Malāmat (melâmet) occurs in three forms. The first is the rectitude of conduct (istikāmet-i seyr; uprightness in one's way of life), the second is intentional malāmat (kasd malâmeti), and the third is the abandonment malāmat (terk melâmeti). The malāmat of rectitude in conduct (istikāmet-i siyer melâmeti) is for a person to fulfill their actions properly, to safeguard their religion, to watch over their behavior, never to be heedless in this regard, and not to show the slightest negligence. In this, the person does not care about the approval of the people (halk) or is blamed by them in this matter. Thus, he becomes distinct from the people.
Intentional malāmat (kasd malâmeti) is when a person attains a high rank among the people. His qalb (the heart) inclines toward this rank and he becomes proud among them. Nevertheless, he desires that his qalb be freed from them and be occupied with the Real (al-Ḥaqq).
The malāmat path (Melâmet yolu) requires doing things that are not harmful according to the sharia (the sacred law) in order to make people dislike oneself. This is his way with the people. Thus, people distance themselves from him.
Abandonment malāmat (terk melâmeti) is as follows: kufr (disbelief) and misguidance (dalāla) so thoroughly dominate a person that he comes to advocate abandoning the sharia and not following it. This person claims that what he does is malāmat. This is the path he takes in malāmat.
Those who follow the path of rectitude malāmat do not fear the blame of the people, thus distancing hypocrisy from themselves and avoiding ostentation. They walk the path they know to be right in every state and circumstance. Whatever name the people may give them, it makes no difference to them. (Hujwīrī, 77)
Ḥamdūn Qaṣṣār said: "Malāmat is to abandon safety." If a person abandons his own safety, calamities and misfortunes from all sides surround him. He turns away from every kind of comfort and habit in hope of witnessing the majesty (ʿaẓama) and being the possessor (ṣāḥib) of a good end. In the end, by being rejected by the people, he loses hope in them. He casts out from his nature the desire for intimacy and familiarity with people. For the more a person is separated from people, the more he is with the Real (al-Ḥaqq). The people of malāmat turn away from what the whole world (dunyā) seeks—that is, safety. Thus, the himma (spiritual aspiration) (himma) of the people of malāmat is contrary to the himma of the people, and the himma of the people is contrary to theirs. In this way, the malāmatīs, by their qualities, become people of conscience. (Hujwīrī, 79)
The perfection (kamāl) of love is malāmat, and malāmat has three aspects, that is, three faces: one face is toward creation, one face is toward the lover, and one face is toward the beloved. The face turned toward creation is the sword of the beloved's jealousy, so that the lover does not look at others. The face turned toward the lover is the sword of the sharpness of the moment, so that he is always nourished by love, does not attach his qalb to anything else, and seeks nothing else. (Sawāniḥ, 23)
The malāmatī (melâmeti) is different from the Sufi (Süfi). The malāmatī is one who does not reveal his good deeds nor conceal his bad deeds, whereas the Sufi does not occupy himself with the people.