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Qalb

World Religion
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The Arabic word for "heart," signifying in Sufism the spiritual center of the human being, the seat of intuition and divine knowledge.

Detailed Definition
In Islamic spirituality, the qalb is not the physical organ but the subtle spiritual heart that is the locus of faith, consciousness, and the soul's capacity to know God. It can be healthy or sick, asleep or awake. Sufi poets like Rumi use the imagery of the heart incessantly—as a mirror reflecting God, a vessel for love, a battlefield of passions, and the throne of the Divine. The purification and opening of the qalb is the ultimate goal of the mystic path.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Sufi poetry, Qalb (heart) is spiritual center: “Polish your Qalb—mirror for the Beloved’s face”; In Quranic verse, Qalb can harden or soften: “Stony hearts—Qalb turned to rock by arrogance”; In contemporary poetry, Qalb is intuition: “Ignore noise—Qalb knows the true path”; Poets describe Qalb as battlefield: “Desire and devotion—Qalb, where angels and demons meet.”
Additional Notes
Qalb in Sufism is not the physical heart but the spiritual center where divine love is known; it must be polished (like a mirror) to reflect truth; poets use qalb imagery to describe intuition, longing, and the wound of separation—often portraying the heart as a vessel cracked open to receive grace.
Also Known As
Heart (in Sufism)
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