Note: Tasawwuf, Tazkîyah
al Nafs, Tasfîyyah al Qalb, Irfân, Sufism, Islâmic Mysticism, Esoteric or Inner Dimension of
Islâm, Purification of the Heart/Self/Soul and more recently Islâmic
or Sufic Psychology are
used inter-changeably.
Tasawwuf is an acronym made up of the four
consonant letters: t, s, w, and f. t stands for
tawbah, repentance s stands for safa,
purity, peace and joy w stands for wilayah, the sanctity of the lovers and friends of Allah f stands for fana, the annihilation of self into the nothingness.
from 'The
Secret of Secrets' by Hadhrat Abdul Qadir Jilani (raa)
translated by Sheikh Tosun Bayrak al Jerrahi al Halveti