Qalb | Chishti (1) | Red | left breast | [citation needed] |
| Qalb | Inayati (1) | Red | left breast | Inayati:[12] |
| Qalb | Khwajagan (1) | Red | left breast | Khwajagan:[13] |
| Qalb | Burhaniyya (1) | Yellow | below left breast | Burhaniyya:[14] |
| Ruḥ | Kubrawi (2) | Yellow | (?) | |
| Ruḥ | Naqshbandi (Mujaddidiyya) (2) | Red | below right breast | |
| Ruḥ | Naqshbandi (Awaisi) (2) | Yellow | below right breast | |
| Ruḥ | Naqshbandi (Punjab) (2) | Red | right side of body | |
| Ruḥ | Chishti (2) | Green | center of chest | |
| Ruḥ | Inayati (2) | White | right breast | |
| Ruḥ | Khwajagan (2) | Yellow | right breast | |
| Ruḥ | Burhaniyya (2) | Red | below right breast | |
| Sirr | Kubrawi (3) | White | (?) | |
| Sirr | Naqshbandi (Mujaddidiyya) (3) | White | above left breast | |
| Sirr | Naqshbandi (Awaisi) (3) | Blue | above left breast | |
| Sirr | Naqshbandi (Punjab) (3) | White | solar plexus | |
| Sirr | Chishti (3) | White | right breast | |
| Sirr | Inayati (3) | Green | center of chest | |
| Sirr | Khwajagan (3) | White | left breast | |
| Sirr | Burhaniyya (3) | Green | center of chest | |
| Khafi | Kubrawi (4) | Black/Green | (?) | |
| Khafi | Naqshbandi (Mujaddidiyya) (4) | Black | above right breast | |
| Khafi | Naqshbandi (Awaisi) (4) | White | above right breast | |
| Khafi | Naqshbandi (Punjab) (4) | Black | forehead | |
| Khafi | Chishti (4) | Indigo | forehead | |
| Khafi | Inayati (4) | Indigo | forehead | |
| Khafi | Khwajagan (4) | Green | right breast | |
| Khafi | Burhaniyya (4) | White | forehead | |
| Ikhfa | Naqshbandi (Mujaddidiyya) (5) | Green | sternum | |
| Ikhfa | Naqshbandi (Awaisi) (5) | Green | sternum | |
| Ikhfa | Naqshbandi (Punjab) (5) | Green | center of chest | |
| Ikhfa | Chisti (5) | Black | top of head | |
| Ikhfa | Inayati (5) | Black | top of head | |
| Ikhfa | Khwajagan (5) | White | center of chest | |
| Ikhfa | Burhaniyya (5) | Black | top of head | |
| Nafs | Kubrawi (5) | Blue | (?) | see "Disambiguation: Nafs (Egoic Self) or Laṭīfa" |
| Nafs | Chishti (6) | Yellow | below navel | " |
| Nafs | Inayati (6) | Yellow | below navel | " |
| Nafs | Khwajagan (6) | Blue | forehead | " |
| Nafs | Naqshbandi (Awaisi) (6) | colorless | forehead | " |
| Qalab | Kubrawi (6) | Gray | (?) | see "Disambiguation: Qalab or Sultan al-Azkar" |
| Qalab | Chishti (7) | Gray | floor of pelvis | " |
| Qalab | Naqshbandi (Awaisi) (7) | colorless | entire body | " |
| Haqq | Kubrawi (7) | Green | (?) | seeHaqiqa |
Activation (realization/opening/awakening/illumination) of thelaṭāʾif in Sufism is typically undertaken in combination with refinement of the student's egoic, psycho-physiological "self" -- known as "Nafs" (see "Disambiguation: Nafs (Egoic Self) or Laṭīfa").[15]
This egoic consciousness is said to proceed through seven stages of development, the primitive stages of which distort or "veil" (seeHijab (Sufism)) full realization of thelaṭā’if.
In most Sufi traditions, accordingly, the progressive refinement of the Nafs through the seven stages is understood to facilitate the realization of thelaṭā’if.
