The Prophet has referred to the person who performs this...

The Prophet has referred to the person who performs this kind of wudhu’ in addition to the previous wudhu’ when he says, `The performance of one wudhu’ on top of another is light upon light;' that is to say, the radiance of the outward is added to the radiance of the inward.1In this way it is light upon light, namely the light of inner perception on top of the light what is legally prescribed and it is this which brings about the firm establishment of the spiritual wayfarer in the straight way, both in this world and the next.

This is referred to by Allah when He says, `Allah confirms those who believe with the sure word in this world's life and in the hereafter;' may Allah bestow on us the (station of) joining between them and our firm establishment in both; He it is whose help is sought and it is on Him that we place our trust.

iii) According to the people of haqiqah * * The wudhu’ of these people, which is expressed as a purification, refers to the purification of one's inner secret from the witnessing of other‑than‑Him ‑ under any circumstances.

As for the intention of this wudhu’ , it is that the spiritual traveler makes the intention in his innermost heart not to witness anything in exis­tence as other‑than‑Him and not to move in any direction but that of Him; anyone who does aim for other‑than‑Him is a mushrik (idolater, polytheist) and guilty of hidden shirk, as we have already explained above; this is referred to by Allah's words, `Have you not considered him who takes his low desire for his god' and His words, `And most of them do not believe in Allah without associating others (with Him).' The mushrik is ritually impure as attested by Allah's words, `The idolaters are nothing but unclean;' thus their purification can only come about with this intention, an intention which rejects all kinds of shirk.

* * It is evident that freeing oneself of idolatry, be it manifest or hidden, is only possible by means of a divine or existential unity (tawhid). The washing of the face symbolises the purification of the face of reality and the cleansing of the inner heart from the vision of other‑than‑Him ‑ such that one does not contemplate anything but His noble face, referred to in His words, `Any way you turn to, there is the face of Allah'.