The Stations of the Knowers

Following the order Avicenna gives in namaṭ nine (and as systematised by Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī’s classic commentary), held as a long-term path rather than a sitting:

1. Begin with the will (irāda). The path opens not with technique but with a genuine yearning — what Avicenna describes as the soul, having become certain (through reasoning or faith) that there is a Real worth reaching, being seized by a desire for “the unbreakable bond” with the First. Let the practice grow from real longing, not obligation.
2. Undertake the exercise (riyāḍa). Avicenna uses riyāḍa in its plain sense — not self-torture, but training, as one “breaks in a colt.” It is aimed, he says, at three things: (a) to clear the path of all but the Real — withdrawing attention from distractions and lesser attachments; (b) to bring the restless “commanding self” (al-nafs al-ammāra) under the “contented self” (al-nafs al-muṭmaʾinna) — retraining appetite and motivation toward calm; (c) to render the inner awareness subtle and receptive. Practical means he allows include moderate asceticism, devotional acts, beautiful thought and music, and disciplined reflection.
3. Let the moments come (awqāt). As exercise refines the soul, Avicenna says it begins to be visited by awqāt — brief “moments” in which something of the divine light flashes upon it and is felt as an intense, fleeting pleasure, then withdraws. Do not chase them; the work is to keep clearing and refining so the soul is available when they come.
4. Let the moments lengthen. With continued practice, Avicenna says the moments grow more frequent and longer, until what was an occasional flash becomes a more settled, familiar presence. The discipline does not force this; it removes the obstacles to it.
5. Toward arrival (wuṣūl) and serene witnessing. In Avicenna’s map the path tends toward a stable condition in which the knower is no longer agitated by the coming-and-going of states but rests in a calm, continuous awareness — the soul become, in the imagery of the tradition, a polished mirror turned toward the Real. Hold this as the path’s orientation, not a stage to seize. (Sourcing note: the sequence will → exercise → moments → arrival, the three aims of riyāḍa, and the “breaking in a colt” sense of the word are Avicenna’s in namaṭ nine of the Isharat, as rendered in Shams Inati’s translation and Ṭūsī’s commentary; presenting them as a followable path is a faithful operational rendering of a text written as contemplative description.)

Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā, c.980–1037) wrote the Isharat near the end of his life; namaṭ nine on the Maqāmāt al-ʿārifīn is widely regarded as his most personal and “mystical” writing, and it became a touchstone for later Islamic philosophy through Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī’s authoritative commentary.

The graded ascent of will → discipline → illumination feeds directly into Suhrawardī’s Illuminationism and the later ʿirfān (gnosis) tradition. It runs parallel to the Sufi map of “stations” (maqāmāt) and “states” (aḥwāl) found in al-Ghazālī and Junayd.

Skipping the will. Beginning with technique while the longing is absent makes the discipline mechanical; Avicenna puts irāda first for a reason.

• Reading riyāḍa as self-punishment. It means training, not mortification — “breaking in a colt,” not breaking the body. Harsh asceticism is the distortion, not the method.
• Chasing the “moments.” Trying to seize or prolong the flashes by force produces strain and craving — the opposite of the refined receptivity that lets them come. Keep clearing; let them visit.
• Inflation. Treating a “moment” as proof of one’s spiritual rank is exactly the agitation the path is meant to settle.
• Forcing “arrival.” The serene witnessing is approached by removing obstacles, not by manufacturing an experience.