Library
Glossary of the path
Terms you will meet on this site, with their Arabic and Turkish forms.
- Adab أدب
- Right conduct and courtesy — toward God, the Prophet, the teacher and companions. The Rifāʿī tradition describes the whole path as adab.
- Âsitâne
- The central or mother lodge of an order in a city; for the Rifāʿīs of Istanbul, the lodge at Üsküdar.
- Bayʿa / intisab بيعة
- The covenant by which a seeker enters the path at the hand of a guide.
- Burhān برهان
- Literally “proof”. In Rifāʿī usage, ecstatic acts within the standing dhikr that the tradition reads as signs that God, not iron or fire, cuts and burns. Described on this site only as history.
- Dergâh / tekke
- A Sufi lodge, where a sheikh teaches and dervishes gather for dhikr and sohbet. Lodges in Türkiye were closed by law in 1925.
- Dhikr ذكر
- Remembrance of God, by heart and tongue, alone and in gathering. Among the founder's principles: continual remembrance, and open remembrance with companions.
- Ḥizb حزب
- A set portion of prayer or Qur'an recited regularly; in later usage close to wird. Plural aḥzāb.
- Ijāza إجازة
- Authorisation from a teacher — to transmit a science, or to guide others on the path.
- Ilahi
- A Turkish devotional hymn, sung in dhikr gatherings. Kenan Rifâî wrote and set many.
- Khalīfa / khilāfa خليفة
- A deputy authorised by a sheikh to guide in his name; the authorisation itself is the khilāfa.
- Khirqa خرقة
- The cloak given by a sheikh as a sign of initiation or authorisation.
- Levha
- A framed calligraphic panel, hung in mosques, lodges and tombs.
- Manāqib مناقب
- Accounts of a saint's virtues and wonders — the tradition's own narrative literature, to be read on its own terms and kept distinct from historical reconstruction.
- Murīd مريد
- A disciple — one who “wills” the path, under a guide.
- Murshid مرشد
- A guide who has the authority to train disciples.
- Pîr / Pîr-i Sânî
- The founding master of a path; a “second Pîr” is a later master who renews it within the founder's line, as Sayyid Aḥmad al-Ṣayyādī is for the Sayyâdiyya.
- Post-nişîn
- “The one who sits on the skin” — the sheikh currently holding a lodge's seat.
- Qiyām dhikr قيام
- Dhikr performed standing, in facing rows, as in Rifāʿī and other orders of Iraqi origin.
- Rifâî / Rufâî
- Two spellings of the same name, from the founder's forebear Rifāʿa. “Rufâî” is the popular pronunciation; since the 1970s some in Türkiye used it for traditional groups and “Rifâî” for Kenan Rifâî's circle.
- Sayyid سيد
- A descendant of the Prophet through Ḥusayn. The founder is a sayyid through his father; his chain of the path and his family tree are kept apart on this site.
- Silsila سلسلة
- The chain of transmission linking a sheikh, master by master, back to the Prophet. Different sources give different chains for the same person.
- Sohbet صحبة
- Companionship and spiritual conversation with a teacher — the setting in which much of the path is passed on.
- Ṭarīqa طريقة
- A Sufi path or order, with its own chain, conduct and practices.
- Thuluth / jalī thuluth ثلث
- A monumental script of large rounded letters; the jalī form is enlarged for panels and inscriptions.
- Uwaysī أويسي
- Guidance received spiritually from a master one has not met in the body — after Uways al-Qaranī, who loved the Prophet without meeting him.
- Wird / evrâd ورد
- Names of God, Qur'anic verses and prayers recited at set times as a spiritual duty. Plural awrād (Turkish evrâd).