Kitab al-Fana' — by al-Junaid

Abu al-Qasim al-Junaid ibn Muhammad (d. 297 AH / 910 CE) was the master of the Baghdad school of Sufism and the defining voice of "sober mysticism." This short treatise — the Kitab al-Fana', the Book of Annihilation — is his most important theological work: a dialogue that probes the nature of fana' (the passing-away of the self in God) with devastating precision.

Fana' is the central concept of Sufi mysticism. Al-Junaid did not invent it, but he was the first to give it systematic theological articulation. In this treatise, a questioner asks al-Junaid to explain a series of paradoxical utterances — "He gave me Himself, then veiled Himself from me through me"; "He annihilated me through bringing me into being"; "presence was the cause of loss." Each answer drives the questioner deeper into bewilderment, as al-Junaid unfolds the doctrine that God's nearness obliterates the self's capacity for self-experience. The closest ones to God experience His presence as their most extreme tribulation.

This is the first English translation. The Arabic source text is drawn from "Al-Imam al-Junaid: Sayyid al-Ta'ifatayn" (The Imam al-Junaid: Master of the Two Groups), compiled and edited by Shaykh Ahmad Farid al-Mazidi, preserved on the Internet Archive.

Praise be to God who severed the attachments of those who devoted themselves entirely to Him, and granted the realities to those connected to Him who rely upon Him — when He brought them into existence and granted them His love. He established the knowers in His party and made them degrees in His gifts. He showed them a power He manifested from Himself, and granted them a grace from His bounty, so that passing thoughts did not assail them with their dominion, nor did the attributes that engender deficiency touch them through their attribution — for they were attributed to the realities of divine unity, through the penetration of pure stripping, in what the calling was made of, and through which the causes of divine favour were found: from the first stirrings of the unseen and the nearness of the Beloved.

Then I heard him say:

He gave me Himself, then veiled Himself from me through me. I am the most harmful of things to myself. Woe to me, from me! He plotted against me, and through me He deceived me away from Himself. My presence was the cause of my loss, and my enjoyment of witnessing was the fullness of my hardship. Now I have lost my powers through the anguish of my secret. I find no taste of existence, yet I am not free of the establishment of witnessing. I find no bliss of the category of bliss, nor torment of the category of torment. The tastes have flown from me, and languages have perished from describing me — no attribute appears, no impulse drives. The matter in its manifestation is as it has always been in its beginning.

I said to al-Junaid: What does your utterance reveal — "no attribute appears, no impulse drives"?

He said: I spoke in my absence from my state. Then there was manifested upon me a Witness who overwhelms, an Apparent who exposes.

He annihilated me through bringing me into being, as He brought me into being through nearness in the state of my annihilation. I left no trace upon Him, for He is free of traces. I gave no report of Him, for He was the one conducting the report. Did He not erase my trace through His attribute? And through my erasure, my knowledge was surpassed in His nearness. For He is the Originator, as He is the Restorer.

I said: And what of your words — "He annihilated me through bringing me into being, as He brought me into being through nearness in the state of my annihilation"?

He said: Do you not know that He — mighty and glorious — said: "And when your Lord drew forth from the children of Adam, from their loins, their offspring, and made them witnesses over themselves: 'Am I not your Lord?' They said: 'Yes, we bear witness'" [al-A'raf: 172].

He has told you — mighty and glorious — that He addressed them while they had no existence except through His existence of them, for He was the Finder of creation without the meaning of their existence for themselves, in a meaning that none other than He knows and none other than He finds. He was the Finder, the Encompasser, the Witness over them, through nearness in the state of their annihilation from their subsistence — those who were in pre-eternity for pre-eternity. That is the lordly finding and the divine perception that belongs to none but Him — mighty and glorious.

For this reason we have said: when He is the Finder of the servant, seeing in him His will from wherever He wills through His transcendent attribute in which none shares, that finding is the most complete and most penetrating finding, without question. And He is the most rightful and most overpowering and most worthy of dominion and mastery and the validity of sovereignty over what appears in him — until his trace is utterly erased and his existence departs, for no human attribute and no existence subsists against what we have described: the transcendence of the Real and His overwhelming power. This is but the enveloping of spirits in what belongs to them of pre-eternity.

