The Language of the Future

Sufi Terminology by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

tahalli
Adornment

(Tahalli) is to become adorned with the Divine Attributes. However, the most complete and the purest adornment is to be adorned with the attributes of slavehood. Slavehood is that total and complete servitude which contains not the slighest hint of Lordship. The slave, adorned (tahalli) with his own slavehood, sits within his own immutability, which is pure non-existence within the Knowledge of Allah. To be 'no thing' is to be adorned (tahalli) with the perfection of slavehood.

See also: Beautiful Model Lordship Night of Ascension No thing 'Or nearer' Perfection Perfect Man Servitude Slave

(Uswa hasana). The Holy Prophet Muhammad al Mustapha (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) is the beautiful model. Through his perfect example man is given the means of drawing closer, and yet closer, to Allah. The degrees of such nearness depend upon the manner and attitude in which one follows the beautiful model. Those who love Allah and His Messenger more than anything, more than life itself, are the slaves who follow Muhammad al Mustapha in their outer lives and in their inner realities. To approach Allah, the slave must first meet the Holy Prophet Muhammad. This meeting is a Mystery. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, the beautiful model, becomes the slave's inner reality through the unveiling of the Reality of Muhammad. The hadith says, "Who has seen me has seen Allah".
Beautiful Model

(Rububiyya). The cosmos has two basic levels which are expressed in various ways - that of the Real and the creation, Independence and poverty, Lordship and slavehood. It is the existence of Lordship which demands slavehood. Lordship is the most exalted level and slavehood is the lowest level. There is nothing more lowly than to be subject to the locus of nothingness and to stand in need of another for one's own existence.
Lordship

(La Shay). The slave who has 'returned' to Allah has arrived at the place of nonexistence, the place of "Allah is, and nothing is with Him". The slave has returned to his own nothingness within the Knowledge of Allah. Such a slave is destitute (Muflis) of everything other than Allah. He is 'nothing' (La Shay) but the locus of manifestation of Allah. He has 'nothing' of his own. He belongs totally and unconditionally to Allah.
No thing

(Ihsan). Excellence or perfection or sanctifying virtue or spiritual beauty. Ihsan has three degrees: 1).To do the good that should be done with one's property, words, acts and states. 2). To worship with total presence like one was actually seeing one's Lord. 3). To contemplate Allah in all things, at all times and always. Perfection is the third rung on the seven-runged ladder of Knowledge. These seven levels are Islam, Iman; Ihsan; 'Ilm al yaqin; 'Ayn al yaqin; Haqq al yaqin; Islam. (Surrender, Faith, Perfection, Knowledge of Certainty, The Eye of Certainty, The Truth of Certainty and Total Surrender and Submission).
Perfection

(Al Insan al Kamil). He is the viceregent of Allah, through whom Allah contemplates His Own Name-derived Perfection. The Perfect Man has actualized the divine form and in carrying the Trust has fulfilled his reason for being. It is through the Perfect Man that Allah enters the world. Al Insan al Kamil is also one of the names given to the Supreme Isthmus. Man consists of a body and a spirit which governs it. The cosmos also consists of a body and a spirit which governs it. Its spirit is the Perfect Man. Without him the cosmos is likened to a discarded body.
Perfect Man

('Ubada). Servitude and bondage. This is the fulfilment and consummation of slavehood ('ubudiyya) when the slave loses himself in the Will of his Lord. 'Ubada is 'the Nearness of obligatory works' which is one of the four stations of Perfection. To realize 'ubuda is to be gifted with a very high degree of Knowledge of Allah. To know that 'the slave is the slave and the Lord is the Lord' is the supreme form of spiritual courtesy towards Allah. The Holy Prophet Muhammad al Mustapha (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) is the Beloved of Allah and His Chosen One. No one is more perfect than him. No one can attain to his Knowledge. Yet Allah says in The Qur'an, "Glory be to Him Who carried His slave by night" (17:1). The slave is in bondage ('ubuda). Bondage is Perfection. Bondage is Knowledge.
Servitude

('Abd). The slave (and worshipper) is the one who is in a state of total and utter submission to the Will of Allah. After having been annihilated in Allah where all duality vanished and distinctions were erased, he returns to creation with perfect courtesy and with the Truth of Certainty that 'the Lord is the Lord and the slave is the slave'. When 'abd is translated as 'servant' it carries the implication that the servant can leave the service of his Master, if he so desires. However, the 'slave' is in total bondage, being utterly dependent upon his Master. All buying and selling transactions have been terminated. The slave belongs to Allah, completely, perfectly and unconditionally.
Slave
Back