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

al-insan al-kamil
Perfect Man

(Al Insan al Kamil). He is the viceregent of Allah, through whom Allah contemplates His Own Name-derived Perfection. The Perfect Man has actualized the divine form and in carrying the Trust has fulfilled his reason for being. It is through the Perfect Man that Allah enters the world. Al Insan al Kamil is also one of the names given to the Supreme Isthmus. Man consists of a body and a spirit which governs it. The cosmos also consists of a body and a spirit which governs it. Its spirit is the Perfect Man. Without him the cosmos is likened to a discarded body.

See also: Covenant Isthmus-Supreme Perfection The Trust Viceregent

Covenant ( al-mithaq )

(Mithaq or 'Ahd). The Covenant refers to that 'event' or 'day' in pre-existence when all of the children of Adam bore witness to Allah's Lordship over them; Allah asked his non-existent creation, "Am I not your Lord?". They answered, "Yes, we bear witness". This day of the Covenant is called, by the Sufis, the Day of Alast. It has been said that those spirits who were in close proximity on this day will recognize each other when they meet in this realm. When you meet someone for the first time and you feel like you have known them forever, or since 'before the before', this is the recognition of the spirits from that Day.

Perfection ( al-ihsan )

(Ihsan). Excellence or perfection or sanctifying virtue or spiritual beauty. Ihsan has three degrees: 1).To do the good that should be done with one's property, words, acts and states. 2). To worship with total presence like one was actually seeing one's Lord. 3). To contemplate Allah in all things, at all times and always. Perfection is the third rung on the seven-runged ladder of Knowledge. These seven levels are Islam, Iman; Ihsan; 'Ilm al yaqin; 'Ayn al yaqin; Haqq al yaqin; Islam. (Surrender, Faith, Perfection, Knowledge of Certainty, The Eye of Certainty, The Truth of Certainty and Total Surrender and Submission).

Viceregent ( al-khalifah )

(Al Khalifah). The viceregent of Allah is the perfected human being who has fulfilled his reason for being. He has carried the Trust which Allah offered to him, the Trust of being the locus of manifestation for the Name 'Allah'. The viceregent is the Perfect Man in whom Allah contemplates His own Name-derived Perfection. No one is called khalifah except through the perfection of the Divine Form within him. It is through His khalifah that Allah enters the world.

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