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

a'la
Higher

(A'la). This term is applied as with the opposing attitudes peculiar to those who are called the 'higher' people and the others who are called the 'lower' people. The differences between the 'higher' and 'lower' are in degrees of Knowledge of Allah. The 'higher' people are those to whom Allah has revealed Himself to a great degree while the 'lower' people may not even 'know' Allah at all!

See also: Divine knowledge Friends of Allah Knowers People of Allah People of unveiling and finding Self-disclosure Time of Ignorance

Divine knowledge ( ma'rifa )

(Ma'rifa) is a light which Allah casts into the heart of whomsoever He Wills. This is the true knowledge which comes through unveiling, witnessing and tasting. This knowledge is from Allah, it is not Allah Himself, because He Is Unknowable in His Essence. The triad on the Sufi Path of Return is comprised of Fear, Knowledge and Love. Fear leads to Knowledge which leads to Unconditional Love of Allah. It is said that spiritual struggle is child's play while ma'rifa is men's work.

Friends of Allah ( awliya )

(Awliya). The friends of Allah. These are His Saints. Their knowledge is not derived from reflection. Allah has purified them of that type of knowledge. They possess the opening of unveiling through Allah, the Real, Himself. The awliya are those with unbroken awareness of Allah. These Perfect Men have attained to the highest of all human degrees.

People of Allah ( ahl Allah )

(Ahl Allah). This title embraces the entire humanity, but there are many degrees within the Ahl Allah. These are the various levels of 'knowing Allah', for it is in knowing Allah that one is brought near to Allah. Amongst humanity there are people who do not want to know Allah, and there are people who do not know Allah, and people who do want to know Allah and at the higher levels there are the people who do know Allah. The men of this last group, the knowers of Allah ('arifin), occupy numerous ascending levels in their 'knowing'.

People of unveiling and finding ( ahl al-kashf wa'l-wujud )

(Ahl al Kashf wal Wujud). These are the knowers. They have passed beyond the veils which stand between themselves and their Lord and they stand perpetually in His Presence.

Self-disclosure ( tajalli )

(Tajalli) means Allah's unveiling of Himself to His creatures. The Divine Self-disclosures are never repeated and they are never ending. They are the lights of the Unseen which are unveiled to hearts. They are the signs which Allah has placed within ourselves in order that He may be seen. Each tajalli pours more light and still more light upon whomsoever it falls, for Eternity. The mountain of the lower self is blown to pieces in the tajalli of Allah. The differences that occur within the various Sufi orders do not indicate disagreement or argument amongst the Masters. Each human is unique, and each tajalli is utterly unique, therefore no two people ever experience the same tajalli. But, those who have tasted know, and those who have not tasted do not know. Tajalli is beyond words. Tajalli is bewilderment.

Time of Ignorance ( al-jahiliyya )

(Jahiliyya). The Era of Ignorance. Everything that occurred before initiation into the Spiritual Path of Return is seen, in retrospect, as Al Jahiliyya. And, the 'moment that has just gone' is an era of ignorance when compared to 'this present moment' which of necessity reveals a new knowledge.

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