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

jabr
Compulsion

(Jabr). Compulsion or coercion. There is no coercion or compulsion in the deen. Man is free to choose his Path of Return. However, when man has attained a very high level of Divine Knowledge (Ma'rifa), through 'The Nearness of obligatory works' (Qurb al Fara'id), he becomes Allah's Hearing, Allah's Sight, Allah's Speech, etc. It could then be said that in this elevated station man is compelled, from Above, to undertake specific tasks or perform specific duties. He now does not have a choice. Allah acts through him.

See also: Nearness of Obligatory Works People of blame Perfect Man The Trust Viceregent

Nearness of Obligatory Works ( qurb al-fara'id )

(Qurb al fara'id) is the second lowest of the four stations of Perfection. The slave who performs the obligatory works attains this proximity. While retaining his own properties his reality is annihilated in Allah. Allah manifests Himself with His Name, the Outward, so that the lover remains hidden within Allah. The subject and agent is Allah and the lover's hidden presence is manifested by his becoming Allah's faculties. The lover becomes the Beloved's sight, hearing . . .

People of blame ( al-malamatiyya )

(Al Malamatiyya). These are the Perfect Ones. Their exteriors never disclose the reality of their interiors. They are those who know and are not known. Al malamatiyya are Allah's perfect slaves, Allah's perfect lovers, Allah's perfect knowers. They manifest His All-Comprehensive Name 'Allah', without a trace of Lordship. Allah has placed their 'blaming self' over them as a protection against self-conceit or satisfaction. They are the greatest of the Sufis. They are in constant submission and surrender to the Will of Allah. A Murshid (Spiritual Guide) who is one of the malamatiyya is the perfect Murshid and his murids often attain to Manliness. The Master of the cosmos, the Best of Creation, Muhammad al Mustapha (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace), who is a Malamatiyya, is their Master.

Perfect Man ( al-insan al-kamil )

(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.

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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