The Six Descents of Divine Self-Disclosure (Tanazzulāt-e-Sittah): A Study in the Thought of Shaykh al-Akbar and Sultan al-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo
Dr. Laeeq Ahmed | July 25, 2026
The Six Descents of Divine Self-Disclosure (Tanazzulāt-e-Sittah): A Study in the Thought of Shaykh al-Akbar and Sultan al-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo
Author: Dr. Laeeq Ahmed
At some point in your engagement with the history of human thought, you have almost certainly encountered or pondered these questions: when was this universe created? Why was it created? How did it come into being? What existed before it? And what will ultimately become of it? Philosophical, logical, and scientific answers have all been offered. Alongside them stand the answers conveyed to us through divine revelation by Allah Almighty Himself, answers that learned scholars and accomplished people of spiritual-excellence (faqīr) have gone on to explain and illuminate through the dual lens of outward knowledge ('ilm-e-zāhir) and inward knowledge ('ilm-e-bāṭin).
The recognisers of Allah Almighty, the people of divine recognition ('ārifīn billāh), drawing on their inward investigations and spiritual witnessing, explain that the absolute Divine Essence (Dhāt) of Allah Almighty is utterly free from every kind of determination or limitation. Its reality can be neither grasped by reason and reflection nor adequately expressed through mere words and discourse. The Divine Essence always was and always shall be. The Sacred Narration (Hadīth Qudsī) describes the state before the manifestation of any created thing by the term "Hidden Treasure" (Kanz-e-Makhfī), and in Sufi terminology this station is called the station of Hāhūyat or Ahadiyyat (Maqām-e-Hāhūyat / Ahadiyyat). When Allah Almighty willed to manifest Himself, He disclosed Himself through various determinations (ta'ayyunāt), as befitted His majesty. Most Sufis have explained this unfolding as the Reality of Muhammad (Haqīqat-e-Muḥammadiyyah) of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ), but Honourable Shaykh al-Akbar Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-Arabī (R.A.) presented it with even greater elaboration and detail. Just as the phrase oneness of being (Waḥdat al-Wujūd) does not appear in his own writings but was derived from his teachings by later commentators, the phrase six descents (Tanazzulāt-e-Sittah), likewise, does not appear in his texts. Both concepts were extracted from his thought and attributed to him by his interpreters. Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) addressed the same subject in his treatises as well, though with his own distinctive terminology and in accordance with his personal spiritual-experience. According to his teachings, in the First Determination (Ta'ayyun-e-Awwal), Allah Almighty manifested the illumination of Muhammad (ﷺ) (Nūr-e-Muḥammadī) from the illumination of His own Essence, meaning the one who calls "Hoo" to "Yā Hoo" became manifest. This station is called Yāhūt or Waḥdat (Yāhūt / Waḥdat), and it is the same as the illumination or reality of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) (Haqīqat-e-Muḥammadiyyah), which is mentioned in several blessed Prophetic narrations.
In other words, when nothing else existed, the Divine Essence was, “there is no being but He” (Lā mawjūda illā Hoo). He was a “Hidden Treasure” (Kuntu Kanzan Makhfiyyan). Then He willed and manifested the illumination of His Essence in the form of the Reality of Muhammad (ﷺ). From that Reality He created the spirits of all eighteen thousand worlds, adorned the heavens and the earth, and brought into existence everything contained within the universe. In everything, there is a manifestation of His power. He is first within the realm of pure Oneness ('Ālam-e-Ahadiyyat), and then by His own will He created the world of multiplicity ('Ālam-e-Kathrat) and graced it with His manifestation. The eminent Sufis call these degrees of descent and manifestation the "Six Descents" (Tanazzulāt-e-Sittah), because there are precisely six of them. The word descent (tanazzul) is used here in its spiritual sense, meaning a veiling (tajallī or ḥijāb). This article seeks to understand the Six Descents (Tanazzulāt-e-Sittah) through a comparative study of the intellectual approaches of Shaykh al-Akbar Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-Arabī (R.A.) and Sultan-ul-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo (R.A.).
