Excerpt from the book:
"The Garden of the Lovers and the Excursion of Those Who Yearn"
(Rawdatul Muhibbeen) by Imam Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah, Translated by Khalal Abu Asma
.
Chapter: Concerning the Desire for Allah and the Signs of the One WhoKnows Allah As for the desire for Allah (raghbah), wanting Him (lit.His Countenance) and yearning for the meeting with Him, then it is thecapital of the slave, the foundation of his affair, the basis of hislife of goodness, the source of his (true) happiness, success andbliss, and it is the coolness of his eye. For this reason he wascreated and for it he has been commanded. The messengers have been sentand the books have been revealed also for this purpose. There is norectification or bliss for the heart unless its desire is solely forAllah, alone, Mighty and Majestic is He. Hence, He alone should be hisdesire, what he seeks out and his goal. As Allah, the Exalted, has said,

"So when you have finished (your occupation), devote yourself forAllah's worship. And to your Lord turn your desires and intentions"
(Quraan 94:7-8 ).

And He, the Exalted, has also said,

"Would that they were contented with what Allah and His Messenger gavethem and had said, 'Allah is sufficient for us. Allah will give us ofHis Bounty, and so will His Messenger. We implore Allah'"
(Quran 9:59 ).

Those who desire are three types:

Those who desire Allah,
Those who desire what Allah has
And those who desire other than Allah.

So the lover is the one who desires Allah. The one who is concernedwith works is the one who desires what Allah has. And the one who issatisfied with this life, in neglect to the Hereafter, is the one whodesires other than Him. The person whose desire is for Allah alone,Allah with suffice him from every concern, take on all of his affairs,deflect from him what he is not capable himself to deflect, protect himlike the protection of a father to his child and preserve him from allafflictions. And whoever prefers Allah to all others, Allah will preferhim to others. And whoever is for Allah, Allah will be for him where heis not even there for his own self. Whoever knows Allah, nothing willbe more beloved to him than Him and no desire will remain in this typeof person for anything other than Him, except that which will bring himcloser to Him or assist him in his wayfaring to Him.

From among the signs of experiential knowledge (ma�rifah) of Allah isveneration and awe (haybah). As the slave's experiential knowledge ofhis Lord increases, so to does his veneration and awe increase. AsAllah, the Exalted, has said,

"It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah"
(Quran 35:28 )

meaning, those who are knowledgeable concerning Him. And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said,

"I am the most knowledgeable of you concerning Allah and I am the most intense in awe and reverence of Him"
(Al-Bukhari and Muslim).

So whoever knows Allah (has ma�rifah) his livelihood will be pure, hislife will be sweet, everything will revere him and all fear of createdthings will leave him. He will find intimacy with Allah and will havean aversion for (common) people. Knowledge of Allah (ma�rifah) willbequeath to him shyness in front of Allah, veneration and reverence ofHim, vigilance (concerning His vision), love, trust in Him, turning toHim, pleasure in Him and submission to His ordinances.

It was said to Junayd, may Allah have mercy upon him, "There are agroup of people here that claim that they can attain righteousness byleaving all movement." He responded, "Such ones have spoken of theremoval of all action, and this is something very immense. The one whofornicates and steals is in a better state than the one who says that(as far as I am concerned). For verily, those who have experientialknowledge of Allah (the ‘ârifûn) have taken their actions fromAllah and they have returned to Allah in them. If I were to live onethousand years I would not decrease in performing righteous works." Healso said, "One who knows Allah does not really know Allah until hebecomes like the earth; the feet of the righteous and the unrighteoustread upon him. And (until he becomes) like the rain that waters whatit likes and what it doesn't like."

Yahya ibn Muadh said, "The one who knows Allah leaves this world (atthe time of death) and he has not had his fill of two things: cryingover his self and yearning for his Lord." Others have said, "One whoknows Allah will not really know Allah until if he is given a dominionlike the kingdom of Solomon it would not distract him from Allah foreven the blink of an eye." It has also been said, "The one who knowsAllah has found intimacy with Allah and has an aversion for other thanHim. He has realized his poverty in front of Allah, so Allah hasenriched him from His creation. And he has humbled himself in front ofAllah, so He has ennobled him amongst His creation."

