The anwaar of ibaadat and riyaadhat are the mounts of the hearts and asraar (spiritual
faculties) of the mureedeen.

According to the Sufiyah, qalb (heart) in this context refers to the physical heart and sirr (plural asraar) means the spiritual heart. The people of spirituality (Ahl-e-Baseerat and Ahl-e-Idraak) perceive these spiritual faculties.

The heart is divided into several departments. The rays of illumination (anwaar) which the Saalik acquires from ibaadat and mujaahadah are like the mounts for the zaahir and the baatin of the heart. Mounts deliver travellers to their destination. Similarly, these anwaar take the Saalik to his destination viz. The Divine Presence. Thus, it behoves the Saalik to impose on himself ibaadat and riyaadhat. He should not regard the anwaar and the pleasure he experiences to be the maqsood (goal). Rather, they are the means for the attainment of the goal. Just as the mounts (vehicles) are not the goal of travellers, so too, the anwaar are not the goal.

Just as darkness is the army of the nafs, noor is the army of the heart. When Allah Ta'ala desires to assist any of His servants, He aids them with the army of noor, and He cuts off the aid of aliens and darkness.

In the terminology of Tasawwuf, the propensity or capacity in man to incline to evil is termed the nafs. It stirs man to adopt disgraceful qualities. The qalb (heart) is the substratum (mahal) of the praiseworthy attributes.

The nafs of man is so much absorbed in self-opinion, vanity, ignorance and emotions that it remains oblivious of these evils in itself. Its engrossment in these evils precludes it from perceiving them. Its natural inclination is evil and corruption.

In the heart of the Mu'min is the Divinely Bestowed Noor of Tauheed which draws him towards lofty attributes, worship and obedience.

The meaning of zulmat (darkness) is the attributes of the nafs and noor refers to the illumination of the heart. This zulmat is the army of the nafs, while Noor is the army of the heart. The conflict between these opposites is perpetual. The nafs with its army attacks the qalb preventing it (qalb) from acting according to its demands (of virtue). Meanwhile, the heart endeavours to conquer the nafs by means of its noor. Sometimes the nafs gains the upperhand, leading to the bandah committing sin and abstention from obedience. Sometimes the noor of the qalb asserts its dominance, overwhelming the nafs.

If Allah Ta'ala has decreed fortune for the servant, He aids him with an army of anwaar in his struggle against the nafs. Allah Ta'ala reveals to him the contempibility of this world and its transitory nature. The evils of the nafs are exposed for him and darkness and all alien objects are dispelled from the heart. These foreign bodies which had taken up an abode in the heart and were being supported by the nafs, are deprived of their aid when the anwaar become dominant. Gradually, in stages, the goal is attained.

Allah forbid! If misfortune is decreed for the servant, the zulmat gains in intensity. This intensity is an incremental process resulting in the complete disappearance of the heart's noor. The world then dominates the person.

When a struggle ensues between the nafs and the qalb, the Saalik should turn his attention to Allah Ta'ala, supplicating for His aid. He should increase his Thikr and repose his trust in Allah. Insha'Allah, the demands of the nafs will be subjugated and the heart's noor will prevail.

Revelation of haqaa-iq (transcendental realities) and magheebaat (unseen things) is the function of noor. Perception of these realities is the function of the heart's gaze while advancing or diverging from them is the task of the heart.

The corporeal eye visualises objects with the aid of external light, e.g. the sun's light or candle light. In the absence of such light, the eye is unable to see. The operation of the heart's vision is similar. As long as it lacks the aid of noor it is unable to exercise spiritual vision. Noor here means the noor of Yaqeen and Imaan which Allah Ta'ala bestows to his special servants.

By virtue of the noor of Yaqeen, hidden transcendental realities become conspicuous to the heart, e.g. prior to the acquisition of Noor-e-Yaqeen the transitoriness of the world, the perpetuity of a khirah, the advantage of obedience and the destruction of sin were related to awareness and belief, i.e. the servant had their knowledge and believed in them. (These were in his ilm and i'tiqaad.) After the acquisition of Noor-e-Yaqeen this knowledge becomes conspicuous to the vision of the qalb. The certitude gained is just as that of the perception of the physical eyes of physical objects.

