The Self-Forged Mirror

“The self will not go in gladness and with caresses; it must be chased with
sorrow, drowned in tears.”

For twelve years, I was the blacksmith of my soul. I thrust my soul into the furnace of
discipline and made it hot in the flames of arduous endeavour, then I placed it upon the anvil of
reproach and hammered it with the hammer of self-blame, till I had fashioned out of my soul a
mirror. For five years I was my own mirror, and I polished that mirror with every manner of
godly service and obedience. After that I gazed upon my own reflection for a year, and I saw
about my waist an infidel girdle of delusion and coquetry and self-regard, because I relied upon
my own acts of obedience and approved of my own conduct.

BÂYEZÎD BISTÂMÎ

The First Station
(An-Nafs wa Maqam Matiha al-Amarra)
The Nafs (soul) that Orders to Evil

"Nor do I absolve my own self (of blame): the (human) soul is certainly prone to
evil, unless my Lord do bestow His Mercy: but surely my Lord is Oft-forgiving, Most
Merciful.“ (Al Quran 12:53)

The First Station
Traits: narcissistic, mechanical, conditioned,
non-reflective, impulsive.

Habits: pride, enmity, cruelty, lust, stinginess

Light/Colour /Aura : Blue

The First Station
Soul: Mineral Soul (Ruh Madeni)
Located: The Human Skeletal System
As-sadr –The Breast/Chest

Mediation- Dhikr to repeat: La-ilaha ill-lil-lah,
no Gods, but One God.

An-Nafs wa Maqam Matiha al-Amarra:
The Nafs that Orders to Evil
The First Station

“I claim not that my soul was innocent, indeed the soul incites to evil,
except in as much as my Lord has mercy.” (12:53)

The nafs that orders to evil: its walking, its world, its place, its state, its attributes, its ugly qualities, and how
to be free from it and rise to the second station where it acquires the quality of al-lawamma, the state of the
nafs that is self-reproaching.

The walking of the nafs al-amarra is toward Allah; its world is that world of the seeing; its place is in the
chest; its state is inclination ( wa-raiiduha ); and its source of inspiration is the shari'a .

Know that the seven nafs are one, and it is named differently according to its attributes which are the
inciting to evil ( al-amarra ), the reproachful ( al-lawamma ), the inspired ( al-mulhama ), the arrested ( al-
mutma'inna ), the pleased ( ar-radiyya ), the pleasing ( al-mardiyya ), and the perfect or complete ( an-nafs
al-kamala ).

Know that the nafs is the heart about which Allah says, “This is a reminder for whoever has a heart.” (Quran
50:37)

What is indicated by the word “heart” is not a piece of flesh, but is a subtlety established by the Lord which
may lean toward the physical body and which may become established in following its appetites. By this I
mean the animal spirit which loses its preferred qualities and takes on lowly qualities.

It becomes like the animals, and the shaitan (satan) becomes one of its soldiers. Some of its
qualities are ignorance, greed, arrogance, anger, appetite, hatred, forgetfulness, envy, hurting
others with the hand and the tongue, and other ugly qualities. All this is an evil nafs . The
Prophet Yusuf (Joseph), speaking about this, said, “Surely the nafs commands to evil.” (12:53)

The Messenger of Allah, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, said, “Your greatest
enemy is your self that is between your two sides.” This is because the nafs inhabits the
darkness of the physical world. It does not distinguish between right and wrong (truth, al-haqq )
and the force (battle); it does not distinguish between good and evil. The accursed shaitan
cannot influence humanity except through its venue. So, O seeker, be wary of it. Do not trust it.
Do not help it. Do not support it; on the contrary, stop it. Cut down on your food, on your drink,
and on your sleep that you may weaken the animal nafs that grow on satisfying its appetites. If
you weaken it, then you are closer to release from it.

Let your dhikr (remembrance) in this station be la ilaha illa'llah while extending the laa and
emphasize the iil in ilaha and emphasize illa'llah . (NO God BUT Allah) LAA IILaha ILL Allah, LAA
IILaha ILL Allah, LAA IILaha ILL Allah . And do not be lazy in emphasizing the ILL of illa ; LAA IILaha
ILL Allah, but if you do not, then the ii turns into a ya sound, and this is not the word of at-
tawhid and there is no benefit in its repetition. Most of the people who do dhikr are not aware
of this point. Do this dhikr standing, sitting, and on your side at all times out loud. The effect of
this dhikr is only felt after much loud repetition in the nightt ime and in the daytime.

Allah says in Hadith Qudsi , “ La ilaha illa'llah is My fortress; whoever enters My fortress is safe
from My punishment. And the Messenger of Allah said, “ La ilaha illa'llah is the best of adh-dhikr
and the best of good action. Those most likely to receive my intercession are the ones who say it
purely from their hearts.” There is no slave who says it before he dies except that he enters the
garden ( al-janna ), even if he commits adultery and even if he steals. Allah says in Hadith Qudsi ,
“ I am in the good opinion of My slave. I am with him if he remembers Me. If he remembers me
in a place, I remember him in a better place.”

The Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessing be upon him, said, “When people sit in
remembrance of Allah, they are surrounded by angels and they are covered with mercy and
they receive al-sakina , which is the peace inspired by Allah, and Allah mentions them in His
assembly.”

And the Messenger of Allah, may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, said, “If you pass by
the gardens of heaven, then graze there.” And he was asked, “And what are the gardens of
heaven?” He answered, “ The gatherings of adh-dhikr .”

So, O you who seek freedom from your enemies, enter the fortress of your Lord, which is to
repeat la ilaha illa'llah . Release your noble self from the prison of the body so that you may
arrive at the higher stations. Know that the seeker continues with this adh-dhikr until it brings
him to His presence. The seeker continues this adh-dhikr without much pleasure in its meaning
until the dark veils are lifted from his heart, and he is able to witness with inner sight that all
movement and stillness, all giving and withholding, and benefit and harm are from Allah. This
becomes a tasting which is witnessing from the state, not just from belief.

This witnessing through tasting is only known to those who taste. Its outward signs are that you
no longer hate any creature, and you do not cause harm to a believer, an unbeliever, an animal,
or to your enemy. When you say la ilaha , release from your heart anything that you worship
other than Allah, and when you say illa'llah , say it with strength and in a state of presence and
awe. Close your eyes and listen to what you say. Be in a state of purity and beware of what you
eat. All ugly qualities arise from a full stomach, even in the stomach that is full of halal (pure)
food; so how much worse if it is full of haram (forbidden) food.

Polish the mirror of your heart and remove the rust that stops you from perceiving the realities
of things and from understanding the finer points. Know that your mirror in this station is very
rusted with the rust of arrogance, envy, hatred, appetite, greed, resentment, and other qualities
that you know in yourself. It is very important in this station to clean yourself from these
impurities that stop the heart from piercing the unseen. Do this by strong dhikr , and by
reducing your food and sleep, so that you tighten the roads the shaitan travels in you.

Know that this station in which the nafs is called the inciting ( amarra ) is a prison and is the
lowest of the low. So it is most important to be freed from it. The raising of the voice is
important to awaken the nafs from its habitual forgetfulness. So do adh-dhikr strongly, stand
with the shari'a , take your nafs into account every hour, put fear into your nafs with the thought
of death and the punishment of the grave and the other difficulties it will have to cross.

Know that in this station you go through the two states of fear and hope. When you are done
with this station, your fear turns into constriction ( qadb ) and your hope turns into expansion
(bast). Then your state of constriction turns into a state of awe and the state of expansion turns
into a feeling of being home, a feeling of familiarity.

If you reach to a degree of perfection, then constriction is experienced as al-jalal and expansion
is experienced as al-jamal . In this first station you always need to remember the reason for fear
because this is more useful to you than holding on to hope. But if fear becomes extensive or
extreme and you become desperate, then you need to remember the reasons for hope, such as
the mercy of Allah, His forgiveness, and His nobility.

You need to be in constant state of humility and surrender. Plead to Allah and ask Him to release
you from this station through His gentleness and generosity, and increase you from his station
through His gentleness and generosity and increase your dua , your prayers to Allah. Do not ever
tire of pleading to Allah. Do not ever say to yourself that Allah does not accept your prayer
because this will cut you off from the Haqq (truth).

The Prophet, may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, said, “Supplication ( dua ) is
worship.” And Allah, Glory be to Him, says, “Call upon Me, I will respond to you. Those who are
too arrogant to plead with Me will enter the Hell-fire.” (40:60-1) And the Messenger of Allah,
may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, said, “Supplication is the matter of worship.”(1)
And he said, “Nothing stops the decree except supplication, and supplication protects you from
harm.” Whoever wants Allah to answer his call in hard times, “Let him plead to Allah in easy
times.”

Know that no one turns to Allah in supplication without receiving what he asks for sooner or
later. See the generosity of your Lord-how He makes your supplication affect His order.(2) See
how generous Allah is, that He gets upset if He is not asked.(3) So how can you turn your back to
the One who has opened many doors of generosity to you?(4) And how can you turn to His
enemies, the shaitan , the dunya (this material world), and the appetites?

Know that you have been made with a predisposition to the best and that you are made for al-
khalifa and to hold the highest authority. Remember that your father (Adam) was the Qibla for
the angels; remember that Allah (swt) taught him the names; remember that he was the vice-
regent of Allah on His earth.

So my beloved, awake from your forgetfulness that has destroyed you, put you in a lowly
position, and demeaned you, and turn toward what you absolutely need, and draw near
through good action before you are taken to His presence in chains.

