It is zuhd (asceticism). The second is zuhd for the sake of obtaining reward and attaining the promised blessings. This is the zuhd of the rājiʿūn (those who hope). They have renounced their worldly blessings for the sake of the blessings (in Paradise). The third, which is the highest, is zuhd not to escape pain or attain blessings, but rather, on the contrary, to reach Allah Most High in this world. This is the zuhd of the ʿārifūn (gnostics) who are muḥsin (those who practice ihsan—spiritual excellence).
Compared to the delights of Paradise, the delight of gazing upon Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is like the delight of owning and playing with a dove compared to the delight of possessing the entire dominion of the world. (Qudāma, 348)
The beginning (bidāya) of zuhd is an incomplete maqām (spiritual station). Its end is a maqām with no limit, beyond what the eye can see. It cannot be confined by limited intellect. That is zuhd 1290.
Zuhd is the degree of the common people, the field of himma (spiritual aspiration) and mujāhada (spiritual struggle), and a maqām that elevates the elite to a well-known station.
The ḥaqīqa (inner reality) of zuhd is to detach oneself from everything except the Beloved (Allah, the Only Beloved). Whoever can do this achieves zuhd; whoever cannot, realizes faqr (spiritual poverty). The share of the elite in this matter is zuhd, not faqr; indeed, it is zuhd fi’l-zuhd (abstaining even from zuhd itself, i.e., realizing the zuhd of the gnostics). (Rawḍa, 410)
The ʿārif (gnostic) has three levels: The first is to turn away from mā siwā (all that is other than Allah) and to remove the veils. One in this ḥāl (spiritual state) is called a zāhid (ascetic). There are three types of veils that conceal the Real (al-Ḥaqq) from creation: the veil of kufr (disbelief) covers iman (faith), the veil of the world covers the hereafter. (In this second case, a person) may be a muʾmin (believer), but his hereafter is veiled by his world. He is diligent in worldly affairs, reliant (mutawakkil) in matters of the hereafter. (The third is) the veil of the common folk of Paradise. They forget the Bestower of blessings and become preoccupied with His blessings. On that Day, the people of Paradise will indeed be in bliss (Yā Sīn 36:55). The elite among the people of Paradise tear this veil. Even for the blink of an eye, Paradise cannot distract them from Allah. The second level is traveling to Allah by the path of riyāḍa (spiritual discipline). One in this state is called an ʿābid (devotee). The last is union with Allah. One in this state is called an ʿārif billāh (gnostic of God). For this reason, the Master (al-Shaykh) has said: Gnosis (ʿirfān) begins with separation, negation, abandonment, and rejection; it deepens and is immersed in all the attributes of the Real, confirmed by the truthfulness (ṣidq) pertaining to His Essence, and it ends and comes to rest in the Necessary Being (al-Wājib). (Rawḍa, 435)
Zuhd from the world and desire for the hereafter manifest in gatherings of dhikr (remembrance of God). Knowing and criticizing the faults and defects of the world, knowing and praising the beauties of Paradise, desiring and yearning for Paradise, remembering Hell and avoiding its evils—all these are learned in gatherings of dhikr... (Rajab, 11)
The condition of zuhd is to be in the maqām of ihsan (spiritual excellence, i.e., as if seeing Allah). For the condition of muraqaba (spiritual vigilance) for Allah is not to turn toward the world. Do you not see how a servant, seeing that his master expects service from him, leaves his own affairs and stands ready before his master to be occupied with whatever he commands? The zuhd of the muḥsinūn (those who practice ihsan), the ṣāliḥūn (the righteous), the muʾminūn (the believers), and the muslimūn (the Muslims) who are at lower levels, is only realized by turning away from the world and its pleasures. The zuhd of the martyrs is to turn away completely from both the world and the hereafter. The zuhd of the ṣiddīqūn (the truthful) is to witness only the Real in creation through His names and attributes. The zuhd of the muqarrabūn (those brought near) is to subsist in the names and attributes of the Real. They are within the ḥaqīqa (inner reality) of the Essence. (al-Insān, II, 92)
The sālik (spiritual traveler) who journeys from Him to Him transitions to tajallī (divine manifestation).
Among the sālikūn, those who journey to Him, from Him, and in Him, in the matter of divine names, journey from one divine name to another.
Again, among them, those who journey from Him but not in Him or to Him, depart from one cosmos to another by the leave of Allah.
