(Rābiʿa said:) To remain safe from the world is to abandon what is within it. How can this be, when you are tainted by the world (dunyā)? She said: (O world,) you are nothing but a number of days. When a day passes, a part of you is gone. When a part is gone, soon the whole will be gone. You know this, so act accordingly!
She was asked: What is the ḥaqīqa (inner reality) of your iman (faith)? She replied: I did not worship Him out of fear of His Hell or desire for His Paradise. If I had done so, I would have been like a bad worker who labors for something other than Him, seeking and yearning for it. Rather, I worshipped Him out of love and longing for Him.
samʿ (ilqāʾ al-samʿ) Abū Saʿīd Ḥarrāz said: The first mode of listening to the Qur'an is to listen as if you are hearing it from the Messenger of God (peace be upon him). The second mode, surpassing this state, is to listen as if Jibrīl (Gabriel) is reciting it to our Prophet. For Allah the Exalted says: "Indeed, it is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. The Trustworthy Spirit has brought it down upon your heart" (al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:193-194).
The third mode, surpassing even this, is to listen to the Qur'an as if you are hearing it directly from the Presence of the Real (God). The proof for this is Allah's verse: "And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers" (al-Isrāʾ 17:82), and "The revelation of this Book is from Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Wise" (al-Jāthiya 45:2). You listen to it as if you are hearing it from Allah the Exalted. (Lumaʿ, 114)
Samʿ is the hearing of the inner self. In this, the speech of the lisān (tongue) of state is perceived. There is not a single atom in the heavens or the earth but that there are kinds that bear witness to Allah's oneness (wahdāniyya). (Qudāma, 117)
Samʿ (hearing) is the manifestation of the Real (God) through the mode of expressing a known thing. Since Allah knows everything that is heard, both before and after it is heard, hearing is nothing but the manifestation of the knowledge of the Real through learning something unknown from something known. The known may be the Real Himself or His creation. Understand! Samʿ is an essential attribute (ṣifa) of Allah's essence. It is necessary for His kamāl (perfection). Allah hears His own speech and acts as a requirement of His Essence. He also hears the speech of His creatures, both their words and their states. The hearing of the Real of Himself through His kalām (speech) is understandable. His hearing of His creation is, in terms of their speech and states, a requirement of His names and attributes, inasmuch as He wills what will affect them. His response to them is the manifestation of those who bear this ruling and the appearance of their effects for His names and attributes. From this meaning, a second mode of hearing emerges: that He teaches the Qur'an to His chosen servants for His Essence, as mentioned in the verses of Sūrat al-Raḥmān (55:1-2). Allah has informed us of these servants through the tongue of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), saying: "The people of the Qur'an are the people of Allah and His special servants" (al-Insān 76:1, 51).
samāʿ (see also: mustamiʿ, mutasammīʿ, sāmiʿ; samāʿ ilāhī, samāʿ rūḥānī, samāʿ kalāmī; shurb al-qulūb min al-samāʿ)
The outward aspect of samāʿ is temptation (fitna), its inward aspect is admonition. For one who recognizes the ishāra (spiritual indication) in samāʿ, it is lawful to listen and participate with reflection. Otherwise, samāʿ invites temptation and leads a person to tribulation. (Lumaʿ, 342)
Samāʿ is of three kinds: The first is the samāʿ of the murīd (aspirant, disciple) and those new to the path, who seek to attain precious ḥāl (spiritual states) thereby. There is fear that such people may fall into temptation and hypocrisy. The second is the samāʿ of the ṣiddīqūn (the truthful), who listen to things appropriate to their states, hoping for an increase in their states. The third is the samāʿ of those among the people of rectitude from among the gnostics (ʿārifūn), for whom, during samāʿ, it is inconceivable that anything entering their hearts—whether movement or stillness—would be contrary to Allah. (Lumaʿ, 349)
Samāʿ is performed to escape the fatigue of the moment, to spend pleasant times, to allow the people of spiritual states to breathe, and for those occupied with the world to invite (spiritual) secrets. Among things that bring comfort and relief to human nature, samāʿ is preferred over others because the nafs (lower self) is less likely to cling to it and find rest in it. For samāʿ comes from the air and returns to the air. The possessors of unveiling and witnessing have needed samāʿ because of what arises in themselves, for their secrets roam in the fields of unveiling. (Taʿarruf, 126)
Samāʿ is of two types: Some listen to words and take lessons from them. This type of samāʿ is only listened to in a state of discernment (sobriety) and with tranquility of the qalb (heart). Others listen to melodies. Melody is nourishment for the ruh (spirit). When the spirit obtains its nourishment, it desires its station, and at that moment, it relinquishes control over the body. Then, samāʿ brings about movements such as swaying and ecstasy in the listeners.
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Nabājī said: Samāʿ is that which brings forth an idea and imparts a lesson; the rest is temptation.
Junayd said: Allah's mercy descends upon the poor in three situations: when eating, for the poor only eat in a state of need; when speaking, for they only speak as much as necessary; and during samāʿ, for they only participate in samāʿ when they are in a state of spiritual ecstasy. (Taʿarruf, 127)
Samāʿ requires three things: time, place, and brethren. When Shiblī was asked what samāʿ is, he said: Its outward is temptation, its inward is admonition; for one who understands the indication, it is lawful to listen for admonition, otherwise it invites temptation and leads to tribulation.
It has been said: No one should participate in samāʿ except one whose nafs (lower self) is dead and whose qalb (heart) is alive. Thus, the listener in samāʿ must slay his nafs with the sword of spiritual struggle (mujāhada) and revive his qalb with the light of concordance.
When Abū Yaʿqūb Nahrajūrī was asked what samāʿ is, he said: It is a state that arises from returning to secrets through burning (spiritual ardor).
It has also been said: For the people of maʿrifa (gnosis), samāʿ consists of the subtleties that are nourishment for the ruh (spirit).
I heard Abū ʿAlī Daqqāq say: The type of samāʿ permitted by the sharia (sacred law) is...