and to distribute.
A Sufi has said: The true faqīr (genuine poor one) avoids gināʾ (wealth) out of fear that it may enter his heart and thereby corrupt his faqr (spiritual poverty), just as the wealthy man fears that poverty may befall him and thereby ruin his wealth.
It is narrated from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān that he said: I heard from Muẓaffar Kirmīsīnī: The faqīr is the one who has no need of Allah (who asks nothing from Allah). I also heard from him: I asked Abū Bakr Miṣrī who the faqīr is. He replied: He is the one who owns nothing, and who cannot be owned by anything.
Tajarrud ʿan al-asbāb and tajarrud ʿan al-azwāj (being detached from means and from the concerns of spouse and children) is more suitable for the faqīr (dervish) to make use of his time, more helpful for gathering his thoughts, and more delightful for his life. The best way for the dervish at the beginning (bidāya) is to sever his ties with the external dunyā (world), to break worldly attachments, to change places through journeys, to face dangers, to strip away from causes, and to distance himself from states that would veil him from spirituality. To marry and become involved with spouse and children is to abandon resolve and cling to dispensation (ruḫṣa), to turn from ease to hardship, and to become attached to family. Approaching dangerous things is to return to the world after having renounced it. It is to incline, by nature and habit, toward sensual desires. (ʿAwārif, 99)
When Sahl ʿAbdullāh was asked, Who is the true faqīr? he replied: He is the one who does not ask, does not turn away (those who ask), and does not hold on to what he has.
(Ḥasan) Musūḥī also said: The faqīr is the one whom blessings do not make rich, nor do hardships make poor.
The fuqaraʾ (poor ones) have no fixed number; they may increase or decrease... (Futūḥāt, II, 19; Nabhānī, I, 46) ...The Exalted Allah has said: O mankind, you are those in need of Allah. (al-Fāṭir 35:15)
The fuqaraʾ are in need of everything, because they are called by the name of Allah. The reality is that being in need of anything other than Allah is prevented. Allah has stated that people are in need of Him in an absolute (muṭlaq) sense. Faqr has been realized in them. Thus, we understand that the Real (al-Ḥaqq) has manifested Himself in the form of that which is needed. According to this verse, nothing is in need of those who are in need of Allah; rather, they are in need of everything. People are veiled from Allah by things. The great ones see things as loci of manifestation where the Real appears to His servants. Man, in their view, is in need—both outwardly and inwardly—of his hearing, sight, all his organs, and his faculties of perception. (Futūḥāt, II, 19)
The faqīr is the one who needs something, who is in need of it. Everything besides Allah Most High is faqīr, because it is in need of the continuation of its existence. Their existence derives from Allah's grace. The servant's needs are limitless according to what he requires. That which can be attained by wealth is among the needs.
It is thought that there can be five states concerning poverty. The first state: If wealth comes to him, he does not desire it, feels distress from it, and, out of aversion, avoids it to escape its harm and preoccupation. The possessor of this state is called a zāhid (ascetic). The second state: If wealth comes to him, he does not desire it, but neither does he feel distress or aversion. The possessor of this state is called rāḍī (content one, possessor of riḍā).
The third state: For him, having wealth is better than not having it. However, his desire for wealth does not move him to seek it. Rather, if it comes to him without seeking or searching, he accepts it and is glad. If he needs to strive for it, he does not bother. The possessor of this state is called qāniʿ (contented one). The fourth state: He abandons wealth out of incapacity, yet he desires it. If he had the ability (imkān) to obtain it through effort, he would do so. The possessor of this state is called ḥarīṣ (greedy one).
fakir/fuqarāʾ The fifth state: He is compelled by necessity to seek wealth, like the one who is hungry, naked, and lacks food and clothing. The possessor of this state is called muḍṭarr (one compelled, one in dire need). Whether his desire for wealth is strong or weak, it makes no difference.
The strongest of these five states is the state of zuhd (asceticism), the first state. There is a state higher than this first one: that the presence or absence of wealth is the same to him—he is neither glad to find it nor distressed to lose it. (Qudāma, 338)
The fuqaraʾ (poor ones) are divided into three: Some do not ask, nor do they accept if given; these are among the spiritual ones (rūḥānīs). Some do not ask, but if given, they accept; these are among the people of the sacred presence (ḥaḍrat al-quds). Some, when in need, ask, for their asking is in accordance with their sincerity in need (since they are truly in need, asking is their right).
Shaykh Jamāl al-Dīn said: I say, in summary: Whenever the faqīr is able to avert his needy state without begging, it is not permissible for him to beg. If he can avert it with hardship, I consider the situation. If it is of a kind that can be endured and there is no fear of death, then asking is permissible, but not asking is more virtuous. If it is of a kind that cannot be endured, then asking is obligatory. Sufyān al-Thawrī said: Whoever becomes hungry, does not ask, and dies because of it, will enter Hell. (Qudāma, 345)
The beginnings (bidāyāt) of the poor are tajrīd (renunciation of the world), and their ends (nihāyāt) are tafrīd (being with the Real). When the faqīr strips himself of worldly possessions, he is at the maqām (spiritual station) of Islam; when he strips himself of otherworldly possessions, he is at the maqām of iman (faith); when he strips himself of everything other than the Real, he is at the maqām of ihsan (spiritual excellence). (Rawḍa, 618)
The faqīr is the son of his moment (he fulfills the requirement of the moment he is in), he does not look to the past or the future. For to look at them is to let the present moment slip away. It is said: Whoever delays his action by procrastination, his life is wasted and his sowing and planting are in vain. Thus, both the world and the hereafter are lost. Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (Anwār, I, 81)
The faqīr is the son of his moment, he does not look to the past or the future. What is incumbent upon him is to strive to purify his heart from what Allah dislikes. That which Allah does not desire, Al