He chooses the best for you. While you are in ḥāl (spiritual state), occupy yourself with deeds that will benefit your ultimate end! (Minhāj, 58)
The reality of tawakkul (reliance upon God) is to consign one’s affairs to Allah, to be freed from the darkness of choice (ikhtiyār) and planning (tedbīr), and to ascend to the station of witnessing the divine decree and judgment. A servant in this state knows with certainty that there is no change in what has been apportioned, that what has been allotted to him cannot be taken away, and that he can never attain what has not been assigned to him. He believes in the promise of his Master and receives his share from Him.
There are three degrees of tawakkul: tawakkul, taslīm (surrender), and tafwīḍ (complete entrustment). The one who practices tawakkul finds peace by trusting in Allah’s promise. The one who practices taslīm is content with Allah’s knowledge of his state. The one who possesses tafwīḍ is pleased with Allah’s decree. Some have said: tawakkul is at the beginning, taslīm is in the middle, and tafwīḍ is at the end.
It has also been said that tawakkul is the attribute of the believers (muʾminūn), taslīm is the attribute of the awliyāʾ (friends of God), and tafwīḍ is the attribute of the muwaḥḥidūn (those who realize tawḥīd, the oneness of God). Likewise, some have said tawakkul is for the common people, taslīm is for the elite (khawāṣṣ), and tafwīḍ is for the most elect of the elite.
Others have said that tawakkul is the attribute of the prophets, taslīm is that of Abraham (al-Baqara 2:130), and tafwīḍ is the attribute of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). (Gunya, I, 189-190)
A wakīl is the one to whom affairs are entrusted. (Rawḍa, 315)
Tafwīḍ is above tawakkul. The first subtlety of tafwīḍ is to negate one’s own capacity (istitāʿa) before acting, without feeling secure from divine deception (makr) or despairing of divine assistance. The second subtlety is to see one’s need for Allah without considering one’s deeds as salvific, sins as destructive, or causes as the true agent. The third is to see that in the realm of movement and stillness, only the Real (al-Ḥaqq) is the sole actor, and to know that in both states of separation and union, only His management prevails. (Rawḍa, 482)
Taslīm is the highest path for the common people. Its first subtlety is to surrender to what is deemed sound by intellect, avoiding what is doubtful due to conjecture. The second subtlety is to surrender to knowledge, intention, and forms for the sake of unveiling and reality (i.e., to first adhere to the outward of the Qur’an, Sunnah, sharia, and tariqa and their principles in order to attain unveiling). The third subtlety is to surrender from all that is other than the Real to the Real, and to surrender from the act of surrendering itself to safety. (Rawḍa, 483)
Tafwīḍ and taslīm are one and the same, but there is a difference between them. The one who surrenders (mussallim) but is not pleased with what the one entrusted does...