He said to you, “My slave, if you draw near to Me by the span of a hand's length, I draw near to
you by the length of an arm; and if you draw near to Me by an arm's length, then I draw near to
you by the span of two arms length; and if you come near to Me walking, I come to you
running.”

So abandon hesitation, and leave what preoccupies you and distracts you from your Lord. Help
yourself by being satisfied with what you have, whether it be much or little, and leave alone the
vanishing pleasures. Be preoccupied with what helps you. And do not delay your repentance
and drawing near to Allah because you do not know how much time you have left in this dunya .

The Messenger of Allah said, “Leave the dunya to its people. If anyone takes from the dunya any
more than he needs, he is hurting himself without realizing it.”

My beloved, when you are in this station that is narrow and vile, pray for freedom from the
constrictions of the nafs to enter into the expanse of the soul ( al-ruh ). Pray that you should let
go of all the ugly qualities I have mentioned, and take on the beautiful qualities that please your
Lord. Substitute pride for humility, hatred for love, ostentation for sincerity, and fame for
obscurity until there is no one left who still either commends or condemns you. And know that
if you are busy with releasing yourself from every ugly quality and changing it to every beautiful
quality, then you will see what is amazing, and you will reveal the hidden secrets, and you will
understand the following saying:

Your cure is in you,
But you do not see;
Your sickness is from you,
But you do not feel;
You allege that you are a small star,
While you contain the whole
Cosmos.
Al ghazzali

The Second Station
(Nafs al Lawwamah )
Reproachful self

Quran Ref:
“And I swear by the reproachful soul!” (75:1-2)

The Second Station
(Nafs al Lawwamah )
Reproachful self
Traits: conscience, capacity for self-observation

Habits:
backbiting, trickery, conceitedness, hypocrisy, self-
consciousness, guilt, fearfulness, wishful thinking, intense
desire to please others.

Light/Colour /Aura : Yellow

The Second Station
Soul: (Ruh Nabati) Vegetable soul
Located: Liver and related to the digestive system.
Al- Qalb – The heart

Mediation- Ya Allah
O The God

An-Nafs al-Lawamma: The Reproachable Nafs
The Second Station

“I swear by the day of Arising! And I swear by the reproachful soul!” (75:1-2)

This is the study of the nafs al-lawamma, showing its walking, its world, its place, its states, its
source of guidance, its attributes, and the course of treatment to be released from it and to
ascend beyond it to the third station in which the soul (nafs) becomes inspired.

The walking of the nafs al-lawamma is for Allah; its world is the world of al-barzakh (a veil
partition between this world and resurrection); its place is the heart; its slave is love; its source
(warid) or leader is the way (at-tariqa); its attributes are: reproachfulness, arrogance, self-
satisfaction, abandonment of the company of people because of an objection to creation,
hidden pride, the love of appetites, and the love of a high position.

The nafs still has traces of the attributes of the nafs al-amarra, but it has the discrimination of
knowing the truth as truth and seeing falsity as false. It knows that these attributes are ugly but
is not free of them. It has a desire to struggle and to be compliant with the shari'a. It has good
action in prayer, fasting, and charity, but these good acts are mixed with pride. The person in
this station, even though he hides his good actions, likes to be praised for them and cannot
totally remove this desire from his heart.

The Messenger of Allah said, “All people except those who know will perish, and all those who know except
men of deeds will perish, and all men of deeds except the sincere will perish.” Then he added, “And all the
sincere ones are in grave danger.”

This is because the sincere ones still want others to know of their sincerity, and this is the
hidden pride. These people perform their good actions for people and not for Allah, and this is a
hidden sin. Know that if you have these attributes, you are in the second station and know that
your nafs are reproachful (al-lawamma), and that it is a dangerous station for the reasons we
have explained.

So if you say that this contradicts the saying of the Prophet, “Had the mu'minin entered a lizard's
hole (al-juhr), Allah would have sent someone to harm him,” and his saying, “The dunya is the
prison of the mu'min,” I would say to you that these hadith refer to the righteous people who
have some fear (awe) of Allah, except that they have not freed themselves from the impurities
of the nafs, and so they are not free from the toil of the dunya (this material world). For that
reason Allah has promised them reward in the Hereafter (al-akhira). As for those very few who
are brought near (al-muqarrabun)(56:11;83:21), what would they be hurt by or imprisoned by?
They are free from the dunya.

The nearest ones reach the seventh state avoiding this state of danger. Salvation from danger
comes by vanishing. They enter into the presence of Allah Who grants them His grace. This is the
difference between the righteous and the nearest, between the toil of the former and the
comfort of the latter. To illustrate their condition, we say they are like a tree whose branches
bear poisonous fruit. The righteous begin to remove the fruit and the branches, whereas the
nearest work to uproot the tree altogether. So, it is the nearest whose work is fruitful. They seek
the fana' (annihilation) in themselves and survival in their Lord.

So my beloved, if you wish to be one of them, to be free of all pain, and to have rest at all times,
then walk their way and continue to walk from station to station until you arrive at the seventh
station, which is al-nafs al-kamala. There you will see what will amaze you. At every station you
will see what pleases you and what inspires you to keep walking and to ascend the stations
through the struggle (al-mujahada) with the nafs. You will busy yourself with the names. In
every station there is a particular name devoted to that maqam, and the busier you are with
your Lord and His attributes, the closer you get.

If you become lazy, you have only yourself to blame. You need to engage in the struggle with the
nafs, and to leave your old habits, which are so many that they cannot be counted, but the path
has well established principles. You need to acquire at least six of them: reducing food, reducing
sleep, reducing talk, keeping away from sins, engaging in adh-dhikr, and reflection.

These six practices are more important than anything else. If the seeker engages in them with
sincerity, they help him to leave old habits. But what is required in these practices is a middle
way between excess and lack. So it is said to reduce your food; it is not said to stop eating. Do
not eat unless you are hungry and do not eat until you are full. It is useful to leave the habit of
eating a required lunch and dinner.

The Messenger of Allah said, “We are people who do not eat unless we are hungry, and if we
eat we do not fill up.” He also said, “There is nothing worse that is filled by humans than the
filling of the stomach. And if you need to put something into it, then know one third is for food,
one third is for drink, and one third is for breath (air).” The seeker takes on this practice to turn
his nafs toward the Haqq (truth/reality).

But he needs to give himself rest because changes in temperament will corrupt states and
stations. For example, if the seeker feels sick, then he needs to relax in his struggle with his nafs
and engage himself in taking care of his temperament. After returning to health, he can re-
engage in his struggle with his nafs, but with caution.

In this second maqam (station), you engage in adh-dhikr of Allah. Do remembrance in
abundance- standing, sitting, and on your side, in the night, in the day, and at specified times
when you sit facing the Qibla. Repeat the name with strength and with raising your voice, and
do not tilt yourself to the right or the left. Put a stress on the first A, and make the ah quiet, and
elongate the name-ALLLah, and do not do it fast. Know that in this station, you have many
thoughts, many whisperings, and many ideas, especially if you do the dhikr with a middle voice.
If you do it with a strong voice then the thoughts will be quieter.
Assign yourself times when you sit facing the Qibla (Mecca).

ALLAH
This name is a fire that burns all thoughts and whisperings. Be concerned to preoccupy yourself
with the dhikr, and do not pay attention to the thoughts. You cannot quickly free yourself from
all thoughts because the mirror of your heart is still facing creation. Your heart is full of the
pictures of creation concerned with actions, beauties, ugliness, and movement. These pictures
cannot be removed until you turn your back to all of creation. Then there is no trace of all the
pictures of creation and you do not hear their words. As long as you do not disengage, you will
find these thoughts and whisperings in your heart, and they will trouble you. Know that creation
will veil you from the truth. If you are truly thirsty for arrival, then leave creation alone and say,
“I am traveling to my Lord Who will guide me.”

Know that this path is a serious path and a path of struggle. Whoever is serious and struggles
will achieve everything that he desires and more. Whoever is lazy and negligent will have no
arrival because of the many obstacles. The greatest obstacles are relying on creation, leaning
toward it, and sitting with others. Whoever does not cut off these obstacles does not have
arrival because what is sought is contrary to what the people of adh-dunya are engaged in with
their words and in their hearts. So if you wish to reach the highest station, leave creation
completely and forget everything that is an obstacle to you, and busy yourself with your Lord.
Then you will become familiar with the Haqq and you will see what amazes you, Allah willing.

If you do not follow these instructions, you will spend your time in toil and tiredness and will not
reach your desire. So be serious in removing all traces of the nafs al-amarra whenever in
manifest pride, envy, enmity, and bad opinion of the creation. You cannot be free of all these
things unless you avoid the dunya and cut yourself off from it outwardly and inwardly. In this
maqam you are not bound to the order to command to good and to prohibit evil, because this
command can only be exercised with gentleness and modesty, and in this station you do not
possess these qualities. The Messenger of Allah said, “Whoever commands to good, let him
command with goodness,” meaning gentleness. At this stage the most important thing is to
release yourself from destruction and to purify your heart from the evils that obstruct your
walking and prevent you from witnessing the Haqq. Because the heart is the place of seeing the
Haqq, the purification of the heart becomes obligatory and necessary. Let your prayer be, “O
Disposer of hearts, turn my heart to Your obedience.” It is good to say this prayer at sunrise and
sunset. Ask Allah to turn your heart from forgetfulness to remembrance, from laughter to
weeping, from fear to security, and from contraction to expansion. The summation of all these
prayers is to ask to be put on the straight path.

