Stations
SECTION I
- 001 Wakefulness - اليَقَظَةُ
- 002 Repentance - التَّوْبَةُ
- 003 Self-Reckoning - المُحَاسَبَةُ
- 004 Returning - الإنَابَةُ
- 005 Reflection - التَّفَكُّرُ
- 006 Remembrance - التَّذَكُّرُ
- 007 Taking Shelter - الاعْتِصَامُ
- 008 Fleeing - الفِرَارُ
- 009 Training - الرِّيَاضَةُ
- 010 Hearing - السَّمَاعُ
SECTION II
- 011 Grief - الْحُزْنُ
- 012 Fear - الْخَوْفُ
- 013 Concern - الإشْفَاقُ
- 014 Submissive Solemnity - الْخُشُوعُ
- 015 Serene Submissiveness - الإخْبَاتُ
- 016 Disinterest - الزُّهْدُ
- 017 Pious Conscientiousness - الْوَرَعُ
- 018 Dedication - التَّبَتُّلُ
- 019 Hope - الرَّجَاءُ
- 020 Desirous Quest - الرَّغْبَةُ
SECTION III
- 021 Caring - الرِّعَايَة
- 022 Observance - المُرَاقَبَةُ
- 023 Veneration - الحُرْمَةِ
- 024 Devotion - الإخْلَاصُ
- 025 Refinement - التَّهْذِيبِ
- 026 Straightness - الِاسْتِقَامَة
- 027 Reliance - التَوَكَّل
- 028 Delegation - التَّفْوِيضِ
- 029 Trust - الثِّقَةِ
- 030 Surrender - التَّسْلِيمِ
SECTION IV
- 031 Patience - الصَّبْرِ
- 032 Contentment - الرِّضَا
- 033 Gratefulness - الشُّكْرُ
- 034 Modesty - الْحَيَاءِ
- 035 Truthfulness - الصِّدْقِ
- 036 Altruism - الإيثَارِ
- 037 Character - الخُلُق
- 038 Humbleness - التَّواضُع
- 039 Pietistic Heroism - الْفُتُوَّةِ
- 040 Affability - الانْبِسَاط
SECTION V
- 041 Intent - الْقَصْدِ
- 042 Resolve - الْعَزْمِ
- 043 Willfulness - الْإِرَادَةِ
- 044 Propriety - الأدَبِ
- 045 Certainty - اليَقِين
- 046 Comforting Intimacy - الْأُنْسِ
- 047 Remembrance - الذِّكْرِ
- 048 Poverty - الْفَقْرِ
- 049 Richness - الْغِنَى
- 050 The Sought - الْمُرَاد
SECTION VI
- 051 Excellence - الْإِحْسَانِ
- 052 Knowledge - العِلْمِ
- 053 Wisdom - الحِكْمَةِ
- 054 Insight - الْبَصِيرَة
- 055 Astuteness - الْفِرَاسَةِ
- 056 Exaltation - التعظيم
- 057 Inspiration - الإلهام
- 058 Tranquility - السَّكِينَةُ
- 059 Serenity - الطُّمَأْنِينَة
- 060 Drive - الْهِمَّةِ
SECTION VII
- 061 Love - المَحَبَّةُ
- 062 Protectiveness - الْغَيْرَة
- 063 Yearning - الشَّوْقُ
- 064 Anxiety - الْقَلَقُ
- 065 Thirst - الْعَطَشُ
- 066 Ecstasy - الْوَجْدُ
- 067 Bewilderment - الدَّهَشُ
- 068 Mystification - الْهَيَمَان
- 069 Lightning - البَرْق
- 070 Taste - الذَّوْقِ
SECTION VIII
- 071 Noting - اللَّحْظ
- 072 Timeliness - الْوَقْتُ
- 073 Clarity - الصَّفَاءُ
- 074 Bliss - السُّرُورُ
- 075 Privacy - السِّرُّ
- 076 Breath - النَّفَسُ
- 077 Stranger-ness - الْغُرْبَةُ
- 078 Submersion - الغَرَق
- 079 Absence - الْغَيْبَةُ
- 080 Establishment - التَّمَكُّنِ
SECTION IX
- 081 Disclosure - الْمُكَاشَفَةِ
- 082 Witnessing - الْمُشَاهَدَةُ
- 083 Beholding - المُعَايَنَةُ
- 084 Life - الْحَيَاة
- 085 Constriction - الْقَبْضٌ
- 086 Expansion - الْبَسْطُ
- 087 Intoxication - السُّكْرُ
- 088 Sobriety - الصَّحْوُ
- 089 Connection - الِاتِّصَال
- 090 Detachment - الِانْفِصَال
SECTION X
Allah, the Almighty, said:
{…but none will remember except he who turns back [in repentance].} [Ghâfir 40:13]
قَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وجَلَّ: "وَمَا يتَذَكَّر إِلَّا مَنْ يُنِيبُ"
Remembrance is superior to reflection, for reflection is a pursuit [of something] and remembrance is finding it.75
التَّذَكُّرُ فَوْقَ التَّفَكُّرِ، فإنَّ التَّفَكُّرَ طَلَبٌ، وَالتَّذَكُّرَ وُجُودٌ.
