He recites. If he performs the prayer during the day, he recites quietly; if at night, he recites aloud. After the prayer, according to the Naqshbandis, he sits cross-legged, and according to others, he sits kneeling, humbly facing the qibla, and purifies his qalb (the heart) from worldly preoccupations.
Then, according to the Naqshbandis, he performs istiġfār (seeking forgiveness) five, fifteen, or twenty-five times; according to the Shādhilis, seventy times; and according to others, one hundred times. Then he supplicates to Allah to accept his istiġfār, to grant him the ability to follow the sunnah, and prays for a good ending (ḥusn al-khātima) for both himself and his shaykh. He asks to be granted service to the tariqa (a Sufi path/order), sharia (the sacred law), and sunnah.
According to the Shādhilis: "O my Lord! You are Allah, the All-Powerful. Make it easy for us to understand and know 'Lā ilāha illallāh.'" Then he recites one Fātiḥa and three Ikhlāṣ (Qur'an surahs), gifting their reward to the entire spiritual chain (silsila).
Afterwards, he closes his eyes and imagines himself as dead, reflecting that he has no refuge except Allah. Then, he seeks the intercession of his murshid (spiritual guide) before his Lord, and imagines that he is gazing at his murshid between his eyebrows.
Then, according to the Naqshbandis, he says three times, either with his qalb or tongue: "Ilāhī anta maqsūdī wa riḍāka maṭlūbī" (O God, You are my aim and Your contentment is my desire). He affirms that, in reality, he has no aim other than the exalted Allah, and that his shaykh is only an intermediary between himself and Allah. (Jāmiʿ, 18)
Dhikr (remembrance of God) is to remove heedlessness; when heedlessness is removed, even if you are silent, you are in a state of dhikr. It is said: The ḥaqīqa (inner reality) of passing from the field of heedlessness to the expanse of witnessing is khawf (fear of Allah) and ḥubb (love of Allah). (Jāmiʿ, 54)
Dhikr is of three kinds. The first is the dhikr of the common people: they remember with the tongue, but their qalb is heedless. The second is the dhikr of the elite (khawāṣṣ): they remember with the tongue and their qalb is present (participates in the dhikr). The third is the dhikr of the elite of the elite (akhāṣṣ al-khawāṣṣ): this is to be constantly present with the qalb (an uninterrupted state of presence). (Jāmiʿ, 62)
There are four paths to intending (and seeking) Allah. Whoever possesses all of them is among the realized truthful ones (muḥaqqiq ṣiddīqīn); whoever possesses three is among the brought-near awliyāʾ (mukarreb awliyāʾ); whoever possesses two... The first is dhikr; its spread is righteous action, and its fruit is nūr (spiritual light). The second is contemplation (tafakkur); its spread is sabr (patient endurance), and its fruit is knowledge. The third is poverty (faqr); its spread is shukr (gratitude), and its fruit is the increase of gratitude. The fourth is ḥubb (love); its spread is to detest the world (dunyā) and its people, and its fruit is union with the Beloved. (Jāmiʿ, 61, 171)
Hidden dhikr of the qalb (silent remembrance with the heart) is to remember the Name of the Essence (ism al-Dhāt), that is, the Supreme Name (ism al-jalāl). This has certain etiquettes: to purify the body and qalb from the evils of the limbs, from caprice and greed, to repent (tawba) and seek forgiveness (istiġfār) for inclining toward anything other than Allah by following human impulses, and so on. Then, in a state of ritual purity, he enters seclusion (khalwa). He performs the sunnah ablution and, with supplication, faces the qibla, sitting cross-legged. At this stage, he tries to prepare his qalb by performing istiġfār five, ten, fifteen, or twenty-five times with his tongue. With a broken heart and humility, he brings to mind his misdeeds and faults.
Then he reflects that death will come, that he is now taking his last breaths in this world, and that perhaps soon he will be placed alone in the coffin. At this stage, he envisions the resurrection, the gathering, the dreadful fear, the questioning, the mīzān (the Balance), and the ṣirāṭ (the Bridge). The people of the spiritual chain (silsila) intercede for him, and he is brought to the grave from the empty side of the earth with them. At that moment, he imagines himself in the grave. He recites one Fātiḥa and three Ikhlāṣ, gifting their reward to the spiritual presence of Khwāja Muhammad Bahāʾ al-Dīn Naqshband. Then, for the sake of what he has recited, he seeks help from him and from all the people of the chain. If he recites the Fātiḥa and Ikhlāṣ before contemplating death and gifts their reward at that time, this is more virtuous.
Afterwards, he places the image of his shaykh and perfect murshid between his eyebrows, to seek his approval and hope for his help, and then casts that image into his qalb to ward off any thoughts that may arise there.
Then he closes his eyes, presses his tongue to the roof of his mouth, his teeth to his teeth, and his lips to his lips, and continues to breathe naturally in this state. He imagines his qalb as a pool or as an endless pure nūr (spiritual light). When the spiritual effusion begins to flow there, it fills his qalb from Allah to the Throne, or from the six directions to the qalb of the Prophet (peace be upon him), from him to the chain, and from there, through the heart of his master, to his own qalb. Thus, he is immersed in a sea of nūr and is enveloped by nūr on all sides.
At this moment, he imagines that the Name of Allah is engraved on his qalb, which is shaped like a pine cone beneath the left breast, and that it moves about there as it wills. The meaning of dhikr is especially to remember only the Essence of Allah. However, when beginning the dhikr and after every hundred repetitions of the Name of Allah, he recites the supplication "Ilāhī anta maqsūdī wa riḍāka maṭlūbī" with his qalb or tongue. Then he continues to recite the Name of the Essence, that is, the Supreme Name, the Name of Allah, with his tongue. He repeats this dhikr many times. The number of repetitions of this dhikr at the beginning is five thousand or twenty-five thousand tasbīḥs, or as much as he wishes continuously.
If, in a moment of need, he speaks with his tongue, according to the Masters of the Naqshbandiyya (Sādāt al-Naqshbandiyya), it is not interrupted by the well-known vigilance, and it results in the deepening of the qalb through witnessing and forgetting all else (mā siwā). The reality of remembering something is to forget everything else.
If dhikr continues and all else (mā siwā) is forgotten, and the one remembering (dhākir) reaches a state where even if he wishes, he cannot recall anything else, then dhikr passes to the ruh (the spirit). The ruh is a subtlety beneath the left breast. After this, it passes to the sirr (secret) in the left chest, then to the khafā (hiddenness) on the right side, and finally to the akhfā (most hidden) at the center. These five subtleties are from the world of command, created by Allah's command "Kun". They are subtleties outside the world of matter, which is composed and created from matter. The nafs al-nāṭiqa (rational soul) is what Allah the Exalted created from matter. (Jāmiʿ, 206)
Dhikr purifies the qalb from all forms of opposition (before Allah); remember Allah with tawhid (the oneness of God) so that He may remember you by supporting you. Remember Allah with shukr (gratitude) so that He may remember you by increasing His blessings. Remember Him with obedience so that He may remember you by bestowing abundant blessings. Remember Allah with maḥabba (love) so that He may remember you by drawing you near (qurb). (Rihla, 338; Nafahāt, 7, 119)
Dhikr illuminates the qalb; the light of the qalb illuminates iman (faith); the light of iman leads to knowledge from Allah's presence (ʿilm ladunnī); and this knowledge leads to the highest maqām (spiritual station). (Nafahāt, 120)
Dhikrullāh (remembrance of Allah) is the lamp of walāya (friendship with God); Allah has created a means of polishing for everything. What polishes the qalb is dhikrullāh. (Nafahāt, 122)