In this station you will understand the secret of the Prophet's saying, “The hearts of the slaves
are between the two fingers of the Merciful.” Allah is the provider. He alone can make you
oblivious to the pain of struggle, and He can increase your desire to walk the path, and He can
make you shun everything other than Allah. This is possible if you do what you have just been
told. If you do not, you will feel the tiredness and toil.

If you think that you have received the secret of these works without struggle, then you know
that this is a false claim from the nafs because that nafs always make claims of perfection and
completion. Know that completion is only witnessed after struggle with the nafs. So struggle
with your nafs and reveal the hidden jewels. Do not be deceived by the claims of the tongue.
Whoever claims to have what he does not have will be put to the test. So test your nafs; do not
believe your nafs. Be the one who takes the nafs into account every time your nafs does what is
contrary to the tariqa (path). So refute the nafs and inform your shaykh. Do not conceal any of
its ugly qualities from him because whenever you receive the secrets from this tariqa, you will
benefit.

You need to be watchful of any traces of arrogance, confusion, and making false claims. Be
sincere and truthful in your seeking and in your struggle with the nafs (al-mujahada), and in this
way perceive the wonders and the secrets of the heart. This is the doorway to the imaginal
world (al-mithal), which is a world different from the one you are in now. This world is only
known to those in the station of the heart, which is at the end of the second station (an-nafs al-
lawamma).

This is the first station (an-nafs al-lawamma) of those who are brought or drawn near. The
traveller (as-salik) begins to perceive what cannot be perceived by the senses. This is because
the heart of the believer is the throne of Allah and the house of Allah, meaning that it is the
place where the secrets of Allah are kept. So follow the shari'a which is al-Qur'an and al-hadith
of the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him. Take on the qualities of the
tariqa, which are the actions of the Prophet-extreme hunger, little sleep, and silence. If the
Messenger of Allah spoke, he only spoke of good things. He was silent much of the time. He
laughed little. So follow his form and his states and act on them. If you do this, springs of
wisdom will gush forth from your heart expressing themselves by your tongue. You will be a
traveller walking the path of those who are near, which will confirm your traveling to the
presence of al-jabbar.

One of the first stopping places on this journey in the world of the mithal is your encounter with
celestial bodies, which are pictures or forms midway between the coarseness of the body and
the subtlety of the spirit. What you see will strengthen your himma for traveling, increase your
yearning, kindle the fire of the love in your heart, and cut you off from all appetites, desires, and
passions of the nafs. But know that entrance into the world of al-mithal is only for the travellers
(as-salik). It is a state called the inevitable event (al-waqi'a), intermediate between wakefulness
and sleep. It is important that you are aware of this place and time, and that you know of the
existence of this intermediary space. If you do not have an awareness of this state, then your
sleep is only sleep and is of no consequence.

In the beginning the travellers are overcome by sleep. Later they are more wakeful, so that
when they see spiritual bodies, they think they see them in a waking state. In reality they see
them in this inner space. It is in this state that Jibra'il came to the companions of the Prophet in
the form of an Arab carrying the spirit of the Prophet.

It is important to purify the nafs and the heart. The sign that the heart has been purified is its
receptivity to inspiration and divine knowledge, and its agreement with the Qur'an and the
sunnah. Evidence for the purification of the nafs comes when it is free from anger, envy, pride,
and hatred of some parts while inclined toward other parts of creation. The right state is when
all creation is equal in your sight; to love everyone, but not so excessively that is cuts you off
from the Haqq, nor to hate anyone inwardly so that it occupies you from the remembrance of
the Haqq. It is important in this station for the salik to cut off his appetites for food and clothing.
If you see that you have a preference for some foods and not for others, or you have a
preference in what you wear, then you need to struggle with your self to avoid excess and
negligence by these two worldly goods. This is the first step toward the nafs al-kamala because
the perfection (al-kamala) is not arrived at unless you wean yourself from the appetite for food
and clothing. If you find that you still have these appetites, know that you are not on the path
toward the Haqq, the path of those who are brought near. If this claim to be on the path is made
while these appetites persist, know that this is the claim of the shaitan. Those who do not stop
these habits will fall into them and stop traveling. If you want arrival, then disconnect from
everything that stops you form reaching your Beloved. Avoid everything other than Allah. Do
not sit with anyone, even if he claims to be al-Khidr, if you see him preoccupied with creation in
his actions and if you do not see him engaged in the actions of the people of traveling, which is
the only way to reach Allah.

Know that the heart has a side facing the outward world which is under the governance of the
five senses, and it does not know anything of this outside world except through these senses.
The heart also has a side facing the unseen world which is the world of the malakut. Whenever
you turn toward the seen world with your five senses, you turn away from the unseen world. In
the beginning you cannot be turned to both sides at the same time. Whenever you turn toward
one side, the other becomes absent, and there is a big difference between the two worlds. The
seen world is extremely far away from the presence of the Haqq. If the heart turns to the seen
world and leaves the unseen world, it becomes like an animal. This is why a person becomes
captive to his appetites, to anger, to engaging in sleep and in what does not concern him, and in
argumentation and confrontation without concern for the ending of his affairs. But if he turns to
the unseen world by following the orders, leaving the prohibited, leaving everything that does
not concern him, leaving excess talk, excess sleep and excess eating, then he takes on the
angelic attributes. Anger and appetite come under his command, and he becomes an insan al-
kamal worthy of the trust.

Know that anger and appetites are like rust. Just as a mirror cannot receive images if it is
covered with darkness, the ruh cannot receive the tajalli (manifestations) if it is covered with
anger and appetite, unless these two qualities are governed by the directives of the shari'a.

The deficiencies of the nafs are many. Only the sincere among the travellers can walk through
them. This is through al-mujahada, through seeking the aid of Allah in opposing the shaitan and
the resistance of humankind and the jinn. Everyone in existence seeks to stop the traveller from
reaching his Lord out of envy and jealously, because they know that whoever crosses this path is
given sovereignty over them!

Know that envy only hurts the one who exercises it. The traveller should not pay any attention
to envy, to those who are envious, nor fear envy. This is possible when the traveller knows that
Allah is closer to him than anything else, and knows that he does not move a foot except by the
will and the power of Allah. He holds onto the knowledge that Allah knows everything in the
heavens and on earth, and that Allah has a greater mercy toward him than any mother is
capable of having for her child. Only good comes from Allah; evil is only in the outward of
things. If you were to look inward, you would know that everything is good. What is called evil is
simply what does not agree or accord with the nature of people. Goodness is connected to the
great essence, which is perceived only through the cleaning of the heart, which becomes a
witnessing through the cleaning of the heart, which becomes a witnessing through tasting.

If you know this, then you know four things: there is nothing that can oppose the power of
Allah; Allah has knowledge of everything; Allah is very tender and the Most Merciful; and all
actions of Allah are good.

Whoever knows these matters is not afraid of the plotting of the envious and has no fear of
people or of shaitan. So, O traveller, hold onto these four knowing, contemplate their meanings,
be truthful in your turning to Allah, and do not turn to anything that does not concern you.
When you truly know that Allah has power over everything, this increases your himma in
turning to Him, in your prayer to Him and in your confidence in His answering you. Any petition
that is made in this state is never denied.

As for your realization that He has knowledge of everything, that He is gentle and merciful, and
that all His actions are good, these are the qualities or the knowledge that establishes you in the
station on reliance on Allah, acceptance of Allah, yearning for Allah, love of Allah, and other
such stations and states, and that help you in your ascension to the third maqam, which is called
the secure and inspired station (al-maqam al-mulhama). From that you ascend to the complete
rest and satisfaction station (an-nafs al-mutma'inna), then to the well-pleased station (an-nafs
ar-radiyya), then to the well-pleasing station (an-nafs al-mardiyya), and then to the perfect
station (an-nafs al-kamala).

Know that it is a custom of Allah that the precondition for ascension from the second to the
third station happens only at the hand of the Gnostic traveller who has knowledge of the
stations and the states of the way. Allah does break with customs. It is possible that one can
ascend if he has understanding and intelligence, especially if he studies the teachings in the
books. Then Allah will give him the helping hand of one of the knower's. Progression from the
third to the fourth maqam can only happen with the perfect traveller, who is not necessarily the
perfect Gnostic. You do not say about anyone that he is the perfect traveller unless he has
perfected the fourth station where the nafs is called al-mutma'inna. Progression to the forth
station is only possible with the perfect one (al-kamala) because the third station is one of the
most difficult and one of the most dangerous stations. It combines both good and evil, benefit
and harm. It is easy to confuse the Haqq with what is false and disbelief with realization, except
for those whose worship and whose following of the shari'a has become customary, who have a
noble disposition of the nafs, who are generous, who are correct in their perception of the
revelation, and who see the truth as truth and falsity as false. It will become clear how
dangerous this third maqam is.

As for the ascension from the fourth to the fifth and then on to the sixth and seventh, except for
a few, the traveller does not need the hand of the guide because when Allah lights up the light
in the heart from the light of the Perfected One, then the traveller sees all the perfections, and
all he needs is the himma (spiritual striving/aspiration) to reach them. He does not need the
guide so much. This is how you know that the fourth station is al-kamil even through it is of the
lower rank of perfection.

On the Day you will see the believing men and believing women,
their light proceeding before them and on their right, [it will be said],
"Your good tidings today are [of] gardens beneath which rivers flow,
wherein you will abide eternally."
That is what is the great attainment.
Quran Al-Hadid (57:12)

The Third Station
(Nafs al Mulhimah)
Inspired Self

Quran Ref:
And a Soul (nafs) and Him who perfected it and inspired it with a sense of
what is wrong for it and what is right for it. (Qur'an 91:8)

The Third Station
(Nafs al Mulhimah)
Inspired Self
Traits: generosity, gratitude, modesty, empathy, ardent desire.