A bliss not of the category of known bliss, and a generosity through the Real not of the category of known generosity — for He, mighty and glorious, is not sensed nor does He sense, nor does He alter His essential nature. No one knows the manner of His subtleties in His creation. The meaning of this is lordly — none other than He knows it, and none but He has power over it. For this reason we have said: the Real annihilates what appears upon Him. And when He takes dominion, He is the most rightful in dominion and the most worthy of prevailing power.

I said: Then what defines the people of this attribute, when you have erased the name of their existence and their knowledge?

He said: Their existence is through the Real being with them, and what has appeared upon them through a word and an overwhelming authority — not what they sought and then remembered and imagined after the overwhelming, for He obliterates it and annihilates it. It does not cling to them nor is it attributed to them. How can they describe or find what they did not stand in to carry, or approach to know?

The proof of this from attested tradition: is it not reported from the Prophet — peace and blessings upon him — that he said: God, mighty and glorious, said: "My servant does not cease drawing near to Me through supererogatory acts until I love him. And when I love him, I become his hearing through which he hears and his sight through which he sees."

And there is more in the hadith, but I intended the proof from it in this place. For when He becomes his hearing through which he hears and his sight through which he sees — how can you define that with a definition or limit it with a limit you know? Were anyone to claim such knowledge, his claim would be false, for we do not know this to be in any direction that can be known or recognised. Its meaning is only that He supports him and grants him success and guides him and makes him witness what He wills, how He wills — with the attainment of rightness and conformity with the Real. And that is God's act in him and His gifts to him — attributed to Him, not to the one who finds them, for they were not from him nor of him nor through him. They were only happening upon him from other than himself. And they belong to their Other more rightly and more fittingly. And thus they may be of this hidden attribute — not attributed to him in the manner we have described.

I said: How can presence be the cause of loss, and enjoyment of witnessing be the fullness of hardship, when what people understand here is that they enjoy and find through presence — they are not wearied in that, nor do they lose?

He said: That is the well-known knowledge of the common people and the described path of their experience. As for the people of the elect — the elect of the elect, the specially chosen — who are made strangers by the strangeness of their states: their presence is loss, and their enjoyment of witnessing is toil.

For they have been erased from every trace and every meaning they find through themselves or witness from where they are, by what overwhelmed them and erased them, and annihilated them from their attributes — until He stood in them and stood for them with what belongs to them, and the causes of that were established upon them and in them from the nature of His perfection and completeness.

They found bliss in Him in absence, with the most pleasurable existence on a path other than the path of existence — through the Real's exclusive claim and the dominion of His overwhelming power. When the spirits lost the unseen bliss that selves do not court and senses do not resist, they grew accustomed to their annihilation from themselves and found that their subsistence prevents what their annihilation bestows.

When their selfhood renders them present and their nature makes them find themselves, they become veiled by that from what they were in and what was in them. They are disobedient through themselves and familiar through their nature, since it has cost them the first completeness and the most perfect honour. They are returned to learning and reasoning, and the grief is lodged within them, and the anguish of loss is continuous through them in the state of their presence and the being of their existence. For this reason they long for desire and return to need — and how could their expulsion not wound them after their absence, and their yearning after their fullness?

From here the souls of the knowers ascend toward verdant places and graceful vistas and green gardens, and everything else is torment upon them — from what they yearn toward of their first affair, which the unseen encompasses and the Beloved claims for Himself alone.

Woe to you — His allusion to the attribute is an allusion in which none shares, and His will in it and from it is what He has claimed exclusively over them. Whoever was veiled, or remembering it, or specially chosen for it — for one intended by this, neither the first stirrings should be present upon him nor the impulses from him toward it, so that his attribute is secured from annihilation through its reality, departing from the presence of what he is in — through the power of the One who overwhelms him, sustains him, and holds dominion over him.

Until — when he is rendered present and made to witness — his presence contains the concealment within it, and in his witnessing the traces are erased, until he finds no way to attain the healing upon the pure existence that holds dominion over him from the Real, exalted is He. Thus it is seen in His most exalted attribute and His most beautiful names.

The way of tribulation runs upon the people of tribulation from this very point — so they were drawn and they stood firm and they were not deceived. There was established upon them what obliterated them in the very station of power and the height of rank and the nobility of attribution.

