Baba Aziz recapitulated the 7 aqabahs or mountains that a salik (seeker) must conquer in the quest towards his goal - aqabah tawbah, aqabah awa'id, aqabah awarid, aqabah bawa'ith, aqabah bawadih and aqabah al-hamd wa-shukr. These aqabahs are like great mountains to be conquered only with huge efforts. A salik is one who is focused on his journey towards Allah. He leaves all ugly behaviors in preference for good morals. He is one who receives guidance from a guru who is murabbi. As a salik he would begin his studies mastering tasawwuf ibadah from classic kitab such as Minhajul Abidin. He is wary of pitfalls on the path caused by illnesses of the heart such as riak (pride) and ujub (self-glorification). His knowledge would increase as would his gnosis (makrifah). He will attain the true degree of sincerity (ikhlas) and his worship would become pure. He will be blessed with 'ilm ladunni, the highest kind of knowledge direct from His Presence because his heart is pure. He harbors hope soley in His Lord. He fears none except Allah. He longs and love only Allah.
Wat taqullah wa yu'al limukumullah means one must first have iman (faith) before taqwa (God-fearing). Without taqwa one will not be granted ilm asrar or the secret knowledge. Always keep your wudhu' (ablution) and recite salawat continuously especially salawat 'azamiyah. This particular salawat carries a lot of weight as it would take you to the presence of Rasulullah s.a.w. So do not be careless about how you spend your time. Prove your taqwa. Prove yourself with a credible faith. By having a pure faith, taqwa, and sincerity, Allah will grant you makrifah (gnosis).
It is important that you avoid having a negative impression of your Lord. Just because He constricts your provision or give you illness, you start having ill feelings about your fate. If indeed you have makrifah you will not be restless, you will be calm and say Alhamdulillah regardless of your conditions. If you but know, He will, in fact, raise your maqam after each and every test. If you behave in a positive manner based on your understanding of this branch of knowledge He will grant you more knowledge that is beyond your imagination.
I think most of you are still murid, not salik. I say that because you cannot even find the time to make zikr Allah. You are suffering from sickness typical of a murid. You gather knowledge but you do not practice what you know. You must understand that husnul Islam, the best of Islam is one who leaves all that is worthless or unbeneficial to him. So go back to Allah. Become a salik. Be sure to get tarbiyyah (guidance) from a guru who is himself a jazbah and a salik. You must practice what you know because that is a pre-requisite for you to attain real makrifah.
He says: wa'alam nahu min ladun na ilma - "We teach him (he who practices what he knows) with one 'ilm (knowledge)", and that is called ilm' hal. You will know this when you reach this maqam. If you truly love Allah, you will appreciate your time. You will not want to waste it. You will occupy yourself worshipping Him. If you want to know what karamah is, look at the degree of your servitude. Check yourself, see how obedient you are. Do you always keep your wudhu'? Do you make an effort to tie that "black sheep" - your tongue? You can do that by holding a tasbeeh so that you would automatically remember to make zikr.
It is not good enough to be a murid. You must be a salik. The Sufis make 13,000 zikr Allah per day. The fuqaha (the ordinary person) should at least make 3,000 zikr. Learn the famous ratib such as al-Idrus, al-Attas and al-Haddad and recite them regularly. It is a waste of time to just be a murid. Please by all means become a salik. Remove all traces of mazmumah (bad qualities) from yourself and replace them with sifat mahmudah (good attributes). Allah is the ultimate guide who could bring us to goodness.
But go find a guru tarbiyyah who could prescribe you with what zikr, what salawat and what istighfar to do. When you find one and do as told, you will attain nafs radhiah. You are now at mutmainnah or mulhimmah where you get inspired to do good and regret your wrong doings. You must strive above this level. There are three practises you could do if you cannot find guru murabbi. You could do istighfar, salawat and zikr La ila ha illAllah 1300 times a day. Do this morning and night until they become more tasty than the best food that you have eaten in this world. Make them your preferred food. Clean, purify your heart so that nothing is there, save Allah.
Wallahu a'lam.
Wat taqullah wa yu'al limukumullah means one must first have iman (faith) before taqwa (God-fearing). Without taqwa one will not be granted ilm asrar or the secret knowledge. Always keep your wudhu' (ablution) and recite salawat continuously especially salawat 'azamiyah. This particular salawat carries a lot of weight as it would take you to the presence of Rasulullah s.a.w. So do not be careless about how you spend your time. Prove your taqwa. Prove yourself with a credible faith. By having a pure faith, taqwa, and sincerity, Allah will grant you makrifah (gnosis).
It is important that you avoid having a negative impression of your Lord. Just because He constricts your provision or give you illness, you start having ill feelings about your fate. If indeed you have makrifah you will not be restless, you will be calm and say Alhamdulillah regardless of your conditions. If you but know, He will, in fact, raise your maqam after each and every test. If you behave in a positive manner based on your understanding of this branch of knowledge He will grant you more knowledge that is beyond your imagination.
I think most of you are still murid, not salik. I say that because you cannot even find the time to make zikr Allah. You are suffering from sickness typical of a murid. You gather knowledge but you do not practice what you know. You must understand that husnul Islam, the best of Islam is one who leaves all that is worthless or unbeneficial to him. So go back to Allah. Become a salik. Be sure to get tarbiyyah (guidance) from a guru who is himself a jazbah and a salik. You must practice what you know because that is a pre-requisite for you to attain real makrifah.
He says: wa'alam nahu min ladun na ilma - "We teach him (he who practices what he knows) with one 'ilm (knowledge)", and that is called ilm' hal. You will know this when you reach this maqam. If you truly love Allah, you will appreciate your time. You will not want to waste it. You will occupy yourself worshipping Him. If you want to know what karamah is, look at the degree of your servitude. Check yourself, see how obedient you are. Do you always keep your wudhu'? Do you make an effort to tie that "black sheep" - your tongue? You can do that by holding a tasbeeh so that you would automatically remember to make zikr.
It is not good enough to be a murid. You must be a salik. The Sufis make 13,000 zikr Allah per day. The fuqaha (the ordinary person) should at least make 3,000 zikr. Learn the famous ratib such as al-Idrus, al-Attas and al-Haddad and recite them regularly. It is a waste of time to just be a murid. Please by all means become a salik. Remove all traces of mazmumah (bad qualities) from yourself and replace them with sifat mahmudah (good attributes). Allah is the ultimate guide who could bring us to goodness.
But go find a guru tarbiyyah who could prescribe you with what zikr, what salawat and what istighfar to do. When you find one and do as told, you will attain nafs radhiah. You are now at mutmainnah or mulhimmah where you get inspired to do good and regret your wrong doings. You must strive above this level. There are three practises you could do if you cannot find guru murabbi. You could do istighfar, salawat and zikr La ila ha illAllah 1300 times a day. Do this morning and night until they become more tasty than the best food that you have eaten in this world. Make them your preferred food. Clean, purify your heart so that nothing is there, save Allah.
Wallahu a'lam.
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