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

tajassud
Embodiment

(Tajassud). Embodiment or corporealization. Within the realm of Imagination the friends of Allah see in their visions the embodiment of an angel, a Prophet or even Allah Himself. The cosmos itself consists of non-existent meanings which are embodied in Manifest Being.


See also: Dream vision Form Imagination Meanings 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.
(Sura). The outer form of an entity or thing is what conceals its inner meaning. Revelation is the outer form whose meaning is Allah's Knowledge of Himself and His creation. Tearing away the veil of form to reveal the meaning within is the work of the higher teaching. The Holy Prophet Muhammad al Mustapha (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) prayed, 'Oh, Allah, show me things as they are in their reality'.
(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.
(Ma'ana). Everything in creation has an outward form. These forms are the manifestations of their essential inner meanings. The meaning of everything is Allah. Within imagination all meanings become clothed in substratum and take on form. No meaning is able to hold itself back from imagination.
(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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