The most excellent form of murāqaba (spiritual watchfulness) is murāqaba lillāh (murāqaba of Allah), which is for the servant to observe his intentions with gratitude, to acknowledge his faults, and to meet wrongdoing with forgiveness. In this way, the servant’s qalb (the heart) never departs from this maqām (spiritual station) in all his actions. Even if he acts heedlessly, by Allah’s permission he turns his qalb back to this station. Among the things that help with this are: abandoning sins, freeing oneself from distractions, and striving to turn towards Allah. (Ādāb, 69)
When asked, "What is murāqabatullāh (murāqaba of Allah)?" it was answered: Murāqabatullāh is to feel shame before Allah. (Ādāb, 70)
In terms of where you place your qalb, munājāt (intimate supplication) and murāqaba mean placing your qalb near the Throne and supplicating from there. There are two points of recourse in preparing your qalb for murāqaba. The first is the murāqaba of contemplation together with remembrance of knowledge. As Allah the Exalted says: "Indeed, He is most knowing of what is within the hearts. Allah knows what is in your hearts. So be conscious of Allah in every ḥāl (spiritual state)." (cf. al-Baqara 2:225, Āl ʿImrān 3:29, al-Ḥashr 59:18) After this, to taste (spiritual sweetness) is to remember His azamah (majesty).
Another station is as follows: It is narrated that Allah the Exalted revealed to Prophet Ibrāhīm (Abraham), "O Ibrāhīm, do you know why I have taken you as a friend?" Ibrāhīm replied, "I do not know, my Lord." Allah the Exalted said, "I have taken you as a friend because you stood much in worship in My presence." It is said that Ibrāhīm’s standing was not with prayer, but with the qalb. (Ādāb, 70)
Murāqaba is for the servant to know that Allah is aware of what is hidden in his qalb and within himself. For this reason, he must murāqaba (watch over) evil thoughts that would distract his qalb from the remembrance of his Master (Allah). As Abū Sulaymān Dārānī said: "How can the thoughts in the qalb be hidden from Allah! There is nothing in the qalb except what Allah has placed there. How can what is from Him be hidden from Him!"
Junayd al-Baghdādī said: Ibrāhīm al-Ajurri said to me: "My child! Even if it is only a particle, turning away from your own desire and turning to Allah is better than everything upon which the sun rises."
Ḥasan ʿAlī Damghānī also said: "Pay attention to your secret (what is in your heart), for Allah knows what is in your hearts." (Lumaʿ, 82)
Murāqaba is to protect your secret (your rūḥ, inner world) by remembering the Truth (Allah) at every step.
Murāqaba is to protect your secret at every step and breath by contemplating the unseen. When ʿAtāʾ was asked, "Which act of obedience is the most virtuous?" he replied: "To murāqaba the Truth at all times."
Ibrāhīm Ḥawwās said: "Protecting your secret leads to murāqaba, and murāqaba leads to ikhlas (sincerity) in both the secret and the outward for Allah." (Qushayrī, 96)
Abū ʿAlī al-Maghribī said: "On this path, the most virtuous thing a person can obligate upon his nafs (the lower self) is muḥāsaba (self-accounting), murāqaba, and to accompany his actions with knowledge."
Ibn ʿAtāʾ said: "The most virtuous act of obedience is to murāqaba the Truth at all times."
Jarīrī said: "Our business is based on two principles: First, to obligate murāqaba for Allah upon your nafs, and second, to persist in the outward of knowledge." (Iḥyāʾ, 128)
Murāqaba is for the servant to know that Allah the Exalted is aware of him, and to maintain this knowledge for the murāqaba of his Lord. This is the root of all good. The servant attains this degree only by holding himself to account, rectifying his state in its time, adhering to the path of Truth, carefully guarding his qalb between himself and Allah the Exalted, and preserving his breaths with Allah the Exalted. In this way, the servant knows that Allah watches over him, is near to his qalb, knows his states, sees his actions, and hears his words.
Murāqaba is only completed by four qualities. The first is maʿrifatullāh (gnosis of Allah). The second is to know that Iblīs is the enemy of Allah the Exalted. The third is to know that one’s nafs always commands evil. The fourth is to know that one’s actions are for Allah the Exalted.
