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

(Da'im). Eternal and everlasting and perpetual, as in the perpetual instant or perpetual moment. Al Da'im is one of the Divine Names.

(Abu'l waqt). He is the one to whom Time is subservient, directing the affairs of the world by his will.

(Al Adib). The man of moral courtesy is the one who gives to each thing and to each moment its due. He is a 'knower of the moment' and with this knowledge he puts everything in its right place. The Sufi is al adib.

(Laylat al Mi'raj). The Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace), the slave of Allah ('Abdullah), was 'taken' to the Divine Presence on this 'night'. The word 'night' indicates that moment which is outside of time when Muhammad al Mustapha was blindfolded to everything that is other-than-Allah. In this timeless moment he was in a state of utter Unity . He had realized the Unity of Time, Unity of Place and Unity of Essence. In this state of inner unity he was 'taken' to the Divine Presence. He did not 'go' of his own accord, but was 'chosen' to be 'taken' on this 'night'. The Holy Prophet is the Beautiful Model and his Ascension is the ascension par excellence. By following in his footsteps the yearning lovers and devoted followers and bereft slaves hope to follow him to the Divine Presence. The chosen one (al Mustapha) is the Slave and he is also the Beloved of Allah. No one meets Allah by being a lover, only by being the Beloved. The Night of Ascension, the Night when man ascends to the Divine Presence, corresponds to the Night of Power when the Spirit descends to man.

('Abd al waqt). He is the one who, having found Allah in each and every indivisible moment, has surrendered, unconditionally and knowingly, to the moment. Because each moment is utterly unique the requirements of that particular moment are also unique. Each moment has its own gracious behaviour and spiritual courtesy. The slave of the moment does not resort to old reactions or past experiences when facing and fulfilling the demands of the moment. Not only is he 'slave of the moment' ('abd al waqt) but he is also the one with gracious behaviour and spiritual courtesy of the moment. His heart receives spontaneous knowledge from the Source Itself. The Slave, Knower and Lover takes his knowledge directly from Al Hayy, The Living. He drinks from the Water of Life which is ever fresh and ever renewed.

(Ibn al Waqt). The Sufi is called the son of the moment. Through his consciousness of Eternity and his perpetual Remembrance of Allah and his presence with Allah he keeps himself with the timeless instant that is 'Now'. He has no desire to be 'before' or 'after' this moment because he knows that Allah is this moment.

(Dahr). Allah is Time. He is a beginningless and endless 'Day' without night-time or daytime, but the properties of His Names and Attributes divide His 'Day' into many days. These are called the 'Days of Allah'. The attributes of these days are self-transmutation and fluctuation. The one who looks into his own heart will know, through unveiling, that these are also the attributes of the human heart.

(Wahdat-i-zamaniyyah). The slave returns to the 'timeless' Time. This is the beginingless and endless moment in which he is 'no thing' ('la shay'). Only Allah IS. The slave is merely an entity through which Allah Almighty becomes manifest. The slave is at the bidding of his Lord. Before the perfect slave can attain to the Divine Presence he must be in absolute Unity. Without Unity he will never reach Allah because Allah IS Unity. Unity is the combination of three Unities Unity of Essence, Unity of Place and Unity of Time. Unity of Time is the 'timeless' Time which opens into Eternity. Unified Place, Time and Essence are the Divine Silence.