Historically, the Sufis have been grouped into organisations called tawa'if (sing. ta'ifah), or turuq (sing. tariqah, "path"), the latter word being used more commonly in the later period, from the time of the Qadiriyyah order. Tariqah is now also a technical term for esoterism itself.

The Quran calls those who know the essence of things "the possessors of the kernels"
(ulu-l-albab); in turn, the Sufis liken esoteric knowledge to a "kernel" (lubb), hidden within a shell. This kernel is the "essence"or "intrinsic truth" (haqiqah), which resides at the center of the circle of knowledge and, at the same time, contains the circle itself. Leading to this center from the circumference, which is exoterism, is the radius, the Sufic spiritual path (tariqah).

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