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162 AN INTRODUCTION TO SUFI DOCTRINE

al-Qalam al-a‘la : the Supreme Pen; the complement of the
Guarded Table.

al-qalb: the heart, the organ of supra-rational intuition, which
corresponds to the heart just as thought corresponds to
the brain. The fact that people of today localise feeling
and not intellectual intuition in the heart proves that for
them it is feeling that occupies the centre of the individuali-
ty. Note the analogy between the root of the word (QLB)
and the root of ¢gabil (QBL) q. v.

al-Quth : the pole; in Sufism : the Pole of a spiritual hierarchy.
The ““pole of a period” is also spoken cf. This pole is
often unknown to most spiritual men.
ar-Rahmah: The Divine Mercy. The same root RHM is to be
found in both the Divine Names : ar-Rahman (The Com-
passionate, He whose Mercy envelopes all things) and
ar-Rahim (The Merciful, He who saves by His grace). The
simplest word from this same root is rahim (matrix),
whence the maternal aspect of these Divine Names.
rasiil : envoy, messenger ; in theology : divine messenger. It is
in his function of rasii/ that a prophet (nabi) promulgates
a new sacred law ; not every prophet is necessarily a rasil,
although he enjoys divine inspiration, but every rasil is by
implication a n.zbi.
Risalat-al-Ahadiyah : “The Epistle of the Unity,” a treatise pro-
bably by Muhyi-d-Din ibn ‘Arabi.
ar-Rith : the spirit ; in Sufism this word includes the following
main meanings :—
1. The Divine, and therefore uncreated Spirit (ar-
Riith al-ilahi), also called ar-Rih al-Qudas, the
Holy Spirit ;
. The Universal, created, Spirit (ar-Rith al-kulli) ;
3. The individual Spirit, or rather the Spirit pola-
rised in relation to an individual ;
4. The vital spirit, iatermediate between soul and
body.