It should be realized that taqwā is of many degrees and stages...

It should be realized that taqwā is of many degrees and stages: The external taqwā : It means protecting the outside against the pollution and the darkness of formal sinning. This is the taqwā of the common people. The internal taqwā : This means protecting the inside and purifying it from extravagance and shortcoming and exceeding the limit of moderateness in morality and spiritual instincts. This is the taqwā of the elite.

The taqwā of the mind: It is protecting and purifying the mind from being spent on the non-divine sciences. The divine sciences are those that deal with the divine laws and religion. Other natural sciences and the like which are required for knowing the manifestations of Allah, are also divine. But if they are not for that, they are not divine, even if they are discussions about the Beginning and the Resurrection. This is the taqwā of “the choice of the elite” [ akhass-i khawass ].

The taqwā of the heart: It is protecting the heart against seeing or discussing other than Allah. This is the taqwā of the walī s [ awliyā' ]. The noble hadīth in which Allah, the Exalted, says: “I am the co-sitter to the one who sits with Me,”[^4] refers to this hearty privacy, which is the best privacy, and the other ones are preliminaries to this one.

So, the one who acquires all these degrees of taqwā , his religion, intellect, spirit, heart and all his internal and external powers will remain sound and safe, and the angels in charge of protecting him will not be vexed, tired or disgusted with him. The dealings and the company of such a person with both the friend and the enemy will be done in peace, or, actually, enmity will be uprooted from his heart, no matter how much his enemies are hostile to him.

But the one who has not acquired all the degrees of taqwā , would proportionally be deprived of the emanation of Salam , and would be nearer to the horizon of hypocrisy, from which we take refuge in Allah. With peace! [ was-salām ]. [^1]: Misbāh ash-Sharī'ah, ch. 18, “On Salām”; Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 82, p. 307. [^2]: [^3]: Sūrah al-Ankabūt 29:45. [^4]: Al-Mawāhib as-Saniyyah, p. 77; Al-Mahajjat al-Baydā', vol. 8, p. 58 (with a slight difference). Previous…