Sufi Classics · July 8, 2026

misbāḥ (Tasawwuf Glossary)

It is the rational spirit (rūḥ ʿaqlī) by which exalted divine knowledges are perceived. When the matter is explained with the example of the misbāḥ (lamp), it will not remain obscure to you. (Mishkāt, 85) Destiny (qadar) …

It is the rational spirit (rūḥ ʿaqlī) by which exalted divine knowledges are perceived. When the matter is explained with the example of the misbāḥ (lamp), it will not remain obscure to you. (Mishkāt, 85)

Destiny (qadar) is darkness (its end, whether good or bad, is unknown). In that ḥāl (spiritual state), bring the darkness to the misbāḥ (the light). That light is the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Messenger. Do not depart from them. If something comes to mind or is inspired, refer it to the Book and the sunnah. If, in the Book and the sunnah, you find with respect to it a forbidden aspect—such as the prohibition of being together with people who possess zina (fornication), riyāʾ (ostentation), sin, and evil—then distance it from yourself and set it aside. Do not accept it or act upon it. (Futūḥ, 25)