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

dhahab
Departure

(Dhahab). Departure or Passing. Due to his witnessing of the Beloved, in whatever form, the heart of the lover ceases to register ordinary objects of sensation. This is more complete than absence because of the heart's passing from awareness of anything except the Beloved.

See also: Presence and absence Presence with Allah Senses

Presence and absence ( hudur wa ghaybah )

(Hudur wa ghaybah). This is presence with Allah and absence from oneself. When Allah is there, you are not. When you are there, Allah is not. The Holy Prophet Muhammad said, 'The prayer without you is better than seventy'. May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace.

Presence with Allah ( hudur )

(Hudur) is the heart's presence with Allah when it is absent from everything else. The slave can never be present with Allah except through one of His Beautiful Names and in so doing a state of perfect spiritual courtesy is maintained.

Senses ( al-hiss )

(Hiss). The faculty of sensation or the domain of the senses. The senses act as a veil over Reality and it for this reason that the lover of Allah supplicates to have his senses removed! But, because man has been placed within the domain of the senses he has been given the means to purify his senses and draw closer to his Lord. Through the Remembrance of Allah the veil over his senses may be removed to reveal the Reality of those senses. When immersed in the dhikr his senses may be burned away and replaced by Allah. The Hadith Qudsi says, "... Then, when I love him, I am his hearing through which he hears, his sight through which he sees, his hand through which he grasps and his foot through which he walks".

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