It is to cling tightly to friendship.
The third degree is the true dhikr (zikr-i ḥaqīqī). This consists of witnessing only the dhikr of the Real (al-Ḥaqq), being freed from seeing one's own dhikr, and realizing that the thought of the dhākir (one who remembers) remaining together with the dhikr is nothing but a delusion. (Manāzil, 26)
Everything pleasant or unpleasant that you encounter is either something that exists now, something that occurred in the past, or something that will happen or is expected in the future. If something that existed in the past comes to your mind, this is called dhikr (remembrance) and tadhakkur (recalling)... (Iḥyāʾ, IV, 174)
In prayer, there are four pillars (arkān) and six adhkār (dhikr). The four pillars are: qiyām (standing), quʿūd (sitting), rukūʿ (bowing), and sujūd (prostration). The six dhikr are: tilāwa (recitation), tasbīḥ (glorification), ḥamd (praise), istighfār (seeking forgiveness), duʿā (supplication), and sending ṣalāt and salām upon the Prophet (peace be upon him). (ʿAwārif, 181)
Dhikr transforms into dhikr of the Divine Essence (zikr-i Dhāt, dhikr of the Divine Essence). This dhikr is performed through witnessing (mushāhada), mukāshafa (unveiling), and seeing with bayān (clear exposition). The aim of dhikr of the Divine Essence is for the light of dhikr to settle in the heart (qalb) as a substance. This is the main purpose expected to be attained from khalwa (spiritual retreat).
Sometimes this state can also be attained in khalwa through recitation of the Qur'an, even without the dhikr of the kalima of tawhid (the oneness of God). If the murīd (aspirant, disciple) recites the Qur'an frequently and strives to align his heart (qalb) with what his tongue utters, the divine kalām (speech) flows from the tongue, blocking the objections of the nafs (the lower self), and the murīd easily begins to recite the Qur'an and perform prayer. This ease in recitation and prayer illuminates the heart. Since the light of the divine speech settles in the heart as a substance, Qur'anic recitation takes the place of dhikr of the Divine Essence. By witnessing the majesty of the attribute of divine speech, the light of the divine kalām gathers in the heart. Without such divine gifts, the doors of ʿilm al-ladun (esoteric knowledge) are not opened to the servant. Through Qur'anic recitation and dhikr, the servant attains this station, purifies his inner being, and due to the perfection of the feeling of intimacy (uns) and the sweetness of dhikr, enters a state of absence (ghayba). His absence during dhikr is like the state of a sleeper. Just as realities are unveiled to the sleeper in the form of ḥayāl (vision, imagination), in the state of absence, the realities begin to manifest to the murīd first as images of ḥayāl.
According to the Melāmatiyya method, dhikr is of four kinds: dhikr with the tongue, heart (qalb), secret (sirr), and spirit (rūḥ). When dhikr is performed with the spirit, the sirr, heart, and tongue fall silent and do not remember. This is the dhikr of witnessing (mushāhada). When dhikr is performed with the sirr, the heart does not remember. This is the dhikr of hayba (awe). When the heart begins to remember, the tongue falls silent. This is the dhikr that expresses Allah's blessings and favors. When the heart is heedless of dhikr, the tongue turns to dhikr. This is habitual dhikr.
Whenever I remember that I am remembering, my dhikr veils Him from my sight. The dhikr of words is the very essence of dhikr. We remember Him while witnessing. Even if dhikr is a divine attribute, if it did not take on various forms in the eyes, could He be remembered in either of the two states? For He is the sole inhabitant of the realm of the heart. I have shown that the cycles are constantly changing, that new cycles are created with natures formed in hardship.
