Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CA'LIF, n. [Written also caliph and kalif. From Ar. خَلَفَ calafa, to succeed. Hence a calif is a successor, a title given to the successors of Mohammed.]

A successor or vicar; a representative of Mohammed, bearing the same relation to him as the Pope pretends to bear to St. Peter. Among the Saracens, or Mohammedans, a calif is one who is vested with supreme dignity and power in all matters relating to religion and civil policy. This title is borne by the Grand Signior in Turkey, and by the Sophi of Persia. – Encyc.