Remembrance stands on three pillars:
وأَبنِيَةُ التَّذَكُّرِ ثَلَاثَةُ أَشْيَاء
- الِانْتِفَاعُ بالعِظَة
- واستِبصارُ الْعبْرَةِ
- وَالظَّفَرُ بِثَمَرِ الفِكْرَةِ
Benefiting from the exhortation depends upon three things:
- pressing urgency for it 78
- blindness to the flaws of the exhorter (preacher)
- remembrance of the promises and warnings [of Allah]
وَإِنَّمَا يُنْتَفَعُ بالعِظَة بعد حُصُول ثَلَاثَة أَشْيَاء
- بِشدَّة الافْتِقارِ إِلَيْهَا
- والعَمَى عَن عَيْبِ الْوَاعِظِ
- وبِذِكْرِ الْوَعْدِ والوَعِيدِ
Insightful recognition of the lessons depends on three things:
- the vitality of the intellect
- recognition of the days79
- cure from (unbefitting) wants [and biases]
وَإِنَّمَا تُسْتَبْصَرُ الْعبْرَةُ بِثَلَاثَةِ أَشْيَاء
- بحَياة الْعَقْل
- وَمَعْرِفَةِ الْأَيَّامِ
- والسَّلامَةِ مِن الْأَغْرَاضِ
Harvesting the fruits of reflection depends on three things:
وَإِنَّمَا تُجْنَى ثَمَرَةُ الفِكْرَةِ بِثَلَاثَةِ أَشْيَاء
- بِقِصَرِ الأمَلِ
- والتَّأمُّلِ فِي الْقُرْآن
- وَقِلَّةِ الْخُلْطَةِ وَالتَّمَنِّي والتَّعَلُّقِ والشِّبَعِ والمَنَامِ
75For tadhakkur—which is not merely the repetitive enunciation of sacred speech—is to bring back (invoke) the fruits of tafakkur (reflection) to the center of one’s attention and take them to heart. Also, through the utterance of His names, a different level of meta-rational (not counter-rational) recognition is reached.
Tafakkur and tadhakkur must go together in a symbiotic and self-correcting relationship. Al-Ḥasan has said:
“People of knowledge continue to augment thought with remembrance, and remembrance with thought, imploring the hearts to speak until the hearts spoke [with wisdom].”
Although tafakkur and tadhakkur are mentioned as stations, they are also the necessary gear for the journey to recognition and devotion. In other words, they are of the epistemic constants of the path.
76 Every day, Allah teaches us new lessons through good and bad occurrences. Reflecting on those events will allow us to intellectually penetrate the outer crust and realize their inner realities and truths. Tadhakkur will permit us to internalize those findings and make them operative, generating the primordial ground for other stations, such as shukr (gratefulness), ṣabr (patience), tawakkul (reliance on Allah), rajâ’ (hope), khawf (fear), tawbah (repentance), etc.
77 To bring it back to the center of awareness and build on it, whereby tafakkur is not limited to the cognitive function of self-reflection, but goes beyond that to impact the emotional, psychological, and spiritual experiences of the meditator, reshaping him or her and changing their outlook and behavior.
78 Do you notice how water tastes very different to a thirsty man?
79 This is, either about one’s own days, meaning the increases and decreases in one’s state, or the days of Allah, meaning His dispensations regarding those who obeyed Him and those who disobeyed Him.
80 Mixing with people and being consumed with their affairs.
81 Such as deferring the return to Allah in penitence and counting on His forgiveness without seeking it.
82 Attachments to others besides Allah.