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

sura mahsusa
Form - sensory

(Sura mahsusa). A sensory form or what is perceived by the senses. The Realm of Imagination is the 'place' where meanings can take on sensory form.


See also: Dream vision Imagination Similitude
(Ru'yah) It is within a dream vision that much of the Sufi Teaching may be transmitted, from a higher realm, to the dreamer. Within a dream vision meanings become clothed in forms. The knower is the one who knows what Allah means by the observed image in the vision. He is true to his vision and gives it its due. The learner is the one who does not know what Allah means but he has the aptitude and capacity to advance to the level of knowledge. His ru'yah must be interpreted for him because he deems the vision to be true. In other words, he takes the observed images as veridical and corresponding to the external world, until Allah teaches him and he knows the meaning.
(Khayal). Imagination indicates a reality that becomes manifest in three different places. Firstly, the Khayal is manifest within the cosmos where existence is the same as imagination. Secondly, the Khayal is manifest within the macrocosm where the isthmus between the spiritual and corporeal worlds is imaginal. Thirdly, the khayal is manifest within the microcosm where the human self is the reality between the body and the spirit. Khayal is synonymous with images. The Realm of Imagination is the isthmus between the World of the Unseen and the Visible World and it is within this khayal that man is given the clearest expression of the 'He, not He' (Huwa, la Huwa) mystery of existence. The human faculty of imagination (khayal) is purely passive with regard to the active conjectural faculty of illusion and with regard to the Spirit which may imprint upon it heralding visions.
(Mithal). Image or form or analogy or symbol. This term is synonymous with Imagination (khayal). The Mithal is the isthmus between the World of the Unseen and the Visible World and it is within this Realm of Imagination that man is given the clearest expression of the 'He, not He' mystery of existence.

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