The Language of the Future

Sufi Terminology by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

Hijab al 'Aql
Veil of the Intellect

(Hijab al 'Aql).When we are veiled by the intellect, we become stationary with the outer meanings of what we study and that which makes sense to our minds only. Anyone who thinks that greatness of life is through fulfilling our animalistic needs and desires, regardless of the cost, is slowly and gradually moving away from knowing himself. Anyone who moves away from knowing himself, moves away from knowing Allah. It has been said that “Whoever knows himself, knows his Lord”. The beautiful and complete intellect, when it contemplates the divine manifestations in the forms of His Names, Attributes and Actions, will know what divinity is. If he attains this through his contemplations, he will connect himself to the Universal Intellect and this will give him the knowledge of the hidden secrets of the words and he will be graced with the divine unveiling through witnessing.


See also: Unveiling through reason

(Kashf 'aqli). This is the lowest grade of intuitive knowledge. Allah cannot be known and loved through reason (al 'Aql) because it acts as a fetter, holding man back from the final stages of his ascent. Allah is embraced in the heart, not in the mind. "My Heavens and my earth contain Me not, but the heart of My believing slave does contain Me".
Unveiling through reason
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