It is due to the (danger of) its annihilation. Thus, the state of benefiting from the Absolute Beauty and deriving pleasure from It disappears. (Futūḥāt, II, 180)
Rajāʾ (hope) loves the person who does not have rajāʾ in himself. Rajāʾ is a maqām (spiritual station) of khawf (fear) in which its possessor needs an acquired adab (proper conduct) and a firm knowledge in which there is never any doubt. It is not a maqām in the middle of the path, but rather on its edge. Beneath it are pits into which its possessor will fall at the slightest stumble. It is on the path of eternal life, which is the baqāʾ (subsistence in God) of the world in Paradise. The state in which its strength must manifest is the state at the moment of death agony (the real strength is to preserve iman (faith) at the last breath). For anything before this, if he is a true muʾmin (believer), then for him the ruling of rajāʾ and the ruling of khawf are equal. (Futūḥāt, II, 182)
The maqāms (spiritual stations) of yaqīn (certainty) are nine: They are tawba (repentance), zuhd (asceticism), sabr (patient endurance), shukr (gratitude), khawf, riḍā (contentment with God's decree), rajāʾ, tawakkul (reliance upon God), and maḥabba (love). It is not correct to consider any of these maqāms as being (attained) through the cessation of planning or preference with Allah. (Tanwīr, 8)
When the sufferings born of khawf are directed toward the hearts, this fear prevents the tranquility that arises from planning and rajāʾ in the hearts. The same applies to the rājī (the one who hopes): when his heart is filled with tranquility with Allah and his time is occupied with connection to Allah, when will he find time to plan with Allah? (Tanwīr, 9)
Everything pleasant or unpleasant that you encounter is either something that exists now or something that happened in the past. The first is called wajd (ecstasy), dhawq (taste), or idrāk (perception). The second is called dhikr (remembrance). When something that will happen in the future comes to your mind and this state dominates your heart, this is called intizār and tawakkuʿ (expectation and hope). If the expected thing is desired, it is called rajāʾ; if it is undesired, it is called khawf... Rajāʾ is to find tranquility in expecting something desired. However, there must be a reason for this desired expectation. If the existence or nonexistence of the causes for the expected pleasant thing is unknown, it is more correct to call this expectation tamannī (wishful thinking). khawf-rajāʾ Because this is an expectation without cause. Khawf and rajāʾ are only used for something about which there is doubt. These terms are not used for something certain. For example, one does not say, 'I hope the sun rises, I fear it sets,' because both the rising and setting of the sun are certain. But one can say, 'I hope it rains, I fear it stops.'
Rajāʾ is among the maqāms of sāliks (travelers on the path) and the ḥāls (spiritual states) of ṭālibs (seekers). Therefore, a quality that is established and settled is called a maqām. If it is transient and not settled, it is called a ḥāl. Just as yellowness can be either permanent (as in complexion) or temporary (as in shame or illness), so too are the qualities of the qalb (the heart) divided into such categories. The non-permanent one is called a ḥāl, because it disappears quickly. This is a state applicable to every attribute of the heart. 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)
Rajāʾ is the tranquility of the heart in expecting something it loves after having doubt about it. The difference between rajāʾ, tamannī (wishful thinking), and intizār (waiting) is as follows: If the causes for the desired expectation have been realized, it is called rajāʾ. If the causes for the desired expectations have not been regularly fulfilled, or have been fulfilled incompletely or contradictorily, it is called delusion. If the causes are unknown, it is called tamannī.
