It is the cessation (of pleasure). Baqāʾ (subsistence in God) is for the servant to remain in this (fanāʾ state). Again, fanāʾ (annihilation in God) is when, regarding the servant’s actions, Allah establishes His own acts in such a way (that the servant sees Allah as the One governing all his states and movements). Baqāʾ is for the servant, in his standing for Allah, to subsist with Allah by seeing that Allah has established him, before Allah establishes him (i.e., to realize from the very beginning of creation that he is under Allah’s management and to always see himself thus). (Lumaʿ, 417)
Fanāʾ is the disappearance of pleasures to the extent that the servant has no share left in anything, and, due to being preoccupied with that in which he is annihilated, all things vanish, and thus discernment (the ability to distinguish things) ceases. As ʿĀmir ʿAbdullah said on this matter: "Did I see a woman, or a wall? I do not care." The Real (al-Ḥaqq) protects him so that he does not turn away (to anything other than Himself), and directs him to his own duties and proper conduct. Thus, he cannot find a way to commit anything that would be against Allah or for which he would be called to account, and is protected from all contrarieties. This is what is called isma (infallibility). (Taʿarruf, 92)
Baqāʾ, which comes after fanāʾ, is to be annihilated from what pertains to the nafs (the lower self) and to subsist with what pertains to Allah. One of the great ones has said: Baqāʾ is the station (maqām) of the prophets who have been clothed with the garment of sakīna (tranquility). Therefore, their freedom does not prevent them from Allah’s obligations and grace. "That is the bounty of Allah which He gives to whom He wills." (al-Ḥadīd 57:21) For the servant who is bāqī (subsisting in God), everything becomes one and the same. For this reason, all the actions of a person at this station remain within the circle of conformity to the Real (al-Ḥaqq). The servant does not step outside this circle to enter into a state of opposition to the Real. Thus, at this station, the servant is annihilated from the state of opposition and subsists in the state of conformity. For the servant, the oneness of all things does not mean that things not in accordance with Allah’s will become equal to those that are, or that prohibited things become like commanded things. Rather, it means that only those things which Allah is pleased with occur for the servant in this state, not those He dislikes or merely commands. Everything he does is done solely for Allah, not for any pleasure or benefit to be gained now or in the future.
This is what the Sufis mean when they say: The walī (friend of God) is annihilated from his own attributes and subsists with the attributes of the Real (al-Ḥaqq). For Allah Most High does nothing for His own benefit or to avoid harm, but only for others. Allah is exalted above such motives; He acts only for the benefit or harm of others.
In the state of fanāʾ-baqāʾ, the one who is bāqī with the Real (al-Ḥaqq) and annihilated from his nafs (the lower self) does not act to obtain benefit for himself or to ward off harm, nor does he consider benefit or harm as the purpose of his actions. The meaning is that, when performing an act, the aim and intention are not to gain benefit for the nafs or to protect it from harm, for the pleasures and desires of his nafs have vanished. This does not mean that the person feels no pleasure from his actions, but rather that he acts for Allah, not out of hope for reward or fear of punishment. The hope for reward and fear of punishment always remain in the servant. This person desires reward because he conforms to Allah’s pleasure, for Allah Most High Himself has commanded His servants to desire such things and to ask Him for them. But one does not act for the pleasure of the nafs.
The servant fears Allah’s punishment because he wishes to revere Him and act in accordance with His commands, for Allah has instilled fear in His servants. The servant does not act for his own pleasure, but for the pleasure of others. As the saying goes: "The believer eats to increase the appetite of his family." (Taʿarruf, 92)
In short, fanāʾ and baqāʾ mean to be annihilated from one’s own pleasures and to subsist with the pleasures of others (i.e., Allah’s commands). To be annihilated from seeing oneself acting in opposition (to Allah’s commands) intentionally and resolutely, and to subsist by intentionally and actually acting in conformity (with Allah’s commands), to be annihilated from revering anything other than Allah and to subsist in revering Allah—these are all forms of fanāʾ. (Taʿarruf, 93)
Fanāʾ is the state of one who does not see his own attributes. Rather, he sees himself as veiled (enveloped) by Allah, having effaced his own attributes. As the author has said: The fanāʾ of humanity does not mean its extinction, but that the servant, while in that state, is enveloped by the pleasure of passing beyond the pain and pleasure that occur to him. (Taʿarruf, 95)
Among them (the Sufis), there are those who, though their expressions differ, consider all these states to be a single state. According to them, fanāʾ and baqāʾ, jamʿ (union) and farq (separation), ghayba (absence), shuhūd (witnessing), sukr (intoxication), and ṣaḥw (sobriety) are all considered as one state. Thus, one who is annihilated from what is for himself subsists with what is for the Real (al-Ḥaqq), and one who subsists with what is for the Real is annihilated from what is for himself. The one who is annihilated is in the state of jamʿ, for he only beholds the Real. The one in the state of jamʿ is also in the state of farq, for he sees neither himself nor creation. Being always with the Real, he subsists. The Real unites him with Himself. He is annihilated from everything other than the Real and separated from them. He is absent, and since discernment has left him, he is in a state of sukr (intoxication)... In the sense that things become one for him (fanāʾ), the Real only directs him to actions in conformity with His commands, so he does not see opposition. He distinguishes between things, but when things become a single thing, discernment ceases.
A group interprets fanāʾ as follows: The servant is removed from everything that is subject to form and shape. At that point, he neither knows baqāʾ nor feels fanāʾ, nor is he aware of the moment he is in. Rather, his Creator knows his baqāʾ, his fanāʾ, and his moment, and protects him from all evil.
There is a difference of opinion regarding the one who is annihilated: Does he return to the subsistence of attributes or not? Some say: The servant returns to the subsistence of attributes; the state of fanāʾ does not persist. For the continuation of the state of fanāʾ would require the cessation of the limbs’ activity in fulfilling obligatory acts and the affairs of this world and the hereafter (i.e., it would prevent the organs from functioning). Abū ʿAbbās ʿAṭāʾ has a book on this subject called Kitāb ʿawdat al-ṣifāt wa badʾihā (The Book of the Return and Beginning of Attributes).
The great verifiers among the Sufis, such as Junayd, Ḥarrāz, and Nūrī, do not hold that the one who is annihilated returns to the attributes of baqāʾ. Fanāʾ is a grace, gift, generosity, and allocation from Allah to the servant. Fanāʾ is not in acquired acts, but in what Allah Himself grants.