(Faqr: being poor, diminishing, dissolving before the presence of Allah)
Faqr is the origin of being a qull (servant), the essence of purity, the beginning of taqwa, the center of faithfulness, and the foundation of reaching the path of al-Haqq. The person who wishes to be among those who hold faqr should not be caring about the benefit of his family or himself, he should beg and pray in the presence of Allah, and should be in need of only Allah, having no hope from the massiva.
The state of the holder of faqr is just like the state of a man who has fallen into a dark well. The mouth of the well is closed down, its entrance is blocked. There is no friend nor anyone to help him inside the well. Furthermore, there is no passage that he can exit from. In this state, who can a person beg to, request and need from anyone other than his Rabb?!
Allah revealed the secret of performing the duty of being a qull faithfully: ‘We only do ibadat for You…’ (the Qur’an, Alu Imran, 128) And inside this verse, He placed the secret that the qull is at the peak of powerlessness and weakness: ‘And we only ask help from You.’ (the Qur’an, Alu Imran, 154)
The whole power of Allah over the qull is hidden inside the verse ‘We only do ibadat for You…’ and the whole need of the qull for Allah is hidden inside the verse ‘And we only ask help from You.’
It is recounted that a bedouin was praying while he stood in Arafah:
‘O Allah! I have come to You from my home, my homeland; but it was You who brought me. I have stood here in Your presence; but it was You who made me stand here. Even though I have rebelled to Your orders, You have not made me miserable. For any of these, I have neither any apologies nor any excuses. If You mercy me and if You forgive me –because You are the holder of ihsan-, there is no qull more in need of You than I am. O my Master! O my Friend!’
Allah Teala ordered His qulls to be among the people of faqr so that they would not pass the limits of being a qull to the limits of rubbubiyat (creatorship), so that they would not abandon wise wishes to run after worldly wishes, so that they would not abandon spiritual purity to run after the mess of the nafs, so that they would not abandon higher purposes to run after lower purposes.
To explain the meaning of these, Allah commanded to our Master the Prophet (sa) of Allah: ‘There is no share of you in this act…’ (the Qur’an, Alu Imran, 128), ‘Every act belongs to Allah…’ (the Qur’an, Alu Imran, 154), ‘…But every act belongs to Allah…’ (the Qur’an, Al R’ad, 31), ‘Know that; creating and commanding is reserved for Him.’ (the Qur’an, Al A’raf, 54)
Yes! The emancipation of the qull happens by his becoming conscious that he is in need of Allah. The qull becomes bestowed with divine help by knowing that he should ask for help only from Allah. Communion with Allah happens through the way of hidayat (guidance). Belonging among the awliya happens only with faqr.