It is its fruit. This is for the servant to see himself as subsisting through his Lord, the Kayyūm (the Self-Subsisting), and to become annihilated (fanāʾ) from all forms, becoming absent from himself due to the realization that only God is self-subsisting. This also means the servant is freed from the taint of being absorbed in seeing his own works and from the stain of concealing (his acts of worship). This state is the disappearance of the Sufi's spiritual state (ḥāl). The malāmati is one who is at the station (maqām) of ikhlas (sincerity) but cannot grasp the reality of ikhlas. This is the clear distinction between the malāmati and the Sufi. (ʿAwārif, 49)
Ikhlas (ikhlas), in obedience (and worship), is to intend only the Real (al-Ḥaqq). This is achieved—not by seeking anything other than nearness to Allah Most High, nor by feigning before others, nor by seeking the praise of people (khalq), nor by desiring that people praise oneself—but solely by seeking nearness to Allah Most High.
Ikhlas is to refrain from considering people (and from desiring their approval of one's deeds). Abū ʿAlī Daqqāq said: Ikhlas is to be protected from the consideration of people, while truthfulness (ṣidq) is to disregard the scrutiny of the nafs (the lower self). In the one who possesses ikhlas (the mukhlis), there is no ostentation (riyāʾ), and in the one who possesses truthfulness (the ṣādiq), there is no self-admiration (ʿujb).
Abū Yaʿqūb Sūsī said: The ikhlas of those who see ikhlas in their own ikhlas is itself in need of ikhlas.
Dhu’l-Nūn said: Three things are signs of ikhlas: that praise and blame from people are equal in one's eyes; that one forgets one's own action while performing it; and that one forgets the reward of the deed in the Hereafter.
Abū ʿUthmān al-Maghribī said: Ikhlas is to constantly seek the pleasure (riḍā) of the Creator, forgetting the creation.
Huzayfa al-Marʿashī said: Ikhlas is for the servant's deeds to be the same whether in secret or in public.
Fudayl b. ʿIyāḍ said: Abandoning an action because of people is ostentation (riyāʾ); acting for the sake of people is shirk (associating partners with God); ikhlas is that Allah protects you from these afflictions.
Abū Muḥammad Sahl b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Tustarī was asked: What is the hardest thing for the nafs (lower self)? He replied: Ikhlas, because the nafs has no share in ikhlas.
Yūsuf b. al-Ḥusayn said: The most precious thing in the world is ikhlas.
Makhḥūl, one of the Imams of the Tābiʿīn, said: No servant remains upon ikhlas for forty days except that fountains of wisdom (ḥikma) flow from his heart to his tongue.
Sahl b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Tustarī said: Whoever persists in asceticism (zuhd) for forty days with a pure and truthful heart, miracles (karāma) will manifest from him. If no karāma appears from one who persists in zuhd for forty days, he is not truthful in his zuhd. When asked how karāma manifests from such a person, he replied: He takes what he wishes, from where he wishes, as much as he wishes.
Sahl al-Tustarī also said: Intelligent people have investigated what ikhlas is and is not, but found nothing except this: Ikhlas is for the servant's stillness and movement, in secret and in public, to be solely for Allah, without mixing in anything else—not the nafs, not desire (hawā), not the world.
Sarī al-Saqaṭī said: Do not do anything for people, do not abandon anything for people, do not seek unveiling (kashf) or karāma! (Būstān, 24)
Only the mukhlis (one with ikhlas) understands ostentation (riyāʾ). That is, only those who seek to attain ikhlas can truly know the reality and hidden aspects of riyāʾ. This is possible only through long investigation and deep reflection. Even then, only a part of it is understood, not the whole. Understanding it fully is the work of the elite (khawāṣṣ). If someone claims to know riyāʾ, it shows he does not truly understand it. (Būstān, 47)
Know that everything can be mixed with something else. When something is free from admixture, it is called pure (khāliṣ).
The opposite of ikhlas is shirk. One who is not a mukhlis is a mushrik (one who commits shirk). Shirk has degrees. Shirk in divinity is the opposite of ikhlas in tawhid (the oneness of God). Just as there are hidden and manifest forms of shirk, so too are there hidden and manifest forms of ikhlas. The degrees of riyāʾ and its paths have been mentioned previously. Now we speak about one who acts with the intention of nearness (qurb) but whose intention is mixed with another intention or with a share of the nafs. (Qudāma, 392)
Ikhlas is to purify the deed from anything that would spoil it. The first subtlety of ikhlas is not to see one's own deed; in addition, not to expect any recompense for it. The second is to feel shame for the deed because one sees it as ikhlas. The third is to be freed from ikhlas itself, and for ikhlas to occur independently of any form (i.e., for ikhlas to be realized without forcing oneself). (Rawḍa, 482)
For the righteous (ṣāliḥūn) and those below them, ikhlas in worship is not to pay attention to the gaze of creation. The ikhlas of the muḥsinūn (those with spiritual excellence) is to worship the Real without seeking any reward in this world or the next. Their worship is not for reward, but because they have been commanded to worship.
