The Language of the Future

Sufi Terminology by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

zaman
Duration of time

(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...

zann
Conjecture

(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...

zarf
Container

(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
Lights

(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
Evanescence

(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
Corner

(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
Pair

(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...

zill
Shadow

(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...

zindiq
Heretic

(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...

Ziyadatan fi sharafi-l Mustafa, Salla-llahu 'alaihi wa sallam
Increase the greatness of the Chosen One, May the salutations of Allah be upon Him, and Peace

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
Visiting place

(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...

zuhd
Asceticism

(Zuhd). This is the renunciation of all things connected to this world. It is a useful approach in the early stages of the Spiritual Path, but not desirable for the one who strives for perfection. Such asceticism implies renouncing the secondary caus...

zuhur
Manifestation

(Thuhur). Manifestation or outwardness or appearance. Thuhur is the Self-disclosure of Allah in the creation of the universe through His Name Al Thahir, the Manifest. This is in contrast to His Self Disclosure in the inward dimension of His creatures...

Zujajah
Glass

(Zujajah). The glass that is referred to in the verse of light is the heart and the misbah or lamp is the spirit. The tree that the lamp is lit from is the self.

zulm
Wrongdoing

(Thulm). This term indicates 'putting something in a place that is not worthy to receive it'. Speaking about the divine mysteries to one who is not capable of receiving them is not only a wrongdoing, but also a form of ignorance, spiritual immaturit...

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