It is metaphorical. For the murīd (aspirant, disciple), after abandoning his capital and wealth in matters of religion, it is reprehensible for him to become enslaved to dinar and dirham, to buildings, or to positions. For the murīd, the existence or non-existence of the dunyā (worldly life) should be equal, so that he does not pressure anyone on account of the dunyā. (Anwār, I, 73)
(The shaykh said:) When the murīd remembers his Lord with shiddat (intensity) and gayrat (zeal), the path of the maqāms (spiritual stations) opens up for him swiftly, without any slackening. Perhaps he covers in an hour what another cannot traverse in a month or more... (Again, the shaykh said:) The sālik (traveler) on the path of dhikr (remembrance of God) is like a zealous bird flying towards the maqām of qurb (nearness). The sālik outside the path of dhikr is like a chronically ill person who sometimes crawls and sometimes stops. He spends his entire life distant from his goal and never attains it. When a poor man asked Junayd to pray (make dua) for him, Junayd replied: My brother! I ask Allah to bring you to Him by the shortest paths. This will extinguish and soothe the fire and pain of buʿd (remoteness) from Him. (Anwār, I, 88)
The murīd should reduce his attachments to the dunyā and not adorn himself with worldly garments. (Anwār, I, 89)
If the murīd is in a state of preferring others over himself and enduring hardships, then he will surpass all his peers either in this world, the hereafter, or both. (Anwār, I, 96)
The murīd must strive with ikhlas (sincerity). For if the murīd is truthful in his secret states with Allah, Allah will make him among His own family and community. As the shaykh said: Whoever sincerely directs his gaze to the beyond, is saved from corruption among people... Whoever is not chaste, pure, and honorable is not of my children, even if he is of my blood. Whoever is attached to the tariqa (Sufi path/order) and religion, strives for self-protection, zuhd (asceticism), waraʿ (scrupulousness), and little greed, is my child even from the farthest land... If the murīd's state is weak, he must acquire enough knowledge to fulfill the obligatory and supererogatory acts. Beyond this, he should not occupy himself with eloquence and rhetoric, so that he may complete his spiritual journey and come to know his Lord. Then, nothing will distract him from his Lord. One who studies grammar, kalām (theology), and fiqh (jurisprudence) is with Allah both in kashf (unveiling) and mushāhada (witnessing). But one who does not attain kashf through spiritual journeying may be distracted from Allah by anything in the universe, even by permissible speech. (Anwār, I, 99)
One of the conditions of being a murīd is that he should not make even a truthful claim, let alone a false one, and there should be no affection or friendship between him and events or unrelated women. This is only applicable to the shaykhs.
The murīd must be diligent both physically and spiritually, should not speak idly about the tariqa in the presence of his shaykh, and should not speak about the tariqa even if he has acquired its manners unless the shaykh permits. (Anwār, I, 100)
Another condition of being a murīd is that he should be the furthest from sins, stay awake much at night, and perform qiyām (standing in prayer). The more he increases his service to his Lord, the more his proximity and ihsan (spiritual excellence—worshipping as if seeing Him) increase. (Anwār, I, 102)
The murīd should gather his resolve so that he may know the path of the tariqa not by description or writing, but by tasting (direct experience). (Anwār, I, 104)
The murīd's tariqa edifice has four foundations: First, when mentioning Allah Most High with the tongue, the heart must be present. Second, to force the heart to focus for murāqaba (spiritual vigilance) of Allah Most High. Third, to oppose the nafs (lower self) and desires for the sake of Allah's pleasure. Fourth, to avoid doubtful food in order to worship Allah Most High. This fourth principle is the pole (qutb); by it the limbs are purified and the heart becomes pure.
The skilled murīd gives his nafs its lawful share of food and keeps it from things that would incite it. For the nafs is a trust from Allah Most High to the servant. Oppressing the nafs by means such as hunger is no different from oppressing another. Some say that oppressing one's own nafs is worse than oppressing another, for it is accepted that the punishment for killing oneself is greater than for killing another. (Anwār, I, 115)
If, after renouncing the dunyā, the murīd looks at it with a gaze of shahwa (lust), he will be punished with ḥijāb (veiling), reckoning, or torment. (Anwār, I, 129)
The murīd first listens, then understands, then knows, then witnesses, and finally attains recognition (maʿrifa).
