BEŞİNCİ BAB · BİRİNCİ FASIL · Beşinci Madde
**Article Five**
This article details the summary of the seven stations of the human soul, the arrangement of the veils of the subtle and luminous spirit, and the actions that serve as a means to lift these veils.
Beloved! Know that the Friends of God have said: Entering the path of the Chosen Nearness (Mukarrabūn) is characteristic of prophetic conduct; it is the behavior of righteous servants. For their aim in treading the right path is to extract the human soul—as we have enumerated in previous articles—from its descending levels and gradually raise it to its former station, enabling it to attain knowledge of God. It is reaching the station of the Truthful (Siddiqīn) with complete love, thereby finding true peace and intimacy.
There are established stations among those who tread this path, which the seeker (sālik) passes through successively until he reaches the last. Thus, he completes his stages, but divine manifestations do not cease; for these manifestations have no end. The seeker’s state in traversing these stages is like that of a foreigner traveling on a road in the external world. Just as a traveler needs a guide who knows the condition of the road, sufficient provisions, and a mount, so too does the traveler on the path of truth need a perfect spiritual guide (mürshid) to inform him of the good and evil of this path. He needs piety (taqwa), for that is the best provision. He needs a mount, which is aspiration (himmah). He also needs companions, who are seekers like himself. And he needs weapons to protect against harm—which is remembrance of God (dhikr)—so that with that weapon he may guard his soul from the evil of Satan.
Just as a traveler passing through different cities on his journey stays in each for a while and then continues on his way, so too does the seeker on the path of truth progresses by traversing the stations known among the People of God—which are seven in number. The first is the station of the darknesses of otherness (mā siva). There, the soul takes on the name of the commanding self (nafs al-ammāra). The second is the station of lights, where the soul is called the blaming self (nafs al-lawwāma). The third is the station of secrets, in which the soul is named the inspired self (nafs al-mulhima). The fourth is the station of perfection, where the soul is called the contented self (nafs al-mutmainna). The fifth is the station of union (vusul), in which the soul is named the satisfied self (nafs ar-rāziyya). The sixth is the station of manifestations of actions, where the soul is named the approved self (nafs al-mardiyya). The seventh is the station of manifestations of divine attributes and names, where the soul is known as the perfect one (nafs al-kāmila).
As the seeker (sālik) reaches each of these seven stations, he becomes veiled from that station and those following it. So, one in the first station is prevented from witnessing otherness and lights. One in the second station is veiled from secrets. One in the third station lacks perfection. One in the fourth station lacks union. One in the fifth station lacks the manifestations of God’s actions. One in the sixth station lacks the manifestations of divine attributes and names. And one in the seventh station remains with the manifestation of those attributes and names, lacking the essential manifestation (zātī). Attaining to the essential manifestation is impossible, for it is like gazing at the center of the sun—the gaze of which would darken, and he would see nothing. Therefore, the highest of these exalted stations is the manifestation of divine attributes and names. For that is what all those who attain to the degree of the Chosen Nearness (Mukarrabūn) have found. They say: “God does not manifest in this world of existence with His pure essence, but manifests through veiling Himself with His glorious attributes.”
As it is stated in a hadith: "Between God and his servants there are seventy veils of light and darkness. If He were to lift them, those who gazed at the brightness of His countenance would burn away, and see nothing." [110]
However, all seventy veils of light and darkness between the servant and his Lord belong to the servant’s side. For no veil can obstruct God; if such a veil existed, He would remove it. He is superior to everything and everyone; He decrees whatever He wills at His own time. Therefore, it is the servant who remains behind the veil. The truth of the matter is that the veil signifies the distance for establishing spiritual nearness—it is neither a sensory thing nor related to temporal or material distance. For God is free from feelings of nearness and remoteness; He is transcendent of directions, time, and place.
The fundamental principles (seyr ü sülūk) of spiritual progress are established to remove these seventy veils, which are linked to the seven stations [explained in previous articles]. Thus, the commanding self (nafs al-ammāra) is hindered by ten veils at each of the seven stations, with the first veil being more intense than the second, the second more dense than the third. This density continues until it reaches the tenth. That is, the ninth veil is denser than the tenth. With this comparison, the veils of each station are denser than those of the stations that follow them. This density continues in this order until the seventh station. Therefore, when the seeker who treads this path reaches each of these seven stations, he believes he has attained to God.
Now that you have knowledge of this, know that the time when the servant is farthest from his Lord is when he remains in the first station, for it is there that the commanding self is most intensely present, urging towards evil.
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