(Nafas ar-Rahman). The Breath of the All Merciful. This exceedingly beautiful term indicates the evanescent nature of existence in its state of constant change and renewal. It is the Supreme Isthmus and the very substance of the universe is the Breat...
(Nafkh). The breathing or blowing through which the cosmos came into existence. And this breathing is Allah's. Divine Inspiration (Ilham) descends upon the slave through this nafkh. The 'blowing in' is never ending.
(Nafs). The ego or the self or the soul. The nafs is that dimension of man which stands between the spirit which is light, and the physical body which is darkness. The spiritual struggle or combat is waged against the downward-pulling tendencies of t...
(Nafs al Ammarra). 'The self which commands'. The Qur'an refers to this self, "The (human) soul is certainly prone to evil" (12:53). This self resides in the world of the senses and is dominated by earthly desires and passions. The initial struggle i...
(Nafs al Mulhamma) is the Inspired Self. The Qur'an refers to this Self, "By the Self and the proportion and order given to it" (91:7). This Self has turned away from wrong action and is able to discern that which will take it to felicity. It journey...
(Na'im). The ultimate bliss (and this awaits the friends of Allah in His Garden) is the one that is renewed at each succeeding instant. This is the eternal unfolding of knowledge which is experienced by Allah's Friends. It is their ever-renewed enco...
(Nawm). The hadith says, "Man is asleep and when he dies he wakes". The Sufi is the one who has died to self and is awake in the Supreme Self. Once man has awoken there is no more sleep. Within mystical poetry and Sufi songs the lover often complains...
(Qaba Qawsayn). This term is also called 'Union of Union', or 'The Gathering of the Gathering'. It signifies one of the highest spiritual stations of Perfection which is attained by the greatest Perfect Men, that is, many of the Prophets of Allah an...
(Qabul). To receive or to accept (the Self-disclosures of the Real). Such a 'receiving' is not a 'taking'. The spiritual courtesy of this situation demands an extremely high degree of respect, sensitivity, humility and gratitude from the slave. The ...
(Qadam ar Rasul). The Qadam Rasul, a sacred relic, is the impression or trace left on a rock by the footprint of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). Not only does an immense spiritual energy, or baraka, ema...
A Persian word meaning 'pure gold'. The Qalandariyyah were a sect of roaming Sufi dervishes, the most famous being Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (1177-1274), a sufi saint, philosopher, poet, and qalandar, was born as Syed Usman Shah Marwandi. He also ...
(Qawwal). During the 'spiritual concert' (sama') the qawwal may be the means through which the hearer finds Allah in ecstasy. When this occurs it is true sama' because sama' is a bird which flies from Allah to Allah - Allah is the singer and Allah i...
(Qiyam). The standing posture of the ritual prayer. This upright position of 'the one who prays' is a symbol of the development of the self in its ascent to knowledge. The first qiyam indicates the first rung on the ladder to Knowledge, which is ver...
The Recitation or The Reading. The Qur'an is the Final Revelation from Allah to humanity. This Sacred Book contains all the keys with which to open the endless unfolding of Knowledge of Allah. The Qur'an is that which brings together (qur'an), and ...
(Rabit). An interconnection or an essential binding or the establishment of a tie. The cosmos is firmly rooted through its connection and tie with Allah.
