To reach the atebe-i fanāʾ (threshold of fanāʾ, annihilation in God) is to attain nearness to the Real (al-Ḥaqq), to know Him, to reach the secrets and the sciences of religion, and to plunge into the ocean of lights in such a way that neither darkness nor the nature of lights can cause harm. The nature (ṭabīʿat) remains until the time when the spirit (rūḥ) will separate from the body, in order for all allotted portions (kismet) to be completed. For if nature (or disposition) were to depart from the human being, (the human) would have joined the angels, and then ḥikma (wisdom) would have ceased to exist. Therefore, nature remains, not in essence but in function, in order to complete the allotted portions and pleasures. (Futūḥ, 134)
(See also: fanāʾ–baqāʾ)