The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2035 page)

(Arab.). Characteristic Muslim virtue of patient acceptance, often linked with
shukr
(‘thanksgiving’),
ab
r is one of the
Ninetynine Beautiful Names
of
All
h
.

 
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(Skt., ‘being’, + ‘consciousness’ + ‘bliss’). In Ved
nta, a three-fold characterization of
Brahman
, the Absolute, as that which is pure being, consciousness, and bliss. Sat-cit-
nanda characterizes the essence of brahman as it is grasped in human experience (
anubhava
). Sat, ‘being’ or ‘truth’, emphasizes the unchanging nature of Brahman as pure unqualified existence with ontological priority over all other experience. Cit, ‘consciousness’, emphasizes the conscious nature of Brahman experience: Brahman is the epistemological ultimate, the self-luminous essence of knowing which is the witness of all other experience.
nanda, ‘bliss’, emphasizes the sublime value of the experience of Brahman. Brahman is the axiological ultimate, the highest and most fulfilling human experience, the goal of human experience. However, sat, cit, and
nanda are not to be understood as qualities attributed to brahman which is
nirgu
a
, beyond all relative qualification. Rather sat, cit, and
nanda are each the very essence of Brahman known through the experience of ecstasy.