I said: How astonishing, what you have told me — that even the people of this lofty station should undergo tribulation! How is that, that I might understand?

He said: When they sought Him in His will and resisted Him on behalf of themselves, they sought from Him — in His dominion over them — the carpet of tribulation upon their attributes. For the pleasure of things within them veiled them by it, that they might judge through their selfhood and burn through their senses and take delight in the sight of themselves — in the seats of pride and the fruits of remembrance and the conquests of power. And what can bring you to knowledge of that?

None know it but its people, and none find it but them, and none can endure it but them. Do you know why they sought Him and resisted Him, and interceded through what had appeared from Him toward Him, and sought aid in their intercession through the realities upon Him? Because He had made them find His finding of them, and established in them and upon them the unseen of His secrets reaching toward Him. The traces were erased, the attachments were severed, until the connections multiplied and the ranks rose — through the loss of sensation and the annihilation of the self.

Then He rendered them present to annihilation in their annihilation, and made them witness existence in their existence. What rendered them present from themselves and made them witness from their own selves was a hidden veil and a subtle curtain, through which they perceived the anguish of loss and the severity of hardship — because what cannot be reached by causes was concealed, and what causes can reach was rendered present, and traces were attached to His attribute. So they sought Him in what He was seeking from them, and what He knew of their souls. For they had descended into the station of power and attained the realities of favour. Then there was established upon them what occupied them, and from it grew in them a completeness that was and was not according to the attribute — even as the anguish of tribulation increased.

They came out of that without complaint, preferring what their pleasure had found exclusively in — evidence of Him and certainty through His munificence — seeing no recourse upon them and no demand running over them. And when that was the case, the divine ruse surrounded them from where they did not know.

I said: You have estranged my mind and increased my bewilderment. Come closer to my understanding.

He said: The people of tribulation — when they were connected to the occurrence of the Real within them and the course of His decree upon them — their secrets became estranged, and their spirits wandered the lifetime of eternity: no dwelling shelters them, no place takes them in.

They yearn toward their Tester with yearning, and groan at the annihilation of the One distant from them with moans. Their loss has pierced them, their finding has humbled them. Grieving over Him, pained before Him, longing in their ecstasy toward Him. He gave them thirst after thirst, and the thirst grew in their entrails. They are burdened by their knowledge, generous with their loss. He set up for their thirst toward Him, with each mourning another mourning, and raised for them in each garment a banner — making them taste the flavour of poverty, and renewing upon them the vision of enduring hardship. Swaying with the traces of trials, yearning toward the likenesses of sorrow, seeking their healing, clinging to the traces of the Beloved in what appears — and every distancing they see with the eye of nearness.

They were hidden in a hiddenness, through the loss of their veil in what veiled them. They were tested, and they did not flinch. And how could they be veiled, when they are captive before Him, expectant in His presence?

They conceded to Him their destruction in what He had manifested upon them of tribulation, and did not resolve to concern themselves with themselves — through their sufficiency in His love and their clinging to Him in the station of His nearness. They see the measures of His glances in the swiftness of their wakefulness. Their destruction is engulfed by what courses over them in the continuance of subsistence and the intensification of tribulation — until their tribulation became their pleasure and their subsistence made them intimate with Him, when they saw Him near in His withholding and coming in His wounding. They did not turn from bearing Him in weariness, nor did they tire of Him in boredom.

They are the heroes in what befell them, because of what He confided to them. They stood in His overwhelming power, awaiting His command, that God might accomplish a matter that was already decreed.

The people of tribulation are divided into two kinds:

Among them is the one who took shelter in his tribulation and made peace with His will — his desire was not tested among things for the preference of his self's pleasure, nor for enjoyment of the existence of his sensation. Rather, he was wounded by it and deceived by it, and the divine ruse removed from him the removal of his state. He reckoned his tribulation an honour, and saw that the cause of departing from it was the cause of diminishment and weakness.

Colophon

The Kitab al-Fana' (Book of Annihilation) is the fifth treatise in the collected works of Abu al-Qasim al-Junaid ibn Muhammad al-Khazzaz al-Qawariri (d. 297 AH / 910 CE), the master of the Baghdad school of Sufism. It is his most important theological work — the earliest systematic treatment of fana' (mystical annihilation) in Islamic mystical literature. The treatise takes the form of a dialogue in which a questioner probes al-Junaid's paradoxical utterances about the relationship between divine presence and self-erasure.