Habits:
Liberality, lacking discrimination, mystical inflation, tendency
toward spiritual greed.

Light/Colour /Aura : Red

The Third Station
Soul: (Ruh Haywani) Animal soul
Location: Heart & Circulatory system
Ar-Ruh -The Spirit

Mediation-Ya Hu!
O He

An-Nafs al-Mulhama: The Station of the Inspired Nafs
The Third Station

“By the soul that which shaped it and inspired it with its dissolution and its piety.” (91: 7-8)

The inspired nafs: its walking, world, place, condition, source (warid), and qualities as well as the
remedy to walk through it and be elevated to the fourth station.

Its walking is helped by Allah. This means that the traveller in this station sees only Allah, the
Exalted, and this is because the reality of his faith has permeated his inward, and in the outward
he annihilates everything other than Allah in his witnessing.

Its world is the spirit world; its place is the spirit; its state is deep love; its source (warid) is
gnosis (ma'rifa); its attributes are generosity, acceptance of what is, knowledge, modesty,
patience, gentleness, and the capacity to withstand pain, to forgive people, to encourage people
into concordance, and to witness that Allah has everything in His grasp. So an-nafs al-mulhama
has no objection to any of Allah's creation. Also among the qualities in this station are yearning,
weeping, restlessness, withdrawing from creation, being busy with the Haqq, constantly under
the turning of contraction and expansion, the absence of fear and hope, the love of beautiful
sounds, the love of dhikr, joy with Allah, and speaking with wisdom, gnosis, and witnessing.
These are the descriptions of the nafs al-mulhama. It is called this because Allah inspired it to
know its weak and strong sides, to know what is good for it and what is harmful to it. It hears
the whisperings of the angels and the devil.

This maqam is very dangerous and very difficult. The seeker or the traveller requires someone to
help him leave the darkness of ambivalence and enter into the light of the tajalli (manifestation).
He needs this help because in this station he is weak, he does not distinguish between jamal
and jalal, and he does not distinguish between what comes through the angel and what comes
through the shaitan, as he is not totally free of his humanity. It is feared for him in this station
that if he forgets himself he will descend to the lowest of the low, by which I mean the first
station, which is the station called the one inciting to evil. If this happens, he returns to his old
habits regarding eating, drinking, sleeping and mixing a lot with creation. His beliefs may be
corrupted by leaving his obligations, taking on prohibitions, claiming that he is in the state of
unity, and claiming that he has revelation (al-kashf) from Allah. He may look at the people of
obedience and say, “They are simply veiled from this witnessing.” If his belief system is
corrupted, he will be destroyed along with the others, and he will become one of the
unbelievers (al-kufr), or the mushrikin, those who associate with Allah. The fire of the physical
aspect will ignite one more time and burn up any traces of faith. He will lose all his efforts. He
will gain nothing. On the contrary, he becomes a shaitan who is lost and who makes others lose
their way. He will have imaginings of the shaitan which he will think are tajalli (manifestations)
from the Rahman (the Merciful one). This can all happen after he has succeeded in pulverizing
much of his humanity, strengthening his spirituality, clearing many of the veils in his heart, being
close to success, with little left to continue his walk to enter into the presence of the king. He
may have drawn very close to the unity and become strong in his struggling against his nafs. This
calamity may ensure when he is very close to the station of the maqam of perfection, because
here he loses all sense of fear, which in the earlier stations kept him from acts of disobedience
and encouraged him to take on acts of obedience. When they lose their fear there are very few
who still hold on to the shari'a.

So, O seeker, follow your shaykh even if your nafs start telling you that you are more advanced
that your shaykh and that you are in the state of unity, while your shaykh is still veiled.
You need to follow the shari'a and you need to hold onto al-adab (manners/respect).
So, O seeker of completion, let go of any traces of the nafs. Do not let what appear to you to be
states of unity be the cause for you to turn back and be cut off. Continue to tear the veils of light
and ask for the presence of the unity. Do not pay attention to the manifestation of celestial
lights because this is a veil that stops you from reaching the essence. If you do this, it will cause
to your return to the station of the animals. So keep the practices that allowed you to reach the
state of unveiling, and this will help you to remove more veils. Continue staying up at night,
continue with hunger, continue with seclusion, continue to speak little, and hold onto the
coattails of your shaykh, if your shaykh is one of the complete ones. Keep telling him what
comes into your mind whether it is beautiful or ugly. To the extent that you continue your trust
in your shaykh, this will increase your attraction to the holy world (‘alam al-quds) and this will
weaken your humanity. It is very possible in this station that you start to believe that you are
more knowledgeable than your shaykh. This will only cut you off from his spiritual help. So let go
of this thought and know that your shaykh is complete and is following the prophet Muhammad
(pbuh). Enter under his protection and be convinced that your freedom is in his hands. Be in his
hands like the dead with the washer. Do not object to any of his states. If you find yourself
objecting, then let him know and repent your wrongs. If it has not been given to you to keep
the company of the complete one, then treat yourself by following the shari'a and the practice
of reading the invocations (wirds) that were given to us by the prophets, peace and blessings be
upon them. Increase your salaams on the Prophet, increase your asking for forgiveness, and
generally increase your dhikr. Keep the company of holy people and keep the company of those
who are seeking what you seek. Keep the company of those who have made their migration to
Allah.

In summary, this third station combines both good and evil. If you find that the good in your soul
overcomes the evil, then you are able to walk through the higher stations, but if the evil
overcomes the good, then you will descend to the lowest of the low. If you find this then you
need to put your self down and not give your self any credence. You know that your goodness is
overcoming your evil if you find in your inward a lot of evidence of the faith that emanates from
the reality, if you see that your outward is in accordance with the Islamic shari'a, if your inward
carries the certainty that everything that is in existence is under the will of Allah and held by His
power, and if your outward is busy fulfilling the orders of Allah avoiding the grave sins and most
of the smaller ones.

The sign of more evil than good is that while there is a strong witness of the reality in the
inward, his outward is not in accordance with the shari'a. He leaves his obligations, and it would
not be surprising if he committed sins. This is because of the effect of witnessing the reality
which makes him believe that all his actions are in accordance with what Allah wills. The light
the haqiqa veil him from the secrets of the shari'a. The effect of this is that he is discharged from
the presence (al-hadra). The end result is that he will lose his dunya and his religion (ad-din).
The evil overcomes the good, he becomes an unbeliever (zindiq), and he does not adhere to any
religion. At this point it is hard to distinguish between him and an animal.

If you leave everything that is not pleasing to Allah, you will be given insight and every good,
because then you will see with the eye of Allah, you will hear with the ear of Allah, you will
become a gnostic by Allah, walking in Allah or by Allah. In this spiritual station you will have the
subtleties, you will be close to completion, you will be close to arrival, most veils will be
removed from you, especially the darker or coarser ones, and you will have let go of most of the
appetites of the nafs because this maqam is for the spirit.

Even though there is still some veiling, the veils here are from the light, and its appetite is
acceptable, because the appetite here is to see the Haqq, to seek witnessing, and to seek
arrival, and this is because love has overtaken it.

In this station you are one of the people passionately in love, overtaken by love, who have no
patience with being separated from their Beloved. In this station, let go of the mixing with
creation. So that you may not be concerned with them, you have to stay away form them by
Allah.

Know that many claim this love but few are truthful. The truthful ones are the ones who have
nothing in their hearts except their Beloved. They forget all of creation. What people do never
comes to their minds. They do not mention the dunya. They are not concerned with dunya.
People may see such a person and say that he is mad, but they are not aware of his elevated and
strong state. Know my beloved, that the condition for any lover is to be totally in obedience to
his Beloved. Do not think that throwing off restraint mean abandoning the Shari'a.

You disobey your God and you claim his love;
This is indeed very strange!
If your love were true, you would have obeyed Him;
Surely the lover is totally obedient to his Beloved.

Beware of slipping. Do not think you that you need “to remove all restraint” i.e. Even leave the
orders of the shari'a. This is what those who are misguided think. These are the people who
have not left the world of the humanity. They have no knowledge of the haqiqa or of the
following of the shari'a. They abandon ritual prayers and fasts, pursue their appetites, and
commit sins while they claim that they are in the unity and lovers of the Haqq. They say what
they are doing is simply an example of having no restraints, and that they are not obligated by
the shari'a. Beware, O murid, O seeker, that you are not overtaken by the shaitan in this
witnessing. Know that the restraints that you need to remove are of the nafs and evil passion.
What is meant is that you should be in concordance with the shari'a, which discourages your
having a high station in the world of creation. You should do everything to belittle yourself with
creation. You may do things like carrying your shopping on your back or carrying the bread on
your head. The reactions to these things vary. For some these actions may look abased; to
others they may look more esteemed. So you need to take on the actions that make you look
small. You do them, trusting your affairs to Allah. If you do good, you do good to yourself, and if
you do evil, you do it against yourself.

Do not do what is contrary to the shari'a as a means of belittling the ego i.e. belittle yourself in
the eyes of people, such as drinking wine or doing anything else that is haram. This is a ploy of
the shaitan that will cut you off from higher aspirations. Everything that is haram causes
blackness in the heart. Whenever the heart is darkened, the way things are seen is contrary to
the reality. If you are sincere in seeking what demeans you and belittles you in the eyes of
people, then do those things that are allowed by the shari'a. There are many things that are
useful in this way, yet are still halal. If you take on the haram, this will only harm all the good
work you have done so far.

