Allah, the Almighty, said:

{…whoever of you should revert from his religion—Allah will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him…} [al-Mâ’idah 5:54]

Love is the exclusive clinging of the heart [to the Beloved] flanked by drive (himmah) and comforting intimacy (uns),⁴⁹⁷ when given and when deprived.⁴⁹⁸ It is the beginning of the valleys of fanâ’ (self-annihilation) and the steep pass from which he or she descends into the stations of obliteration.⁴⁹⁹ It is the last station where the front rows of the masses meet the back rows of the elites. Whatever is beneath it is self-interest in compensation. Love is the hallmark of the community,⁵⁰⁰ the guide on the path, and the condition of belonging.⁵⁰¹ It is of three levels:

The first level is a love that ends suspicions and whispers,⁵⁰² sweetens one’s service, and lightens tragedies. It is a love that:

1. emanates from beholding grace


2. becomes firm by following the Sunnah


3. blossoms by responding with brokenness

The second level is a love that leads to favoring the True One over all else, keeps the tongue in constant remembrance of Him, and fixates the heart on beholding Him. It is a love that results from:

1. contemplating the attributes


2. beholding the signs⁵⁰³


3. observing the protocols of the stations⁵⁰⁴

The third level is a captivating love that voids the expressions, refines the gestures,⁵⁰⁵and cannot be encompassed by attributes. It is the cornerstone of this matter, and all loves beneath it are [phenomena] spoken of by the tongues, claimed by the creations, and validated by the intellect.⁵⁰⁶

⁴⁹⁷ The drive of pursuing the Beloved and the comforting intimacy with Him upon His acceptance and reciprocation.
⁴⁹⁸ This could mean when you are enjoying Allah’s bounties or enduring through hardship. It may also mean that when you give, you give for Him, and when you withhold, you withhold for Him.
⁴⁹⁹ Many masters argue that subsistence in the station of love is the way of the prophets and greatest seekers, and it is superior to obliteration, intoxication, and all manifestations and realities of self-annihilation.
⁵⁰⁰ The community of seekers.
⁵⁰¹ To that fraternity of seekers.
⁵⁰² Wasâwis could mean doubts or any thoughts competing with devotion to Allah.
⁵⁰³ ‘Ayât’ refers to both the verses of the Qur’an and universal signs.
⁵⁰⁴ As in the stations of this book.
⁵⁰⁵ No explicit speech may describe it, while symbolism may be refined by it.
⁵⁰⁶ The other types of love fall short of this one. They may be mere claims, and when they have realities, they are limited to the sphere of the intellect, which dictates that one love those who are kind to them.