Conclusion: Some Benefits and Summary of the Suluk

خاتمہ — بعض فوائد جو سلوک کا خلاصہ اور ثمرہ ہیں

Know that the fruit (thamarah) of all spiritual wayfaring (suluk) is the maqamat 'asharah (ten stations) — the first of which is repentance (tawbah) and the last of which is contentment with the divine decree (rida).

1. Repentance from Sins (توبہ — Tawbah)

The Shari'ah has three pillars of repentance: remorse over the past, cessation in the present, and firm resolve not to return in the future. Tawbah is the veil behind which repentance hides — for sin is a veil. Therefore, without repentance, suluk cannot even begin. Know that without tawbah, suluk has no foundation.

2. Renunciation (زہد — Zuhd)

Zuhd means turning away from worldly desires, pleasures, and sensual appetites — for renunciation is, at its perfection, abandonment of all aspirations connected with other than Allah.

3. Trust in Allah (توکل — Tawakkul)

Tawakkul means turning away from reliance on secondary causes and placing all reliance upon Allah — truly and sincerely.

4. Contentment (قناعت — Qana'at)

Contentment means relinquishing what is superfluous and being satisfied with what suffices in food, drink, and clothing — avoiding extravagance. Its perfection is turning completely toward the divine Reality and finding satisfaction only in His love.

5. Seclusion (عزلت — 'Uzlah)

'Uzlah means withdrawing from the mixing with creation. Its perfection is the vision (ru'yah) of creation as nothing in comparison with the divine Reality.

6. Patience (صبر — Sabr)

Sabr means abandoning pleasure, being steadfast in the face of losses and calamities.

7. Dhikr (ذکر — Remembrance)

Dhikr means: turning away from all that is other than Allah, and immersing oneself in the remembrance of Allah alone. Its perfection is: 'Wa huwa al-Dhakir wa huwa al-Madhkur' — He is the Rememberer and He is the Remembered. (The Rememberer becomes manifest from the Remembered.) A Persian verse of spiritual instruction has been cited here.

8. Complete Orientation to Allah

Turning away from the duality of the self and being completely oriented toward the divine Reality alone.

9. Contemplation (مراقبہ — Muraqabah)

Muraqabah means: to survey one's own actions and states with intensity, and turning away from one's attributes — so that one becomes absorbed in the divine generosity and love and submerged in ecstasy (wajd). All of this is dependent on the receptiveness of both body and soul.

10. Contentment with the Divine Decree (رضائے الہی — Rida)

Rida means: the annihilation of the personal will and the complete submission to the divine pleasure — accepting the divine rulings and submitting to the eternal decrees. This is the final and highest of the ten stations. It is the station of which the masters of the path say: 'al-Taslīm al-Ilāhī wa al-Tafwīḍ lil-Tadbīrāt al-Abadiyya' — 'The surrender of the soul to the divine will and the entrusting of all affairs to the eternal divine orderings.' This is the station that has no higher station above it — and the perfection of faith (iman) and the complete attributes of the mashaykh come together with it. As the noble hadith transmitted by Abu Hurayra (may Allah be well pleased with him) states: 'Faith has more than sixty branches, and modesty (hayāʾ) is a branch of faith.' (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī) All believers and Muslims share the same root of faith, but the attributes of faith (sifat-e-iman) and the spiritual stations (maqamat) differ: in some of these stations, most of the mashaykh are mentioned in their own sayings.

The following supplication is transmitted from 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be well pleased with him), narrated by the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):

إِنَّ لِلَّهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ ثَلَاثَمِائَةٍ قُلُوبُهُمْ عَلَى قَلْبِ آدَمَ، وَلَهُ أَرْبَعُونَ قُلُوبُهُمْ عَلَى قَلْبِ مُوسَى، وَلَهُ سَبْعَةٌ قُلُوبُهُمْ عَلَى قَلْبِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، وَلَهُ خَمْسَةٌ قُلُوبُهُمْ عَلَى قَلْبِ جِبْرِيلَ، وَلَهُ ثَلَاثَةٌ قُلُوبُهُمْ عَلَى قَلْبِ مِيكَائِيلَ، وَلَهُ وَاحِدٌ قَلْبُهُ عَلَى قَلْبِ إِسْرَافِيلَ. اللَّهُمَّ انْفَعْنَا بِهِمْ أَجْمَعِينَ بِرَحْمَتِكَ يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ، وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى خَيْرِ خَلْقِهِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ. آمِينَ آمِينَ آمِينَ

'Indeed, in the earth, Allah has three hundred and (some) whose hearts are upon the heart of Adam; forty whose hearts are upon the heart of Moses; seven whose hearts are upon the heart of Ibrahim; five whose hearts are upon the heart of Jibril; three whose hearts are upon the heart of Mika'il; and one whose heart is upon the heart of Israfil. O Allah, benefit us through them all, by Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful. And may the blessing of Allah be upon the best of His creation, Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, all of them. Amin, Amin, Amin.'