You should take on things that do not undermine all your good work. Do things that benefit you
and help you on your way to arrival. The means of removing restraint that is acceptable by the
shari'a and helps you on your way to meet your Beloved are many. For example: Wearing fancy
clothes may be a reason, impeding you because you need to expend much energy to be able to
afford them. This takes up time that you could be using in your walking on the path to Allah.

Know, my beloved, that in this station it is not so difficult for you to remove all restraints
because this maqam is the maqam of the deep love. Know that when you are done with
removing restraints, your nafs that follow ash-shaitan and prevent you from reaching the Haqq
are dead, and you are capable of receiving messages from the spiritual world. It says in a verse
in al-Qur'an, “Say Allah and let them plunge in their playing.” They all mean to distract you, so
do not be engaged in anything but your Beloved. And if you do not lend your ear to what they
say, this is better for you.

The seeker may stop walking because of his listening to something. When the seeker hears
something, he is disheartened and reverts to the world of humanity. This is one of the dangers
of this maqam. Be careful of it. Do not allow anything to distract you from the light. Remember
that the end is to your Lord. Do not stop with anything except Allah. Ask Allah's help to discard
everything that stops you on your way. There is no arrival to Him except by Him. Do not be
deceived by anything revealed to you that makes you stop striving once you have become at
ease with striving. Remember that your aspiration is to something very dear and very high.
Remember that your way is full of dangers. No one does all the walking except those who have
great himma (spiritual aspiration). No one reaches Him except those who have a strong will. So
always be aware.

In this station you are given the state of extinction (fana') which will help you in your ascension
to the next station, in which the nafs become serene (al-mutma'inna). The fana' in this maqam is
a state (al-hal) that is experienced by the traveler (as-salik), which makes him absent from all
sensory perception. This is not an absence like sleep or unconsciousness. This is like a person in
shock who goes past someone who he sees but does not really see, or like hearing things but
not really hearing them, and this is true with all the senses including the mind. No one knows
this state except the one who experiences it. From this station, the gnostic of Allah said, “A man
stopped me and said, ‘Show me this knowledge that is not opposed by loss, because any
knowledge that is opposed by loss is loss.'” *This is extinction.+

This fana' is the first fana'. The second fana' is given in the sixth maqam which is called the
maqam of an-nafs al-mardiyya. As for the third fana', it involves the destruction or oblivion of
human attributes in the rank of Oneness, and this is through certainty, and this is the third fana'
and it is also the baqa'. As it is said, “He annihilates, then he annihilates, and then he
annihilates,” and this annihilation is the baqa' itself.

Know that in the first fana', you hear the discourse of the spirituals (rohanis) not through the
hearing sense, but through the mirror of your heart. You do not understand what they say, but
when the state of extinction subsides and you regain consciousness you begin to understand
what they said to you in your secret, and you begin to see what they engraved in the mirror of
your heart. Then if you speak, you speak with wisdom.

The messenger of Allah, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, referred to his
secret by saying, “Whoever is sincere with Allah for forty days, springs of wisdom will gush forth
from his heart and upon his tongue.”

The talk of the spirituals in this manner is called the “ringing of bells.” “O Allah, You Who give
when asked, do not deprive me and the lovers of this fana'. And do not make our lot to be in toil
and to satisfy our nafs. Do not make the dunya our main concern nor the limit of our
knowledge. And remove everything that impedes us from reaching you.”

You may ask, “Is there a cause of this fana'?” The answer is that it is caused by six matters which
make the travellers into Gnostics. They are remembrance (adh-dhikr), reflection (al-fikr), hunger
(al-jua'), night vigils (az-zahar), silence (as-sond) and seclusion from creation. The most powerful
of these things is hunger, O you who seek this fana'. Do not leave your spiritual exercises and
your struggling in this station. If they (the exercises) become hard for you, remind yourself of
their benefits. Do not be satisfied with illuminations. In this station you do not know whether
they are shaitanic or spiritual. Now you understand why the third station is a place of confusion.
The salik does not know if what he receives is from the angel or the accursed Iblis.

So, O seeker, do not be deceived by what appears to you and thereby leave the practices that
took you so far. Know that your nafs is your enemy. Do not be trusting of it, despite the high
stations you think you have reached. Continue in your spiritual exercises and in your struggling,
and increase your love and increase your himma, and take pleasure in the states of yearning and
intoxication.

Know that this station of the passionate love is a station of delight. It is so delightful that the
salik is reluctant to continue his ascension of the stations. Know that love is a veil between you
and the Beloved. This state of love is acceptable to the lovers, yet when you compare it to what
is above it, it is inferior. When the complete one remembers the state of love and his times in it,
he regrets what he experienced in it of removing all restraints and lack of concern. Yet the state
of passionate love, if it is accompanied by spiritual exercises of self discipline and effort, is a true
state. It is from this state that the lovers compose their poems. They express themselves with
anguish and pining. But if this poetry is not accompanied by struggle with the nafs, then know
that all these words are lies, because they have not had the true tasting of the heart.

In this station which belongs to the spirit, the traveler in the place of passionate love is in a state
of being oblivious to himself and even to his Beloved. This explains why the salik continues in
this station for a long time, because he is absent from himself. He is busy with uttering the name
of his Beloved; singing His praises and delighting in describing His beauty in poetry. This all
happens when the state is one of expansion (bast). But if he is in the state of contraction after
expansion and he awakens from the sleep of passionate love, his chest becomes constricted, his
heart severely aggrieved and he becomes humble, and surrenders in the true surrender. These
two states of expansion and contraction keep alternating in this maqam until the seeker is taken
to the fourth maqam, where his love is completed and the qualities of expansion and
contraction are replaced by awe (hayba) and intimacy (al-‘ans) *pronounced unce; this is like the
sense of belonging, being comfortable and living in a beautiful time.]

These are two states that arise upon the complete ones and they are only known by direct
tasting. The difference between expansion and contraction is that through contraction the nafs
is squeezed [a person becomes impatient in constriction], whereas through attraction this is not
so. The difference between intimacy (al-‘ans) and expansion is that expansion is an
overpowering state which may cause the seeker to have bad adab (manners/respect) with the
Haqq, but with ‘ans it is not like that.

In summary, fear and hope, contraction and expansion, awe and intimacy, and majesty and
beauty are really two states only. The difference in names comes because of the difference in
the people and the difference in the stations. If these two descriptions are given to the nafs that
commands to evil and to the reproachful nafs (al-lawamma),they are called fear and hope. If
these two states come upon the inspired nafs (nafs al-mulhama), they are called contraction and
expansion. If they relate to the higher stations of nafs al-mutma'inna, radiyya, and mardiyya
they are called awe and intimacy. And if they are established by the nafs that are complete, they
are called jamal (beauty) and jalal (majesty).

So fear (al-khawf) and hope (al-raj') are for the beginner, expansion (al-qabd) and contraction
(al-bast) are for those in the middle station, reverence (al-hayba) and cordiality (al-‘ans) are for
the complete one, and beauty (al-jamal) and majesty (al-jalal) are for the Khalifa.

So keep striving, O seeker, to ascend from where you are in fear and hope, to arrive at expansion
and contraction, and from these states you will ascend to beauty and majesty which are both
comfortable states to you. Both are beautiful to you. Both are useful to you. Whenever you turn
to something in a state of majesty, it happens by the permission of Allah, because then you are
the khalifa of Allah on His earth as His true slave, and Allah is angry at your anger; Allah is
revengeful at your feelings of revenge. So when you see the order of Allah, see things in
existence running through your hands, and have no doubt. This increases you in adab
(manners/respect) with your Creator, increases you in at-tawba from your sins, and increases
you in making astafir for the forgetfulness of your heart which takes you away from the station
of slavehood (al-‘ubudiyyah).

When you see yourself in this third station on the straight path doing al-jahad with you nafs, be
happy with that and be straight as you have been ordered, and worship your Lord until you
arrive at certainty. When you follow in this way, you open yourself to completion and to divine
attraction. Do not allow your chest to be constricted, because you are doing well and you are
opening yourself to happiness. If you do experience constriction and tightness in this station,
know that this is because in this station you are in the station of the ruh. The ruh has
ascendancy. In the hours of constriction the spirit wishes to break through the cage of the body
in order to connect to its world, the world of al-jabarut (The world of Omnipotence), and you
are not yet capable of this. So have patience in these hours of constriction and difficulty,
because in this constriction there are innumerable benefits. Had it not been for the fire of
constriction, the nafs would not be cleaned of what is ugly in it, for surely the separation of
good and bad is only through fire.

If you see that you are not being straight in your struggle with yourself, and if you see that your
appetite is strong and that you are keeping too much company with creation and are attracted
to people, weep for yourself. Weep for what has happened to you. Weep about your descent
from the highest station to the lowest of the low, and ask Allah to take you back where you
were, and ask for increase to arrive at the station of completion. Many seekers are not straight,
and they slip. They do not have patience, and regret does not avail them of anything. So oppose
your nafs in this station. Do not slip. Whenever you see yourself leaning toward something in
this station, struggle with it. Do not agree with it. Whenever you nafs asks you for something
that is agreeable to the way, then give it to you nafs. Even if your nafs asks for extreme hunger,
extreme sleeplessness, extreme separation from creation, and extreme lack of talk, give this.
Even though the intention in these things may not be totally pure and seek only a good opinion,
give, because this is your mount toward sincerity. The seeker will always have a portion of
spiritual pride until he arrives at total sincerity with the help of Allah.

