From Cosmological point of view the totality of manifestation / emanation / reality is described

by the five realms:

1. Nasut / Mulk - Physical Realm

Alam-i-Nasut/the world of humanity, better designated as Alam-i-Ajsam/the world of bodies.

Tantric tradition speaks of Bhuloka/the world of earth. In Western occultism, the name is gross
or physical world. This is the stage when foundations of the tangible world of matter are laid,
(parallel to the Tree of Life's sephiroth of Malkuth). It includes the material realm and all the
normally visible cosmos. Nehr-i-Tazheer (Channel of Manifestation) whose last limit is Alam-i-
Nasut, feeds The subtleties of ego.

2. Malakut - Subtle Realm, Angelic Realm

Alam-i-Malakut/the world of angels. Also called Alam-i-Mithal/the world of similitudes. This

Henry Corbin's famous mundus imaginalis/world of imagination, Tantric Antarloka (the
intermediary world), or subtle/astro-mental world of Western occultists.

The stage when the characteristics of the species and their individuals descend from the Realm of
Omnipotency, separate consciousnesses comes into being. Its last limit is called Hijab-i-Azmat
(The Great Veil). Nehr-i-Tasheed (Channel of Evidence) whose last limit is Angelic Realm,
feeds the subtleties of the human heart.

3. Jabarut - Realm of Power

Alam-i-Jabarut/the world of power; also Alam-i-Arwah ( the world of spirits; ruh meaning spirit,
arwah being the plural form). Roughly corresponding to the world of Platonic archetypes,
Shaivite Shivaloka (the world of Shiva), or causal world of Western occultism.
The stage when the universe is constituted into features. Hijab-i-Kibria (The Grand Veil) is the
last limit of this realm. Nehr-i-tajreed (Channel of Abstraction), whose last limit is The Realm of
Omnipotency, feeds the Human Soul with its information.

4. Lahut - The Manifest Absolute, Realm of Divinity

The manifest Absolute (Alam-i-Lahut/the "world" of God-ness, the root "Lah" one and the same
as in Al-Lah (God). Also, generally spoken of as Lahut). The spiritual stage pertaining to Lahut
is sometimes referred to as Wahdah, sometimes as Wahadiyya (Unity Ocean).

This Realm is also known as Tajalliat (The Beatific Vision, or the Circle of the Beatific Vision).
These countless circles are the bases of all the root causes of the universe. This whole circle is
known as the Ghaib-ul-ghaib (Unseen of the Unseen). Alam-e-Lahut has similarities to the
Christian concept of Deus revelatus, the Hindu notion of Saguna Brahman and the Kabbalist idea
of Kether. The final boundary of the human knowledge and understanding is called Hijab-e-
Mehmood (The Extolled Veil), which is the extreme height of the Arsh (Supreme Empyrean).
Nehr-i-tasweed (The Channel of Black Draught/Darkness) whose last limit is in the Realm of
Divinity, is the basis of the Unseen & feeds Rooh-i-Azam (The Great Soul).

5. Hahut - Realm of Huwa, The Unmanifest Absolute, Realm of the Ineffable Essence
The Unmanifest Absolute (Alam-i-Hahut/the "world" of "He-ness", Hu-He being the Arabic
term pertaining to God's Essence prior to manifestation. The "world" is just a symbolic reference.
The spiritual stage is Ahadiyyat (Absolute Unity). This is the Realm of pre-existence, the
condition of the universe before its formation, equated with the unknowable essence of God’s.
Alam-i-Hahut is similar to Deus absconditus in Christian tradition, the Hindu notion of Nirguna
Brahman and the Kabbalist idea of the Ein-Sof (Infinite Being, Ineffable).

About this realm, Bahaullah comments in his Tafsir of Surah Shams: ".. there is the level of the
Unknowable God, subsisting in and by Himself. This level is variously referred to as that of
God’s essential “identity” (huwiyyah).

Huwiyyah or identity derives from the third-person masculine pronoun in Arabic, huwa or he.
Huwa (“He,” a typical Sufi way of referring to God), huwiyyah or (divine) identity, and hahut or
the level of Unknowable Divinity, all begin with the Arabic letter “ha’” or the soft H. That the
“waters” (life) of this letter H (Unknowable Divinity) run into the Most Great Ocean would
appear to refer to the process whereby the Universal Intellect is emanated from the primal One,
or, the First Mystery, as taught by Christ in Pistis Sophia.

