And one who desires to undertake this journey stands in need of six things.

And one who desires to undertake this journey stands in need of six things. First, the guidance for this journey and that which is necessary for the journey to be made, and this is similar to the provisions that one needs for a physical journey. Second, overcoming the hindrances and obstacles in the way of the journey. Third, making the movement which takes one from the starting point to the destination; it consists of wayfaring and the states of the wayfarer during its' course.

Fourth, the states which occur to the wayfarer in the course of his wayfaring from the start of the journey to the point of destination. Fifth, the states that befall those who have completed the journey (ahl al-wusul) after wayfaring. Sixth, the end of the journey and the culmination of the way faring which is called fana' (annihilation) in tawhid (Divine Unity). Each of these consists of several matters, excepting the end of the journey wherein there is no multiplicity.

We shall discuss these six matters in six chapters, each having six sections, with the exception of the last chapter which does not allow of any multiplicity.

It should be known that in the same way as in a physical journey the traversing of every part of the road depends on traversing of a preceding part and is succeeded by another part-excepting the last part-each of these states is an intermediate stage between the end of the preceding stage and the beginning of the next, so that every stage is the sought after goal as its previous stage nears its end and is left behind and abandoned as one approaches its succeeding stage.

Hence every stage is a perfection in relation to its previous stage and remaining in it is a defect when one ought to turn to the next desirable stage. Hence the Prophet, may God bless him and his Household, has said: One whose two days are equal is a loser. 2 And that is why it has been said: Merits of the virtuous are vices for the saints.

3 Chapter 1 : Concerning the Starting Point of the Journey and its Requisites This chapter consists of six topics, each of which is discussed in the following sections: Section one: on faith (iman) Section two: on steadfastness (thubat) Section three: on intention (niyyah) Section four: on truthfulness (sidq) Section five: on penitence (inabah) Section six: on sincerity (ikhlas) Section One: On Faith God, the Exalted, has said: Those who believe and obscure not their faith with wrongdoing, theirs is safety; and they are rightly guided.