Ghaiba

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Ghaiba (Arab., ‘absence’). The state of one who has been withdrawn by God from visible appearance on earth, although he is still living invisibly on earth. The clearest example is the Hidden Imām (al- Mahdī). It is also a Sūfī stage on the way to fanāʾ, absent from self and present (ḥaḍra) only to God.