(Dervish/Darwich). A seeker of Allah. The literal meaning of dervish is 'the one who seeks doors'. One cannot enter into the Presence of Allah Almighty except through the door. That door is one of the Inheritors of the Knowledge of the Prophet Muhamm...
(Fana'). Self-annihilation or self-effacement or dissolution or passing away from self. Through being joined to Allah, the Real; man is annihilated from himself - the 'limited existence' of the traveller is ov...
(Fana fil Murshid/Shaykh). Fallen man cannot, by his own resources, reach Annihilation in Allah.. He requires a Spiritual Guide, a Murshid, who is a pure receptacle for the Divine Outpouring which emanates from the Holy Prophet Muhammad. This Outpou...
(Fana fi Rasul). Annihilation in the Messenger, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace). 'No one will meet Allah before meeting the Prophet'. After annihilation into the Self of the Murshid, the seeker journeys,...
(Fatrah). Langour is the extinguishing of the burning fire of desire and aspiration which accompanies the initial stages of the spiritual search. Due to his lack of patience and lack of knowledge and lack of trust, the seeker may lose his original in...
(Haqiqat al Irshad). This is the power which enables the seeker of Truth to follow the Path and reach his destination, once he has been aligned to that Path. The Guide is always Allah, (al Hadi), Who guides through the being of the Murshid or Spirit...
(Haqiqat at Tawassul). This is the power to connect at all times to Allah. For the seeker this connection is through the Shaykhs of the spiritual chain. For the friends of Allah it is directly through the Holy Prophet Muhammad himself (May the Salut...
(Himma). Intense Spiritual Resolve. This is the most powerful force contained within man. It is the sincere and dedicated application of all of one's efforts and strivings towards attaining the desired Object - Allah. The strength of this will result...
(Hubb-i-Dunya). Aspirations, yearnings and love must be turned away from the world and towards Allah if the seeker is sincere in his seeking. Attachment to anything is a barrier, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant that thing appears. Al...
(Husn al Akhlaq). The beautiful character traits with which the Holy Prophet Muhammad was sent and of which he is the perfect embodiment. The assuming of these beautiful character traits is the alchemical work of the Islamic Spiritual Path. Under th...
(Ijtihad). Outwardly this takes the form of individual endeavour to learn knowledge of the Sacred Law (shari'a). Inwardly the efforts of the individual are directed towards self-purification in order to gain Knowledge of Allah. Such a striving (ijti...
(Istilah). Each science has its own unique terminology through which the people of that science communicate with each other. The newcomer to that science must be taught the terminology which is relevant to his field of study. Tasawwuf, the Science o...
(Mahabbah). The lofty, pure and unconditional love of Allah. The attainment of such love transforms the seeker from 'the one who desires Allah' into the murad, 'the one whom Allah desires'. Nothing is greater than this. The spiritual intoxication ar...
(Mahabbati 'amm). The love of spiritual seekers whose hearts incline to considering attentively the Beauty of the Qualities. There are many of these seekers who aspire to Divine Knowledge and their love of Allah is sincere. However they are not of H...
(Makruh). Undesirable. That which is displeasing to Allah. Those things that are displeasing in the early stages of spiritual travel become forbidden and unlawful in the later stages. In the beginning the seekers looking at and seeing what is other-t...
