The Language of the Future

Sufi Terminology by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

English words starting with T

There is no god other than Allah
La ilaha il Allah

(La ilaha il Allah). These words which form the first part of the Islamic Testimony of Faith could be paraphrased as 'there is no reality, only Reality' or 'there is no truth, only Truth' or 'there is no love, only Love'. The phrase is the supreme d...

There is no god, only Love
la ilaha illa'l-'ishq

(La ilaha illa 'Ishq). The great lovers of Allah use these words in an attempt to express their witnessing of love ('Ishq) as the motivating power behind everything. The Passionate lover ('Ashiq) who is thoroughly drowned in love during the Spiritua...

There is no power nor strength except with Allah. . .
la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi al-'Ali, al-'Azim

(La howla wa la Quwatta illa billah al 'Aly al Atheem). There is no power and no strength except in Allah, the Most High, the Tremendous'. Recitation of, and contemplation upon this dynamic phrase act as reminders to the murid that 'the slave is the...

Thin
Raqiqa

Raqiqa - see 'Intangible'.

Thing
shay'

(Shay). Thing or the 'possible thing' or the entity. Shay can indicate the existent 'thing' or the non-existent 'thing'. The word 'thing' (shay), being 'one of the most indefinites of the indefinites' can be applied to anything whatsoever except Alla...

Thing-ness
shay'iyya

(Shay-iyya). This is the the situation of the entities.

Third Thing
al-shay' al-thalith

(Al shay al thalith). The First Thing is 'That Which Exists In Itself' (Necessary Being), the second is 'that which exists through the other' (everything other-than-Allah), and the third is 'that which is neither existent nor nonexistent'. The Third...

Those deeply rooted in knowledge
al-rasikhun fi'l-'ilm

(Ar Rasikhun fil 'ilm). These are the divine sages who possess correct knowledge of themselves and their Lord and Master, Allah. When their Master, Allah Commands them to do something they occupy themselves totally until the task is achieved. On com...

Those in the middle
al-mutawassitun

(Mutawassitun). Those travellers who are in the middle of the Path. They are the ones who experience exile, though it is not yet the exile of the advanced ones. al mutawassitun are struggling and striving, sometimes seeing only Allah, sometimes seein...

Those who are brought near
al-muqarrabun

(Muqarrabun). Those who are brought close or near to Allah and are His favoured friends. Al muqarrabun are those perfect slaves who know that 'the Lord is the Lord and the slave is the slave'. They have beautiful moral courtesy with Allah, never over...

Those who bow
raki'un

(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.

Thought
Khatir

Khatir. See 'Incoming thoughts'.

Three Pillars
Jamaraat al Thalaatha

(Jamaraat al Thalaatha). The three pillars represent the self, the character and habit. Through the action of stoning the pillars, one annihilates these qualities and replaces them with the seven attributes of Allah.

Throne of the All Encompassing
al-'arsh al muhit

('Arsh al Muhit). The Divine Throne that encompasses all things. It is also called the Throne of the Merciful ('Arsh ar-Rahman).

Throne of the All Merciful
Al 'Arsh ar-Rahman

(Al 'Arsh ar-Rahman).

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