The Permanent

Who remains when all passes.

The tongue

From b-q-y; baqāʾ (بَقَاء), subsistence, permanence. The contrary of fanāʾ (فَنَاء), evanescence.

The reason

All passes, save His Face: kullu shayʾin hālik illā wajhah (Quran 28:88). He is what remains when all the rest has come undone.

The Sufi meaning

Fanāʾ fī-Llāh and baqāʾ bi-Llāh — extinction in God and subsistence through God — are the two poles of the way. To die to the transient in order to subsist through the Permanent.

The servant's portion

Place your heart in what does not pass: truth, true love, the good done in secret. These are the only coins one carries away.