Ibn al-Waqt
Son of the moment: The Sufi maxim ‘al-Sufi ibn al-waqt’ means: the realized mystic has no time except the present moment. The past is gone and cannot be changed; the future is not yet and cannot be controlled; the only point of genuine existence and action is the present moment. This is not a counsel of passivity but of intensity — the Sufi who is fully in the moment of prayer is more present to Allah in that moment than the distracted person could be in a lifetime of wandering attention.
Waqt and dhikr: The practice most directly oriented at waqt is dhikr — remembrance of Allah. Dhikr anchors the heart in the present moment through the repetition of divine names: each repetition is a return to now, a re-entry into the divine presence that is always already here but continuously forgotten. The zikr that al-Junayd and the Baghdad school practiced was precisely a technology of waqt-recovery.
See also: Dhikr, Muraqaba, Al Ghaflah, Tasawwuf, Al Suluk, Al Hadra, Al Qurb
Waqt in the Covenant Moment
Every majlis as a waqt: In Ismaili devotional practice, the majlis al-hikmah is a structured technology of waqt — for the duration of the gathering, the community enters a collectively held present moment in which the Da’i’s ta’wil opens the heart to divine presence. The mumin who arrives at the majlis distracted — with their attention on yesterday’s problems and tomorrow’s anxieties — misses the waqt that the majlis makes available. The adab (courtesy) of the majlis is precisely the courtesy of waqt: giving the present gathering the totality of one’s presence.
See also: Majalis Al Hikmah, Dai Al Mutlaq Institution, Dhikr, Al Ghaflah, Muraqaba, Understanding Walayah, Al Hadra
See also: Dhikr, Muraqaba, Al Ghaflah, Tasawwuf, Al Suluk, Al Hadra, Al Qurb, Majalis Al Hikmah, Dai Al Mutlaq Institution, Understanding Walayah