"Winged Heart" Symbol
The symbol of Universal Sufism is the Tughra Inayati or the "Winged Heart", designed by the dervish Hafizullah in honor of Inayat Khan. The winged heart is an old Sufi symbol, and was chosen by Inayat Khan as the seal of the 'Sufi Order of the West' at its founding in 1910. The original rendering of this winged heart calligraphy was presented to Khan on the occasion of his 73rd birthday.
The Arabic script of the wings (in mirror image of each other) reads: "Ya Hazrati Inayat", with ya meaning "O" (an invocation, an invitation), and hazrati meaning "presence; a respectful title similar to your majesty". It may also be interesting to note that the word 'Inayat means "guarding, preserving, taking care of; concern, care; a gift, a present".
The Arabic script of the heart reads: "qaddasa Allahu sirrahu", which is a traditional phrase used when mentioning the name of a deceased Sufi saint. The word qaddas means: "sanctify, hallow, glorify, venerate, revere". The word sirr means: "secret, mystery, something concealed; secret thought, innermost thought", or, as the masterful lexicon of E. W. Lane says, "private knowledge; something inserted in the interior; a pleasure, or delight, and dilation of the heart, of which there is no external sign". The Sufis often use the word sirr to describe the divine wonder discovered in the depths of the un-veiled heart.
The phrase exoterically mean "may Allah sanctify his secret" or esoterically "may his message spread", or "whose inner thought Allah made holy", or "whose heart Allah has made pure".
The shape of the tughra symbolises that the heart desires heaven. The crescent in the heart suggests the responsiveness and potential of the heart. The crescent represents the responsiveness of the crescent moon to the light of the sun, for naturally it receives the light and develops into a full moon. The explanation of the five-pointed star is that it represents the divine light. For when the light comes, it has five points. It is the divine light which is represented by the five-pointed star, and the star is reflected in the heart which is responsive to the divine light. The heart which by its response has received the divine light is liberated, as the wings show. In brief, the meaning of the symbol is that the heart responsive to the light of God is liberated.
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Famous quotes containing the words winged, heart and/or symbol:
“The soul is like a pair of winged horses and a charioteer joined in natural union.”
—Plato (427–347 B.C.)
“Some let me make you of the heartless words.
The heart is drained that, spelling in the scurry
Of chemic blood, warned of the coming fury.
By the sea’s side hear the dark-vowelled birds.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“Whatever we inherit from the fortunate
We have taken from the defeated
What they had to leave us—a symbol:
A symbol perfected in death.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)