Quotes from The Book of Ascension to the Essential Truths of Sufism by Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba
The Book of Ascension to the Essential Truths of Sufism: A Lexicon of Sufic Terminology
Ahmad ibn 'Ajiba, Translated and Annotated by Mohamed Fouad Aresmouk and Michael Abdurrahman Fitzgerald
Fons Vitae, Louisville, Kentucky, 2011. # pages.40. Remembrance (dhikr)
Remembrance (dhikr) in its general sense refers to invocation [of God] with the tongue. It is one of the mainstays of the path toward union with God, and it is also the proclamation of sanctity. Whoever is inspired toward invocation is given this proclamation and whoever abandons it is excluded.
For the generality, remembrance is with the tongue; for the elect, it is with the heart; and for the elect of the elect, is is with the spirit and innermost being. This last [kind of remembrance] is none other than consciousness and vision, wherein we invoke God in everything and through everything, which is to say that we come to know Him in all things. At this stage, invocation with the tongue ceases--becomes, in fact, something feeble and purposeless--and [the invoker] is left in the silent wonder of direct contemplation. -- page 29
49. The affirmation of divine unity (tawhid)
Affirmation of divine unity (tawhid) is of two sorts. One is by way of formal proof and affirmations, though logical demonstrations, this oneness of God in His acts, attributes, and essence. The other is by way of essential vision and affirms that God alone exists, eternally without beginning or end. -- page 40
73. Breath (nafas) Al-Aushayri says, "By 'breath' (nafas) the Sufis mean the repose which hearts find in the subtle emanations of the unseen (lata'if al-ghuyub). Someone who is granted breaths is at a higher level than someone granted a state (hal, 42) or a moment (al-waqt, 41).
We could say that the one granted moments is at the beginning [of the way], one granted breaths is at its end, and the one granted states is intermediary, [or that] 'moments are for people of the heart, 'states' for people of the spirit, and 'breaths' for people of innermost being."
A breath, then is more delicate than a moment. Keeping moments from being wasted is for devotees and ascetics (ubbad wa zuhhad, 78), keeping breaths from being wasted is for gnostics who have reached the goal, and making use of states is for aspirants.
Keeping moments from being wasted means keeping the heart present with God. Keeping breaths from being wasted means keeping the soul present in the contemplative vision of Truth. They might say about someone, "his breaths are pure," if his drinking from the spring of unity is clear of the turbidity of worldly vicissitues. -- page 65
Quotes submitted by Jennifer Knight
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