To leave, to protect oneself from celwat (mingling with people), to avoid things to which a person can easily become attached, to abandon all habits and devote oneself to worship day and night.
The task of the murābiṭ (one who maintains spiritual vigilance) is to carefully observe the times and perform the wird (regular devotional practice) of each time precisely on time, to eagerly await the prayer times and never fall into heedlessness. Only by fulfilling these can a person become a striving murābiṭ.
The necessary duties of the Sufis are to preserve the state of jamʿ (spiritual union) in their bāṭin (inner world), to eliminate confusion in their inner selves and thus remove division. For they, by nisba (spiritual connection) to the spirits, have attained the state of jamʿ, and through the bond of divine intimacy have achieved unity; by witnessing with their qalbs (hearts), they have joined hands, and in the ribāṭs (spiritual retreats), they have become murābiṭs to adorn their nafs (lower selves) and purify their qalbs. Therefore, it is necessary for them to be those who, in mutual accord, are familiar with and love one another.
Zāwiya: ... places where the signs of the Islamic religion are performed, such as prayer, fasting, tahajjud (night vigil), contemplation, dhikr (remembrance of God), fikr (reflection), losing oneself in dhikr, performing wird, forming dhikr circles, escaping from mā siwā (all that is other than Allah) and being with Allah, attaining maʿrifa (gnosis) and verification, reaching witnessing and union, and becoming annihilated in Allah and His Messenger. These places are called ribāṭ, khānqāh, and tekke. They have other names as well. (Rihle, 164)
(See also tekye/tekke)
ricālu’l-ghayb/ricālullāh (the men of the unseen/the men of God) / Cazāi Si ) ) (ricālu ʿālam al-anfās; ricālu’l-besābis; ricālu’l-ayyām al-sitt; ricālu’l-fatḥ; ricālu’l-ishtiyāq; ricālu’l-māʾ; ricālu’l-taḥt al-asfal)
In every era, there are twenty-four individuals known as the ricāl-i fatḥ (men of conquest). Their number neither increases nor decreases. Allah has opened the hearts of the people of God to maʿrifa and secrets. Allah has made these (men) as numerous as the hours for each hour. Among them, there are those to whom knowledge and maʿrifa are unveiled at any hour of the night or day. This state belongs to the man of that hour. They are in different places and never come together. Each has a place where he will remain eternally. Of these, two are in Yemen, four in the eastern lands, six in the Maghrib. The rest are in other regions. The verse related to them appears in Allah’s Book as follows: “Whatever mercy Allah opens for the people, none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds, none can release it thereafter.” (al-Futūḥāt, II, 15)
Ricāl-i ishtiyāq (men of longing) are five individuals and they are people of anxiety. One who described them said:
I am not even aware whether the night is long or short
How could a heart consumed with anxiety know this?
Their yearning leads them to anxiety in the mirror of witnessing. They are among the sultans of those who are ricālu’l-ghayb/ricālullāh (men of the unseen/men of God) on the path of Allah, and (since they are five) they are the men of the five daily prayers. Each of them is assigned to one of the obligatory prayers. (al-Futūḥāt, II, 18)
Ricāl-i māʾ (men of water): a group who live in the depths of seas and rivers (within them, according to Nebhānī), worship Allah, and are unknown to everyone... (al-Futūḥāt, II, 21; Nebhānī, I, 47)
Ricāl-i besābis (men of the trackless deserts): these are people of position, station, and esteem in the world, and are of the human race. They appear to people and then disappear. They converse with people reciprocally. They mostly reside in mountains, fields, valleys, and riverbanks. However, those among them who have the imkān (possibility) have also taken up residence in cities. Their stations are exalted, they are not yearned for, and no fault is attributed to them. (Insān, II, 28)
Ricāl-i ishtiyāq, being five, are in the mirror of witnessing. Longing stirs them and burns their hearts. Longing is deeper than yearning, and for this reason, they have become the sultans of the people of the tariqa (Sufi path). They are also called ricāl-i ṣalawāt (men of prayer), because each is assigned a time from the five daily prayers. They are more devoted to the prayers assigned to them, just as other awliyāʾ (friends of God) are devoted to the celestial spheres and certain realities.
Ricāl-i ayyām-i sitt (men of the six days): what is meant by this expression are the days in which Allah created the universe. These are seven days, but Friday is excluded, because Allah created the origin of humanity on that day. This is the purpose of the creation of the world. For this reason, Friday has become the most virtuous of days. The characteristics of these seven days are as follows: Sunday is from hearing, Monday from life, Tuesday from seeing, Wednesday from will, Thursday from qudra (power), Friday from knowledge, and Saturday from kalām (speech). Each has attained the manifestation of its owner. (Understand this well!) (Jāmiʿ, 109)
Ricālu’l-ghayb (men of the unseen): These are ten individuals; their number neither increases nor decreases. Because they are people of khushūʿ (humble reverence), the manifestation of the attribute of al-Raḥmān (the Most Merciful) has prevailed over them, so they only speak in whispers. Allah has said: “Voices will be humbled before the Most Merciful, and you will not hear except a whisper.” (Maryam 19:108) They are hidden, unknown. The Truth has concealed them in His earth and heaven; they do not engage in munājāt (intimate supplication) with anyone but Him, nor do they witness anyone but Him. Allah has said: “The servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth humbly, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace.” (al-Furqān 25:63) Their custom is to be well-mannered. When they hear someone speaking loudly, the flesh of their chests trembles and they are struck with ḥayra (astonishment).
These individuals whose qualities we have enumerated are called, in the terminology of the people of God, ricāl-i ghayb (men of the unseen). The reason for this name is that these individuals desire to remain hidden from the eyes of people.
Ricāl-i ʿālam-i anfās (men of the world of breaths): I am describing them. They are upon the qalb (heart) of Prophet Dāwūd (David). Their number never increases or decreases. Because they were previously known by this attribute, we have ascribed them to Prophet David. The states, knowledges, and ranks found in them are united with those of Prophet David. The world has seen them all, been with them, and benefited from them. They possess certain ranks, their number is limited, neither increasing nor decreasing. (Nebhānī, I, 42)
Ricāl-i taḥt al-asfal (men beneath the lowest): these are the people of the breath they receive from Allah. They recognize no breath other than what is in themselves. They are always the same in number, neither increasing nor decreasing. (Nebhānī, I, 44)
Abū’l-Badr Tamāsūkī Baghdādī, a truthful, trustworthy, and gnostic person, transmitted the following from Shaykh Abū’s-Suʿūd Shibl, the spiritual leader of his time, through reliable transmission and memorization: I was by the bank of the Tigris River in Baghdad. I wondered to myself, "Are there servants who worship Allah within the water?" No sooner had this thought crossed my mind than a man sprang from the river, greeted me, and said, "Yes, O Abū’s-Suʿūd! There are people who worship Allah even within the water! I am one of them and I am from Tikrit. I left there because such and such things will happen there after so many days," and then he plunged back into the water. Fifteen days later, everything he had told Abū’s-Suʿūd came to pass exactly as he had said. He then related the incident to me just as it happened. (Nebhānī, I, 47)