The students of Shaykh al-Akbar (R.A.), including Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī (R.A.), attributed to him the position that these descents, disclosures or degrees of manifestation are called “Divine Oneness, Unitedness, Unity, the World of Spirits, the Imaginal World, and the World of Witnessed Reality” (Ahadiyyat, Waḥdiyyat, Wāḥidiyyat, 'Ālam-e-Arwāḥ, 'Ālam-e-Mithāl, 'Ālam-e-Shahādat).[1] Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) gives these stations and descents the names “the Divine Beyond, the Muhammadan Realm, the Realm of Divine Essence, the Angelic Realm, the Realm of Power, and the Human Realm” (Hāhūt, Yāhūt, Lāhūt, Malakūt, Jabrūt, Nāsūt).[2] While each of these two great Sufis uses his own distinctive terminology, there is a striking degree of harmony between the two approaches in terms of underlying meaning and content.
The First Station: Divine Oneness (Ahadiyyat) and Hāhūt
According to the approach of Shaykh al-Akbar (R.A.), the first station is the station of Divine Oneness (Maqām-e-Ahadiyyat), where only the Divine Essence of Allah Almighty (Dhāt-e-Ḥaqq Ta'ālā) is, and there is no attribute, no knowledge, and no determination of any kind. Allah Almighty declares in the Glorious Qur'an:
“Say: ‘He is Allah, the Unique One.” (Qur'an, 112:1)
The station of Divine Oneness (Ahadiyyat) is also known by the names the Gathering of Gatherings (Jam' al-Jam'), the Reality of Realities (Ḥaqīqat al-Ḥaqā'iq) and the Primordial Cloud ('Amā'). Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) describes the station of Hāhūt (Maqām-e-Hāhūt) through this Sacred Narration (Hadīth Qudsī):
"کُنْتُ کَنْزًا مَخْفِیًّا فَاَحْبَبْتُ اَنْ اُعْرَفَ فَخَلَقْتُ الْخَلْقَ لِاُعْرَفَ"
“I was a Hidden Treasure. I willed that I be recognised. Hence I created creation for My recognition.”
He then elaborates:
“The Divine Essence (Dhāt) is the source-spring of the eyes of the Reality of Hāhūyat. This was the station when nothing existed except the Essence of the One (Dhāt-e-Aḥad). It may be understood through the phrases 'there is nothing like Him' (لَیسَ کَمِثْلِہٖ شَیْئٌ) and 'Allah is, and nothing was with Him' (کَانَ اللّٰہ وَلَمْ یَکُنْ مَّعَہُ شَیْئٌ). No room exists here for intellect, knowledge, example or comprehension.”
Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) also says:
“Countless and innumerable caravans of intellect exhausted themselves in the utmost contemplation trying to comprehend the reality of that pure Essence (Dhāt), yet none could.”[3]
Throughout his spiritual poetry, Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) completes every verse with the Divine Name Hoo. This is the distinguishing mark that he conveyed the recognition (ma'rifat) of the Divine Essence (Dhāt) in precisely this manner. The recognisers of Allah Almighty ('ārifīn) refer to the Divine Essence (Dhāt) at the station of Ahadiyyat and Hāhūyat as “Hoo.” This station is in reality beyond all determination (lā ta'ayyun).
The Second Station: Unitedness (Waḥdiyyat) and Yāhūt
In the approach of Shaykh al-Akbar (R.A.), the second station is that of Unitedness (Waḥdiyyat), which is the degree of summarised knowledge ('Ilm-e-Ijmālī) and the Reality of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) (Haqīqat-e-Muḥammadiyyah). It is called the First Determination (Ta'ayyun-e-Awwal) and represents the first descent. In the terminology of Sultan Bahoo (R.A), this station is referred to as Lāhūt. When Allah Almighty willed to be recognised, He created from His own illumination the blessed illumination of His Most Beloved Prophet (ﷺ). As narrated from Hadrat Jabir (R.A.):
“Indeed, Allah Almighty created the illumination of your Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), from His own illumination before all things.”[4]
In the teachings of Sultan Bahoo (R.A.), this station is called the World of Yāhūt ('Ālam-e-Yāhūt). He explains:
“Know that when Allah Almighty (Ḥaqq Subḥānahū wa Ta'ālā) willed to manifest Himself, He manifested the Personal Name of Allah (Ism Allāhu) from His own Essence (Dhāt), from which the illumination of the Exalted Prophet (ﷺ) (Nūr-e-Muḥammadī) appeared, and from that illumination, all of creation across the eighteen thousand worlds came into being. The Sacred Narration states the Divine declaration: 'O Beloved! Had it not been for you, I would not have manifested My Lordship.”[5]
