Jabarut

Jabarut is a term used in Islamic mysticism, particularly within Sufi cosmology, to denote a distinct metaphysical realm. Its name is commonly translated as the world of power or sovereignty, signifying a plane where divine will and the operation of universal forms are actualized.

In some strands of Sufi thought, reality is understood as layered into several interlocking realms. The tripartite scheme often includes Nasut (the physical, sensory world), Malakut (the world of the immaterial and the inner or angelic realm), and Jabarut (the world of power and governing divine attributes). Jabarut is typically placed above Nasut and Malakut and described as the level where divine command and the potency of creation are most explicit.

Characteristics attributed to Jabarut include the activation and governance of divine names and attributes, the realization of universal forms, and the administration of cosmic order. It is frequently associated with the most potent aspects of divine power and is depicted as a realm that transcends ordinary perception, accessible primarily through spiritual realization or mystical insight rather than empirical observation. In this sense, Jabarut is more a symbolic or doctrinally constructed space than a physical location.

Scholars treat Jabarut as a conceptual category used to interpret how God’s attributes operate in creation and how higher spiritual realities relate to the material world. Its interpretation varies across Sufi orders and authors, notably in Ibn Arabi’s writings, reflecting a range of nuanced perspectives on divine power and cosmology.