Some of the knowers say that there is no harm in deceiving the nafs by promising it minor
miracles and promising it that it will become beloved to all people. So it is encouraged in the
acts of mujahada to break norms, even through these things are disliked. So the seeker may say
to himself, “If you turn to Allah in your struggle with your nafs, you will be able to perform
miracles.” Yet he needs to be wanting the pleasure of Allah in all of this, and he must be wanting
to purify himself from his deficiencies. And he needs to want to truly beautify his self with
perfection and good qualities.

So keep striving, O seeker, to ascend from where you are in fear and hope, to arrive at expansion
and contraction, and from these states you will ascend to beauty and majesty which are both
comfortable states to you. Both are beautiful to you. Both are useful to you. Whenever you turn
to something in a state of majesty, it happens by the permission of Allah, because then you are
the khalifa of Allah on His earth as His true slave, and Allah is angry at your anger; Allah is
revengeful at your feelings of revenge. So when you see the order of Allah, see things in
existence running through your hands, and have no doubt. This increases you in adab (Islamic
manners, character traits and respect)with your Creator, increases you in at-tawba (turning
away) from your sins, and increases you in making astafir (ask for forgiveness) for the
forgetfulness of your heart which takes you away from the station of slavehood (al-‘ubudiyyah).

When you see yourself in this third station on the straight path doing al-jahad with your nafs, be
happy with that and be straight as you have been ordered, and worship your Lord until you
arrive at certainty. When you follow in this way, you open yourself to completion and to divine
attraction. Do not allow your chest to be constricted, because you are doing well and you are
opening yourself to happiness. If you do experience constriction and tightness in this station,
know that this is because in this station you are in the station of the ruh. The ruh has
ascendancy. In the hours of constriction the spirit wishes to break through the cage of the body
in order to connect to its world, the world of al-jabarut (The world of Omnipotence), and you
are not yet capable of this. So have patience in these hours of constriction and difficulty,
because in this constriction there are innumerable benefits. Had it not been for the fire of
constriction, the nafs would not be cleaned of what is ugly in it, for surely the separation of
good and bad is only through fire.

As for you, O seeker, beware of stopping with any of this because all of these things prevent you
from arrival with your Beloved. Know that whenever your himma (spiritual striving) stops with
any created thing, the realities of these things will tell you,
“We are a trial. So do not stop with us.”

Some of the seekers do not experience any of this because of the true sincerity of their
attention to their Lord. Their hearts are not troubled by these trials and tribulations, nor do they
stop with any created thing. Those who receive revelations (al-kashf) early on in their walking
are prone to stop in their walking, unless Allah covers them with His greatness. The greatest
thing that can happen to the salik is that his inferior qualities are substituted by good qualities
that save him from what can cut him off from the way. The whole point of this traveling or
walking is to reach the King of Kings. You cannot reach Him except with the lifting of the veils.

Another way of describing veils is to say that they are not what is suitable, or one can say that
they are an obstruction between the seeker and the sought. So the changing of these qualities is
what makes for a better relationship. Understand this because this is one of the secrets. So work
hard to change your qualities. Replace satiety with hunger, sleep with staying up at night, talk
with silence, majesty and grandeur with humility, and so on. Be a real human being, not a
human animal. If you keep to your ascension, you will reach what even the angels have not
reached, and you will come face to face with the mirror of your slavehood to reach the mirror of
His Lordship, may He be Exalted. The highest perfection in all of perfection is to be the ultimate
in slavehood. This is why it is said that the farthest station in slavehood is a station that is
particular to our Master Muhammad, may Allah's (swt) blessings and peace be upon him, but
you will not attain this, so do not be greedy for it.

What you need to ask for is that which draws you near to that station. If you know this, then you
know that being humble for Allah is the source of greatest happiness. You will also know that
the secrets of Lordship are placed in the station of slavehood. So understand and reflect upon
this, and walk the way of humbleness, poverty, and need of Allah. You will become one of those
pure free slaves who is free from the slavery to others. You will not arrive at anything except
through slavehood (al-‘ubudiyya) to Allah.

In relation to this, Ibn ‘Ata'illah says in his Hikam, “Bury you existence in the earth of obscurity
(al-khumul). Nothing grows unless it has been buried. So bury your existence and hide your
identity so that the saying of the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him,
becomes true for you, “Die before you Die.” This is the fana'. When the salik has these
attributes, he has no attraction to money, to children, nor to anything, nor does he fear
anything. This is undoubtedly the state of the dead, which prepares the wayfarer for the world
of the barzakh (the intermediary world to resurrection). [Both are part of the malakut] So if the
salik enters into the world of similitudes (alam al-mithal) he will witness what is in accordance
with his perception.

So, O seeker, if you are not ready for this, then at least thirst for it and be a seeker of it. Whoever
has a desire for something and strives for it with sincerity and determination will reach it by the
permission of Allah and by the power of Allah. So keep doing adh-dhikr. Through this, Allah will
light a candle in His malakut world which will help you to see the darkness of your nafs that
incites to evil. And this will help you to see all of the deficiencies of the nafs, and it will help you
to deal with them. Know that the benefits of adh-dhikr only happen through much dhikr, strong
dhikr, and hidden dhikr with adab (respect/manners).

This means that the person doing dhikr should be facing the Qibla (Mecca) if he can, sitting on
his knees or standing, and he must not be distracted but must listen to the words he
pronounces, in order to be clean outwardly and inwardly and to maintain his ritual purity. If you
have this adab (respect/manners) holding onto the shari'a, then you are doing well. Do not be
impatient and do not be restless if the opening is not forthcoming. Know that the opening has
to come, no matter how long it takes, as long as you are straight, as long as you hold onto the
shari'a and the tariqa, and as long as you make your dhikr with this name at all times and it is
the dhikr of Allah. Use the invocation La Hu illa Hu some of the time.

This is the majestic name. So when you are doing dhikr, behave as if you are addressing all the
limbs of your body, and know that there is nothing in existence except Allah, al-Haqq. Know that
other than Allah is not to be found. If you hold yourself to his witnessing and you continue in it,
you will be given a higher state which will never leave you, and this is the highest aim. The
person in this state is not veiled from creation and he is not veiled from Allah by creation, nor
does the Haqq veil him from creation, nor is he veiled by multiplicity from unity, nor is he veiled
by unity from multiplicity. He witnesses the Haqq, Glory be to Him, outwardly in every
manifestation. He does not witness His name, the Outward, without the places of manifestation,
as some of the unifiers do.

There are three types of witnessing: complete, deficient, and more deficient. The complete is as
I have just mentioned. The witnessing is deficient with those who, in witnessing the Outward
and witnessing the place of manifestation, do not witness many, nor do they witness creation,
nor do they witness his secrets, because this witnessing negates the specific qualities of the
attributes of Allah. But the one who holds to this is forgiven because he is in the third station
and he is overcome by this. As for the more deficient, it is the witnessing of the beginners who
are veiled by creation from the seeing of the Haqq, so they see only creation and they see only
multiplicity. Perfection is to see multiplicity in the Oneness and to witness the Oneness as it
manifests in multiplicity, without either veiling each other. So the complete one is not veiled
form the haqq by creation, nor does creation veil him from the haqq. And the first stage of the
complete one is the fourth station, the maqam of the nafs al-mutma'inna.

LA HU ILLA HU

Allah

The Forth Station
(Nafs al Mutmainnah)
Tranquil Self

Traits: dignity, sincerity, courage, compassion,
complete loyalty.

Habits: Attachment to spiritual ambition.

Light/Colour /Aura : White

The Forth Station
Soul: (Ruh Nafsani) Personal Soul
Location: Brain and nervous system.
As-sir The Innermost being

Mediation: Ya Haqq
O Truth

An-Nafs al-Mutma'inna: The Serene Nafs:
The Nafs in Complete Rest and Satisfaction
The Fourth Station

The satisfied nafs: its walking is with Allah, its world is the Muhammadan Reality (al-haqiqa al-
muhammadiyya), its location is the secret(1), its condition is sincere serenity, its source (warid)
is some of the shari'a secrets, and its qualities are generosity, putting one's reliance on Allah,
forebearance, worship, gratitude, satisfaction with the decree, and fortitude during hardship.
The sign of the seeker (as-salik) entering into this fourth state is his steadfastness with the
commands of the shari'a. He finds pleasure only in the character traits of the Prophet, may the
blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, and he finds serenity only in following his words
whereas the previous maqam was one of coloring (talwin, meaning change)(2). In this maqam
the salik gives pleasure to whomever looks at him or listens to him. Even if he were to talk
without ceasing, no one would be bored with what he has to say. This is because his tongue
expresses what Allah has given him to know in his heart about the reality of things and the
secrets of the shari'a. Whatever he speaks is in conformity with what Allah and His Messenger
have said. He knows this, not through the study of books, but by virtue of what Allah has placed
in his secret. “I am your secret, My beloved, and You are My secret, so be at rest.”

Everything comes to rest in him, and he drowns in the ocean of modesty and adab. His state is
one of awe. He has presence and acceptance. He has realized the reality of creation and the
fana', and has come to understand Allah's words, “Everything in annihilation.”

The salik in this maqam may meet with creation from time to time, so that he may benefit
creation with what Allah has bestowed on him and share the wisdom in his heart. O complete
man, come out to them and benefit them in the manner in which Allah has bestowed His
benefits on you.

Make sure you leave or make time for retreats because in this maqam you are in the beginning
stages of completion. It is not suitable for you to mix with creation at all times, for this will
impede your ascension into the remaining stations, and by that I mean the fifth and sixth and
seventh.

