Jamal/Jalal
All the Names and Attributes of God fall under either one, or
the other, of two broad qualitative ways of referring to
Divine manifestation. More specifically, Divine
manifestations are either qualities of: on the one hand,
beauty, ease, mercy, forgiveness, love, joy, etc.; or, on the
other hand, majesty, transcendence, retribution, power,
independence, incomparability, etc..
The term "jamal" gives collective reference to the Divine
qualities of beauty, as well as to other qualities which are, in
a sense, grouped with beauty. Generally speaking, however,
all of these qualities are subsumed under the rubric of
beauty.
Consequently, whenever Divine qualities of jamal or beauty
are being mentioned, tacit reference also is being made to all
qualities which are grouped or associated with beauty. The
series of qualities cited above in relation to beauty (e.g., ease,
intimacy, mercy, and so on) is meant to be suggestive rather
than exhaustive.
Similarly, the term "jalal" encompasses all the Divine
qualities associated with majesty. Moreover, once again, as
was the case with the designation of jamal, the list of
qualities associated with majesty in the foregoing (e.g.
transcendence, retribution, independence and so on) are
intended more as sort of guiding hints rather than a definitive
account.
The Divine qualities of jamal (beauty) and jalal (majesty)
describe different aspects of the way God relates to human
beings and creation. In fact, the fabric of our lives is woven
from "fibers" drawn from both categories of quality in
accordance with the design of Divine will.
Most of us tend to find the qualities of jamal or beauty more
agreeable than the qualities of jalal. In other words, as far as
our relationship with God is concerned, we, for example,
would prefer: ease rather than trials; forgiveness rather than
retribution; joy rather than sadness; intimacy rather than
"distance", and so on.
Yet, according to practitioners of the Sufi path, spiritual
progress requires a mixture of both kinds of relationship.
Indeed, one might liken the 'roles' of jamal and jalal in the
Divine fashioning of human spirituality to a sort of forging
process.
For instance, through experiencing God's care, kindness,
grace, compassion, forbearance, support and so on, our
hearts begin to soften in the warmth of the fires of love which
God has kindled in our lives. God, then, sends trials,
challenges, and hardships into our lives that become the
hammer, by which, and anvil, on which, our softened, melted
hearts are pounded to give this spiritual instrument strength
and shape.
After this, our hearts are plunged into the cooling waters of
Divine mercy. We are removed by God from the difficulties
through which we were being tested and fashioned.
Once again, God casts us into the intense heat of Divine love
through manifold favors and blessings. Our hearts respond
and begin to melt.
Nevertheless, due to arrogance and pride, we may soon find
ourselves on the anvil of ingratitude and forgetfulness. We
are pounded about by the hammer of humiliation and
chastisement.
The desire to repent arises in us. We cry out for the soothing
waters of Divine forgiveness. God answers our plea.
Eventually, if God wishes, the spiritual forging process is
completed. Our spiritual potential has been realized by the
way in which God has related to us through various
combinations and sequences of Divine qualities of jamal and
jalal.
These qualities do not necessarily have to alternate in order
to achieve the Divine purpose with respect to helping us to
realize our spiritual potential. Sometimes, God relates to us
through 'compassionate severity', in which qualities of jamal
are being manifested more intensely than are qualities of
jalal. On other occasions, God may relate to us through
'severe compassion', as qualities of majesty have ascendancy
over qualities of beauty, although the latter qualities are
active and present in various ways and degrees.
God brings into our lives unique combinations of beauty and
majesty in order to provide each of us with the best
opportunities for, if God wishes, making spiritual progress
and realizing our essential capacity and identity. Whether or
not we are inclined to try to take advantage of these
opportunities is up to us.
Whatever the character of the events coming into our lives,
whatever ratio of jamal and jalal to which these events give
expression, Sufi masters encourage us to remember that the
events (both internal and external) of our lives are the media
through which God is communicating with us. Moreover, this
communication is not arbitrary, whimsical or a game.
According to practitioners of the Sufi path, we will not
realize our true identity and essential capacity until we have
certain kinds of experience involving the majestic, rigorous
and severe dimensions of Divinity. Experiencing only
qualities of beauty will retard our spiritual development.
Consequently, Sufi masters indicate we should not look at the
events of our lives as being either "good" or "bad". They all
are manifestations of Divine relationship which are intended
to help us spiritually.
We must come to recognize the presence of Divinity in our
lives irrespective of the "disguise" through which Divinity
appears. These manifestations may be: pleasant and/or
painful; compassionate and/or severe; forgiving and/or
exacting; expanding and/or contracting; imminent and/or
transcendent; beautiful and/or terrible; life-giving and/or
life-taking, and so on.
The ups and downs of life mirror the presence of jamal and
jalal in our lives. These experiences are God's way of
introducing us to the many dimensions of ourselves and of
Divinity.
Through these experiences we learn about various facets and
stages of our relationship with Divinity. Through these events
God helps us learn, among other things, about: wisdom,
justice, love, separation, ignorance, repentance, knowledge,
light, doubt, darkness, guidance, forgiveness, jealousy,
friendship, misguidance, enmity, courage, truth, sacrifice,
worship, reality, creation, and identity.
According to Sufi masters, human beings alone, in all of
creation, have been given the capacity to reflectively manifest
all of the Names and Attributes of God. This means we have
the potential, each according to her or his capacity, to reflect
an array of Divine qualities of jamal and jalal.
According to the Sufi masters, realizing the purpose of life
involves coming to terms with the reality and significance of
Divine qualities of jamal and jalal in our daily lives. In other
words, a spiritually successful life entails learning how to
consciously utilize the qualities of jamal and jalal, to which
our lives give expression, for the purposes of spiritual
development and maturation.
In addition, the practitioners of the Sufi path contend we
attain to proper worship of God only as we come to
experientially recognize, embrace and cherish the Divine
qualities of jamal and jalal present in the events of our lives
as manifestations of one Divinity. Moreover, Sufi masters
indicate we only will experience the Many as the One and the
One as the Many when we have fully realized our own
essential capacity for reflecting Divine qualities of jamal and
jalal.
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