It is the person who is content with what is identical. (Ravza, 606)
The beginning (bidāya) of the Sufis is tahalluq (adopting virtues at the outset), and their end is tahaqquq (the realization of the Truth within themselves). As long as the Sufi persists in bodily tahalluq, such as enduring hardship and abandoning comfort, he remains at the islām (the station of submission) maqām. When he is freed from bodily necessities and transitions to an angelic akhlaq (character), he attains the station of iman (faith). When he is adorned with divine attributes, he reaches the station of ihsan (spiritual excellence). (Ravza, 618)
The Sufi's haqīqa (inner reality) is this: he is a scholar who acts upon his knowledge. That is, only the scholar who acts with ikhlas (sincerity) is such a person. The science of Sufism is nothing other than the experiential knowledge (maʿrifa) of the path to acting with ikhlas alone. If a scholar acts upon his knowledge with ikhlas, he too becomes a true Sufi. (Envâr, I, 195)
Tasawwuf (Sufism) derives from safā (purity); this is its root. There is a transposition of letters in its form. The original word ends with the letter wāw, but in this case, the wāw comes before the fāʾ. This is because the root of the mujarrad (unaugmented) verbal noun is safw. The Sufi is called 'Sufi' because of their secrets...