It is affirmed by manifesting it. Because the sālik (wayfarer) is present and resides there, it is also called a maqām (spiritual station). (Kāshānī, 87; Jāmiʿ, 99)
Rajāʾ (hope) is among the maqāmāt (spiritual stations) of sāliks and the aḥwāl (spiritual states) of ṭālibs (seekers). For this reason, 610 maqām/maqāmāt...
A quality that has become fixed and established is called a maqām (spiritual station). If it is transient and not established, it is called a ḥāl (spiritual state). Like yellowness, which can be either fixed (as in jaundice) or transient (as in shame or illness), the characteristics of the qalb (the heart) are also divided in this way. That which is not fixed is called a ḥāl, because it disappears quickly. This is true for every attribute of the qalb. At present, we aim to explain the reality of rajāʾ. Rajāʾ consists of ḥāl, ʿilm (knowledge), and ʿamal (action). Knowledge is the cause that perfects the ḥāl, the ḥāl necessitates action, and rajāʾ is the name for all three together. (Qudāma, 316)
The stations of yaqīn (certainty) are nine: these are tawba (repentance), zuhd (asceticism), sabr (patient endurance), shukr (gratitude), khawf (fear), riḍā (contentment with God's decree), rajāʾ, tawakkul (reliance upon God), and maḥabba (love). It is not correct to consider any of these stations as ceasing with the cessation of Allah's management or choice. (Tanwīr, 8)
We have found the sidra (lote tree) to be a maqām. There are eight maqāms of mushāhada (spiritual witnessing) there. In each maqām of mushāhada, there are such exalted scenes that, due to their great diversity, it is impossible to comprehend them. These various scenes correspond to the degree of taste of the possessors of that maqām of mushāhada. The maqām we mentioned above is the manifestation of the Real (al-Ḥaqq) in the loci of manifestation. This manifestation consists of the self-disclosure of the Real in the divine realities and in the meanings pertaining to creation.
These eight maqāms of mushāhada can be enumerated as follows: The first level is the manifestation of the Exalted Real by His Name al-Ẓāhir (the Manifest), but from the servant's bāṭin (inner aspect). The second is the manifestation of the Real by His Name al-Bāṭin (the Hidden), but from the servant's ẓāhir (outer aspect).
The third is the manifestation of the Real by the Name Allah from the servant's rūḥ (spirit). The fourth is the manifestation of the Real by the attribute Rabb (Lord) from the servant's nafs (the lower self).
The fifth is the manifestation of rank, which is the appearance of the Name al-Raḥmān (the Merciful) in the servant's ʿaql (intellect). The sixth is the manifestation of the Name al-Ḥaqq (the Real) from the servant's wahm (imagination).
The seventh is the maʿrifa (gnosis) of huwiyya (identity). Here, the Real manifests in the servant's ism (name) as anniyya (selfhood). The eighth is the maʿrifa of the Absolute Essence, but from the servant's absolute aspect. In this maqām, the manifestation of the Real is realized by the servant attaining perfection in both his ẓāhir and bāṭin forms of perfection. When this is the case, the inner is with the inner, the outer with the outer, huwiyya with huwiyya, anniyya with anniyya. The highest of the mentioned maqāms of mushāhada is this one. What comes after is aḥadiyya (absolute oneness). There, the created has no appearance at all, for it is purely specific to the Real. This maqām is among the characteristics of the Essence that is Necessary Existence (Wājib al-Wujūd). If something of this manifestation comes to a perfect person, we say it is a divine manifestation specific to him. There is no appearance of creation there. In no way can that manifestation be attributed to creation; it is necessarily of the Real. For this reason, the people of God (ahl Allāh) have forbidden attributing the manifestation of aḥadiyya to creation. (Insān, II, 8)
The knowledge of aḥwāl and tanazzulāt (knowledge of spiritual states and stations) is a type of knowledge specific to those characterized by this science. Those characterized by this state have two paths: to see the Real as the beginning of pre-eternity and to act by turning only to Him. This is the path of the Shādhiliyya, Naqshbandiyya (Jāmiʿ), and those inclined to them.
The second is to see the nafs, to make the Real aware of the nafs, and to act in this way. This is the path of Ghazālī, (Suhrawardī (Jāmiʿ)), and those inclined to them. Their basis is the hadith: "Worship Allah as if you see Him (this action pertains to the first group); if you do not see Him, He sees you (this pertains to the second group)." This path, which is the remedy for the nafs and the occupation of knowledge, is also called the path of burhān (proof). For in this matter, there is no need to attack anyone or accuse anyone of misguidance. Only intelligent people are capable of this... (Jāmiʿ, 168; Rihla, 43)
The spiritual journey (sulūk) of the people through these paths is possible by correcting their beliefs according to a scholar whose piety is trusted. Thus, they receive a share of the knowledge of ḥāl in a way that brings healing and satisfies their nafs. After sabr (patient endurance), one must also possess great striving, taqwa (God-consciousness), and uprightness in this matter. There can be no possibility or interpretation here. In this matter, no other recognized imam besides one's own imam has any intervention. Then, regarding their states, people trust a shaykh or a righteous friend who has previously experienced these states and can advise them. Thus, they take everything that remains from them and leave the rest. (Jāmiʿ, 168)
Some people are possessors of ḥāl, others of maqām. For those who reach a maqām, divine emergences occur continuously.
Tarkīk: When the essential ḥaqīqa (inner reality) is stripped of all attributes, its meaning is colored by the attributes of the one who receives it. (The color of water is the color of its container.) They are all watered with the same water. Nevertheless, in terms of eating, We make some excel over others. (Qawānīn, 12)
When the sālik makes a ḥāl into a habit (malaka), that ḥāl becomes his maqām. Thus, he acts continuously in that maqām with that ḥāl. Ḥāl is something that changes. Ḥāl is that which dominates its possessor, but the possessor cannot dominate it.
The maqām acquired gradually brings forth the maqām, and thus the feet become firm in the spiritual journey (sulūk), so that the person does not take a misstep.
For the foot to be firm in the maqām together with the group means that the person in that maqām attains certainty regarding the soundness of his maqām. (Qawānīn, 17)
Among people, the one whom you see as advanced in akhlaq (character) is the one who possesses a maqām among them. When one reaches an advanced moral maqām, with certain things...