If a person spends a long time in worship without knowing or acting upon the reality of worship, his worship will not benefit him. He will remain in ignorance, and unless Allah bestows ihsan (spiritual excellence) upon him by His mercy, his destination will be Hell.
As for maʿrifatullāh, it is for the servant to accept in his qalb that Allah is near to him, has power over him, is able over him, observes him, knows him, always watches over him, protects him, is the One Who finds and brings into existence, has no partner in His dominion, is true to His promise when He promises, will certainly fulfill what He promises, and will answer his dua (supplication) and call when he supplicates and presents himself.
Furthermore, the servant must know that Allah will fulfill His promise, carry out His threat, that there is a station to which creation will return, that He has a source of authority at His disposal, that His reward and punishment are unique and without equal, that He suffices His servant, is extremely merciful, loves (His servants) intensely, hears and sees everything, is always engaged in an act of creation, is not distracted from one matter by another, knows the hidden and even the most hidden of the hidden, knows the qalbs, the thoughts that pass through the qalb, the whisperings, desires and will, the one who whispers (the devil), movement, blinking, gestures, those above them and even the simplest things, knows no fear, is not characterized by what has been or will be, and that He is the Mighty, the Wise. (Ghunia, II, 184)
Of the (spiritual states)... murāqaba is to look at things pertaining to the unseen with pure certainty... (Ādāb, 21)
When the state of muḥāsaba (self-accounting) becomes constant and established in the servant, he ascends from the maqām of muḥāsaba to the maqām of murāqaba. When muḥāsaba becomes a station for a person, murāqaba becomes a ḥāl (spiritual state) for him.
Then, the state of murāqaba, due to the occasional dominance of error and heedlessness in the servant’s inner world, leads to the dispersal of error and heedlessness. Allah supports His servant with His help. Thus, after murāqaba becomes a ḥāl, it turns into a maqām. The maqām of muḥāsaba only becomes stable with the arrival of the ḥāl of murāqaba. When the servant is given the imkān (possibility) to ascend to the state of mushāhada (witnessing), his murāqaba becomes stable and his maqām becomes a ḥāl.
Mushāhada sometimes becomes manifest openly and sometimes remains hidden. Then it becomes a maqām, and the illumination of this maqām is freed from the veil of secrecy (its becoming a maqām removes its hiddenness).
After mushāhada comes the ascent to the highest degrees, such as realizing fanāʾ fīllāh (annihilation in God), attaining baqāʾ billāh (subsistence in God), and reaching from ʿayn al-yaqīn (the eye of certainty) to ḥaqq al-yaqīn (the reality of certainty). In the servant, the state of ḥaqq al-yaqīn arises, which tears away the veil covering the qalb. This is the highest degree of mushāhada.
Murāqaba is a divine attribute from which we have drunk (it is present in our spiritual temperament as well). (Futūḥāt, II, 205)
Murāqaba is to think of the intended (Allah) continuously. It has three subtleties: The first is to murāqaba the Truth between reverence and joy; the second is to murāqaba the Truth by rejecting what is contrary to Him; the third is, first, to murāqaba the pre-eternity by reviewing the past for the sake of tawḥid (the oneness of God), and then to murāqaba the escape from murāqaba itself. (Rawḍa, 481)
Murāqaba is to observe the secret by contemplating the Truth. It is also said: Murāqaba is to continuously contemplate the intended (Allah). When Ibn ʿAtāʾ was asked, "Which is the most virtuous sign of obedience?" he replied: "Murāqaba is the most virtuous sign of maḥabba (love)." (Rawḍa, 640)
Murāqaba consists of awaiting the spiritual effusion from its source and thinking about its arrival. Murāqaba is one of the subtle faculties of the sālik (spiritual traveler). This subtlety is seen as the source of spiritual effusion. For this reason, they have assigned a murāqaba for every maqām, and thus have assigned the murāqaba of aḥadiyya (divine oneness) for the domain of possibility. The murāqaba of aḥadiyya is to murāqaba the Essence of aḥadiyya, which encompasses all attributes of perfection, is free from all deficiencies, and is named with the blessed name of Allah. For this reason, the arrival of spiritual effusion from Allah the Exalted to the subtlety of the qalb is considered murāqaba. Sometimes the servant is occupied with this murāqaba without dhikr (remembrance of God), but dhikr without murāqaba is of no benefit. (Jāmiʿ, 63)
Murāqaba, without contemplating the letters of the kalima (declaration) of tawḥid, directly expresses the meaning of negation and affirmation. For murāqaba is the thought of affirming the divine unity of existence inwardly. This meaning is precisely the meaning of illāllāh (there is no god except Allah). For the result of negation and affirmation is murāqaba.
