It is to act in accordance (with what is prescribed).
Another saying of Junayd is as follows: The Sufi is like the earth; all bad things are thrown upon it, yet only good things come forth from it. Again, he said on this subject: The Sufi is like the earth; both the good and the bad tread upon it. He is like a cloud, shading everything. Like rain, he waters everything without discrimination, bearing the burdens of people and doing good to them. Another of his sayings is: If you see a Sufi who gives importance to his outward appearance, know that his inward is ruined.
Sahl ʿAbdullāh (al-Tustarī) said: The Sufi is one whose blood is wasted and whose wealth is deemed lawful (by others).
(Abū Ḥusayn) al-Nūrī said: The attribute of the Sufi is tranquility (and peace, not complaining) in absence, and altruism (preferring others to oneself, distributing what one finds) in presence.
al-Kattānī said: Sufism (taṣawwuf) is akhlaq (ethics); whoever surpasses you in ethics also surpasses you in purity.
Abū ʿAlī al-Rūzbārī also said: Sufism is not leaving the door of the Beloved even if one is driven away. Another of his sayings: After the turbidity of distance, there is the clarity of nearness.
It has been said: The worst of the ugly is a miserly Sufi.
Some have said: Sufism is an empty hand and a pure heart (it is zuhd and riḍā). Shiblī said: Sufism is to be with Allah without any worry. Abū Manṣūr also said: The Sufi gives ishāra (indication) from Allah. The people, however, indicate towards Allah. (Since the Sufi has reached Allah, his direction is from Allah to the people, giving ishāra from Allah to the people. Those among the people who have not advanced on the path of Sufism have not reached Allah; their indication is towards Allah. It can also be expressed thus: The Sufi's indication is from the Cause to the effect, while the people's indication is from the effect to the Cause.)
Again, Shiblī said: The Sufi is cut off from the people and connected to the Truth (having separated from people, he is united with the Truth).
Ruwaim said: The Sufis are in good as long as they do not cease to admonish and guide one another. But when peace occurs among them (when, like the common people, they stop admonishing each other), there is no good left among them.
Jarīrī also said: Sufism is to observe the murāqaba (spiritual watchfulness) of states and to adhere to proper conduct (adab).
Muzayyin said: Sufism is to submit to the Truth (Allah).
Abū Turāb al-Nakhshabī also said: The Sufi is the one whom nothing disturbs, and with whom everything becomes pure.
It has been said: The Sufi is the one whom neither seeking tires nor causes disturb. (al-Qushayrī, 138)
Sufism is tafāʿul and takalluf (artifice and affectation; it requires a certain effort and burden, and what requires effort is not natural but artificial). The original safā (purity) is the root, and Sufism is a branch derived from it. The difference between them is clear in terms of language and meaning. The safā verse (the evidence from sharia or extraordinary signs) is the walāya (friendship with God) that possesses such signs. Sufism is the narration of safā without complaint. In this case, safā is a radiant meaning, and the outward aspect of Sufism is the narration of this meaning. (Hujwīrī, 44)
Ibn Jallā said: Sufism is ḥaqīqa (inner reality); it has no form. It is not a form. Forms and dealings (etiquette and rituals) are the share of the people. Ḥaqīqa belongs to the Truth (Allah) alone. In ḥaqīqa, Sufism is to turn away from creation. In it, there can be no form whatsoever. (Hujwīrī, 47)
Muḥammad (al-Bāqir) ʿAlī Ḥusayn ʿAlī Abū Ṭālib said: Sufism is ethics. Whoever surpasses you in ethics, surpasses you in Sufism. Good character is of two kinds: one with people, the other with the Truth (Allah). Good character with the Truth is to be content with His decree; good character with people is to bear the burden of being with them for the sake of the Truth's contentment. Everything arising from these two belongs to the seeker (murīd). The Truth is independent of the seeker's contentment or anger. These two qualities in the seeker are connected to the oneness (waḥdāniyya) of the Truth (the servant's contentment and anger also belong to the oneness of the Truth). (Hujwīrī, 48)
Junayd said: Sufism is built upon eight qualities: generosity, contentment (riḍā), patience (sabr), indication (ishāra), ghurba (estrangement), wearing wool, travel, and poverty (faqr). (Generosity belongs to Abraham, contentment to Isaac, patience to Job, indication to Zechariah, estrangement to John, wearing wool to Moses, travel to Jesus, and poverty to Muhammad.) (Hujwīrī, 49)
Abū Ḥafṣ Ḥaddād al-Nīsābūrī said: All of Sufism is adab (proper conduct). Every time, every maqām (spiritual station), and every ḥāl (spiritual state) has its own adab. Whoever adheres to the adab of the times reaches the stations attained by these men called Sufis and true men. Those who neglect adab, even if they think they are near, in reality fall far from that point. Thus, what they think is accepted (by the Truth) is rejected. (Hujwīrī, 51)
