The Book of Stations
المواقف
Context: The Emir identifies the wasīla with the shaykh, claiming Sufi consensus on his indispensability. Exegetes like al-Ṭabarī and Ibn Kathīr read nearness through obedience, and Ibn Taymiyya rejects a necessary human intermediary; the Emir allows guidance without a living master only 'in rare cases'. 'Strive' is read as inner mujāhada; he neither discusses armed jihad nor denies the outward sense.AI
قَالَ تَعَالَى: «يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَابْتَغُوا إِلَيْهِ الْوَسِيلَةَ وَجَاهِدُوا فِي سَبِيلِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ».
He, exalted is He, said: "O you who believe, be mindful of God, seek the means to Him, and strive in His way, that you may prosper" (Q 5:35).
In briefAI
The Emir reads Q 5:35 as an allusion to the order of the path to knowledge of God. Mindfulness of God is the station of repentance, the foundation and key of arrival; whoever is denied it is denied arrival. The “means” is the shaykh, perfect in a relative sense, a physician of souls. The Folk agree he is indispensable, and books cannot replace him once inrushes and visions come, though beginners may use books. “Strive” is the particular striving the shaykh prescribes, since capacities and temperaments differ.
See the print: Damascus 1966, p. 430 ↗, Damascus 1966, p. 431 ↗, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 404 ↗, Cairo, vol. 1, PDF p. 405 ↗ (archive.org)
فِي الْآيَةِ اِشَارَةٌ لِبَيَانِ سُلُوكِ طَرِيقِ الْمَعْرِفَةِ،
In the verse there is an allusion that sets out the wayfaring on the path of knowledge.
أَمَرَ تَعَالَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ بِالتَّقْوَى، وَهُوَ الْمُعَبَّرُ عَنْهُ عِنْدَ الْقَوْمِ بِمَقَامِ التَّوْبَةِ، الَّذِي هُوَ الْأَسَاسُ لِسُلُوكِ الطَّرِيقِ، وَالْمِفْتَاحُ لِلْوُصُولِ لِمَقَامِ التَّحْقِيقِ،
He, exalted is He, commanded the believers to be mindful of Him. Among the Folk this is what is called the station of repentance, which is the foundation for wayfaring on the path and the key to arrival at the station of realization.
فَمَنْ أُعْطِيَهُ أُعْطِيَ الْوُصُولَ، وَمَنْ حُرِمَهُ حُرِمَ الْوُصُولَ،
Whoever is given it is given arrival, and whoever is denied it is denied arrival.
كَمَا قَالَ بَعْضُ السَّادَةِ «مَا حُرِمُوا الْوُصُولَ اِلاَّ بِتَضَيُّعِ الْأُصُولِ»
As one of the masters said: "They were denied arrival only through the loss of the foundations."
ثُمَّ قَالَ: «وَابْتَغُوا إِلَيْهِ الْوَسِيلَةَ».
Then He said: "and seek the means to Him" (Q 5:35).
أَيْ بَعْدَ اِحْكَامِ مَقَامِ التَّوْبَةِ بِشَرَائِطِهِ؛ اطْلُبُوا الْوَسِيلَةَ،
That is: after making the station of repentance firm with its conditions, seek the means.
وَهُوَ الشَّيْخُ الْكَامِلُ بِالنِّسْبَةِ، الْعَارِفُ بِالطَّرِيقِ، وَبِالْعِلَلِ الْعَائِقَةِ، وَالْأَمْرَاضِ الْمَانِعَةِ، فِي الْوُصُولِ اِلَى الْعِلْمِ بِاللَّهِ- تَعَالَى- الْحَاذِقُ الْخَبِيرُ بِالْمُعَالَجَةِ وَالْأَمْزِجَةِ وَالْأَدْوِيَةِ، وَمَا يُوَافِقُ مِنْهَا،
And that is the shaykh who is perfect in a relative sense. He knows the path, and the defects that hold back and the illnesses that obstruct arrival at knowledge of God, exalted is He. He is skilled and expert in treatment, in temperaments and in remedies, and in which of them is suitable.
