tarīq/ṭarīqa (path/Sufi order): (arkān al-ṭarīq; karādis; ṭarīq ilā-llāh; ṭarīq al-qawm; ṭarīq al-murīdīn; ṭarīqat al-sufiyya)
If you ask (your shaykh) about what you do not know, you will find yourself endowed with baṣīra (spiritual insight) on the path to Allah. If you respond to his requests, he will respond to you with a quality from the ṭarīq (path) in which he has guided you, from the calamities he has distanced you from, from the hardships he has endured with sabr (patient endurance), and from the degrees of drawing near to Allah through knowledge. He shows the murīd (aspirant, disciple) the beginning of the path, what may befall him on it, and that only after sabr and mujāhada (spiritual struggle) can joy and ease be attained. For to the extent that they endure what they encounter, they attain richness, ease, and joy. (Bed', 34)
The ṭarīq al-murīdīn (the path of the murīds) is the community that requires from its members ināba (turning in repentance, specifically to purify the inner self). Allah says: "He guides those who turn to Him (ināba) to a straight path" (al-Shūrā 42:13). Before attaining kashf (unveiling), they are required to show gayra (zeal, spiritual effort). As Allah says: "And those who strive for Us – We will surely guide them to Our ways" (al-ʿAnkabūt 29:69). This means He will make them progress gradually through various degrees of effort, such as sleeplessness in the darkness of night and thirst during the hottest days, through different forms of ascetic discipline and spiritual struggle. Thus, the fires of longing are kindled in their hearts, and the lights of ḥaqīqa (inner reality) are prevented from reaching those who are unworthy. They wander in the burning deserts of will. (Ken1004 tarīq/ṭarīqa)
They renounce all habits that please their nafs (the lower self). All of this is the ināba that Allah has required of them and made the cause of their attainment of hudā (guidance).
As previously indicated, the sudden, particular hudā that manifests is a special kind of guidance that leads a person directly to Allah, and is distinct from the general hudā that results from obeying commands and prohibitions as a consequence of the first maʿrifa (gnosis, experiential knowledge of God). The state of the murīd who loves (Allah) and travels His path, turning to Him, is thus. Therefore, ināba ultimately becomes identical with the general hudā that ends in particular hudā. The difference is that those who attain particular hudā reach the goal before those who attain it through ināba. They find the way to Him through various struggles, thus escaping the distress of hardships and reaching the expanse of ease, moving from the difficulty of striving to the comfort of spiritual state (ḥāl). These are those who first struggle and then attain unveiling. The murādūn, on the other hand, are those who first attain unveiling and then struggle.
(Karādis: masses, groups, communities, collectively)
The day I was among them
on the path of my ascension
I loaded the purest steeds of my sabr (patient endurance)
Tarīq is a set of ceremonies commanded by Allah, in which no rūkhṣa (dispensations, leniencies) are allowed. (Istilāh, 530)
If you ask, What is waqt (the moment)? We say: Waqt is to live in the present moment, without looking to the past or future. This is the understanding of waqt among the people of the path. If you ask, What is the path according to the Sufis? We say: It is to fulfill legitimate rights in matters where no rūkhṣa is given, through acts of strict resolve (ʿazāʾim) and dispensations equivalent to ʿazāʾim. Only those who possess ʿazāʾim can fulfill dispensations equivalent to ʿazāʾim. It is a mistake for many of the people of the path to permit acting upon dispensations. (Futūḥāt, TI, 130)
Ṭarīqa is the journey specific to sāliks (travelers on the path), by which they reach Allah through traversing stations (maqām) and advancing through spiritual stages. (Kāshānī, 65; Jāmiʿ, 89)
Ḥasan Kazzāz says: I built the ṭarīq al-qawm (the Sufi path) on three things: not eating what you desire except out of necessity, not sleeping until sleep overcomes you, and not speaking except out of a legal necessity. (Anwār, I, 54)
The arkān al-ṭarīq (conditions for entering the Sufi path) are four: hunger (eating little), seclusion, little sleep, and little speech. If the murīd can manage hunger (eating little), the other three conditions will follow. For hunger leads to little speech, increases wakefulness (leads to less sleep), and causes the murīd to enjoy being apart from people. (Anwār, I, 56)
tarīq/ṭarīqa 1005
There are four paths to intending (and seeking) Allah. Whoever possesses all of them is among the realized truthful (muḥaqqiq ṣiddīqūn); whoever possesses three is among the brought-near awliyāʾ (friends of God); whoever possesses two is among the witnesses of certainty; whoever possesses one is among Allah's righteous servants.
