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

(Qalb). The human heart is the place of constant change and fluctuation. It is the supra-rational organ of intuition where the Transcendent Realities enter into contact with man. The heart is the isthmus between this world and the next. The battlefield of the Greater Holy War is the heart. This is where the downward-pulling lower self is confronted by the yearning spirit. The battle is fought between these two adversaries in order for one to take possession of the precious heart of man. Under the misguidance of the Misguider, the lower self wants the heart to plummet to the depths of ignorance. However, the spirit, which is from Allah, exerts a powerful attraction upon the heart, as it endeavours to guide it towards Knowledge of Allah. The greater the purification of the heart the more receptive it is to this irresistible attraction of the celestial spirit. The heart is the sanctified centre of man because it is the place which contains Allah. Keeping watch over the heart is part of the spiritual struggle of the Journey of Return. Those well-advanced along the Path never allow any intruders to enter their sanctified hearts. The heart of the Perfect Man is the Divine Throne around which circle the spiritual realities.

(Khalq Jadid). This term signifies the state of constant change (new creation) which everything undergoes in each indivisible instant. Nothing remains the same for two successive moments. It is through the observation of the new creation (khalq jadid) within his own heart that the knower gains knowledge of Allah, realising that each moment contains a fresh and new Knowledge of Allah. This is the never-ending unfolding of Knowledge from the Essence Itself.

(Tajalli) means Allah's unveiling of Himself to His creatures. The Divine Self-disclosures are never repeated and they are never ending. They are the lights of the Unseen which are unveiled to hearts. They are the signs which Allah has placed within ourselves in order that He may be seen. Each tajalli pours more light and still more light upon whomsoever it falls, for Eternity. The mountain of the lower self is blown to pieces in the tajalli of Allah. The differences that occur within the various Sufi orders do not indicate disagreement or argument amongst the Masters. Each human is unique, and each tajalli is utterly unique, therefore no two people ever experience the same tajalli. But, those who have tasted know, and those who have not tasted do not know. Tajalli is beyond words. Tajalli is bewilderment.

(La Takrar fil Tajalli). This expression indicates that there is never any repetition in Allah's Infinite Self-disclosures (Tajalli). This is 'the renewal of creation in each instant' (Tajdid al Khalq fil-Anat). Allah does not unveil Himself in the same manner in two successive moments to any two creations within His creation. Each instant is fresh and new. This never repeated Self-disclosure is what the knower of Allah witnesses in his own heart. Because each moment is utterly unique the requirements of that particular moment are also unique. The knower of the moment does not resort to old reactions or past experiences when facing and fulfilling the demands of the moment. His heart receives spontaneous (Ikhtiyar) knowledge from the Source Itself. This is the 'the renewal of creation in each instant'. The Slave, Knower ('arif) and lover ('ashiq) takes his knowledge directly from al Hayy, the Living. He drinks from the Water of Life (ab-i-hayat) which is ever fresh and ever renewed.