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:
{So, if only there been of the generations even before you those of enduring discrimination forbidding corruption on earth—except a few of those We saved from among them?...}650 [Hood 11: 116]
قَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: }فَلَوْلَا كَانَ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ أُولُو بَقِيَّةٍ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْفَسَادِ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِمَّنْ أَنْجَيْنَا مِنْهُمْ{
Stranger-ness refers to one’s distinction from their peers. It is of three levels:
الِاغْتِرَابُ أَمْرٌ يُشَارُ بِهِ إِلَى الِانْفِرَادِ عَنِ الْأَكْفَاءِ. وَهُوَ عَلَى ثَلَاثِ دَرَجَاتٍ:
The first level is separation from the homelands. For this stranger:
الدَّرَجَةُ الْأُولَى: الْغُرْبَةُ عَنِ الْأَوْطَانِ، وَهَذَا الْغَرِيبُ:
- مَوْتُهُ شَهَادَةٌ
- وَيُقَاسُ لَهُ فِي قَبْرِهِ مِنْ مَدْفَنِهِ إِلَى وَطَنِهِ
- وَيُجْمَعُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِلَى عِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ
The second level is the distinction of the hâl, and this stranger is of those promised blessedness. It is a righteous person in a corrupt time among corrupt people, or a scholar among ignorant people, or an honest person among hypocrites.
الدَّرَجَةُ الثَّانِيَةُ: غُرْبَةُ الْحَالِ، وَهَذَا مِنْ الْغُرَبَاءِ الَّذِينَ طُوبَى لَهُمْ، وَهُوَ رَجُلٌ صَالِحٌ فِي زَمَانٍ فَاسِدٍ بَيْنَ قَوْمٍ فَاسِدِينَ، أَوْ عَالِمٌ بَيْنَ قَوْمٍ جَاهِلِينَ، أَوْ صِدِّيقٌ بَيْنَ قَوْمٍ مُنَافِقِينَ.
The third level is the distinction of resolve. This is the stranger-ness in pursuit of the True One. It is the stranger-ness of the ‘ârif654, because he or she is peculiar with regard to his/her witnesses655 and his/her companions.656 His or her finds are not delivered by knowledge,657 revealed by wajd,658 established by forms,659 expressed by signals,660 or outlined by definitions.661 The stranger-ness of the ‘ârif is the epitome of all stranger-ness, because he/she is a stranger in this life and the hereafter.662
الدَّرَجَةُ الثَّالِثَةُ: غُرْبَةُ الْهِمَّةِ، وَهِيَ غُرْبَةُ طَلَبِ الْحَقِّ، وَهِيَ غُرْبَةُ الْعَارِفِ؛ لِأَنَّ الْعَارِفَ فِي شَاهِدِهِ غَرِيبٌ، وَمَصْحُوبَهُ فِي شَاهِدِهِ غَرِيبٌ، وَمَوْجُودَهُ لَا يَحْمِلُهُ عِلْمٌ أَوْ يُظْهِرُهُ وَجْدٌ، أَوْ يَقُومُ بِهِ رَسْمٌ، أَوْ تُطِيقُهُ إِشَارَةٌ، أَوْ يَشْمَلُهُ اسْمُ غَرِيبٍ، فَغُرْبَةُ الْعَارِفِ غُرْبَةُ الْغُرْبَةِ؛ لِأَنَّهُ غَرِيبُ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ.
650 The verse talks about some qualities of the strangers: they are few, judicious, and they are not only upright, but they also forbid corruption.
651 Referring to what has been reported in several hadiths with controversial authenticity.
652 Referring to several hadiths, of which the most authentic is a hadith in which ‘Abdullâh ibn ‘Amr said:
“A man died in Madinah, and he was born in it. The Prophet ﷺ offered the funeral prayer for him and said, ‘Would that he had died somewhere other than his birthplace.’
A man among the people asked, ‘Why, O Messenger of Allah?’
He said:
‘When a man dies somewhere other than his birthplace, a space will be measured for him in Paradise (as big as the distance) from the place where he was born to the place where he died.’” (Reported by an-Nasâ’i and Ibn Mâjah with a controversial chain that was authenticated by some)
and may be an encouragement for people to seek what is good for them in their life and the hereafter wherever it may be.
653 Referring to another hadith that is graded weak by the scholars of hadith. Out of the five messengers with great resolve, ‘Eesâ (upon him be peace) had the fewest disciples.
654 ‘Ârif’ (lit., ‘knower’) is one endowed with beneficial knowledge of the heart, not merely technical knowledge of the intellect.
655 The outer and inner indicants that testify to him or her concerning the uprightness of his or her state.
656 The knowledge, conduct, and state that accompany him or her in this world are unlike those of others.
657 Although they are not counter to what knowledge dictates, knowledge alone cannot procure them.
658 ‘Wajd’ is a verbal noun from ‘wajada’ (lit., found or experienced). It is usually translated as ‘ecstasy.’ See Station 66.
659 They are beyond what the material forms (of the body) can handle.
660 They cannot be explained, even through symbolism.
661 No statement can fully describe them.
662 For the seekers of this dunyâ do not recognize them or have affinity towards them because of their differences; even most of the seekers of the hereafter cannot relate to their state.