Know that the arifs branch into various natures. They each have different states, degrees and ranks. Some of them have known the powerful nature of Allah. Because they watch Him through the window of power, they live in constant fear. Some have attained marifat through the blessings and grace of Allah, hence there is no trace of fear in their states. Their intimacy with the Beloved is forever pleasant. Some have attained irfan by way of awareness, hence they have connected to Allah with sidk (loyalty), with an unshakable iman. And some have known al-Haqq through His almighty nature, hence fear weighs high in their state.
The arifs who have known Allah through His ability to provide for every need, feel powerless towards Him. The arifs who have known Him through His individuality are in a state of total purity and clarity. Those who have known al-Haqq through the being of al-Haqq desire to commune with Him through Him.
The arif who has attained marifat through the window of power, fears Allah equal to the degree of his knowledge. The arif who has known Allah through His blessings and grace, feels trust and love for al-Haqq equal to the degree of his knowledge. The arif who has attained marifat by way of awareness, gains loyalty equal to the degree of his awareness.
An arif fears Allah equal to degree of his knowledge of His grandness. The state of faqr is reached through knowing that Allah is sufficient for everything. It becomes purified equal to the degree of the comprehension that He is the Only One. Communion only occurs through the knowledge of the ‘Rabb’ nature of Allah.
Each arif with divine wisdom serves in a different maqam. Some are in the maqam of humility and respect. Some are in the maqam of intimacy and sincerety. Some are in maqams governed by blessings and grace. Some live in the state of conscious awareness, some live in the state of majesty. This is revealed in the Qur’an as;
‘Without exception, each of us have a unique maqam.’ (the Qur’an, Al Saffat 164)
The people of marifat at the lowest degree achieves the knowledge about tawhid (oneness) through the information (hadith) that comes from the Prophet(sa) of Allah, who is truthful in essence and word, the master of the two worlds. They have believed our master Prophet (sa) in all sincerety. They perform good deeds as best as they can; but sometimes they fall into mistakes and sins with the temptation of their nafs. If the most Merciful of the merciful would not take pity on them, they would face the danger of living a life full of ignorance and sins.
One degree above these are the people who know al-Haqq depending on evidence and proof. The ones on this level give value to thoughts, opinions, the knowledge gained by the effort of the mind. They have believed in Tawhid, in oneness, before searching for evidences, Qur’anic verses and divine clues. Their way of comprehension works in the form of proving the existence of the invisible by the known and visible things. They believe that evidences are truthful and trustable, this feels better to them. However, because of their attachment to their evidences, they live veiled from al-Haqq.
The arifs of the highest level are not like the arifs of the visible. In their view, knowledge through intimacy is superior to evidence. They know Allah not by evidences, but through intimacy. Proofs do not dazzle their eyes, reasons cannot lead their comprehension. They have found their maqams through their irfan and settled there.
The evidence and guide for the arifs is the Prophet(sa) of Allah. Their leader is the Qur’an. Their divine light illuminates their way.