The Heart

It is the seat of choice in man, which is affected by the states of the spirit, the levels of the soul and the opinion of the mind, and makes the decision based on these. It is also the thing at which the Lord looks, as the noble hadith says: ‘God looks not at your bodies or your forms; but He looks to your hearts and your deeds.’ Spiritual ascent causes the heart to rise and live in a state of certainty, in its three levels as described by the experts in this art, namely knowledge of certainty, vision of certainty and truth of certainty, which is the highest level to which a man can rise, after which there is no end to the ascent of his heart’s stability. In this way, the heart ascends through the nine stations of certainty, which are: repentance, renunciation, patience, gratitude, fear, contentment, hope, reliance, and love, according to how they are enumerated in Qut al-Qulub.

Source: The Concepts of Faith (pdf)