To generate an infinite creation that is perpetually new, moment by moment, does not pose the
slightest exigency for Allah The Most High. - The Quran 14:20

"This heaven will pass away, and the one above it shall pass away."
- Christ, Gospel of Thomas

To any being or event that We divinely willed to create, We simply proclaim the Word of
Power Be! and it miraculously comes into being. - The Quran 16:40

Five Levels of Consciousness

 Sanureehim ayatina
fee al-afaqi
wafee anfusihim

The Divine decree announces:

"We shall show them
Our Signs
in the horizon
and in their own selves.."
- The Quran 41:53

Sufis also compares the five realms or "worlds", Nasut, Malakut, Jabarut, Lahut, Hahut - to the
five layers of the human: body, soul, heart, spirit, and essence. Carrying the sight a little further
we can consider human nature, world of symbols, world of archetypes, divine creative nature,
and the essential nature of Allah, Absolute. For, everything there is - is in human beings, to one
degree or another. The Divine is part of us as we are part of the Divine. Allah encompasses
everything and nothing encompasses Him. This understanding comes as we put aside "dualism",
at the same time dualism being so important while the creation operates as it operates.

Sufi master Venerable Inayat Khan compares the five realms, Nasut (Mulk), Malakut, Jabarut,
Lahut and Hahut with five states of consciousness. This needs to be noted though that the term
consciousness is not simply a brain function (like mental awareness) but the term Chit in
Vedantic concept translated as "pure consciousness" approximates what is meant in this
comparison. Sat-Chit-Ananda describe three States of Manifestation of the Divine and we
partake in that, namely: Existence, Consciousness and Bliss.

According to Inayat Khan, first level of consciousness corresponding to Nasut is dependent on

our senses. Whatever we see by means of the eye, or hear by means of the ear, whatever we
smell and taste, all these experiences which we gain by the help of the material body prove to us
that this is a particular plane of consciousness, or a particular kind of experience of
consciousness. We call it "Nasut."

Malakut a further stage of consciousness, working through our mental plane. By means of this
higher consciousness we experience thought and imagination, which are beyond our senses.
Creative thoughts, imagination works on this plane. It might be that a man though he is sitting
before you with open eyes and ears, his consciousness is on another plane, working through a
different body. This, in Sufi terms is called the consciousness corresponding to "Malakut." The
consciousness plane of Malakut is experienced by every person not only when absorbed in
thought, but also in dreams. Its independent of the external sensory input, and thats why when
the eyes are closed, still man access "seeing" in his dream.

At Jabarut the experience is like that of a person in deep, dreamless sleep. A little further on
beyond the plane of Malakut brings us to the plane of (another) consciousness which (is) like the
experience of deep and sound sleep. The blessing here is greater still. In this higher experience
there is God's own will and power, by which we experience the life, peace and purity which are
within us. Moreover whilst anyone may experience this blessing during sleep, the person who
follows the path of spiritual development will experience it while awake. The Yogis therefore
call it 'sushupti,' this joy of life and peace and purity which the mystic experiences with open
eyes, while wide awake, though others can only touch it during deep sleep.

Lahut is a still further experience of consciousness. It raises a person from the material plane to
the immaterial plane. In this plane the state of being fast asleep is not necessary. There is a
greater peace and joy and nearness to the essence which is divine gift. In Christian terms, this
stage is called 'communion.' In the Vedantic terms it is called 'Turiyavastha.' The further step to
this is called 'samadhi,' which may no doubt be described as 'merging into God.' In other words,
in this stage we dive into our deepest self-hood, God is in our deepest self. Here there is the
ability to dive so deeply as to touch our deepest being, which is the home of all intelligence, life,
peace, and joy; and here worry, fear, disease or death do not enter.

Hahut is the experience which is the object of every mystic who

follows the inner homage. In Vedantic terms, this stage is called 'manan.' The equivalent in
Christian terminology is 'at-one-ment.' From these considerations it may be seen that the work of
the Sufis is to aim at ennobling the soul. When initiated we take the path of ennobling the soul,
not wonder-working, communicating with spirits, or performing miracles, or developing
magnetic or psychic powers or clairvoyance or clairaudience or anything of that kind. The one
single aim is to become humane, to live a healthy life, try and better the moral condition of one's
life, ennoble one's character, and meet not only our own needs but also those of our neighbors
and friends. The work is to try and develop that spark which is in every soul, whose only
satisfaction lies in the love of God, and in approaching toward God with the intention some day
of having a glimpse of that Truth which cannot be spoken of in words.
.. and Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where did you come from?', say to them, 'We came from
The Light (Nur), the place where The Light came into Being on its own accord and established
Itself and became Manifest through its Image (Nurun ala Nur, Light upon Light).'
- Gospel of Thomas

Your most precious Lord is sheer Oneness. There is absolutely no reality apart from Allah Most
High, Who is Ceaselessly Generous, Infinitely Merciful.
- The Quran 2:163