Anyhow...

Anyhow, the true seeker of Allah and traveler in his way is not distressed and discouraged by these obstacles and continues to boldly proceed to his destination with the help of his divine impulse, till he safely gets out of the world of petty and conflicting ideas called Barzakh . He has to be very vigilant and watchful lest any vicious thought may remain lurking in some hidden corner of his mind. When these vicious thoughts are turned out, they usually hide in some hidden corner of the mind.

The poor spiritual traveler wrongly thinks that he has got rid of their mischief, but when he has found the way to the fountain of life and wants to drink from it, they suddenly appear to ruin him. This spiritual traveler may be compared to a person who has built a water tank in his house but has not used long. In the meantime the impurities and pollution have settled down in the bottom of the tank although water appears to be clear from above.

He thinks that water is clean, but when he gets down into the tank or washes something in it, black patches appear on the surface and he finds that water is dirty. For this reason it is necessary for the salik (spiritual traveler) to concentrate his thoughts with the help of riyazat and acts of self-mortification so that his attention may not be diverted from Allah.

At last when after passing through the Barzakh the spiritual traveler enters the spiritual world, he still has to traverse several more stages the details of which we will describe later. In short the spiritual traveler watching his own lower self and the Divine Names and Attributes gradually advances till ultimately he reaches the stage of total fana (self-annihilation) that is passing away from his own perishable will and then the station of baqa (abiding in the everlasting Will of Allah).

It is at this stage that the secret of eternal life is revealed to him. We can infer this doctrine from the Holy Qur'an also if we ponder over certain verses of it. Think not of those who are slain in the way of Allah, as dead. Nay, they are living. With their Lord they have provisions. (Surah Ali Imran, 3: 169). Everything will perish save His Countenance. [^1] (28:88) That which you have is wasted away, and that which is with Allah remains.

(Surah an Nahl, 6:96) These verses put together show that the countenance of Allah are those "who are living and who have provisions with their Lord." According to the text of Qur'an they never perish.