(Khirqa) is the patched cloak which is the symbol of the spiritual traveller. It is given by the Murshid, Shaykh or Pir to his murid either on being initiated into the Tariqa or on completion of his travelling. The true khirqa is to cover oneself wit...
(Labbayak). These words are on the lips and in the heart of the slave at his time of entry into the Sacred City of Mecca when performing the pilgrimage (Hajj). He is extremely near to Allah at this point in his journey, having been stripped of everyt...
(Ladhdha). This is the pleasure which is experienced in the encounter between the lover and the Beloved. It is a pleasure resulting from distance and separation. The intensity of yearning and longing for the absent Beloved increases the bliss of mee...
(Lahut). This is the opposite pole to the human nature (Nasut). The Divine Nature is the secret life or content of the human nature. The knowers and lovers of Allah see the Divine when looking at the human. They look at a person of rare spiritual be...
(La maqam). This is the 'station of no station'. This 'station of no station' is the highest station reached by the People of Perfection who manifest the Name 'Allah'. They have passed beyond all states and stations and are the true Muhammadan heirs....
(La Takrar fil Tajalli). This expression indicates that there is never any repetition in Allah's Infinite Self-disclosures (Tajalli). This is 'the renewal of creation in each instant' (Tajdid al Khalq fil-Anat). Allah does not unveil Himself in the s...
(Latifah al insaniyyah/nafsiyyah). The human subtle reality which is also known as 'the self'. This subtle essence or centre of the human body must be cleansed in order for the traveller to progress in his Journey of Return to Allah.
(Lawami'). Flashes of light that fleetingly enter the heart and momentarily remain there. And even though the flash departs as suddenly as it arrives it may nonetheless bring with it and deposit in the heart, a new and fresh knowledge of Allah. The m...
(Lisan). The tongue indicates the eloquence or language with which Divine Statements enter the hearing of the Knowers of Allah. During the spiritual concert, when the voice of Allah enters the world on the tongue of the singer, the hearer who is rec...
(Lubb al Lubb). The kernel of the kernel, the core of the core or the innermost of the innermost consciousness. The lubb al lubb is the Source or the Divine Light which is contained at the very kernel of the kernel itself.
(Lutf). The Kindness, Gentleness and Grace of Allah. Allah's Kindness is Absolute Subtlety. It descends into the heart, filling the entire being of His slave with loFve and awe and bewilderment. This indescribable and incomprehensible gentleness ente...
(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...
(Mahabbati 'amm). The love of spiritual seekers whose hearts incline to considering attentively the Beauty of the Qualities. There are many of these seekers who aspire to Divine Knowledge and their love of Allah is sincere. However they are not of H...
(Mahabbati Khass). The love of the Elect whose souls incline in totality to witnessing the Beauty of the Essence. Such love is rare, like the Red Sulphur itself. It is through Allah's Own Love of His Elect that His Elect love Allah unconditionally. L...
(Mahall). Locus or dwelling place or place of manifestation. Each human heart is a locus in which the Being of Allah discloses Itself. The radiance of His Self-disclosure depends upon the purity of the heart in the way that water takes on the colour ...
