It is fear. Even greater than this is the fear of buʿd (remaining distant from God).
After this comes the fear, for the murīd (aspirant, disciple), of losing what is in his possession and of being stopped by threat. This is a fear that concerns those among the elite (khawāṣṣ) with respect to izhār (manifestation) and ikhtiyār (choice). In reality, it is taken from them as a form of punishment. This can occur in the claim of maḥabba (love of God) or when the nafs (the lower self) describes its own reality. However, the people of maḥabba do not fall into despair or deficiency at these points. This is subtler than hidden snares. After this comes the fear of losing something that cannot be perceived. Ibrāhīm Edhem, one of the muḥibbīn (lovers of God), once heard a verse recited by a spiritual traveler:
Every fault was forgiven
Except turning away from Me
We returned to you what you had lost
What you lost from Me remains
When Ibrāhīm Edhem heard this, he paused and fainted. He lay unconscious for a day and a night.
Greater than the fear of losing is the fear of being consoled. This is what the muḥibbīn fear most. For love of Allah is not in their hands, but in His. This is a great blessing whose value cannot be estimated. Nothing is equal to it. How can a servant offer shukr (gratitude) for this!
Just as their love for Allah is by His grace, so too is their forgetfulness of Him by His will. Their love for Allah comes to them from where they do not know, and likewise, their forgetfulness of Him comes from an unknown direction. Just as you find love in Allah, you may also find consolation in Him. You may forget Allah, but you do not know how you are consoled. Just as you love Allah unknowingly, He gradually distances you through the subtleties of His wisdom. For Allah, by making you a shāhid (witness) to the subtleties of His mercy, has made you love His attributes, and you find yourself loving Him.
Love, just as it comes, can also depart. Through the attribute of being a snare and compulsion, love can veil you from Him. In an instant, you may find that your qalb (the heart) has forgotten Him without any effort, strength, means, or recourse. Only one who knows the subtleties of Allah's trials can explain this. Only one who fears Allah's hidden snares and tests can be saved from this. Just as you love Allah by His grace, if you forget Him by His will, this is a sign that Allah has rejected you and distanced you from Himself. This is a hidden snare that occurs by the swiftness of His power, which turns the hearts that have fallen into Allah's snare in an instant. This is the state of true wretchedness that befalls the deluded person. Often, due to its speed, the eye cannot perceive it, and due to its hiddenness, the qalb cannot prevent it.
Even heavier than all these is the fear of alteration. For this is something that is (constantly) doubted (a person constantly lives with the suspicion that his state will change and he will lose his iman (faith)). This is the reality of istidrāj (gradual entrapment) that occurs at the final point of being punished and abhorred by the Beloved, Allah Most High, and at the end of His distancing. Consolation is the beginning of this station. Turning away and veiling are the beginning of all these. The state of qabḍ (constriction) in dhikr (remembrance of God) and the narrowing of the heart with goodness are causes of these distancing meanings. When these meanings, which are divided into stages, intensify and increase, they distance a person from all of them. When they decrease and are replaced by righteous deeds and goodness, they lead to the stations of love and closeness. (Kūt, II, 58)
Āmid, that is, muḥibb (lover), means one who is sincere in his love for Allah. According to linguists, āmid means a qalb (the heart) that is shaken by love. (Būstān, 30)
I am such a thing
That whoever sees me admires me
I have no equal