- Kashf
The literal meaning of the word kashf is "unveiling", but in
Sufi terminology it means to expose the heart tometaphysical illumination or "revelation " and the experience of visions unattainable by reason. There is supposed to be yet a higher stage beyond kashf which is called al-tajalli, or Divine manifestation: the appearance of God to man.Later mystics, relying upon the traditional terminology, classified the revelations as follows:
*Kashf kaunī, revelation on the plane of the created things, is a result of pious actions and purifications of the lower soul; it becomes manifest in dreams and clairvoyance.*Kashf ilāhī, divine revelation, is a fruit of constant worship and polishing of the heart; it results in the knowledge of the world of spirits nd in cardiognosy ["soul-readingy"] so that the mystic sees the hidden things and reads the hidden thoughts.
*Kashf aqlī, revelation by reason, is essentially the lowest grade of intuitive knowledge; it can be attained by polishing the moral faculties, and can be experienced by the philosophers as well.
*Kashf īmānī, revelation through faith, is the fruit of perfect faith after man has acquired proximity to the perfections of prophethood; then he will be blessed by direct divine addresses; he talks with the angels, meets the spirits of the prophets, sees the Night of Might and the blessings of the month of Ramaḍan in human form in the ālam almithāl. [ Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical dimensions of Islam (1975), pg192]
References
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