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Zikr

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 remembrance of God through the repetition of sacred names or phrases in Sufi practice, aiming to awaken divine presence in the heart.

Detailed Definition
Zikr in poetry is the breath that becomes prayer—the name repeated until the name is gone, and only the One remains. Poets use it to depict devotion as rhythm: not thought, but pulse. It becomes the poem’s echo: each line a whisper, each silence a return—the soul remembering, again and again, what it never forgot.
Example
Example in poetry:
Zikr is remembrance of God—A Sufi poet writes: “Zikr: ‘Allah, Allah’—not chant, but heartbeat returning to source”; A modern lyric: “In hospital, I whispered Zikr—each ‘Allah’ a lifeline, each breath a prayer”; A haiku: “Whispered in dark—Zikr: / God’s name as anchor”; Another: “Zikr isn’t repetition—it’s the soul’s return to its true name”; A devotional verse: “Rumi says: ‘The heart remembers what the mind forgets—Zikr is that remembering’”; A minimalist line: “Divine remembrance. Repetition. Heart’s cry. / Zikr: the soul’s return.”
Additional Notes
Zikr is the rhythmic remembrance of God through repetition of divine names; in Sufi poetry, it is the heartbeat of the verse—“Allah, Allah”—making language a vehicle for absorption, not meaning; students must read Zikr-poetry as sonic meditation, where rhythm induces trance, essential for interpreting mystical verse as embodied devotion, not intellectual reflection.
Also Known As
Dhikr Remembrance of God Divine Recollection Sufi Chant
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