The definition of rajāʾ is as follows: The heart finds tranquility in expecting something desired by preferring internal causes. Like waiting for the crop after all requirements of farming have been fulfilled. An example of tamannī is found in this poem:
Perhaps Allah will bring forth a ladder before me
and raise me up upon that ladder
Pride, on the other hand, is expressed by the following saying of the Prophet: 'The fool is the one who follows the desires of his nafs (the lower self) and harbors vain hopes about Allah.' (Ibn Ḥajar, I, 342; with the use of the word 'incapable' instead of 'fool' in Tirmidhī, Qiyāma, 25; Ibn Māja, Zuhd, 31) (Rawḍa, 262)
Khawf contracts, rajāʾ expands. If khawf is excessive, it creates estrangement (a sense of loneliness) towards the Beloved; if rajāʾ is excessive, it leads to self-admiration and coquetry. How beautifully has the one who said:
By the right of my blood, I fear you
for the love in my heart, I hope in you
Another said the following poem about rajāʾ:
The resting place of my mount is beside rajāʾ
it is mine to watch over it
for my Lord, You are mine
You know well what I say
You are aware of what I hide within
If sin becomes heavy upon my heart
and there remains no door to seek refuge
it is You who forgives the sin
States (aḥwāl) are only given to the possessors of states from this heaven. Whether they are of jalāl (majesty) like qabḍ (constriction), hayba (awe), and khawf, or of jamāl (beauty) like basṭ (expansion), uns (intimacy), and rajāʾ, in ḥaqīqa (inner reality) they are one. (Asfār, 164)
Khawf is not to fear anyone other than Allah while being with Allah... Rajāʾ is the tranquility of the heart concerning what it fears. (Jāmiʿ, 54)
Khawf is of three kinds: The khawf of the common people is from Allah's punishment; the khawf of the elite is from being separated from Allah; the khawf of the elect of the elite is to fear Allah Himself. (Jāmiʿ, 61)
Rajāʾ is of three kinds: First, the rajāʾ of the common people: they hope for forgiveness and fear being called to account. Second, the rajāʾ of the elite: they hope for Allah's bounty and fear His justice. Third, the rajāʾ of the elect of the elite: they hope for Allah's bounty and fear being abandoned by Allah. (Jāmiʿ, 61)
The cause of khawf is to encounter something undesirable or to lose something beloved. Khawf precedes the occupation of the nafs with something that will cause it to be troubled in its future state and the movement of the heart due to the majesty of the Lord. When Junayd was asked what khawf is, he replied: 'It is to be prepared for punishment in return for what the nafs has done.' To fear Allah is obligatory. (Jāmiʿ, 190)
Rajāʾ, in language, means hope (amal), and also means fear. According to the people of reality, it is for the heart to desire the occurrence in the future of something it loves. It is also said that rajāʾ means to trust in the generosity of the Noble Allah, for the heart to draw near to the Lord's grace, for the heart to rejoice in the beauty of the Hereafter, for the heart to be enlivened by hope, and to contemplate the vastness of Allah's mercy. Know that without khawf there is no rajāʾ, and without rajāʾ there is no khawf; these two are inseparable. For, in the station of reality, rajāʾ without khawf is security, and khawf without rajāʾ is despair by giving up hope in Allah's mercy. (Jāmiʿ, 191)
Know that the roots of the maqāms of yaqīn (certainty) reached by the branches of the states of the people of yaqīn are seven: tawba, sabr, shukr, rajāʾ, khawf, zuhd, tawakkul, maḥabba, and riḍā. (Jāmiʿ, 218)
Some have said: Khawf is to fear encountering something undesirable or losing something beloved.
Abū ʿAlī Daqqāq said: Fear has levels such as khawf, khashya (reverential awe), and hayba (awe). Khawf is a condition of iman (faith). Khashya is a condition of knowledge. Allah says: 'Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge.' (al-Fāṭir 35:28) Hayba is a condition of maʿrifa (gnosis). Some have said: The one who fears (khāʾif) is the one who fears none but Allah.
Abū Ḥusayn Nūrī said: The one who fears (khāʾif) is the one who flees from his Lord to his Lord.
Junayd said: It is to be prepared for punishment in return for what the nafs has done. (Nabhānī, I, 317)
Rajāʾ is beautiful obedience. Definitions of rajāʾ include: seeing majesty with the eye of beauty, the heart drawing near to the Lord's grace, and the heart rejoicing in the beauty of the Hereafter.
Abū ʿAbdullāh Ḥafīf said: Rajāʾ is the tranquility of the heart in seeing the generosity of the One hoped for.
Abū ʿAlī Rūzbārī described rajāʾ as follows: Khawf and rajāʾ are like the two wings of a bird. If they are equal, the bird flies straight and its flight is beautiful. If one is lacking, the bird falls to the ground. If both are lacking, the bird dies. (Nabhānī, 322)