GLOSSARY 163

Cf. this verse from the Quran: *‘And they will question
thee on the subject of the spirit; say to them: the spirit
(comes from) the command (amr) of my Lord ...”” (XVII,
84). Christ is called Riis Allah, <“Spirit of God.”” See also
Amr.

ru’yah : vision; in its precise meaning designates formal vision,
belonging to the bodily or psychic world ; by an extension
of the symbolism it can designate any contemplation, even
beyond the level of form. Ruw’yat al-qalb : “‘vision of the
heart,” spiritual intuition.

Sahl at-Tustari, Abu Muhammad, 818-896, a famous theologian
and Sufi of Tustar in the Ahwaz, whose “Thousand Say-
ings’’ were collected by his disciples.

as-Sakinah: the Divine Peace which dwells in a sanctuary or in
the heart. The root SKN includes the meanings of immobi-
lity (sukiin) and of habitation. The word is analogousto the
Hebrew Shekina, (the Divine Glory dwelling in the ark of
the Covenant). Cf this verse from the Quran: *‘Itis He
who makes the Sakinah descend into the hearts of the be-
lievers that they may acquire a new faith as well as their
faith . . .” (XLVILI, 4).

as sama‘ : audition, hearing ; also designates sessions of spiritual
music.

Seyidnd ‘Isa: “Our Lord Jesus.”

shahadah: testimony, and in particular the testimony that ““there
is no divinity but The Divinity.”

shari‘ah: the Sacred, Revealed Law. Every Divine Messenger
(rasiil) brings a new shari‘ah, according with the cyclic and
human conditions. Shari‘ahis opposed to Hagigah,i e., the
Sacred Law to the Divine Truth or Reality; the Sacred
Laws are different one from apother, but their Divine
Reality is always the same.

ash-Shuhiid : Consciousness, the quality of witnessing.

as-silsilak © the chain ; in Sufism denote the continuity of spiritual
descent from the Prophet.