It is the world to which we are brought when we have dreams. Since the language of dreams is an function of both physical and imaginal influences, the forms of the dream come as symbols and similitude which have to be interpreted.

This realm is also a place of meeting the spirits of different beings - some of whom are helpful and, God willing, can provide guidance to the individual, and some of whom are dangerous and can help lead the individual astray. The help and protection which is provided through the spiritual guide is of fundamental importance when journeying through this world.

`alam al-nasut: [`aa(h)- la(h)m al- na(h)- soot] - The world of materiality and corporeality. The world of physical and biological existence.

angels: {malak [ma(h)- la(h)k]} - These are beings born upon pure light and are incapable of doing other than the will of God. There are many, many different kinds of angels who serve Allah in various ways.

All physical, material and biological phenomena have angels who are associated with them and who have been entrusted by God to oversee these phenomena. In addition, there are angels who are engaged in constant worship and glorification of Divinity.

Indeed, the positions of the ritual prayers are all derived from the postures of different groups of angels who gave expression to their particular modality of praising God through such positions. While on mi'raj or ascension, the Prophet had witnessed this and was so taken by it that he sought, and received, permission to incorporate some of these postures into the form of the five daily prayers.

There also are angels who are so enraptured with Allah that they do not know of the existence of either creation or human kind. There are other angels who are constantly circling about the Throne of Allah engaged in singing the praises of their Lord.

There are guardian angels and attendant angels. There are angels who travel about the Earth and convey the greetings to Allah of those who submit and believe. And, there are angels who are travelling between Earth and the heavens, informing Allah (although Allah knows already) about the activities of remembrance in which the servants of God are engaged.

Some of the angels with known names are:

(a) Gabriel (peace be on him), the angel associated with the delivering of Revelation from Divinity to a Prophet; (b) Israfil (peace be on him), the angel who, by the command of God, will, on the Day of Resurrection, blow into a Trumpet which will signal the termination of the present order of things in the visible world; (c) Michael (peace be on him) who, among other things, is charged by Allah to provide nourishment for bodies, as well as knowledge for souls; (d) Ridwan (peace be on him) who has been given command over Paradise; (e) Malik (peace be on him) who has charge of hell; (f) Nakir and Munkar (peace be on them) who have the responsibility for questioning people in the grave concerning the identity of the Lord of such people, as well as the nature of their faith, and their relationship to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and (g) `Izra'il (peace be on him) who has the task to take the souls of people at the time of death.

`arif: [a(h)- ri(h)f] One who recognizes and knows Allah through spiritual unveilings. This knowledge is direct, experiential and independent of all conceptual modalities of understanding. This kind of knowledge is known as: Ma'rifat.

`ars: ['a(h)rsh] - The Throne. On the one hand, this gives expression to the nafsi- kolliya [na(h)f- see ko(h)l- lee- ya(h)] or Universal soul. Looked at from another perspective, this refers to the dimension of Divine Names out of which manifestation arises.

In the human being, the heart is the metaphysical counterpart to the Throne. In the physical world, the Ka'ba, or Sacred House of Worship in Mecca, corresponds to the Throne.

asma': [a(h)s- ma(h)'] - The Names of Allah. These give dynamic expression to the relationship between Divinity and Creation. Allah, as the all-inclusive Name of Reality, both makes possible, as well as relates to, Creation as a function of the dynamics of the Divine Names.

awliya': [a(h)w- li(h)- ya(h)'] - Those people who are said to walk in the footsteps of the Prophets and, in doing so, are the friends of God. The singular form of this reference to a saint of Allah is: wali [wa(h)- lee].

The awliya of God are human beings who have been given responsibilities by Divinity to assist individuals and to help them with the disposition of their affairs. These matters are still in the Hands of Allah, but God has chosen these people to serve as the locus of manifestation through which some of the help and baraka of Allah is given expression and outlet into the everyday, working world of the `average' human being.

