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:
{Thereafter We grasped it to Us, an easy (or gradual) grasping.} [al-Furqân 25:46] 725
قَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: "ثُمَّ قَبَضْنَاهُ إِلَيْنَا قَبْضًا يَسِيرًا"
Constriction in this chapter refers to the station of the precious ones 726 whom the Real has spared for Himself. 727 They are of three groups:
الْقَبْضُ فِي هَذَا الْبَابِ اسْمٌ يُشَارُ بِهِ إِلَى مَقَامِ الضَّنَائِنِ الَّذِينَ ادَّخَرَهُمُ الْحَقُّ اصْطِنَاعًا لِنَفْسِهِ. وَهُمْ ثَلَاثُ فِرَقٍ:
A group that He protectively constricted towards Himself, sparing them from the eyes of the people. 728
فِرْقَةٌ قَبْضُهُمْ إِلَيْهِ؛ قَبْضُ التَّوَقِّي، فَضَنَّ بِهِمْ عَنْ أَعْيُنِ الْعَالَمِينَ.
A group that He constricted towards Himself by covering them with the garment of disguise729 and draping them with forms,730 so He concealed them from the eyes of the people. 731
وَفِرْقَةٌ قَبَضَهُمْ بِسِتْرِهِمْ فِي لِبَاسِ التَّلْبِيسِ، وَأَسْبَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَكِلَّةَ الرُّسُومِ، فَأَخْفَاهُمْ عَنْ عُيُونِ الْعَالَمِ.
A group that He constricted from themselves towards Himself, so He brought them secretly into His intimate company and spared them from their selves. 732
وَفِرْقَةٌ قَبْضُهُمْ مِنْهُمْ إِلَيْهِ، فَصَافَاهُمْ مُصَافَاةَ سِرٍّ، فَضَنَّ بِهِمْ عَلَيْهِمْ.
725 This is Dr. Ghâli’s translation. The verses talk about the shadow and how Allah stretches it and then pulls it back. The word ‘qabḍ’ for contraction/constriction appears in this context.
726 The word ḍanâ’in in Arabic means ‘too precious to be shared.’
727 Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah bestow mercy on him) points out in Madârij that the qabḍ in this chapter is not the qabḍ of the beginnings, where Allah causes people distress (tightness in the chests) when they sin in order to invite them to repentance, or when they get distracted in order to save them from heedlessness. This qabḍ belongs to the section of realities, so it is a much higher station. These are people Allah finds too precious to share with anyone. He constricts their hearts from as-siwâ (other than God) so that they become His alone.
728These are the people who seclude themselves and stay away from people. This would be a favorable station in cases of severe fitnah, as at the end of times. The Prophet ﷺ said:
729 People see those awliyâ’ mixing with them like ordinary folks but they are still different, so the people are confounded about them.
730 The mundane forms and phenomena of life most people share, so they go to work, marry, have children, walk through the markets, dress in regular clothes, and so forth.
731By their ordinariness, not by their seclusion or isolation. The Prophet ﷺ said:
732 These seekers are not not paying attention only to the people, but their awe of the Lord makes them unaware of themselves, so they do not see their actions as theirs and they do not see their agency in any of the good they do; they see only His.