This is a Good Works Translation. The English is independently derived from reading the Classical Arabic source text. No existing English translation was used as a base or paraphrased. The translator consulted A.H. Abdel-Kader's The Life, Personality and Writings of al-Junayd (1962) as a reference for biographical context only — all English renderings are independently derived from the Arabic. First English translation of this treatise as a freely available text.

The Arabic source text preserves only the first of what al-Junaid describes as two kinds of tribulation-bearers. Whether the second kind was present in the original and lost in transmission, or whether al-Junaid left the division deliberately incomplete, is unknown. The translation follows the source exactly as preserved.

Translated from Classical Arabic and formatted for the Good Work Library by Sirr (Arabic Sufi Translator, life 54) of the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

See also: Five Treatises of al-Junaid — five treatises on spiritual remedy, negligence, the etiquette of need, divine impulses, divinity, and the distinction between sincerity and truthfulness. Letters of al-Junaid — fourteen letters and exchanges by the same author. Book of the Covenant — al-Junaid's treatise on the primordial covenant (mithaq), the theological foundation underlying this work. Short Treatises of al-Junaid — eight bab chapters on breaths, the divine ruse, witnessing, knowledge, love, jealousy, reality, and aspiration.

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Source Text: كتاب الفناء

Arabic source text from "Al-Imam al-Junaid: Sayyid al-Ta'ifatayn" (الإمام الجنيد سيد الطائفتين), compiled and edited by Shaykh Ahmad Farid al-Mazidi. Internet Archive identifier: 20200617_20200617_0618. Lines 5518–5561 of the digital text. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

الكتاب الخامس كتاب الفناء
كلام الإمام أبي القاسم ، الجنيد بن محمد ، قدّس اللّه روحه :
الحمد للّه الذي قطع العلائق على المنقطعين إليه ، ووهب الحقائق للمتّصلين به المعتمدين عليه ، حين أوجدهم ووهب لهم حبّه ، فأثبت العارفين في حزبه ، وجعلهم درجات في مواهبه ، وأراهم قوّة أبداها عنه ، ووهبهم منّة من فضله ، فلم تعترض عليهم الخطرات بملكها ، ولم تلتق بهم الصفات المسببة للنقائص في نسبتها ، لانتسابهم إلى حقائق التوحيد ، بنفاذ التجريد ، فيما كانت به الدعوة ، ووجدت به أسباب الحظوة ، من بوادي الغيوب وقرب المحبوب .
ثم سمعته يقول : وهبنيه ثم استتر بي عني ، فأنا أضرّ الأشياء علىّ ، الويل لي مني ، أكادني وعنه بي خدعني ، كان حضوري سبب فقدي ، وكانت متعتي بمشاهدتي كمال جهدي ، فالآن عدمت قواي لعناء سرّي . لا أجد ذوق الوجود ، ولا أخلو من تمكين الشهود ، ولا أجد نعيما من جنس النعيم ، ولا [ أجد ] التعذيب من جنس التعذيب ، فطارت المذاقات عني ، وتفانت اللغات من وصفي فلا صفة تبدي ولا داعية تحدي . كان الأمر في إبدائه ، كما لم يزل في ابتدائه .

قلت [ للجنيد ] : فيما أبان منك هذا النطق « ولا صفة تبدو ولا داعية تحدو » ؟
قال : نطقت بغيبتي عن حالي ، ثم أبدي على من شاهد قاهر وظاهر شاهر .
أفناني بإنشائي كما أنشاني بدنيا في حال فنائي ، فلم أؤثر عليه لبراءته من الآثار ، ولم أخبر عنه إذا كان متوليا للإخبار . أليس قد محى رسمي بصفته ، وبامتحائي فات علمي في قربه ، فهو المبدئ كما هو المعيد .

