(Zahid). An ascetic or pious renouncer. In the initial stages of Self-purification the murid, whose condition is one of imbalance, is required to develop an ascetic approach to his spiritual work and his daily existence. He is required to take up asc...
(Thahir) is the one who regards the exterior of things without seeking knowledge of the interior reality. For example, the Thahir performs his ritual prayer in a mechanical manner, without seeking knowledge of the symbolism of the bodily postures or...
(Thaalim). A thaalim is a wrong-doer who loves Allah for his own sake, and in so doing, reveals himself to be a tyrant. He does not remember Allah for Allah, but remembers Allah for the sake of this world or his desire for the next world. He wrongs h...
The well spring, represents ‘Ilm al Haqaiq (the knowledge of Realities). “For whatever reason you drink . . . “
(Zaman). Allah is Time (dahr). Allah is a beginningless and endless 'Day'. Allah's Names and Attributes divide His 'Day' into many days. These days are the 'Days of Allah'. The Names become manifest within the cosmos and each Name possesses days whi...
(Thann). Surmise or conjecture or opinion or supposition. Any knowledge which does not lead man back to the Beautiful Face of Allah and Felicity is not worthy of the name 'knowledge'. It is surmise, conjecture, opinion and supposition, and even thoug...
(Tharf). Through the Breath of the All Merciful the Hidden Treasure is breathed out and made manifest. The visible things, the existent entities, are exhaled on this Divine Breath. Each existent entity, within the Visible Realm, is a container (thar...
(Zawa'id). Excessive lights within the heart. These lights are direct rays from the Light of Muhammad, which Itself is from the Light of Allah. Zawa'id are powerful increases in faith in the Unseen Realm. This faith is based upon certainty.
(Zawal) is that which is fleeting and vanishing. The cosmos is nothing but a vanishing accident, its ruling property being its evanescence. The possible thing, that which is other-than-Allah, has no fixed reality due to the fact that it depends total...
(Zawiyyah). The transmission of the Divine Wisdom which flows from the Murshid to his murids traditionally takes place in a space or room or building, which is set aside specifically for that sacred purpose. Such a place is called a zawiyyah, which...
(Zawj). On the Spiritual Journey of Return to Allah there are certain moral and spiritual attributes which are paired. It is necessary for these pairs to be experienced and assimilated by the traveller (salik). Such pairs are hope and fear, expansio...
(Thill). Man is situated between the Sheer Light of Being and the utter darkness of non-existence, between good and evil. He is a mixture of light and darkness. The light which is within man derives from his own essence which is turned towards Allah...
(Zindeeq). Due to their ecstatic utterances some of the great lovers of Allah were regarded as heretics by the orthodox. The statements which they made, while spiritually intoxicated or lost in union or annihilated in Allah were misinterpreted. Stat...
Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) is the final Prophet and Messenger and is known as the Seal of the Prophets (khatm al-anbiya). He (May the Salutations of Allah be u...
(Ziyarat). Because the sacred tombs of the Sufi saints are sites abounding in barakah, they become visiting places for both devotees and the pious believers who seek to benefit from the spiritual power and grace of these exalted lovers of Allah. Afte...
Back