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English translation

Know that wajd and wujud are both verbal nouns (masdars): one means grief, the other means finding. Since the agent of both is one and the same, they can only be distinguished by their verbal nouns; as they say: 'wajada yajidu wujudan wa wijdanan' when he found, 'wajada yajidu wajdan' when he grew sorrowful, likewise 'wajada yajidu jidatan' when he became wealthy, and 'wajada yajidu mawjidatan' when he became angry — the distinction among all of these lies in the verbal nouns, not in the verbs. What this group (the Sufis) mean by wajd and wujud is the affirming of two states that appear to them during audition (sama'): one is joined with grief, the other connected to the finding of what is sought. The reality of grief is the loss of the Beloved and the withholding of the desired; the reality of finding is the attainment of the desired. The distinction between sorrow (huzn) and ecstasy (wajd) is that huzn is a grief concerning one's own portion, while wajd is a grief concerning another's portion, by way of love. All this change is an attribute of the seeker, for otherwise 'the Truth does not change.' The quality of wajd cannot be brought under expression, because it is a pain experienced in absence, and pain cannot be described with the pen. So wajd is a secret between the seeker and the sought, whose explanation lies in the unveiling of that absence. Nor can the quality of wujud be rightly indicated by expression, because it is a joy in contemplation (mushahada), and joy cannot be attained by seeking. So wujud is a grace from the Beloved to the lover, and allusion is dismissed from its reality. In my view, wajd is the striking of a pain upon the heart, whether from joy or from sorrow, from delight or from toil. Wujud is the removal of a grief from the heart and the encountering of its desired object. As for the attribute of the one in ecstasy (wajid): it is either motion in the boiling-over of longing during the state of veiling, or stillness in contemplation during the state of unveiling; either sighing or wailing, either groaning or yearning, either ease or agitation, either anguish or delight. The masters differ as to whether wajd is more complete or wujud. One group said: wujud is the attribute of the disciples (muridan) and wajd is the quality of the gnostics ('arifan). Since the rank of the gnostic is higher than that of the disciple, the attribute of the former must be more perfect; because everything that comes under 'finding' becomes apprehended, and that is an attribute of a genus, since apprehension requires a limit, whereas God Most High is without limit. So whatever the servant finds is nothing but a mere draught (mashrab), whereas that which he does not find, toward which he becomes a seeker, in which he is cut off and rendered incapable of seeking — the finder of that is the reality of the Truth. Another group says: wajd is the burning of the disciples, and wujud is the gift (tuhfa) of the lovers. The rank of the lovers is higher than that of the disciples, so repose with a gift must be more complete than burning in seeking. This meaning is not unveiled except in an anecdote: One day Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Shibli (may God's mercy be upon him), in the boiling-over of his state, came to Junayd (may God be pleased with him) and found him sorrowful. He said: 'O Shaykh, what has happened?' Junayd said: 'Whoever seeks, finds (man talaba wajada).' Shibli said: 'No, rather, whoever finds, seeks (man wajada talaba).' Then the masters spoke concerning this saying: for one gave a sign of wajd and the other alluded to wujud. In my view the more authoritative is Junayd's saying, because when the servant knows that the One he worships is not of his own genus, his grief becomes prolonged. This matter has been treated in this book. The masters agree that the sovereignty of knowledge ('ilm) must be stronger than the sovereignty of ecstasy (wajd), because when strength belongs to the sovereignty of wajd the one in ecstasy is in a place of danger, but when it belongs to the sovereignty of knowledge he is in a place of safety. The meaning of all this is that in every state the seeker must follow knowledge and the Sacred Law (shar'). When he is overcome by ecstasy, address (divine obligation) falls away from him; when address falls away, reward and punishment fall away; and when reward and punishment fall away, honor and disgrace fall away. Then his ruling becomes the ruling of the insane, not that of the saints and those brought near. When the sovereignty of knowledge prevails over the sovereignty of the state, the servant is under the shelter of commands and prohibitions, ever praiseworthy within his own pavilion. But when the sovereignty of the state prevails over the sovereignty of knowledge, the servant is outside the bounds and deprived of address, in the place of his own deficiency — either excused or deluded. In exactly this sense is Junayd's saying: 'The path is twofold: either by knowledge or by conduct (ravish). Conduct without knowledge, even if good, is ignorance and deficiency; while knowledge, even without conduct, is honor and nobility.' From this too came Bayazid's saying: 'The unbelief of the people of high aspiration (ahl al-himma) is nobler than the Islam of the people of mere craving (ahl al-munya).' Unbelief does not take shape upon the people of high aspiration; but if one were to suppose it, the people of aspiration with unbelief would be more perfect than the people of craving with faith. And Junayd said of Shibli (may God's mercy be upon them both): 'Shibli is drunk; and were he to recover from his drunkenness, there would come forth from him an imam by whom people would be benefited.' It is well known among the anecdotes that Junayd, Muhammad ibn Masruq, and Abu al-'Abbas ibn 'Ata were gathered together. A singer recited a verse; they were performing tawajud (inducing ecstasy) while Junayd remained still. They said: 'O Shaykh, have you no share of this audition?' He recited the words of God Most High: 'You suppose them motionless, yet they pass by like the passing of the clouds' (Qur'an 27:88). As for tawajud, it is the taking of pains to bring on ecstasy — the presenting of God's favors and testimonies to the heart, the thought of union, and the longing for the way of the men of the path. One group among those who practice it are mere imitators, following outward movements, the arranging of dance, and the adorning of their gestures — and this is purely forbidden (haram). Another group are the verifiers (muhaqqiqan), whose aim in it is the seeking of the states and rank of the great Sufis, not the movements and formalities — in accordance with his saying (peace be upon him): 'Whoever imitates a people is one of them.' This report speaks in favor of the permissibility of tawajud. From this too that elder said: 'I would travel a thousand leagues in falsehood so that a single step of it might be truthful.' More could be said on this subject, but I have limited myself to this. And peace.