One of the adept who sought this station said...

One of the adept who sought this station said: If I were asked, "What do you aspire to?" I would say: "My aspiration is to have no aspiration." Section Two: On Longing God, the Glorious and the Exalted, said: ... and so that they who have been given knowledge may know that it is the truth from-thy Lord and believe in it, and so their hearts be humble unto Him ... . (22:54) Longing (shawq) is finding the pleasure of love, mixed with the pain of separation, that accompanies intense desire.

In the state of wayfaring, longing is necessary after the intensification of desire. At times longing is attained before wayfaring when consciousness of the ultimate goal is attained without the power to make the journey and with loss of patience over separation. As much as the wayfarer progresses in this journey, his longing increases and patience diminishes, until he reaches the goal, whereafter the pleasure of attaining perfection becomes pure and free from the traces of pain and longing.

There are people of the Path who call the vision of the Beloved as longing,' and this is in the sense that (the wayfarer] seeks union (ittiharl) and has not yet reached shat station. Section Three: On Love God, the Glorious and the Exalted, has said: And amongst men there are those who take to themselves compeers apart from God, loving them as God is loved; but those that believe love God more ardently.

(2:765) Love (mahabbah) is an ecstatic feeling occasioned by some perfection, or imagination of some perfection, real or supposed, in the object of consciousness. From another aspect, love is the inclining of the soul towards something consciousness of which is accompanied by some pleasure or perfection. And since the pleasure of perception is associated with realization of perfection, love is not devoid of actual or imagined pleasure. Love is subject to strength and weakness.

Its first stage is aspiration, for aspiration cannot be without love, and thereafter it is proportionate to the longing. With complete realization, whereas aspiration and longing cease, love becomes predominant. As long as there remains a trace of otherness between the seeker and the Sought, love remains fixed, ishq being extreme love. And it may be that the seeker and the Sought are united while being distinct in some aspect. And as this aspect (of distinction) disappears, love ceases.

Hence the ultimate stage of love and 'ishq is union. The philosophers say that love is either innate (fitri) or acquired (kasbi).