The Language of the Future

Sufi Terminology by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

Arabic words starting with I

'ibada
Worship

('Ibada). Worship and service of Allah with absolute obedience and love. Man was created in order to 'know' Allah. Therefore the essential meaning of worship is Knowledge of Allah. Allah says in The Qur'an, "I created jinn and men only to worship (kn...

'ibarah
Verbal expression

('Ibarah). Many of the Great Masters of the higher teaching have been given the gift called 'Opening of Expression' through which they are able to express highly mystical concepts, visions and seemingly inexpressible spiritual experiences. In some c...

'id
Festival

('Eid). Festival or feast day. For the lover of Allah this festival is the recurrent celebration of the arrival of the Beloved. When Allah enters the courtyard of His lover's heart that moment is the moment of bliss. The hunger, thirst, pain and orde...

'id al-adha
Festival of the Sacrifice

('Eid al Adha). This Great Feast Day is celebrated after the slave has stood in the Presence of His Oneness, (symbolised by the standing at the Mount of Mercy on the Plain of Arafat outside of Holy Mecca). When the lower self has been reduced to nau...

'id al-fitr
Festival of fast breaking

('Eid al Fitr). When the traveller observes the inward fast by striving to purify his thoughts, words, deeds and heart, and when through such striving he succeeds in abstaining from everything that is 'other-than-Allah', he then breaks his fast on la...

'ilah
god

(Ilah). God or Deity. This word indicates 'god', with a small 'g', as compared with the only true God Who is Allah. But, in Reality "there is no god other than Allah" (La ilaha il Allah).

'illah
Motivation

('Illah) is the motivation through which Allah directs His slave. A secondary cause may or may not be used as a mediator for this motivation.

'ilm
Knowledge or science

('Ilm) is the analytical and indirect knowledge which results from investigation and study. 'Ilm is contrasted with ma'rifa, the direct knowledge which occurs through the experiences of tasting (dhawq), opening (fath) and unveiling (kashf). Generally...

'Ilm al arqam
Science of numbers

('Ilm al arqam).

'Ilm al huruf
Science of letters

('Ilm al huruf).

'ilm al-'aql
Knowledge of the intellect

('Ilm al 'Aql).

'ilm al-ahwal
Knowledge of the Spiritual States

('Ilm al Ahwal).

'ilm al-asrar
Knowledge of the Secrets

('Ilm al Asrar).

'ilm al-batini
Knowledge of the Inward

('Ilm al Batini). Because Allah is the Outwardly Manifest (al Thahir) and the Inwardly Hidden (al Batin) Knowledge of Allah necessarily encompasses both the Inward and the Outward aspects of existence.

'ilm al-ghayb
Knowledge of the Unseen

('Ilm al Ghayb). This Knowledge is a gift of Allah's Grace which He gives to whosoever He Wills.

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