See where your benefit is. If it is in seclusion, be secluded, and if it is in mixing or socializing,
then socialize. The sign for benefitting and mixing is that those who are present with you will be
benefitted from you in receiving knowledge that Allah has given you, not the knowledge found
in books. In this maqam busy yourself with the remembrance of His name by saying Haqq, Ya
Haqq or Ya Allah. Be busy with the remembrance and do not be distracted by what appears to
you. Pray to Allah to not be shown what can become a distraction that will stop you from
serving Him and from standing by His door. If you receive revelation without protection, this can
lead to being distanced from Him. Know that nearness is only given to the pure slaves who are
not delighted by the extraordinary (karamat: miracles, etc.). So you find that the complete ones
who have protection are not aware of any breaking of norms. (So they have miracles, but they
are unaware of them and do not know whether or not something extraordinary has happened.)

Ask Allah for victory and protection to go through what remains of the veils. One of the veils in
this station is the love of miracles (karamat). Remember that the end is to your Lord. Know that
everything other than Allah is a trial, so do not stop with it.

An example of this is a man who intended to travel to the house of Allah in Mecca. He departed
with the pilgrims. He went most of the way, and then met a woman who stripped him of his
mind. He decided to stay with her. The leader of the caravan said to him, “Do not stop here; this
will prevent you from doing the Hajj. Come with us and visit the house of Allah. On our way back
we can marry you to his woman, but if you do not go with us, you will not reach the house of
Allah and you will be in disobedience to your Lord.” But this man was overcome by passion and
he never made it to the House of Allah. When he drew nearer to the woman and lifted the veil
of her face, he found that she was very ugly. He regretted his decision, but it was too late. He
tried to catch up to the caravan, but to no avail. He cried day and night.

The woman here is like the breaking of norms, or minor miracles, and the House of Allah is the
nearness to Allah, and the caravan route is like the way to Allah. When the traveler finds himself
near the presence of nearness to Allah, many miracles become manifest. If his passion becomes
attached to them before the time has matured for them, he only exhausts himself and misses
the mark. These miracles are part of this creation, this dunya, which have no benefit in this
dunya or in the next world. When he realizes this, he regrets his attachment to them and weeps
because they took him away form the maqam that he had worked so hard to attain.

Know that the nafs in and of itself is not an ugly thing. It is a gift from Allah, but if you are
attracted to it and this attraction stops you from drawing nearer to Allah, then it becomes ugly.
Remember that nearness is only possible through slavehood, which contains the secret of
Lordship. So understand and do not stop with creation; otherwise that will be all you have.

Know that in this station you will have an attraction to litanies, recitations or invocations (al-
awrad) and to prayers (tawhid) and to the presence of the incoming light, the Prophet, may the
blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, in a different way than in the previous stations.

Beware of being secure with the nafs at any station. It is your enemy, and you should never be
secure for it attacks, even if it feigns friendship with you. Know that you are at risk from it all
your life. For example, you may be given the wish for money to help you in your worship or in
your servitude to Allah and to help your beloveds. This in itself will not harm you if you follow
these conditions:

1) Make sure that this is truly your intent.
2) Do not be distracted from your Lord by the acquisition of money.
3) Should you acquire wealth, you should not hide it from people and pretend that you are poor.

In this maqam you may develop the desire of leadership, fame, and guiding others. You may
start assuming that you are a shaykh and seeking this position so that people may gather around
you and find guidance with you. Beware of opening yourself to this and of being attracted to it
because it is one of the tricks of the nafs. But if Allah establishes you in this station, makes you
well-known or famous, and puts the robes of a shaykh on you without your aspiring to it, then
be where Allah has put you. This would be better for you than seclusion. You know this is the
order of Allah if you find that the beloveds around you love you and are obedient to you. Its
signs also are that when you look at them, you do not find yourself superior to them or they
inferior to you. If you find yourself like this with your brethren, then guide them and counsel
them and beautify the Sufi way for them, because this is the way of Allah. Be humble with them
and thank God who has made you qualify for this position of which you are unworthy. Always
feel indebted to them, and if you ever think they are in your debt, then know that you are not
one of the servants of this field, abandon this position, leave them and strive to free your own
soul from its remaining blemishes, for this is more important for both you and them.

When some souls cross the stations and reach this fourth station they are beginning to be
qualified to be a guide because they are gentle, affable, patient (al-latif, al-rifq and al-halim).
While crossing the stations, they purify themselves. When you arrive at the fourth station, you
have the quality of al-mutma'inna. Then there is no harm in guiding your brothers and
prescribing beneficial remedies of the path in the absence of a more perfect guide. Do not
hasten and do not put yourself ahead, but complete your walking by advancing to the fifth,
sixth, and seventh station.

Know that if you complete the fourth station and find yourself tasting this rest from your Lord,
and you find that your foot does not slip from following the Book of Allah and the sunna of His
Messenger, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, you will find that gentle divine
hands will attract you to completion. This is different from the first attraction, which you
received at the beginning of your walking. You will hear a call from the secrets of the secrets, “O
mutma'inna, return to your Lord.” This will make you forgetful of everything in the dunya and in
the Hereafter unless it is present with you. If it is absent from you, you are absent from it,
because in this station you continuously contemplating or witnessing the Beauty and Majesty of
the Haqq.

Allah (swt)

1. The secret is the inner aspect of the spirit and when it descends one degree it is called the soul and when it descends another, it is called the
heart.
2. This is the station of mastery, of the eye of certainty, and of perfect faith

The Fifth Station
(Nafs ar Radiyyah)
Content Self

Quran Ref:
Return to your Lord, content (Qur'an 89:28)

The Fifth Station
(Nafs ar Radiyyah)
Content Self

Traits: endurance, resignation, constancy.

Habits: personal identification with affliction.

Light/Colour /Aura : Green

The Fifth Station
(Nafs ar Radiyyah)
Content Self

Soul: (Ruh Insani) Human Soul
Location: Inner or Spiritual heart.
As-sara'ir – The Consciences

Meditation: Ya Hayy
O Everlasting

An-Nafs ar-Radiyya: The Contented Well-Pleased Nafs
The Fifth Station

The nafs ar-radiyya: its walking is in Allah, its world is divinity (al-lahut), its place is the secret of
the secrets(1), its state is extinction (fana) of a different kind from the above-mentioned, but not
as previously explained, as that was the fana' of the middle stage(2). Know that the weakness of
the senses is for those who are close to entering the state of baqa', who are at the last stages of
their walking. By this is meant the effacement of human qualities in preparation for the baqa',
which will follow it immediately because this fana' is the truth of certainty and happens at the
seventh station. The nafs ar-radiyya does not have a warid because the warid is only when the
attributes remain. In this maqam there is no trace of the attributes, so in this station, the salik is
in state of fana', not baqa'. He has no baqa' with himself, as was the case prior to this station,
neither does he have the baqa' in Allah, as will be the case in the seventh station. This state can
only be understood by tasting. However the Perfect Guide (kamal) may explain it to the seeker
who is close to the degree of perfection.

This nafs is detached from other than Allah. Some of its qualities are al-ikhlas (sincerity), al-
wara, which is like being careful or impeccable, forgetfulness, and al-rida (acceptance) with
everything that happens in existence without disturbance or distress to the heart, nor being
moved, nor having the desire to remove the source of pain, nor is there opposition to what
happens because he is deep in witnessing the absolute beauty. This state (hal) does not impede
him from giving guidance or counsel to creation nor from ordering them or forbidding them.

Everyone who listens to his words is benefitted by them, yet his (al-salik) heart is completely
busy with the world of divinity (al-lahut) and the secret of secrets. The person in this station is
also in the utmost of courtesy (adab) with Allah. His prayers are answered, he has authority with
creation, he is respected by everyone high and low. This is because he was told from the
Presence of Nearness, “And today you are established with Us.” (12:54) So he is held in
exaltation by creation by force. (He has no choice.) Those of the creation do not know why they
hold him in such high esteem and respect. However, he should not rely on this phenomenon,
especially from unjust people, as he will be touched by the fire of their qualities.

The danger here is if they are good to you. Beware of endearing yourself to them due to the
goodness they show you because of the nature of the heart. Allah says, “Do not rely on those
who are unjust, or else the fire will touch you.” So busy yourself with your Lord. Do not turn
toward them. The more you turn away from them and the more you are busy with your Lord,
the more they are attracted to you. If Allah has written for you a share in their wealth, this will
reach you by force. So do not turn to them hoping to receive something of what they have, nor
should you turn away from them because of their attraction to you.

In this station you are still not totally secure from the devices of the nafs, so it is best to be wary
and not to be deluded or enchanted by people's turning to you or people's attraction to you.
Surely the one in this maqam can take safety or refuge only with Allah. So if you find that you
have rest in other than Allah, you are not in this maqam. The person in this maqam in under the
authority of the inward, which has total dominion over the outward. So how can the person
have any rest in or be in alliance with a portion of his outward?

So understand and be busy in this maqam with the dhikr of Allah Hayy. Do much dhikr of this so
that you may get through the fana' and attain to the baqa' with the Hayy in the sixth station. You
progress from standing at the door to entering the stations of the Living. The more you do this
dhikr, the more your fana' begins to recede, and you start having the baqa' in the Living. You
take on the attribute of perfection, which is the meaning of, “I am the hearing by which he hears
and the seeing by which he sees.” This is also expressed as the nearness arrived at by
supererogatory (al-nawfl) prayers.

