Fleeing to God (firar)

"Fleeing" (firar) is the tenth of the stations in Madarij al-Salikin. Ibn al-Qayyim opens it with al-Dhariyat 50 and says that the reality of fleeing is escaping from one thing to another, and that it is of two kinds: the blessed flee to God, the wretched flee away from Him and not to Him. The editor notes that al-Harawi placed it in the Manazil after holding fast, in the same order as Ibn al-Qayyim. ¹

Ibn al-Qayyim cites Ibn Abbas: flee from Him to Him and act in obedience to Him; Sahl ibn Abd Allah: flee from all that is other than God to God; and others: flee from God's punishment to His reward through faith and obedience. ¹

Ibn al-Qayyim quotes al-Harawi: fleeing is "escaping from what was not to the One who has always been", and explains "what was not" as creation and "the One who has always been" as the Truth. ¹

For al-Harawi it is fleeing from ignorance to knowledge in belief and effort, from laziness to readiness in earnestness and resolve, and from constriction to breadth in trust and hope. ¹

• From ignorance to knowledge: Ibn al-Qayyim holds that ignorance is of two kinds – not knowing the beneficial truth, and not acting on it – both being ignorance in language, usage and law. He cites what Moses and Joseph say in the Qur'an and the report from Qatada that the Companions agreed that every act of disobedience to God is "ignorance". The flight is thus from both: from ignorance of knowledge to acquiring it, and from ignorance in action to beneficial effort. ²
• From laziness to readiness: Ibn al-Qayyim distinguishes resolve ('azm), the truthfulness and gathering of the will, from earnestness (jidd), the truthfulness of the deed and the effort put into it, and counts procrastination – "later", "perhaps" – among the most harmful things for a servant. He cites the verses commanding that the Book be taken "with strength". ²
• From constriction to breadth: the servant escapes from a breast tightened by worries and fears to the breadth of trust in God, true reliance on Him and good hope; he admires the common saying "no worry with God". ² On al-Talaq 2 he cites al-Rabi' ibn Khuthaym, Abu al-Aliya and al-Hasan on the "way out", and holds that after faith nothing opens the breast more than trust in God and thinking well of Him. ³

For al-Harawi it is fleeing from report to witnessing, from outward forms (rusum) to roots (usul), and from self-interest (huzuz) to detachment (tajrid). ³

• From report to witnessing: Ibn al-Qayyim explains it as rising from the knowledge of certainty to the eye of certainty, as Abraham asked to see how God gives life to the dead. On the hadith "We are more entitled to doubt than Abraham" he gives two readings, both denying that Abraham doubted, and then sets out the three ranks: knowledge of certainty by report, the eye of certainty by sight, and the truth of certainty by direct contact – illustrated by knowing Paradise and Hell now, then seeing them, then entering them. ^{3 4}
• From outward forms to roots: forms, for him, are the outward side of knowledge and practice; roots are the realities of faith and the dealings of the heart. He insists that "divine acquaintance" does not entail leaving the command, against those he calls "highwaymen and heretics among the Sufis" who said they would set their aims on the purposes of the commands and had no need of their outward forms. The fault, he says, came from two sides: some neglected the command's inner secret, others neglected its outward form; perfection is upholding both, for the heart owes servanthood as the limbs do. These judgements on both parties are his own. ⁴
• From self-interest to detachment: Ibn al-Qayyim defines self-interest as "whatever is other than God's religious will for you, whatever it may be" – it may be forbidden, disliked, permitted, or even recommended while something else is dearer to God. He describes the detached one as needing none but God and poor towards none but Him, and then holds that self-interest is of two kinds: one that competes with the command, which is blameworthy, and one that supports the command and helps carry it out, which is praiseworthy and whose pursuit is part of complete servanthood; some shaykhs, he says, erred in thinking any wish for one's share a defect. ⁵

For al-Harawi it is fleeing from what is beneath the Truth to the Truth, then from witnessing one's flight to the Truth, then fleeing from witnessing the flight. Ibn al-Qayyim says this follows al-Harawi's rule of making annihilation from witnessing the wayfarers' goal, and repeats that it is not the highest station: above it is for the servant to witness his flight and that it is by God, from God, to God, giving each scene its due of servanthood – "and this is the state of the perfected". The editor notes that the wording of the Manazil in his copy differs slightly from what Ibn al-Qayyim explains. ⁶

Al-Harawi's own text and the other commentaries on the Manazil have not yet been added.