Discover the meaning of the term Al-tfrqa (تفرقة) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readThat wherein they differ; it is said: the states, dispositions, and dealings.
The scattering of thought to pass far from the world of the unseen, by whatever way. In the books of the spiritual path: 'al-farq' is what is ascribed to you, and 'al-jam'' what is stripped from you; its meaning is that what the servant gains by performing the works of servitude and what befits human states is 'farq', and what comes from the Truth by the manifestation of meanings, the initiation of sweetness and grace is 'jam''; the servant needs both, for whoever has no dispersion has no servitude, and whoever has no gathering has no dispersion. The servant's saying 'You we worship' establishes servitude, and his saying 'You we ask for help' is seeking gathering; dispersion is thus the beginning of will, and gathering its end.
Among the Sufis: the scattering of thought by occupation, away from the world of the unseen, by whatever way (al-Ta'rifat p. 66).