May Allah grant us and you success in those things which He loves and is pleased with! (Gunye, II, 125)
Fear (khawf) and hope (rajāʾ) are two reins that keep the servant away from bad manners. Every heart deprived of these two reins is ruined. (Ādāb, 8)
Rajāʾ (hope) is to affirm the Truth (God) regarding matters He has promised (such as the blessings of the Hereafter)—that is, to trust in God's promise. Khawf (fear) is the heart's awareness of Allah's power and retribution... (Ādāb, 21)
Khawf and rajāʾ are two noble maqāms (spiritual stations) of the people of certainty (yaqīn). They arise within the firmness of sincere tawba (tawba, repentance), for a person's fear drives him to tawba; if he had no fear, he would not repent, and if he had no hope, he would not fear. Khawf and rajāʾ are two essential elements that must be present in the qalb (qalb, the heart) of the believer (muʾmin). For the one who is sincere in his tawba, his khawf and rajāʾ are balanced.
Dhu'l-Nūn al-Miṣrī said: One who loves Allah cannot drink from the cup of maḥabba (maḥabba, divine love) until his heart is irrigated with khawf. (ʿAwārif, 290)
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ḥafīf said: Rajāʾ is the tranquility of hearts that comes from witnessing the grace of Allah for which they hope.
Take khawf to your right, rajāʾ to your left, knowledge before you, and contemplation behind you! When your enemy (Satan) comes from your right, he finds khawf with his troops and there is no possibility (imkān) of defense. The other directions are similar.
The reason for this arrangement is that the enemy attacks a person from these directions. We assigned the right side to khawf because this side is the side of Paradise, and the left is the side of Hell. When the enemy comes from the right, he comes hastily from the direction of Paradise. This is the place of shahawāt (shahawāt, carnal desires) and laḏḏāt (laḏḏāt, pleasures). He makes these appear attractive and beloved to you. At this moment, khawf intervenes and drives him away from you. If you did not have khawf on your right, you would be deceived by him, and through this deception, your own dominion would be destroyed. Khawf must always be on the right; do not try to use it in other directions! Otherwise, in such a ḥāl (ḥāl, spiritual state), you will fall into despair and lose hope! Wisdom is to put everything in its proper place. A person's fear is like the arsenal of an army. Unless the enemy attacks or there is a need for protection from such a danger, the arsenal is not used. If you use the arsenal outside of such situations, you will be mocked and ridiculed. Thus, your ignorance and foolishness will be exposed.
When the enemy comes from your left, he comes to break your hope, to bring you to utter despair, to cause you to think ill of Allah, and to lead you into sin. If he succeeds, you will be destroyed. In this case, rajāʾ will enable you to have a good opinion of Allah, repel the enemy, and keep you in control against him.
When the enemy comes from in front of you, he will try to lead you, through the outward meanings of expressions, to anthropomorphism and corporealism (explaining Allah in terms of body and form). Here, your knowledge will protect you and prevent you from ruin.
When the enemy comes from behind you, he will bring various doubts and corrupt hayāl (hayāl, imaginations) to tempt you. At that time, contemplation will come to your aid and drive away that enemy.
If all this did not exist and you did not think and investigate, you would fall into error and be destroyed, and your dominion (everything Allah has entrusted to you) would also be destroyed. In the city under your own rule, there is no way to struggle with the enemy (Satan) who will attack you except through these four directions. (Tadbīrāt, 194)
Khawf is what warns those at the bidāya (bidāya, beginning of the path) to avoid undesirable things.
Rajāʾ is to desire the blessings of the Hereafter (not the immediately attainable pleasures of this world). (Iṣṭilāḥ, 537)
A person has many ḥāl (spiritual states). But there are two ḥāl called qabḍ (constriction) and basṭ (expansion) that encompass them all. Whether you call them khawf and rajāʾ, or estrangement and intimacy, or hayba (hayba, awe) and familiarity, it is the same. Whether the murīd (murīd, disciple) is an ʿārif (ʿārif, gnostic), or one of tamkīn (tamkīn, spiritual stability) or talwīn (talwīn, spiritual fluctuation), in summary, whoever he may be, it is not possible for a servant to remain in these states continuously without any cause or reason. (Rūḥ, 39)
Khawf is the maqām (spiritual station) of those in whom the Name of Allah is manifest. For khawf is in conflict with judgment. Surely, he fears the veil, and also fears the lifting of the veil. He fears the veil because it is a veil, and because of the ignorance (of what is behind it) that exists in him. He fears the lifting of the veil because the lifting of the veil...