قلت : فما قولك « أفناني بإنشائي كما أنشأني بدنيا في حال فنائي » ؟
قال : أليس تعلم أنّه عز وجلّ قال :وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنْ بَنِي آدَمَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلى أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قالُوا بَلى شَهِدْنا[ الأعراف : 172 ] ،
فقد أخبرك عز وجلّ أنه خاطبهم وهم غير موجودين إلا بوجوده لهم ، إذ كان واجدا للخليقة بغير معنى وجودها لأنفسها ، بالمعنى الذي لا يعلمه غيره ، ولا يجده سواه ، فقد كان واجدا محيطا شاهدا عليهم بدنيا في حال فنائهم عن بقائهم ، الذين كانوا [ في الأزل ] للأزل ، فذلك هو الوجود الرباني والإدراك الإلهي الذي لا ينبغي إلا له جلّ وعزّ ؛ ولذلك قلنا إنه إذا كان واجدا للعبد يرى عليه مراده من حيث يشاء بصفته المتعالية التي لا يشارك فيها ، كان ذلك الوجود أتم الوجود وأمضاه لا محالة ، وهو أولى وأغلب وأحق بالغلبة والقهر وصحة الاستيلاء على ما يبدو عليه ، حتى يمحي رسمه عامة ويذهب وجوده ، إذ لا صفة بشرية ووجود ليس يقوم به لما ذكرنا ، تعاليا من الحق وقهره ، إنما هذا تلبس على الأرواح [ ما لها من الأزلية ] .

نعيم ليس [ من ] جنس النعيم المعقول ، وسخاء بالحق لا من جنس السخاء المعلوم ، إذ كان عزّ وجلّ لا يحس ولا يحس ولا يبدل ذاتيته ، ولا يعلم أحد كيفية لطائفه في خلقه ، وإنما معنى ذلك رباني لا يعلمه غيره ولا يقدر عليه إلا هو ، ولهذا قلنا إن الحق أفنى ما بدا عليه ، وإذا استولى كان أولى بالاستيلاء وأحق بالغلبة والقهر .
قلت : فما يحد أهل هذه الصفة ، وقد محوت اسم وجودهم وعلومهم ؟
قال : وجودهم بالحق بهم وما بدا عليهم بقول وسلطان غالب ، لا ما طالبوه فتذكروه وتوهموه بعد الغلبة ، فيمحقها ويفنيها ، فإنه غير متشبث بهم ولا منسوب إليهم ، وكيف يصفون أو يجدون ما لم يقوموا فيحملوه ، أو يقاربوه فيعلموه ، وإنّ الدليل على ذلك من الخبر الموجود ، أليس قد روي عن النبي صلى اللّه عليه وسلّم أنه قال : قال اللّه عزّ وجلّ « لا يزال عبدي يتقرب إلى بالنوافل حتى أحبه فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره الذي يبصر به » .
وفي الحديث زيادة في

