The Seba library treats Latifa in 7 passages, across 1 author (including Corbin, Henry).
The first of these subtle organs (envelopes or centers) is called the subtle bodily organ (latifa qalabiya; qalab, lit. = the ‘mold’). Unlike the physical human body, it is constituted by direct influx emanating from the Sphere of spheres
This passage provides the foundational technical definition of latīfa as a subtle organ or center, introducing the full taxonomy of the seven-fold psycho-spiritual anatomy in Simnānī’s system.
, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971thesis
These lights are the tenuous veils enveloping each of the latifa; their coloring reveals to the mystic which stage of his growth or journey he has reached.
Corbin demonstrates that the colored lights surrounding each latīfa function as diagnostic markers of spiritual progress, linking mystical physiology directly to the phenomenology of chromatic photisms.
, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971thesis
the microcosmic temple, called by the Ishraqiyun the ‘temple of light’ (haykal al-nur), the human organism with its seven centers or subtle organs: the seven latifa… or inner Heavens, resting one upon another, each with its own color
Corbin situates the seven latā’if within the Ishrāqī cosmological framework as microcosmic counterparts to the celestial spheres, each bearing a distinct prophetic and chromatic identity.
, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971thesis
At this mystical stage, having reached his perfect spiritual stature, the mystic no longer needs to meditate on the ultimate latifa, since from then on he is the ‘Mohammad of his being.’
This passage marks the telos of the latīfa system: full actualization through all seven centers dissolves the need for further contemplation, as the mystic becomes identified with the highest center itself.
, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971thesis
there is a revelation and an opening up of the Ego corresponding to each of the latifa. The danger in this case corresponds to the moment when the Ego makes its appearance (tajallī) on the level of the arcanum (whose color is black light and whose prophet is Jesus).
Corbin identifies a specific existential peril — analogous to the Nietzschean crisis in the West — arising at each latīfa’s threshold, underscoring the psychological stakes of the mystical physiology.
, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971supporting
hierognosis, 6, 56, 68 hierophanies, 41… latifa… mundus imaginalis (‘alam al-mithdl), 6, 42 ff.
The index entry confirms latīfa’s systematic integration into Corbin’s broader lexicon of imaginal and hierophanic concepts in the Man of Light corpus.
, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971aside
David ‘of your being,’ 125… Moses, 55, 105, 154 n.95; ‘of your being,’ 124, 126
Index references to the prophetic personifications associated with individual latīfa stations confirm the structural correlation between subtle centers and prophetic archetypes in Simnānī’s system.
, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, 1971aside