The Third Station: Unity (Wāḥidiyyat), Lāhūt and Jabrūt
According to Shaykh al-Akbar (R.A.), this is the station of Unity (Wāḥidiyyat), called the Second Determination (Ta'ayyun-e-Thānī). Here the Divine Essence manifests together with its attributes and names. This station is also referred to as the Extended Shadow (Ẓill-e-Mamdūd), the Overflowing Existence (Wujūd-e-Fā'iḍ), and the Readiness for Manifestation (Qābiliyyat-e-Ẓuhūr). At this third degree of descent, the descent occurred from the Reality of Muhammad (ﷺ) into the Immutable Prototypes (A'yān-e-Thābita), meaning the manifestations (tajalliyyāt) of Divine knowledge and the other Divine names.[6] Put simply, at this station the determinations of the Divine attributes and names became established, from which the illuminations (anwār) of the Divine names appeared. This station is also called the Human Reality (Ḥaqīqat-e-Insāniyyah). These three stations, namely Ahadiyyat, Waḥdiyyat and Wāḥidiyyat, are inner and inward degrees, collectively known as the World of Command ('Ālam-e-Amr). This third descent is called the Realm of Power (Jabrūt). According to the lexicon, the word jabrūt carries the meaning of joining or uniting.[7]
In the teachings of Honourable Sultan Bahoo (R.A.), this third station speaks of the creation of spirits rather than the Immutable Prototypes. In Risālah Rūḥī Sharīf, Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) states that from the Reality of Muhammad (ﷺ), Allah Almighty manifested the "spirits of the pure people of spiritual-excellence (faqīr), those who are annihilated in Allah (fanā fī Allāh) and subsisting with Allah (baqā billāh), who exist in a state like a kernel without husk, absorbed in the contemplation of the Divine Essence and immersed in the witnessing of the ocean of Divine beauty." For Sultan Bahoo (R.A.), the third station is the World of Divine Essence ('Ālam-e-Lāhūt), which he described as hidden (makhfī). He said:
“Lāhūt is the station of the very Essence (Dhāt) itself, where there is nothing but the divine oneness (tawḥīd) of Allah Almighty.”[8]
Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) further explains that at this station, the Divine Essence manifested in a manner befitting His glory in the form of the Personal Name of Allah (Ism Dhāt Allāhu), and all spirits beheld Him. He says:
“This gift has been continuing from the gracious divine call of Alast (Āwāz-e-Alast) on the First Day, regarding which Allah Almighty declared: 'Am I not your Lord?' All replied: 'Yes, O Allah, You alone are our Lord (Rabb).”[9]
He also said at another point:
“Lāhūt has two degrees: one is boundless (lā nihāyat), and the other is beyond space (lāmakān). Should the people of Nāsūt, burdened by distracting thoughts, be permitted to disturb this reality that belongs to the people of the Essence (ahl-e-Dhāt)? Where the Essence is, distracting thoughts have no power. In the very core and shell of everything, it is one single Essence that is manifest.”[10]
The Fourth Station: The World of Spirits ('Ālam-e-Arwāḥ) and Malakūt
The fourth station, which is the third tanazzul, is the World of Spirits ('Ālam-e-Arwāḥ), where Unity (Waḥdiyyat) descends in the form of the spirit (rūḥ). Shaykh al-Akbar (R.A.) also called this the Angelic Realm ('Ālam-e-Malakūt). It is the first of the creational degrees (marātib-e-kawniyyah). At this station, the Divine Essence created spirits. This degree is called the Station of Divinity (Maqām-e-Ulūhiyyat), which is the station of the manifestation of the Divine attributes and names and the sphere of their actions. At this degree, all the effects and workings that appear in the universe are, in reality, reflections of Divine attributes. The spirit is described as a simple existence (wujūd-e-basīṭ) with no specific form or shape of its own, yet it can manifest in whatever form it wills. In every shape and every form, its meanings and realities are present. This is what is called the Lordly Spirit (Rūḥ-e-Rabbānī). This degree is also called the Human Reality (Ḥaqīqat-e-Insānī) because it is the station from which the creation of the human being began. At this same station, the illumination of the Exalted Prophet (Nūr-e-Muḥammadī) (ﷺ) manifested in the form of the Sanctified Spirit (Rūḥ-e-Qudsī). From this one Sanctified Spirit, Allah Almighty created the entire universe, and He gave existence first of all to the spirits of human beings.[11]
Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) compared the Angelic Realm ('Ālam-e-Malakūt) to the expression 'Then I willed' (Fa-arādtu). This is the World of Creation ('Ālam-e-Khalq), and it is perishable. The angels manifested at this station. He said:
“The Angelic Realm ('Ālam-e-Malakūt) is characterised by the attributes of the angels.”[12]
Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (R.A.) elaborated that when the Royal Spirit (Rūḥ-e-Sulṭānī) was brought down into Malakūt, it was clothed in the light of Malakūt and its name was designated the Spiritual Spirit (Rūḥ-e-Rūḥānī).[13]
The Fifth Station: The Imaginal World ('Ālam-e-Mithāl) and Jabrūt
The fourth tanazzul is known as the Imaginal World ('Ālam-e-Mithāl), the Intermediate World ('Ālam-e-Barzakh) or the Flowing Spirit (Rūḥ-e-Jārī). This is a subtle realm that appears in dreams and spiritual witnessing. It cannot be touched by the hand (physical senses), yet its forms exert a real influence upon the physical world of bodies. Shaykh Qūnawī (R.A.) refers at certain points to the Absolute Imaginal World ('Ālam-e-Mithāl-e-Muṭlaq) and connects it to the central presence of the Perfect Human Being (Insān-e-Kāmil). Ibn al-Arabī (R.A.) expressed absolute imagination through the term Primordial Cloud ('Amā'). According to him, this 'Amā' is in reality the comprehensive presence and the all-encompassing station (maqām-e-muḥīṭ) in which all creatures manifested and which is the primordial reality of the entire universe.
At this station, the Sanctified Spirit (Rūḥ-e-Qudsī) was given the garment of Jabrūt, namely the Royal Spirit (Rūḥ-e-Sulṭānī), and was brought down into the Realm of Power ('Ālam-e-Jabrūt). The Royal Spirit is essentially the first garment of the Sanctified Spirit. This spirit is entirely free from all material elements and utterly distinct from the weaknesses, colours and varieties of physical bodies. The Royal Spirit has no fixed form of its own, but can manifest in whatever shape it wills. It is for this very reason that the angels, too, by the command of Allah Almighty, manifest in diverse forms.
Shaykh Qūnawī (R.A.) identified this same station of 'Amā' as the degree of the Perfect Human Being (Insān-e-Kāmil), meaning the station where the human being exists in his state of perfection. For Qūnawī (R.A.), therefore, the Absolute Imaginal World ('Ālam-e-Mithāl-e-Muṭlaq) is one of the many names of the Perfect Human Being. In his writings, Ibn al-Arabī (R.A.) enumerated more than forty names for the Perfect Human Being.[14] Sayd Amir Khan Niazi (R.A.), the translator of Sultan Bahoo's works, explains that at this degree the imaginal forms of actions became manifest. This is what is called Malakūt, the realm where the angels are engaged in their tasks. This degree is also known as the Imaginal World ('Ālam-e-Mithāl).
For Sultan Bahoo (R.A.), the fifth station is the Realm of Power ('Ālam-e-Jabrūt). At this degree too, the imaginal forms of actions became manifest, which is why it is also called Malakūt, and the angels are here engaged in their tasks.
The Sixth Station: The World of Witnessed Reality ('Ālam-e-Shahādat) and Nāsūt
The sixth station, which is the fifth tanazzul, is called the World of Witnessed Reality ('Ālam-e-Shahādat), the material world, the visible realm, the World of Bodies ('Ālam-e-Ajsām), and the world of sensory perception. It can be seen with the eye and touched by the hand. At this degree, the imaginal forms assumed physical bodies and various bodily forms appeared. This world of bodies extends from the Divine Throne ('arsh) down to the earth (farsh). These three realms, namely the World of Spirits, the Imaginal World and the World of Bodies, are called the external and outward degrees of the Essence (marātib-e-khārijiyyah). Shaykh al-Akbar (R.A.) named this station Nāsūt, and it is the final degree of the creational levels (marātib-e-kawniyyah).
Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) likewise calls it the World of Nāsūt ('Ālam-e-Nāsūt). Regarding it, he teaches that after the Covenant of Alast (Wāqi'ah-e-Alast), Allah Almighty said to all the spirits that He would bestow them a new world and put them to the test. Allah Almighty declares in the Glorious Qur'an:
“Then, We returned him to the lowest of the low,” (Qur'an, 95:5)
The Seventh Station: The All-Encompassing Degree of the Human Being
The seventh station is, in reality, the ultimate manifestation of the Essence, which is why it is called the All-Comprehensive Station (Maqām-e-Jāmi'ah). At this level, the form of the tanazzul is the "human being." All stations and degrees, whether they belong to the Divine attributes, the Divine names, or the worlds of the unseen and the witnessed, have been gathered in their complete and comprehensive form within the human being. All the realities and manifestations of the universe have been brought together within him, and this is why he is called the Comprehensive Locus of the Universe (Jāmi' al-Kā'ināt) and the Perfect Manifestation (Maẓhar-e-Kāmil). Allah Almighty declares in the Glorious Qur'an:
“Indeed, I am placing a vicegerent upon the earth.” (Qur'an, 2:30)
When one studies the teachings of Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) in relation to this station, the following Sacred Narration (Hadīth Qudsī) recurs repeatedly:
"The human being is My secret, and I am the secret of him."
Conclusion
The eminent Sufis have explained and commented on the Glorious Qur'an and the Prophetic narrations through the gift of inspired divine knowledge ('ilm-e-ladunnī) and through direct spiritual witnessing. The purpose of all these sciences has remained the same: that the human being should come to know his own reality and remain perpetually turned toward it. According to the Glorious Qur'an, Allah Almighty created the human being for Himself, and after death the human being must return to Him. There is, therefore, a genuine and pressing need for us to forge our connection with the teachings of the Sufis, so that through their diverse perspectives and pathways we may attain the closeness and love of our true Master.
According to Shaykh al-Akbar Ibn al-Arabī (R.A.), Allah Almighty created the human being in His own image, just as a fruit reflects the form of the seed from which it grew. Adam, meaning the Perfect Human Being (Insān-e-Kāmil), is therefore, the comprehensive locus of illuminations of Allah's Essence (Dhāt) and attributes, and everything in the universe is subject to him.[15] Allah Almighty declares in the Glorious Qur'an:
“And He has subjected (through His designed laws of nature) for you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth—all is from Him.” (Qur'an, 45:13)
According to Shaykh al-Akbar (R.A.), the Six Descents unfold as follows: the first descent from the Divine Essence (Dhāt) is the Reality of the Exalted Prophet (Haqīqat-e-Muḥammadiyyah) (ﷺ), in the quality of knowledge; the second descent is from the this Reality into the Immutable Prototypes (A'yān-e-Thābita); the third is into the spirit (rūḥ); the fourth into the imaginal world (mithāl); the fifth from the imaginal world into the physical body (jism); and the sixth from the physical body into the human being (insān).[16]
This article was originally published in Urdu in the Monthly Mirrat ul Arifeen International Magazine.
To cite the original article: Ahmed, Laeeq. “The Six Descents of Divine Self-Disclosure (Tanazzulāt-e-Sittah): A Study in the Thought of Shaykh al-Akbar and Sultan al-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo”. Mirrat-ul-Arifeen International, October 2025. Available at www.mirrat.com/article/113/1668
References:
[1] Iṣṭilāḥāt-e-Ṣūfiyyah, p. 34. Khwājah Shāh Muḥammad 'Abd al-Ṣamad. Delhi Printing Works, Delhi.
[2] Risālah Rūḥī Sharīf, pp. 9–12.
[3] Risālah Rūḥī Sharīf, p. 152.
[4] Muṣannaf 'Abd al-Razzāq, Vol. 1, p. 63.
[5] 'Ayn al-Faqr, pp. 71–73.
[6] Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyyah, Vol. 4. Dār Ṣādir, Beirut, p. 294.
[7] Naqd al-Nuṣūṣ, pp. 31–32.
[8] 'Ayn al-Faqr, p. 99.
[9] Nūr al-Hudā, p. 299.
[10] Muḥakk al-Faqr, p. 677.
[11] Naqd al-Nuṣūṣ, pp. 31–32.
[12] 'Ayn al-Faqr, p. 345.
[13] Sirr al-Asrār, p. 23.
[14] William C. Chittick, "Five Divine Presences: From Qūnawī to Qayṣarī," ref. 32. https://share.google/Bkt9jDiiFH8Fjk9aW.
[15] Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam.
[16] Miṣbāḥ al-Ta'arruf, p. 231.