Dhikr (remembrance, invocation) is a divine attribute... (This attribute) may manifest in a personal (nafsī, individual) or social (malāʾī, communal) manner. (The personal manifestation) is in the Real (al-Ḥaqq), (the communal manifestation) is among the people. Allah the Exalted has said: "Remember Me; I will remember you" (al-Baqara 2:152). Thus, He has made His remembrance of us dependent on our remembrance of Him. And Allah has also said: "When My servant remembers Me to himself, I remember him to Myself; and when he remembers Me in an assembly, I remember him in an assembly better than it." (Bukhārī, Tawhid, 15; Muslim, Tawba, 1) Thus, dhikr brings about dhikr, and the state of dhikr brings about the state of dhikr. Remembrance causes the other to remember as well.
Here, what is meant by dhikr is not merely mentioning His name, but a living being praising and extolling Him. For the benefit, whether for you or for Him, is nullified by the mention of the name, since it indicates the essence. Here, the purpose of mentioning the name is neither you nor Him. The purpose is the one who is remembered; what is intended by the name is what the name refers to. If you say that the people of God (ahl Allāh) prefer the phrase 'Allah Allah' to other dhikr that are attributes of Allah, and the phrase 'Hū' to other adhkār that are attribute-descriptive, and that they have found benefits in this, I would say that they are correct, but they do not intend the very essence with the dhikr 'Allah Allah'. With this lafẓ al-jalāla (the name Allah) or the pronoun 'Hū', they intend the Being who encompasses all worlds and cannot be limited. The benefit comes from their bringing this to mind during dhikr. The word 'Allah' is an unqualified dhikr; when it is qualified with 'Lā ilāha illā Allāh', then nothing is attained except what is intended by that indication. When it is qualified with 'Subḥān Allāh', nothing is established except what is brought by the reality of glorification. Whatever is intended by this qualification, that is what is attained. The same applies to 'Allāhu Akbar'. (Futūḥāt, II, 225-226)
Regarding dhikr by the method of mufāḍala (preference), those who perform dhikr are divided into two groups: The first group does not accept preference in dhikr, for every dhākir, as a dhākir, cannot see anything other than Allah. Thus, in respect to reality and the Essence, preference is not accepted, for the One (al-Wāḥid) does not accept preference. According to this definition, which is made as a taste in the reality of unveiling (kashf), this dhikr returns to Him (the Real is remembering Himself). Thus, it is revealed that the one who remembers is also Him. The second group does not accept preference unless they see a connection. There can be no connection between Allah and His creation. Allah's remembrance of Himself is a dhikr, and the servant's remembrance of his Lord is also a dhikr. Every dhikr is true. It is not possible to compare and say this dhikr is more virtuous or that dhikr is greater. Every dhikr directed to Allah the Exalted without preference is great. It is correct that dhikr is great for the servant who remembers, but from the servant's perspective, it is not correct to speak of the greatest dhikr. For the servant is a servant in essence, and Allah is Lord in essence.
Let not what you see, due to the interpenetration of attributes, veil your sight! Even if this veil is reality, every reality whose essence belongs to Him has no effect in pushing something outside the essence of another reality. Thus, realities do not change each other. If they did, knowledge would be removed from both Allah and creation. (Futūḥāt, IV, 95)
When the heart (qalb) is in heedlessness (ghafla), dhikr cannot drive out that heedlessness. Only tadhakkur (remembrance) and iʿtibār (reflection, taking lesson) can drive it out, even if there is no dhikr on the tongue. For the domain of dhikr is the tongue, while the domain of tadhakkur is the heart. Desire (hawā) comes to the heart, not the tongue. What will drive it out and replace it is tadhakkur. (Tanwīr, 21)
Among those who remember (mutadhakkirūn) are: those who await reward, punishment, reckoning; those who do not consider abandoning sin to be a great reward; those who are ashamed to disobey because they have already been granted ihsan (spiritual excellence); those who are ashamed to respond to a granted blessing with ingratitude; those who are aware that Allah is near to them, that the Real has encompassed them, that the Real has gazed upon them, that Allah has taken a covenant from them; those who realize that pleasure is fleeting while they constantly desire it; those who abandon opposition to Allah because it brings blame and humiliation; those who follow Allah's commands because of the benefit and honor in doing so; and those for whom the Real has become their Sustainer (Qayyūm).