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

ghayriyat
Otherness

(Ghayriyyat). . It is this 'otherness' that allows the cosmos, and all that is in it, to exist.


See also: Other Other than Allah Reality of Muhammad
(Ghayr). The 'other'. Allah is the Name that stands for the Unknowable Essence and also the Name that stands for the Divinity. The 'face' of the Unknowable Essence is turned away from creation, but the 'face' of the Divinity is turned towards us. Allah, as the Divinity, demands the existence of the 'other'. His Names bear witness to this reality in that The Powerful (al Qadir) demands the 'other' as an object of power (maqdur). Yet, in Reality, the 'other' is 'He/not He' ('Huwa/la Huwa').
(Ghayr Allah). 'Other than Allah' is the cosmos and all that it contains. To be 'other than Allah' is to be imperfect, but this 'imperfection' is in itself Perfection!
(Al Haqiqat al Muhammadiyya). This is 'The Reality of realities'. It is the first descent of Being from the Beyond of the Beyond. It is the Station of True Love and the stage of 'Or Nearer'. Just as man is unable to look directly into the physical sun because its brilliance would burn away his sight, so too is he unable to look at the Divine Sun because Its Pure Radiance would burn away his very existence. And just as the sun can only be viewed through a thin covering of cloud, so too the Divine Sun can only be seen through the Greatest Veil which is the Reality of Muhammad. The heart which has been infused with knowledge of The Reality of Muhammad soars to Allah Almighty. It takes the lover on the wings of overwhelming love ('Ishq) and longing (Shawq) to the Divine Presence. When Prophet Noah saw the condition of the flood and he was afraid of the sinking of the ark, he used the intercession of Allah for the safety of the Ark (al Wasila). Allah told him to write on the mast the mixing of the Name of Allah and Muhammad (Alif Mim Lam)

Go Back