الكلام غير أني قصدت الحجة منه في هذا الموضع ؛ فإذا كان سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره الذي يبصر به فكيف تكيف ذلك بكيفيته أو تحده بحد تعلمه ؟ ولو ادعى ذلك مدع لأبطل في دعواه ، لأنّا لا نعلم ذلك كائنا بجهة من الجهات تعلم أو تعرف ، وإنما معنى ذلك أنه يؤيده ويوفقه ويهديه ويشهده ما شاء كيف شاء بإصابة الصواب وموافقة الحق ، وذلك فعل اللّه عزّ وجلّ فيه ومواهبه له ، منسوبة إليه لا إلى الواجد لها ، لأنها لم تكن عنه ولا منه ولا به ، وإنما كانت واقعة عليه من غيره ، وهي لغيرها أولى وبه أحرى ، وكذلك جاز أن تكون بهذه الصفة الخفية ، وهي غير منتسبة به على النحو الذي ذكرناه .
قلت : كيف يكون الحضور سبب الفقد والمتعة بالمشاهدة كمال الجهد ، وإنما علم الناس ها هنا أنهم يتمتعون ويجدون بالحضور ، لا يجهدون في ذلك ولا يفقدون ؟ قال :
ذلك علم العامة المعروف ، وسبيل وجودهم الموصوف ، فأما أهل الخاصة والخاصة والمختصة ، الذين غربوا لغربة أحوالهم ، فإن حضورهم فقد ، ومتعتهم بالمشاهدة جهر .
لأنهم قد محوا عن كل رسم ومعنى يجدونه بهم أو يشهدونه من حيث هم ، بما استولى عليهم فمحاهم ، وعن صفاتهم أفناهم ، حتى قام بهم وقام عنهم بما لهم ، وثبت دواعي ذلك عليهم وفيهم من جنس كماله وتمامه ، فوجدوا النعيم به غيبا بأمتع الوجود على غير سبيل الوجود ، لاستئثار الحق واستيلاء القهر ، فلما فقدت الأرواح النعيم الغيبي الذي لا تحابيه النفوس ، ولا تقاومه الجسوس ، ألفت فناها عنها ووجدت بقاها يمنعه فناها . فإذا أحضرها أنيتها وأوجدها جنسها ، استترت بذلك عما كانت به وكان بها ، فعصت بنفسها وألفت بجنسها ، إذ أفقدها التمام الأول والإكرام الأكمل ، وردت إلى تعلم وتعقل ، فالحسرة فيها مستكنة ، وغصة الفقد بها متصلة في حال حضورها وكائن وجودها ، ولذلك تاقت إلى الشهوة ورجعت إلى الحاجة ، وكيف لا يكلمها إخراجها بعد غيابها وتوقانها بعد امتلائها .
فمن هاهنا عرجت نفوس العارفين إلى الأماكن النضرة والمناظر الأنيقة والرياض الخضرة ، وكان ما سوى ذلك عذابا عليها مما تحن إليه من أمرها الأول الذي تشمله الغيوب ويستأثر به المحبوب . ويحك إنه إشارته إلى الصفة إشارة لا يشارك فيها ، ومراده فيها ومنها هو ما استأثر به عليها . فمن كان مستترا أو ذاكرا لها أو مختصا بها ، كان لا ينبغي للمراد بذلك حضور البوادي عليه ولا البواعث منه إليه ، فتأمن صفته عن الفناء بحقيقته ، ذاهبا عن الحضور ما هو به ، اقتدارا من الغالب له القائم به المستولي عليه . حتى إذا أحضر وأشهد ضمن حضوره الاستتار ، وأمحت في شهوده الآثار ، حتى لا يجد السبيل إلى درك

الشفاء على خالص الوجود المستولي عليه من الحق تعالى ، كذلك يرى في صفته العليا وأسمائه الحسنى . وإنما جرت سنة البلاء على أهل البلاء من هاهنا ، حتى جاذبوا وأقاموا ولم ينخدعوا ، أقيم عليهم ما محقهم في نفس القوة وعلو المرتبة وشرف النسبة .
قلت : فما أعجب ما أخبرتني به ، وإن أهل هذه النسبة العالية ليجري عليهم البلاء ؟
فكيف ذلك حتى أعلمه ؟ قال : إنهم لما طلبوه في مراده ومانعوه عن أنفسهم ، فطلبوا له في استيلائه عليهم بساط البلاء على صفاتهم ، لأن لذة الأشياء فيهم ، سترهم به ليقضوا بإنيتهم ويحترقوا بحسوسهم ويلذوا برؤية أنفسهم ، في مواطن الفخر ونتائج الذكر وغلبات القهر . وأنّى لك بعلم ذلك ؟ !
وليس يعلمه إلا أهله ولا يجده سواهم ولا يطيقه غيرهم . أو تدري لما طالبوه ومانعوه فتوسلوا بما منه بدا إليه واستعانوا في التوسل بالحقائق عليه ؟ لأنه أوجدهم وجوده لهم وثبت فيهم وعليهم غيب سرائره الواصلة إليه ، فامتحت الآثار ، وانقطعت الأوطار ، حتى توالت النسب ، وتعالت الرتب ، بفقدان الحس وفناء النفس .
ثم أحضرهم الفناء في فنائهم ، وأشهدهم الوجود في وجودهم ؛ فكان ما أحضرهم منهم وأشهدهم من أنفسهم سترا خفيا وحجابا لطيفا ، أدركوا به غصة الفقد وشدة الجهد ، لاستتار ما لا تلحق به العلل ، إحضار ما يلحق العلل به وتليق الآثار بصفته فطالبوه فيما كان مطالبهم ، وما يعرفه من نفوسهم ، لأنهم حلوا بمحل القوة ، ونالوا حقائق الحظوة ، فأقيم عليهم مشغلا لهم ، فنشأ منه فيهم تمام كان ولا كان على الصفة ، وإن كانت غصة البلاء تزيد . قلت : فصف لي تلوين البلاء عليهم في موطنهم العجيب ، ومنزلهم القريب . قال : إنهم استغنوا بما كان بدا ، فخرجوا عن الفاقة ، وتركوا المطالعة ، وألبسوا الظفر بجهد الاقتدار وصولة الافتخار ، وكانوا بذلك ناظرين إلى الأشياء بما لهم ، دون التعريج على ما له بإقامة الفرق والفصل ، لما رأوا ووجدوا بالعينين ، فاستولى بالأمرين ، فإذا بدت عليهم بوادي الحق ، ألجأ منه لهم مما لهم ، على التجريد اقتدارا وافتخارا .
خرجوا عن دلك غير مشاكيين له ، مؤثرين لما انفردت به متعتهم ، دالة عليه ويقينا بالسماحة ، لا يرون رجوعا عليهم ولا مطالبة تجري عليهم . فإذا كان ذلك أحاط بهم المكر من حيث لا يعلمون .
قلت : قد أغربت على عقلي ، وزدت في خبالي ، فادن من فهمي .
قال : إن أهل البلاء لما اتصلوا بحادث الحق فيهم ، وجاري حكمه عليهم ، تغربت أسرارهم ، وتاهت أرواحهم عمر الأبد ، لا تأويها المواطن ولا تجنها الأماكن ، تحن إلى