In addition, just as miracles do not define what a Prophet is or does, so too, wondrous deeds or kiramat do not define what a saint is or does. A given saint may never "perform" any acts which overturn the norms of the laws of nature, but the absence of such acts does not mean, in and of itself, that the individual is not a saint of God. God frequently hides His saints beneath the canopy of anonymity and prevents them from doing anything (e.g., manifesting wondrous deeds) which would draw attention to them.

These friends of God tend to be characterized by qualities of: sacredness; purity; integrity; nearness to, and intimacy with, Divinity; sincerity; compassion; an abiding and consuming love of Divinity, and a persistent striving to work in harmony with the desire of Allah. Consequently, they have been given a spiritual office by God, and with this office has come a mandate, together with certain discretionary degrees of freedom within which to exercise the duties of that mandate.

Every Messenger and Prophet of God is, first and foremost, a wali of Allah. While their roles as Legislative Messengers and Prophets are limited to this world, their essential nature of saintliness lasts throughout eternity.

On the other hand, although all Prophets are saints, not all saints are Prophets. Moreover, the degree of saintliness of Prophets is far above even the best of those saints who are not Prophets.

One of the differences between Prophets and non-prophetic saints is the following. Whereas Prophets are protected from sin because God protects them from even the desire to commit a sin, non-prophetic saints may have both the desire and inclination to commit certain sins, but Allah prevents them from doing so or prevents them from persevering in such error.

At any given moment of time, there is one initiatory set of saints who are fixed in number. This number is 589, and can be organized into 35 categories of saints, consisting of both women and men. Collectively, they form the spiritual government of the higher and lower worlds, and there activities are hidden from the view of the vast majority of humankind.

Among these categories are the following:

(a) the Qutb, or spiritual Pole of a given age (there only can be one Qutb at any one time) who is the "place" of Allah's gaze in the cosmos, and who is the gawth [ga(h)wth] or one who helps;

(b) two Imams - one of the right, who watches over the physical/material world, and one of the left, who watches over the world of spirits;

(c) four awtad: [a(h)w- taad], or pillars, who guard the four directions (east, west, north and south);

(d) seven abdal: [a(h)b- daal], or substitutes, who oversee the seven climes;

(e) twelve nuqaba': [nu(h)- qa(h)- baa'] - leaders or seekers, whose number is the same as the number of signs in the Zodiac, and who have knowledge of the ninth heaven (the heaven without stars), as well as knowledge of all aspects of the revealed law;

(f) eight nujaba': [nu(h)- ja(h)- baa'], or Nobles, who have knowledge of the eight heavens (the heaven of the fixed stars and the seven planetary heavens) and whose favour with, and approval by, God is clearly manifest in their condition not through their choice but because they are governed by their spiritual state;

(g) forty rajabiyyun: [ra(h)- ja(h)b- e- yu(h)n], or the people of Rajab, who give expression to their spiritual duties and abilities only during the lunar month of Rajab;

In addition to the foregoing, there is another set of saints, consisting of both men and women, who are not fixed in number. These saints give expression to a variety of spiritual categories and functions, and a given saint may serve more than one of these categories or functions.

ayat: [ay- a(h)t] - This can refer to either a verse of the Qur'an or to a sign within creation through which Allah teaches us about ourselves or about Divinity.

baiat: [ba(h)y- a(h)t] - The conscious, intentional act of taking an oath of allegiance with an individual who is referred to as a: shaykh, pir, murshid or Sufi master. This latter individual is someone who has been appointed by the Prophet Muhammad, with the permission of Allah, to take responsibility for helping initiates to travel toward realization of one's true identity and one's essential capacity for serving, knowing, cherishing, loving and worshipping Allah.

baqa': [ba(h)- qa(h)'] - The condition of spiritual subsistence in which the true, Divine nature of the human self is established.

barakah: [ba(h)- ra(h)- kah] - The Divine Grace which can take manifold forms, both spiritual and material.