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

(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.

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

(Muqallab). This term indicates the constant change and fluctuation of spiritual states within the heart.

(Qalb). The human heart is the place of constant change and fluctuation. It is the supra-rational organ of intuition where the Transcendent Realities enter into contact with man. The heart is the isthmus between this world and the next. The battlefield of the Greater Holy War is the heart. This is where the downward-pulling lower self is confronted by the yearning spirit. The battle is fought between these two adversaries in order for one to take possession of the precious heart of man. Under the misguidance of the Misguider, the lower self wants the heart to plummet to the depths of ignorance. However, the spirit, which is from Allah, exerts a powerful attraction upon the heart, as it endeavours to guide it towards Knowledge of Allah. The greater the purification of the heart the more receptive it is to this irresistible attraction of the celestial spirit. The heart is the sanctified centre of man because it is the place which contains Allah. Keeping watch over the heart is part of the spiritual struggle of the Journey of Return. Those well-advanced along the Path never allow any intruders to enter their sanctified hearts. The heart of the Perfect Man is the Divine Throne around which circle the spiritual realities.

('Arif Billah). This Man is the one who has fulfilled his 'reason to be'. He has purified himself in readiness to receive the supreme mystic knowledge which is Knowledge of Allah. It is in knowing Allah that man is drawn closer to Allah. 'The water takes on the colour of its cup'. The clearer the receptacle the greater is its capacity to manifest the Divine.

(Tahawwul). Self-transmutation, or to change from one situation to another. Allah is constantly transmuting Himself within His Self-disclosures. The root of this tahawwul is the diversity of the Divine Names. It is only the knower of Allah who sees Allah everywhere and at all times. The Knower never denies Allah in any form, place, time or situation, here or there, ever! His respect for each form, place, time and situation is perfect because it is based upon his knowledge of Allah's Self-transmutation (tahawwul).