Sufism
Sufis, the mystics of Islam, use the Quran's names of God but favour those of intimacy and inner reality: the Real (al-Haqq), the Beloved, the Friend, and simply "He" (Hu). Persian poets such as Rumi and Hafiz added images of love, wine and the cup-bearer, all pointing to the one God.
- al-Haqq (the Real)الحق
The Real, the Truth: for Sufis the most fitting name for God, the only true reality.
Hujwiri: by haqq Sufis mean God. Al-Hallaj's famous cry "Ana al-Haqq" ("I am the Real") used this name; his notice is p. 150.
Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub, p. 384 (Nicholson) ↗ - al-Habib (the Beloved)الحبيب
God as the Beloved, whom the lover seeks above all else.
Hujwiri speaks of God's word as "addressed by the Beloved to the lover".
Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub, p. 23 (Nicholson) ↗ - Ma'shuq (the Beloved)معشوق
The Beloved of Persian mystical poetry: God sought with the longing of a lover.
The lover at the door answers: "'Tis Thou who art at the door, O Beloved!" Persian ma'shuq is the poets' word.
Rumi, Masnavi, Book I, Story XI (Whinfield) ↗ - Dost / Yar (the Friend)دوست / یار
God as the Friend, intimate companion of the soul.
Rumi speaks of veiling "the secrets of 'The Friend'". Persian dust and yar both mean friend.
Rumi, Masnavi, Book I, Story I (Whinfield) ↗ - Hu (He)هو
"He": the pronoun of God, chanted alone in dhikr as the name of the Essence beyond all description.
"Say: He (huwa) is God, the One." Sufi orders chant "Hu" as the name pointing to God's unseen essence.
Quran 112:1 ↗ - Nur (Light)نور
The Light that lights the heart, distinct from the light of reason and sense.
Rumi: "the light that lights the heart is the Light of God." Rooted in Quran 24:35.
Rumi, Masnavi, Book I, Story V (Whinfield) ↗ - al-Wadud (the Loving)الودود
The Loving One, whose love for creation Sufis put at the heart of the path.
One of the 99 Names, especially dear to Sufis.
Quran 85:14 ↗ - Saqi (the Cup-bearer)ساقی
The Cup-bearer who pours the wine of divine love and knowledge.
Bell cites the couplet: companion, minstrel and cup-bearer "are but names for Him". A poetic image, not a formal name.
Gertrude Bell, Poems from the Divan of Hafiz, p. 54 ↗ - Wujud (Being)وجود
Being itself: God as the one true Existence, of which all things are reflections.
The doctrine wahdat al-wujud is associated with Ibn Arabi's school. In Hujwiri (p. 413) wujud means the ecstatic "finding" of God.
Ibn Arabi and the "Unity of Being" (reference page) ↗ - Shahid (the Witness)شاهد
The Witness: God's presence that dominates the heart; in poetry also the beautiful one in whom God is contemplated.
Hujwiri speaks of shahid-i haqq, "the dominant influence of God". Ash-Shahid is also one of the 99 Names.
Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub, p. 373 (Nicholson) ↗ - Shah (the King)
The peerless King, whose severity is sweet to the lover.
"It makes me well-pleasing to my peerless King."
Rumi, Masnavi, Book I, Story VII (Whinfield) ↗ - al-Latif (the Subtle)اللطيف
The Subtle and Gentle, who works unseen within the heart.
One of the 99 Names, much used in Sufi dhikr.
Quran 67:14 ↗ - Jamal and Jalal (Beauty and Majesty)جمال و جلال
God's Beauty, which draws the heart into intimacy, and Majesty, which fills it with awe.
Attributes, not names in the strict sense; central to Sufi teaching on spiritual states.
Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub, p. 376 (Nicholson) ↗ - Sun of the Truth
The direct light of God, beside which all other lights are needless.
Rumi: one "who saw directly the Sun of 'The Truth'". Also a play on Shams of Tabriz, Rumi's teacher.
Rumi, Masnavi, Book I, Story XV (Whinfield) ↗ - The True Beloved
God as the essentially Beautiful, at once the source and object of all love.
Bell's introduction on how Sufis, Hafiz among them, name God.
Gertrude Bell, Poems from the Divan of Hafiz, p. 44 ↗