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

'arifin
Knowers of Allah

(Al 'Arifin/'Urufa). They see and recognize Allah wherever they look. The knowers are bewildered. But this is not the bewilderment of being lost, rather it is the bewilderment of having found Allah. They know that He cannot be known. The knowers are nothing because they are everything.

See also: Bewilderment Knower Knower of Allah Lover No station

Bewilderment ( hayrah )

(Hayrah). Bewilderment, perplexity or wonderment. Hayrah indicates a moment of utter perplexity, when the mind ceases to function, unable as it is to resolve or find an answer to a particular spiritual impasse. At such a blessed time, for it is by the Grace of Allah that such bewilderment was reached, the murid must attempt not to panic or give up. Out of this knot of bewilderment a spiritual reality is given the opportunity to unravel and reveal itself in shattering clarity. The Ultimate bewilderment is that possessed by the knowers and lovers of Allah. They are utterly bewildered because they have found Allah and in finding Allah they know that He is Unknowable yet in each moment they are opened to a fresh and new Knowledge of Allah! 'So, Glory be to Allah Who is known only through the fact that He is not known!'

Knower ( 'alim )

('Alim). The one who knows. This term derives from the word 'knowledge' ('ilm). Usually it refers to the exoteric scholars, though sometimes 'alim is used in reference to 'those who know Allah'. The 'one who knows' is the one whom Allah causes to witness his godhead (uluhiyyah) and His Essence. No states manifest to him, knowledge is his condition.

Knower of Allah ( 'arif billah )

('Arif Billah). This Man is the one who has fulfilled his 'reason to be'. He has purified himself in readiness to receive the supreme mystic knowledge which is Knowledge of Allah. It is in knowing Allah that man is drawn closer to Allah. 'The water takes on the colour of its cup'. The clearer the receptacle the greater is its capacity to manifest the Divine.

Lover ( muhibb )

(Muhibb) This Name may be applied to Allah Himself when considering His slave to be His beloved, or it may be applied to the slave himself whose Beloved is Allah. In reality there is only one Beloved of Allah and that is the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) and it is only through being annihilated in him that the lover of Allah may be transformed into the beloved of Allah. The lover (Muhibb) is the one who is enraptured by Allah's Beauty in contrast to the knower ('Arif) who remains in sobriety in the face of all of Allah's Self-disclosures (Tajalli). The knower who is also a lover is in a state of Perfection (Kamal) being inwardly intoxicated and outwardly sober. Such a friend (Wali) has attained perfect balance and harmony. He is the Perfect Man.

No station ( la maqam )

(La maqam). This is the 'station of no station'. This 'station of no station' is the highest station reached by the People of Perfection who manifest the Name 'Allah'. They have passed beyond all states and stations and are the true Muhammadan heirs. They have passed beyond both Majesty and Beauty and have no attribute and no description. They are not determined by properties. The People of 'no station' are the Divine Ones. The Real is identical with them. The Muhammadan heirs have no goal because their vastness is the Vastness of Allah Himself Who has no goal in Himself which might ultimately be reached. The People of 'no station' witness only Allah - Allah, the Infinite, the Eternal, the Absolute.

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