The Language of the Future
Sufi Terminology
by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi
nubuwwatu'l-wilaya
Prophecy of Sainthood
(Nubuwwat ul Wilaya). When the blowing in of inspiration enters the purified heart of one of the friends of Allah, bringing with it good news, this is referred to as nubuwwatu'l-wilaya.
(Nafth). Blowing or inblowing, as with the breath. The knowledge of the mysteries, which is beyond reason, reaches the heart through the blowing of the Holy Spirit. This knowledge is specific to a Prophet or one of the friends of Allah.
(Awliya). The friends of Allah. These are His Saints. Their knowledge is not derived from reflection. Allah has purified them of that type of knowledge. They possess the opening of unveiling through Allah, the Real, Himself. The awliya are those with unbroken awareness of Allah. These Perfect Men have attained to the highest of all human degrees.
(Bushra). Good news and glad tidings which may be heralded within dreams and visions or may arrive in the heart while under the powerful influence of a spiritual state (Hal).
(Ilham). Divine inspiration or effusion. Ilham is an blowing in of the Holy Spirit into the heart of a Prophet or a Friend of Allah. Ilham is distinct from Revelation which is specific only to the Prophets of Allah. The Divine Ilham is the immense spiritual force through which the Friends of Allah speak their words of Wisdom, write their books of Knowledge, sing their songs of Divine Love. Only the purified heart which has been sanctified through the remembrance of Allah is worthy of this inblowing of ilham. The Verified Shaykh can recognise the one into whom it is blown and the work of creative inspiration which results from that inblowing. The Word of Allah descends firstly as Revelation (wahy), secondly as Inspiration (ilham) and thirdly as Incoming Thoughts (khawatir).
(Wilayah/Walayah). Wilayah is the sainthood of the great friends of Allah (awliya). It is a Divine gift and the height of human perfection. The distinguishing mark and basis of sainthood is gnosis, not holiness or piety. The friend upon whom sainthood is bestowed has no choice in this. All is the Grace of Allah. The degree of his Knowledge of Allah, through which his sainthood descended, is also a gift from Allah. Wilayah is privacy with Allah. This privacy is indicated in the words of Muhammad al Mustapha, may the Salutations of Allah be upon him and peace, "There is a time for me with Allah, in which neither the nearest angel nor a sent Prophet is contained". Wilayah is 'seeing Allah through Allah'. The Friends of Allah, those upon whom wilayah has been bestowed, open up what the Prophets left closed. They are the mouthpieces of the Prophets. Through them the fragrant musk and the sweet honey of the Teaching of the Holy Prophet Muhammad continues to fill the world. Within wilayah there is an hierarchical order at whose peak is the Pole.
