Humble tranquillity (ikhbat)

"Humble tranquillity" (ikhbat) is the seventeenth of the stations in Madarij al-Salikin. Ibn al-Qayyim opens it with al-Hajj 34 and al-Hajj 35, holding that the second verse discloses who the mukhbitun are, and then with Hud 23. ¹

Ibn al-Qayyim says that khabt in its root meaning is low-lying ground; hence Ibn Abbas and Qatada explained the mukhbitun as the humble, and Mujahid as the one at rest in God, khabt being level, settled ground. Al-Akhfash said: the humbly reverent; Ibrahim al-Nakha'i: those who pray with sincerity; al-Kalbi: those of tender heart; Amr ibn Aws: those who do no wrong and, when wronged, do not retaliate. The editor refers these sayings to Ibn Kathir's commentary and notes that Ibn Kathir ascribes the last to Amr ibn Idris. For Ibn al-Qayyim the sayings turn on two meanings, humility and resting in God, which is why the verb takes the preposition "to" (ila), carrying the sense of tranquillity and turning back. ¹

Ibn al-Qayyim quotes al-Harawi: ikhbat is "among the first stations of tranquillity" – like serenity, certainty and trust in God – being their prelude and beginning; and it is "arriving at safety from turning back and wavering". Ibn al-Qayyim explains with an image: the wayfarer travels to his Lord, and his journey does not end while breath remains; reaching ikhbat is like a thirsty traveller reaching sweet water at his first watering place, after which the thought of returning home because of the hardship of the journey leaves him and he presses on. The editor notes that for al-Harawi it is the fifth station of the second part of the Manazil. ¹

For al-Harawi it is that protection engulfs desire, will makes up for heedlessness, and seeking topples consolation. Ibn al-Qayyim sums it up: the wayfarer's protection overpowers his desire, his will overpowers his heedlessness and his love overpowers his consolation – love's overpowering of the impulse to be consoled being "the sign of true love". ²

For al-Harawi it is that no cause breaks his will, no obstacle estranges his heart and no trial cuts off his road. Ibn al-Qayyim counts "the loneliness of being alone" among the strongest obstacles and quotes a sincere seeker that being alone on the path of seeking is proof of sincerity, and another: do not feel lonely on your path for the fewness of travellers, nor be deceived by the multitude of those perishing. Such resolves, he says, are sound only for one on whose heart the lights of the traces of the divine names and attributes have shone. ^{2 3}

For al-Harawi it is that praise and blame become equal to him, his self-reproach endures, and he is blind to others falling short of his rank. Ibn al-Qayyim holds that one firmly settled in ikhbat rises above the snatchings of praise and blame, and that halting at people's praise and blame is a sign of a heart empty of God. The editor remarks on Ibn al-Qayyim's use of "annihilation in servanthood" as against those who speak of annihilation in the divine Essence – the editor's comment. ^{3 4}

Ibn al-Qayyim links lasting self-reproach to one of two readings of al-Qiyama 2 on the self-reproaching soul and quotes the views: Sa'id ibn Jubayr and Ikrima, that it reproaches for good and evil; Qatada, that it is the sinful soul; Mujahid, that it regrets what has passed; al-Farra', that every soul, righteous or sinful, reproaches itself; al-Hasan, that it is the believing soul that constantly calls its owner to account; and Muqatil, that it is the unbelieving soul reproaching itself in the hereafter. The editor quotes Ibn Kathir's preference: it is the soul that reproaches its owner for good and evil. ⁴

Ibn al-Qayyim states that among the rules agreed by the people of the path, "the true and the false among them", is that the self is a veil between the servant and God, and quotes Abu Yazid's dream: "Leave your self and come." He then pictures the self as a hard mountain on the road to God over which every traveller must pass, with valleys, ascents, thorns and robbers, and Satan on its summit frightening those who climb; once the traveller reaches the top, the fears turn into safety. He concludes that between the servant and success stand "strength of resolve, an hour's patience, courage of soul and firmness of heart". He explains "blindness to others' shortcomings" as being so occupied with God that one does not compare one's state with others'. ⁵

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