The Language of the Future

Sufi Terminology by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

Arabic words starting with R

rabb al-arbab
Lord of all lords

(Rabb al Arbab). Each thing has its own lord. Those who are misguided are approved of by their own lord but condemned by Allah, Who is Lord of all lords. Each thing's lord is the particular Face that Allah has turned towards it. The majority of mank...

rabbani
Lordly

(Rabbani). The man who stands for, and upholds justice, that is, the man who stands for Truth, is called 'haqqani'. Such a man is then transformed in a manner through which he is blessed with Divine Attributes. He becomes 'rabbani' (lordly). The div...

rabbaniyya
Lordliness

(Rabbaniyya). In the perfection of manliness there is a hint of lordliness, but in the essential perfection of slavehood there is no lordliness whatsoever.

Rabbi zidni 'ilma
My Lord, increase me in knowledge

(Rabbi zidni 'ilma). (The Qur'an 20:114). Allah told His Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) to supplicate for an increase in knowledge. The Prophet did not ask for increase in anything except knowledge. The kno...

rabit
Binding

(Rabit). An interconnection or an essential binding or the establishment of a tie. The cosmos is firmly rooted through its connection and tie with Allah.

rafi' al-darajat
Uplifter of Degrees

(Rafi' al Darajat). Through being the Uplifter of Degrees, Allah arranges everything in perfect accordance with the requirements demanded by each thing's level in the hierarchy of existence. Therefore, the Divine root of the cosmic levels is the Name...

rafraf
Green cushion

(Rafraf). A green cloth (or cushion) of intense light which descended to the Holy Prophet Muhammad on his Ascension. Upon this rafraf he was pulled up for the last stage of the ascent to the Divine Throne in the Divine Presence. May the Salutations o...

raghbah
Longing

(Raghbah). This is the longing of the lover's secret for the Beloved. "And when you are free, still labour hard and to thy Lord turn (all) thy attention" (The Qur'an 94:7-8).

raha
Ease

(Raha). Ease or repose or relaxation or rest. It is Mercy which brings the entities from the distress of non-existence into the ease (raha) of existence. This situation is somewhat reversed for the knower and lover of Allah who has been annihilated i...

rahbah
Terror

(Rahbah) is the immediate terror of the threat of punishment being realized. It is also the hidden terror of unstable and valueless knowledge and the secret terror that what was known before will become a certainty.

rahma
Mercy

(Rahma). Mercy and compassion. There are two kinds of mercy. The first is an essential mercy or the mercy of free-gift which Allah bestows upon all creatures without distinction. The second is a specific mercy or the mercy of obligation which Allah g...

Rahmaniyyah
Compassionate Beatitude

Rahmaniyyah - see Mercy-Blessed.

raja'
Hope

(Raja') is the anticipation of Allah's Mercy (which actually surrounds us constantly, but is rarely perceived). During estrangement and separation, the lover is stretched to the extremity in his hope that the Beloved will either 'arrive' or 'speak'...

rajuliyya
Manliness

(Rajuliyya). This is the perfection possessed by a real Man.

raki'un
Those who bow

(Rak'iun). The raki'un are the friends of Allah who never consider the cosmos in respect of its entity but only as a place of manifestation of Allah, the Real. They are humbled before Allah's Magnificence and Inaccessibility.

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