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

mushrik
Partner - one who assigns

(Mushrik). The one who believes that the 'other' (ghayr) exists. This condition may occur in the earlier stages of the Journey when the lover is kept at a distance from Allah. At such a time, when his yearning is not satisfied and his desire remains unfulfilled, he may momentarily believe that the 'other' exists. However, as the lover matures, his unsatisfied yearnings and unfulfilled desires no longer form a barrier between himself and Allah. As a knower and lover he now looks at the 'other', but he sees and knows that, in reality, it is Allah.

See also: Knowers of Allah Lover -Passionate Metaphorical Islam Other than Allah Perfection

Knowers of Allah ( 'arifin )

(Al 'Arifin/'Urufa). They see and recognize Allah wherever they look. The knowers are bewildered. But this is not the bewilderment of being lost, rather it is the bewilderment of having found Allah. They know that He cannot be known. The knowers are nothing because they are everything.

Metaphorical Islam ( islam-i-majazi )

(Islami majazi). This term is a synonym for the sin of secretly joining a partner with Allah. Within this metaphorical Islam the worshipper joins his own 'I-ness' to the Oneness of Allah and in so doing commits the hidden association of partners to Allah.. The knower and lover of Allah has departed from metaphorical Islam (islami majazi) and entered into the real covering-up of the Truth (Kufr-i-Haqiqi). Real kufr is the covering-up of one's inner reality; the reality that only Allah IS. "If the reality of the Sufi was to be unveiled he would be worshipped".

Other than Allah ( ghayr Allah )

(Ghayr Allah). 'Other than Allah' is the cosmos and all that it contains. To be 'other than Allah' is to be imperfect, but this 'imperfection' is in itself Perfection!

Perfection ( al-ihsan )

(Ihsan). Excellence or perfection or sanctifying virtue or spiritual beauty. Ihsan has three degrees: 1).To do the good that should be done with one's property, words, acts and states. 2). To worship with total presence like one was actually seeing one's Lord. 3). To contemplate Allah in all things, at all times and always. Perfection is the third rung on the seven-runged ladder of Knowledge. These seven levels are Islam, Iman; Ihsan; 'Ilm al yaqin; 'Ayn al yaqin; Haqq al yaqin; Islam. (Surrender, Faith, Perfection, Knowledge of Certainty, The Eye of Certainty, The Truth of Certainty and Total Surrender and Submission).

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