Hil'at (robe, garment) is a sign of proximity. The lover abandons the hil'at. For in the hil'at (and thus in proximity) there is a sign of separation. This is because remaining in nonexistence (ʿadam) is to await existence (wujūd). When he finds it, it becomes something other, and he cannot find comfort with it; he is told to leave it. This is the meaning of the saying of the shaykh of shaykhs, Abū'l-Qāsim al-Junayd Muḥammad: "Poverty (faqr) is to empty the heart of forms." As long as the form exists in the ḥāl (spiritual state), while striving to free the heart from preoccupation with forms, what remedy is there but to cast it away? (Hujwīrī, 34)
The hil'at comes from the Real (al-Ḥaqq). Its swoon is of the kinds of maʿrifa (gnosis), knowledge, and grace and generosity. The donning of it with blessings and grace and generosity is called talabbus (clothing oneself). By rejecting it and abandoning talabbus intentionally, do not act with ill-manners! For to reject the blessings of the king (malik) is to slander Him and to belittle His rank. Then, one who does not have the Real (or a sign from Him) upon him, or who is clothed in caprice (hawā) and nafs (the lower self)—that is, one under the influence of caprice and the lower self—envelops himself in Allah's grace and portion.
The hil'at has four forms in attaining portion and allotment: The first is by the way of (the lower self's) nature, which is forbidden (ḥarām). The second is by the way of sharia (the sacred law), which is permissible (mubāḥ) and lawful (ḥalāl). The third is by command, which is the state of walāya (sainthood) and the abandonment of caprice. The fourth is by grace and generosity, which is the cessation of will, the attainment of badaliyya (substitution), and the subsistence of one's being solely by intending the decree (qadar) that is Allah's act, and being established thereby. This is the state of knowledge and ṣalāḥ (uprightness and soundness). In reality, a servant cannot be called righteous (ṣāliḥ) until he attains this station. (Futūḥ, 122-123)