Stations
SECTION I
- 001 Wakefulness - اليَقَظَةُ
- 002 Repentance - التَّوْبَةُ
- 003 Self-Reckoning - المُحَاسَبَةُ
- 004 Returning - الإنَابَةُ
- 005 Reflection - التَّفَكُّرُ
- 006 Remembrance - التَّذَكُّرُ
- 007 Taking Shelter - الاعْتِصَامُ
- 008 Fleeing - الفِرَارُ
- 009 Training - الرِّيَاضَةُ
- 010 Hearing - السَّمَاعُ
SECTION II
- 011 Grief - الْحُزْنُ
- 012 Fear - الْخَوْفُ
- 013 Concern - الإشْفَاقُ
- 014 Submissive Solemnity - الْخُشُوعُ
- 015 Serene Submissiveness - الإخْبَاتُ
- 016 Disinterest - الزُّهْدُ
- 017 Pious Conscientiousness - الْوَرَعُ
- 018 Dedication - التَّبَتُّلُ
- 019 Hope - الرَّجَاءُ
- 020 Desirous Quest - الرَّغْبَةُ
SECTION III
- 021 Caring - الرِّعَايَة
- 022 Observance - المُرَاقَبَةُ
- 023 Veneration - الحُرْمَةِ
- 024 Devotion - الإخْلَاصُ
- 025 Refinement - التَّهْذِيبِ
- 026 Straightness - الِاسْتِقَامَة
- 027 Reliance - التَوَكَّل
- 028 Delegation - التَّفْوِيضِ
- 029 Trust - الثِّقَةِ
- 030 Surrender - التَّسْلِيمِ
SECTION IV
- 031 Patience - الصَّبْرِ
- 032 Contentment - الرِّضَا
- 033 Gratefulness - الشُّكْرُ
- 034 Modesty - الْحَيَاءِ
- 035 Truthfulness - الصِّدْقِ
- 036 Altruism - الإيثَارِ
- 037 Character - الخُلُق
- 038 Humbleness - التَّواضُع
- 039 Pietistic Heroism - الْفُتُوَّةِ
- 040 Affability - الانْبِسَاط
SECTION V
- 041 Intent - الْقَصْدِ
- 042 Resolve - الْعَزْمِ
- 043 Willfulness - الْإِرَادَةِ
- 044 Propriety - الأدَبِ
- 045 Certainty - اليَقِين
- 046 Comforting Intimacy - الْأُنْسِ
- 047 Remembrance - الذِّكْرِ
- 048 Poverty - الْفَقْرِ
- 049 Richness - الْغِنَى
- 050 The Sought - الْمُرَاد
SECTION VI
- 051 Excellence - الْإِحْسَانِ
- 052 Knowledge - العِلْمِ
- 053 Wisdom - الحِكْمَةِ
- 054 Insight - الْبَصِيرَة
- 055 Astuteness - الْفِرَاسَةِ
- 056 Exaltation - التعظيم
- 057 Inspiration - الإلهام
- 058 Tranquility - السَّكِينَةُ
- 059 Serenity - الطُّمَأْنِينَة
- 060 Drive - الْهِمَّةِ
SECTION VII
- 061 Love - المَحَبَّةُ
- 062 Protectiveness - الْغَيْرَة
- 063 Yearning - الشَّوْقُ
- 064 Anxiety - الْقَلَقُ
- 065 Thirst - الْعَطَشُ
- 066 Ecstasy - الْوَجْدُ
- 067 Bewilderment - الدَّهَشُ
- 068 Mystification - الْهَيَمَان
- 069 Lightning - البَرْق
- 070 Taste - الذَّوْقِ
SECTION VIII
- 071 Noting - اللَّحْظ
- 072 Timeliness - الْوَقْتُ
- 073 Clarity - الصَّفَاءُ
- 074 Bliss - السُّرُورُ
- 075 Privacy - السِّرُّ
- 076 Breath - النَّفَسُ
- 077 Stranger-ness - الْغُرْبَةُ
- 078 Submersion - الغَرَق
- 079 Absence - الْغَيْبَةُ
- 080 Establishment - التَّمَكُّنِ
SECTION IX
- 081 Disclosure - الْمُكَاشَفَةِ
- 082 Witnessing - الْمُشَاهَدَةُ
- 083 Beholding - المُعَايَنَةُ
- 084 Life - الْحَيَاة
- 085 Constriction - الْقَبْضٌ
- 086 Expansion - الْبَسْطُ
- 087 Intoxication - السُّكْرُ
- 088 Sobriety - الصَّحْوُ
- 089 Connection - الِاتِّصَال
- 090 Detachment - الِانْفِصَال
SECTION X
Allah, the Almighty, said:
