Not habīb (the beloved, the one who is loved). For this reason, he said, "He commanded you to draw near. If you were habīb, then you would be the one drawing near." If, in your prostration, your ʿubūdiyya (servitude) appeared to you and a firm closeness to your maʿbūd (the One worshipped) was realized, if in prostration His greatness was established and there were very few things to reject this state, whether you err or are correct, whether you comprehend or not—look to His loftiness, to the purity in His exaltedness. Glorify Him in the manner He has made lawful and commanded; humble yourself to Him as you bow in rukūʿ (bowing in prayer). Declare His transcendence abundantly, respond to Him (with beauty), and supplicate (dua) profusely. Know that His qibla (direction of prayer) is in the heavens, while your qibla is the place of prostration, the ground of lowering and bowing. (Letāʾif, 104)
Qurb (nearness), in pre-eternity, is to fulfill the covenant described in the verse where Allah, the Exalted, said, "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, You are our Lord" (al-Aʿrāf 7:172). This is exclusive to the maqām (spiritual station) of "two bow-lengths" (qāba qawsayn). (Kāshānī, 144; Jāmiʿ, 93)
Qurb, for the greatest qurb (nearness to Allah), is to be absent from qurb itself (from seeing oneself as near to Allah) by means of qurb. The ḥaqīqa (inner reality) of qurb is to occupy the qalb (the heart) with Allah, and it is also said that qurb is to remove every obstacle (to being with Allah). (Jāmiʿ, 54)
Qurb is divided into three types. The qurb of the common people is the disappearance of the beauty of things from the heart; the qurb of the elite (khawāṣṣ) is the tranquility of the heart with Allah, who knows the unseen; and the qurb of the elect of the elite (akhaṣṣ al-khawāṣṣ) is to remove the veil between oneself and one's Lord. (Jāmiʿ, 64)
Know that the first level of the degrees of qurb is to draw near to Allah by obedience and to be characterized by worship at all times. The first level of the degrees of buʿd (distance) is to be tainted by opposing Allah and turning away from His obedience. Thus, the servant's drawing near to Allah is through iman (faith) and ihsan (spiritual excellence). Allah's drawing near to the servant is by granting him gnosis (ʿirfān) in this world, and in the Hereafter...