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

asma'
Names

(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.


See also: Divine knowledge Divine things Face Finding Form Knower Meanings Perfect Man Secondary Causes
(Ma'rifa) is a light which Allah casts into the heart of whomsoever He Wills. This is the true knowledge which comes through unveiling, witnessing and tasting. This knowledge is from Allah, it is not Allah Himself, because He Is Unknowable in His Essence. The triad on the Sufi Path of Return is comprised of Fear, Knowledge and Love. Fear leads to Knowledge which leads to Unconditional Love of Allah. It is said that spiritual struggle is child's play while ma'rifa is men's work.
(Al Ilahiyyat). The root and origin of every existent thing is Allah. Each entity comes from within Allah's Knowledge. The cosmos itself is nothing but the manifestation of the Hidden Treasure. It is the manifestation of Allah's Names. Even though the existent things reflect the Names the Divine Face or Aspect is not clearly reflected in all the existents. Every existent thing is a face of the Absolute, but only the Pure and Perfect Men reflect the Divine Face. The one whose inner-eye has been opened, the knower, can easily discern the Face of the Divine from the Face of the Absolute.
(Wajh). The face or special aspect of a thing. This is its reality. The knower and lover sees only Allah. When looking at the creatures he sees either the Faces of the Absolute or the Divine Faces. Every existent thing is a face of the Absolute. Everything our sight falls upon is an aspect of the Absolute, be it a reflection of Allah's Majesty or His Beauty. But only the Purified and Perfect Men reflect the Divine Face, and only the purified lover and knower perceives the Divinity in such faces.
(Wijdan) comes from the same root as wujud (finding). It could be said that wujud is finding the Real in ecstasy.
(Sura). The outer form of an entity or thing is what conceals its inner meaning. Revelation is the outer form whose meaning is Allah's Knowledge of Himself and His creation. Tearing away the veil of form to reveal the meaning within is the work of the higher teaching. The Holy Prophet Muhammad al Mustapha (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) prayed, 'Oh, Allah, show me things as they are in their reality'.
('Alim). The one who knows. This term derives from the word 'knowledge' ('ilm). Usually it refers to the exoteric scholars, though sometimes 'alim is used in reference to 'those who know Allah'. The 'one who knows' is the one whom Allah causes to witness his godhead (uluhiyyah) and His Essence. No states manifest to him, knowledge is his condition.
(Ma'ana). Everything in creation has an outward form. These forms are the manifestations of their essential inner meanings. The meaning of everything is Allah. Within imagination all meanings become clothed in substratum and take on form. No meaning is able to hold itself back from imagination.
(Al Insan al Kamil). He is the viceregent of Allah, through whom Allah contemplates His Own Name-derived Perfection. The Perfect Man has actualized the divine form and in carrying the Trust has fulfilled his reason for being. It is through the Perfect Man that Allah enters the world. Al Insan al Kamil is also one of the names given to the Supreme Isthmus. Man consists of a body and a spirit which governs it. The cosmos also consists of a body and a spirit which governs it. Its spirit is the Perfect Man. Without him the cosmos is likened to a discarded body.
(Asbab). These were established as a means by which man can come to know Allah, yet for the majority of mankind the secondary causes act as veils over Reality.

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