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164 AN INTRODUCTION TO SUFI DOCTRINE

Sirr: secret, mystery; in Sufism designates the intimate and
ineffable centre of consciousness, the ““point of contact”
between the individual and his Divine principle.

as-sifi: Sufi, adherent to Sufism ; in its strictest sense designates
one who has arrived ateffective knowledge of Divine Reality
(Hagqiqah) ; hence it is said : as-Sufi lam yukhlag (the Sufi
is not created).

Suhrawardi of Alep: a Persian Sufi, put to deathin 1191 for his
over-bold doctrinal expressions.

Ta‘ayyun: determination, individuation; also includes the mean-
ing “auto-determination,” and it is thus it must be under-
stood in relation to God.

at-tabi‘ah: nature; Tabi‘at al-kull: universal Nature. An as-
pect of passive and ““plastic™ universal Substance (al- Haba)
and is that Substance in as much as it generates the world ;
hence its material nature. Ibn ‘Arabi attributes to it a
reality coextensive with the whole of universal manifesta-
tion and identifies it with the “Expiration of The Compas-
sionate.”

at-Tasawwuf: Sufisin; designates the whole of the contemplative
ways founded on the sacred forms of Islam. By transposi-
tion an Arab might speak of “Christian tasawwuf> or
“Jewish tosawwuf’’ to indicate the esotericism of the
respective Traditions.

at-tajalli: unveiling, revelation, irradiation.

tanzih: becoming distant, exaltation, affirmation of the Divine
Transcendance ; the contrary is tashbih: comparison, simili-
tude, affirmation of symbolism. The two terms are to be
found together in such sayings in the Quran as “Nothing
is like unto Him (fanzih) and it is He who sees and hears
(=tashbih).

tanzil : descent; designates revelation in the theological sense,
i.e., the “descent cof the sacred ‘“Books.”

at-tawhid © the affirmation of Unity, of wahid (uniqueness). In
common usage means the saying of the Muslim credo, the