In reading the manuscripts of the Shattariyyah, we are often confronted with series of icons, indexes and symbols in written or graphic modes. This elaborate signification system is most likely designed for the general reader so that there can be no misconception arising from the reading process. The Shattariyyah teaching unveils the relation between the inner and outer being by using a schematic diagram consist of seven circles. Each circle is ranked from an empty circle to lesser circles crisscrossed by horizontal as well as vertical lines. Each circle conceptualises a nature of beings.

According to this view God is initially manifest in the first level of Being. This consists of (1) the grade of emptiness (ahadiyah), then (2) the stage of first individuation (wahdat), followed by (3) the second grade of individuation where God manifests His Name (wahidiyat). Secondly God creates alam or worlds/realms consisting of (4) the world of spirit (alam arwah), (5) the world of ideas or prototypes (alam mithal), (6) the world of form (alam ajsam), and (7) the world of Perfect Man (alam insan kamil).

Unlike the Tuhfa (Johns 1965), the scribes of the Pamijahan manuscripts have deliberately deployed various schematic diagrams. These diagrams may not originally have been part of Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s silsilah, but the number of them generously extends the manuscript.

The following illustrates how Beben’s manuscript or The Book of the Wali draws on iconic images in order to clarify its mystical view of reality.

The first circle is conceived as the level of emptiness (ahadiyah). According to Pamijahan’s Shattariyah patron Beben Muhammad Dabas, our faculty of thinking is incapable comprehending this level. Most Shattariyyah manuscripts found in Pamijahan which mention Abdul Muhyi’s genealogy explain this stage with the phrase: ‘at the time of the state of emptiness...’ (tatkala awang-awang uwung-uwung). This metaphor is also popular in the Javanese context. The well-known Javanese poet from mid 19^th century, Ronggowarsito, in his mystical work the Wirid Hidayat Jati, uses the same expression (Simuh 1987: 67). The Pamijahanese too use a circle to schematise this concept. To quote a metaphor given by Beben Muhammad Dabas, Reality is like a blank sheet of white paper (sapertos kertas kosong).

The manuscript then quotes the Hadith in which the Prophet instructed his followers not to attempt to figure out the reality of the Essence but only to comprehend His creations or signs. It is through signs that humans can understand the Creator. At this level, God exists as the absolute reality. The manuscripts even teach that at this stage God has not revealed His name. Hence, the only appropriate attribute for Him is oneness (ahadiyah). The Pamijahanese Sufis call this the ‘ultimate form’ (zat kang mutlaq) and the ‘ultimate reality’ (wujud mutlaq). God can only be conceptualised as non-determination (la taayun), non extant (ghaibul guyub), the inner-self reality (kunhi zat), and self non-extant (gaib al-huwiyat).

If God does not create anything within the first level, in the second level, according to the teaching, He creates His own attributes. According to the texts, God then reveals His attributes for the first time. In this stage, He reflects His existence as the first ‘manifestation’, like a source of light, for the first time illuminating his qualities. This manifestation is called wahdat. This level is symbolised by a dot within a circle, which means that there is an attribute to the Oneness (martabat sifat). However, it is still a non-existential attribute (ta’ayun awal) within the Hiddenness of God. (Johns 1965: 42-43) In other words, the ultimate source has created a light, but the light has not been reflected. This level mediates between the Ultimate Reality and His later manifestation as will be seen at a later stage. The empty circle that appears in the first stage is now dotted. It illustrates that a point in the circle functions as a medium between the Absolute and Otherness in His hiddenness. It is linked to the next stage of creation called wahidiyat. This is the reflection of the light.

In regard to this stage, the Pamijahan manuscript explains:

This level of individuation can be explained in four modes of attribution (naqtu ghaib), namely (1) His existence, (2) His knowledge, (3) His light (nur), and (4) His sight (shuhud). These four modes of manifestation are also known as the four non-existential attributes or batin. Regarding this concept clearly both heterodox and orthodox hold the same positions. For instance, what Al-Attas (1970) describes in his outline of Hamzah Fansuri’s teaching on the concept of self-divine manifestation parallels the Kitab Wali. “The first degree of determination is fourfold: Knowledge (ilm), Existence (wujud), Vision or Presence (shuhud) and Light (nur).” At this level, God exists (maujud) in His hiddenness which is also called the fixed prototype (ayan thabita). The fixed prototype is known in various potential states of being - such as possible non-being, possible reality, possible pure being, possible Light of Muhammad, Light, vision, first individuation, attributes of preexistence, pure spirit, and divine spirit.

