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

(Khidr). The Green Prophet who drank the Water of Life and still appears to initiate the holy ones into the Great Mysteries. He is still in this world. He was given 'insight of the heart' which is God-given knowledge from Allah's Presence.

(Fikr). Reflection or the power of thought and cogitation. It is the ability to put together the details accumulated by the senses and acquired through the imagination. Fikr is a quality possessed only by man, and even though it is one of the means through which he can obtain knowledge of Allah, ultimately, True Knowledge of the Absolute comes through 'unveiling', 'opening', 'taste', 'insight' and 'witnessing'.

(Ummi) indicates the knower who, possessing a heart which is empty of outward intellectual learning, is a pure vessel ready to receive 'God-given' knowledge or 'unlettered knowledge'. His heart is untainted. His love of Allah is total. His bondage is perfect. His hands are upturned in humility and need. In being 'no thing' Allah showers him with everything!

(Kashf). Unveiling or revelation is one of the types of direct experience through which Knowledge of Reality is unveiled to the heart of the slave and lover. In His Infinite Grace Allah gives His slave and lover a Divine Self-disclosure which not only increases his Knowledge of Allah but also increases his yearning and intense love of Allah. The great Sufis are called The People of Unveiling and Finding. Within the unveiling they find Allah. This unveiling and finding frequently occurs during the spiritual concert. In a moment, when it is perceived through unveiling that 'Allah is the singer and Allah is the hearer', the singer and the hearer become One, disappearing into Allah.

This refers to the mystic who has attained to Knowledge of Allah without any formal initiation into a Spiritual Path and without the guidance of a Shaykh. He is said to be directly under the Divine Guidance.