When someone who has not attained the ḥāl (spiritual state) dares to witness forms, know that he is captivated and deluded, and has not entered the rank of witnessing the light.
Zābit: A walī (friend of God) is not infallible regarding major sins; he may also commit minor sins. However, he is maḥfūẓ (protected) from major sins, and his minor sins are forgiven.
Rābiṭ: The deeds of the walī are tied to scholarly opinions. He also uses his knowledge in the states of action (in applying it to his deeds).
Zübit: If the human nafs (the lower self) tries to make the walī forget and fall into heedlessness, he does not continue to follow Satan. On the contrary, it compels him to repent. Every time this state occurs, the walī returns from it with great sincerity, mutlaqan (absolutely).
Rābit: The walī at the rank of jamāl (beauty) is captivated, while the walī at the rank of jalāl (majesty) is deluded. The walī who has united the ranks of jamāl and jalāl is the possessor of kamāl (perfection).
Zābit: The one who possesses the witnessing of jamāl is weak, and whoever follows such a person has deviated from the path. The one who possesses the witnessing of jalāl has attained hudā (guidance), is a hādī (one who can be a means to guidance), and is a strong muhtadī (one firmly guided). The perfect person is one who can witness the jamāl in jalāl and the jalāl in jamāl.
Rābit: (All these) occur to the extent permitted by the maqām (spiritual station). (Kavânin, 49)
At every moment, send ṣalāt (blessings) and peace, my Lord,
Upon the Chosen Prophet,
The source of secrets,
The treasure of the gnostics,
The starting point of lights,
You sent him as a mercy to the worlds,
You protected (him) from the torment of Hell,
Peace also be upon his close ṣāḥib (Companions),
Their love suffices for me.
Every walī, knowing that before him the prophets and awliyāʾ (friends of God) were present and knowing his time, manifests in wujūd (existence). The Seal of Sainthood (khātam al-wilāya) is upon the path of Muhammad. For he is a radiance from this comprehensive, universal Muhammadan light, a light from the lights of the Messenger of God. Sainthood in its broadest sense ends with him. After him, the universe is never without a man (walī) belonging to the general sainthood. No special treatment is given to any group in this matter, and (that walī) remains hidden from all. (Nafahāt, 150)
verāʾ 3) fehl-i verāʾ; shubuhāt; verāʾ al-ṣiddīqīn
I asked: What is verāʾ? He said: It is to avoid what Allah dislikes. The saying of ʿUmar, "Keep away from the thief, do not watch him," means "Remove him from your loads, do not watch him until he steals." In Arabic, the word 'verri' is used in the sense of "beware of the camel."
Taqwa (God-consciousness) is the first rank of the worshippers. With it, they ascend to a higher rank and purify their deeds. For Allah the Exalted does not accept any deed that is not done seeking His pleasure. I swear by Allah, most of those who possess taqwa have not been content with taqwa alone, but have striven with their hearts and bodies in the path of Allah, spending their wealth and lives in this cause.
See for yourself where you stand in relation to them. I fear that most of the worshippers of our time are deluded in this matter. There are many who appear humble in themselves and have abandoned the world in asceticism, but still hold the reins of the worthless dunyā (world). Again, there are many who, deprived of sincerity towards the Lord of the worlds, perform prayer, fast, go on pilgrimage, participate in battles, and supplicate with tears. They wish to show people that they have renounced the world and are ascetics through their outward acts of obedience, appearing sincere in this matter. However, they look at things Allah dislikes, and when angry or familiar with someone, they utter bad words and gossip; with their bodies, they commit other evil deeds (that Allah dislikes). (Riʿāya, 9)
Obedience is the path to salvation, and knowledge is its guide. The root of obedience is verāʾ, the root of verāʾ is taqwa, the root of taqwa is self-accounting (muhāsaba), and the foundation of self-accounting is fear (khawf) and hope (rajāʾ). The guide of self-accounting is knowledge. (Riʿāya, 12)
The people of verāʾ are three groups: The first group are those who avoid doubtful matters that cannot be clearly deemed lawful or unlawful. Ibn Sīrīn said: Nothing is easier for me than verāʾ. Whenever something gives me doubt, I immediately leave it. The second group are those who, even before reaching for something, feel unease in their hearts; only the people of the heart and the realized know this. The third group are the gnostics and the people of ecstasy. As Abū Sulaymān Dārānī said: Everything that distracts you from Allah is worthless.
