Tawhîd, i.e. belief in the unity of Allâhu ta’âlâ, is of two sorts: Tawhîd of the awâm, and tawhîd of the khawâss.
What is termed Tawhîd of the awâm is the tawhîd held by common Muslims. Tawhîd
of the awâm consists of uttering the expression “Lâ
ilâha illâ-Allah” and knowing
and believing in its meaning. It naturally comprises rejecting and denying the
wrong and false idols worshipped by disbelievers, not calling anyone ‘God’, and
believing that Allâhu ta’âlâ alone is to be worshipped. While holding this belief,
the awâm (common people) feel deep affection for some creatures, too, and their
nafs-i-ammâra denies and defies Allâhu ta’âlâ. The
Khawâss, orÂrifs, hold the same belief. However, in addition to this naked
belief, they occupy two different grades:
Those who are in the first grade do not feel
affection for anything except Allâhu
ta’âlâ. Their hearts do not see or
know any being except Him. In other words, when an intelligent and vigilant
disciple carries on his dhikr and religious contemplation
steadily and keeps away from such things as musical
instruments and merrymaking which the human nafs likes and yet which hinder a
person from focusing his attention on Allâhu ta’âlâ, that
is, from making tawajjuh to Him, and if Allâhu ta’âlâ bestowed
the blessing of inâyat on him in the eternal past, the effect of dhikr will
gradually cover his heart. His heart will begin to make dhikr of Allâhu ta’âlâ continuously. His zâhir’s, that is, his mind’s and sense organs’
busying themselves with worldly matters will not interfere in his heart’s
dhikr. No matter whether his zâhir is absent or present, awake or asleep, his
heart will always be making dhikr of Him. He will always be in the
hudhûr-i-ilâhî, when he is alone as well as when in company. A distich:
My body and mind are busy shopping,
Yet my heart is with Allah.
When the heart is always in the divine company, the
mâ-siwâ, i.e. love of creatures, will gradually leave the heart. It will begin
to forget about all other beings. This oblivion will finally reach the extent
that the heart will not remember anything, no matter whether the owner of the
heart wishes to do so or not. Others’ happinesses or sorrows will not affect it
at all. This stage is termed Fanâ-i-qalb and is the first of the grades of Wilâyat. In this
grade the bâtin, i.e. the heart, is always in the hudhûr-i-ilâhî and has
completely forgotten about the mâ-siwâ. Yet the nafs is still itself; it is
aware of everything and maintains its insubordination to Allâhu ta’âlâ.
In the second grade, the nafs of the Khawâss begins
to forget about itself and about everything. Its desires decrease, both in
number and in their command over the heart. Eventually it reaches a state in
which it can no longer express the word ‘I’(Ana) about itself. At this time the
Ârif becomes completely nonexistent. He is now in his own company. These
statementsof ours do not come to mean that the Ârif becomes Haqq or that he
unites with Allâhu ta’âlâ. Hallâj-i-Mansûr’s[1] utterance, “Ana’l-Haqq=I have united with my
Rabb,” took place before he reached this grade. For the nafs cannot say ‘I’ in
this grade. So is the case with the utterance, “Subhânî=I am not one of
creatures.” This stage is called Fanâ-i-nafs. In the Fanâ-i-qalb, the figures, the images of the
mâ-siwâ are no longer seen on the heart’s mirror.
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[1] Hallâj-i-Mansûr was martyred in Baghdâd in 306 [A.D. 919].
Reflections of the beings in the anfus (in man) and in the âfâk cease to exist. The tajallî-i af’âl comes into being. In the second grade of Fanâ the Tajallî-i-sifât comes into being, the ‘ilm-i-hudûrî of the nafs ceases to exist and the Ârif forgets about himself. This is the end of the progress called Sayr and Sulûk in Tarîqat.