glossary of terms used by frithjof schuon - Sophia Perennis

distinguish in it what is archetypal and quasi-celestial from what is accidental and indeed
too earthly; hence to treat it with nobleness and sobriety.
In other words, outwardness is a right, and inwardness a duty; we have the right to
outwardness because we belong to this spatial, temporal and material world, and we must
realize inwardness because our spiritual nature is not of this world, nor, consequently, is
our destiny. God is generous: when we withdraw towards the inward, it will, in
compensation, manifest itself for us in the outward; nobleness of soul is to have the sense
of the divine intentions, hence of the archetypes and essences, which readily reveal
themselves to the noble and contemplative soul. Conversely, when we withdraw towards
the heart, we will find therein all the beauties perceived outwardly; not as forms, but in
their quintessential possibilities. In turning towards God, man can never lose anything.
Thus, when man interiorizes himself, God so to speak exteriorizes Himself while
enriching man from within; there lies all the mystery of the metaphysical transparency of
phenomena and of their immanence in us. [RHC, Pillars of Wisdom]
Islam: Islam is the Message of Unity, and thereby of the Absolute and the Essence, and
this implies in principle that along with the simplifications and impasses of theology –
whose authority in Islam is after all somewhat fluctuating – it offers all the mysteries that
Unity comprises by its nature; that in consequence it postulates not only transcendence,
which is separative by definition, but also immanence, which is unitive and which links
man existentially and intellectually to his divine Origin. [CI, The Idea of “The Best” in
Religions]
Islam . . . proceeds through sincerity in unitary faith; and we know this faith must imply
all the consequences logically following from its content, which is Unity, or the Absolute.
First there is al-iman, the accepting of Unity by man’s intelligence; then, since we exist
both individually and collectively, there is al-islam, the submission of man’s will to
Unity, or to the idea of Unity; this second element relates to Unity insofar as it is a
synthesis on the plane of multiplicity; finally there is al-ihsan, which expands or deepens
the two previous elements to the point of their ultimate consequences. Under the
influence of al-ihsan, al-iman becomes “realization” or a certitude that is lived – knowing
becomes being – while al-islam, instead of being limited to a certain number of
prescribed attitudes, comes to include every level in man’s nature; a priori faith and
submission are hardly more than symbolical attitudes, although nonetheless efficacious at
their own level. By virtue of al-ihsan, al-iman becomes gnosis, or participation in the
divine Intelligence, and al-islam becomes extinction in the divine Being. [UI, The Path]
Jalwah: Jalwah is the concrete awareness of the Divine Omnipresence, an awareness
which makes it possible to understand the “language of the birds”, metaphorically
speaking, and to hear the universal praise. [EPW, The Mystery of the Veil]
Jesus: The Word which determines Substance, reveals itself to the latter.
Macrocosmically, it is the Word which manifests itself in the Universe as the divine
Spirit; microcosmically, it is the Real Presence affirming itself at the center of the soul,
radiating outwards and finally transmuting and absorbing it. [GDW, Mysteries of Christ
and of the Virgin]
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