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

sukun
Silence

(Sukun) is silence or stillness. This is the great silent stillness of the Essence to which the hearts of the lovers of Allah yearn to return.


See also: Ascension of decomposition Ascent of composition People of the Essence Speech Speech with words Speech without words The Sufi is uncreated
('Uruj at tarkib).The supra-formal spiritual ascent of composition (which is actually a descent), during which man journeys from inward non-manifestation within the Knowledge of Allah to outward manifestation within the world. Man's Return Journey to Allah is the spiritual ascent of decomposition.
(Al Dhatiyun). 'Those who have realised the Essence' are the slaves of Allah who drink directly from the Fountain of Camphor in Paradise. They are the People of Solitude of the Absolute Essence. Their love of Allah, being total and utter, remains constant in the face of opposites, because for them the opposites are joined. There is only Unity. There is only Allah as He is in Himself.
(Kalam) is speech or words. The Source, Allah, is the Great Silence. In the process of descent, the Supreme Silence is firstly qualified with letters which then appear as words. The words become a sentence or sign which then appears as a form or book. The world is a book and the human is a book. In these two books we can read the signs of Allah, "on the horizons and within ourselves", which will enable us to ascend, and dwell once again, in the Great Silence.
(Kalam-i-tafsili). To attain to the Great Silence one must travel the Path laid down by the Prophets of Allah. In the early stages of the Spiritual Journey the traveller's tongue is in lively motion, full of words and questions and opinions. As he traverses the states and stations, ascending from the book, through the sentences, the words and the letters, his Kalam-i-tafsili lessens and his silence increases. Ultimately, awe and love and bewilderment make him speechless. From circumference to Centre. From multiplicity to Unity. From noise to Silence. From self to Self. Kalam-i-tafsili is the stage of separation.
(Kalam-i -dhati). This Speech is Allah's Speech. It is the Speech of the Essence Itself. Kalam-i-dhati is the Speech of the Source and the Source is the Great Silence. The People of the Essence, Allah's perfect slaves who are drowned in the Source Itself, speak in a silent and wordless language. Their spiritual affinity is total because each one of them drinks directly from the Fountain of Camphor in Paradise and has become one with the camphor. When the drop enters the Ocean there is no necessity for words to be spoken. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) said, 'He who knows Allah, his tongue becomes silent'. Kalam-i-dhati is the stage of union. Speech without words (kalam-i-dhati) becomes manifest through Speech with words (kalam-i-tafsili).

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