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

(Ruh al Quddus). Every existent entity has a created spirit which constitutes its form. The spirit is to the form as the meaning is to the word. The created spirit has a Divine Spirit which constitutes it and this is the Ruh al Quddus. Man has a body which is his form and a spirit which is his meaning and a consciousness which is the spirit and an essential aspect which is denoted by the term 'the Holy Spirit'.

(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).

(Jalal). The Divine Majesty. Jalal indicates Allah's Incomparability. His Qualities of Majesty include His Transcendence, His Inaccessibilty, His Magnificence, His Tremendousness. Awe is experienced when the heart is overwhelmed by jalal.

(Diwan). The dynamic and living poetry of the Great lovers of Allah. Diwani poetry acts as a vehicle for the descent of spiritual realities into the heart of the 'listener'. Coming as it does, from the Direct Knowledge (unveiling, taste, opening) and inspiration of the mystic poet, the diwan contains an overflowing spiritual energy. It is this energy which may cause inrushes of knowledge and awareness to descend upon the one who has the preparedness to receive it. This is another form of 'spiritual concert'. Through the barakah emanating from the reciter of the diwan, which is like the barakah which emanates from the Sufi singer, the listener may experience spiritual 'tasting' 'drinking' and 'intoxication'.

(Barakah) is a subtle spiritual energy which flows through everything, but is strongest within the human. The more purified the human becomes, the greater the flow of barakah. Overpowering barakah can be experienced in sacred places, in sacred art and in sanctified people, all of which are theophanies, revealing and manifesting the Divinity - here on earth.

(Qawwal). During the 'spiritual concert' (sama') the qawwal may be the means through which the hearer finds Allah in ecstasy. When this occurs it is true sama' because sama' is a bird which flies from Allah to Allah - Allah is the singer and Allah is the hearer. The barakah surrounding and emanating from the qawwal and his musicians is extremely potent. Its effect upon an audience can be profound even when the members of that audience are ignorant of, and oblivious to, the reality within the singer and the music. For the one who has been prepared and purified, through spiritual struggle and the Remembrance of Allah, the speech of the qawwal can send his heart soaring towards the spiritual realm, where a thousand subtleties and delicacies are opened to him.