Alif The Arabic letter alif is equivalent to the letter A in the English alphabet. It is also the first letter of ‘Allah’.
Azrail The angel of death.
Baqa Eternal existence in the consciousness of God.
Bhakti A devotional Hindu movement.
Bhang A concoction of a hashish-like drug.
Dervishes Sufi mystics.
Divan A collection of ghazals.
Elast A covenant between God and all human souls, when God asked, ‘Do you not recognize your Lord?’ and the souls answered, ‘Yes.’
Fana Annihilation of Self.
Fatiha The short first sura of the Qu’ran, used by Muslims as an essential element of ritual prayer. Also used in the context of a prayer for departed souls.
Ghazal A classical love lyric found in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Turkish and many other languages.
Ghazi A warrior for the faith.
Gnostic One who has mystical knowledge of Truth or God. Specifically, in Sufism, one who has the Ilm-e-Ma’rifat (Knowledge of Truth), known as an A’rif.
Hadiths A collection of Islamic traditions containing the sayings of the prophet Muhammad.
Hajj The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the pillars of Islamic faith. All Muslims are expected to make this pilgrimage at least once, if they can afford to do so.
Houri A beautiful young woman, especially one of the virgin companions of the faithful in the Muslim paradise.
Iblis Satan.
Kaaba A square building in Mecca, the site most holy to Muslims, containing a sacred black stone.
Kafi A musical form or a poem in musical form.
Kalimah (‘the phrase’) The declaration of faith of all Muslims: ‘There is no god but God, Muhammad is God’s Messenger.’
Khanqah A Sufi hospice, usually attached to a Sufi shrine.
Leila The Beloved of Majnun.
Madrasah A college for Islamic instruction.
Majnun (meaning ‘possessed’) The archetypal romantic hero, as immortalized in Ganjavi’s The Story of Layla and Majnun.
Masnavi A narrative poem in rhyming couplets.
Mathura A holy city in India, said to be the birthplace of the Hindu deity Krishna.
Mazar Tomb.
Murid Disciple or follower of a particular Sufi master or saint.
Mustafa (‘The Holy One’) A name for the Prophet.
Namaz The ritual prayer practised by Muslims in supplication to God.
Pandit Hindu scholar.
Pir Spiritual guide.
Qalandars A fringe order of wandering Sufis who advocated the consumption of hashish.
Qasidah A panegyric.
Qawwali Indian/Pakistani Sufi music and musical form, which originated around the shrines and is now a very popular form of music all over the subcontinent.
Qazi A learned jurist or judge.
Qiblah The direction of the holy Kaaba in Mecca, to which Muslims turn when at prayer.
Qur’an The Islamic sacred book, believed to be the word of God as dictated to Muhammad and written down in Arabic.
Qutub The highest form of master in Sufism; a sheikh who provides a focus for spiritual teachings.
Rabab A stringed instrument, plucked like a lute or played with a bow.
Rubai Quatrain.
Saqi The Wine-giver; it also alludes to a spiritual guide or God.
Sharia Islamic canonical law based on the teachings of the Qur’an and the Hadiths.
Sura A chapter of the Qur’an.
‘Typal’ love A love that acts as a bridge between illusory (temporal) love and True (spiritual) love.