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

zalim
Wrong-doer

(Thaalim). A thaalim is a wrong-doer who loves Allah for his own sake, and in so doing, reveals himself to be a tyrant. He does not remember Allah for Allah, but remembers Allah for the sake of this world or his desire for the next world. He wrongs his own self. He is a tyrant towards his own self.


See also: Love of fame Love of the material world One who remembers Seeker of the hereafter Seeker of the world Self The Trust
(Hubb-i-jah). This is one of the major obstacles on the Path to self-purification. To be aware of, and influenced by, the praise of men is to be distracted from awareness and Remembrance of Allah.
(Hubb-i-Dunya). Aspirations, yearnings and love must be turned away from the world and towards Allah if the seeker is sincere in his seeking. Attachment to anything is a barrier, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant that thing appears. Allah is jealous. Allah wants ALL of His lover, not just a part.
(Dhakir). The one who remembers Allah. The dhakir is precious to Allah Who created man only so that he would worship and know Allah. The one who turns, with an utter turning, towards fulfilling his reason for being, has been given the greatest gift from Allah Almighty.
(Talib al akhira). He who seeks the next world. The one who seeks the next world must turn to the Sacred Law and follow the guidance of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). The Straight Path of Islam will take him to Paradise. Such a seeker desires the rewards and pleasures of the next world.
(Nafs). The ego or the self or the soul. The nafs is that dimension of man which stands between the spirit which is light, and the physical body which is darkness. The spiritual struggle or combat is waged against the downward-pulling tendencies of the nafs which seduce the heart away from Allah. The nafs is also the domain of imagination. Allah is within our own selves, yet we do not see Allah. The work of the higher teaching is directed towards transforming the 'Lower Self' into the Higher 'Perfect Self' and 'seeing' Allah everywhere. There are seven stages of the self, seven postures in the ritual prayer, seven verses or 'signs' in the opening chapter of The Qur'an, and seven levels of knowledge, all of which are finely interconnected. Shaykh Mahmoud Taha of Sudan writes concerning the self: "This soul is immortal in essence despite the changes that befall it through different forms and at different times and places. At no time does the soul cease its quest for immortality - to be immortal in form as it is in essence. This story is . . . the story of every human being. However, we all have forgotten it. By 'forgetting' it is meant that it settled at the bottom of the unconscious and was then covered by a thick layer of illusions and fears that we inherited from the times of ignorance and superstition. There is no way that we can achieve our happiness unless we break through this thick layer. . . which prevents the forms of the unconscious to be reflected in the mirror of the conscious and hence reveal the greater truth, the truth of truths that is shrouded by the veils of light. This long story that flows from the unconscious is made of the same stuff as that of dreams. The Qur'an is made out of the same stuff. It was brought into existence only to remind us of our extraordinary story. He who remembers it will acquire knowledge beyond which there is no ignorance and an immortality beyond which there is no perishing".

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