ADAM: non-being, the opposite of wujud (existence).

AWSIYA': vicegerents or representative of the Prophet, referring specifically to the twelve Imams.

BASATAH: simplicity; as a philosophical term, it refers to an uncomposite thing or being, which is not subject to generation and corruption.

DALIL.: proof or argument; an argument to demonstrate a hypothesis.

DALL FALSAFI: the philosophical proof or argument, used specifically to prove the existence of God.

DALIL ISTIQRA': inductive proof or argument; in this book specifically used to indicate-the method of scientific induction used to prove the existence of God.

DIN: religion or faith; an ideal to which a person adheres and is willing to be judged by.

FATWA (pl. fatawa): legal opinion issued 'by a jurist dealing with a current problem.

FITRAH: that width is originally created; specifically, man's original state of pure intuitive knowledge of God; generally, the native religious sense.

AL-GHAYB: unknown, unseen and unpredictable; usually used to refer to divine knowledge of things to come, e.g., the Day of Judgement.

GHAYBAH: lit., absence; used to describe the concealment or occultation of the twelfth Imam, who is in the world but hidden from human sight.

HADITH: an account, report or a statement; technically, traditions or statements related from the prophet on the authority of various transmitters.

HISAB AL-IHTIMALAT: the reckoning, computation or calculation of degrees of probability, both positively and negatively.

IHTIMAL ( pl. ihtimalat) : probability; something possible or likely to happen.

IHTIMAL QABLI: antecedent or prior possibility, that is, prior to the investigation of the probability of a thing by the inductive method.

IJTTHAD: effort; specifically, considered personal opinion arrived at through to effort of inference, induction or analogy.

'ILLAH: cause; a technical term used in Aristotelian philosophy; cf. ma'lul.

IMAMAH: leadership; generally used to describe the leader, imam, in prayer; also a religious head of community. Technically, the term refers to the authority or leadership of the imams, descendants and successors of the Prophet.

IMKAN: possibility; used philosophically, the term refers to the possibility or potentiality in the thing itself as well as an external power which can bring a thing into being or which effects a major change in it.

ISTIDLAL: to use an argument or proof in establishing a point or hypothesis.

ISTIHALAH: Impossibility; the opposite of imkan (possibility).

ISTINBAT: to delve into or penetrate a ratter with the view of inferring a new idea or 'principle.

JUZ': part or part of a whole; used also philosophically to refer to particulars, in contrast with universals, cf. kull

KATHRAH: multiplicity or variety; opposite of wahdah ( unity).

KHILAFAH: representation of succession; more technically, the term is used to refer to the temporal authority of the Prophet's successors, caliphs.

KULL: lit., all; philosophically used to mean 'whole' or universals, in contrast with juz' (particulars).

MA`AD: lit., return; the return of the soul to God who is its source of being (mabda'); generally, the Day of Resurrection.

MA'LUL: effect; a philosophical term used to signify the effect of a cause; cf. 'illah. ,

MANTIQ: lit., speech; philosophically used to mean logic.

AL-MANTIQ AS-SURI ASH-SHAKLI: formal logic.

NASS: text transmitted or dictated, or' statement establishing a principle; specifically, the appointment of the imams by the Prophet.

SHARI`AH: lit., highway; it is the way to follow as stipulated by sacred law of Islam.

SUNNAH ( pl. sunan ) : trodden path, way or example, when referring to the sunnah of the Prophet; custom, when referring to cultural patterns; universal law when referring to natural phenomena.

TA'AKHKHUR: posteriority or . that which succeeds something else; specifically, the posteriority of the effect to the cause; opposite of taqaddum (priority).

TAHRIF: deviation or alteration; specifically, alteration of the earlier scriptures.

TAQADDUM: priority or something proceeding something else; specifically, priority of the cause to the effect; opposite of ta'akhkhur (posteriority).

TARAKKUB: compositeness; opposite of simplicity, specifically used to distinguish the composite temporal from the simple eternal being.

TAWHID: Divine Oneness; specifically, the profession of the Oneness of God.

WAHDAH: unity; specifically of being or the universe, being the source of kathrah ( multiplicity), which is its opposite.

WIJDAN: feeling, sentiment or conscience; the source of the unconscious reactions of a human being to his environment.

WUJUD: existence or being, signifying being not as an abstract principle, but a dynamic force or presence; opposite of 'adam (non-being)