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

imkan
Possibility

(Imkan). Allah is All-Possibilty and Allah is Infinite and Eternal and Absolute. Possibility (imkan) is contained within Allah, the Necessary Being, Who recreates the cosmos in a new form in every instant. Unlimited possibilities come into being within each instant. And it is this endless possibility which is opened to the lover and knower of Allah once he is annihilated in Allah. He has entered the endless unfolding of Knowledge which is Islam.

See also: Bewilderment Fixed Entities Islam (B) New Creation

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!'

Fixed Entities ( al-a'yan al-thabita )

(Ayan al Thabita). The immutable entities or fixed prototypes or established essences or potentialities. These are the infinite and immutable Possibilities which are fixed in the Ipseity. The fixed entities are the images of the Divine Names and Qualities and 'things' of the Ipseity in the Presence of Knowledge, with specific individuation. The term signifies the essential character of every individual existing from eternity in the Divine Knowledge. They are established according to non-existence and they are not qualified by existence.

Islam (A) ( al-islam )

The Surrender. The Journey of Return to Allah is from the first Islam which is merely verbal submission, through the levels of ascent to the second and Real Islam, which is total and unconditional surrender with knowledge and love to the Will of Allah. The seven levels of knowledge through which the traveller must pass are Surrender; Faith; Perfection; Knowledge of Certainty; Eye of Certainty; Truth of Certainty and Surrender.

New Creation ( khalq jadid )

(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.

Islam (B) ( islam )

Islam means peace and the person who follows this peace is called the Muslim. From another root meaning of the word, Islam means complete submission and surrender, and the person who submits and surrenders himself to the will of his Lord is the person who has accepted Allah as his Creator, Sustainer, Lord and the Master of the Day of Judgement.

So from both the definitions Islam means a way of life for people who have opted to follow peace as opposed to chaos, order as opposed to disorder, discipline as opposed to indiscipline, submission as opposed to refusal, surrender as opposed to insolence, obedience as opposed to disobedience etc. All these things combined together to define Islam as away of life by which a person becomes a follower of peace and not a follower of chaos. And the followers of peace are the Muslims whose duty it is: "to establish peace and what is good, and to prevent chaos and what is evil, and they are the best people." (Al-Qur'an 3:110)



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