Digital Sufism: Artificial Intelligence Interpretation in Revealing the Spiritual and Ishāri Dimensions in Sufistic Tafseer

Historically, the tradition of sufistic interpretation in Islamic scholarship offers a spiritual and Islamic approach to uncovering the transcendent meaning of the Quranic verses. Through sufistic interpretation, the spiritual meaning of verses can be deeply understood, even in terms of their symbolic meaning. However, as sufistic interpretation develops, Quranic scholars face challenges ranging from the complexity of the language to the depth of spiritual meaning that is difficult for contemporary readers in today's digital era to grasp. In contrast, the massive availability of digital features such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an alternative for Quranic scholars in the process of learning the Quran and its interpretation. Based on this phenomenon, this study aims to explore the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Natural Language Processing (NLP), in identifying, classifying, and extracting the spiritual meaning of sufistic verses. The research method used is qualitative-descriptive, based on literature studies. The primary sources consist of classical sufistic commentaries such as Tafsir Al-Tustari, Ruh Al-Bayan, and Bahrul Madid by Ibn ‘Ajibah, while secondary sources consist of academic literature related to digital interpretation and natural language processing. The data collection technique was carried out through annotation of sufistic verses, which were then classified based on sufism themes such as tazkiyah al-nafs, tajalli, ma‘rifat, fana’, tauhid dzati, and hudhur. Data analysis was carried out in three stages: linguistic and semantic analysis, application of an NLP model to recognize patterns of Ishari interpretation, and validation of AI results through comparison with classical interpretations and sufism experts. The research findings show that NLP is able to identify sufism terms and classify verses based on spiritual themes with a fairly high semantic consistency. The relationship between verses forms a systematic pattern of spiritual journey, from the purification of the soul to divine consciousness. Although AI has limitations in capturing the depth of mystical experience, the results of this research open up opportunities for the development of more interactive and relevant AI-based digital interpretations, while preserving the spiritual dimension of the Sufi tradition.