This revelation is the result of the Noor which has been acquired. This is like a person who, although having knowledge of the contents in a room, is unable to see them in the darkness on account of the absence of light. When a light is produced, his eyes perceive the objects with great clarity. Thus, the function of noor is to render visible the transcendental objects of knowledge. The heart's vision then perceives them. If the heart possesses vision, it will perceive, otherwise not.

Once the perception (the heart's visualisation) is proper, then it is the heart's function to move in the direction of virtue and to diverge from evil, e.g. the transitoriness of the world and perpetuity of a khirah are revealed. The revelation (inkishaaf) is because of the noor. The perception will be by spiritual vision (idraak-e-baatinah). Advancing towards the a khirah and turning away from the world are the acts of the heart. The physical limbs of the body are subservient to the heart. They will move in consonance with the heart.

He has brightened physical creation with His Aathaar (Impressions), and the spiritual heart with the anwaar of His Ausaaf (Attributes). Therefore, the anwaar of the physical dimension becomes hidden. But the anwaar of the heart's secrets are not concealed.

The sun, moon, stars and all creation are the aathaar (impressions or effects) of Allah's attributes of power (qudrat) and wisdom (hikmat). Allah Ta'ala has brightened His physical creation, the heavens and earth, with the noor of the impressions of His perfect attributes, i.e. He brightened the heavens and earth with the light of the sun, moon and stars. We are, therefore, able to see His physical creation and thereby derive benefit from the good things while abstaining from the harms of harmful objects.

He has brightened the spiritual dimension of the heart (the baatin) with the noor of His attributes of beauty (jamaal) and splendour (jalaal). Thus, inspirational knowledge (Uloom) and transcendental realities and truths (Ma-aarif) are revealed to the inner (or spiritual) hearts of the a rifeen. They perceive the inner spiritual attributes and adopt the praiseworthy ones (Aussaf-e-Hameedah) while abandoning the evil ones (Ausaaf-e-Razeelah).

Since the noor of the heavens and earth is temporal, being acquired from the sun and moon, it becomes over-shadowed and recedes into concealment because temporal things undergo changes. On the other hand, the noor of the spiritual heart emanates from the attributes of Allah Ta'ala. Since Allah's attributes are eternal, this Divine Noor is never over-shadowed, hence it cannot be hidden. However, the perception of this noor diminishes when human qualities assert their domination.

The intelligent man chooses the eternal and abandons the temporal entities which undergo change.

The horizon where anwaar rise is the quloob (hearts) and asraar (spiritual faculties) of the Aarifeen.

The emanation of ma-aarif and uloom is from the baatini hearts of the a rifeen. Their hearts resemble the heaven in which lie the horizons for the rising of the sun and moon. The noor emanating from the hearts of the a rifeen is infinitely superior to the radiance of the sun and moon. It is mentioned in the Hadith that if the noor of the Imaan of the lowest ranking Muslim is manifested, east and west will be lit up and the light of the sun and moon will be eclipsed. When this is the brilliance of the noor of the lowest ranking Muslim, then the noor of the a rifeen is beyond description.

The aid of this Noor-e-Yaqeen which is entrusted in the hearts of the Aarifeen is from that noor which emanates from the treasures of the unseen realms. One noor is the heart's noor by means of which the aathaar (effects) of the True Cause, Allah Ta'ala, are made manifest. Another noor is the noor which opens up for you His attributes of excellence (kamaal).

The noor of Yaqeen embedded in the hearts of the a rifeen progresses with the aid of the noor which descends from the treasures of the unseen realm (ghaib). The a rif is perpetually in progress. The noor of his Imaan constantly increases. The stages of his Yaqeen rise continuously because such stages are infinite. There is no end to this process of elevation.