Zuhd 1291. Among them, those who journey to Him but not from Him or in Him, flee from the cosmos to Him, just as Moses fled (Qasas 28:21).
Again, among them, those sālikūn who do not journey from Him, in Him, or to Him, transition from the world to the hereafter in outward deeds; these are also zāhids. (Asfār, 41)
Zuhd is of three types: The zuhd of the common people is to abstain from the unlawful (ḥarām), the zuhd of the khawāṣṣ (the elite) is to abstain from the excess of the lawful (ḥalāl), and the zuhd of the most elect (akhāṣṣ al-khawāṣṣ) is to abandon everything that distracts from Allah Most High. (Jāmiʿ, 60)
Linguistically, zuhd means to abandon inclination toward something and is the opposite of desire. In the terminology of the people of ḥaqīqa (inner reality), it is to detest the world and turn away from it. It has been said that zuhd is to abandon the comfort of the world in pursuit of the comfort of the hereafter. It has also been said that zuhd is to empty your heart of what you have emptied your hand of.
Junayd said: Zuhd is to empty the body of the world and the heart of desiring the world. It has been said: Zuhd is to abandon everything that distracts from Allah. It has also been said: Zuhd is to abandon everything other than Allah.
Sufyān al-Thawrī, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and others have said: Zuhd is to shorten one's hopes regarding the world. (Jāmiʿ, 208)
Know that the roots of the maqāms of yaqīn (certainty) attained by the branches of the states of the people of yaqīn are seven: tawba (repentance), sabr (patient endurance), shukr (gratitude), rajāʾ (hope), khawf (fear), zuhd, tawakkul (reliance upon God), maḥabba (love), and riḍā (contentment with God's decree). (Jāmiʿ, 218)
Sarī al-Saqaṭī said: Zuhd is that Allah removes the world from His awliyāʾ (friends), protects His pure servants from it, and removes it from the hearts of those who love Him. For He is not pleased with these people inclining toward the world. (Nabhānī, I, 277)
In matters of evil, zuhd is obligatory (wājib) regarding the unlawful. In matters of excessive indulgence in the permissible, zuhd is recommended (mandūb). According to the rulings of the people of ḥaqīqa within the people of tariqa (Sufi path), zuhd is obligatory in all cases. O obedient one, say yes and submit! Tahrir: Neglecting the beauty of the world is the act of the sālik (spiritual traveler) who is a zāhid servant. The greatest servant in the sight of Allah is the mālik (possessor), chaste and desirous.
Tanwīr: The world is like a snake, beautiful in appearance, soft in skin, but ugly inside and its venom deadly.
Tahrir: The people of the world depart from it every day, and every nafs (lower self) distances itself from it. But they are blind in vision and heedless of understanding the purpose. (Qawānīn, 26)
Zuhd is of two kinds: zuhd fi’l-dunyā (zuhd regarding the world) and zuhd fi’l-ākhira (zuhd regarding the hereafter). The first pertains to the believers, the second to the disbelievers. Zuhd regarding the hereafter is only for those who are preoccupied with mā siwā Allāh (all that is other than Allah) and have no desire for the hereafter.
Zuhd al-murīd (the zuhd of the murīd—aspirant) is in matters of the world and material possessions.
Zuhd al-ʿābid (the zuhd of the ʿābid—devotee) is to abstain from everything that occupies the mind.
Zuhd al-ahl al-warāʿ (the zuhd of the people of scrupulousness) is to abstain from everything lawful that is coveted. Zuhd al-sālikīn (the zuhd of the sālikūn—spiritual travelers) is to abstain from everything that prevents them from fulfilling the commands of the religion.
Zuhd al-ahl al-aḥwāl (the zuhd of the people of spiritual states) is in regard to the states of others (they are not concerned with the states of anyone but themselves). Zuhd al-ahl al-maqāmāt (the zuhd of the people of spiritual stations) is to abstain from everything that prevents them from witnessing (mushāhada).
Zuhd al-ahl al-maʿrifa (the zuhd of the people of maʿrifa—gnosis) is to abstain from everything that distances them from maʿrifa.
Zuhd al-ahl al-taḥqīq (the zuhd of the people of realization) is to abstain from everything other than the Real. They see the maqām of zuhd as itself a veil and a shell that keeps its people from the essence. The reason is that when one turns to zuhd...