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

ladhdhatu'l-ilahiyya
Pleasure of the Godhead

(Ladhdhat ul ilahiyya). The pleasure or delight of the Godhead. This is the pleasure which the Perfect Man feels pervading his entire being.


See also: Intimacy Nearness Perfection Perfect Man
(Uns) is a spiritual state in which the heart becomes permeated by Love and contemplates the Beauty of Allah and His Gentleness, Mercy and Forgiveness. The state of intimacy is ineffably sweet and indescribable. It may descend upon the listener at the 'spiritual concert' causing him to fall into an ecstasy in which he finds Allah. The People of hearing experience this intimacy because they hear only Allah, at all times and in all sounds. During the Journey the traveller may initially experience brief periods of such intimacy. But through the Grace of Allah, after much journeying and purification and after many unveilings and tastings, the lover will always feel close to Allah, even when Allah keeps him at a distance!
(Qurb). Proximity or nearness to Allah. Qurb is the reality of the Station of Perfection, 'Two Bows' Length'. It is the limit of the slave's ascent before annihilation in Allah. One of the bewilderments of the Journey is that through having knowledge of his distance from Allah the slave is actually brought near. Slavehood indicates this distance which brings nearness. The slave must cling to perfect courtesy by honouring and respecting the Truth that, 'the slave remains the slave and the Lord remains the Lord'.
(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).
(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.

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