The ḥaqīqa (inner reality) of negation and affirmation with the qalb is as follows: The one who performs dhikr first says with the tongue of the qalb, rejecting all attachments of the qalb, "Lā ilāha (there is no god)," then again with the tongue of the qalb, affirms the unity and oneness of the Truth in his qalb by saying "illāllāh (except Allah)." In this form of negation and affirmation, there is no need to hold the breath in order to be present with the mentioned (Allah) and to forget all else.
If this negation and affirmation occur, there is no need to hold the breath. What is required in negation and affirmation is to be present with the mentioned (Allah) and to forget all else. If the one who performs dhikr utters these two names (negation and affirmation) in this way, a purity and clarity arise in him, and he becomes among those who know Allah and reach Him. (Jāmiʿ, 233)
Linguistically, murāqaba means watchfulness. This is close in meaning to protection and waiting. According to the people of reality, murāqaba is for the servant to make it a constant state to know that Allah is aware of him in all his states.
Murāqaba has also been defined as protecting the secret (rūḥ, inner world) by remembering the Truth (Allah) at every step. It is also said: Murāqaba is for the awe of the servant to occupy the presence of the Truth, and for the qalb and other limbs to be observed in all actions. (Jāmiʿ, 234)
Murāqaba and tawajjuh (turning towards Allah), in whatever form, should never be separated from oneself, to the extent of being absorbed and losing oneself, and to keep the meaning of the Name of the Essence in one’s qalb to the degree that one’s knowledge is completely effaced—this is the beginning of fanāʾ (annihilation in God). Murāqaba, derived from the form mufāʿala (indicating mutuality), is an independent path leading to union. Whoever seeks to reach the goal on this path must know that Allah is aware of him.
Murāqaba and tawajjuh are superior to, more virtuous than, and closer to spiritual attraction than negation and affirmation. By persisting in murāqaba and tawajjuh, one attains the rank of vizier, can exercise authority in the realms of mulk (the physical world) and malakūt (the spiritual world), control inspirations, and be illuminated by the light of hudā (guidance) inwardly. For the one who persists in murāqaba, the gathering of inspirations and the continuity of the qalb’s receptivity appear, which is called jamʿ and qabil in the language of the Sufis. (Jāmiʿ, 235)
murāqaba-i khullat-i Ibrāhīmiyya / murāqaba-i dhāt
The maqām of murāqaba is the maqām of ihsan (spiritual excellence).
When the qalb spreads the carpet of murāqaba for the Beloved (Allah), this (carpet) makes him secure from the fear of the Watcher (Allah).
Sāniḥ: The beautiful beloved came to the yearning qalb and sought ecstasy, and the longing grew.
Lāʾiḥ: The visitor of hayāl (imagination) wandered in the mirror of illusions and deserved ecstasy and love. If only the lover who watches the beloved could attain union in the field of witnessing and union!
Sāniḥ: The messenger of thought wandered in the fields of countries. (Qawānīn, 19)
murāqaba-i khullat-i Ibrāhīmiyya / murāqaba-i dhāt (the rank of indeterminacy)
Murāqaba-i khullat-i Ibrāhīmiyya (murāqaba of Abrahamic friendship), that is, murāqaba of the Sacred Essence, is the beginning of Abrahamic friendship or Abrahamic reality. Then comes the circle of dhāti maḥabba (essential love). This is the maqām of Mūsā (Moses). (This circle), in relation to Mūsā, is the reality of murāqaba or the source of dhāti maḥabba, and is thus murāqaba of the Essence. After this comes the circle of dhāti maḥbūbiyya (essential belovedness), which is intertwined with dhāti maḥabba. The murāqaba of the Essence is, in this respect, the source of the Muhammadan reality.