Know that among the names, there are names called subsidiary names, such as:

The Bestower al-Wahhab : The One who gives without being asked,
The Opener al-Fattah : The One who opens the treasures of His Mercy for all His servants,
The One al-Wahid : He in whose Essence there is no multiplicity,
The Unique al-Ahad : The One who can be neither divided nor qualified,
The Self-Sustaining as-Samad : The One to whom everyone turns for the fulfillment of all their
wishes.

Do adh-dhikr with these names(3) and with al-Hayy and this will help you to move to the sixth
station, which now you need very much.
Allah (swt)

1. That which is known only to the Haqq
2. In the middle stage the senses are unaware of the objects of perception
3. Note that invocation using all these names and their subsidiaries should be with no vowel (sukan) following the last consonant.

The Sixth Station
(Nafs al Mardiyyah)
Pleasing Self

Quran Ref:
for His being pleased with you! (Qur'an 89:28)

The Sixth Station
(Nafs al Mardiyyah)
Pleasing Self

Traits: knowledge of Allah, sincerity, unbounded
faith and hope in existential communion.

Habits: mystical intoxication, lack of sobriety
and balance

Light/Colour /Aura : Black

The Sixth Station
(Nafs al Mardiyyah)
Pleasing Self

Soul: (Ruh Sirr) Secret Soul
Location: Innermost Spiritual Heart.
Al-Akhfa –The Hidden

Meditation/Dhikr: Ya Qayyum
O Eternal

An-Nafs Al-Mardiyya: The Well-Pleasing Nafs
The Sixth Station

The nafs al-mardiyya: its walking is to Allah, its world is the visible world, its place is the secrets
or the hidden, its state is acceptable perplexity, the source of its warid (arriving, finding, source
of light, pl. al-wurud) is the transcendence (tanzih), its attributes are good character, leaving
everything other than Allah, gentleness with creation, making peace with creation, and the
forgiving of sins, mistakes, and wrong action. This nafs also unites the love of creation with the
love of the Creator. This is something amazing which is possible only in this station. This is why,
in this station, the traveler does not appear outwardly different from the common person. As for
his inward, he is the mine of secrets or the repository of secrets. He is the leader of the best. He
does not witness otherness at all, insofar as they are other. He is the circumference of all divine
knowledge, but not of outward or formal knowledge.

This nafs is called al-mardiyya because the Haqq is pleased with it. Its walking in from Allah,
meaning that it takes whatever it hears of knowledge from the presence of al-Haqq, Al-Qayyum.
It has returned from the unseen world to the seen world with the permission of Allah, to benefit
mankind with what Allah has bestowed upon it.

Its state is acceptable perplexity. This is referred to in the hadith, “O Allah, increase me in my
perplexity in You.” This is not to be confused with the confusion or doubt that one has at the
beginning of the path. In this maqam the salik fulfills his promises. He places everything in its
right place, so he may spend a lot if he finds that it is appropriate. The ignorant one may think
that he is being a spendthrift.

The salik may spend very little if he sees that it is inappropriate to give. The ignorant one may
think that he was just being miserly. So whoever extols the virtues of the one who is in this
maqam, in greed of receiving more from him, he is only wasting his time. If the salik is abused
by someone, this does not stop him from giving to that one if he is deserving. This is the hal of
those who are complete.

With regard to appetites, he holds the middle way. This quality sounds easy, but in fact it is one
of the hardest to hold on to, and not everyone who desires it can attain it.

Know that at the beginning of this station the traveler shows the first signs of the greater
viceregency (al-kubra) and at its end he is invested with it, expressed by. “I am the Hearing by
which he hears and the Seeing by which he sees, and the Hand by which he grasps, and by Me
he walks.” (Hadith narrated by Imam al-Bukhari) This state comes from nearness to Allah, which
is arrived at through worship and supererogatory practices (nawfl) [nawfl refers to everything
from the orders of Allah]. Be careful not to misunderstand and to think that you are al-Haqq.(1)

So this maqam is arrived at after finishing with the previous maqam, in which all of the human
attributes, which are the cause for all reaction and suffering, have been obliterated. Through the
nawfl acts, he draws nearer to Allah because the nawfl involves the struggle (jihad) with the
nafs. Allah gives the attribute of certainty as a grace, so beware of following the wrong way and
beware of believing in incarnation because our Lord, the Exalted, does not enter into anything
nor does anything enter into Him.

The truth is that these matters cannot be understood by the mind(2); whenever the mind tries,
it leads to disbelief and to losing the way because these matters can be understood only with
divine support(3). The fana' is not something on the outside, so it cannot be measured or
compared to anything else. The same is true for the baqa' in Allah, and for the nearness of the
obligatory acts or the nearness from the nawfl. All speech in this maqam is for the people in this
maqam who have an understanding through tasting, Allah willing.

Know that the destination of these stations is for the traveler to arrive at this Adamic form,
which was the Qibla for the angels. This reality is the Muhammadan reality, which is Allah's
greatest secret, and the Muhammadan subtlety. This is the ultimate in nearness to the presence
of the Lord.

If he reaches this, he realizes pure slavehood and incapacity, and he knows himself by this
description, and he knows his Lord through the attributes of the Lord. If he knows himself in
submission to Allah and in annihilation to Allah, he knows his Lord by might and baqa'. This is
because of the polarity of the ranks of slavehood and the engraving of that in the Adamic world.
This is the meaning of, “Neither My Heavens nor My earth contain Me, but I am contained in the
heart of My believing slave.”

All the attributes and names of Allah are in the Adamic form. Whenever the slave knows his
Lord through divine knowledge, he knows the secrets that are placed in the reality of
everything, and this is expressed His saying, “And He taught Adam all the names.” Here we come
to a place where expression cannot carry the secrets. When this is revealed to you and you
realize that this is the greatest any traveler can seek and the highest of stations, and the most
precious in existence for the Perfect Ones, you will rush to seek it through being straight on the
path, and by holding onto the shari'a, and by remembering the name al-Qayyum. You continue
holding onto the courtesies (adab) of the shari'a, the tariqa, and the haqiqa, not to be
preoccupied by one over the other, until you move into the maqam of realizing the Adamic form
and the Muhammadan reality.

Ya Qayyum!
The Sustainer, the One who is constantly
sustaining creation and running its affairs
Allah

1. Because al-Haqq neither penetrates into anything nor is penetrated by anything
2. They lie beyond the reach of reason unless by Divine Grace
3. There is nothing that resembles extinction that could serve to demonstrate what it is. The same thing applies to the baqa'
and to the nearness brought about by spiritual practices

The Sixth Station

The Pure /Perfect Self
(Nafs al-Kamila)

Quran Ref:
This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour to
you,
and have chosen for you as your religion Islam. (Qur'an 5:3)

The Sixth Station

(Nafs al-Kamila)
Traits:
freedom from duality, acceptance of Allah's will, joy of union,
freedom from expectation, contentment.

Habits:
None remaining

Light/Colour /Aura :
Colourless

The Sixth Station

(Nafs al-Kamila)
Soul: Sirr Al Asar- The Secret of Secrets

Location: Innermost Spiritual Heart of Hearts
Al-Khafa – Secrecy

Mediation- Dhikr to repeat:
Ya Qahhar
O Omnipotent

An-Nafs al-Kamala: The Perfect Nafs
The Seventh Station

The walking of an-nafs al-kamala is by Allah, its world is multiplicity in unity, and unity in
multiplicity, its place is the Most Hidden that is the most hidden secret (1), its state is the
subsistence (baqa'), its source (warid) is all the previously mentioned of the waridat
(places, sources of arrival) of the nafs, and it combines all of the aforementioned
qualities. The name with which he is engaged in, “Ya Allah! Ya Qahhar!” [O Compeller,
the One who imposes His wishes on the creation without resistance.]

This is the greatest of all stations because the inward has total dominion, and al-
mujahada has been brought to completion. He has no other desire and attainted the
good pleasure of Allah. All his movements are acts of goodness, his every breath is an
expression of power and wisdom and worship. When he is seen by people, they are
reminded of Allah, and how could they not, when he is the friend of Allah, and he is the
Friend.

This is the fourth station in the stations of friendship with Allah, and the fourth station is
the station of common awliya, and the fifth station is the station of the elect awliya, and
the sixth station of the elect of the awliya. So glory be to Him. Nothing withholds what He
gives, and nothing can give what He withholds.

Know that his names Ya Allah and Ya Qahhar are the names of al-Qutb (the spiritual
axis), and this name al-Qahhar is granted to him by his Lord or Master. The gnostics say
that with this name, the qutb gives his disciples whatever he needs to give them from the
gifts of the lights and the good tidings. From this the seekers experience happiness, joy,
and attraction in their hearts, in addition to what they gain from doing dhikr and from
turning to Allah.

The person in this maqam never tires of worship with the body, the tongue, the heart, the
hand, or the foot. He asks forgiveness in abundance. He is immensely humble. His joy
and delight are in seeing creation turn to the Haqq. His sorrow and anger are in seeing
then turn their back to the Haqq. He loves the seekers of truth more than he loves his
own children. He has no hatred for any creature even though he commands to good and
forbids evil. He expresses his love to those who deserve it and upholds the truth of Allah,
regardless of blame. He puts everything in its place. Whenever he turns his attention to
anything, Allah makes it for him as he wills, because his will is inside the will of Allah. So
if he wills something and he asks for it, Allah does not deny it because he is a slave by
his Lord. His hearing is divine hearing, and it is so with his seeing and with his will. If he
wills something, it becomes by the permission of Allah. Allah is our support, and success
is through Him, wa al-hamdulillahi rabbi-l- „alamin.

Allah
Ya Allah!
Ya Qahhar!

The Self-Forged Mirror

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