The Language of the Future
Sufi Terminology
by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

Order by: Arabic English

Terror
rahbah

(Rahbah) is the immediate terror of the threat of punishment being realized. It is also the hidden terror of unstable and valueless knowledge and the secret terror that what was known before will become a certainty.

Testimony of Faith
shahadah (kalimah)

(Shahadah). The witnessing or testimony or word. The supreme witnessing that defines Unity is the Islamic Testimony of Faith (Shahadah). 'There is no god other than Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah'.

That which enters the heart
tawariq

(Tawariq ). That which enters the heart, either as glad tidings or with rebuke, during the slave's secret converse with Allah.

The One you turn to for help
Al Musta'aan

(Al Musta'aan). The One you turn to for help. One of the beautiful Names of Allah.

The Pen has dried
qad jaffa'l-qalam

(Qad jaffa al Qalam). In other words, the Divine decree cannot be changed. This expression is somewhat similar to the phrase 'As Allah has Willed' (Masha' Allah) and 'It is written' (kana maktub).

The Two Imams
al-imamani

(Imamani). Within the Sufi hierarchy there are two who are called the Imams. One is from the right of the Ghawth and he oversees the invisible world. The other is from the left of the Ghawth and he oversees the material world. The latter acts as depu...

There is no god other than Allah
La ilaha il Allah

(La ilaha il Allah). These words which form the first part of the Islamic Testimony of Faith could be paraphrased as 'there is no reality, only Reality' or 'there is no truth, only Truth' or 'there is no love, only Love'. The phrase is the supreme d...

There is no god, only Love
la ilaha illa'l-'ishq

(La ilaha illa 'Ishq). The great lovers of Allah use these words in an attempt to express their witnessing of love ('Ishq) as the motivating power behind everything. The Passionate lover ('Ashiq) who is thoroughly drowned in love during the Spiritua...

There is no power nor strength except with Allah. . .
la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi al-'Ali, al-'Azim

(La howla wa la Quwatta illa billah al 'Aly al Atheem). There is no power and no strength except in Allah, the Most High, the Tremendous'. Recitation of, and contemplation upon this dynamic phrase act as reminders to the murid that 'the slave is the ...

Thin
Raqiqa

Raqiqa - see 'Intangible'.

Thing
shay'

(Shay). Thing or the 'possible thing' or the entity. Shay can indicate the existent 'thing' or the non-existent 'thing'. The word 'thing' (shay), being 'one of the most indefinites of the indefinites' can be applied to anything whatsoever except Alla...

Thing-ness
shay'iyya

(Shay-iyya). This is the the situation of the entities.

Third Thing
al-shay' al-thalith

(Al shay al thalith). The First Thing is 'That Which Exists In Itself' (Necessary Being), the second is 'that which exists through the other' (everything other-than-Allah), and the third is 'that which is neither existent nor nonexistent'. The Third...

Those deeply rooted in knowledge
al-rasikhun fi'l-'ilm

(Ar Rasikhun fil 'ilm). These are the divine sages who possess correct knowledge of themselves and their Lord and Master, Allah. When their Master, Allah Commands them to do something they occupy themselves totally until the task is achieved. On com...

Those in the middle
al-mutawassitun

(Mutawassitun). Those travellers who are in the middle of the Path. They are the ones who experience exile, though it is not yet the exile of the advanced ones. al mutawassitun are struggling and striving, sometimes seeing only Allah, sometimes seein...