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

zaman
Duration of time

(Zaman). Allah is Time (dahr). Allah is a beginningless and endless 'Day'. Allah's Names and Attributes divide His 'Day' into many days. These days are the 'Days of Allah'. The Names become manifest within the cosmos and each Name possesses days which are the time of the ruling property of that particular Name over the entity. Those deeply rooted in knowledge possess knowledge of the time in which a specific Name has ruling control over them. They occupy themselves within this zaman until Allah, the Essence, Eternal Time calls them to Himself. Eternal Time is dahr. Time within this physical realm is zaman.


See also: Days of Allah Names Those deeply rooted in knowledge Time Unity of Time
(Ayyam Allah). The Days of Allah. These are the epiphanies by which Allah reveals His Perfections. Every 'day' He is upon some task. In every indivisible instant there is recreation within each existent.
(Asma). Names. The Names designate permanent 'aspects' of the Essence. Every Name has a meaning and a form. The meaning of every Name is Allah. It is only through the Names, all of which are Allah's, that we have access to Knowledge of Allah. The Divine Names seek the Perfect Man (Insan al Kamil) to be their perfect locus of manifestation. Through their seeking him and their requiring his existence the knower comes to understand the nobility and grandeur of the Perfect Man.
(Ar Rasikhun fil 'ilm). These are the divine sages who possess correct knowledge of themselves and their Lord and Master, Allah. When their Master, Allah Commands them to do something they occupy themselves totally until the task is achieved. On completing that task they then come under the command of a specific Divine Name. In times of weakness the Divine Name, the Gentle, takes them under its command. When they require help the Divine Name, the Helper, gives them their designated amount of help. And so on with all of the Names, until Allah Calls to them. Then once again they occupy themselves totally with His Command. This is the meaning behind the slave occupying himself with the supererogatory worship and works until he hears the call to the obligatory prayer. At that time all supererogatory works are forbidden. When the Essence Commands him to do a task the slave is forbidden to receive his wages from a Divine Name. Those deeply rooted in knowledge (Ar Rasikhun fil 'ilm) know this!
(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.

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