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

'ilah
god

(Ilah). God or Deity. This word indicates 'god', with a small 'g', as compared with the only true God Who is Allah. But, in Reality "there is no god other than Allah" (La ilaha il Allah).


See also: Allah Descent of Being Existence Proper Name There is no god other than Allah Unity of Allah Unity of Existence Verifiers
God. The Principle insofar as It includes all of its possible aspects. The mystery of Divinity. This is the Supreme Name. The Name 'Allah' indicates both the Face of the Divinity which is turned towards His creation and the Face of the Unknowable Essence Itself which is Eternally turned away from creation. Allah is the All-Comprehensive Name which contains every Divine Name. This Name alone stands for Allah as He is in Himself. The Supreme Name 'Allah' may be the Greatest Name. It leaves out nothing whatsoever of the Reality that is Allah. Allah is the innermost reality or the meaning of everything manifest and non-manifest. Allah Alone is the Goal. Yet, Allah is Absolute and Infinite. Therefore the Goal always lies ahead of the travellers. They never reach It because It has no End. The Journey of return to Allah is a Journey of bewilderment in Bewilderment. The people of the Holy land of Mecca; the birthplace of the Beloved Prophet of Allah, Muhammad Ahmad al Mustapha, salutations, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him in every breath we take and in every blink of the eye we make; came to him in the beginning of his calling and said 'Tell us, who is your God?'. The revelation descended upon the Holy Prophet to answer this complex and powerful question "Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad, Allahu Samad, Lam yalid wa lam yulad, wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan Ahad". (In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate, Say: He is the One Unique Allah: God the Eternal, The Uncaused Cause of all that Exists.. He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is nothing that could be compared unto Him (The Qur'an 112)
(Tanazzul/tanzil). The Descent of Being by means of the Divine Revelation. This is the descent of the Absolute from Total Inwardness, through the various degrees, to Outward Manifestation. The beautiful Hadith Qudsi says, "I was a Hidden Treasure and I loved to be known and so I created the creations and through Me they knew me". Man's descent through the Five Presences, from inward non-manifestation within the Knowledge of Allah to outward manifestation within the world, is known as the spiritual ascent of composition ('uruj at-tarkib). His Return Journey back through the Five Presences to Allah, is known as the spiritual ascent of decomposition (mi'raj at-tahlil). The Divine Revelation makes Its Descent (tanazzul) in order for man to ascend along that Pure Radiation of Divine Light back to the Sacred Source. 'Allah took a handful of His Light and said to It 'Be! Muhammad.' And It was'. The descent (tanazzul) of Being is through the Holy Prophet Muhammad himself, through his Reality (al haqiqat al Muhammadiyyah). And the ascent to Being is through the Holy Prophet. Allah Almighty becomes known through His Beloved Prophet Muhammad. May Allah Bless him and give him Eternal Peace.
Wujud - see 'Being'. Kawn - see 'Engendered existence'.
(Ism 'Alam). Through the immense spiritual courtesy and respect in which the Name 'Allah' is held by the Great Ones, they do not derive His Proper Name from the same root as 'ilah (god) or uluhiyya (Divinity). The Ism 'Alam 'Allah' denotes The Essence Itself.
(La ilaha il Allah). These words which form the first part of the Islamic Testimony of Faith could be paraphrased as 'there is no reality, only Reality' or 'there is no truth, only Truth' or 'there is no love, only Love'. The phrase is the supreme declaration of Unity. "There is no god" (La ilaha) is the negation of everything that is other-than-Allah while "only Allah" (il Allah) is the affirmation that there is only Allah. Through the dhikr of "La ilaha il Allah" the one who remembers uses the word of negation - 'la' - to sweep away all of the inner debris which is defiling his heart, the Sacred Centre. Ultimately, by the Grace of Allah, the phrase "La ilaha il Allah" is replaced by the Word of the Essence Itself - Allah. Everything other-than-Allah has been negated. Allah is affirmed. There is no divinity save the sole Divinity. The Principle insofar as It excludes and annuls the illusory World, while at the same time affirming the unique and supreme Reality. The mystery of Negation and of Affirmation of Reality (Nafy wal Ithbat).
(Tawhid). The Declaration of Allah's Unity, 'There is no god other than Allah' is the very pivot of Islam. Knowledge of the Declaration of Allah's Unity is a light. Yet, Allah Himself is the affirmation of His Unity. Within the higher teaching all existence is One. The Sufis and the Verifiers have realized Allah's Unity within themselves. In itself, the Unity of Allah is divided into four categories. Unity of Actions, Unity of Attributes, Unity of the Names and Unity of the Essence. And "Allah created you and whatever actions you do" (Holy Qur'an 37:96).
(Al Muhaqqiqun). These great ones form the highest category of friends of Allah. They follow no one's authority because in themselves they have verified and realized [through unveiling and finding], the truth and reality of all things which is Allah, the Real. They are also known as'The People of Unveiling and Finding'.

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