Injil (Sufi Terminology)

Allah the Exalted sent down the Injil (Gospel) to Prophet ʿĪsā (Jesus) in Syriac. The Injil was recited in seventeen languages. Just as the beginning of the Qur'an is Bismillāhirraḥmānirraḥīm (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful), so too the beginning of the Injil is Bismi'l-Eb wa'l-Ümnī wa'l-Ibn (In the name of the Father, the Mother, and the Son). The people of Prophet ʿĪsā, attributing this basmala to its outward meaning, imagined that it referred to the so-called Father, Mother, and Son—namely, the Holy Spirit, Maryam (Mary), and ʿĪsā (Jesus). At that point, they said, 'Allah is the third of three.' They did not understand that by 'Eb' (Father) is meant ismullāh (the Name of Allah); by 'Ümnī' (Mother) is meant the essence of realities, referred to as the quiddity of the Divine Essence (maḥiyyat-i ḥaqāʾiq, künh-i Dhāt); and by 'Ibn' (Son) is meant the Book, that is, absolute existence (mutlaq wujūd). For absolute existence is a branch of the quiddity of the Divine Essence, and thus is called 'son.' (Insān, I, 74)