The Language of the Future

Sufi Terminology by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

qawwali
Sufi Song

(Qawwali). A Sufi song and music. Through the rhythms of qawwali the listener may be opened to inrushes of knowledge and awareness through which he reaches ecstasy. If he 'finds' Allah within this ecstasy then he has experienced the true 'spiritual concert'.

See also: Inrush of knowledge Spiritual Concert Sufi Singer

(Warid). An inrush of knowledge and awareness. Every affair which enters the heart from any Divine Name is called a warid. During the collective dhikr and spiritual audition of the Sufi gatherings the dhakir and listener may be opened to powerful inrushes of knowledge and awareness. The effect of the warid depends upon the preparedness and capacity to receive it. A warid may produce absence or madness. The Great friends of Allah, those whose capacity is great, can receive a constant flow of these inrushes without the onlooker perceiving any external change.
Inrush of knowledge

(Sama'). The spiritual concert or 'audition' or 'listening'. This term refers specifically to the Sufi gatherings where music and song are employed as a means of opening the heart to inrushes of knowledge and awareness. During the spritual concert, the listener may experience ecstasy and find Allah, The Real within that ecstasy. However, before true ecstasy can be experienced the listener must be spiritually mature, having been prepared through discipline and perpetual Remembrance of Allah. Without this initial contraction of spiritual endeavour the expansion of ecstasy will not be real. The Spiritual Concert is not suitable for the novice. True Sama' is a bird which flies from Allah to Allah. Allah is the singer and Allah is the hearer. At this Divine Feast the singer and the hearer become One.
Spiritual Concert

(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 is the hearer. The barakah surrounding and emanating from the qawwal and his musicians is extremely potent. Its effect upon an audience can be profound even when the members of that audience are ignorant of, and oblivious to, the reality within the singer and the music. For the one who has been prepared and purified, through spiritual struggle and the Remembrance of Allah, the speech of the qawwal can send his heart soaring towards the spiritual realm, where a thousand subtleties and delicacies are opened to him.
Sufi Singer
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