The prototype of the Prophet Muhammad conceived in this level is well recognised among the Sufi. (Schimmel 1994) Beben’s manuscript explains:

This crucial point is mystical understanding as stated by Beben Muhammad Dabas. The Light of God is reflected in a blueprint of the light of Muhammad.

If we follow the Shattariyyah levels of being schema from top to bottom, the circle is firstly empty, secondly dotted, and thirdly lined. These are the circles as drawn in The Book of the Wali. According to this system, after God revealed His knowledge at the second level, He reflected his knowledge (light) to become the blueprint of His knowledge (ayan thabitah). These particular manifestations appear in the inner circle.

Some Shattariyyah manuscripts also characterise this level as that in which the name of God (asma Allah) manifests itself in the inner world (batin). It is also conceptualised as the blueprint of the universe (wahidiyat iku iya iku hakikat kita kabe). Sometimes the author describes this state by making an analogy with a shadow play (wayang) performance (cf. Johns 1965). From this perspective, Being is called tayun tsani. It reveals itself because the relation between the possessor of the light and its shadow is similar to that between the lamp and the shadow (wawayangan) of puppets in the shadow theatre.

In the manuscripts, a circle in the third level has a horizontal and vertical line, meaning that there is a multiple manifestation in one, or unity in multiplicity. Compared to the previous level or wahdat which a dotted circle, this circle has been occupied by more complex representation. To illustrate this level, it is important to refer to an iconic sign given by the manuscripts.

In other words, these three points reflect the multiplicity when the first reality (uwung-uwung awang-awang) which is only known by The Knower has been transformed into Knowledge (ilm) and its manifestation, or has been known (malum) by Him. This level (thirdness), together with firstness and secondness are conceived by the manuscripts as the Inner Being.

This gives justification for the Sufi to theorise that under certain conditions a human being (specifically the Prophet Muhammad) can ascend to these levels as seen in the miracle of the Isra Miraj, and in certain instances, some Sufis are believed to have such a capability.

The mystery for Sufis lies in the question whether the outer world is part of the inner world. In Malay Sufism, the relationship between the inner and outer is revealed by the linkages between: the seed and the sprout, the ice and the water, the sun and the sunshine, and other such analogies. For devotees of wujudiyah, in essence there is no difference between outer (lahir) and inner (batin) since the reality is One. However, moderate Sufis who still find substantial differences between ‘seed’ and ‘sprout’ or ‘ice’ and ‘water’ reject such metaphors. Abd al-Rauf al-Singkili, for example, the pupil of al-Qushashi and the Master of Shaykh Abdul Muhyi, in fact put his position in moderate terms. However, he did not condemn the wujudiyah followers as unbelivers (kafir) as did Nur al-din al-Raniri.

Beben’s manuscript further clarifies the first three stages. According to his manuscript the level of emptiness is called He or The Ultimate Reality (zat). The second level is called His Attribute, the attribute (sifat) of He that is Allah. The third level is called His Name (asma) that is ‘the most merciful’. The manuscripts also describe these three stages in three circles. Elsewhere the manuscripts elaborate the link between three levels as the relationship between the Uniqueness, the attribute of the Uniqueness, and the name of Uniqueness.

We will now see how the teaching relates the inner world to the outer world. The four next stages are part of the outer world.

The realm of spirit, alam arwah, is perceived as an outward manifestation of His attributes. As seen in the metaphor of ‘sun and sunshine’, the spirit is a generic element that is similar to the ‘reflected generic light’. In other words, for the Sufi, this is the actualisation of the ‘blueprint’ of reality that is manifest in the outer world (zahir, lahir). This is a created light which is generated from the third stage, wahidiyah.

The light that is reflected in the outer reality is often referred to as the name for the Prophet Muhammad’s spirit. It is also identified as the form of the world, wujud alam. A dilemma raised by pantheists, such as the followers of wujudiyah, regarding the relation between Essence and World, is initially solved in this stage by Shattariyyah interpretation. According to Shattariyyah, the ‘sprout’ and ‘seed’ exist because the owner of the seed deliberately provides an atmosphere in which the ‘seed’ will bloom. God with his power produced His light. Thus, the light is a created light, and if the light is created then man could not be a creator.

According to the manuscript, this is the level of reality where the world depends on the light of the sight of God, nur suhud. If we return to the metaphor of light, this level is the reflection of light which is ‘switched on’ by the Ultimate Owner of the light.

