The Book of the Basic Principles of Ta|awwuf and that

which Guides to Realization

Repentance from every sin74 committed
is necessary immediately [upon realizing
the wrong]
and absolutely. It is [in effect] a sense of
remorse.

[Its soundness] is contingent upon

abandoning [the sin],
refusing to persist in it,
and rectifying what is possible [if the sin
violated the rights of others]. That is
[essentially] atonement.

The essence of piety75 is to avoid [Divine

displeasure]
and obey [the Divine Will],
both inwardly and outwardly. In this
manner, it is obtained.

Thus, its categories are indeed four in

number: [inward and outward, fulfilling
and avoiding];
and these, for the wayfarer, are the
pathways of benefit.

He lowers his gaze from what is prohibited;

and keeps his hearing from [listening to]
sinful matters:

such as, backbiting, malicious slander, false

testimony and
lying76;
[obviously,] his own tongue should avoid
any of them, first and foremost;

he guards his stomach from all that is

prohibited,
and assiduously abandons what is doubtful;

he guards his genitals; he is conscientiously

aware
of Him who is the Witness to all things,
in matters of aggression or when pursuing
anything forbidden that
he might desire;

he abstains from [pursuing] all matters until

he ascertains
what Allah has judged about their [legal
status]77;

he purifies his heart from ostentatious

piety,
[malicious] envy, vanity, and all [other]
diseases [of the heart].

Know well that the origin of [all of] these

ills
is love of leadership and procrastination.

The fountainhead of all misdeeds is love of

the fleeting world,
which has no cure but to be compelled to
flee to Him;

he keeps company with a teacher who

knows [well] the pathways
[to Allah],
one who protects him along his path from
causes of destruction;

who reminds him of Allah should he sees

him,
and who takes the servant to his Master.

He appraises his soul with every breath

and he weighs his suggestive thoughts with
the most precise scale [of the Sacred Law];

he preserves well the obligatory, which is

his capital.
His profits [however] are his extra acts by
which he enters into Divine Protection;

he constantly remembers [Allah] with an

unperturbed heart;
[and knows that] the assistance in all of that
is from his Lord;

he struggles against [the negative

tendencies] of his soul.
[Through this continued struggle,] he is
adorned with the stations of certainty:

fear, hope, gratitude, patience, repentance,

detachment, complete trust, contentment,
and [finally,] love;

he is sincere in his dealings with Him who

is witnessing over him,
and he is content with whatever the Divine
has apportioned for him.

By all of that, he becomes intimately

acquainted with Allah78.
[He is truly] free [from serving temporal
things] because everything but [Allah] has
been emptied from his heart.

For this, the Divine has loved and chosen

him
for the presence of the Holy One, and
made him one of the elect.

[One should know that] this amount of

verse is by no means exhaustive.
However, in that which I have mentioned
is enough [to serve as a foundation].

Its verses total fourteen,

[which if] added to three hundred,
amounts to the number of
[Allahs] Messengers.

I have entitled it, The Helping Guide

in [Fulfilling] what is Necessary from the
Sciences of the Religion.

I ask that it always be of benefit,

[beseeching] our Lord, by the rank of the
Master of Creation
[Mu^ammad ].

Indeed, it has ended, and [all] praise

belongs to Allah, the Magnificent.
May He bestow prayers and peace upon
the generous guide .