Al-Jalîl: The Majestic

The qualities of majesty include strength, dominion, holiness, knowledge, wealth, power and so forth. The one who combines all of them in their person is absolutely majestic. If one is characterized by only some of them, one's majesty is commensurate with the attainment of that quality. The absolutely majestic is Allah alone. It may be said that Al-Kabîr, the Great, is traceable to the perfection of the essence, Al-Jalîl, the Majestic, to the perfection of the qualities and Al-`Azhîm, the Magnificent, to the perfection of essence and qualities. This is what is perceived by intellectual insight provided that it encompasses intellectual perception and not the reverse.

Furthermore, when the attributes of majesty are perceived by intellectual perception, majesty is called beauty. The one who is characterized by it is called beautiful. The name Al-Jamîl, the Beautiful, was used originally in regard to whatever was visible. Then it was transferred to the inner form which is perceived by insight. Thus one speaks of conduct of being good and beautiful. One says that one's character is beautiful and that beauty is perceived by the powers of insight and not by physical sight. Indeed, inner forms are seen as beautiful by the inner powers of a perceiver if they are perfect and harmoniously proportionate, combine all the perfections suitable to them as they ought to, in such a manner as they should be combined. When people gaze upon them, they experience greater joy, delight, and emotion than those who gaze through external sight alone. Therefore, the absolutely and authentically beautiful one is Allah alone for all the beauty, perfection, splendor, and attractiveness in this world are from the lights of Allah's essence and the traces of Allah's qualities. Nothing in the whole of existence has absolute perfection either actually or potentially except Allah. For this reason, those who know Allah and contemplate Allah's beauty experience such delight, happiness, joy, and pleasure that they disdain the delights of paradise as well as the beauty of interior meaning perceived by intellectual perception. Moreover, there is no comparison between the beauty of the external forms and the beauty of interior meaning perceived by intellectual perception. Stressing the concept of inner beauty distinguishes the Majestic (Al-Jalîl) from the Proud (Al-Mutakabbir) and the Magnificent (Al-`Azhîm).