Furthermore, as a generic light, the spirit is not yet shaped to express its ultimate destiny. It is the universal spirit before it is transformed into other forms. In philosophical terms, it might be called the purest substance. The spirit manifests itself when God says: “Be!” and something becomes (Kun fa yakun. Qur’an 2:117). Beyond this point, spirit is classified into various universal types as evidenced in the fifth stage, the alam mitsal.

In literary terms, mitsal is an image. Thus, alam mitsal describes the imagination of the pure spirit that appeared in the previous level. Beben, the owner of the manuscript and a Sufi, says that at this level the spirit of alam arwah has received a destiny, anarima pandum, and has a form. This stage is illustrated by the circle which is separated from the first three levels. The text states that Allah transforms pure spirit, nyawa rahmani, into four kinds of spirit: a vegetable spirit (nyawa nabati), an animal spirit (nyawa hewani), a corporeal spirit (nyawa jasmani), and a spiritual spirit (nyawa rohani).

This level describes the four spirits who become the essence of the manifested spirits and body in the world or alam ajsam in the next level.

The Shattariyyah texts reveal that the next stage is the materialization of these substances into matter (ajsam). For the first time, spirit manifests itself in the phenomenal world, jasad nu wadag.

The teachings describe this stage in detail. They state that after one hundred thousand years Allah mixed four spirits, the nabati, hewani, jasmani, and rohani or jauhar) into the ruhiyah:

After God created the substances He declared into existence a particular attribute, sama, so that the substances could hear God when He declared, “I am the God of mankind, am I not?” Then each spirit, ruhiyah, stood up and recited Al-hamdu li l-lah Rabbi l-alamini (Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe) and recognized that Allah is the only God of mankind (hamba). After that, the substances declared that they would obey God. Then, according to this teaching, God asked His creations or substances to confirm again His command. After that the substances knelt and recited greetings (salam).

After God created them then He ordered angels to place birds and plants on earth. The first creation on the earth was seed (waturi). The birds took the seeds. God then created jinn from fire and placed them in the world. However, the jinn devastated the earth because they were able to assume human form. God then ordered angels to remove jinn from the earth and put them in the seventh hell

The substances had to acknowledge this process of creation. At that time, God told them that everything in the world was created for you, jauhar. Ruhyia (Muhammad) declared, “No other God but you must be obeyed, and I (Muhammad) am your servant”.

After the four substances took this oath God ordered the angels to mix them (water, earth, fire, wind) into spirit. This was the creation of man, called insan kamil or the primordial perfect man.

This is the last stage of creation when the prototype of mankind manifests itself in the world. So all of mankind has the same source, that is, the perfect spirit of Muhammad. Manuscripts from Limus Tilu describe this concept in detail. They say that God put the created spirit or the relative spirit called ruh idafi into the first man, Adam. For the Sufi, Adam is not the first man. Adam’s spirit is part of the spirit of Muhammad, His reflection, who recited the Confession, the shahadat. According to the text, the spirit, ruh idafi, entered different parts of Adam.

The ruh idafi which penetrated Adam’s tailbone or coccyx is called the jauhar manikem (substance). The ruh idafi which penetrated Adam’s face is called the perfect substance. The latter is the source of the perfect unchanging spirit and the first is the spirit that was capable of being shaped to different destinies. According to this teaching, the two spirits were taken by angels and spread across the earth to become the prototype of various races. Later these prototypes were taken again and were ordered by God to recognise the perfect substance.

Furthermore, the Limus Tilu Manuscript explains that this substance spread into to the air and was scattered over the world, a’yan kharijiyah, and had to be acquainted with the prophethood (nurbuwat rasulullah) in Adam’s face. The way a substance accepted the nurbuwat rasulullah varied. Thus according to this teaching, the spirits received different destinies and character depending on the way they saw nurbuwat rasullah on Adam’s face. For example, a substance that only sees the shadow of Adam will have a short life in the world. A substance who sees Adam’s feet will be a representative.

Every creation or jauhar manikem recognises Adam. Only Qabal and Muqabal reject Adam’s existence. Qabal adan Muqabal are the evils and jinn who claim that their substance is superior to Adam’s who was made from water, wind, fire, and earth.

The teaching then describes that Adam wanted a friend, a woman. At that time, ruhiya had never been divided into gender categories. So God created woman from the left rib of Adam, or the tulang sulbi.