verāʾ 1211 When Sahl ʿAbdullah was asked what pure lawful (halāl) is, he replied: Lawful is that in which there is no disobedience to Allah; pure lawful is that in which Allah is not forgotten. Verāʾ performed without forgetting Allah is the verāʾ asked of Shiblī. When he was asked, "What is verāʾ, O Abū Bakr?" he replied: It is to avoid anything that would sever your heart's connection with Allah, even for the blink of an eye. The first is the verāʾ of the common people, the second of the elite, and the third of the elite of the elite. Verāʾ requires asceticism (zuhd). (Lumaʿ, 70)
Verāʾ is to abandon doubtful things. Ibrāhīm Edhem said: Verāʾ is to leave everything doubtful and to avoid malāyānī (idle things), which means abandoning superfluous matters.
Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq said: We would abandon seventy lawful things out of fear of committing a single unlawful act. The Messenger of God said to Abū Hurayra: "Be a person of verāʾ and you will be the most devout among people." (Ibn Mājah, Zuhd, 24) (Qushayrī, 58)
Allah the Exalted said: "And purify your garments" (al-Muddaththir 74:4). According to the principle of verāʾ, it is to maintain the sensitivity to thoroughly investigate a matter; according to the principle of reverence, it is to avoid sinning. This (station) is the end of the station of zuhd (asceticism) for the common people and the beginning for the murīd (aspirant). It has three degrees. The first degree is to turn away from ugliness by guarding the nafs, to increase good deeds, and to protect iman (faith). These three qualities pertain to the verāʾ of the murīd.
The second degree of verāʾ is, when encountering matters that are not prohibited, to rise to higher ranks by protecting oneself according to the principle of taqwa, and to maintain these boundaries by avoiding transgression.
The third degree of verāʾ is to avoid any influence that causes the dispersion of one's time and to strive to distance oneself from anything contrary to the state of union (jamʿ). (Manāzil, 13)
Verāʾ is the middle path between ostentation (riyāʾ) and adornment with evil deeds (hūtka). Its perfection is to adorn the nafs with virtuous righteous deeds, so as to draw near to Allah without ostentation or show. (Mīzān, 76)
Ibrāhīm Edhem said: Verāʾ is of two kinds. One is obligatory verāʾ, the other is cautionary verāʾ. Obligatory verāʾ is to avoid things that are disobedience to Allah. Cautionary verāʾ is to avoid things that are doubtful as to whether Allah has prohibited them.
Thus, the verāʾ of the common people is from the unlawful and the doubtful; that is, from anything that involves the rights of others or is not permitted by the sharia (sacred law). The verāʾ of the elite is from anything in which the desires of the nafs and its pleasures are involved. The verāʾ of the elite of the elite is from everything they will or see. Thus, the common people attain verāʾ by abandoning the world, the elite by abandoning paradise, and the elite of the elite by abandoning everything other than Allah.
Yaḥyā Muʿādh al-Rāzī said: Verāʾ has two forms: The first is outward verāʾ, which is that nothing but Allah's pleasure moves you. The second is inward verāʾ, which is that nothing but Allah the Exalted enters your heart. (Ghunyal, 1, 131)
Zuhd (asceticism) is for an hour; verāʾ is for two hours; maʿrifa (gnosis) is to act continuously. (Fath, 294)
Verāʾ, which is one of the spiritual stations, is to abandon what is doubtful... (Ādāb, 20)
When Shiblī was asked what verāʾ is, he replied: Verāʾ is to avoid your heart's separation from Allah the Exalted, even for the blink of an eye.
Abū Sulaymān Dārānī said: Contentment (qanāʿa) is a part of riḍā (contentment with God's decree), and verāʾ is the beginning of zuhd.
Yaḥyā Muʿādh said: Verāʾ is to remain within the limits of knowledge (the Qur'an and Sunnah) without resorting to interpretation (taʾwīl).
When (Ibrāhīm) Ḥawwās was asked what verāʾ is, he replied: Verāʾ is that the servant, whether in a state of pleasure or anger, speaks only the truth, and all his concern is for what Allah the Exalted is pleased with.
