AULĪYĀʾ (اولياء), pl. of walī. “Favourites of God.” The expression occurs in the Qurʾān in the following verse, “Are not the favourites of God those on whom no fear shall come, nor shall they be put to grief?” ([Sūrah x. 63]).
AUTĀD (اوتاد). Lit. “props or pillars.” A term used by the Ṣūfīs for the four saints, by whom the four corners of the world are said to be supported.
AʿŪẔU BILLĀH (اعوذ بالله). Another name for the Taʿauwuẕ, or the prayer in the daily liturgy: “I seek refuge with God from the cursed Satan.” [[PRAYER].]
AVENGER OF BLOOD. In the Muḥammadan law, as in the Jewish, the punishment for wilful murder is left to the next of kin; but in the Jewish code the avenger of blood was compelled to take the life of the murderer, whilst in the Muslim code he may accept compensation, vide Qurʾān, [Sūrah ii. 173], “O believers! retaliation (Qiṣāṣ) for blood-shedding is prescribed to you: the free man for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the woman for the woman; but he to whom his brother shall make any remission is to be dealt with equitably; and a payment should be made to him with liberality. This is a relaxation (i.e. of the stricter lex talionis) from your Lord, and a mercy.” [[QISAS].]
ĀYAH (آية). Lit. “a sign, or miracle.” The term used for one of the smaller portions of the chapters of the Qurʾān, which we call verses. The number of verses is often set down after the title of the chapter, but the verses are not marked in the text as they are in our English Bibles. The number of verses in the Qurʾān is variously estimated, but they are generally said to be about six thousand two hundred. [[QURʾAN].]
AL-AʿYĀNU ʾS̤-S̤ĀBITAH (الاعيان الثابتة), pl. of ʿayn, in the sense of “the essence” of a thing. The established essences. A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics to express figures emblematic of the names of God. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dictionary of Technical Terms of the Ṣūfīs. Sprenger’s edition.)
ĀYATU ʾL-FATḤ (اية الفتح). Lit. “The verse of victory.” The fifty-ninth verse of the Sūratu ʾl-Anʿām (vi.) of the Qurʾān. The powers of this verse are said to be so great, that if a person constantly recite it he will obtain his desires. It is generally recited with this object forty times after each season of prayer. It is as follows:—“And with Him are the keys of the secret things; none knoweth them but He; and He knoweth whatever is on the land and in the sea; and no leaf falleth but He knoweth it; neither is there a grain in the darknesses of the earth, nor a green thing nor a dry thing, but it is noted in a clear book.”
ĀYĀTU ʾL-ḤIFZ̤ (ايات الحفظ). “The verses of protection.” Certain verses of the Qurʾān which are usually inscribed on amulets. They are:—[Sūrah ii. 256], “And the preservation of both (heaven and earth) is no burden unto Him.” [Sūrah xii. 64], “God is the best protector.” [Sūrah xiii. 12], “They guard him by the command of God.” [Sūrah xv. 17], “We guard him from every devil driven away by stones.” [Sūrah xxxvii. 7], “A protection against every rebellious devil.”
ĀYATU ʾL-KURSĪ (اية الكرسى). “The verse of the throne.” Verse 256 of the Sūratu ʾl-Baqarah, or chap. ii. of the Qurʾān. It is related (Mishkāt, book iv., c. xix., part iii.) that ʿAlī heard Muḥammad say in the pulpit, “that person who repeats the Āyatu ʾl-Kursī after every prayer, nothing prevents him entering into Paradise but life; and whoever says it when he goes to his bed-chamber, God will keep him in safety, together with his house and the house of his neighbour. The verse is as follows:—“God! There is no God but He; the Living, the Abiding. Neither slumber seizeth Him, nor sleep. To Him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and whatsoever is in earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him but by His own permission? He knoweth what hath been before them, and what shall be after them; yet nought of His knowledge do they comprehend, save what He willeth. His THRONE reacheth over the heavens and the earth, and the upholding of both burdeneth Him not; and He is the High, the Great.”