{And indeed they are, to Us, among the chosen and outstanding.} [Ṣâd 38: 47]609
قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ }وَإِنَّهُمْ عِنْدَنَا لَمِنَ الْمُصْطَفَيْنَ الْأَخْيَارِ
Aṣ-ṣafâ’ is a word for clearance of any impurities. In this respect, it refers to the cessation of variability.610 It is of three levels:
الصَّفَاءُ اسْمٌ لِلْبَرَاءَةِ مِنَ الْكَدَرِ. وَهُوَ فِي هَذَا الْبَابِ سُقُوطُ التَّلوُّنِ. وَهُوَ عَلَى ثَلَاثِ دَرَجَاتٍ.
The first level is the clarity of knowledge. It:
- refines one for the journey
- reveals the objective of striving
- corrects the aspiration of the seeker
الدَّرَجَةُ الْأُولَى: صَفَاءُ عِلْمٍ:
- يُهَذِّبُ لِسُلُوكِ الطَّرِيقِ
- وَيُبَصِّرُ غَايَةَ الْجِدِّ
- وَيُصَحِّحُ هِمَّةَ الْقَاصِدِ
The second level is the clarity of the ḥâl (inner state), by which:
- the fruition of realization is witnessed611
- the sweetness of intimate dialogue is tasted
- the world is forgotten
والدَّرَجَةُ الثَّانِيَةُ: صَفَاءُ حَالٍ:
- يُشَاهَدُ بِهِ شَوَاهِدُ التَّحْقِيقِ
- وَيُذَاقُ بِهِ حَلَاوَةُ الْمُنَاجَاةِ
- وَيُنْسَى بِهِ الْكَوْنُ
The third level is the clarity of connection, which:
والدَّرَجَةُ الثَّالِثَةُ: صَفَاءُ اتِّصَالٍ:
- يُدْرِجُ حَظَّ الْعُبُودِيَّةِ فِي حَقِّ الرُّبُوبِيَّةِ
- وَيُغْرِقُ نِهَايَاتِ الْخَبَرِ فِي بِدَايَاتِ الْعِيَانِ
- وَيَطْوِي خِسَّةَ التَّكَالِيفِ فِي عَيْنِ الْأَزَلِ
609 Those who were chosen were purified of all impurities. The word used for ‘chosen’ in Arabic is ‘muṣṭafayn,’ (pl. of muṣṭafâ), which comes from the same root as aṣ-safâ’. Those messengers were purified from attachments to other than Him and desires of other than His pleasure.
610 As discussed in the previous station, variable wants and occupations may smudge one’s aspiration, drive, and intention and cause distraction and dispersion.
611 The heart’s realization of the Truth (al-Ḥaqeeqah) is abundantly fruitful. The fruition of that realization is called taḥqeeq.
612 The servant will not be thinking of compensation, but rather considering all they do as a deficient show of gratefulness to their Most Gracious Lord.
613 That is when the heart becomes certain of the revealed truth. Allah said:
{And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth…} (Saba’ 34: 6)
614 While uncomfortably ambiguous, Ibn al-Qayyim suggests in Madârij two ways to properly understand this. The sheikh may have meant that the worship of those who see the injunctions as burdens is a lowly form of worship. He may also have meant that the acts of the servant are lowly because of the servant’s lowliness, and they only become noble when they are attributed to the Lord. The acts of one who sees their acts as their own will always be lowly, but one who sees them as the doing of the Pre-Eternal One will have cleared their acts of that lowliness.