With this instalment Hazrat Inayat Khan continues to reveal the mystical vibrations in certain sacred words, and concludes his extensive teaching on the mysticism of sound. The previous post in the series is here.

Hayy in Arabic means everlasting, and Hayyat means life, both of which words signify the everlasting nature of God. The word Huwal suggests the idea of omnipresence, and Huvva is the origin of the name of Eve, which is symbolic of manifestation, as Adam is symbolic of life; they are named in Sanskrit Purusha and Prakriti. 

Jehovah was originally Yahuva, Ya suggesting the word oh and Hu standing for God, while the A represents manifestation. Hu is the origin of sound, but when the sound first takes shape on the external plane, it becomes A, therefore alif or alpha is considered to be the first expression of Hu, the original word. The Sanskrit alphabet as well as that of most other languages begins with the letter A, as does the name of God in several tongues. The word A therefore expresses in English one, or first; and the sign of alif expresses the meaning one, as well as first. The letter A is pronounced without the help of the teeth or tongue, and in Sanskrit A always means without.

The A is raised to the surface when the tongue rises and touches the roof of the mouth when pronouncing the letter l (lam), and the sound ends in m (mim), the pronunciation of which closes the lips. These three essential letters of the alphabet are brought together as the mystery in the Quran. With A deepened by ain, the word Ilm is formed, which means knowledge. Alim comes from the same, and means knower. ‘Alam means state or condition, the existence which is known.

When alif, the first, and lam, the central letters, are brought together they make the word al which means ‘the’ in Arabic. In English all suggest the meaning of the entire or absolute nature of existence.

The word Allah, which in Arabic means God, if divided into three parts may be interpreted as ‘the One who comes from nothing’. El or Ellah has the same meaning as Allah. The words found in the Bible, Eloi, Elohim and Hallelujah, are related to the word Allahu.

The words om, omen, amen and amin, which are spoken in all houses of prayer, are of the same origin; A in the commencement of the word expresses the beginning, and M in the midst signifies end; N the final letter is the re-echo of M, for M naturally ends in a nasal sound, the producing of which sound signifies life.

In the word Ahad, which means God, the only Being, two meanings are involved by assonance. A in Sanskrit means without, and Hudd in Arabic means limitation.

It is from the same source that the words Wahdat, Wahdaniat, Hadi, Hada and Hidayat all come. Wahdat means the consciousness of self-alone; Wahdaniat is the knowledge of self; Hadi, the guide; Hada, to guide; Hidayat means guidance.

The more a Sufi listens to Saut-i Sarmad, the sound of the abstract, the more his consciousness becomes free from all the limitations of life. The soul floats above the physical and mental plane without any special effort on man’s part, which shows its calm and peaceful state; a dreamy look comes into his eyes and his countenance becomes radiant, he experiences the unearthly joy and rapture of Wajd, or ecstasy. When ecstasy overwhelms him he is neither conscious of the physical existence nor of the mental. This is the heavenly wine, to which all Sufi poets refer, which is totally unlike the momentary intoxication’s of this mortal plane. A heavenly bliss then springs in the heart of a Sufi, his mind is purified from sin, his body from all impurities, and a pathway is opened for him towards the world unseen; he begins to receive inspirations, intuitions, impressions, and revelations without the least effort on his part. He is no longer dependent upon a book or a teacher, for divine wisdom, the light of his soul, the Holy Spirit, begins to shine upon him. As Sharif says, ‘I by the light of soul realize that the beauty of the heavens and the grandeur of the earth are the echo of Thy magic flute’.