Abes is to display ifrāṭ (excess) in self-admiration during companionship and friendship. (Mizān, 78)
The ʿābid (devotee), among the ubbād (devotees), worships Him (al-Ḥaqq) through spiritual state (ḥāl), while the ʿārif (gnostic) worships within the state itself.
The ascetic (zāhid) is one who constantly thinks of Him, remains ever in His presence, and whose gaze does not turn to anything other than Him. The ʿābid is one who perceives Allah’s beneficence in acts of worship. These benefactions and blessings are so abundant that they would overwhelm one’s own acts of worship.
One who persistently performs prayer, fasting, and similar acts of worship is called an ʿābid. (Ishārāt, IV, 58)
The men of God (rijālullāh) are divided into three groups; there is no fourth. Some of them are those over whom asceticism (zuhd), tabattul (devotion by renouncing all but Allah), and all praiseworthy acts prevail. At the same time, they have purified themselves from all blameworthy traits condemned by the Lawgiver (Shāriʿ). However, they see nothing beyond these acts they contemplate. They have no knowledge of the spiritual states (ḥāl) and unveilings (kashf) of the ʿābid, nor of divinely bestowed knowledge. They are unconcerned with anything outside themselves. These are called ubbād. If someone comes to them asking for supplication (dua), they may sometimes rebuke or dismiss the petitioner, or say, “Who am I to supplicate for you?” Their station here is to guard against the snares of the nafs (the lower self), so that ostentation and self-admiration do not enter their hearts. Even if one of them recites much Qur’an and reads works like Muḥāsibī’s Riʿāya, their state remains thus. (Futūḥāt, III, 36)
In the eyes of the common people, the ubbād are known as those who renounce a life of luxury (debdebe) and withdraw from people. There is reward for them. (Futūḥāt, III, 37)
The ʿābid is one who abandons all preoccupations for the path of worship. Their duties are various. Among the early generations, the states of those who were devoted (mutāʿabbid) were diverse: among them were those who would recite the Qur’an once, twice, or even three times a day, those who engaged much in glorification (tasbīḥ), those who performed many prayers, and those who circumambulated the House of Allah (Baytullāh) frequently. (Qudāma, 57)
The ʿārif (gnostic) has three degrees: The first is to turn away from all that is other than Allah (mā siwā) and to remove the veils. One in this state is called a zāhid. There are three types of veils that conceal the Real (al-Ḥaqq) from creation: the veil of kufr (disbelief) covers iman (faith); the veil of dunyā (the world) covers the hereafter. (In this second case, even if the person is a mu’min (believer), the hereafter is veiled by his worldly life.) He is diligent in worldly matters, and reliant (mutawakkil) in matters of the hereafter. The third is the veil of the common people of Paradise; they become preoccupied with the blessings and forget the Bestower. On that Day, the people of Paradise will truly be in bliss (Yā Sīn 36:55). The elite among the people of Paradise tear this veil; Paradise cannot distract them from Allah even for the blink of an eye.
The second degree is to journey to Allah through ascetic discipline (riyāḍa). One in this state is called an ʿābid.
The last is to reach Allah. One in this state is called an ʿārif billāh (gnostic of God). For this reason, the Master (al-Shaykh) has said: Gnosis (ʿirfān) begins with differentiation, negation, renunciation, and rejection; it deepens in all the attributes of the Real, supported (ta’yīd) by truthfulness pertaining to the Divine Essence, becomes immersed in them, ends in the Necessary Being (al-Wājib), and there it halts and finds repose. (Rawḍa, 435)
The beginning (bidāya) of the ubbād is awrād (dhikr, remembrance), and their end (nihāya) is breaths (anfas). The ʿābid must acquire eight things: three relate to creed—knowing what is necessary (wājib), possible (jā’iz), and impossible (muḥāl) regarding Allah; five relate to rulings—knowing what is obligatory (wājib), recommended (mandūb), forbidden (ḥarām), disliked (makrūh), and permissible (mubāḥ). As long as one persists in actions and states, one is in the station of Islam; when one affirms what entails reward and punishment, one is in the station of iman; when one transitions from here to the maʿrifa (experiential knowledge) of the Lord, one is in the station of ihsan (spiritual excellence). (Rawḍa, 616)
The ubbād are especially those who fulfill the obligatory acts (ahl al-farā’iḍ). Allah praises them, saying: “They used to hasten to good deeds and supplicate Us in hope and fear, and they were humbly submissive to Us.” (al-Anbiyāʾ 21:90) They perform nothing beyond the obligatory acts. Among them are those who live in mountains, caves, by the sea, or in valleys. These are called sā’iḥūn (wanderers). Among them are those whose homes adjoin the mosque, those preoccupied with their nafs, those who cling to causes, and those who abandon causes—these last are righteous both outwardly and inwardly. They are protected from rancor, envy, greed, covetousness, and insatiability. All these blameworthy traits have been transformed into praiseworthy ones.
In their view, there is no understanding of divine knowledge, secrets, the unveiling of the malakūt (spiritual realm), or the recited verses (āyāt) of Allah. However, their reward is witnessed. There will be two witnesses for their states on the Day of Resurrection, for Paradise and Hell, for their tears in the prayer-niches. Their bodies remain distant from their beds, rising in fear and hope, supplicating their Lord, and they spend from what We have provided for them in Allah’s path. When the ignorant address them, they say, “Peace,” and pass by with dignity when confronted with idle talk. (al-Furqān 25:72)
They spend their nights in prostration and standing (qiyām) before their Lord. The fear of the Return (maʿād) awakens them from sleep. They bind their bellies with fasting to excel in the meal of salvation. When they give, they are neither extravagant nor miserly, but are balanced between the two. Because they do many deeds, they are not among the sinful. Which servant who does many deeds does not treat the Real with reverence! (Nabhānī, I, 46)
The scholar (ʿālim), provided he is sincere (ikhlas) and does not use his knowledge for worldly gain, is an inheritor of the words of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) in both learning and teaching. Otherwise, if he does not meet these conditions, he loses his right of inheritance entirely.
The ʿābid, by following the actions of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) until his feet swell, becomes his heir in deeds. The ʿārif, however, inherits all. (Rihla, 231)