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:
{…He multiplies you thereby…}733 [ash-Shoorâ 42:11]
قَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: "يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ"
Expansion is when [Allah] accords the exterior of the servant with the indications of knowledge and dresses their interior with the garment of devotion. These are the people of disguise.734 They have been expanded in the realm of expansion for one of three purposes; for each purpose a group is dedicated:
الْبَسْطُ: أَنْ يُرْسِلَ شَوَاهِدَ الْعَبْدِ فِي مَدَارِجِ الْعِلْمِ، وَيُسْبِلَ عَلَى بَاطِنِهِ رِدَاءَ الِاخْتِصَاصِ، وَهُمْ أَهْلُ التَّلْبِيسِ،وَإِنَّمَا بُسِطُوا فِي مَيْدَانِ الْبَسْطِ، لِأحَدِ ثَلَاثِ مَعَانٍ، لِكُلِّ مَعْنًى طَائِفَةٌ.
One group has been expanded as a mercy for the creation. They are pleasant towards them735 and mix with them so that they may find illumination in their light, while the realities are collected736 and the inner secrets are protected. 737
فَطَائِفَةٌ بُسِطَتْ رَحْمَةً لِلْخَلْقِ، يُبَاسِطُونَهُمْ وَيُلَابِسُونَهُمْ، فَيَسْتَضِيئُونَ بِنُورِهِمْ، وَالْحَقَائِقُ مَجْمُوعَةٌ، وَالسَّرَائِرُ مَصُونَةٌ.
Another group has been expanded for the strength of their beholding738 and the steadiness of their visions,739 for their insights are not scrambled by indicators740 and the winds of the forms do not attack their procurements,741 so they are expanded in the grip of qabḍ(constriction). 742
وَطَائِفَةٌ بُسِطَتْ لِقُوَّةِ مُعَايَنَتِهِمْ، وَتَصْمِيمِ مَنَاظِرِهِمْ؛ لِأَنَّهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لَا تُخَالِجُ الشَّوَاهِدُ مَشْهُودَهُمْ، وَلَا تَضْرِبُ رِيَاحُ الرُّسُومِ مَوْجُودَهُمْ، فَهُمْ مَبْسُوطُونَ فِي قَبْضَةِ الْقَبْضِ.
Another group was expanded as flags on the path, imams of guidance, and beacons for the travelers.
وَطَائِفَةٌ بُسِطَتْ أَعْلَامًا عَلَى الطَّرِيقِ، وَأَئِمَّةً لِلْهُدَى، وَمَصَابِيحَ لِلسَّالِكِينَ.
733 The verse is about the expansion of provisions and offspring.
734 They act like ordinary people in their customs and habits, but they are completely unlike them in their inner state, manners, and etiquettes.
735The Prophet ﷺ said:
736 They are not distracted by mixing with them.
737 They do not uncover their special relationship with Allah, seeking to safeguard it.
738 Their beholding of the realities beyond the images and ultimately their beholding of the Real with the eyes of their hearts.
739 Their visions penetrated all the variables, so they became immune to change.
740 The indicators (signs) have taken them to His door. After they arrive, they do not depend on them anymore. They leave them in the front yard.
741 The exterior forms and transient phenomena do not ruin the purity of their spiritual procurements.
742None of the virtues of the last station of qabḍ (constriction) is lost by them. They straddle the stations with ease. Allah moves them between them to ensure their ultimate devotion in all conditions. Imam Ibn ‘Aṭâ’ (may Allah bestow mercy on him) says: