Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (148 AH/765 AD) and the Emergence of Sufi Terms

This research deals with the emergence of some Sufi terms in an early period of the history of Islamic Sufism—the period called “Asceticism Movement in Islam,” particularly in the first half of the second century AH, with the character of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (148 AH/765 AD) who gained a central position later on in “The Sufi Compilations” which were recorded in the fourth and fifth centuries AH thanks to his spiritual experience which obviously appeared through tracing some of his Sufi terms.
It is worth mentioning that this research has revealed that the first appearance of the three levels (or the triple division) of the Sufi terms (Public, Private, and the Elite) can be obviously noticed by the researchers, with Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (148 AH, 765 AD). This division clearly influenced the various Sufi compilations following it.
The research focused on recording Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq’s Sufi vision and experience, especially the following Sufi terms: (Repentance, Fear, and Monotheism). Furthermore, the research focused on the depth of his Sufi experience which clearly appeared with the researchers' monitoring of his position of the term “Love/Affection.” This is through recording the linguistic lexicon of the root (ħa ba ba), beginning with his texts up to finally reaching the triangular semantic field of the term love for him—with clarifying his chronological precedence of interest in the concept of love.