Discover the meaning of the term Al-khaṭr (خاطر) in Islamic vocabulary.
Contents :
Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readWhat comes to the heart of address, or the influx in which the servant has no part; and what is address is of four kinds: the lordly (rabbani), first of the influxes and never erring, known by its strength, authority and lack of haste; the angelic (malaki), prompting the recommended or obligatory, called inspiration (ilham); the psychic (nafsani), wherein is the soul's share, called obsession (hajis); and the satanic (shaytani), calling to opposition.
What comes to the heart of address, the influx in which the servant has no part; and what is address is of four kinds: the temporal (zamani), first of the influxes and never erring, known by its strength, authority and lack of haste; the angelic (malaki), prompting the recommended or obligatory, called inspiration; the psychic (nafsani), wherein is the soul's share, called obsession; and the satanic (shaytani), calling to opposing the truth. God Most High said: 'the devil threatens you with poverty and commands you indecency'.
In language: the obsession coming to the heart; it is the second degree of the degrees of the soul's speech; its plural khawatir. Abu al-Baqa' said: name of what stirs in the heart of an opinion or meaning, its seat named after it. It is of the dominant qualities; of it one says: a matter crossed my mind (khatara bi bali) and came upon me ('ala bi alayhi); its primal structure indicates disturbance and motion.
Technically: what comes to the heart of address, or: the influx in which the servant has no part; the khatir mostly occurs in wakefulness, unlike the dream. (Al-Qamus al-Muhit, root khatara, 2/22, Halabi ed.; al-Mu'jam al-Wasit, root khatara, 1/252; al-Kulliyyat, p. 433; al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya, 2/8).
The understanding's motion toward a thing, in what the soul does not admit.
An address coming to the receptacle, cast by a king or a devil.