In the Naqshbandi tradition, however, it is the reverse: the progressive realization of thelaṭāʾif is used to facilitate the refinement of the Nafs. This is why the Naqshbandi teaching method is famously known as "where others end, there marks our beginning" (indiraj al-nihayat fi’l-bidayat).[16]
Just as interpretations of thelaṭāʾif vary depending on different Sufi traditions and teachers, so do their activation.
The process of activating eachlaṭīfa consists of various methods, singly or in combination, such as:
In the Kubrawi tradition, SufiAla ud-Daula Simnani (1261–1336) describes adhikr type practice that involved certain postures, the rotation of attention and breath to different parts of the physical body, and the recitation of a Quranic credal formula.[20][21]
In the Khwajagan tradition, Rif‘at Bey describes a practice in which the name of Allah is imagined “written in letters of light” at the physical location associated with alaṭīfa and repeated silently until the color associated with it is seen surrounding the letters.[13]
In the Mujaddidīyya tradition, thelaṭāʾif are opened through practice one-by-one in “ascending” order, beginning with Qalb. Viewed as a progressive activation, eachlaṭīfa (or progressive combination oflaṭāʾif) is considered to be a level of spiritual realization.
The method of opening eachlaṭīfa typically begins with a direct transmission ofBarakah (spiritual Presence) by teacher to student, and can also include physical touch (except for women) and the disclosure of a specific one of the DivineNames of God in Islam.
The student then continues the practice by silentdhikr of the Name, concentrating attention on thelaṭīfa’s location; sometimes a visualization of the Name, the corresponding prophet, or the teacher is also added.[22]
In the Awaisi tradition,[23] thelaṭāʾif are illuminated through a dhikr cycle that begins withQalb and continues with the other sixlaṭāʾif in order. The student inhales vigorously into the Qalb(Heart) with a silent, attentive “Allah” and exhales out to the specificlaṭīfa with a silent, attentive “Hu”. (See corresponding video in "External Link").
In the Punjab tradition, Idries Shah describes a type ofmuraqabah in which the student concentrates awareness on the part of the body that is associated with alaṭīfa.[24]
This tradition also employs various indirect methods, including psychological and somatic, which free thelaṭāʾif by reducing the mental/emotive/somatic distortions that veil their functioning.
With rare exceptions, thelaṭāʾif are only experienced directly and explicitly in human beings who have undergone a spiritual evolution. These experiences can be of several different types, singly or in combination, among them:
In Persian SufiIlluminationism (see:Najm al-Din Kubra), all creation is a successive outflow from the original Supreme Light of Lights (Nur al-Anwar) (see:Nūr (Islam)). The cosmology of this tradition is a kind ofEmanationism in which immaterial Light descends from the Light of Lights in ever-diminishing intensity. In other words, Creation at all levels of its existence—including that of thelaṭāʾif—is made up of varying degrees of Light.
Accordingly, the experiences of thelaṭāʾif areboth an external “visual” experience of photisms (“acts of light”) and a tactile inner sensation, as described by Henry Corbin.[25]
Thelaṭāʾif are experienced primarily as colors seen surrounding the name of Allah at the physical location associated with eachlaṭīfa, as described by Rifa‘t Bey.[13]
Direct and explicit realizations of thelaṭāʾif are experienced primarily as differentiated, localized forms of an overall tactile spiritual Presence (“Ḥuḍur”[26]) in the body.[27]
Unlike other Sufi orders, however, the Punjab tradition also understands thelaṭāʾif to be spiritual organs/capacities that underlie ordinary forms of human perception and functioning. As such, they can appear indirectly and implicitly through the corresponding experiences that they pattern on the conventional mental/emotional/somatic level.
Naqshbandi influenced[28] spiritual teacher Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) (1944–) understands some of these psycho-physiological experiences as follows:[29]
Even among traditions that recognize thelaṭāʾif, Sufi teachings often include other features or terminology that have ambiguous relationships to thelaṭāʾif.
