Four veils and four stations

Bismillah.

It should be understood that anything that one must ward off from oneself or remove from one's way can be characterized as a 'veil' (hijab),

and anything that one must cultivate, acquire and adhere to can be characterized as a 'station'.

There are 4 principal veils or obstacles on the Sufi Path:
ambition,
love of money (avarice),
blind imitation and
prejudice.

There are 4 principal stations of the Path:
good words,
good deeds,
good character and
gnosis.
And in order to reach these 4 stations, one must first remove these 4 veils.
- Nasafi in Kashf al-haqa'iq
From: The Wisdom of Sufism
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I wish to remind myself that when performing a job to earn a living, never intend to amass wealth or be driven by love of money because the Sufis only take from the world what they need, not what they want. Of course, your needs include that of your fellow brothers' needs. You may, as advised by Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, spend on quality things (e.g. clothes, cars etc.) "in order to show to the enemies and the unbelievers that Muslims are successful. But in your heart all there is, is just Allah and you should hold these worldly things with your nails not even with your fingers, so that when Allah wish to take them away from you, you could easily let them go." Because in your heart, you know your richness lies with Allah so you will not be affected. In fact, your heart will always remain calm. You become indifferent whether you have much or little. By then you will have witnessed nothing but Him and you will have become His beloved and bi-iznillah, your wish often gets fullfilled.

O son, may we live to realize the meaning of this du'a taught by Shaykh Abul Hassan as-Shadhilli:

Nas alukal faqra mimma siwak

wal ghinna bika hatta

la nash hada illa iyaka

We seek from You poverty from other than You

and richness with You

until we see not anything but You.

May we become prosperous zahir and bathin this year and forever!
Ameen Allahumma Ameen.