One of the conditions of being a truthful murīd is that he does not step towards anything from which his nafs would derive pleasure. For being truthful in will removes all lusts from the heart. (Anwār, I, 130)
The ṣādiq murīd (truthful murīd)... One of the conditions of being a truthful murīd is that nothing but longing to meet Allah brings him comfort. Witnessing occurs with the heart in this world, and with the outward eye in the hereafter.
One of the signs of the ṣādiq murīd, according to our terminology, is fulfilling the sunnah and the obligatory acts. The sunnah is to renounce the dunyā, and the obligatory is to persist in the remembrance of Allah.
Another condition of being a ṣādiq murīd is that there should be no friendship, companionship, or association with the people of the dunyā beyond what is necessary according to the sharia (the sacred law) and necessity. For the love of Allah's path does not allow him to incline to others. (Anwār, I, 138)
The shortest way to bring the murīd to the special presence of the Real (al-Ḥaqq) is to persist in dhikr. Indeed, it is agreed that the secret of the one who persists in dhikr will be purified. Whoever purifies his secret will have a place in the presence of Allah Most High. (Anwār, I, 144)
One of the etiquettes the murīd must observe is that when visiting the grave of a shaykh, he should not believe that the shaykh is dead and cannot hear him. The murīd should believe that the shaykh is alive in barzakh (the intermediate realm), so that he may attain his blessing. For when a servant visits the grave of a walī (friend of God) and remembers Allah there, that walī sits in his grave and remembers Allah with him. Indeed, we have witnessed this many times with Imām Shāfiʿī, Dhū al-Nūn al-Miṣrī, and some shaykhs of Qarāfa. (Anwār, I, 161)
The most virtuous wird (regular devotional practice) for the murīd is dhikr. For although prayer is a great act of worship, there are times when dhikr is permissible but prayer is not. There is no time when remembering Allah is forbidden. As the shaykh said: In my view, as long as the murīd has desires, the most virtuous dhikr for him is the phrase 'Lā ilāha illā Allah' (There is no god but Allah). When all his desires are gone, saying the name 'Allah' benefits him more... Whoever is deprived of wirds at the beginning of the tariqa will be deprived of spiritual gifts at the end. O murīd, even if you have attained your goal, persist in your wirds! (Anwār, I, 163)
The murīd worships only so that abasement and humility may be realized before Allah, not to gain position or fame in the eyes of people, whether in this world or the hereafter. (Anwār, I, 179)
There are three signs of the murīd's salvation: preferring his shaykh over his own nafs, accepting everything his shaykh commands, and following him in everything he desires. (Anwār, III, 16)
There are conditions for clothing the murīd in the khirqa (Sufi cloak). The murīd must wear this garment in its true sense, to be honored according to the maqāms (spiritual stations) of kamāl (perfection). The condition is this: Allah Most High has decreed that by removing the khirqa, the murīd should eliminate the bad traits found in himself. It does not matter whether the khirqa is a cap, covering, shawl, or shirt. After removing this khirqa, there should remain in the murīd no opposition related to bad akhlāq (character) or anything of the nafs's ego. Rather, his inner self should be like that of a child from whom all disgrace has been erased.
After this, the shaykh clothes him in another khirqa similar to the one previously removed. Thus, he bestows upon the murīd the portion of Muhammadan character he deems appropriate. This character is attained through spiritual struggle (mujāhada) and ascetic discipline (riyāḍa). Thus, the murīd is colored with this character, and henceforth, the ego and bad character scarcely appear in him.
The condition for entering murīd-hood is khalwa (spiritual retreat). Khalwa is that Allah enables the murīd to fulfill all its conditions through a sound unveiling (kashf). Nothing can disrupt this. Thus, Allah makes this servant aware of all the results of khalwa with a clear proof and knowledge. Whoever does not fulfill the etiquette of khalwa and does not attain its results is not a truthful murīd. Not every shaykh is made aware of the results of khalwa by Allah, for such a shaykh is not a truthful shaykh. He is one who is slain by his own nafs. He mocks the people of the path. His status is like that of a thought in a hayāl (imagination). When he leaves the door of a judge or ruler, he is belittled and everyone laughs at him. (Anwār, II, 100)
The inclination of the hearts of the people of the inner (bāṭin) is in proportion to the murīd's adherence to the noble sunnah, his avoidance of evil innovations, and his complete renunciation of existence. One of the agreed-upon principles of all the imams of the tariqa is nafy al-wujūd (negation of existence), bāzl al-...