The miʿrāj (ascension) is the state of proximity (ḥāl of nearness). The miʿrāj of the prophets is in the form of manifesting their person and body, while the miʿrāj of the walī (friend of God) occurs in terms of himma (spiritual aspiration) and secrets. The bodies of the prophets, in terms of purity, cleanliness, and nearness, are like the qalb (heart) and secrets of the walī. This is a manifest honor. It happens as follows: the walī is brought into a state of ghalaba (overwhelming spiritual dominance) until he reaches the state of sukr (spiritual intoxication). At that time, the secrets at various degrees are removed from him. He is adorned with proximity to the Real (kurbet-i Ḥaqq). When he returns from the state of sukr to the state of ṣaḥw (sobriety), all these proofs are imprinted upon his qalb. The knowledge required by this state arises within him. Thus, there is a great difference between one who reaches a place by thought and one who reaches it in person. (Hujwīrī, 285-286)
Everything beyond sensation (the senses) is his heaven (samāʾ). This is the first miʿrāj for every sālik (wayfarer on the Sufi path) who begins to approach the rank of rubūbiyya (lordship). (Mishkāt, 53) The miʿrāj of analysis (miʿrāj-i taḥlīl): If the sālik continues to turn towards Allah and turn away from all others, this becomes a malaka (spiritual faculty) for him. This is the first step of separation from the corporeal (physical) world, for the corporeal world is the first thing he turns away from. Turning away from it is, in itself, separation from it. The order in the emergence of creation is not the same as the order of the great realms in the world. The first thing to separate from the great world is earth, then water, then air, then fire. When the human being separates from these elements, with his rūḥ (spirit) he enters the heaven of the dunyā (this world). Our shaykh (Ibn ʿArabī) says: When Allah, Exalted is He, willed to elevate me in order to show me my names that are in His names, He first removed me from my place. And He raised me with the Burāq that is in the realm of possibility. He cast me away with all my elements. I could not understand whether He was content to befriend me. It was said to me: Your original father, whom Allah created from earth, took it.
When I separated from the element of water, I lost a part of myself. It was said to me: You are simple water.