SPIRITUAL COGNITION OF THE SALIK

Abstract

Every form of spiritual cognition (ma’rifa, hima, ishraq) in Islam is based on the fundamental sources of Islam; the Qur’an and the Prophetic tradition (the Sunnah). The phenomenon of spiritual experience and the Salik, as its recipient, has been dealt with by the most prominent Sufis of their times; Rabia Adawiya, Attar, Hallag, Suhrawardi, Rummi, Ibn Arabi, Ghazalli, Shabistari. Each has made indispensable and original contribution to the area of spiritual Gnosticism, to defining the Sufi experience using the Sufi glossary, which, in their works, is also called the language of symbols. Sufi could be brought to the Truth (Haqq) through the two level ascent: the path of maqam and the path of hal, in order to finally reach His Palace (Wisal), His Underneath, (Ittisal bi/Kursi), His Throne (Hadra Ilahiyya). The language of symbols was the only possible way to express their spiritual experience.