For the righteous and other muḥsinūn, the relation (nisba) of ikhlas is like that of a slave who does not demand wages for his work.
The ikhlas of martyrs is to attach one's existence solely to the Real Most High.
The ikhlas of the realized veracious (ṣiddīqūn) is not to need any name or attribute to know the Essence of the Exalted Real.
The ikhlas of the muqarrabūn (those brought near) is to remain under the manifestation of steadfastness (tamkīn) and to be freed from change (talwīn). When this is effaced and disappears, what remains is pure ikhlas itself. Allah speaks the truth. He is the One who guides to the right. (al-Insān 76:2, 93)
The ostentation (riyāʾ) of the gnostics (ʿārifūn) is superior to the ikhlas of the murīdūn (aspirants). This means that the ikhlas of the murīdūn is tainted by their awareness of their own ikhlas, unlike the ʿārifūn, who are free from all forms of riyāʾ. Sometimes what the murīd sees as riyāʾ is, in reality, a quality of the ʿārif. For a ʿārif who, through certainty (yaqīn) and unveiling (kashf), knows and sees both himself and his actions by Allah, how could riyāʾ be possible? The ʿārif's only connection to action is the relation of obligation (taklīf). (Anwār, II, 85)
The perfection (kamāl) of ihsan is to purify action from seeking recompense, from having an ulterior motive, or from ostentation (riyāʾ). This is the meaning of ikhlas. The perfection of ihsan is attained only by witnessing the majesty of divinity in all acts of worship through the light of insight... (Bughyat, 26)
Ikhlas is a light from among the lights of Allah deposited in the hearts of the believers (muʾminūn). This light severs the servant's ties with all but Allah. This is the essence of ikhlas.
Ikhlas is divided into four types: for the veneration of Allah, in action, in venerating Allah's command, in seeking reward and recompense, and in purifying one's action from defects by avoiding riyāʾ. Whoever fulfills any of these is saved and attains ikhlas. With Allah, there are degrees for them. Allah sees what His servants do and does not leave their deeds unrewarded. (Jāmiʿ, 44)
Ikhlas is to forget everything remembered besides the Worshipped (al-Maʿbūd). (Jāmiʿ, 54)
Ikhlas is of three kinds: the ikhlas of the common people (ʿawām) is to purify action from impurities; the ikhlas of the elect (khawāṣṣ) is to remove people from one's dealings; the ikhlas of the elect of the elect (akhāṣṣ) is for the heart, constantly seeing the Knower of all secrets, to forget the gaze of people. (Jāmiʿ, 61)
Tawhid (the oneness of God) has an expression and a meaning. Its expression is the word of ikhlas, and its meaning is the ikhlas regarding that expression. This is to, upon remembering its expression, be stripped of both worlds and of human attributes. (Jāmiʿ, 153)
The lexical meaning of ikhlas is to abandon ostentation (riyāʾ) in obedience. In the terminology of the people of reality (ḥaqīqa), it has the same meaning. For this reason, some of the people of reality have defined ikhlas as: To purify obedience from the consideration of creation.
Others have said: The only aim in obedience should be Allah's pleasure (riḍā). For this reason, Ruwaym said: Every action performed by the servant without expecting any reward in this world or the next is ikhlas. (He also said): Ikhlas is for the worshipper's acts of worship to be the same in secret and in public. It has also been said: The person with ikhlas hides his good deeds as he hides his sins. (Jāmiʿ, 217)
Ikhlas, at the beginning (bidāya), is never to associate partners with the Lord in worship. In the stages (abwāb), while performing an action, not to imagine any aim other than Allah's pleasure, such as superiority or station, and not to act with any carnal feeling that could taint the intention of nearness (qurb) to the Real. The essence of ikhlas in dealings is not to see one's own action during the act, to be freed from seeking recompense for it, and to cease being pleased with one's own action. The degree of ikhlas in character is to purify the act from form, ostentation, and from seeing the grace of the Lord as belonging to oneself rather than to Him. (Jāmiʿ, 281)
The ikhlas of the one who possesses it appears through his state, without needing to be spoken by his tongue. Sign: You see the mukhlis concealing his deeds and covering them with the veil of his state. If asked about his condition, he does not answer, but rather conceals his state.
Indication: If you see someone exposing his bad and ugly deeds and concealing his good deeds, this shows his ikhlas, the loftiness of his rank, and the specificity of his station.
Sign: Without his own will or choice, Allah raises the banner of his praise among His servants.
Indication: If you see someone pleased when praised, know that he is a liar deserving destruction.
Sign: The person with ikhlas does not feel the need to hide his faults from critics, even if they are hidden from the common people due to their good opinion. For even if a deed is entrusted to the secrets of the heavens, its traces will appear in one's state. Even if the tongue tries to conceal it, the insight of minds will reveal its flaws.
Indication: The one who dons the garment of ikhlas is held in esteem by both the common and the elite. This is something clearly understood and known to be true.
