He was asked, "What do you say about maḥabba (love)?" He replied: There is no barrier between the lover and the beloved. The lover speaks of his longing, describes his delight. The one who tastes knows, but the one who describes cannot be described. How can you describe that which, in the presence of ghayra (protective jealousy), you are absent from, in whose existence you move, in whose witnessing you vanish, in whose sobriety you attain intoxication, by means of which you fill your emptiness, and with whose joy you grieve? Awe renders a person mute and unable to speak; ḥayra (bewilderment) prevents the fearful from disclosing anything; ghayra prevents the eyes from seeing others. Dread binds the intellects and allows nothing to be said; there is always a persistent dahsha (dread), an inseparable bewilderment, astonished hearts, hidden secrets, and ailing bodies... and maḥabba dominates hearts with its powerful sovereignty.
Ghayra (protective jealousy) is of two kinds: human ghayra and divine ghayra. Human ghayra is directed toward other people. Divine ghayra is directed against time that would be wasted on anything other than Allah. (Lumaʿ, 299)
Ghayra means disliking the participation of another. The meaning of the Real (al-Ḥaqq) being characterized by ghayra is this: in what pertains to the servant's obedience, the Real, as the ṣāḥib (master), does not accept that anyone else be associated with Him. (Qushayri, 125)
Ghayra is the practice of the murīd (aspirant, disciple). The people of ḥaqīqa (inner reality) are not like this. According to what I heard from Abū Naṣr Iṣfahānī, Shiblī said: Ghayra is of two kinds: human and divine. Human ghayra is directed toward people. Divine ghayra is directed toward hearts. He also said: Divine ghayra toward the nafs (lower self) is that these nafs are wasted outside of Allah's will. (being wasted).
It is more correct to say: Ghayra is of two kinds: the Real's ghayra toward His servant, meaning He does not leave him to the people and is jealous over him from the people. The servant's ghayra for the Real is that he does not spend anything of his states or breaths for other than Allah. Thus, it is not said, "I am jealous of the Real," but rather, "I am jealous for the Real." Therefore, ghayra against Allah is ignorance and may sometimes lead to abandoning religion. Ghayra for Allah, however, requires respect for the rights of the Real and that actions be performed with ikhlas (sincerity) on His path.
Know that the Real, in His dealings with His awliyāʾ (friends of God), follows this sunnah: If the awliyāʾ find rest and tranquility in other than the Real, or think of other than Him, or their hearts incline toward something else, Allah immediately overturns those states. He is jealous over His awliyāʾ until their hearts return to Him again, purely and sincerely, and until they completely detach from whatever they found tranquility, thought, or warmth in besides Him. (Qushayri, 126)
Ghayra, in the sense of exceeding bounds, is to be jealous for the Real. Ghayra is also used in the sense of concealing secrets. The Real's ghayra is that He does not leave His awliyāʾ—who are in need—alone. (Iṣṭilāḥ, 536)
According to one group, ghayra has three maqām (spiritual stations): ghayra in the Real, ghayra against the Real, and ghayra from the Real. Each of these three stations has three states according to the similarity attributed to it. The essence of ghayra is witnessing the other (ghayr). Its persistence is not the same as that which pertains to intelligible things, but rather the same as that which pertains to the existence (wujūd) of the other.
This is undoubtedly intelligible. But is this intelligible other identical with the existent (i.e., is everything conceived apart from Allah included in the essence of existence), or not?
One who says that the manifestations (tajalliyāt) are apparent has not accepted the existence of the other, even though the judgment of its persistence and the state expressed by ghayra are affirmed. This is an effect of the preparedness (istiʿdād) of the manifestations in outwardness. The ghayra of multiplicity (kathra) as essence and state requires this. Multiplicity is undoubtedly intelligible. But does it have an identical existence, or not? This matter requires investigation.
Some say: The multiplicity that is apparent in the essence is merely various states subsisting by the single essence. These are relations. They have no real ḥaqīqa in the essence's wujūd.
Others say: They have a single essence and their apparentness in the manifestations does not diminish their essence. For although there is no multiplicity, multiplicity is perceived. Multiplicity is intelligible, while plurality is that which is witnessed as existent. (Futūḥāt, II, 489–490)
Ghayra is a requirement of maḥabba. Both the lover and the beloved are characterized by it. In this love, the lover is jealous only if—even secretly—there is any share for anyone else besides the beloved. So much so that he does not love the beloved for anything other than the beloved, and he loves only so that those who are not of the people of maḥabba may be characterized by it.
The beloved's ghayra is that, according to his own essence and the heart of the lover, he does not show favor to anyone else. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Ghayra is part of iman (faith)." (Sunan, 225; Daylami, III, 117) (Rawḍa, 648)
In the lexicon, ghayra means disliking the participation of another. This is also the case in the terminology of the people of ḥaqīqa. Some say: Ghayra is a characteristic of the people of the beginning (ahl al-bidāya). The people of the end (ahl al-nihāya) do not see the other, and since their ikhtiyār (power of choice) has vanished, they cannot object to what occurs in His dominion. The truth is that ghayra for Allah is right. It is that the servant does not do anything of his states or breaths for other than Allah. This requires respect for Allah's rights and purifying actions for His sake. Furthermore, ghayra is a requirement of maḥabba. (Jāmiʿ, 118)