وَقَدِ انْعَقَدَ اِجْمَاعُ أَهْلِ اللَّهِ- تَعَالَى-: أَنَّهُ لَابُدَّ مِنَ الْوَسِيلَةِ، وَهُوَ الشَّيْخُ فِي طَرِيقِ الْعِلْمِ بِاللَّهِ— تَعَالَى—،
The consensus of the folk of God, exalted is He, has been established that the means is indispensable (and that is the shaykh) on the path of knowledge of God, exalted is He.
وَلَا تُغْنِي عَنْهُ الْكُتُبُ، وَذَلِكَ عِنْدَ وُرُودِ الْوَارِدَاتِ، وَبَوَارِقِ التَّجَلِّيَّاتِ وَالْوَاقِعَاتِ، لِيُبَيِّنَ لِلْمُرِيدِ الْمَقْبُولَ مِنَ الْمَرْدُودِ، وَالصَّحِيحَ مِنَ السَّقِيمِ،
Books cannot take his place. That is at the coming of the inrushes, and of the lightning-flashes of self-disclosures and visionary events, so that he may make clear to the disciple what is accepted from what is rejected, and what is sound from what is sick.
وَأَمَّا بِدَايَةُ السُّلُوكِ فَيَكْتَفِي بِالْكُتُبِ الْمُصَنَّفَةِ فِي الْمُعَامَلَةِ وَالْمُجَاهَدَةِ الْمُطْلَقَةِ•
As for the beginning of wayfaring, the disciple can make do with the books composed on devotional conduct and on striving in general.
«وَجَاهِدُوا فِي سَبِيلِهِ».
"And strive in His way" (Q 5:35).
أَمْرٌ بِالْجِهَادِ بَعْدَ الظَّفَرِ بِالشَّيْخِ، وَهُوَ جِهَادٌ خَاصٌّ يَكُونُ بِحَسَبِ أَمْرِ الشَّيْخِ وَمَا يَرْسُمُهُ لِلْمُرِيدِ،
This is a command to strive after finding the shaykh. It is a particular striving that follows the shaykh's command and what he prescribes for the disciple.
فَاِنَّ الْمُجَاهَدَةَ بِغَيْرِ شَيْخٍ لَايُعَوَّلُ عَلَيْهَا، اِلاَّ فِي النَّادِرِ•
For striving without a shaykh is not to be relied upon, except in rare cases.
فَلَيْسَ هُوَ جِهَادٌ وَاحِدٌ عَلَى طَرِيقٍ وَاحِدٍ،
It is not a single striving along a single way,
لِأَنَّ الِاسْتِعْدَادَاتِ مُخْتَلِفَةٌ، وَالْأَمْزِجَةَ مُتَبَايِنَةٌ،
because preparednesses differ and temperaments vary.
فَلَرُبَّمَا يَكُونُ الْأَمْرُ النَّافِعُ لِزَيْدٍ مُضِرّاً بِعَمْرٍو وَبِالْعَكْسِ•
So it may well be that what benefits Zayd harms ʿAmr, and the reverse.
Translations, word glosses and term notes are AI-generated (Claude) and marked as such; no published translation is reproduced.Word analysis is automatic (CAMeL Tools), guided by the text's vowelling. How this text was established.
Commentary and talks · 1 study
Teachers and scholars on this mawqif, by other people and not AI. Talks open on YouTube at the moment the speaker reaches it; studies are cited and linked, never quoted. Which passage a talk treats was matched by AI against our Arabic and checked by AI. Links checked 2026-10-31.
open to read (OpenEdition) · main: 19, 197, 149, 73; discussed in the body: 7, 13, 18, 19, 149, 158, 197; the rest cited in notes. Read in full, 31 Oct 2026