where the “seeker” (
talib
) becomes the “knower” or “gnostic” (
arif
), and
realizes the knowledge of Reality.
The first place in the list of “stages” is occupied by repentance (
tawbah
).
Repentance is described as the awakening of the soul from the slumber of
heedlessness, so that one feels contrition for past disobedience. To be truly
penitent, one must abandon sin and firmly resolve never to return to it in the
future.Turning one’s back on the vanities of the world, one must set out to
seek out a teacher,
pir-o-murshid
, to guide him on the way to perfection.
The second stage which the aspirant must attain and which is, as it
were, necessitated by the first, is called
wara’
, which can be translated as
“the fear of the Lord”, for God detests whatever hinders the heart from
giving attention to Him. Hakim Sana’i of Ghazna (d.1131), author of
Hadiqat
al-Haqiqa
(“Garden of Reality”) writes:
“If a thing hold you back on theWay, what matter if it be faith or infidelity?
If it keeps you far from the Friend
13
, what matter if the image be foul or
fair?”
14
“The fear of the Lord” leads to the third stage,
zuhd
or “detachment”.
Zahid
is one who has renounced the world in order to give himself to God.
Logically, the next stage of “poverty”, or
faqr
follows.Voluntary poverty
is the Sufi’s pride as it was the pride of the Prophet (
Faqr fakhri
- “Poverty
is my pride” states a
hadith
). Strictly speaking, the Sufi chooses neither
poverty nor wealth: his only preference is for what God sends or bestows.
13
AIWali ( “Friend, Protector”) is one of the names of Allah. Also, the Sufis call themselves and are
called “Friends of God” (pl.
auliya
, sing.
wali
).
14
Quoted after C. Rice,
The Persian Sufis
, London, 1964, p. 41.
Th e Su f i C on c e p t o f Me d i t a t i on 204