Abū Ḥusayn al-Nūrī said: Sufism is ḥurriyya (freedom), futuwwa (spiritual chivalry), abandoning affectation, and generosity. Freedom is to be freed from the bonds of desire. Futuwwa is to act justly towards others without expecting justice from them, and to be free from seeing one's own futuwwa. Abandoning affectation is not striving for shares and attachments. Generosity is to leave the world to its people. (Hujwīrī, 53)
The people of Sufism incline more towards knowledge acquired by ilham (inspiration) than knowledge acquired by taʿlīm (study). For this reason, they do not wish to pursue formal learning, read written books, or investigate cited proofs and sayings. Rather, they give priority to striving against the nafs, abandoning bad traits, and turning with their whole being to Allah Most High, cutting off all attachments. When this is achieved, the servant's qalb (heart) comes under Allah's command, and Allah guarantees to illuminate it with the lights of knowledge. When Allah takes possession of the servant's heart, mercy fills it and light begins to shine in the heart. The breast expands, the secrets of the malakūt (spiritual realm) are unveiled to him. By the grace of mercy, the veil of majesty is lifted from the face of the heart, and the realities of divine secrets begin to shine in the heart. What is incumbent upon the servant is only to purify his heart for the mercy that Allah will bestow, to prepare for it with a straight will, and to await it in a state of utter thirst. (Iḥyāʾ, 7, III, 23)
Those aspects of the Sufi path that are of the kind of the characteristics of prophethood can only be perceived through taste (dhawq). For you can only understand this by the analogy of sleep that has been granted to you. If there were no sleep, you would not affirm it. If there were a characteristic in the Prophet that had no example in you, you would never understand it. And if you could not understand, how could you affirm it? Affirmation only comes after understanding. This analogy is obtained at the beginning of the Sufi path. Through Sufi journeying (sulūk), a kind of affirmation is attained that cannot be obtained by taste or analogy alone. Even this single characteristic is sufficient for you to have iman (faith) in the essence of prophethood. (al-Munqidh, 147)
Sufism is not derived from wearing wool (ṣūf), but from safā (purity). A Sufi who is truthful in Sufism purifies his qalb from everything other than his Master, Allah. This purification is not achieved by manifesting karāma (saintly wonders), belittling others, composing books, narrating the stories of the righteous, or moving the fingers in dhikr and tahlīl (proclaiming God's oneness). It is only realized by sincerity in seeking the Truth, zuhd (asceticism) regarding the world, separating the heart from people, and detaching from everything other than the Master. (Fath, 90)
May Allah be pleased with him, in answer to the question about the foundation of Sufism, he said: I advise you to have taqwa (God-consciousness) towards Allah, to adhere to the outward of the sharia, to have soundness of breast (iman), generosity of nafs, to be cheerful, to be open-handed and generous, to avoid harming others but to endure harm, to embrace poverty, to keep the secrets of the shaykhs, to maintain close ties with the brethren, to give naṣīḥa (advice) to both young and old, to abandon enmity, to serve, to embrace altruism, to avoid hoarding, to avoid companionship with those not of your own group (dervishes), and to cooperate in religious and worldly matters. The reality of poverty is not to be in need of one like yourself (created beings). The reality of wealth is to be independent of one like yourself (to be free from need of created beings). Sufism is not gossip, but learning hunger and abstaining from what is liked and loved. The beginning of the poor is with knowledge, then comes gentleness. Knowledge leads him to estrangement, gentleness leads him to intimacy.
Sufism is built upon eight qualities: the generosity of Abraham, the contentment of Isaac, the patience of Job, the indication of Zechariah, the estrangement of John, the wearing of wool by Moses, the travel of Jesus, and the poverty of Muhammad. May blessings and peace be upon all of them and their friends. (Futūḥ, 158-159)
The beginning of Sufism is knowledge, its middle is action, and its end is divine gift. Knowledge is the understanding of the goal, action is the determination of the quest, and the divine gift is the attainment of the desired goal.
The people of Sufism are divided into three: the seeker (murīd), the one on the path (mutawassiṭ), and the one who has arrived (muntahī). (Ādāb, 16)
The Sufi path has an outward and an inward: the outward is to act with adab among people, the inward is to be occupied with states and maqāms in the presence of the Truth.
All of Sufism is adab. Every time, every maqām, and every ḥāl has its own adab. Whoever adheres to adab reaches the stations attained by these men called Sufis and true men. Whoever is deprived of adab, even if he thinks he is near...