After this comes the circle of pure maḥbūbiyya (belovedness). The murāqaba of the Essence is, in this respect, pure dhāti maḥabba. After this are the ranks of ellā taʿyīn (non-determination, indeterminacy) and the Absolute Essence. After this is the reality of the beautiful Kaʿba, which is the manifestation of Allah the Exalted’s majesty and grandeur. Here, the murāqaba of the Essence is with respect to the fact that all creation prostrates to the Essence to whom all creation prostrates (Allah).
After this comes the reality of the Qur’an. The reality of the Qur’an, in terms of the uniqueness of the Exalted Essence, is to consider the beginning of its vastness and that its source is the beginning of the reality of the Qur’an.
After this comes the reality of fasting. The reality of fasting and prayer, in terms of their source, is the perfection of the unique vastness of the Presence of the Essence of Allah the Exalted. The use of the term "vastness" in these two presences arises from the narrowness of the field of expression. To ascend in these realities, reciting the Qur’an is beneficial.
After this comes the circle of pure maʿbūdiyya (servanthood), in which vision occurs not by the foot but by the eye, and which is among the highest maqāms and murāqabas of the exalted Naqshbandī tariqa (Sufi path). The details of this are written in the Maktūbāt of Imām Rabbānī. Whoever engages in murāqabas in these maqāms attains his share of murakkaʿa/murakkaʿāt (patched garment) and rises by the tawajjuh (spiritual attention) of the shaykh who is a murshid (spiritual guide). (Bughyah, 155)
murakkaʿa/murakkaʿāt: Wearing the murakkaʿa (patched garment) is the emblem of the Sufi, and it is also the sunnah of the Prophet. For this reason, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Wear woolen garments so that you may find the taste of iman (faith) in your qalbs." (Ḥākim, VII, 151; Bayhaqī, 151)
A Companion said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to wear woolen garments and ride a donkey.
Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī narrated about the Prophet: The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to wear woolen garments, ride a donkey, and go to places where the weak were invited. Only the part about wearing woolen garments is in Bazzār, VIII, 124; Ibn Saʿd, I, 454.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to our mother ʿĀʾisha: "Do not take off your garment without patching it." (Hujwīrī, 55)
The condition for murakkaʿāt (patching a garment) is that the Sufi uses it because it is light and empty. When something is torn from the original piece, a patch is placed over it. There are two opinions among the shaykhs on this matter. Some say that there is no specific method required for patching; wherever the needle comes out, it is pulled from there, and there is no need to force it. Others say that order and arrangement are necessary in patching, that the method of patching should be observed, and that one should strive to sew properly, because patching is the practice of the poor. The correctness of the practice is evidence for the correctness of the original. (Hujwīrī, 60)
Thus, the murakkaʿa is the symbol of the righteous, the sign of pure people, and the garment of the poor and humble. This matter was already discussed under the topics of the poor and purity. If a person uses the garment of the awliyāʾ (friends of God) for his own benefit, this is considered his own corruption and does not indicate a fault in the true people of the garment (the existence of counterfeits does not harm the original). (Hujwīrī, 70)
For the ascetic, if he wishes, there is a loss of moment when the murakkaʿa is worn in the maqām of zuhd (asceticism). At that moment, he should observe the necessary conditions for wearing the murakkaʿa so that the act does not become commonplace or that he does not leave the act deceived. This rule has weakened, discrimination has disappeared, order has been lost, and it has fallen from the hands of those who follow riḍā (contentment with God's decree) and those who follow the followers. For this reason, corruption spreads and obstinacy appears.
The one who wears the patched garment must discipline himself, accept struggles and difficulties upon his nafs, and endure hardships. In this way, he surpasses the maqāms, is disciplined with the adab (etiquette) of the shaykhs worthy of being followed, befriends the truthful, and learns the rulings and boundaries of his religion, as well as the essential and subsidiary matters of his madhhab and Sufi practice. Whoever does not possess these qualities, it is forbidden for him to attempt shaykhhood and spiritual authority. (Ādāb, 28)
(See also: khirqa / lübs-i khirqa)