Kashf is a term in Sufism. The literal meaning of the word is "unveiling", but in Sufi terminology it means to expose the heart to metaphysical illumination or "revelation" and the experience of visions unattainable by reason. There is supposed to be a stage beyond kashf which is called al-tajalli, or Divine manifestation: the appearance of God's light 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 and in cardiognosy ["soul-reading"] so that the mystic sees hidden things and reads 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. He will be blessed by direct divine addresses — he talks with the angels, meets the spirits of the prophets, and sees the Night of Might and the blessings of the month of Ramaḍan in human form in the ālam almithāl. [1]
References
- ^ Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical dimensions of Islam (1975), pg192
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