The first is dhikr (remembrance of God); its spread is righteous action, its fruit is light.
The second is contemplation; its spread is sabr (patient endurance), its fruit is knowledge.
The third is poverty; its spread is shukr (gratitude), its fruit is the increase of gratitude.
The fourth is ḥubb (love); its spread is hatred for the world and its people, its fruit is union with the Beloved. (Jāmiʿ, 61)
The ṭarīqat al-sufiyya (the Sufi path) is to empty the heart completely of all besides Allah. This is the first condition. Its key is to devote the heart entirely to the dhikr of Allah. This is like the opening takbīr in prayer. The end of this path is to be annihilated (fanāʾ) entirely in Allah. For such a person, the phrase kuddisa sirruhū (may his secret be sanctified by Allah) is used. This is realized after acquiring knowledge, turning to the Sufi path, and attaining certain knowledge (yaqīn); this is the approved path. (Bughyat, 20)
Here, what is meant by the path is the way of traveling to Allah, which is the way of the leading Sufis. It has an outward and an inward aspect. The outward relates to the actions of the limbs, the inward to the rectification of the spiritual realms. The people of this particular path have attained the perfection of maʿrifa and, in every state, action, breath, and moment, the vigilant awareness (murāqaba) of the Real (God). Thus, the sovereignty of the Real becomes established in the hearts. As a result, all occupations and concerns related to worldly states that arise in the heart disappear. (Riḥla, 38)
Action is the movement of the body, heart (qalb), and mind. If action conforms to the sharia (the sacred law), it is called ṭāʿa (obedience); if it opposes it, it is called maʿṣiyya (disobedience). Therefore, it is agreed that the outward aspects of sharia, the inward aspects of ṭarīqa, and the secrets of ḥaqīqa are all necessary for rectification. (Riḥla, 132)
The path is love (maḥabba), truthfulness (ṣidq), and guarding the secrets of Allah. It is not permissible to give the path to those who cannot guard it. Except for those who have attained a certain position among people at a given time, the truthful poor, out of fear of making mistakes in expressing realities and contemplating what they do not understand, do not disclose these matters to anyone except those qualified. Therefore, one must repent for giving the path to those who cannot guard it. If only he had done so, if only he had repented from speaking of realities before people! (Riḥla, 334)
The path has four pillars: love (maḥabba), dhikr, contemplation (fikr), and submission (taslīm). The most important of these is divine love, for it is the pole around which the circles revolve. When you love Allah, you remember Him; when you remember Him, you contemplate; and you submit your state to Him. (Riḥla, 338; Nafaḥāt, 103)
The path has four rulings: union (jamʿ), tawḥid (the oneness of God), iman (faith), and submission (taslīm). (Nafaḥāt, 103) 1006 tarīq/ṭarīqa
The path is like a jewel hidden in a chest. Its key is the dhikr of Allah. The teeth of the key are to guard the senses from things that oppose Allah. (Nafaḥāt, 104)
Ṭarīqa is nothing but recitation, glorification, and permissible prayer. Impermissible prayer is as follows: the murīd arrives at a station, becomes heedless, gets distracted, begins to babble and perform an impermissible prayer, or delays the prayer beyond its time.
Those with dense temperaments (dhaw al-amzija al-kathīfa) require taʿlīm (instruction) and cultivation.