The Language of the Future
Sufi Terminology
by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

(Ahl as-sama'). The people of hearing who hear only Allah within the creatures and the creation. When they listen to the 'spiritual concert', (be it within the sama' or within each moment of existence) it is Allah who they are hearing. They hear Allah in the song of the Sufi singer (qawwal). They hear Allah in the sound of the wind. They hear Allah in the voices of their companions.

(Al Dhatiyun). 'Those who have realised the Essence' are the slaves of Allah who drink directly from the Fountain of Camphor in Paradise. They are the People of Solitude of the Absolute Essence. Their love of Allah, being total and utter, remains constant in the face of opposites, because for them the opposites are joined. There is only Unity. There is only Allah as He is in Himself.

(Diwan). The dynamic and living poetry of the Great lovers of Allah. Diwani poetry acts as a vehicle for the descent of spiritual realities into the heart of the 'listener'. Coming as it does, from the Direct Knowledge (unveiling, taste, opening) and inspiration of the mystic poet, the diwan contains an overflowing spiritual energy. It is this energy which may cause inrushes of knowledge and awareness to descend upon the one who has the preparedness to receive it. This is another form of 'spiritual concert'. Through the barakah emanating from the reciter of the diwan, which is like the barakah which emanates from the Sufi singer, the listener may experience spiritual 'tasting' 'drinking' and 'intoxication'.

(Kalam-i -dhati). This Speech is Allah's Speech. It is the Speech of the Essence Itself. Kalam-i-dhati is the Speech of the Source and the Source is the Great Silence. The People of the Essence, Allah's perfect slaves who are drowned in the Source Itself, speak in a silent and wordless language. Their spiritual affinity is total because each one of them drinks directly from the Fountain of Camphor in Paradise and has become one with the camphor. When the drop enters the Ocean there is no necessity for words to be spoken. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) said, 'He who knows Allah, his tongue becomes silent'. Kalam-i-dhati is the stage of union. Speech without words (kalam-i-dhati) becomes manifest through Speech with words (kalam-i-tafsili).

(Sama'). The spiritual concert or 'audition' or 'listening'. This term refers specifically to the Sufi gatherings where music and song are employed as a means of opening the heart to inrushes of knowledge and awareness. During the spritual concert, the listener may experience ecstasy and find Allah, The Real within that ecstasy. However, before true ecstasy can be experienced the listener must be spiritually mature, having been prepared through discipline and perpetual Remembrance of Allah. Without this initial contraction of spiritual endeavour the expansion of ecstasy will not be real. The Spiritual Concert is not suitable for the novice. True Sama' is a bird which flies from Allah to Allah. Allah is the singer and Allah is the hearer. At this Divine Feast the singer and the hearer become One.

(Qawwal). During the 'spiritual concert' (sama') the qawwal may be the means through which the hearer finds Allah in ecstasy. When this occurs it is true sama' because sama' is a bird which flies from Allah to Allah - Allah is the singer and Allah is the hearer. The barakah surrounding and emanating from the qawwal and his musicians is extremely potent. Its effect upon an audience can be profound even when the members of that audience are ignorant of, and oblivious to, the reality within the singer and the music. For the one who has been prepared and purified, through spiritual struggle and the Remembrance of Allah, the speech of the qawwal can send his heart soaring towards the spiritual realm, where a thousand subtleties and delicacies are opened to him.

(Qawwali). A Sufi song and music. Through the rhythms of qawwali the listener may be opened to inrushes of knowledge and awareness through which he reaches ecstasy. If he 'finds' Allah within this ecstasy then he has experienced the true 'spiritual concert'.

(Sukun) is silence or stillness. This is the great silent stillness of the Essence to which the hearts of the lovers of Allah yearn to return.