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ABD AL-KARIM AL-JILI: Tawid, Transcendence and Immanence – Dr Nicholas Lo Polito [University of Birmingham] - The Cave and the Inscription

SECTION 12

(64) You [should] know that the number of the [letter] Mim is 40.  The conceptual significance of communion is that this number corresponds to the degrees of existence after which nothing exists except what was before them.

(65) The first degree is simply the Being (Dhat).
The second degree is the “heavy Clouds” (_Ama’), i.e. the expression of the essence of the Being called gnosis.
The third degree is the Unity, i.e. the expression of the mercifulness of the Being in terms of hidden treasure.
The fourth degree is Oneness, the first descent of the Being into names and attributes.
The fifth degree is Divinity, the degree that comprises the [other] degrees of existence, from the highest to the lowest.
The sixth degree is the [attribute] “All Compassionate” described as the highest degree of existence.
The seventh degree is Lordship, the degree requiring the existence of those lorded upon: this is where creation comes in.
The eighth degree is the Throne (_Arsh), which is the corporeal totality.
The ninth degree is the highest Pen, which is the First Intellect.
The tenth degree is the preserved Tablet, which is the soul of the whole.
The eleventh degree is the Pedestal (Kursi), which is the Intellect of the whole denoting the heart. The twelfth degree is the primordial Matter (Hayuli).
The thirteenth degree is the Atoms.
The fourteenth degree is the celestial sphere of the Elements.
The fifteenth degree is the celestial sphere of the Atlas.
The sixteenth degree is the celestial sphere of the Zodiac.
The seventeenth degree is the celestial sphere of Saturn.
The eighteenth degree is the celestial sphere of Jupiter.
The nineteenth degree is the celestial sphere of Mars.
The twentieth degree is the celestial sphere of the Sun.
The twenty-first degree is the celestial sphere of Venus.
The twentysecond degree is the celestial sphere of Mercury.
The twenty-third degree is the celestial sphere of the Moon.
The twenty-fourth degree is the celestial sphere of Fire.
The twenty-fifth degree is the celestial sphere of Air.
The twentysixth degree is the celestial sphere of Water.
The twenty-seventh degree is the celestial sphere of Earth.
The twenty-eighth degree is the celestial sphere of the generated things (Muwalladat).
The twenty-ninth degree is the celestial sphere of the simple Substance (Jawhar).
The thirtieth degree is the celestial sphere of the necessary accident (‘Ara      ). 
The thirty-first degree is the Minerals.
The thirty-second degree is the Plants.
The thirty-third degree is the inanimate Objects.
The thirty-fourth degree is the Animals.
The thirty-fifth degree is the Human Being.
The thirty-sixth degree is the realm of Forms (uwar) to which the world is attached.
The thirty-seventh degree is the realm of Concepts (Al-ma_ani) to which the ideas (Barzakh) are attached.
The thirty-eighth degree is the realm of Realities to which judgement day is attached.
The thirty-ninth degree is Paradise and Hell.
The fortieth degree is the white Dune approached by the people of Paradise. It represents the manifestations of God - may He be exalted - and the mother of all abodes.
After which there is nothing except the Being (Dhat).

(66) Thus this number is the origin of [all] things and by it the leavening of the clay of Adam was completed, who is the first one of the human realm to come to existence.
In light of the fourth numerical degree [of existence] it emerges that the universe in its totality has in itself only four qualities: permanent or propagating and dense or subtle, and nothing else besides these four.
And together they make up the eye of this Mu_ammadan Mim of which we said that it is the totality of existence, permanent and temporal.
Much can be said on this number concerning its ramifications in physics, ethnicities, compositions, classifications and the like. This would be enough for everyone who has perception in [one’s] heart. The name of an object is its illustration that is represented and that makes that object intelligible. Through [its name, the object] is distinguished from other [objects], just as something that has a hue [is distinguished] from what does not have a hue.