The Five Levels of the Heart

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani (q.s.) said, “In every person’s heart there are five levels.  This is the knowledge of Latha’if.  The first level is Maqam al-Qalb, the Station of the Heart.  Shaythan can enter through that level and understand what we are doing.  That is why we sometimes have bad thoughts, why we are distracted in prayer, you cheat at work or feel suspicion and insecurity. 

The next level is Maqam as-Sirr, the Station of Secrets.  This is the distinction between the conscious and the subconscious.  It is the place in our inner mind where we bury things.  It is a scientific expression for the second level in the heart; it knows information, and Allah (s.w.t.) has Given every human being a secret.  We are Created and Honoured by our Lord Who has Created us from His Light and the Light of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and the light of Adam (a.s.). 

Human beings are Honoured beings.  They are Created in perfection.  Allah (s.w.t.) has Said in the Qur’an: 

سُوۡرَةُ بنیٓ اسرآئیل / الإسرَاء

۞ وَلَقَدۡ كَرَّمۡنَا بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ … (٧٠) 

We have Honoured the sons of Adam ... (Surah al-Isra’:70) 

The Honour is perfection in Creation.  No one knows the secrets He has Endowed the Light He put into our heart.  Shari’ah teaches the rudiments of how to fight Shaythan and throw him out of the heart.  Thariqa’ keeps the shari’ah and continues to a higher level to extract the secret which Allah (s.w.t.) has Given to our heart.  This extraction is the duty of the shaykh.  This cannot be given to us except through seclusion, and the shaykh can hear and know what is going on at the second level. 

The third level is Maqam Sirr as-Sirr, the Secret of the Secret, then comes the fourth level, Maqam al-Khafa’, the Hidden, and the fifth level, Maqam al-Akhfa’, the Most Hidden.  No one may enter the third level except the masters of the thariqa’.  No one but the Prophet (s.a.w.) can enter the fourth level, and the fifth level is Known to Allah (s.w.t.) Alone.  Human beings are honoured beings.  There is no discrimination in Allah’s (s.w.t.) Sight.  At that level, there is no Muslim; there is no Christian; there is no Jew; there is no Buddhist; there is no Hindu.  There is only this: 

سُوۡرَةُ الاٴنبیَاء

وَمَآ أَرۡسَلۡنَـٰكَ إِلَّا رَحۡمَةً۬ لِّلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ (١٠٧) 

We Sent you not, but as a Mercy for all creatures. (Surah al-Anbiya’:107)