Annihilation and abiding in God - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Mojaddedi, Jawid
Leiden
Brill
(1,279 words)
Annihilation and abiding in God , fanāʾ wa-baqāʾ in Arabic, are two terms used to describe the final stages of the mystical path of the Ṣūfīs. Cognates of both terms are found in the Qurʾānic passage "Everyone that is thereon is passing away (fānin) , but the face of your Lord, the Possessor of majesty and generosity, remains (yabqā) " (Q 55:26-7), but this does not relate immediately to their usage in Ṣūfī discourse. In addition to constituting a pair of opposites, they are, more significantly, considered to be sequential