Sign: The words of the person with ikhlas are accepted, and his beautiful state is transmitted. In all his requests and intentions, he improves day by day.
Indication: If you find your nafs becoming lazy in worship when alone, but enthusiastic in public, know that you are far from ikhlas. Do not go about with the airs of the elite.
Sign: The person with ikhlas finds his zeal for worship increases when alone with the Real, away from the gaze of people.
Indication: Every deed you do for creation distances you from the Lord of the worlds. Weigh yourself on the scale of ikhlas and see: does the pan of excellence outweigh that of deficiency, or vice versa?
Sign: The person with ikhlas rises with Allah when he rises, sits with Allah when he sits, acts for Allah. He has no aim other than Allah. If he finds tranquility, it is with Allah. If he asks, he asks from Allah; if he acts, he acts for Allah. If something is given to him, he sees it as from Allah's hand. All his affairs are from Allah, to Allah, for Allah, and in the name of Allah. Allah, Allah, Allah... There is no power nor strength except with Allah.
Indication: If you see someone who finds comfort with people, relies on them, trusts them in his states, and then claims to be at the station of ikhlas and taqwa (God-consciousness), keep away from him. He is of the people of pride and desire (hawā).
Sign: If you see someone who feels alone among people but finds intimacy and tranquility with his Lord, he is a mukhlas (one granted ikhlas), the elect of the elect.
Indication: When you rely not on your desire but on your Lord, then you have attained ikhlas for His sake. He will then take you as His friend (walī). (Qawānīn, 16)
Ikhlas is to remove creation from the dealings of the Lord, for the heart to intend Allah's pleasure in action, not to be pleased by the praise of others for one's deeds, nor disturbed by their blame.
Master Abū ʿAlī Daqqāq said: Ikhlas is to be protected from the consideration of people, while truthfulness (ṣidq) is to disregard the scrutiny of the nafs. In the one who possesses ikhlas (the mukhlis), there is no ostentation (riyāʾ), and in the one who possesses truthfulness (the ṣādiq), there is no self-admiration (ʿujb).
Dhu’l-Nūn said: Three things are signs of ikhlas: that praise and blame from people are equal in one's eyes; that one forgets one's own action while performing it; and that one forgets the reward of the deed in the Hereafter.
Abū ʿUthmān al-Maghribī said: The ikhlas of the common people is that there is no share for the nafs in the deed performed. The ikhlas of the elect is not something they themselves do, but something that occurs to them, so that obedience and worship manifest in them spontaneously. Yet they see themselves as distant from it, do not see their own deeds, and do not value them. This is the ikhlas of the elect. Ikhlas is to constantly gaze at the Creator, forgetting creation.
Abū ʿAlī Daqqāq said: For a mukhlis to sense his own ikhlas is a deficiency for him. When Allah wishes to make his ikhlas pure, He does not show it to him. Thus, he becomes not a mukhlis but a mukhlas (one granted ikhlas).
Fudayl b. ʿIyāḍ said: Abandoning an action because of people is ostentation (riyāʾ); acting for the sake of people is shirk. Ikhlas is that Allah protects you from these afflictions.
Master Abū’l-Qāsim Junayd said: Ikhlas is a secret between Allah Most High and His servant. The angel cannot write it because he does not know it, Satan cannot corrupt it because he is unaware of it, and desire (hawā) cannot distort it because it does not perceive it.
It is said: People are dead except the scholars; scholars are asleep except those who act; those who act are deceived except those who fear Allah; those who fear are destroyed except the mukhlisūn (those with ikhlas); and even the mukhlisūn are in great danger.
Abū Muḥammad Ruwaym said: Ikhlas is in the deed for which its possessor expects no reward in this world or the next, and in which the two angels (Kirāman Kātibīn) have no share in writing.
Sahl b. ʿAbd Allāh (al-Tustarī) was asked: What is the hardest thing for the nafs? He replied: Ikhlas, because the nafs has no share in ikhlas.
Master Abū’l-Qāsim al-Qushayrī said: Ikhlas is to intend only Allah in deed and state. (I say) the words of the shaykhs on this matter are many. This much suffices.
It is narrated that Makhḥūl of the Tābiʿīn said: No servant remains upon ikhlas for forty days except that fountains of wisdom (ḥikma) flow from his heart to his tongue. (Nabhānī, II, 80)
Iḥṣāʾ al-asmāʾ al-ilāhiyya (enumeration of the divine names): To be annihilated from human and material states, and to subsist (baqāʾ) with the presence of aḥadiyya (divine oneness), so that these names are realized in the presence of wāḥidiyya (divine unity). As a moral trait, iḥṣāʾ (enumeration) requires following the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) and entering the inheritance of Paradise indicated by the noble verse: "It is those who will inherit Paradise. They will abide therein eternally." (al-Muʾminūn 23:10–11) Understanding their meanings, acting accordingly, and mentioning and enumerating the names, through the soundness of tawakkul (reliance upon God), ensures that deeds are worthy of Paradise in terms of reckoning, punishment, and reward. (Kāshānī, 25; Jāmiʿ, 75)