baqa

Baqa, also transliterated baqa’ or baqā’, is an Arabic term meaning permanence, persistence, or lastingness. In everyday use, it denotes the state of remaining or enduring over time. The word is derived from the Arabic root that conveys continuity and endurance.

In Islamic mysticism, baqa is a technical concept describing the state of subsisting in God after the experience of fana, or annihilation of the self in the Divine. In many Sufi traditions, fana and baqa are presented as successive stages on the spiritual path: fana refers to the dissolution of the ego in God, while baqa signifies living and acting in accordance with God’s will, with the soul sustained by divine presence. Some formulations also speak of variations such as baqa bi-llah (existence in God) or baqa bi-shari‘ah (continuing in harmony with Islamic law), reflecting differing emphases within various Sufi lineages.

Beyond theology, baqa appears in modern usage as a word in Arabic and in Persian- and Urdu-speaking contexts. It can serve as a literary or philosophical term and also occurs as a personal name or part of geographic names in the Muslim world. Transliteration varies (baqa, baqa’a, baqā), depending on language and script.

Overall, baqa denotes a sense of enduring presence, most prominently in Sufi discussions of the soul’s persistence in the divine realm after the shedding of the ego. It is a term that spans linguistic usage and religious philosophy, with particular significance in the study of Islamic mysticism.