Glossary

(A) Arabic words
(T) Tamil words

(Sal.) Sallallāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam, May the blessings and peace of God be upon him.

(Ral.) Radiyallāhu ‘anhu/‘anhā, May God be pleased with him/her.

‘abd

(A) Servant or slave of God.

‘abduhu wa Rasulūllāh

(A) Slave of Muhammad, the Rasulūllāh.

Abū Bakr

(A) Companion of Prophet Muhammad (Sal.) and the first caliph (religious ruler).

Adab

(A) Chivalry and ethics, appropriate courtesy, and good manners.

Adep, adeb

(Turkish) Chivalry and ethics, appropriate courtesy, and good manners.

Al-hamdu lillāh

(A) All praise is to God.

Al-hamdu lillāh yā Rabbal-‘ālamīn

(A) All praise is to God, O Ruler of the universes.

Allāhu akbar

(A) God is the greatest.

Asmā’ ul-Husnā

(A) The 99 names or attributes of God (Lit. the Beautiful Names).

a‘ūdhu billāhi minash-shaitānir-rajīm

(A) I seek refuge in God from the accursed satan.

Bismillāhir-Rahmānir-Rahīm

(A) In the name of God, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate.

dervish

(A) A member of a Sufi tariqa (group).

dunyā

(T) The earth-world; the world of physical existence.

fanā’

(A) The annihilation of the ego, or false self.

Fatimah

(A) Daughter of Prophet Muhammad (Sal.).

hadith

(A) Authenticated statements relating to the deeds and utterances of Prophet Muhammad (Sal.). It can also mean a story about the prophets.

hāfiz

(A) Those who have memorized the Qur’an.

Haji Bayram

(Turkish) Sufi and poet.

hajj

(A) The holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

haqīqat

(A) The third step of spiritual ascendance; Christianity.

harām

(A) Impermissible.

Ibn ‘Arabī

(A) A Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, philosopher, and Sufi mystic.

ihrām

(A) A cloth worn by those on pilgrimage in Mecca.

imām

(A) One who leads prayers in Islam.

īmān

(A) Absolute faith, certitude, and determination.

insān

(A) Man, a human being.

insān kāmil

(A) A perfected, God-realized being.

jāmi’

(A) Unifier; jāmi’ masjid or mosque—Friday congregational prayer; (Lit. Friday mosque).

jihād

(A) The struggle against evil within oneself.

kalimah

(A) 3rd kalimah: the affirmation of faith, Lā ilāha ill-Allāhu, there is nothing other than You, O God, only You are God.

Karma

(T) An explanation by M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.): Inherited and acquired qualities. Inherited karma is made of the qualities formed at the time of conception by the qualities in the minds of the parents. Acquired karma is formed as the result of our good and evil deeds.

Khidr Nabī

(A) The Eternal Prophet.

Lā ilāha ill-Allāhu

(A) There is nothing other than You, O God, only You are God.

nafs

(A) There are seven desires meant to satisfy one’s own pleasure and need for comfort; inclination or desire which incites one towards evil.

Nasrudin—Nasreddin Hodja of Antolia

(Turkish) Sufi Mystic who taught wisdom by way of amusing tales and was considered to be very wise.

ney

(Turkish) A reed flute.

Nūr

(A) Light; the resplendence of God.

Qutb

(A) An explanation by M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.): One who has attained the power of the Light of grace-awakened divine analytic wisdom that dawned from the throne of God and that investigates, understands, and analyzes everything in the eighteen thousand universes and beyond. The wisdom of Light; divine analytic wisdom, the sixth level of wisdom; the state that explains the truth of God to the wisdom of the soul of man.

Qiyāmah, Day of

(A) Day of Judgment or questioning.

Rahmān

(A) God, the Most Compassionate.

Rahīm

(A) God, the Most Merciful.

Rumi

(Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī.) Sufi poet, teacher, and mystic.

Shaikh

(A) The teacher who takes the disciples to the shore of the heart; a spiritual teacher.

vshakūr

(A) Gratitude, contentment; contentment arising from gratitude; the state within the inner patience known as sabūr, that which is stored within the treasure chest of patience.

Shams of Tabriz

A Sufi mystic from Persia (1185-1248); the teacher of Rumi, (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī).

sharī‘at

(A) An explanation by M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.): The first step of the five steps to spiritual ascendance. Since man was created out of the five element (earth, fire, water, air, and ether), since he has within him both light and darkness, good and evil, truth and falsehood, and heaven and hell, he must know the good from the evil. Understanding what is right and what is wrong is sharī‘at. Discarding what is evil and accepting what is good and acting accordingly is sharī‘at. (Lit. the law.)

Sufi(s)

(A) An explanation by M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.): A Sufi exists in the absolute silence of Light within God. He prays with God as God. He performs 43,242 prostrations to God each day. His every breath, every intention, every thought goes out to unite with God. His heart is open and melting with love. He does not harm anyone or kill anything. He feels the suffering of others as his own. He doe not belong to any one race or religion. He lives in a state of unity with all lives. He does not dance or take intoxicants. His sustenance is God.

tambi

(T) Brother.

tariqa

(A) A Sufi order or group; in the 9th and 10th centuries it meant the spiritual path of individual Sufis (mystics).

tasawwuf

(A) Becoming a Sufi; Sufism or tasawwuf is the name given to mysticism in Islam.

tūrbe

(Turkish) Tomb.

‘Umar

(A) Companion of Prophet Muhammad (Sal.); a very influential caliph (religious ruler).

‘Umrah

(A) Pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.