The noor emanating from the eternal Divine Attributes develops the Noor-e-Yaqeen of the a rif. Thus the Yaqeen of the a rif is in the process of constant increase.

The noor entrusted to the hearts of the a rifeen is of two kinds. The one kind is the medium for revelation of the aathaar of Allah, the True Cause, i.e. the conditions and circumstances of creation are revealed to him. This type of revelation is called Kashf-e-Soori.

The other kind is the noor by means of which the qualities of Allah's splendour and beauty are revealed, e.g. Allah's mercy, wrath, etc. This noor is the emanation of the manifestation (tajalli) of the Divine Attributes. This second kind of revelation is called Kashf-e-Ma'nwi.

One type of noor from the treasures of ghaib reaches only the zaahir of the heart. The other type is commanded to penetrate the centre of the heart.

The anwaar of Divine Knowledge and mysteries which settle in the hearts of the a rifeen from the treasures of ghaib, illumine their hearts. There are two types of these anwaar. The one type settles only on the outer facade of the heart while the second type penetrate into the innermost recess of the heart.

The effect of the noor settling on the outer heart is the perception by the heart of its nafs as well as of Allah Ta'ala. Both this world and the Hereafter are kept in view. The presence of foreign things still remains in the heart. Thus, the Saalik sometimes inclines to his nafs and sometimes to Allah Ta'ala. Sometimes he desires the a khirah and sometimes the world.

The effect of the anwaar which have penetrated the innermost recesses of the heart is the entrenchment of Allah's remembrance in the heart. Only Allah Ta'ala is in the heart. All other things are expelled from the heart of the Saalik by these anwaar. He is not enslaved to anyone besides Allah.

According to some a rifeen, as long as Imaan is confined to the zaahiri qalb (outer heart), the servant is the lover of both Allah and the world. Such a servant is sometimes in communion with Allah Ta'ala and sometimes in collusion with his nafs. When Imaan enters the interior of the heart, the servant renounces the world.

Sometimes when anwaar settle on you, your heart is loaded with base imaginations. The anwaar thus return to the abode from whence they had arrived. Expel all aliens from your heart and Allah Ta'ala will fill it with ma-aarif and asraar.

The qalb of man is a celestial faculty which has the ability of reflecting Divine Knowledge, mysteries and celestial illumination. But, on account of man's preoccupation with mundane matters and emotional issues, these things become impressed in his mind. These impressions are then mirrored in the heart resulting in the diminishing of the heart's inherent ability. It then resembles a mirror on whose surface dust and grime have settled, blurring the images or impeding visionary perception thereof.

When the Saalik engages in thikr and shaghl, adopts solitude, decreases speech, reduces association with people and concentrates on the purification of his heart, then the fadhl of Allah Ta'ala focuses on him. He becomes polished and illumined. He gains the ability for the absorption of Divine Anwaar.

Sometimes the outer heart becomes somewhat illumined. It thus gains the ability to reflect these anwaar. However, when the anwaar reach this heart, they find it engrossed in worldly preoccupations. Such a heart is unable to absorb the anwaar, hence these celestial rays return to their celestial abode from whence they had emanated. It is, therefore, essential for the Saalik to cleanse his heart from all foreign bodies and substances. He should keep the mirror of the heart thoroughly polished and Allah Ta'ala will fill it with Divine Knowledge, mysteries and subtleties.

The value of the anwaar of the asraar (spiritual faculties in man) cannot be known without the realm of the Aakhirah just as the rays of the heavenly stars are not manifested without the universe.

Just as the substratum for the manifestation of the light of the sun, moon and stars is this universe, so too, is the a khirah the abode for the manifestation of the anwaar of man's spiritual faculties.

Since these anwaar are concealed from the vision of people, their value is neither appreciated nor understood. The intelligent Saalik should not grieve on account of this attitude of people nor should he care because the world is not the substratum for the manifestation of these anwaar. The anwaar of the unknown men of Allah living in renunciation and seclusion will glitter in the a khirah. It is in that abode where their worth and value will be appreciated.