1. The áluddínRúmí"Plane of the Absolute Invisible." 2. The "Relatively Invisible." 3. The "World of Similitudes." 4. The "Visible World" (or the plane of "Form, Generation and Corruption"). 5. The "World of Man."
These Five Planes are often regarded as Three: the "Invisible," the "Intermediate," and the "Visible," or yet again as simply the "Visible" and "Invisible." Above the "Plane of the Absolute Invisible" is an infinity which we might, perhaps, compare with Dante's "Spaceless Empyrean." The Súfís regarded the existence of the soul as pre-natal. Moreover that the full perception of Earthly Beauty was the remembrance of that Supreme Beauty in the Spiritual world. The body was the veil; but by ecstasy (_Hál_) the soul could behold the Divine Mysteries. As Avicenna, in his poem on the soul, has written:
Lo, it was hurled Midst the sign-posts and ruined abodes of this desolate world. It weeps, when it thinks of its home and the peace it possessed, With tears welling forth from its eyes without pausing or rest, And with plaintive mourning it broodeth like one bereft O'er such trace of its home as the fourfold winds have left.
Creation was regarded as the output of the All-Beautiful. The visible world and all therein was a reflection of the Divine, an ever-changing scene full of the Spirit of God. The following beautiful poem of Jámí, from _Yúsuf-u-Zulaykhá_, will illustrate the Súfí's conception of the Beloved and His significance and relationship to His world of lovers:
No mirror to reflect Its loveliness, Nor comb to touch Its locks; the morning breeze Ne'er stirred Its tresses; no collyrium Lent lustre to Its eyes; no rosy cheeks O'ershadowed by dark curls like hyacinth, Nor peach-like down were there.... To Itself it sang of love In wordless measure. By Itself it cast The die of love.... One gleam fell from It on the Universe And on the angels, and this single ray Dazzled the angels, till their senses whirled Like the revolving sky. In diverse forms Each mirror showed it forth, and everywhere Its praise was chanted in new harmonies. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The spirits who explore the depths Of boundless seas, wherein the heavens swim Like some small boat, cried with one mighty voice, "Praise to the Lord of all the universe!" His beauty everywhere doth show itself, And through the forms of earthly beauties shines Obscured as through a veil.... Where'er thou seest a veil, Beneath that veil He hides. Whatever heart Doth yield to love, He charms it. In His love The heart hath life. Longing for Him, the soul Hath victory.[5]