مبتليها حنينا وتئن بفناء النائي عنها أنينا ، قد شجاها فقدانها وذلها وجدانها ، أسوفة عليه ، موجعة لديه ، متشوقة في الوجد إليه ، أعقبها بها ظمأ ، ويزيد الظمأ في أحشائها نماء ، فهي الكلفة بمعرفتها ، السخية بفقدها . أقام لها عطشها إليه مع كل مأتم مأتما ، ورفع لها في كل كسوة علما ، يذيقها طعم الفقر ، ويجدد عليها رؤية احتمال الجهد ، ممالة مع آثار المؤن ، تواقة إلى مثلات الشجى ، طلابة لشفائها ، متعلقة بآثار المحبوب فيما يبدو ، وكل إبعاد تراه بعين الدنو .
خفيت خفاء لفقد سترها فيما استترت وابتلاها فما نكلت . وكيف تستتر ، وهي مأسورة لديه ، محتسبة له بين يديه .
سمحت له بهلاكها فيما أبدى عليها من ابتلائها ، ولم تعزم على الاهتمام بأنفسها استغناء بحبه وتعلقا به في محل قربه . ترى مقادير الألحاظ منه في سرعة يقظتها ، يستغرق هلاكها بالجاري عليها في دوام البقاء وتشديد البلاء ، حتى أمتعها بلاؤها ، وآنسها به بقاؤها ، لما رأته قريبا لمنعها واتيا بلسعتها ، فلم تلو عن حمله كلا لا ولا برمت به ملالا . هم الأبطال فيما جرى عليهم لما أسرّ إليهم .
أقاموا في قهره ، انتظار أمره ، ليقضي اللّه أمرا كان مفعولا .
وأهل البلاء يقسّمون على قسمين :
فمنهم من أوى إلى بلائه ، فساكن مراده ، وما بلي هواه في الأشياء إيثارا لمتعة نفسه ، وتمتعه بوجود حسه حتى أنكى به ومكر به وأزال بالمكر عنه مزايلة حاله ، واعتد ببلائه شرفا ، ورأى أن سبب الخروج عنه سبب النقصان والضعف .

Source Colophon

The Arabic text is drawn from "Al-Imam al-Junaid: Sayyid al-Ta'ifatayn" (الإمام الجنيد سيد الطائفتين), a comprehensive collection of al-Junaid's teachings, letters, and sayings compiled and edited by Shaykh Ahmad Farid al-Mazidi. The digital text is available on the Internet Archive (identifier: 20200617_20200617_0618). The Kitab al-Fana' appears as the fifth treatise in the collection, following the Kitab al-Mithaq (Book of the Covenant). The printed source draws on the earliest Sufi biographical and anthological works that preserved al-Junaid's writings, including Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani's Hilyat al-Awliya', al-Sulami's Tabaqat al-Sufiyya, and al-Tusi's al-Luma'.

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