In addition, there is perennial potential for ambiguity in discussing thelaṭāʾif (both in primary sources and in their English translation) arising from the way that words in Arabic can have different meanings in different contexts.[30]
The wordlaṭāʾif is the plural of the transliterated Arabic wordlaṭīfa, from the tripartite verb la-ṭa-fa, which means “to be subtle”.[31]
It assumed a spiritual meaning in theQur’an where Al-Laṭīf is one of the 99names of God in Islam, reflecting His subtle nature.[31][32]
And it was subsequently adopted by Sufism to refer to various aspects of reality that are not gross, material qualities of the physical world (see, for example, "Disambiguation: Ten, five, or sixlaṭāʾif").[33]
English language authors use one or more of three methods when referring to specificlaṭā’if:
Laleh Bahktiar[5] uses both a transliteration and a translation:
Idries Shah also[34] uses both a transliteration and a translation:
Hameed Ali[35] uses a transliteration and an interpretation:
In the version ofSufi cosmology proposed byAhmad Sirhindi (1564–1624),[36] God created the universe in three stages:
In this usage, then, there are tenlaṭā’if in two categories:
In contrast, in most Sufi usages outside this cosmological one (including most of this webpage), there are either:
TheNafs in Sufism is considered to be a person's egoic consciousness[37] or egoic, psycho-physiological "Self". It is the subtle (laṭīfa) quality of "God's Creation" that becomes individual and can undergo a spiritual development. This makes it unlike the fivelaṭā’if of "God's Command", which are transcendent, unchanging qualities.
The word "Ruḥ" is used in Sufism in two different ways, on two different levels:
The word “Qalb”, like “Ruḥ”, is used in Sufism in two different ways, on two different levels:
The word "Sirr", like "Ruḥ" and "Qalb", is also used in Sufism in two different ways, on two different levels:
The integration of thelaṭāʾif into Qalb (Heart) is understood by Sufism to also represent the development of a corresponding subtle body known, in some traditions, as the "Jism Latif".[41]
Whereas Qalb (Heart) represents thelaṭāʾif as psycho-physiological functions, the Jism Latif represents the spiritual substance or Presence for which thelaṭāʾif are spiritual organs.
The Jism Latif is said to exist in one of ten forms, corresponding to the level of spiritual development an individual has undergone in life. As such, it is also the corresponding level at which a human being survives physical death.[42]
See also "Disambiguation: Qalab or Sultan al-Azkar" for related Sufi understandings of the human subtle body.
Thelaṭīfa named “Qalab” in the Kubrawi tradition is equivalent to thelaṭīfa named “Sulṭan al-Azkar” (“King of Zikrs”[43]) in the Naqshbandi (Awaisi) tradition.[44] Traditions that recognize thislaṭīfa consider it to be the realization of a spiritual subtle body with its corresponding permanent spiritual Presence (“Ḥuḍur”[45]).
Some (like the Kubrawi) consider Qalab to be a preliminary realization of the subtle body and therefore the firstlaṭīfa to be activated in spiritual practise. In this perspective, the realization of subsequentlaṭāʾif is considered to be a refinement and differentiation of the subtle body.
Other traditions (like the Awaisi) consider Sultan al-Azkar to be a comprehensive realization of the subtle body and therefore the finallaṭīfa to be activated in practise.[46] In this perspective, the subtle body is considered to be a unification and integration of previously realizedlaṭāʾif.
In addition to thelaṭāʾif, some[47][48] Sufi traditions also speak about two other categories of conscious experience that can arise during spiritual practice:
There appears to be no consensus agreeing that thelaṭā’if are directly related to either of the categories Ḥal or Maqam.
The number "seven" appears repeatedly in Islam and in Sufism, to reflect the relationships between entities in various categories.
In Islam, for example, "seven" appears in theQuran, in theHajj pilgrimage, and in the "Seven Heavens", among others. In Sufism, it appears in sevenlaṭāʾif, seven stages of Nafs development, and seven Maqamat.
In some cases this use of "seven" is understood literally . . . while in other cases it is understood to be a metaphor for an "infinite" or "complete" number of entities.[49]
Additionally, there is not always a consensus about correlating one category of seven things with another.
For example,Ala ud-Daula Simnani explicitly correlates the seven progressivelaṭāʾif with the seven ontological levels of Islamic cosmology, whereas other Sufi orders, which recognize only fivelaṭāʾif, do not.