Aba Salyman Ad-Daanar said, "While (resting) in bed, the one who hasexperiential knowledge of Allah has openings that do not even come tothe one who is standing in prayer!"

Dhun-na (Al-Misrar) said, "For everything there is a punishment. Andthe punishment of the one who knows Allah (the arif) is being cut offfrom the remembrance of Allah."

In summary, the life of the heart is with Allah and there is no lifefor it without that, ever. So when the heart is in agreement with thetongue in its dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and the heart is inagreement with what the Beloved wants from it; when he (the servant)belittles the many works and statements that he has made and regardseven Allah's subtle generosity and kindness as great; when he embracesobedience and leaves off disobedience, and has left all of it for thesake of his Beloved, so that nothing of it remains; when his heart hasbecome full with reverence, awe, preference and pleasure in Him and hispatience in yearning for Him has reached its last straw; when he cannotfind repose except in His remembrance, desire for Him and yearning forthe meeting with Him; when he cannot find (true) intimacy except in Hisdhikr, while maintaining His ordinances and preferring Him to others.Then this, this is the true lover (muhibb).

Junayd said, "I heard Al-Harith Al-Muhasibar say: "Love (mahabbah) isyour inclination to something with all of your being. Then, yourpreference to that thing over your own self, your soul and yourpossessions and wealth. Then, your being in accordance with that thinginwardly and outwardly, privately and publicly. Then, realizing yourshortcomings with regards to your love of it."

It was said, "Love (mahabbah) is a fire that burns in the heart. Itburns everything other than what the beloved wants from the lover." Itwas also said, "Nay, it is exerting all efforts in pleasing thebeloved. And that could never be so until one no longer sees the 'love'anymore, but only witnesses the beloved." It is mentioned in some ofthe Hadith Qudsi, "My servant, I am, by your right, a lover of you. So,be you, by my right upon you, a lover of Me."

Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak said, "Whomsoever is given something of loveand is not given its equivalent of awe and veneration (khashyah), thenhe is deceived."

Yahya ibn Muadh said, "A muster seed's amount of love is more belovedto me than seventy years of worship without love!" Abu Bakr Al-Kattaarsaid, "An issue concerning love (mahabbah) came up in Makkah during thedays of the Pilgrimage. The sheikhs spoke on the matter. Junayd waspresent and he was the youngest amongst them. So they said to him,'Give us what you have O Iraqi!' He lowered his head in humility andhis eyes shed tears, and he spoke: '(How great is) a slave who has lefthimself, connected to the dhikr of his Lord, upholding His rights,witnessing Him with his heart. The lights of His Essence have burnedhis heart and his drink is pure from the cup of His pure love. If sucha one speaks, it is by Allah. If he utters, it is from Allah. If hemoves, it is by the command of Allah. If he remains silent, he is withAllah. So he is by Allah, for Allah and with Allah.' So the sheikhscried and said, 'There is nothing that can be added to this. May Allahrectify you, O Taj Al-a arifarn (crown of those who know Allah)!'"

It was said that Allah revealed to Dawud, peace be upon him, "O Dawud,I have made it prohbited (haram) for the hearts to contain the love ofMe and the love of others at the same time."

Those who know Allah (the arifaun) have all agreed that love is notacceptable without compliance (with the Sacred Law), so much so thatsome of them said, "The reality of love is being in accordance withwhat beloved wants, concerning what pleases him and what makes himangry." The People (of the Science of Purification; Al-Qawm) have alsoagreed that love is not acceptable without Tawheed (belief in theOneness of Allah).

It was related that there was a man who claimed that he was overwhelmedby the love of a certain person. So one day this certain person said tohim (the lover), "How can this be, when my brother over here is muchmore attractive and more perfect in beauty?!" The man looked over tohim and then the person pushed him and said, "Someone who claims thathe loves us and then looks at other than us?!"