(Ibrāhīm) Ḥawwās said: Verāʾ leads to fear (khawf of Allah), fear leads to maʿrifa (gnosis), and maʿrifa leads to qurb (nearness to Allah). (ʿAwārif, 284-285)
Verāʾ is to avoid the unlawful. Anything in which there is suspicion of being unlawful is avoided because of this suspicion. These doubts are called shubuhāt. This is something in which there is a doubt about a clear text (naṣṣ) from the Book, Sunnah, or consensus (ijmāʿ) prohibiting it. (Futūḥāt, 1, 312)
Verāʾ means avoidance. In the legal sense, it is to avoid not the lawful, but the unlawful and the doubtful. The Prophet said: "Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt." (Bukhārī, Buyūʿ, 3) This is exactly what we mean. This hadith is among the comprehensive and decisive sayings. Someone said: I have not seen anything easier than verāʾ. To act on this hadith, I abandoned everything that left a trace in my soul, and that is all.
As for what is certainly unlawful, it is commanded to avoid it, for taking it is forbidden. This prohibition is regarding the person forbidden, not the thing itself. For what is forbidden to one may be permitted to another by the Lawgiver (Shāriʿ) through the sharia. Thus, we say: The thing itself is not absolutely forbidden, for nothing is intrinsically and absolutely unlawful. (Futūḥāt, II, 172; Asfār, 93)
Verāʾ has four degrees: The first is to avoid what has been given a fatwa as unlawful. No example is needed for this. The second is to avoid all doubtful things. As mentioned in the section on shubuhāt, this is not obligatory but recommended. The Prophet said: "Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt." (Bukhārī, Buyūʿ, 3) The third degree is to abandon some lawful things out of fear of falling into the unlawful. The fourth degree is to abandon everything that does not have Allah's pleasure. This is the verāʾ of the ṣiddīqīn (the truthful). For example, it is narrated from Yaḥyā al-Nīsābūrī: He once took medicine. His wife said, "If you walked around the house a bit, the medicine would take effect." He replied: "I do not know such a walk. For thirty years, I have held myself to account. I have not taken a single step without a religious intention." This is among the subtleties of verāʾ. (Qudāma, 83)
For the common people, verāʾ is the end of the station of zuhd; for the murīds, it is the beginning. For the great ones, it is to avoid sin. Its branches: the first is to avoid ugly deeds to protect iman and to increase good deeds; the second is to maintain the boundary between what is permitted and what is not; the third is to abandon everything contrary to union (jamʿ). (Rawḍa, 470)
Verāʾ is to prevent the eye from dazzling pleasures, the nafs from lusts, the qalb (heart) from heedlessness, the ruh (spirit) from slips, and the sirr (innermost secret) from turning to anything other than God (mā siwā). (Jāmiʿ, 54)
Verāʾ is of three kinds: The verāʾ of the common people is to speak only in a way that pleases Allah, whether in pleasure or anger; the verāʾ of the elite is to protect the body from everything that incurs Allah's wrath; the verāʾ of the elite of the elite is for all their actions to be in accordance with Allah's pleasure. (Jāmiʿ, 60)
Verāʾ and taqwa are synonymous in language. According to the people of reality, verāʾ is to avoid following desires out of fear of falling into the unlawful. It is said: Verāʾ is to act according to the outward of the sharia without resorting to interpretation (taʾwīl).
It is also said: Verāʾ is to abandon everything doubtful and to constantly take account of the nafs.
Shiblī said: Verāʾ is to abandon mā siwā (everything other than Allah).
The Prophet encouraged verāʾ, saying: "The lawful is clear, and the unlawful is clear. Between them are matters that are doubtful. So leave what is doubtful for what is not." (Muslim, Musāqāt, 107-108) (Jāmiʿ, 265)
In language, verāʾ means to avoid something out of fear. In the sharia, it is likewise to avoid something in order to obey Allah's command. (Nabhānī, I, 269)
Verāʾ is of two types: The first is outward verāʾ, which is that nothing but Allah's pleasure moves you. The second is inward verāʾ, which is that nothing but Allah the Exalted enters your heart. Imām Shāfiʿī said: When someone wants to speak, he should think before speaking. If the benefit is clear, he should speak; if there is doubt, he should not speak until the benefit is clear.
Bishr al-Ḥāfī said: Whenever you feel pleased with silence, then speak! (Nabhānī, I, 271)
(See also: taqwa/takwāllāh)