Similarly,Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1933–), characterizes the Prophets associated with the cosmological levels as corresponding to “states” and virtues that a Sufi can achieve.[50] Since the seven levels are understood by Simnani to belaṭā’if, however, that would imply that thelaṭā’if are “states” -- a correlation for which there also appears to be no consensus.
The DivineNames of God in Islam are understood by Sufism to refer (in the great majority of cases) to the relational action, functioning, or appearance of transcendental Divine Attributes/Qualities in immanent, manifest reality.[51]
Thelaṭāʾif, in contrast, while capable of being experienced indirectly through the somatic, emotional, and mental states they pattern in conventional experience, are primarily direct transcendental experiences of Divine Attributes themselves.[52]
There appears to be no consensus that thelaṭā’if are directly related to the Divine Names.
In addition to Sufism itself, thelaṭāʾif are also found in certain spiritual teachings whose founders have been influenced by Sufism.
TheFourth Way is an approach to human self-development introduced to Europe in the early 20th century byGeorge Gurdjieff (1867-1949) and his studentP.D. Ouspensky (1878-1947). Substantial parts of the teaching are thought to be derived from Naqshbandi Sufism.[53]
For example, there are said to be sevenCenters (Fourth Way) within human beings that organise specific functions:
In this teaching, the qualities of the Higher Emotional Center (equivalent to Qalb (Heart) in Sufism) are known as “Positive Emotions” or “sacred impulses”.[56]
John G. Bennett (1897-1974), a contemporary student of both Ouspensky and Gurdjieff, researched the sources of Gurdjieff’s teaching and concluded that these Positive Emotions were in fact derived from thelaṭāʾif of Sufism.[57]
Nevertheless, specific knowledge and realization of the Positive Emotions aslaṭā’if are rarely emphasized in schools of the Fourth Way teaching today.
TheDiamond Approach is a spiritual teaching developed by Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) (1944–) and Faisal Muqaddam (1946-) beginning in the 1970s. The history of the teaching was influenced both by Idries Shah and by Gurdjieff's Fourth Way.[58]
It confirms the Naqshbandi (Punjab) understanding of five fundamentallaṭāʾif and then expands it to include dozens of similar human capacities for which the more general term “Essential Aspects” is adopted.[59]
Unlike the Gurdjieff/Ouspensky Fourth Way, the Diamond Approach uses various mental, emotive, and somatic methods for realizing thelaṭāʾif, as a central part of its overall teaching and practice.[60]
The spiritual experiences identified by Sufism as thelaṭāʾif have their immediate historical antecedents in theEmanationism ofNeoplatonism[61] (3rd century AD), which is known to have influenced the subsequent development of Sufism (see:Platonism in Islamic philosophy). The Emanations of Neoplatonism, in turn, arose from theTheory of forms ofPlato (4th century BC).
The general concept of spiritual “subtle centers” originated within Persian Sufism:Junayd of Baghdad (835–910),al-Hallaj (858–922),[62] andShahab al-Din Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi (1145–1234).[63]
Kubrawi SufiNajm al-Din Razi (1177–1256) proposed five “inner means of perception” (Qalb, Ruh, Sirr, Khafi, and Ikhfa) that parallel the five physical senses. It's unclear to commentators whether these inner senses were already understood aslaṭāʾif at that time.[64]
The earliest systematic formulation of thelaṭāʾif is thought to be that of KubrawiAla ud-Daula Simnani (1261–1336),[7] who proposed sevenlaṭāʾif, relating them to the seven ontological levels ofSufi cosmology.[65]
From the 17th to 19th centuries, the Indian Mujaddidis, beginning withAhmad Sirhindi (1564–1624), returned to a standardized interpretation of five experientiallaṭāʾif and associated their locations with parts of the physical body.[66]
The Punjab tradition within the Naqshbandi in the late 19th and 20th centuries continued with fivelaṭā’if but identified the experience of their physical locations differently and viewed them as spiritual organs/capacities that also underlie ordinary forms of human consciousness.[67]
It is thought by some[68] that, just as with the nominal 99Names of God in Islam and their underlying Divine Attributes,[69] the number oflaṭāʾif and their potential realization by humanity might actually be unlimited.
