It is to act in accordance (with the truth). Another saying of Junayd is as follows: The Sufi is like the earth; everything bad is thrown upon it, but 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 saying of his (on this subject) is: If you see a Sufi who gives importance to the outward, know that his inward is in ruin.
Sahl ʿAbdullāh (al-Tustarī) said: The Sufi is the one who considers his blood wasted and his wealth lawful (for others).
(Abū Ḥusayn) al-Nūrī said: The attribute of the Sufi is tranquility (and serenity, not complaining) in absence, and altruism (preferring others to oneself, distributing what one finds) in presence.
al-Kattānī said: Sufism (taṣawwuf) is akhlaq (character); whoever surpasses you in character also surpasses you in purity.
Abū ʿAlī al-Rūzbārī also said: Sufism is not leaving the Beloved's door even if one is driven away. Another of his sayings: (Sufism) is the purity of closeness after the turbidity of distance (i.e., attaining the clarity of nearness after the murkiness of separation).
It has been said: The ugliest of the ugly is a miserly Sufi. Others have said: Sufism is an empty hand and a pure heart (it is zuhd and riḍā).
sufi-mutasawwif-mustaswif / sufiyya Shiblī said: Sufism is being with Allah without any anxiety. Abū Manṣūr also said: The Sufi gives ishāra (indication) from Allah. The people, however, indicate towards Allah. (Since the Sufi has reached Allah, his orientation is from Allah to the people; he gives ishāra from Allah to the people. The people who have not advanced on the Sufi path have not reached Allah; their indication is towards Allah. It can also be expressed as follows: The Sufi's ishāra is from the cause to the effect, while the people's ishāra is from the effect to the cause.)
Again, Shiblī said: The Sufi is cut off from the people and connected to the Truth (he has separated from the people and united with the Truth).
Ruwaim said: Sufis are in good as long as they do not refrain from advising and warning one another. But when peace occurs among them and they cease to warn each other, then there is no good left among them.
Jarīrī also said: Sufism is to murāqaba (watch over) one's states and to adhere to proper conduct.
Muzayyin said: Sufism is submission to the Truth.
Abū Turāb al-Nakhshabī also said: The Sufi is the one whom nothing can disturb, and everything is purified through him.
It has been said: The Sufi is the one whom neither seeking tires nor causes disturb. (Qushayrī, 138)
The ignorant mutasawwif (mutasawwif jāhil) is the one who has not attended the company of a shaykh, has not learned proper conduct from a great one, and has not tasted the experience of life. Such a person, lacking insight, dons the blue robe, throws himself among the Sufis, and embarks on the path of bast. His foolishness leads him to think everyone is like himself. For this reason, he cannot distinguish between the path of truth and bāṭil (falsehood). (Hujwīrī, 23)
According to one group, the Sufi is so named because he wears sūf (woolen garment). According to another group, they are called Sufis because they stood in the first row (saff-i awwal) in the path of Allah. According to another, they took this name from imitating the Companions of the Suffa. Others say the name derives from safā (purity). (Hujwīrī, 39)
Safā is the opposite of keder (i.e., purity and clarity, as opposed to turbidity); keder is among the attributes of humankind. In reality, the Sufi is the one who has passed beyond the realm of keder. As when the Egyptian women, upon witnessing the beauty of Prophet Joseph, were overcome by the state of humanity and, looking at him through the window of human mortality, their state of ghalaba (overwhelm) was reversed from its Sufi meaning. (Hujwīrī, 41)
The Sufi is a name given to one whose walāya is complete and to the realized friends of God (awliyāʾ). As one of the mashāyikh said: The one purified by love is ṣāfī, but the one purified by the Beloved is Sufi. According to the principles of language, it is not correct for this name to be derived from any root, for it is above any root it could be derived from. Linguists derive words of the same kind from each other, but any root that could be found is the opposite of safā. A word cannot be derived from its opposite. For those who know, this meaning is clearer than the sun and needs no further explanation, for the Sufi is beyond both expression and indication. Since this is the case, the whole world, knowingly or unknowingly, describes him. If the meaning is manifest, what need is there for the name? Among the Sufis, one who is a person of kamāl (perfection) is called Sufi, and those connected to them or their students are called mutasawwif.
The Sufi is one who has lost himself, escaped the grip of base traits, abides with the Truth, and clings to the reality of ḥaqāʾiq (realities). The mutasawwif is one who strives to attain this degree through struggle and to acquire their conduct. The mustaswif is one who tries to resemble them for superiority, status, and the pleasures of dunyā (the world), but is heedless of both these and all meanings. He is so heedless that it is said: In the eyes of the Sufis, the mustaswif is like a fly; to others, he is like a wolf.
In this ḥāl (state), the Sufi is the possessor of wuṣūl (arrival); the mutasawwif is the possessor of usūl (the ways leading to arrival); the mustaswif is the possessor of futile matters. (Hujwīrī, 43-44)
Dhu’l-Nūn al-Miṣrī said: The Sufi is the one who, when he speaks, his words clarify realities, and when he is silent, his body speaks on his behalf by severing attachments. That is, the Sufi's words are based entirely on a sound foundation. All his actions are pure detachment. When he speaks, his words are entirely truth; when he is silent, his actions are entirely faqr (state of neediness before Allah). (Hujwīrī, 45)
The sufiyya are those who distance their spirits from human sorrows, protect themselves from the calamities of the nafs, and, until they reach the highest degree and the first rank in the presence of the Truth, ...