GLOSSARY OF ARABIC TERMS
IN THE TEXT

N.B. Dates quoted below are given as dates of Christian era.

al-‘abd : the servant, the slave ; in religious language designates
the worshipper, and, more generally, the creature as de-
pendent on his Lord (rabb).

‘Abd al-Karim al-Jili, ibn Ibrahim, c. 1365—c. 1417; a Sufi.
Among his writings is the well-known A/ Insan al-Kamil
(““Universal Man”’).

‘Abd al-Qader Jilani, 1077-1166, founder of the Qadiriyah order.

‘Abd ar-Razzaq al-Qashani: a Sufi of the 13th century, a com-
mentator on Ibn ‘Arabi.

‘Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish: a famous Sufi; lived in the 12th
century in the Jbala mountains of Morocco; master of
Abu-1-Hasan ash-Shadhili.

Abu-l-Hasan ash-Shadhili, 1196-1252, a great Sufi master, foun-
der of the Shadhiliyah order.

al-Ahadiyah : the Transcendent Unity; in Sufism means the Sup-
reme Unity which is not the object of any distinctive
knowledge, and which is therefore not accessible to the
creature as such. Only God Himself knows Himself in His
Unity. As a spiritual state this Unity implies the extinc-
tion of everyv trace of the created.

Ahmed ibn al-‘Arif: a Sufi, author of the Mahasin al-Majalis.
‘alam al-ajsam: “ the world of bodies.” See also ‘alam al-arwah.

‘Glam al-arwah : “‘the world of (pure) spirits’’ distinguished from
‘alam al-mithal, *‘the world of analogies,”” which is formal
manifestation as a whole including both the psychic and
the physical worlds. See also ‘alam al-jabariit.

‘glam al-jabarit: ‘the world of Omnipotence,” sometimes
identified with ‘alam al-arwah : ‘‘the world of (pure)